Gore, more gore, and theatrical gags galore
Best of Enemies
Available now
In The Simpsons, when Homer meets the man who boasts of inventing “that thing where people jabber back and forth annoyingly on the radio”, he quite rightly punches the character.
The makers of Best of Enemies, however, clearly expect that we will be awestruck at the story of Gore Vidal and William F Buckley, who are credited with inventing electiontime punditry during their epic 1968 debates on ABC. At the time, the network was the poor third wheel in the nightly news wars between NBC and CBS and needed something innovative to spice up their coverage.
Their solution was to hire two diametrically opposed intellectuals — Vidal and Buckley — to voice the ideals of conservatism (Buckley) and progressivism (Vidal). Their politics were poles apart but what really makes the debates dramatic is the mutual revulsion, inspired, the film posits, by the overwhelming similarity of their backgrounds. It also sets the scene well in describing the cultural foment of 1968 and the emergence of identity politics in America. Where it rather falls down is that the zingers that fly back and forth sound a little tame and gentlemanly when compared to the type of punditry we have today, especially on American television.
Scream Season 2
10 episodes, available now
So how to put this? If you weren’t mad about the first season of Scream (which aired in the US on MTV), you probably aren’t going to like the second season (or at least as much as we’ve seen). This new series retains its adolescent melodrama reminiscent of a soapier than usual episode of Pretty Little Liars, but does up the violence to please those who like their horror meat served red. After being met with lukewarm ratings and some criticism from fans after the first season, the second season was actually something of a surprise. The opening sequence of Scream season 2, like the opening of season 1, pays homage to classic horror movies. However, while the old series was directly influenced by the original Scream film, season 2 is more of a parody: A teenaged girl is murdered in her home by her best friend, “Why?” the friend asks rhetorically. “Because I’m so sick of your slut-shaming!” However, this sequence is revealed to be a movie within the TV series and the real opening follows the central character through the cinema as she and a classmate, are chased by a killer. From there, it’s the usual smorgasbord of gore and irony intermingled with some juicy teenage love stories. It’s all brainless good fun.
Bo Burnham
Available now
Bo Burnham made his mark as a YouTube teen sensation, but you’d never have known it from the confident performer on his Make Happy tour.
The show encompassed a theatricality that audiences hadn’t previously seen from the writer and actor, who was the youngest person ever to record a Comedy Central special, aged 18. Amy Schumer was once asked what was the difference between professional comedians and amateurs and she replied “the amateurs still have hope”. Burnham seems to embody this comedic existential bleakness on his tour. “Y’all ain’t never seen a comedy show like this in your life,” he promises, “and probably for good reason.”
Here he mocks the corporate influence in his work while lamenting that he’s not getting any corporate freebies and struggles with his version of fame. “Give up on your dreams,” he tells the audience. “I am not happy.” What makes Burnham special though is his theatrical element. It’s rare that a show can take you from an elaborate call and response rap opening number to a solid six minutes of meme jokes and still feel like an hour of comedy, but that is exactly what this does. There are lighting cues, miming, physical comedy and a piano to punctuate the punch lines. It all meshes well with Burnham’s introspection and makes this special well worth a look.