Trung Phan + Rob Henderson — Talking Television (EP.124)

Is this the greatest crossover event in history? Fresh from their individual appearances on Infinite Loops, Trung Phan and Rob Henderson join forces to discuss TV, film, and why Rob still hasn’t seen Apocalypse Now. Important Links:

• Rob’s Substack
• Rob’s Twitter
• Trung’s Substack
• Trung’s Twitter

Show Notes:

• Hearts of Darkness: one of the craziest stories in Hollywood history
• The beginning of TV’s golden age
• Breadth or depth? The two paths to prestige TV
• What TV can teach you about elite America
• The two ways of watching prestige TV
• How TV shows program us
• The decline of event TV
• Recurring themes and HumanOS
• Succession and signalling
• The Great Reshuffle and Substack
• The 70s: one of the worst American decades of all time
• What will TV be like in 10 years’ time?
• Challenge yourself with art
• Broaden your content horizons

Books Mentioned:

• Heart of Darkness; by Joseph Conrad
• Unflattening; by Nick Sousanis
• The Iliad; by Homer
• The Odyssey; by Homer
• The Da Vinci Code; by Dan Brown
• Infinite Jest; by David Foster Wallace

TV Shows and Films Mentioned:

• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
• Apocalypse Now
• The Shield
• The Godfather
• The Sopranos
• Seinfeld
• All In The Family
• The Wire
• The Simpsons
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Mad Men
• Game of Thrones
• The West Wing
• Roseanne
• Power Rangers
• The O.C.
• Breaking Bad
• Better Call Saul
• The Truman Show
• Back to the Future
• I Love Lucy
• Succession
• Will and Grace
• Severance
• House of Cards
• Stranger Things
• Office Space
• Euphoria
• Avengers: End Game
• Top Gun Maverick
• The Office
• Parasite