NewsRadio: Mr. James reads from his memoir, Jimmy James: Capitalist Lion Tamer, after having the Japanese version translated back into English (now titled Jimmy James: Macho Business Donkey Wrestler).
Koyaanisqatsi: (Read the wiki for an idea of what it is.) The computer’s not the ideal format, but watched in high-res mode with a good monitor and the sound turned up high you don’t lose all that much. Totally hypnotizing, especially once it gets to clips of human society and engineering around the 20-minute mark. Probably mind-blowing if you’re under the influence, though I’ve never tried it.
Denpa Shonen. The infamous Japanese gameshow where they locked a comedian in a room naked and forced him to live off only what he could win from magazine competitions.
There were subsequent seasons where they forced contestants to do even more absurd stuff. See the wikipedia entry for a description.
The gripping first episode of American Gothic, a creepy, funny show with a brilliant turn by Gary Cole as the evil Sheriff Lucas Buck, who rules over his tiny southern town with an iron … shovel. The show only lasted a season, but since they knew it was being cancelled, they did get to finish the story, and I believe all 22 eps are on Hulu.
Unfortunately, to allow the creators to make it even as far as those 22 episodes, CBS – just like demonic Sheriff Buck – demanded some compromises and sacrifices and that meant getting rid of my favorite cast member. But it’s still a helluva entertaining series.
Perhaps not all that cool, but it sure amused all of my work colleagues.
Go to about minute 34 in this episode of Fringe, and the Ohio State University campus on which I work is mentioned. Best of all, she pronounces it correctly. Wooster does not rhyme with rooster. (The movie “We Are Marshall” got it wrong.)
But it’s still a helluva entertaining series.