Michael Newman

Book recs: all four of Alison Bechdel's memoir/essay/novels (Fun Home, Are You My Mother?, The Secret to Superhuman Strength, and Spent) which I read over the past few weeks. I would take your recs of more books like these but I guess there will be none until Alison writes another.

YouTube video by aarnis Muppet Show. Swedish Chef, Cleo Laine - You're Just In Love

RIP Cleo Laine, very special guest star of The Muppet Show ep 219 with an Irving Berlin/salad prep Swedish Chef duet www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIuo...

This reminds me that he wrote a book about riding his bike around different cities!

google result incorrectly stating that there is a Film Classics book about The Jazz Singer

The banality of wrongness when using Google seeking basic information -- of course there isn't a BFI classics book on this film even though the AI says there is. You know you're talking to a bullshit engine.

This was not covered by Kelly M? Interesting to see it come to light in this opinion piece. I also didn't know about it.

YouTube video by Muppet Songs Muppet Songs: Loretta Swit - Side by Side

RIP Loretta Swit, very special guest star of Muppet Show episode 502 (Muppets+Sondheim!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVkl...

Contemporaries - Post45 Post45 seeks to reinvigorate the erstwhile convention of academic critics not only describing past traditions but also actively intervening in current tastes. It provides a forum for writers to conver...

New cluster!! post45.org/contemporari... ❣️ 📺 ⌨️ 🥰 Edited by @dfmorgan.bsky.social ! "My So-Called Life at 30" features essays on intimacy, literacy, fan studies, mobility, migration, dance, beauty culture, teen dramas, Winnie Holzman, diaspora and fandom, narratology, over-analysis, & more!

Such a thrill to write about My So-Called Life and Winnie Holzman for @atpost45.bsky.social!

The last time I had screenings some people didn't show up and some people didn't pay attention, so 🤷‍♂️

I think it depends? In my most recent Intro to Film Studies course most of the students seemed to be watching everything carefully and attentively and it was great. I've polled a couple of classes and they were about 50/50 in their preferences. I'm not sure it makes a big difference.

I've been giving up on in-class screenings and assigning film/TV either for streaming on Swank (library access) or as video ripped from DVD uploaded to the LMS. YouTube also works for some content. Trying to eliminate any cost to students.

Shelves of Netflix popcorn at Metro Market

Binge convergence

Bracket City The Atlantic covers news, politics, culture, technology, health, and more, through its articles, podcasts, videos, and flagship magazine.

[Bracket City]
May 11, 2025

www.theatlantic.com/games/bracke...

Rank: 🔮 (Puppet Master)
🎹 Total Keystrokes: 70
🎯 Minimum Required: 70

Total Score: 100.0
🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪

TV wouldn’t be TV without soap operas Soaps once brought in 75% of a TV network’s revenue, says author Elana Levine. “Soaps were a legitimate kind of pop culture sensation.”

Strong final episode (before a bonus ep!) of Making: Stories Without End. So happy I got to explain my beef with the "OJ killed the soaps" narrative, one of my pet peeves
www.wbez.org/making/2025/...

What a 🧵

Longtime Fresh Air listeners, if you have tears prepare to shed them.

Harold's conspiratorial glance at the camera.

Harold and Maude (1971)

YouTube video by dorcm1973 The Muppet Show: Ruth Buzzi & Sweetums - "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"

RIP Ruth Buzzi, very special guest star of Muppet Show episode 104 www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zdu...

Was glad to see that several nearby private colleges are, including Marquette and Carroll.

Several Wisconsin universities are represented here including Madison, but I see no other UW System school.

Dr. Newman explores the use of camera looks in sitcoms like Abbott Elementary as a comedic device. Establishing direct connection with the audience, blending traditions of comedic performance that invite viewer participation & emotional response. Read it here: tinyurl.com/4vp8uakv

At one point we were supposed to be adopting wireless clickers for "Active Learning" and taking attendance but that never caught on. Now the only time I see them is when they're used for voting in Faculty Senate.

The administration can take the instructor out of the equation this way and not have to wait for us to do anything (some of us do check in with students, many evidently don't).

I should say, maybe these are hypothetical and maybe they're already being developed and implemented, but the context was "here are some things we could be doing with AI to improve student success."

Two hypothetical higher ed AI uses I learned about today: tracking students' locations and cross-referencing with course schedules to identify frequent absentees and direct advising interventions to them; and feeding course contents into an AI to produce a custom chatbot to answer student Qs 24/7.

Mr. Roper grin and camera look

Three's Company (1977)

a group of minions wearing hard hats and goggles are standing together ALT: a group of minions wearing hard hats and goggles are standing together

🥳New Flow?! With Michael Z. Newman, @geraldsim.bsky.social ,
@matthewcrain.bsky.social , Roderik Smits, & Andrew Stubbs-Lacy! Topics include: camera looks in sitcoms, advertising’s integration of AI, Big Tech’s lobbying efforts, "fair pay” in media industries, & Welcome to Wrexham! flowjournal.org

For Flow, I wrote this essay about the camera looks in Abbott Elementary and other comedies, and camera looks more generally going back to film comedian comedies and musicals. I connect these looks to the sitcom laugh track. www.flowjournal.org/2025/04/came...

I totally forgot about this, I loved these characters.

Great FLOW piece quoted below… reinvigorates my desire to think more/write about the Once & Again confessionals (rarity in drama) where they also use shorter cutaways and looks (though in confessional) to achieve winks and humor.