A Pretty Good Series On The Reform Party
May 1, 2024 11:14 AM Subscribe
As part of Secret Base's Patreon based restructuring, Internet video troubadour and oddity explainer Jon Bois has ressurected his long defunct Pretty Good series with a three part video on the rise and fall of Henry Ross Perot's political party/personal vehicle - the Reform Party.
While Part 1 is being released generally on YouTube, parts 2 and 3 will be Patreon exclusive for some time (though there are plans to eventually release the full series on YouTube.) Bois also explains that why Pretty Good wound up failing was difficulty in monetization - the purpose of the Patreon is to make it so that they have a revenue stream to support such projects in the future - projects like resurrecting Pretty Good , with videos on the history of slipping on banana peels and a dissection of Independence Day on the schedule.
While Part 1 is being released generally on YouTube, parts 2 and 3 will be Patreon exclusive for some time (though there are plans to eventually release the full series on YouTube.) Bois also explains that why Pretty Good wound up failing was difficulty in monetization - the purpose of the Patreon is to make it so that they have a revenue stream to support such projects in the future - projects like resurrecting Pretty Good , with videos on the history of slipping on banana peels and a dissection of Independence Day on the schedule.
I'm so glad that they're moving to a Patreon model AND that that enables more Pretty Good. Obviously the Randall Cunningham one is among the GOATs (or The Dumbest Boy Alive for the non-sports ones) but really it's hard to pick a loser.
First episode of this miniseries was great, can't wait to watch the rest soon.
posted by supercres at 11:48 AM on May 1
First episode of this miniseries was great, can't wait to watch the rest soon.
posted by supercres at 11:48 AM on May 1
I've got a stack of one million dollar bills, just waiting for the day when Jon releases 20021. Until then, nothing
(For the unfamiliar, 17776 and 20020 are speculative fiction about American Football in the deep future, and 20021 is now three years late for its first promised release.)
posted by Plutor at 11:58 AM on May 1 [5 favorites]
(For the unfamiliar, 17776 and 20020 are speculative fiction about American Football in the deep future, and 20021 is now three years late for its first promised release.)
posted by Plutor at 11:58 AM on May 1 [5 favorites]
That little goofball was right about NAFTA. But good lord, what a proto-Elon in so many ways. Your job is not to rescue hostages, Ross! You're not even good at it! Stay in your lane!
posted by turntraitor at 12:08 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
posted by turntraitor at 12:08 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Looks like Part 1 ends shortly after Perot (spoiler alert) loses the 1996 presidential election, which I'm guessing means that Part 2 is about the 2000 election (both Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump were briefly running--guess which one of them said ''So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, a neo-Nazi, and a communist. This is not company I wish to keep"?), and Part 3 is everything that happened after that.
I can totally see myself subscribing to the Patreon, watching these three videos, then forgetting I've subscribed to it until I get a renewal notification or something--thanks for sharing.
posted by box at 1:10 PM on May 1 [3 favorites]
I can totally see myself subscribing to the Patreon, watching these three videos, then forgetting I've subscribed to it until I get a renewal notification or something--thanks for sharing.
posted by box at 1:10 PM on May 1 [3 favorites]
I feel like we should make a list of all of these indie media projects that are funded through donations. I can name off the top of my head this one, of course, and: 404 Media, Defector, Aftermath and Second Wind.
posted by JHarris at 1:34 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 1:34 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
Looking forward to future posts wherein MeFites will post workaround links to his Patreon videos and avoid paying him! That's how it works around here, isn't it?
I don't think so, no. I'm not one to speak for everyone, but I think you've misjudged the standard aggregate Metafilter opinion towards this sort of thing.
posted by JHarris at 1:37 PM on May 1 [6 favorites]
I don't think so, no. I'm not one to speak for everyone, but I think you've misjudged the standard aggregate Metafilter opinion towards this sort of thing.
posted by JHarris at 1:37 PM on May 1 [6 favorites]
BUH-ROH. Literally yesterday I was googling "what happened to Jon Bois?" Because I couldn't find anything he'd done in forever. My son is the biggest politics/political party wonk. He LOVES cats like Ross Perot, so this is a wonderful confluence of things I love and things he loves.
Also? Hell yes I will pay for this. Patreon is fantastic. Patreon is what allows me to steal media and then throw $10 or $20 or $100 bucks toward the creator. It's a win/win.
posted by nushustu at 2:23 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Also? Hell yes I will pay for this. Patreon is fantastic. Patreon is what allows me to steal media and then throw $10 or $20 or $100 bucks toward the creator. It's a win/win.
posted by nushustu at 2:23 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Free on Youtube after say 2 maybe 3 weeks is reasonable. Anything longer than that and....I won't be watching.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:47 PM on May 1
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:47 PM on May 1
I kind of think we need a MetaTalk post about gift links, paywall workarounds, comments which consist only of an announcement that you won't or can't look at the link, etc., etc.
On the other hand, I am a well-known idiot.
posted by box at 3:04 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, I am a well-known idiot.
posted by box at 3:04 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
This is great and I was just too young to really understand his campaign. This background music is...era appropriate, I guess?
posted by es_de_bah at 3:16 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
posted by es_de_bah at 3:16 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
At roughly 26:30 in the video, "So let me get this straight, a half-hour long video where some dork just sits there and talks about charts all the time? Who would ever watch that?".
I see you Jon Bois. I see you. And I'm delighted that Pretty Good is back and I will throw you a few bucks at Patreon because this is just so much better than the far-too-in-depth-sports stuff that's been done recently.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if Jon Bois ever met Dave Gorman. I feel fireworks would happen.
posted by BigCalm at 3:45 PM on May 1 [3 favorites]
I see you Jon Bois. I see you. And I'm delighted that Pretty Good is back and I will throw you a few bucks at Patreon because this is just so much better than the far-too-in-depth-sports stuff that's been done recently.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if Jon Bois ever met Dave Gorman. I feel fireworks would happen.
posted by BigCalm at 3:45 PM on May 1 [3 favorites]
"what happened to Jon Bois?"
Check out anything labelled Dork Town, Chart Party or the History Of series on the Secret Base YouTube channel.
Basically anything with a line graph on a Google map on the splash imagine of the videos.
posted by Reyturner at 5:10 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
Check out anything labelled Dork Town, Chart Party or the History Of series on the Secret Base YouTube channel.
Basically anything with a line graph on a Google map on the splash imagine of the videos.
posted by Reyturner at 5:10 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
oh my GOD, the topics of the upcoming season of Pretty Good
I think I am fully persuaded to pay five bucks a month solely for "a history of slipping on banana peels"
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:10 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
I think I am fully persuaded to pay five bucks a month solely for "a history of slipping on banana peels"
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:10 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
The rest of the series is pretty— no, i’ll say it, very good.
Really glad i get to throw Jon a few bones for all the content over the years. Here’s hoping for his return to Breaking Madden.
posted by supercres at 12:35 AM on May 2
Really glad i get to throw Jon a few bones for all the content over the years. Here’s hoping for his return to Breaking Madden.
posted by supercres at 12:35 AM on May 2
I feel like we should make a list of all of these indie media projects that are funded through donations. I can name off the top of my head this one, of course, and: 404 Media, Defector, Aftermath and Second Wind.
Donations? They’ll take donations, but understandably, would like their audience to exchange money for services.
Hi, and thank you for subscribing to 404 Media.
[Defector is] a subscription-based business.
Aftermath is a worker-owned publication that relies entirely on reader subscriptions.
Second Wind is Patreon funded.
posted by zamboni at 6:56 AM on May 2 [5 favorites]
Donations? They’ll take donations, but understandably, would like their audience to exchange money for services.
Hi, and thank you for subscribing to 404 Media.
[Defector is] a subscription-based business.
Aftermath is a worker-owned publication that relies entirely on reader subscriptions.
Second Wind is Patreon funded.
posted by zamboni at 6:56 AM on May 2 [5 favorites]
Yeah, subscriptions is a better word. My using "donations" was largely misspeaking (mistyping). An error.
posted by JHarris at 9:15 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 9:15 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
''So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, a neo-Nazi, and a communist. This is not company I wish to keep"?
Wow, he really didn't like the Communist, huh?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:33 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
Wow, he really didn't like the Communist, huh?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:33 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
Monthly subscriptions? This is what I used to pay for magazines, so the authors and editors would get paid. And then they would have time to do research and write really interesting articles. I love it!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:40 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:40 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
Oh boy, the summary for Episode 3 of the Reform Party series looks juicy:
By the year 2000, what is the Reform platform? Everything. It’s centrism, libertarianism, blood-and-soil authoritarianism, Black nationalism, and communism. It’s pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti-gay rights. Name a thing and it is both for and against that thing. Nothing means anything anymore. Bear witness as the weirdest collection of wingnuts, cranks, careerists and scumbags ever assembled in American politics presides over the righteous and necessary implosion of what inevitably became the pointless anti-movement we call the Reform Party.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:59 AM on May 2 [3 favorites]
By the year 2000, what is the Reform platform? Everything. It’s centrism, libertarianism, blood-and-soil authoritarianism, Black nationalism, and communism. It’s pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti-gay rights. Name a thing and it is both for and against that thing. Nothing means anything anymore. Bear witness as the weirdest collection of wingnuts, cranks, careerists and scumbags ever assembled in American politics presides over the righteous and necessary implosion of what inevitably became the pointless anti-movement we call the Reform Party.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:59 AM on May 2 [3 favorites]
From the first video:
Why Perot Walked Away (WaPo, July 1992), which reports, among other things, that his list of potential VPs included someone who had been dead for two years.
Perot Says He Quit in July to Thwart GOP 'Dirty Tricks' (NYT, October 1992, which reports, among other things, that Perot claims to have a video of a senior Bush campaign person talking with a CIA employee about hacking into Perot's computerized stock-trading program.
posted by box at 1:09 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]
Why Perot Walked Away (WaPo, July 1992), which reports, among other things, that his list of potential VPs included someone who had been dead for two years.
Perot Says He Quit in July to Thwart GOP 'Dirty Tricks' (NYT, October 1992, which reports, among other things, that Perot claims to have a video of a senior Bush campaign person talking with a CIA employee about hacking into Perot's computerized stock-trading program.
posted by box at 1:09 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]
When part 3 releases on Youtube in September, a lot of people (esp here, i’d wager) are going to despise the ending. I can’t wait. (I loved it, especially with the news cycle we’re in.)
posted by supercres at 4:30 PM on May 2
posted by supercres at 4:30 PM on May 2
Here’s hoping for his return to Breaking Madden.
I thought about this for the first time in a while recently when my son had his 18 month checkup, revealing he was 84th percentile for weight, 16th for height. So obviously I had to send my partner a link to BEEFTANK to explain what I was chuckling about.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:02 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]
I thought about this for the first time in a while recently when my son had his 18 month checkup, revealing he was 84th percentile for weight, 16th for height. So obviously I had to send my partner a link to BEEFTANK to explain what I was chuckling about.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:02 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]
Just finished part three and hoo boy Jon Bois remains an absolute storytelling god huh
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:58 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:58 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]
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