Jon Lisi

I’d recommend giving it another try. You may even want to start with the third season. The great thing is that, for the most part, you don’t need to watch the episodes in order.

Haven’t seen ‘Broad City’ yet but I’ll check it out. I agree with you about this, though. There are of course many great shows on TV, but few of them are as creative and distinct as ‘Louie.’ ‘Girls’ might be the only other auteur-driven show on TV.

I agree. I love the Subway part. The scene on the way to the movies is equally brilliant. What I love the most is that it’s a show about ideas. If C.K. thinks it will be funny, he tries it out. Maybe it doesn’t work, but it’s always interesting.

Great article. ‘Girls’ is certainly an auteur-driven series, probably one of the few on TV (along with ‘Louie’ and maybe ‘Veep’ I’d argue). And I like what you’re hinting at with the personal branding, suggesting that Dunham’s public image is so intertwined with her characters and professional work that we often fail to separate the two. I’ve long believed that social media is another artistic tool public figures use to construct their image, so it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one.

I enjoyed reading you article, arguably the most articulate rant of its kind. I don’t know if I agree with you that we need to do away with this kind of storytelling though, but you’ve made a strong case against it.

The film Annie Hall deals with this question beautifully. The relationship is imperfect, but unlike in real life, the end of the relationship itself is viewed by Allen as the perfect ending to the movie, thereby subverting the genre and our expectations of it.

There are, as well, many non-mainstream works that deal with love in more sophisticated ways, though I’m sure you’re aware of this.

One of the best articles I’ve read about ‘Yeezuz’ to date. A pleasure to read. I prefer ‘Yeezus’ to ‘Dark Fantasy’ for its sheer boldness, but I don’t think West has made a bad album yet. He’s such a great artist and I don’t want to feed his ego by any means but I really don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. A lot of people just talk about his personality.

I love Comedians in Cars. I think it’s his best work and his purest creative and artistic expression. Obviously it doesn’t try as hard, but that’s kind of the point. It’s quite literally a show about nothing, but as he and his guests converse, it becomes a show about pretty much everything.

I agree with you here about the intent. You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about. There’s so much to discuss about this film. I find myself going back to Samantha’s autonomy.