From Stephen Colbert's late-night foray to Kim Jeong's new sitcom, we recap the news from the Television Critics Association press tour; Thundercat breaks down his song "Them Changes" in the latest Song Exploder podcast; Cheating death and finding love while making the documentary 'Meru'. The Log Lady is ready for the new "Twin Peaks."
Stephen Colbert's 'commanding performance' wows television critics at the TCAs
Stephen Colbert was one highlight of the dog and pony show that is TCA’s — that’s the Television Critics Association’s Summer press tour that’s been happening in Beverly Hills these last couple of weeks.
At this twice-annual conference, broadcast and cable networks, streaming platforms and everything in between present what they’ve got in the works.
Joe Adalian, the West Coast Editor of Vulture.com, joined us on The Frame to talk about the increasing importance of name-brand showrunners, the already-maligned comedy "Dr. Ken," and if there's any more news about Stephen Colbert's version of "The Late Show."
Interview Highlights:
At these TCA's, it felt like there was a lot of emphasis on preexisting franchises, either shows or showrunners.
It was a weak year in terms of programming, but in terms of the shows that were there, you saw the shows that have been getting the most attention this season which had some sort of brand attachments. "The Muppets" on ABC got a lot of attention — they had a fake little stunt with Kermit and Ms. Piggy breaking up, which is something that was weeks-old but engineered for TCA, and people took that seriously.
You also had "Supergirl" on CBS, which is a show based on the movie "Limitless," and Shonda Rhimes was the big attraction of ABC's day, even though she's not debuting anything new yet. Increasingly, the networks need to have some sort of big brand to stand out.
Speaking of big brands, Stephen Colbert made an appearance to talk, maybe a bit vaguely, about his new CBS show. What did we learn about it?
I don't think it was vague at all. He didn't lay out a whole bunch of specifics, but he put on a commanding performance. This was a guy who took every question, no matter how dumb, and seemed to try to address it in an intelligent way, and I think we can expect a really grown-up talk show, one that moves away from the viral video frenzy of recent years and towards an emphasis on really good, interesting interviews with interesting people.
He said he's going to try to have a range of people on, not just the celebrities of the moment, but also authors and politicians, which is borne out by his choice to have Jeb Bush on his first show. He'll also have George Clooney, and Kendrick Lamar will be around too, so I think he's going to bring scintillating, intelligent talk back to late-night.
Finally, as is often the case, a network will show a show or series that doesn't quite land with the critics. Were there any new series that landed with a thud this year?
The one show that people can't seem to believe made it to air was ABC's "Dr. Ken" with Ken Jeong. It feels like a throwback to the worst kind of '90s sitcoms, and even though he's a talent that people have a lot of admiration and fondness for, the show itself just seems like a mess.
Song Exploder: Breaking down Thundercat's latest single 'Them Changes'
Have you ever listened to a song and wondered how it really came together? Hrishikesh Hirway is a Los Angeles-based musician who takes a song apart piece-by-piece and then brings the artists on his podcast, Song Exploder, to talk about how they put it all together.
On a recent episode, adapted for The Frame, Hirway talks with bassist Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, about his most recent single, "Them Changes." Among other things, Bruner reveals the source of the track's heavy drums, why he needs to write on a custom-built, six-string bass, and how a rough breakup led to some of his most open lyrics yet.
'Meru': Extreme climber/photographer Jimmy Chin's rules for shooting on the edge
In 2008, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk set out to climb the Shark's Fin of Mount Meru in the Himalayas, a route that peaks at 20,700 feet. No one had ever made it to the top. After 19 days of climbing, they fell short of the summit by a mere 100 meters. In 2011, they tried it again.
Chin — an accomplished National Geographic photographer — had filmed both attempts, but was having trouble editing it all together, so he reached out to an acquaintance who had directed a couple of movies.
That acquaintance was Chai Vasarhelyi, and together they took the raw footage from the climb and turned it into "Meru," a documentary which won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
When Chin and Vasarhelyi spoke with The Frame at Sundance, they spoke about the challenges of filming while hanging from the side of a mountain, as well as the emotional elements of the story that brought the whole thing together. Oh, and how they ended up being married.
Interview Highlights:
Jimmy, explain how you're able to film and climb at the same time. What are the technical challenges of doing both jobs at once?
Chin: Shooting and climbing have evolved together for me. I filmed with Renan Ozturk, who's the cinematographer on the trip as well, but there are some basic rules:
- Shoot when you can.
- Don't hold up the climb.
- Don't drop the camera.
And that's pretty much all you're going by. [laughs]
In this film, you're going without guides and you're having to lug your own gear. Especially on the initial climb, where the weight of the gear is certainly a factor, is the gear for the shoot actually a problem? Are you lugging even more stuff than you need at this point?
Chin: Yes, we are. We even cut off the labels on our jackets to save weight. Every ounce counts on a climb like this, so even a camera and a lens can add up. [laughs] We had two cameras, which were small, but still, those were probably equivalent to two days' worth of food.
And batteries?
Chin: Yeah, because you can't charge batteries up there, and you're not downloading your cards at the end of the day. So you have to carry all the cards and all the batteries, which adds up. It does figure into the calculations of planning.
So, as you're climbing, does it get to a point where you're asking yourself, Are we making a movie or are we climbing a mountain?
Chin: There are different types of productions that I work on, and this one was certainly more focused on the climbing. We shot what we could, and while I always think about shots that I missed, overall I'm really happy with what we captured.
Chai, when you first saw Jimmy's footage, how long ago was it, what kind of shape was it in, and what was the story you saw that you thought might be able to reach a wider audience?
Vasarhelyi: It was in 2012, and I had met this incredibly charismatic guy, Jimmy, and I was struck by how personable and interesting he was. And then he shared this film with me, and he wasn't in it. I mean, he appeared, but his heart wasn't in it.
It was hard to understand the emotional reasons and satisfaction that these guys get from climbing while living with all the risks, so I felt like there needed to be emotional work on the film.
It sounds like you were trying to answer for the audience the questions that you yourself had about the guy you'd just met.
Vasarhelyi: Absolutely, I was. I'm not a climber, but I felt like there was a real emotional connection that the audience could make with these guys, because what they do is inspiring and it's very moving. The story elements were there, but the structure and how they were speaking about their own experiences needed to be looked at.
So you met as creative collaborators, not as a couple? What's the chicken-and-egg here?
Vasarhelyi: I'll let Jimmy answer that.
Chin: [laughs] Yeah, I learned that she was a filmmaker. I had been working on this film, so I shared it with her to get some feedback. She hadn't shown very much interest in me until after I shared the film with her, and then of course I realized that she was really interested in the film. Eventually she became interested in me. [laughs]
So it wasn't that you had a great personality? You had great footage?
Chin: Pretty much. [laughs]
So much of the movie is about the collaborative nature of climbing, and the reliance that each climber has on the person next to him. You've now taken that connection into the filmmaking world where you're working with Chai. Are there similarities or differences between those different types of collaboration?
Chin: Yeah. [laughs] There are so many parallels between expedition climbing and filmmaking, like financing the trip and trying to convince somebody to help you chase this objective with all these unknowns — you don't know where it's going to go, you don't know how it's going to go. You just have to have faith in yourself and you need to be inspired and work hard, but that trust between climbing partners is very, very key — we hold each other's lives in our hands, and there are a lot of life-and-death decisions to be made constantly. You have to trust each other all the time.
In the filmmaking with Chai, it's challenging when you have two directors with two ideas, but we came from such different places. And honestly, when I saw the finished film and saw it screened at Sundance and I saw how all the decisions have come together, it's the first time I've really appreciated what she brought to the table. I mean, I knew on the way, but it's been really incredible. That's how great partnerships happen: when people come together with really different skill sets but really strong strengths.