Life Update, 'Joe Pera Talks with You'
Why hello!
Shortly after my last post (over a month ago), I got accepted for an independent contractor job writing for one of Fansided’s many subsidiary websites, Show Snob. I submitted two writing samples from this blog/newsletter for my application, and spent the next few days focusing on the onboarding process. As a content mill, the pay is abysmal, but the editors are lenient about the expected workload of their contributors. For now, it's another step on my resume until I have enough experience for something more substantial.
Around the same time, I also attended a long-delayed graduation ceremony for my alma mater, UTPB. After letting it linger for 5 years, I sent a flurry of emails and phone calls in January until all parties involved confirmed that I did meet the degree requirements, I didn't have to take another conducting class for my music minor, and I could finally officially graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. My physical diploma will arrive in the mail later this month.
The Monday after the ceremony, my grandfather, with whom I share a home, got diagnosed with COVID-19. The flu-like symptoms weren’t nearly as severe as the first time I caught it last fall, but my cough returned, and the fatigue made it difficult to concentrate on anything throughout the following week. Eventually, I completed the onboarding process for Show Snob and wrote reviews for season two of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal. Again, it ain't much, but it's semi-honest work.
For the last two weeks, however, my grandfather has endeavored upon several tasks to fix up various parts of the house to his satisfaction. I elected to get as much of these out of the way as soon as possible, which unfortunately left me too drained to write when I finally had time to myself. But today, I'm finally over the hump! From here on out, I'll at least write a few paragraphs or an outline on days where my time is limited. I'm currently working on a post about Brian Wilson, but for now here's a writing sample I submitted in an email to my onboarding representative last month about one of my favorite shows:
'Joe Pera Talks with You' is a Subtle Masterpiece
One wouldn’t normally expect the bespectacled, soft-spoken stand-up comedian Joe Pera to make much of an impact among the lineup of raunchy stoner cartoons and whacked-out psychedelic live-action programs typical of Adult Swim. However, across three seasons, that incongruity proved to be one of his eponymous show’s greatest strengths. In disarming the viewer with its mundane tone and small-town setting, Joe Pera Talks With You became one of television’s finest, funniest, poignant achievements. In the aftermath of its cancellation and subsequent removal from HBO Max’s streaming service, its existence feels even more like a minor miracle.
After the runaway popularity of two specials in 2016, Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep and Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree, Adult Swim granted Pera the green light for a full live-action series. From its very first scene, the show demonstrates its deceptively simple premise. Directly addressing the audience for a calm, straightforward geological lesson, Pera is suddenly interrupted by the loud, chaotic arrival of his new neighbors, the Melskys, attempting to buy his house. Conner O'Malley, playing the father, Mike Melskey, continues to serve as a wonderfully anarchic foil to Pera’s persona throughout the show. Joining him in the main cast are the chronically paranoid love interest Sarah Conner (Jo Firestone) and sage friend Gene Gibson (Gene Kelly). Together, they paint a beautiful, funny depiction of small-town life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Plots usually revolve around simple subjects like trips to the grocery store or waiting for someone at the hair salon. However, as in its first episode about iron, the real magic happens when the show breaks from that formula. “Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements” takes a gloriously goofy diversion when Pera struggles to contain his excitement over sharing his recent discovery of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” And “Joe Pera Has A Surprise For You” begins with Pera organizing a silly, handcrafted homage to the movie Rat Race before news of his Nana's death retroactively transforms season two into one of the most genuinely touching meditations on grief and community I've ever seen.
Especially for a comedy that limits itself to eleven-minute episodes, Joe Pera Talks with You accomplishes a remarkable feat in treating its characters with incredible depth and humanity. Season Three concludes with Pera surprising his girlfriend Sarah with a plot of land for her homestead. The first piece of furniture for the property is a chair that he built himself. If Adult Swim had renewed the show for another season, I'm confident that Joe Pera and friends would have developed another beautiful, complex chapter for these characters with more finality, but the three seasons they have created are cherishable in their own right.