Hey! Sam Sanders here. Thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. 

First, gotta tell you all how excited I am about this week’s guest on the show. Brian Jordan Alvarez and Stephanie Koenig stopped by the studio to talk about their critically acclaimed FX hit English Teacher. In the show, Brian and Stephanie play high school teachers in Texas working through prickly social issues with their students and community. And as an added layer of complication, Brian’s character is an out gay man still figuring out how much of his life he can live out loud. 

The show does an incredible job of hitting on hot-button issues in a roundabout way. Whether it’s drag and gender identity, or gun safety on campus, the show consistently surprises viewers in the ways it confronts these topics with humor and a hint of subversion. The joke density is high on this one, and the episodes always leave you wanting more once they’re done. So much so that I was able to finish the entire season in a single Saturday. It’s that addictive! 

Brian and Stephanie told me that setting this office comedy in a school made for the perfect environment for resolvable conflict. Think about it: Schools have several generations of people in them, as well as all different types of political persuasions. And, because of the nature of a school, no one gets to run away from each other or retreat to their respective corners; everyone has to eat in the same cafeteria and spend hours together each day in the same building.

This got me wondering: What’s the best place to set a workplace or ensemble comedy? Schools, for sure. Hospitals work as well (remember Scrubs?). Police departments also work, as evidenced by Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Reno 911!, and one of my favorite slapstick comedy films of all time, Super Troopers. Other locations seem to be tailor-made for office *dramas,* like the White House in The West Wing, or a courtroom, as with every single courtroom drama ever made. If you could make your own coworker/office comedy, where would you set it? And why there? Lemme know by replying to this email and I’ll discuss your picks in the next newsletter. (Someone please pick zoos; I’ve always wondered why we don’t have more TV shows and movies set in zoos! They’ve got everything, including animals!)

With that, I’d like to make a recommendation: 

I saw Anora last weekend and it lived up to all the hype I consumed about this film for the last few weeks. It’s already a frontrunner in the Oscar Best Picture race and the film’s star, Mikey Madison, is a shoo-in for a Best Actress nomination. The film is all about a New York sex worker who ends up marrying a very rich and very young client. The central question of the entire film is whether that marriage will last. Equal parts raunchy-Pretty Woman and comedic-caper film, Anora alternates beautifully between laughter and tears with a frenetic pace and shooting style akin to that of one of my favorites in recent years, Uncut Gems. I highly recommend checking this film out as soon as possible. It won’t disappoint, and the ending will stop you in your tracks. 

What else are you all watching or listening to or reading right now? Reply to this email! I need some recs! 

Till next week, 

-Sam