Says Jerry Seinfeld, interviewed by David Remnick, in "The Scholar of Comedy/Jerry Seinfeld on how to write jokes, the ending of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' and the world-historical struggle to invent the Pop-Tart" (The New Yorker).
That movie about inventing the Pop-Tart was not sponsored by the company that makes Pop-Tarts, so it's not like the Barbie movie. I was glad to see that, so let me show you the trailer:
Nice effort at setting things in 1963 — including a scene in the Oval Office with JFK — so why use the David Bowie recording of "Rebel, Rebel," which came out in 1974? Is everything on the top 100 for 1963 not Pop-Tarty enough? Couldn't get the rights for "My Boyfriend's Back" or "Walk Like a Man" or "Easier Said Than Done" or "Da Doo Ron Ron"?
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I expect I shall not be the first to point out that Pop Tarts are made not by Post, but by "Kellanova," which apparently is the new name for Kellogg's.
Looks very funny to me.
And, Ann, don’t go all IMDB goofs on us with that comment about the date of the release of that Bowie song. It’s a movie!
Reminds me of an episode of the History Channel's "The Food That Built America"! I love all of the "... That Built America" shows. Marking my calendar for the Pop-Tart movie, LOL.
"I expect I shall not be the first to point out that Pop Tarts are made not by Post, but by "Kellanova," which apparently is the new name for Kellogg's."
Sorry. Fixed. The movie is about the 2 companies — Post and Kellogg — competing to be the equivalent of the first to make a toaster pastry — with absurd parallels to the space race and landing on the moon.
I strongly suspect I've just seen the best part of this show. Is this some kind of Wes Anderson creation?
The Coen Brothers did this far better (and with far fewer words) in three minutes in the hula-hoop sequence in The Hudsucker Proxy.
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”
Letter from a dog owner to Pop Tart long ago, "My dog, who eats her own feces, won't touch your Pop Tart."
I should stop watching trailers. If they are good, I end up disappointed by the movie (i.e. Argylle). If they are bad, I don't go to the movie, sometimes to my later regret (i.e. Frozen).
This trailer looked very good. Glad I will be able to watch the movie on Netflix, so I won't feel foolish if I walk out in the middle.
"...The ego and fallacy of it, the vanity of it. And his book, of course, disproves all of it, because he wrote this thing for himself, and it lived on centuries beyond his life...."
I know Seinfeld is brilliant, but I wonder if he's missing the point badly?
Receive the gifts of fortune without pride, and part with them without reluctance
It's a rare mind that can make the philosophy of humility immortal, across time and culture. I would have thought Seinfeld would embrace the virtue.
Family moved out of US before poptart caught on so did not experience one until much later. And was a crazy cinamon toast fan anyway. So you can guess my favorite poptart....
Great sixties vibe to the trailer.
Jerry's right.
In a hundred years (probably much less) nobody will give a fuck about any of us.
Who had Seinfeld as one of those guys who thinks daily about the Roman Empire on their bingo card?
Included Rebel, Rebel to appeal to the Trans Community.
I'd forgotten how absolutely stunning "Rebel, Rebel" is. My God, what a musical triumph.
I enjoy the occasional toaster pastry, but only the unfrosted PopTarts. They are increasingly hard to find.
"Post and Kellogg — competing to be the equivalent of the first to make a toaster pastry — with absurd parallels to the space race and landing on the moon."
But isn't that what's great about America? Coming up with an idea for something that you think people will like, and running with it? You can't know for sure it's going to fly, but you try anyway.
Or, I suppose, there's the leftist approach: "How can you even think about wasting resources on *fill in the blank* when so many are *fill in the blank*? Of course, the blanks will always be filled in by the prog left, won't they?
He talks about pop tarts while he expects police to defend him and his pals like Larry David from radical Muslims.
There is a point where I don't give a shit about what happens to cossetted assholes like either of them. That point is now. Remove all special police protection from them and their families, because they're so fucking ungrateful. If they can't acknowledge the special protections from taxpayer funded police whom they often mock, screw them and their wives and children. They can afford their own security.
They broke the social contract.
Aurelius legacy was stoicism not his son commodus which became the villain in gladiator
Nice effort at setting things in 1963 — including a scene in the Oval Office with JFK — so why use the David Bowie recording of "Rebel, Rebel," which came out in 1974? Is everything on the top 100 for 1963 not Pop-Tarty enough? Couldn't get the rights for "My Boyfriend's Back" or "Walk Like a Man" or "Easier Said Than Done" or "Da Doo Ron Ron"?
Agree with this - they certainly could have used several Motown songs (just down the pike from Battle Creek) or something like "Sally Go Round the Roses" or "Wild Weekend."
My Darling Hubby and I struggle to find anything - anything - that we both want to watch. He likes violent/war/sci-fi stuff and I like nominally non-gross-out comedies. I don't know if this is targeted to our generation (Althouse generation) or something else, but it is now on our Netflix watchlist.
Reminds me of an episode of the History Channel's "The Food That Built America"! I love all of the "... That Built America"
Same here. I'm guessing Jerry and a few of his friends saw that show and came up w the idea for the movie on the spot.
And the freeze-dried breakfast treat before pop-tarts was ... Post Corn Flakes and Strawberries cereal.
Text on the back of the cereal box read, "Now! Because of a Wonderful New Discovery... Freeze-dried Strawberries come inside this Box with Crisp Corn Flakes... Just Add Milk... Refold Special Inner Foil Bag... No Special Storage."
Corn Flakes & Strawberries cereal only last a couple of years. The main complaints it received was that the strawberry pieces got mushy in milk and stuck to roof of your mouth.
Mr. Breakfast
I've been watching some UK panel shows, with some interest in terms in use across the ocean. The "working class" comic Lee Mack casually mentioned the Pop Tart, and a couple "posh" panelists were mystified at the reference.
Surprised that they all seem quite familiar with Judge Judy, Fred Flintstone, Scooby Do.
Looks funny to me too, DB. Not everyone will appreciate the comedy.
Could Seinfeld finally break down my Netflix avoidance?
Cable has sucked lately.
Go ahead and read the whole book, Jerry.
The trailer gives me hope. That's rare.
They even brought back Seinfeld's hair.
You are correct, Ann. IMO the song “Wipeout”would have definitely expressed the ethos of that era.
1963? So too soon for “Fortunate Son” or even “Eve of Destruction.”
Re foods that made America and a bunch of other shows like. I used to love watching them because I work with them.
I spent some time in the Bethlehem PA plant that makes peeps, gummies, jellie beans and so on.
I saw pretty much everything in the plant except how they put the eyes on the peeps. Top secret they told me. Only a few people allowed in the room. I had a pretty good guess how (modified hot glue machine) but kept quiet.
A year later How It's Made did a segment where they showed how the eyes were applied. As I had guessed.
Some time later I met someone from the plant and asked if the process was still secret. They assured me it was.
Didn't believe me when I said I'd seen it on TV.
John Henry
Walk like a Man, with its ridiculous falsetto, could be a trans anthem.
I canceled Netflix a few years ago when, on the same day they announced hiring Obama they raised the subscription by 20% or so.
Then when t-mobile took over from sprint, they threw Netflix into the package while cutting my cellular bill by a third.
I was going to watch unfrosted because seinfeld. Now I see the trailer I can't wait
John Henry
Nice effort at setting things in 1963 — including a scene in the Oval Office with JFK — so why use the David Bowie recording of "Rebel, Rebel," which came out in 1974? Is everything on the top 100 for 1963 not Pop-Tarty enough?
The majority of Netflix subscribers wouldn't know any of the top 100 from 1963 or associate those songs with that year. There's probably quite a few of them who are only vaguely aware of who David Bowie was. Mrs. NorthOfTheOneOhOne's 26 year old daughter told us today that she can't get her head around the fact that her mother, father and myself were all born in the early 1960's ('64, '62, 63 respectively). There is no frame of reference there. The majority of the population relate to you the way you once related to WWI. You are from from a bygone era! So are most of us on this blog!
Jerry Seinfeld is selling himself a bit short. His show was a 90s classic, and it will be syndicated until the USA pulls the plug on television entirely. As a brief cultural unifier, it will have significance for as long as there are Americans who remembered it well.
Three thoughts.
1. As someone who has lived through this time the anachronistic music irked me. A bit baffling as well since Seinfeld, a very astute guy, is trying to recreate and spoof a time that he knows very well.
2. I saw another clip that has Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger coming up with the "Great" slogan. That, and other bits, makes this something I'll definitely give a try the next time I subscribe to Netlix.
3. Marcus who?
Corn Flakes & Strawberries cereal only last a couple of years.
75% of all new products fail in 2-4 years. They actually fail a lot faster but stay on life support because nobody in marketing wants to admit they made a mistake.
It just needs a little more time. Or maybe if we change the logo. Or a different color etc.
Nope. It's dead. Kill it and try something else
A friend of mine has become quite wealthy helping companies bury dead products quickly instead of keeping the corpse around until it gets too stinky
John Henry
Casa Blanca: “Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.“
I'll second NorthOfTheOneOhOne's comment, and even go a bit further. Stylistic trends and genres rarely if ever align with the calendar. It seems to me that 1963 marks the start of the decline in popularity of theDoo-wop style songs you listed. Most people are going to think "1950s" when they hear those tunes, as an example the music video for Billy Joel's doo-wop styled 'Uptown Girl', because the Beatles break out the next year with an entirely different guitar-based blues/ballad soloistic sound that dominates well into the 1970s. Even though "Rebel, Rebel" might have been released in 1974 (again, towards the end of the pre-synthesizer rock era), the sound is going to be what people associate with the "1960s".
David Bowie wrote only one guitar riff in his career and it was an outstanding hook. Despite the (IMO) impenetrable lyrics I still love Rebel Rebel. Maybe the Pop-Tarts movie people are proposing that song is timeless. Or the young music editor was told to “put some Okay Boomer music in there” and it’s all the same to him/her/they.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
-Marcus Aurelius
Nothing in that trailer made me laugh. hmmm.
I love Jerry.
"Jerry Seinfeld is selling himself a bit short. His show was a 90s classic, and it will be syndicated until the USA pulls the plug on television entirely. As a brief cultural unifier, it will have significance for as long as there are Americans who remembered it well."
He knows that. He's likening himself to Marcus Aurelius. The likeness is twofold: 1. He's made a lasting and important contribution to the culture, and 2. He adopted a state of mind that excluded thoughts of the significance of his contribution.
Is Jerry screwing up #2 but openly talking about #1? He's a comedian. Paradoxes are funny.
"And, Ann, don’t go all IMDB goofs on us with that comment about the date of the release of that Bowie song. It’s a movie!"
That's why I talked about the decisionmaking process in coming up with a soundtrack and speculated they could have thought that nothing from 1963 was Pop-Tarty enough and offered a few actual 1963 songs to consider.
Never was a fan of poptarts. The movie however is going to be fun to watch. Bill Burr as JFK is funny already. Lots of godd comedians.
"Even though "Rebel, Rebel" might have been released in 1974 (again, towards the end of the pre-synthesizer rock era), the sound is going to be what people associate with the "1960s"."
But 1963 isn't "the 60s." The early 60s, especially while JFK was still alive, stands apart from the 60s, post-assassination, after the arrival of The Beatles (and, more specifically for "Rebel Rebel," The Rolling Stones). That "60s" did, as is often observed, include the early 70s.
I think if you're really concentrating on the Kennedy era, you should use songs from that era or at least a soundtrack that reflects the music of that era.
That was the year The Beach Boys emerged. The #1 song of the year is "Surfin' USA."
Ann Althouse said...
But 1963 isn't "the 60s." The early 60s, especially while JFK was still alive, stands apart from the 60s, post-assassination, after the arrival of The Beatles (and, more specifically for "Rebel Rebel," The Rolling Stones). That "60s" did, as is often observed, include the early 70s.
Hollywood has trained a lot of people to think that one second after 12/31/1959: 11:59:59 The Youngbloods's "Get Together" started playing, men sprouted long hair and beards, women sprouted mini skirts and they all dropped acid when Woodstock happened 10 minutes later. That's not your reality, but it is to a lot of people.
I know how you feel, if the question were put to me (born during the last 2 days of the Kennedy administration) I'd say it was all Henry Mancini, Dionne Warwick and Herb Alpert. That's what I remember from a few years later because that's the kind of music my parents listened to at the time.
I think if you're really concentrating on the Kennedy era, you should use songs from that era or at least a soundtrack that reflects the music of that era.
I’m quite opposed to tossing artistic license into the bin. It is clearly a fictional, fantastical depiction much like every period piece so for me the criticism is the kind of whiny arrogance that wrecks movies…
Healthline lists the 15 unhealthiest junk foods in America. Pop-Tarts are rated #1.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/unhealthiest-junk-foods
I haven't read much of Marcus Aurelius, though I do have his "Meditations" on my bookshelf. My favorite passage of his (of those I've read so far) is:
"In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors; life a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion"
In succinct and beautiful language, he perfectly and accurately sums up human existence.
Well, in Barry Lyndon that ratbastard Kubrick used the music of Franz Schubert, who hadn't even been born during the time span of the movie.
But nobody complained.
The majority of Netflix subscribers wouldn't know any of the top 100 from 1963 or associate those songs with that year.
True, but Seinfeld isn't some hack trying to quickly crank out product. He's an very wealthy guy who cares about what he does. If he just thought about money and not the quality of his work, he would have done a couple more seasons of Seinfeld. What he does now is for his own edification.
Movies cast a spell. He, and anyone in his age bracket, knows that David Bowie is not part of that era. That could perahps break the spell he's trying to create.
The song that I think would have worked and given a similar energy and upbeat tempo, would be "Going to a go-go". Especially the musically intro which could be looped. Someone mentioned "wipeout", which I aslo think would have acheived the same thing.
It’s a movie!
But if the movie is set in some historical time period, and one has knowledge pertinent to the time period, then a short scene with an anachronisms can really spoil the whole movie. Westerns where cowboys fire more than 6 rounds from a revolver without reloading are spoiled for me (yes, I do count). Also Doc Holliday firing 3 times from a double-barreled shotgun in “Tombstone.” And “The Searchers” is widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest westerns, but it’s set in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, presumably 1867 or 1868, and the characters carry Colt revolvers that weren’t produced until 1873. Also Winchester rifles not produced until that same year. (Worse yet, a friend pointed out to me that in the fight between the posse and the Comanches at the river John Wayne is using a Winchester Model 1892.
And you should hear what fencers have to say about a lot of the movie swordplay! (Interestingly, “The Princess Bride” is an exception.)
Ozymandias was a late bloomer when it came to oblivion. Fred Allen--how many here recognize the name but he was as big as Seinfeld in his moment--has now achieved oblivion. The title of his memoir was "Treadmill to Oblivion". It's still in print, although sales are probably less than those for Marcus Aurelius. I haven't read "Meditations" but I did read "Treadmill to Oblivion". I can't remember a single thing about it, except for the cool title. Most of us achieve oblivion long before death, and those are my meditations on the subject.
Seinfeld makes the banal mysterious again. Why is the cereal guy making a movie about pop-tarts?
Well, in Barry Lyndon that ratbastard Kubrick used the music of Franz Schubert, who hadn't even been born during the time span of the movie.
I think for me and most people Classical Music is immune to any criticism of being anachronistic because of it's widespread use as background music in different settings. I guess an exception would be if the film was about a classical composer, such as "Amadeus".
I don't think "Rebel, Rebel" is in the movie, just the trailer.
Doesn't look like they used any pop songs. That's disappointing, if so.
why use the David Bowie recording of "Rebel, Rebel," which came out in 1974?
Because Seinfeld (or somebody) liked "Rebel Rebel", and 99%+ of the audience wouldn't notice/care. (That JFK was kinda weak, too.)
Jimmy Gilmer's "Sugar Shack", *the* biggest hit of 1963 (five weeks at #1), would be the obvious choice.
That looks terrible.
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