Ctrl Alt Delete: a workplace comedy set in an abortion clinic
September 9, 2019 10:25 AM   Subscribe

Like “The Office” if it were set in an abortion clinic: Actors Roni Geva and Margaret Katch created the web series Ctrl Alt Delete—now in its second season and with two Emmy nominations under its belt—after reflecting on their own abortion experiences years earlier. Now, the show has support from veteran actors Ed Begley Jr. (who plays an abortion doctor in the second season) and consulting producer Amy Brenneman. “Most women we talked to had zero guilt or shame and if they did, it was because other people made them feel that way,” says Katch. “Most women feel relief. That is really something we wanted to bring to light.” All episodes of seasons one and two are available on Vimeo.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl (21 comments total) 56 users marked this as a favorite
 
I really cannot tell whether this counts as a loss.jpg joke.
posted by jsnlxndrlv at 10:29 AM on September 9, 2019 [30 favorites]


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posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 10:37 AM on September 9, 2019 [17 favorites]


God I thought I was having a stroke.
posted by gc at 11:05 AM on September 9, 2019 [8 favorites]


It has to be a "Loss" joke, right? Maybe I've just been spending too much time online...
posted by Sangermaine at 11:07 AM on September 9, 2019 [2 favorites]


It's not a Loss joke because Loss was about the undesired termination of a pregnancy.

I do feel like they could have spent a couple of minutes googling the title of their series before they went all-in on it, though.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:18 AM on September 9, 2019 [12 favorites]


Oh for God’s sake. I’m starting to feel I should not have included the title of the show in the header. You realize the comic that inspired loss.jpg is about a character’s miscarriage, not an abortion, right? Miscarriages and abortions are different things, even though they are both related to the end of a pregnancy.

Anyway, I have no idea if it’s too late to re-rail after four jokes/references to a different topic, but it’s a pretty good show, and I’d recommend it if you’re curious about how one could make a comedy about an abortion clinic.

On preview: jinx tobascodagama
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:21 AM on September 9, 2019 [25 favorites]


I'm excited about actually watching this! The entire physical and emotional space around abortion clinics tends to be weirdly warped, but then you get inside and it's, you know, a doctor's office. I could totally see how the juxtaposition lends itself to an office comedy.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:35 AM on September 9, 2019 [5 favorites]


The show seems fine, I'll have to check it out - I am kinda surprised that a web series can get nominated for an Emmy? There's no requirement to be on broadcast TV or something? Huh.
posted by GuyZero at 11:47 AM on September 9, 2019


I am kinda surprised that a web series can get nominated for an Emmy? There's no requirement to be on broadcast TV or something? Huh.

In fact, it's such an odd category that writer Megan Amram based two seasons of her web series An Emmy for Megan on the premise, and was nominated for both seasons!
posted by xingcat at 11:51 AM on September 9, 2019 [9 favorites]


Ooh, thanks for highlighting this show, it seems really interesting. Bookmarking to watch it later.
posted by gaybobbie at 11:53 AM on September 9, 2019 [2 favorites]


Ha! This looks great! I love that women all over are so cleverly fighting back against the idea that abortion is a huge big deal. That it warps a woman's mind for life. Maybe it can be that for some, but it certainly isn't that for many. We've let men and religious groups tell us how we feel about this procedure for waaaayyy too long.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 11:59 AM on September 9, 2019 [23 favorites]


This is hilarious. Seen two episodes so far. Love it.

(I will admit that I, too, originally thought about the webcomic).
posted by quaking fajita at 3:44 PM on September 9, 2019


This show looks great, plan on binging tomorrow. I love these 3rd gen Michael Schur influenced shows.

I know about the loss.jpeg comic, but what does that have to do with the title?
posted by kittensofthenight at 5:17 PM on September 9, 2019


The comic strip loss.jpeg is from a webcomic called Ctrl Alt Delete.

Ok I watched the rest of it. Second season solidly funny. First season I liked the funny episodes better than the touching ones.
posted by quaking fajita at 5:41 PM on September 9, 2019


I definitely felt the series was much more cohesive and polished in its second season. I could not fathom how they’d make a bomb scare storyline funny, but they did! Yet they acknowledged the seriousness of the threats they face, too.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:41 PM on September 9, 2019 [1 favorite]


Okay, but for real I want the 'ask me about not breeding' button.
posted by dinty_moore at 9:05 PM on September 9, 2019 [1 favorite]


Came for the loss.jpg, stayed for the even funnier humor
posted by Anonymous at 4:44 AM on September 10, 2019


If "funnier than the c-a-d webcomic" is your bar for entertainment you're not going to have trouble finding media you enjoy. Finding creators who are less gross seems sadly challenging these days, though.
posted by phearlez at 1:42 PM on September 10, 2019


oh the second season was so good!! couldn't find out at a glance, but i hope they're making more

(there's like 30 seconds of a guy being ignorant but insistent about trans people in the middle of season two)
posted by gaybobbie at 5:43 PM on September 10, 2019


If "funnier than the c-a-d webcomic" is your bar for entertainment you're not going to have trouble finding media you enjoy. Finding creators who are less gross seems sadly challenging these days, though.

Ha, loss.jpg was not CAD humor, it was making fun of CAD and how terrible it is. Which is not to say that's the pinnacle of humor either, but they tend to give me a sensible chuckle.
posted by Anonymous at 5:24 AM on September 11, 2019


And the real danger was having to rely on capricious funding by individuals all along.

I liked it! The second season worked better than the first, but even in the first season it's still nice to just see different abortion stories from all sorts of people.

This would require another set, but I do think that there could be more done about the weird liminal space that surrounds abortion clinics, though. Like, there's this ring where it's normal for people to just scream that you're a murderer, but it's not like you can't recognize the same people outside of this space, and it's not like abortion clinics are ever really that isolated in urban areas. If you've ever been at a protest where protesters and counter-protesters have ended up at the same McDonalds or gas station afterwards, it would be kind of like that, but daily.

I did like the scolding for eleven feet, and the "Oh, I have six sisters" "DOES ANGIE KNOW?!"
posted by dinty_moore at 7:46 AM on September 11, 2019 [1 favorite]


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