Writing, Running & a Rhotic Anglophile

* It is time to come clean and just admit it, I'm an anglophile. I did not mean for it to happen and it happened slowly, but here I am, an Anglophile. Of course I don't do anything cleanly or neatly. Nope, no simple Janeite or Royalist for me, no I have do things the hard way.

* It starts with Doctor Who. Thanks PBS for showing reruns of the Fourth Doctor when I was kid. I did not get into the rebooted series until the 12th Doctor, Capaldi. Peter and Jenna were fantastic together. Via BBC America I was as caught up as I could be on the reboot, it was a pre-streaming world. I have kept up since then loving every incarnation of the Doctor since Capaldi. I am worried about Disney, but we’ll see.

* Soccer, and for reasons we'll save for another time, I chose Sunderland as my Premier League team in 2014. Don't worry, the story is not all pain, but it is a Sunderland fan story, so I am the Black Knight and it is only a flesh wound. And as the subreddit title says, Sunderland ‘til it kills me. They are top of the table as I write this, but as a pre-2004 Red Sox fan, I understand pessimism. I was a Boston sports fan in the 90’s. I do know what it means to root for bad teams. I do know what a hopeless abyss looks like as a sports fan. I have seen titles and humiliations, and there is nothing in America like a team winning promotion. Their no pain like relegation either. Football is built to be addictive. I don’t think they did it intentionally, it just kind of happened, but man am I hooked. Haway the lads!

* A friend of ours got us into Only Connect just before the pandemic. The show might be the nerdiest thing on TV. You think you feel stupid watching Jeopardy? That's nothing to compared to how dumb you'll feel watching this show. The problem is that when you get a question right it's a rush. The other problem is the host is amazing. The other other problem is that some questions you don't get upset about getting wrong because of how soaked to the bone British it is. The other other other problem is that the show likes to throw change-ups. The off-speed questions catch you off guard because they can be so DUMB. Bad puns, visual puns, a fascination with the Fibonacci sequence and other tell tales signs of the worst humor. The show is the nerdiest thing and like all nerds, the lowest humor is their favorite thing. This show could work in the US, but only on PBS. Anyone else would botch the execution.

* Victoria Cohen Mitchel, the host, is half the fun of the show. She is witty, sarcastic, professional, but not smart enough to be a contest. It is a fantastic combination. Her poker background and tv hosting background made her the perfect person for this show. Her intros and outros are not to be missed. And her commentary on the questions is not something American TV would ever allow to air.

* During the pandemic our same friends got us into Taskmaster. This might be the best show on any TV, anywhere. It has translated into other countries well too, baring one glaring exception which we will not even mention. Greg and Alex are such a great pairing. They are clearly very good friends just goofing off, but their dynamic is a lot more complex. It is Alex’s show. It was his idea, and he does all the heavy lifting. But Greg runs the show on air and he rules with an iron fist. He treats Alex like a court jester, like a punching bag, like an afterthought. It is incredible to watch. The foreign versions handle their dynamics differently and it is great to see them work. Culturally, the show is very British, but does not leave you behind. Knowing the comedian-contestants beforehand helps, but it is not needed. I have actually found it a fun way to get to know them. I start with a blank slate and over the course of 10 hour long episodes they reveal themselves in ways they never intended.

* All of the tasks are scored by Greg, with his POV, and his biases right there weighing the scales. He is a fine balance of chaotic and predictable. He calls out bullshit like a well seasoned middle school teacher. But he can be buttered up like a proper dictator or a soft parent.

* I’ll let Alex be the mystery he is. Sometimes he’s helpful, sometimes he isn’t. At his most chaotic, Greg is an orderly and disciplined man compared to Alex. Alex is an agent of chaos and truly understands that the show is his playground and he will have fun. Even when that fun is making him the but of the joke. He creates a platform for the contestants to display themselves on and the show does not miss.

* Swearing! Goddamn the Brits know how to swear. It is almost an art form to them. I wish the Elizabethan poets were around to participate in modern British swearing.

* Beer! The Brits make good beer. Not this water downed rice / corn-syrup beer the big boys in the US make. Or the craft brewery world’s obsession with shitty IPAs. I know IPAs came from England, I know where the name comes from, but you don’t see many imported IPAs. You don’t see British folks drinking them. If I want to enjoy a darker beer, or a flavorful beer that has not been fruited, The British Isles won’t let me down. Sure then need to chill their shit a bit, but I’ll drink it warm if needed.

Thanks for reading,

-Philip

Note 1: While linguistics is a fascinating filed of study that scratches the part of my brain that loves things that touch everything, this is not a linguistics post. Rhotic was just a great word that fit into the blog’s conventions.

Note 2: This is also not a post about the Royal family, colonialism, or any of the other bad parts about the UK. These things are awful and it would be nice if Britain could make amends. I am not going to post about enjoying many parts of British Culture without making sure I mention the shite parts.