On Pretty Much Pop, a philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer (often with entertainment industry guests) talk about media and how we consume it: TV, film, music, novels, games, comics, comedy, theater, podcasts, and more. Most of what (other) people like is pretty weird when you think about it, so thinking about it is what we do.
What is with the weird relationship we Americans have with our pets? Many of us treat them as our babies, yet of course they're our captives. Dog trainer Hannah Branigan joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about pets as entertainment, as hobby, and as pandemic companions. How can we make this relationship as beneficial as possible for all involved, and how can learning to be a Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #45: Film Riffing with MST3K’s Mary Jo Pehl
We live in a commentary culture with much appreciation for camp and snark, but something special happened in the early '90s when Mystery Science Theater 3000 popularized this additive form of comedy, where jokes are made during a full-length or short film. Mary Jo Pehl was a writer and performer on MST3K and has since riffed with fellow MST3K alums for Rifftrax and Cinematic Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #38: Costuming w/ Whitney Anne Adams
How does clothing mesh with set design, cinematography, sound design, etc. to create the mood in a film? Whitney designed for and dressed leads and crowds on The Great Gatsby, the Happy Death Day films and several indie flicks. She joins Erica, Mark and Brian to discuss how clothes on screen relate to clothes in life, designing vs. curating, historic vs. modern vs. genre, when Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #37: Everything is LEGO
Why has a children's toy become a brand attached to virtually every media type, partnering with the most ubiquitous franchises, and serving as a pastime for many adult hobbyists who will gut you if you call LEGO a "children's toy." Brian Hirt (our resident AFOL, i.e. adult fan of LEGO) talks with co-hosts Erica Spyres and Mark Linsenmayer about creative play vs. Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #36: Criticism with Noah Berlatsky
Do we need professional critics regulating our entertainment intake? Noah has written for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NBC News, The Guardian, Slate, and Vox, and his work has come up for us in multiple past episodes. He was invited to join Mark, Erica, and Brian in spelling out the functions of criticism, the idea of criticism as art, Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #35: Video Game Storytelling w/ Don Marshall
Do you play video games for the plot? Given that most people don't actually finish most games, it would be unexpected if storytelling were the most important element. Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by former video game professional (current TV development exec) Donald E. Marshall to talk through types of plots (linear, "string-of-pearls," and branching), ways of weaving Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #34: Escape Rooms and Other Puzzlers w/ Adal Rifai (Plus Bonus Aftertalk)
The comic and the tragic are well-established modes within entertainment, but what about the puzzling? Riddles may have been a chief pastime in days of yore (well, they're featured in Oedipus and The Hobbit, anyway), but does this way of being entertained have a place in today's age of mass media? Improviser and podcaster Adal Rifai joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #28: The Alpha Female Trope w/ Margaret Colin
What's the deal with images of powerful women in media? The trope of the tough-as-nails boss-lady who may or may not have a heart of gold has evolved a lot over the years, but it's difficult to portray such a character unobjectionably, probably due to those all-too-familiar double standards about wanting women in authority (or, say, running for office) to be assertive but not Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #26: We Watch “Watchmen” w/ David Pizarro (Very Bad Wizards)
Perhaps the most lauded graphic novel has been sequelized for HBO, and amazingly, it turned out pretty darn well (with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes rating!). Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by the Cornell psych prof who hosts the Very Bad Wizards podcast. We consider Alan Moore's 1986 graphic novel, the 2009 Zack Snyder film, and of course mostly the recently completed (we hope) Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #25: Sports as Pop w/ Sportscaster Dave Revsine
How is spectator sports different from other types of entertainment? Dave Revsine (lead studio host for the Big Ten Network and former ESPN anchor) joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss the various sources of appeal, team identification, existing in a sports-filled world as a non-fan, watching vs. playing, human interest stories, sports films, and more. Some of the Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #24: Christmas Viewing: What’s Canon?
Join Mark, Erica, and Brian for a special "snake draft," where we take turns picking the holiday films and TV specials that we think are (or should be) part of America's yearly viewing traditions. Were I to list all the shows and films we mention, that would give away our picks now, wouldn't it? Compare your intuitions about what is classic or seminal or over-rated with Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #23: The Singer Not the Song w/ Ken Stringfellow
What's your relationship to music? Do you just embrace the pure sound, or do you care about who made that sound? One way of seeing where you fall on this issue is whether you care more for singles or to whole albums or careers by artists. Ken Stringfellow, who co-fronts The Posies and was a member of R.E.M. and Big Star, joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about what Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #22: Untangling Time Travel
Time-travel rules in The Terminator franchise are notoriously inconsistent. Is it possible for someone from the future to travel backwards to change events, given the paradox that with a changed future, the traveler wouldn't then have had the problem to try to come back and fix? Neither the closed-loop series of events in the first film nor the changed (postponed) future in the Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #21: Role-Playing Video Games
What constitutes a video RPG? Is there any actual role-playing involved? Our editor Tyler Hislop rejoins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss those video games that are supposed to make you feel like you're contributing to the story, that your choices matter, in which you can maybe, you know, choose to wear a funny hat or just craft potions all day instead of advancing the Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #20: Improv Comedy w/ Tim Sniffen
What role does improv comedy play in popular culture? It shows up in the work of certain film directors (like Christopher Guest, Adam McKay, and Robert Altman) and has surfaced in some of the TV work of Larry David, Robin Williams, et al. But only in the rare case of a show like Whose Line Is It Anyway? is the presence of improvisation obvious. So is this art form doomed to Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #19: Race and the Target Audience w/ Rodney Ramsey
We've all felt at various points (maybe at most points) that some media creation has reached us by mistake, that we are not the target audience. 20th century American TV was aimed largely at a white majority, with a parallel, underfunded channel of content aimed at people of color. So how have things changed? There still seem to be "black shows," but how do they fit in to a Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #18: Stephen King’s Media Empire
Is the most popular writer of our time actually a good writer? Or maybe he used to be good but has long since run out of inspiration? What are the most effective ways to adapt these very readable short stories and novels? Does showing us the evil in a film lessen its impact? While you've been thinking about those questions, King already wrote another book, so ha! Mark, Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #17: Comedy as Philosophy w/ Daniel Lobell
Are stand-up comedians the Modern Day Philosophers? This claim forms the premise of Daniel's podcast where interviews some of our best known and loved comedians, but really, only some comedians are trying to express original views on the world instead of just telling a good joke. Even so, do the words of comics telling their truth or pronouncing sentence on the world count as Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #16: 25 Years After FRIENDS
Mark, Erica, and Brian examine the conventions, techniques, and staying power of the beloved ’90s sitcom. Are we supposed to identify with, or idolize, or merely like these people? What makes the formula work, did it sustain itself over its 10-year run, was it successfully replicated (like by How I Met Your Mother or by Chuck Lorre?), and what parts haven’t aged well? We Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #14: UFOs on TV with Investigative Journalist Paul Beban
TV news reporter Paul Beban (ABC, Al Jazeera, Yahoo, and now featured on the Discovery Network's Contact) joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss the appeal of UFO narratives, both at the peak of their popularity in the 50s and in the current resurgence. Why do they make for good TV? Do you have to believe to be entertained? Is belief in UFOs related to religious belief? To Continue Reading …