The always generous Jack Curtin has posted the trailer to the TV show “How Beer Saved the World.” Coming Sunday.
Sitting here at midday, sipping a glass of water, I’m thinking it has “spoof” written all over it. That isn’t the plan, is it?
Wonder which of these shows it will most remind us of.
a) Portlandia (which I haven’t seen).
b) A Mighty Wind.
c) Brew Masters.
d) Best in Show.
The ending title reminds me of Life of Brian (and the announcer’s voice has a certain Python-ness to it).
Portlandia is much funnier than Brew Masters and pours much less beer down the drain, if that helps.
Caves?
Believe me, when I was sitting in front of their camera, even I was sort of like “hmmm. Have they fallen for this ‘beer started/saved the world’ stuff?” And it was VERY clear that my role in this was to be the naysayer. Although I have the feeling that I won’t be on screen much, if at all… We shall see.
I dunno, the trailer is a little over-the-top, but it seems like all the info being dispensed by the interviewed is pretty serious. Maybe this will trump Brew Masters?
Now, if they’ll just edit out that cooler with all the Coors Light — unless that’s a segment predicting the fall after the rise. 😉
This film is indeed a spoof, much like the “I Am a Craft Beer Brewer” and other films that portray beer and brewers as some sort of deity. I refer you to beer Rule #5, in case any one has forgotten.
I’m not getting a deity sort of feel on the brewmasters from this “teaser,” but maybe the beer itself is being canonized (which, of course, falls into remembering Rule 5 too)? 😉
Steve – Brew Masters has a lot of great small moments, but the need for drama and making every turn monumental drives me batty. When this one was being filmed (last fall?) there were reports the crew was visiting good places (like Oregon State) that haven’t been reported to death. I’m big on “tell me something new,” and I can see where this show could. They don’t have to make beer the most important “invention” ever for an interesting story.
Steve, read what I wrote a little more carefully and you’ll see that the deity remark refers to the other films. This film seems, in a sense, to mock the very films I was referring to. And well they deserve to be mocked.
Mike — my comment was more to not really being able to tell where this series is going just by viewing the “teaser.” But the title of “saving the world” tends to lean a little toward holier-than-thou (or strongly tongue-in-cheek).
Stan — I agree on “tell me something new,” but it would also be nice to have something that might draw more people into beer enjoyment. “Gee, I never knew beer had such a storied history, maybe I ought to take it more seriously.” Sort of what “The Beer Hunter” did for a previous generation.
I think Seth summed it up nicely. A serious suggestion we’d still be living in caves were there no beer does little for credibility. Real history is evocative enough.
I don’t have cable. How was this?
I watched it and some of the pronouncements seemed a little far fetched. They made it sound like the only reason people started writing, farming, or doing math was for beer, which seems a bit much to me. Some of the other bits (glass bottle production, Pasteur, etc) seemed more reasonable, though I still think they would have come about regardless of beer.
I’m with dave, but first in the interest of fairness:
* I’m not sure if Jack Curtin was commenting on what was written here, but he liked it.
* This person just plain loved it and points out it will be aired again Feb. 14.
To me, much that wasn’t a little far fetched was a lot far fetched. For instance, the emergence of agriculture is pretty important and cause for thousands of books. Those who would give beer credit are in the minority.
Throughout I kept thinking there is a difference between coincidence and cause and effect.