TV: With Bob And David
Mr Show, with David Cross and Bob Odenkirk was a wildly successful cult hit in the late 90s. Perhaps inevitably, in the light of the pair’s individual triumphs in Arrested Development and Better Call Saul, Netflix has given them the opportunity to revisit the sketch-show template. This feels a little broader and more populist than its predecessor but it’s still good fun; it’s full of belly laughs but with flashes of absurdist humour, too.
Netflix
TV: Professor Green: Suicide And Me
BBC3’s documentary output is often maligned but this moving, heartfelt film deserves to be widely seen. Rapper Green (AKA Stephen Manderson) lost his dad to suicide and this doc sees him returning to his north London roots to talk to various friends and family members about what went wrong. The journey contains many uncomfortable but valuable truths about a particular kind of tightly wound masculinity, but also plenty of redemptive moments as Manderson comes to terms with an aspect of his family’s past that has always plagued him. Excellent.
Radio: Amazing Grace
Interviewing Grace Jones can apparently be a somewhat intimidating experience. But, as Gemma Cairney finds out, if you can get her onside, she’s got some brilliant stories to tell. This thoroughly entertaining two-hour conversation ranges far and wide, with the gloriously opinionated and indiscreet Jones discussing everything from staying up for days on strong LSD to body-building. Hackneyed as it is, that title seems about right.
Video: The Last Lesbian Bars
Why are lesbian bars in such apparently rapid decline? “Lesbians like to pair up and get a U-Haul and get married,” reckons one San Franciscan. This documentary fronted by former Le Tigre member JD Samson explores an issue with resonance beyond the US. There’s considerable social history tied up in these spaces; they were fought for, sometimes even physically. Samson’s conclusion is partly positive: the wider world is simply more accepting, so the need is less urgent. But even so, these aren’t just places to hook up; real issues of community are at stake.
Audio: That’s Not Metal Premium
It is metal, though. Very much so. This podcast, presented by Terry Bezer and Stephen Hill, missed a trick by not calling its new spinoff service That’s Not Metal Platinum (the most valuable metal of all). Otherwise, from new developments to informed trawls through riff-history, this is entertaining and exemplary.
