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Here's a sneak preview of this week's paid newsletter. If you want to read the rest, there's an easy way to do so!
In 2017, as Barack Obama's presidency came to an end, I made a suggestion at Vox: Every president of the TV era had a show that corresponded almost perfectly to the national mood during their administration. The idea was not that the show reflected the president in question but, rather, how it felt to live at that time. As I wrote in the article: That’s why some TV shows — through no fault of their own — become almost inextricably tied to certain presidential administrations. Their on-air tenures eerily parallel said administrations, and they explore themes that are particularly raw during those specific moments in American history, such that they tend to feel a little dated as soon as the country has moved past them a bit.
Some examples: The X-Files for Bill Clinton, Roseanne for Bush the First, and Parks & Recreation for Barack Obama. Some of these are more obvious than others; Parks, after all, is about government. Yet in all cases, the idea was that the vibes matched the era. The gradually souring optimism of Parks, the deep-seated skepticism of the government's presence in your life of X-Files, the growing sense that the economy was broken of Roseanne – all reflected the national mood during their representative presidencies. (Incidentally, Vulture has written a bit about this in their recent "Obamacore" package.) In the streaming era, picking a representative show has become harder, simply because our monoculture has become so nonexistent and/or diffuse. I struggled for ages with my Trump pick, ultimately going with I Think You Should Leave. And I similarly struggled with my pick for the Biden era, which is ending in January, regardless of who is elected. Let's go through some picks suggested by others in my Discord, all of which I rejected for one reason or another. The Conners: An intriguing suggestion, since its existence as a "Roseanne but time has moved on and Roseanne is dead" does somewhat capture our era of feeling trapped by the past. But its first two, highest-rated seasons aired during the Trump administration, and the vibe of the show better fits those years. Also, my model doesn't directly discount a show that tries to talk about "relevant social issues," but that show usually has to work harder to indirectly access an era's vibes. I would argue The Conners doesn't quite get there. Suits: I was so tempted by this pick, since it reflects a kind of national malaise, a certainty that our best days are behind us, and if we cannot recapture them, then we must simply reconsume them. Ultimately, the newness of the property is too important to this exercise. But I did consider Suits. Ted Lasso: Too easy, as many people compared Biden to Mr. Lasso when he took office. Part of this exercise is to show off how iconoclastic I am. Also, and most importantly, its best season aired during the Trump administration.
Want to read two more suggestions from my Discord, as well as nine separate shows I thought about but didn't pick? Do you want to know my ultimate pick? Well, then you gotta pay to subscribe. I don't make the rules! (I do, actually.)
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