Something I couldn’t imagine would be possible happened last
weekend. Tom Hanks hosted Saturday Night Live. From home. In his kitchen. Virtually. OVER
ZOOM.
The late-night live television sketch comedy was, well, just ‘live’
comedy on this special episode of SNL, but it was still entertaining to watch
the host and crew borrow the aesthetics of home videos and YouTube creator
contents to compensate for the lack of a live audience and studio, two of the
most essential components of the live sketch comedy format. It is amazing to
see how quickly personality-driven TV formats have adapted to accommodate the
current COVID-19 situation, with show hosts like Ellen Degeneres interviewing
guests from her home and other celebrities relying on the “go live” functions
of their respective social media platforms.
I am afraid I might already be getting used to the ‘meta-domesticity’
of television driven by the stay-at-home orders. I can’t believe I am thinking
this, but if the quarantine does go on for longer, I would actually look forward to seeing more creative ways that ‘meta-domestic’
television push the limits of their conventional production methods. (Also
wondering who will write about this for an academic journal in the near or far future,
revisiting the discourse on changes in TV entertainment in reaction to
national/international crises.)
Ray -- at the risk of inviting your ire, I'm going to go out on a limb and admit that I didn't like Tiger King. I watched it because of your blog post! but fell out by episode 3. What is the show doing that I'm missing? It's obviously struck a chord with a very large number of people, and I'd like to understand why. Care to speculate? What's Tiger King doing (formally, contextually, etc) that's making it click?
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Tania how could you not like Tiger King?!🥺🥺 It has everything!! The polyamorous and abusive gay husband, potentially husband killer, the heart-wrenching depiction of animal abuse!! When you expect one thing to happen, the documentary turns everything around to surprise you!! The suspense!! THE DRAMA.
Delete(TBH though, I began to suspect that the stress level has affected my content preferences. If I hadn’t been quarantined, would I have loved this dumpster on fire content?)
Delete--that was me, Tania.
ReplyDelete