From 9 to 5 to The Office, we’ve got plenty of examples of cookie-cutter cubicles where workers toil away in soul-crushing boredom and fatigue. On today’s show: in defense of office life.
Then, My So Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development: all celebrated shows that fans argue were canceled too soon. A TV critic urges us to take pleasure in shows that have been given the axe prematurely.
And a critical take on Amazon’s deal to premiere Woody Allen’s first ever TV series, and why it may not be such a coup for the company.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
A Love Letter to the Office
- Jennifer Senior is a contributing writer for New York Magazine where she wrote about the upside of office life: "To the Office, With Love."
- Jennifer's New York Times best selling book on parenting, All Joy and No Fun is now available in paperback.
- We've also got a list of films that don't exactly paint the office in such a shining light. Check them out at this link.
Office by Day, Gallery by Night
- A few years ago, amid the cubicles and conference rooms of a San Francisco life insurance office, an insurance salesman decided to become an after-hours curator. Producer Raquel Maria Dillon brings us the story.
- You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
"Necro-Streaming": Watching the Remains of a
Dying
Dead Show
- What can we gain by watching the last gasps of a television show that's been cut down in the prime of its life? Philip Maciak, television critic and films studies professor explains the practice of "necro-streaming".
The Entrapment Trope
- From Archie Bunker to Murphy Brown, TV characters have been getting trapped in elevators, freezers and all other manner of small spaces for decades. Most viewers roll their eyes at this tired trope, but a surprising number take television entrapment more seriously. Blake Cooper has more.
- You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
The Woody Allen Amazon Deal
- Todd Vanderwerff is culture editor for Vox and former TV editor at the Onion AV club. You can read his article: “Amazon’s Deal With Woody Allen is Historic — and Remarkably Stupid” at Vox.com
Did a Condiment Cause The Fall of the Roman Empire?
- Tom Nealoncollects, sells and writes about rare cookbooks. He writes a series called “Stuffed” for Hilo Brow. His research into the once ubiquitous condiment: fish sauce might spell doom for those singularly fascinated with sriracha.
- Do you feel passionately about condiments? Take our questionnaire and see how some of NHPR's condiment aficionados answered: Word of Mouth's Official Condiment Questionnaire.