Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Conversation starts at 5:40
Hey! Anything good on TV? I know, right? Let's listen to legendary film critic David Thomson (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomson_(film_critic) & chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-470-david-thomson) as we celebrate his amazing new book, REMOTELY: Travels in the Binge of TV (Yale University Press, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780300261004)! David & I get into how TV has changed and how it's changed us, the communal experience of going to the movies vs. sitting on the sofa, the ways his relationship with his wife deepened in front of the tube during lockdown (and why he gave her some of the best lines in Remotely), and the personal, political, & social implications of watching crap over a long period of time. We talk about falling into the stream of streaming, how advertising was the snake in American TV's garden, BBC's very strange exception for its licence fee, the courage in actually writing about what he's watching (even though Remotely isn't a critical guide), and what made Ozark special to him. We also discuss Clive James' transformation of TV criticism, the end of a golden age of TV, the importance of live sports events, the joy of seeing Barbie in a packed theater, how everything points to a world where no one is in charge, and a lot more. • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-573-david-thomson • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod and via our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
Conversation starts at 5:40
Hey! Anything good on TV? I know, right? Let's listen to legendary film critic David Thomson (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomson_(film_critic) & chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-470-david-thomson) as we celebrate his amazing new book, REMOTELY: Travels in the Binge of TV (Yale University Press, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780300261004)! David & I get into how TV has changed and how it's changed us, the communal experience of going to the movies vs. sitting on the sofa, the ways his relationship with his wife deepened in front of the tube during lockdown (and why he gave her some of the best lines in Remotely), and the personal, political, & social implications of watching crap over a long period of time. We talk about falling into the stream of streaming, how advertising was the snake in American TV's garden, BBC's very strange exception for its licence fee, the courage in actually writing about what he's watching (even though Remotely isn't a critical guide), and what made Ozark special to him. We also discuss Clive James' transformation of TV criticism, the end of a golden age of TV, the importance of live sports events, the joy of seeing Barbie in a packed theater, how everything points to a world where no one is in charge, and a lot more. • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-573-david-thomson • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod and via our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
