I admit to a growing addiction: for the past month or so, I catch an episode or two of Letterkenny before going to bed. It’s got the best rhythms and language since Deadwood, and is similarly profane and abusive, although it’s also extremely Canadian. It reminds me vaguely of Morris cranked up to 11, although I’m constantly brought up short by the fact that it’s set in a town of 5000 people, just like Morris, but seems far more cosmopolitan than this place.
Anyway, I watched two whole episodes last night before sitting down to grade student essays, which was a bad idea. The papers seemed less…eloquent, somehow. Lacking in Canadian hockey slang. A dearth of cunning slurs delivered deadpan. I’m not going to repeat that today, because I’ve got an even bigger pile of papers to grade, and I have to maintain a level of realism in my evaluation.
I think my plan for the day is to retreat to a coffeeshop (after tending to the spiders) and work in quiet isolation until the pile is gone.
Once that happens, then Letterkenny. Gotta figure out how many syllables Wayne can put into the word “day”.
All of Canada is more cosmopolitan than most of the USA.
We found Letterkenny by accident one evening and became completely addicted. It is such a bizarre mixture of silliness, profanity and brilliance. Poetry really. If you love language and are not put off by its “crassness”, I highly recommend.
Fair warning: NSFW/NSFC
Bruce Fuentes @ 1
Even Alberta?
Pitter Patter…
It took me a bit but I’m fully into the series now. I do get my hackles up when the insults veer into homophobic/sexist though, despite the show being LGTBQ+ friendly otherwise.
I found this show when looking for something similar to Schitt’s Creek and instantly became addicted. I only have a few episodes left to watch. Canada even does comedy better than the US.
I ended up watching Canada’s most popular sitcom, “Corner Gas,” and found it entirely rewarding. Small-town smartass low-stakes neo-absurdity. The movie they made after the series is no letdown. And here’s my favorite scene from the show:
Gas station owner Brent is complaining to his blasé employee Wanda about customers who don’t return videos on time. “They keep the good stuff and just leave the junk with no production values.” “Production values don’t matter,” says Wanda. “What’s important is good scripts and characters.” As she’s talking, a boom mike dips down, almost into her face, and she pushes it aside without looking up.
I recall Canadian “Kids in the Hall” as uneven, but refreshingly different.
Grading is boooring. You need to hang out in a coffeeshop together with Shelob and “SCP 2790” and just chill out.
BTW do cephalopods drink coffee separately from the fluid they swim in? Are there Canadian coffeeshops in Morris? Are there arachnid-operated Canadian coffeeshops with plasma TVs displaying hockey games? I have so many questions on days when I have gone wirhout sleep for 40 hours…
Another plug for “Corner Gas”. Bizarre, funny, Amazon prime if that’s a problem.
@Akira MacKenzie just Edmonton, the rest of the province well,…
Make sure you don’t miss the various between-season bonus episodes, as well. There’s tons of stuff in between seasons.
And speaking of Edmonton, it looks like a bunch of reactionary racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic assholes are showing up to counter protest. I guess I spoke to soon. Also, is there some sort of shorthand term to describe people who tick off all the bigotry boxes?
Frankly, given that I was literally ordered to not watch “House” before a meeting, preferred at all, perhaps, to give your students due diligence, perhaps, you shouldn’t view said program.
Rather than prejudice student works, vs novel views or reinforced views.
Just a notion, as we refuse to view new series, due to how many good series got canceled, due to a producer’s wife objecting or some other inanity.
Great, another time suck. Thanks, PZ!
I am on my second viewing of the whole series, and I agree with your assessment for the most part. However, this time through I’m a bit more bothered than before by the ‘might makes right’ ethos underlying the “scrap” thread in the show. Wayne is depicted as an upright, morally strong man with unshakable values and unbeatable fists. It gets me a little.
Also, I realized the other day that the show is an adaptation of PEANUTS, in a way. The characters are eloquent, full of tradition, and utterly un-bothered by anyone from any older generations (and very, very few people from younger generations). Everyone is between 20 and 40.
“although I’m constantly brought up short by the fact that it’s set in a town of 5000 people, just like Morris, but seems far more cosmopolitan than this place.”
Well, we do have smaller towns like that, but they do film in a city of 160k.
Also, is there some sort of shorthand term to describe people who tick off all the bigotry boxes?
Bingots