Chris Barsanti – författare

Audacious, weird, and icily ironic, Community was a kind of geek alt-comedy portal, packed with science fiction references, in-jokes that quickly metastasized into their own alternate universe, dark conspiracy-tinged humor, and a sharp yet loving deconstructions of the sitcom genre. At the same time, it also turned into a thoughtful and heartfelt rumination on loneliness, identity, and purpose. The story of Community is the story of the evolution of American comedy. Its creator, Dan Harmon, was an improv comic with a hyperbolically rapid-fire and angrily geeky style. After getting his shot with Community, Harmon poured everything he had into a visionary series about a group of mismatched friends finding solace in their community-college study group. Six Seasons and a Movie: How Community Broke Television is an episode-by-episode deep-dive that excavates a central cultural artifact: a six-season show that rewrote the rules for TV sitcoms and presaged the self-aware, metafictional sensibility so common now in the streaming universe. Pop culture experts Chris Barsanti, Jeff Massey, and Brian Cogan explore its influences and the long tail left by its creators and stars, including Donald Glover’s experiments in music (as rapper Childish Gambino) and TV drama (Atlanta); producers-directors Anthony and Joseph Russo’s emergence as pillars of the Marvel universe (Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War); and Harmon’s subsequent success with the anarchic sci-fi cartoon Rick and Morty.Covering everything from the corporate politics that Harmon and his team endured at NBC to the Easter eggs they embedded in countless episodes, Community: The Show that Broke Television is a rich and heartfelt look at a series that broke the mold of TV sitcoms.

Once upon a time, science fiction was only in the future. It was the stuff of drive-ins and cheap double-bills. Then, with the ever-increasing rush of new, society-altering technologies, science fiction pushed its way to the present, and it busted out of the genre ghetto of science fiction and barged its way into the mainstream. What used to be mere fantasy (trips to the moon? Wristwatch radios? Supercomputers capable of learning?) are now everyday reality. Whether nostalgic for the future or fast-forwarding to the present, this guide covers an enormous range of sci-fi.

New York the self-proclaimed capital of the world, the largest city in the United States, and is known as a melting pot of immigrants, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Wall Street, Broadway, bridges, bodegas, restaurants, museums and so much more. The Handy New York City Answer Book explores the fascinating history, people, myths, culture, and trivia, taking an in-depth look at the city so nice, they named it twice.