September is always a great month for pop culture. The Emmy’s bring a new season of TV shows, including some great new shows this year! And Banned Book Week is a great excuse to check out some fantastic books. Here’s my pop culture obsessions this month!
Listening
I’ve been listening to too much Jason Derulo lately, and a few podcasts. The debates on Monday night had me on high Keepin It 1600 watch, and with the new TV season, I’ve listened to a lot of great The Watch podcast episodes. But, The Nerdist had two great interviews, first with John Stamos who doesn’t do many long form interviews. I didn’t realize what a big Disneyland fan he is. That was fun to learn, Uncle Jesse’s a pretty cool guy still. Max Brooks was also on and had a great interview. He’s a fascinating guy, and not just because of who his parents are!
Watching
My BFF came to visit and instead of doing anything productive on a rainy Saturday, we binge watched Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and it did NOT disappoint. There’s at least two original musical numbers in each episode, and they are not always kid-friendly. The show got rave reviews when it premiered last year but the title was a turn off for me. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance, just like Jane the Virgin, don’t judge a TV show by it’s title.
I also FINALLY finished Season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! Tina Fey wins as a drunk therapist, and I loved the gentrification storyline, and Titus growing up. The cliffhanger leaves me excited for where Season 3 will take us! I hope it includes more Tina Fey!
Early September was all about catching up on TV show’s I was neglecting. In about a week I finally caught up and watched all of Orphan Black Season 4. I think this is a series that’s best binged. So much happens each episode and there’s so many characters (HOORAY for Tatiana Maslaney’s Emmy win, absolutely deserved!) I recommend the binge model for this show!
And Mr Robot ended Season 2 with some great cliffhangers, and I was very happy for that final scene and the return of Joey Baddass.
As a huge TV fan I’m in heaven and overwhelm with the fall premiers. I yelled and cried at the TV when I watched the pilot of This is Us, it’s the best pilot I think I’ve ever seen (well, after LOST). Parks & Rec is my favorite comedy ever so I had high hopes for The Good Place – Ted Danson and (my favorite) Kristen Bell? Yeah, it’s pretty fantastic and I’m very happy with it! This season of Masters of Sex is so far just okay, I find myself checking my twitter and Instagram while watching…The Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl premiers made me happy that those characters are back in our lives. Modern Family and Black-ish were also happy returns to my DVR last week! And I really enjoyed the pilot of Pitch which I wasn’t expecting to. The creator of Pitch also created This is Us – and if you’ve watched them both you know he is clearly working through some daddy issues.
The Parts Unknown premier in Hanoi with President Obama was really fantastic. I wish they’d spent more time on that part of the day, but still, very cool to see POTUS have a beer with Anthony Bourdain.
My dad had recommended The Fundamentals of Caring on Netflix and I watched it last weekend. It’s a very sweet story – and it has my favorite, Paul Rudd in it. If you’re looking for a feel good indy, this is the one for you!
Reading
As I mentioned last month, I read Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. It started out a little slower than I expected but it was a quick and very fun read. For a mystery/thriller with a what happened and who did it story line it did a great job of keeping the suspense going.
I had a few comic book friends recommend Clean Room by Nina Simone, a local Portland comic book writer. I picked up the first trade paper (which included the first 6 issues) and it was so fantastic I went to my comic shop to add it to my box and picked up the back issues I needed. It’s about a Scientology-esque “church” (you know I love a good cult!) and a reporter trying to learn more. I’m enjoying it…
Steve Duin is a columnist for The Oregonian that my dad has read my entire life. I follow him on twitter and occasionally read his column, which is always fantastic. He wrote a graphic novel a few years ago, and is a big fan of the medium. So I caught an article of his earlier this month on banned graphic novels, and picked up This One Summer at Powell’s the next weekend. I figured it was a perfect read for a sunny Sunday on the patio to kick off Banned Book Week. It’s a sweet story, nothing amazing, but a good coming of age story about two girls spending their summer at a lake and what’s happening in the town.
So those are my pop culture finds for September, what are you reading/watching/listening to lately?
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