It’s been a grand year for Arrested Development fans, from the merry-making announcement of a new season to a LEGO rendition of the Bluth universe. This month, it gets even better: Arrested Development and Philosophy: They’ve Made a Huge Mistake enlists 23 contemporary philosophers in dissecting the cult comedy through the kaleidoscopic lens of various schools of thought, from Plato to Aristotle to Freud. Part of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series (which features other such fine titles as Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser, Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside, and The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Muggles), it offers a witty yet surprisingly — or, perhaps, unsurprisingly — insightful meditation on everything from the follies of blind religion (“Don’t Know Thyself: Gob and the Wisdom of Bad Faith” by Daniel P. Malloy) to gender identity (“To Bias Tobias” by Darci Doll) to narrative and how we find meaning (“And Now the Story of a Wealthy Family Who Lost Everything” by Tyler Shores).

We philosophers really need to know the truth (about everything!); we need to know so badly that we even need you to know. If you don’t, we’re unhappy. On the other side of the debate is…basically, everyone else. Sure, when we’re being uncharitable, we’ll point to the MR. F’s and “moron jocks” (Steve Holt (!)) who prefer ignorance, but when we’re being fair, philosophers will admit that there are plenty of smart people who seem to think we’re wrong about self-knowledge being the key to happiness. Since there are no smart people on television, let’s take the Bluths as our guides in reconsidering whether ignorance really is bliss.”

Enlightening, entertaining, and all-around refreshing, you can be sure Arrested Development and Philosophy is no huge mistake.

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I absolutely adore the music of Philip Glass, who is often considered the greatest composer alive, and I love all things Sesame Street — who doesn’t? In 1979, the makers of Sesame Street commissioned Philip Glass to compose music for a series of four unnumbered animation pieces titled Geometry of Circles, designed as a primer for visual thinking — something at the core of both Sesame Street itself and Jim Henson’s original vision that predated his creation of The Muppets. The combination, beautiful and eloquent in a multisensory way, feeds into my obsession with synesthesia and various visualizations of music.

Here is the final piece of the series, from episode 2415, the only high-quality version known to exist online:

Geometry of Circles is available on the excellent 2009 DVD, Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days — a collection of nearly five hours of the best Sesame Street segments from all 40 seasons, including over 50 minutes of rare, never-before-seen backstage footage, interviews and vintage episodes not available online. There are really no words to describe what a treat and treasure this is.

via Image Oscillite

UPDATE: The film was apparently designed, animated, and produced by Cathy Aison, at the time an independent filmmaker who proposed a detailed storyboard to CTW producer Edith Zarnow in 1978. Once the script was approved, Sesame Street contracted her to make the film and she reached out to Philip Glass to record the music based on the storyboarded images. Glass licensed her the music for 20 years, a license that expired in 1999. Says Aison, “Although Sesame Street paid for and owned the rights to the film they were only indirectly the true author.” Aison is currently an art director at Random House’s Vintage Books division.

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Fifty-six years ago today, Sam + Friends — the early live-action puppet TV show by Muppets creator Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane — made its official debut. Its characters, all of whom Henson voiced himself, presaged not only modern icons like Kermit and The Muppets, but even some of today’s cultural archetypes. (One of Sam’s friends was named Harry the Hipster.)

This vintage kinescope from the show’s early days offers a rare look at the dawn of a cultural icon and explores visual thinking, particularly in music — something we’ve recently covered and have an ongoing fascination with.

For more on the story of Sam + Friends, see Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, as well as Chapter 2 of the altogether fantastic Kermit book, Before You Leap: A Frog’s Eye View of Life’s Greatest Lessons.

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We love iconic science fiction author and futurist Isaac Asimov, whose keen insights on creativity in education were a favorite last month. Two years before his death, Asimov recorded a pilot for a TV series synthesizing his visionary ideas about where humanity is going. When he passed away in 1992, the pilot for the series was adapted into a tribute documentary titled Visions of the Future, now available on YouTube in four parts, totaling 40 minutes of rare footage and biographical background on the great thinker.

The series was intended to cover new breakthroughs in science and technology, preparing people for the coming future — essentially, the antithesis to the Future Shock series narrated by Orson Welles.

Most fascinating of all are Asimov’s thoughts on computers, which may seem like common sense today but in fact presage the modern applications of computing, from mobile technology to consumer electronics to artificial intelligence, by two decades.

Perhaps the most revolutionary development of recent years has been that of the computer. Because for the first time we’ve discovered a machine that can substitute, at least in part, the human brain. Before that, it was just a matter of saving human muscles, of using machinery to spare what human muscles couldn’t do very well.” ~ Isaac Asimov

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Divided into chapters on women, clients, drinking and other essentials of the Mad Men lifestyle, the book is full of Sterlingisms, many of which remain surprisingly timeless truisms about life in the Madison world.

The day you sign a client is the day you start losing him.” ~ Roger Sterling

Even the Amazon product description is written in complete biographical seriousness, treating Sterling as an actual pioneer from the golden age of advertising.

Being with a client is like being in a marriage. Sometimes you get into it for the wrong reasons, and eventually they hit you in the face.” ~ Roger Sterling

Also abundant are the era-appropriate chauvinism’s we’ve come to expect and welcome with anthropological bemusement in the Mad Men universe.

When God closes a door, he opens a dress.” ~ Roger Sterling

Sterling’s Gold is without a doubt the most brilliant piece of cross-platform entertainment we’ve seen this year. What makes it all the more special is the stark contrast to the majority of try-hard transmedia storytelling efforts, which immediately jump to the flashy stuntsmanship of digital platforms. Yet here we have something as analog as it gets that adds a rich and engaging layer to some of our favorite “traditional” entertainment. Well played, AMC, well played.

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Modern Holmes trades in traditional Holmes’ famous deerstalker caps for a fine selection of borderline-hipster scarves and modern Watson tends labors over a blog rather than a journal, but the signature qualities of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic — quick wit, dynamic dialogue, fast-paced adventure — remain intact and come to life in ever more brilliant detail. From McGuigan’s superb visual storytelling to the captivating costumes and cinematography to the keen casting of Benedict Cumberbatch (Amazing Grace, Hawking) as Sherlock and Martin Freeman (Love Actually, The Office original) as Dr. Watson, the series is an absolutely treat.

I’m not a psychopath, Anderson, I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” ~ Sherlock

Each of the three episodes — A Study In Pink, The Blind Banker and The Great Game — tackles a different mystery, revealing a new facet of Sherlock’s genius.

What makes the modernization all the greater a feat is the difficulty of believably translating the original concept into a contemporary setting, where forensic science and advances in technology necessitate even more superhuman a level of intelligence and logical deduction to make Sherlock the one-man detective show Arthur Conan Doyle designed him to be.

The series airs on PBS in the US and, for a limited time, you can watch it in its entirety online. The DVD, featuring the original pilot and a fascinating making-of featurette, is out this week and we highly recommend it.

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In the 1950′s, the popular TV gameshow What’s My Line? cemented America’s relationship with television as an entertainment medium and a voyeuristic window into celebrity culture. The premise of the show was simple: In each episode, a contestant would appear in front of a panel of blindfolded culture pundits — with few exceptions, a regular lineup of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, actress Arlene Francis, Random House founder Bennett Cerf, and a fourth guest panelist — who would try to guess his or her “line” of work or, in the case of famous “mystery guests,” the person’s identity, by asking exactly 10 yes-or-no questions. A contestant won if he or she presented the panel with 10 “no” answers.

Over the 17-year run of the show, nearly every iconic cultural luminary of the era, from presidents to pop stars, appeared as a mystery guest. Today, we’ve curated 7 must-see What’s My Line? appearances by some of history’s sharpest minds and most compelling creators.

SALVADOR DALI

In a WML episode that aired on January 20, 1952, Salvador Dalí is assigned the line “artist” and identified as “self-employed.” But the real comedic genius of the footage is that the great creative cross-pollinator answers nearly all questions in the affirmative, to the audience’s exponential amusement, not with the intention of misleading the panelists but merely as a reflection of his vast intellectual curiosity and creative output — our kind of character.

There’s nothing this man doesn’t do! What we have to guess is an all-around man.”

WALT DISNEY

On November 11, 1956 — just a few months after the grand opening of Disneyland — Walt Disney appeared as the mystery guest on WML. One particularly interesting piece of the conversation unfolds when Daly asks Disney’s opinion of television, which he had just recently begun dabbling in.

Well, it’s wonderful. You get to reach people in a sort of an immediate way. With pictures, you work for years and then it’s quite a while before you know how what you’re working on is going to come out, how it’s going to be received, but with television you know, well, in a very short time.”

We’re left wondering what Disney would make of the Internet, with its even more instant gratification yet ever-harder to decipher impact.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

From the impressive pretend-accents and speech impediments to the priceless facial expressions to the facetious disregard for the show’s rules by dodging yes/no questions with lengthy, Yoda-esque answers, Hitchcock’s performance on WML is just that — a performance, and an outstanding one at that.

I was hoping to see Marilyn Monroe here tonight, but I didn’t hear any ooh’s and ahh’s, so I take it you are not Marilyn Monroe. Is this correct?” Hitchcock: “It is impossible.”

Hitchcock’s humor is unparalleled and particularly fascinating in contrast with the dark, often grim undertones of his films.

Daly: “Did you ever make a picture in which you haven’t appeared, in one time or another?” Hitchcock: “The indignity of being a ham is thrust upon me.”

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

In 1954, an elderly yet razor-sharp Eleanor Roosevelt took her seat at WML for a near-silent performance.

Are you now or have you ever been associated with politics?” “The answer to that would have to be a ‘yes’ … but that is also to advise you that, in one way or another, almost every good citizen in this country is associated with politics.”

Well said, Mr. Daly, well said. A powerful statement on civic engagement, delivered with a wink, is just the kind of commentary that made WML as much an entertainment brand as it was a pipeline for the social, political and cultural ideas that moved the era forward.

JEAN DESMOND, GIRDLE TESTER

To step away from the celebrity focus of WML for a moment, let’s return to the show’s original roots — having panelists guess an ordinary person’s occupation, or “line.” To keep things interesting, WML would invite contestants with unusual, bizarre and downright wildcard occupations, from Marilyn Monroe’s calendar salesman to this professional girdle-tester, who actually wins the game by getting all 10 “no” answers.

Judging by that answer, may I assume that this product is not edible?” Desmond: “You’re right, not edible.”

Oh, dear sir, if only you had lived to see the advances in… materials innovation.

LUCILLE BALL

Lucille Ball, the woman who arguably single-handedly catapulted the sitcom genre into its pop culture pedestal, is both witty and charming in her

Perhaps the most priceless moment of this clip, however, is a subtle one that becomes a living hallmark of the medium’s technological deficiency: The telling question, which exposes Ball’s identity, asked on black-and-white national television:

Are you a dazzling redhead?”

JOHN DALY

The final episode of WML aired on September 3, 1967. Besides its grand-finale status, what makes is particularly notable is that on it, host John Daly himself is the mystery guest, an exercise in meta-comedy long before meta was the hottest hipster humor.

The heritage of WML poses one interesting question: In its heyday, the show was essentially the only media property that could “have” any celebrity or cultural figure. The one entity no one said “no” to. And much of this was due to the involvement of Random House founder Bennett Cerf who, through his deep connections in the journalism and media world, was within a few degrees of separation from just about any public figure.

Nearly half a century later, after an epidemic of media fragmentation and audience erosion, we’re left wondering what contemporary culture’s version of WML is, this can’t-say-no-to platform for ideas. The closest thing that comes to mind is TED, spearheaded by Chris Anderson who also rose to status as a publishing entrepreneur. So is TED this generation’s WML, the potent mix of cultural commentary and smart entertainment that frames for its audience the people and ideas that matter in the world? If not, who is? Or are those shoes even fillable in today’s fragmented media landscape? We’d love your thoughts.

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Earlier this year, the world bid one of television’s longest-running and most revered series adieu — after 20 seasons, Law & Order came to a grand finale. From its iconic characters to the unmistakable dun-dun sound, the show has inspired a cultish following and a number of tributes that transcend the TV airwaves and cross into a variety of media.

These Are Their Stories is a series of artist interpretations of the one-line episode summaries found in the show’s DirectTV program guide. From oil on canvas to comic panels to dioramas, from the literal to the abstract to the downright bizarre, the artwork spans the entire spectrum of artistic style, genre and creative conception by a wide range of artists. (Including Brain Pickings favorite Jason Polan.)

A Band of Teens Attacks a Piano Student by Scott C.

Victim Falls Off a Subway Platform by Lisa Hanawalt.

Detective Benson's Brother by Love Ablan

The brainchild of California artist Brandon Bird, the project has been going strong since 2002, even snagging a Webby award along the way.

Goren Takes on a Chess Master by Carly Monardo

Death of a Bully by Box Brown

Boy Scavenges for Food in the Garbage by Lacy McCune

The project reminds us of Postcards to Alphaville and while Law & Order: Artistic Intent may not be coming to a channel near you anytime soon, the concept offers a lovely example of the cross-pollination of the arts.

via @kirstinbutler

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IT’S NOT LUPUS, BUT IT’S GOOD

For the most part, we have nothing but contempt for today’s tabloid-driven, paparazzi-infested, mind-blowingly superficial celebrity culture. So when we stumble across celebrities who surprise us with true talent and unexpected substance, we can’t help digging.

Plus, we love House.

We’re talking, of course, about The Band from TV — a multi-talented lineup of Hollywood A-listers (and, okay, some reality show B-listers) including drummer Greg Grunberg (of Heroes, Alias and Felicity fame), guitarist James Denton (Desperate Housewives), vocalists Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), Bonnie Somerville (Cashmere Mafia), and Bob Guiney (The Bachelor), violinist Jesse Spencer (House), plus a few more musically talented actors, and our favorite: Dr. House himself, the ever-talented, agelessly hot Hugh Laurie on the keyboards.

These guys rock it out on stage like you wouldn’t believe it. And although they don’t have any full-length studio albums yet, you can catch them on the House soundtrack — for the ultimate Laurie in all his glorie, you know.

Any profit they make goes to a number of charities that hit close to home for some of the band members and their families. (Greg Grunberg’s son has epilepsy and Teri Hatcher is living with lifelong childhood trauma.)

We recently heard BFTV’s mean cover of the The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — and we’re believers.

DROP IT LIKE IT’S CODE

Musical talent hides where you least expect it. Just ask Mo Serious, the Poetic Prophet a.k.a. SEO Rapper — he’s not your average code-wrangling designer.

He’ll teach you all about CSS, web standards and proper design practice with lovably cheesy hip-hop beats and rhymes delivered straight from the trenches of your typical cubicle farm.

Because, you know, ain’t no street cred in rapping about the ghetto if you don’t live there, yo.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qMe7Z3EYg

Gotta give it to the man for original lyrics like “Everyone will wanna follow you like Twitter” and “client satisfied like they eating on a Snicker.”

Also great: the two seemingly unfazed cubicle ladies going about their cubicle day in the background.

THE OTHER CARROT TOP

Ok, so we’ve learned music can be in your TV and in your CSS. One more place it can be: your kitchen. Enter the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, a symphony performing solely on vegetables.

Carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, leek-zucchini-vibrators, cucumberophones, celery bongos, you name it (and eat it), they play it. The orchestra, founded 10 years ago in — you guessed it — Vienna plays across a number of genres: contemporary music, beat-oriented house tracks, experimental electronic, freestyle jazz, noise (we can see that one), dub, and more.

We must say their music is rather… interesting. (Just a heads-up: our 8th grade English teacher used to say that “interesting is what you call an ugly baby” — we concur on this one.)

And while we encourage you to look for yourself, we’ll take our asparagus grilled for now.

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You’ve seen the promos. You’ve heard the promos. You’ve smelled the promos. The 2008 Olympics have been a long time coming, and now they’ve finally come. And while we have high hopes for U.S. Olympic teams, we sure hope the performance of the American teams tooting the horn is no predictor of the nation’s competitive edge over other nations.

Case in point: the BBC promo for the Olympics make NBC look like a bunch of sponsor-grubbing YouTubers.

“Journey to the East” is based on the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West and follows the adventures of Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy as they make their way to the other end of the world using Olympic athleticism to overcome the literal and abstract hurdles.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr5ZWYRaAyw

If this looks and sounds familiar, it should be: the enachanted short film (because we can’t bring ourselves to call it a mere video) is the brainchild of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the duo behind the pseudo-band Gorillaz. (Albarn is perhaps better known as the frontman of Blur and the mastermind behind The Good, the Bad & the Queen.)

The 3,000-frame animation took 12 weeks to complete and required 12-13 drawings per second of screen time, eating up 50 pencils and over 8,000 sheets of animation paper. If you think that’s quite a production, just wait for the audio: it was recorded on unusual Chinese instruments, 20 of them total, with a choir of 38 Chinese singers studio-dubbed to sound like 76 people. The two parts — the animation and the music — were developed simultaneously over the course of the 4 months so they woud fit together in the most perfect, organic way possible.

…And now it’s back to “This segment brought to you by Exxon-Mobil.“

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