Ep 295: Episodic Television & Nerds on TV

Ben McKenzie is a bonafide nerd who takes the label to an almost professional level. He talks to us about how the nerd is culturally represented on television with a particular focus on The Big Bang Theory.

TV ads are upsetting and confusing as we discover in I Don’t Buy It.

Then we have a discussion about the death of episodic television. Does everything have to be a long story? Whatever happened to just having everything wrapped up in a nice hour of television? We get to the bottom of it.

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep295.mp3|titles=Episode 295|artists=Boxcutters]

Notes

One Thing

  • Outland: 10:30pm Thursday 23 February on ABC2
  • The Amazing Race: 9:40pm Wednesday 22 February on Seven
  • Woodley: 8:00pm Wednesday 22 February on ABC1

Live at ACMI

John and Josh will discuss sex and violence on television with Djoymi Baker and Emily Maguire. Thursday 23 February is this week. Get your tickets!

Sex, Lies and Television Screens, Live in the Studio at ACMI

SXSW Sponsors

Lord of the Fries helping us get to SXSW in Austin, Texas and specialising in fresh cut fries accompanied by a variety of internationally inspired sauces.

10 Comments

  1. Funny co-incidence that The AV Club runs this story about the death of episodic television on the same day that this Boxcutters goes up;
    http://www.avclub.com/articles/did-the-sopranos-do-more-harm-than-good-hbo-and-th,69596/

  2. Daniel D Boxcutter says:

    That link to the ACMI gig looks broken to me.

  3. If we’re listing massive nerds on Australian TV, then I have to mention Bajo and Hex from Good Game as ye olde videogame nerds, and most of the people on the late Spicks and Specks as music nerds.

  4. PetiteDorrit says:

    Episodic vs serialisation and the supposed demise of the former seems to be the topic of the week with Ryan McGee’s AV Club article on the topic provoking much response. The always fascinating Alyssa Rosenberg has a really good take on it: there’s a third way where the televisual form is given more flexibility so new, creative approaches are unleashed – see her blog post on thinkprogress.org.

  5. Rob Boxcutter says:

    I’m screaming at my iPod: “Beauty and the Geek!”

  6. Meanwhile I screamed “The Good Wife” as my “network series that isn’t downmarket, has serial elements but still tells a specific story each week….

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