Presidential administration/TV mash-ups
January 25, 2017 4:29 PM Subscribe
The past 10 presidencies, explained by the TV shows that defined them recollects Todd VanDerWerff, Vox
[As regards The Dick Van Dyke Show being emblematic of the JFK era]:
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:40 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Plus, Van Dyke and his TV wife, Mary Tyler Moore, look a little like JFK and Jackie if you squint.I think any thirtyish white straight couple on TV in 1961 would pass this test.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:40 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I feel like a more in-depth article should go into specific presidential terms. Bush's second term could correspond to one of the seasons of Deadwood.
We should also consider shows that correspond to other POTUS-related events of great importance. Westworld can be regarded as the show that made the final months of the 2016 campaign.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:46 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
We should also consider shows that correspond to other POTUS-related events of great importance. Westworld can be regarded as the show that made the final months of the 2016 campaign.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:46 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Article makes a good argument for 24, but I think the show that most closely hits all the notes of the Bush presidency is Arrested Development.
It's got everything. Housing crash, Iraq war, economic meltdown, all gleefully skated through by some of the worst people on the planet.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 4:47 PM on January 25, 2017 [17 favorites]
It's got everything. Housing crash, Iraq war, economic meltdown, all gleefully skated through by some of the worst people on the planet.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 4:47 PM on January 25, 2017 [17 favorites]
Also, the Bush Dynasty actually runs a banana stand in their home town.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 4:59 PM on January 25, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 4:59 PM on January 25, 2017 [5 favorites]
For the Clinton years, there should be a special mention for the West Wing. It reinvented the Clinton Administration, made it more progressive and less scandal-prone, and then carried it through the Bush years as a shadow opposition government of sorts.
Seinfeld and Friends are probably better choices for the post OKC bombing Clinton presidency. By then, the conspiracies and weirdness of the late 80s, early 90s had faded into the background. A peaceful, pastel dullness creeps over everything. Young-ish people think they have a future and worry only about the most inconsequential things.
For the second half of the Bush administration, Battlestar Galactica should be towards the top of the list. Lost also works for the general zeitgeist of "we have no idea what the fuck is going on and it's rather disturbing." Arrested Development is also perfect.
And while it's not a TV show, the Matrix is the perfect bridge for Clinton to Bush. The go-go sheen of 1999.com mixed with the fear and loathing of just two years later.
posted by honestcoyote at 5:00 PM on January 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
Seinfeld and Friends are probably better choices for the post OKC bombing Clinton presidency. By then, the conspiracies and weirdness of the late 80s, early 90s had faded into the background. A peaceful, pastel dullness creeps over everything. Young-ish people think they have a future and worry only about the most inconsequential things.
For the second half of the Bush administration, Battlestar Galactica should be towards the top of the list. Lost also works for the general zeitgeist of "we have no idea what the fuck is going on and it's rather disturbing." Arrested Development is also perfect.
And while it's not a TV show, the Matrix is the perfect bridge for Clinton to Bush. The go-go sheen of 1999.com mixed with the fear and loathing of just two years later.
posted by honestcoyote at 5:00 PM on January 25, 2017 [7 favorites]
Trump is that shitty Infowars take-off from the new X-Files.
posted by Artw at 5:02 PM on January 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 5:02 PM on January 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
That mention of The X-Files for Clinton rings especially true if you saw the second movie I Want To Believe, during which Mulder and Scully are temporarily called back into service during the Bush Jr. administration and reflect briefly on the change.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:14 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:14 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Good choices. It seems to me the Trump era needs an "All in the Family" reboot for the benefit of both sides. Not for "har har har he's racist" reasons, but because a show with that kind of structure that is intelligently written could really reach a wide swath of people right now.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:33 PM on January 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:33 PM on January 25, 2017 [4 favorites]
I could never get into the West Wing for much the reasons honestcoyote mentions. It was too depressing to see this fantasy alternate liberal White House. To me, it seemed like so much playing with action figures. But then, I was more libertarian then and more cynical, a heavier drinker. I should maybe give it another chance. Storytelling is vitally important as a bearer of hope.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:39 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 5:39 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Also, the Bush Dynasty actually runs a banana stand in their home town.
Well of course they do. All the money is in the banana stand.
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:47 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Well of course they do. All the money is in the banana stand.
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:47 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would have gone for Hawaii Five-O for Nixon. Started in 1968, it had that law-and-order mentality that went with Nixon and was shameless in parading around the red Chinese menace, Wo Fat.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:09 PM on January 25, 2017
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:09 PM on January 25, 2017
Arrested Development defines the Trump years, or at least the administration. Except Ivanka is Michael.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:28 PM on January 25, 2017
posted by Going To Maine at 7:28 PM on January 25, 2017
Except Ivanka is Michael.
In season 4 we find out she was a jerk the whole time?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:59 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
In season 4 we find out she was a jerk the whole time?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:59 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
the Trump years is every socio-political documentary you didn't watch and thus just let all of the terrible shit that is happening now happen because nobody cared enough except for a tiny audience of people who were all rabid about it
but like everybody's starting to watch those documentaries now even though it's way too late while the folks who were watching those documentaries are only watching the local news now because they're realizing that the grassroots is where we have to turn back to in order to build something durable again
posted by runt at 8:32 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
but like everybody's starting to watch those documentaries now even though it's way too late while the folks who were watching those documentaries are only watching the local news now because they're realizing that the grassroots is where we have to turn back to in order to build something durable again
posted by runt at 8:32 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's tiny in the big picture, but amongst the many awful impacts of Trumps's victory, Ron Swanson isn't nearly as endearingly quirky in current light.
posted by dry white toast at 8:43 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dry white toast at 8:43 PM on January 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
The theme from The World at War would go pretty well over footage of Trumps miserable shitty face as he scowls at Melania or thinks about black people or whatever.
posted by Artw at 9:01 PM on January 25, 2017
posted by Artw at 9:01 PM on January 25, 2017
Not for "har har har he's racist" reasons, but because a show with that kind of structure that is intelligently written could really reach a wide swath of people right now.
It really couldn't. The era of mass media as it was is over, it shattered in the 2000s. We don't have that kind of shared cultural media experience anymore. Any attempt at that kind of show would be instantly dismissed as liberal propaganda by a significant portion of the population, just like they already do with many news media and other television shows.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:08 PM on January 25, 2017
It really couldn't. The era of mass media as it was is over, it shattered in the 2000s. We don't have that kind of shared cultural media experience anymore. Any attempt at that kind of show would be instantly dismissed as liberal propaganda by a significant portion of the population, just like they already do with many news media and other television shows.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:08 PM on January 25, 2017
Gob = Jeb! It checks out.
posted by crashlanding at 11:06 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by crashlanding at 11:06 PM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
On a serious note, Black-Ish is making a strong play for definitive show of the Trump era.
Only slightly less seriously, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia might fit well.
posted by kewb at 3:43 AM on January 26, 2017
Only slightly less seriously, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia might fit well.
posted by kewb at 3:43 AM on January 26, 2017
Article makes a good argument for 24, but I think the show that most closely hits all the notes of the Bush presidency is Arrested Development.
Great call. I've been rewatching AD lately, and it's striking how firmly set in the Bush years it is.
posted by Emily's Fist at 6:57 AM on January 26, 2017
Great call. I've been rewatching AD lately, and it's striking how firmly set in the Bush years it is.
posted by Emily's Fist at 6:57 AM on January 26, 2017
Also, the Bush Dynasty actually runs a banana stand in their home town.
posted by Foci for Analysis
I see what you did: banana republicans.
posted by mule98J at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Foci for Analysis
I see what you did: banana republicans.
posted by mule98J at 12:16 PM on January 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
My evening plans: watch this thread and favorite all Arrested Development references.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:45 PM on January 26, 2017
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:45 PM on January 26, 2017
Except Ivanka is Michael.
In season 4 we find out she was a jerk the whole time?
Well, two things. First: Michael was always a jerk, and it was always there on the surface. Most of us simply chose to elide those bits. The fourth season just kind of threw that into harsher relief. Second: yes, sort of. This came up for me during the campaign. Ivanka was considered to be the “stable” family member, a narrative that carried through the convention and the notion that her speech was the positive note within the madness, etc.
That said, I also suspect that there’s always a desire to see the opposition as a group of Bluth-like shysters, so even if the weird overlaps with the specifics of the Trump family and the potential for an Arrested Development-style show about them is real (rumors of a prequel-style Season 5 abound), I don’t actually know that it fits the zeitgeist.
posted by Going To Maine at 5:34 PM on January 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
In season 4 we find out she was a jerk the whole time?
Well, two things. First: Michael was always a jerk, and it was always there on the surface. Most of us simply chose to elide those bits. The fourth season just kind of threw that into harsher relief. Second: yes, sort of. This came up for me during the campaign. Ivanka was considered to be the “stable” family member, a narrative that carried through the convention and the notion that her speech was the positive note within the madness, etc.
That said, I also suspect that there’s always a desire to see the opposition as a group of Bluth-like shysters, so even if the weird overlaps with the specifics of the Trump family and the potential for an Arrested Development-style show about them is real (rumors of a prequel-style Season 5 abound), I don’t actually know that it fits the zeitgeist.
posted by Going To Maine at 5:34 PM on January 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
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