I had worried I was entering John Mulaney’s 1980s-style children’s variety show special with overly-high expectations. I am a John Mulaney Stan. He is the greatest working comedian. I saw it the day it came out and then I saw it again this morning and was finally ready to discuss it with you, my close personal friends.
best things, not ranked:
my grandma’s boyfriend Paul (you’ll solve them, Paul!)
PAY ATTENTION TO ME (and then I would also do a cartwheel)
girl talk w richard kind GIRL TALK
when the turn hits on “I wanna play Restaurant” it just fucking ended my LIFE and I already knew it was coming bc a rehearsal of it was in that GQ profile of John Mulaney
the girl who is afraid of home invasions bc I am so afraid of home invasions and now I will try not to pass that to my kids but WHAT IF THERE’S A HOME INVASION
ALGEBRA SONG, esp bc I saw André De Shields in Hadestown and he is the exact same person here and I suspect in real life as well
the crying white lady, also while watching it I was like “I COULD HAVE PLAYED THE CRYING WHITE LADY, it’s the part I was born to play, baby!” and then it turns out she can sing really well bc it’s ANNALEIGH ASHFORD so, no, I could not
MR MUSIC, like FUCK ME UP, JAKE GYLLENHAAL, you COMMITTED and I love to see it, also:
(Later, when Gyllenhaal asked Mulaney who else they wanted to ask, Mulaney assured him that he was their “first choice in a world where we couldn’t have Harry Belafonte.”)
okay pls discuss your fav line readings (all of them)
i think about jake gyllenhaal saying "i stayed up late trying on clothes i already own and i didn't prepare and i failed" on a loop for like, 26 minutes every day
I went to a screening and talk back with John, Seth Myers, Marika Sawyer, and the director and composer yesterday in NYC. I was sitting right next to the Butter Noodles and Pay Attention to me kids and got a picture with them and was star struck. They all sang along to every song and were so excited to be there
One of my friends literally just pointed out that one of the kids calls Mr. Music her dad and it's never acknowledged... and now it is the only thing I can think about!
Ok I just had to look up a summary to make sure I wasn't forgetting any parts since I only watched it once (but will now rewatch as soon as I get home tonight) and I DID forget
The whole kids movie focus group when all the kids are like "this is my favorite movie of all time and will be forever until I see literally any other movie, which will then be my favorite movie of all time"
I keep thinking about the fact that he wanted Stevie Nicks for a part in the special and she turned it down. It had to be the singing woman in flowing clothes during the "Do Flowers Exist at Night" number, right?
Also, a review connected the "Do Flowers Exist at Night" song to the "Wishing Well for Boys" commercial from SNL and now I want more things for soft, romantic boys who think deep thoughts.
My boyfriend grew up in a family that basically had TMC on 24/7, and then had to enter a world in which most families...did not. So he related WAY too hard Richard Kind recommending "Witness For the Prosecution" to tweens, but then also turned around and immediately began recommending it to me.
We watched it hungover on New Year's Day, and I enjoyed it so much, and he was so happy that I was enjoying it, and then about five minutes after it ended, he proposed to me. Do you think I can get Richard Kind to officiate my wedding
Nicole I have been dying to talk about thisssss. I teach a comedy class to undergrads who are fully Gen Z and THEY DID NOT LIKE IT. Now I am trying to figure out what about people in our specific age bracket made us respond to this special so well! It's like Mulaney did it for people age 30-40 and I DON'T KNOW HOW.
I just watched this last night and it SO. DELIGHTFULLY. WEIRD. I spent the first part being like "who is this ...for?" and then it dawned on me. This is for me, exactly me. Happily weird & childfree 30ish-year-old people. Thanks John Mulaney for my present.
Also Do Flowers Exist at Night was strange and prob the worst song but the one I can't stop thinking about today.
The entire movie focus group bit. As someone who works with children and does not have them, this entire scene is very relatable. Children and their movies and tv shows. After the first frozen, a child came up to me, (we had only been acquainted for 15 minutes) and took my hand and earnestly told me she knew all the songs from frozen.
It's been nearly a month and I still have "Grandma's Boyfriend Paul" still stuck in my head. I was unpacking boxes from a recent move and realized I had just been singing "He calls waiters garcon!" over and over every few minutes. "Life and love and Sherlock Gnomes" has also become a frequently uttered phrase in our house.
I love this special so deeply and so unironically. In the event my husband and I conceive soon, god willing, this will be my classical music that I listen to every day.
I flipped out about Andre de Shields pretty hard, but much more importantly...
It was the part where Jake Gyllenhaal is trying to make "music" with the toilet and all of a sudden this stench started tickling my nostrils. I thought, "Wow, that's wild, I'm having such a powerful psychological association with toilets to smells..." And then I realized that my dog had farted on my bed and I needed to leave the room.
So, thanks John Mulaney. I briefly thought I was hallucinating.
"Everything is going to be fine, David Byrne" is really getting me through some dark times at the moment and I'm planning to get it (min) cross stitched and (max) tattooed. Everything Jacob delivers is perfect. "I sat next to the wrong dad," "he breathed out through his nose and I said 'that's our Mandy!'" A national treasure/MVP.
It is just SO GOOD at identifying a) the existential questions that are part of all of our lives, including children's, that just don't have satisfactory answers even when you become an adult and b) the very specific concerns that are unique to childhood, we have ALL met at least one child who only ate pasta with a little bit of butter (but not too much butter.)
My teen is an extreeeeeemely picky eater with lots of food anxiety around flavors & textures and as we -- Mulaney stans, both -- watched Plain Plate of Noodles (With A Little Bit of Butter), she turned to me and said "I feel really seen!" Even if he never does another good thing in his career, I'll never forget this gift to my child <3
I really strongly identified with "a plain plate of noodles with a little bit of butter, that's the only thing I'll eat!" as a former extremely picky child. (though my "plain plate of noodles" was a cheese sandwich - no meat, no condiments, just cheese and bread!)
My favorite part was the movie focus group (when my mom said, "Is that a real movie?!") and when David Byrne showed up (when my dad said, "Is that David Byrne!?) My sister and I made our entire family watch this on Christmas day. They didn't like it but they had to humor us because I was deep in the throes of Norovirus.
As a person who was and is mildly (extremely) obsessed with Really Rosie and Chicken Soup with Rice (I own the vinyl album and sing along, poorly, at a very high volume pretty regularly) I loved every moment of Sack Lunch Bunch but most especially Mr. Music because it was the perfect amount of weird and delightful.
i've watched it .... at least four times & am singing "grandma's boyfriend paul" at least 5 times a day. "that's not fair to Paul, that he shouldn't hum at all" officially killed me
I watched this show with my 5-year-old before realizing that it is not, precisely, intended for children, but he loves "Mr. Music", so maybe it wasn't too much of a parenting fail? The "What sort of sound did it make?"/"It made a squishy sound, like a butt!" exchange is a sure-fire winner in that demographic.
"Grandma's Boyfriend Paul" and "Music, Music Everywhere" have become staples on my commute everyday. "I'm making music! You're ignorant!!" and "He also eats all the cashews" in particular slay me.
Also "Do Flowers Exist At Night?" is an UNDERRATED GEM.
I related way too hard with the crying white woman. She was an icon. And also the pasta with butter song was beautiful and everything kid-me would have needed. We Stan John Mulaney and how much he loves his wife in this house.
I loved all of it, but the girl who had the nightmare of where they kept saying her name, "I didn't know nightmares could know your name" (not the exact quote but you know what I mean) HAUNTED me.
Also the chess game, especially: "Did you know the moon landing was faked?" "Which one?"
Totally not on topic: Your Autism piece this morning was *so* good, and I look forward to you increasing visibility for Autistic women, especially those of us in the “lost” generation. (Basically born before 1990, never would have been diagnosed in elementary school, maybe only figuring things out now...) Thank you, and best wishes on your own path, adult diagnosis (formal or otherwise) is a really interesting journey!
the cast recording is on iTunes and I just added it to my driving playlist
“I have coins on the dresser!”
i think about jake gyllenhaal saying "i stayed up late trying on clothes i already own and i didn't prepare and i failed" on a loop for like, 26 minutes every day
I went to a screening and talk back with John, Seth Myers, Marika Sawyer, and the director and composer yesterday in NYC. I was sitting right next to the Butter Noodles and Pay Attention to me kids and got a picture with them and was star struck. They all sang along to every song and were so excited to be there
"They say be myself and live the life I want, except when I want noodles at a fancy restaurant"
describes so much of both childhood and parenting and I can't stop thinking about it.
One of my friends literally just pointed out that one of the kids calls Mr. Music her dad and it's never acknowledged... and now it is the only thing I can think about!
Ok I just had to look up a summary to make sure I wasn't forgetting any parts since I only watched it once (but will now rewatch as soon as I get home tonight) and I DID forget
The whole kids movie focus group when all the kids are like "this is my favorite movie of all time and will be forever until I see literally any other movie, which will then be my favorite movie of all time"
Almost made me miss teaching preschool
David Byrne in the Elsa costume absolutely laid me out. I thought I was going to pass out laughing.
As a professional animator who worked on Angry Birds 2 last year, the animated movie focus group sketch RUINED ME oh my god
Still obsessed with the Joan Didion / Le Pain Quotidien rhyme.
I keep thinking about the fact that he wanted Stevie Nicks for a part in the special and she turned it down. It had to be the singing woman in flowing clothes during the "Do Flowers Exist at Night" number, right?
MY STORY MAKES SENSE ON THAT YOU CAN RELY
Also, a review connected the "Do Flowers Exist at Night" song to the "Wishing Well for Boys" commercial from SNL and now I want more things for soft, romantic boys who think deep thoughts.
My boyfriend grew up in a family that basically had TMC on 24/7, and then had to enter a world in which most families...did not. So he related WAY too hard Richard Kind recommending "Witness For the Prosecution" to tweens, but then also turned around and immediately began recommending it to me.
We watched it hungover on New Year's Day, and I enjoyed it so much, and he was so happy that I was enjoying it, and then about five minutes after it ended, he proposed to me. Do you think I can get Richard Kind to officiate my wedding
Nicole I have been dying to talk about thisssss. I teach a comedy class to undergrads who are fully Gen Z and THEY DID NOT LIKE IT. Now I am trying to figure out what about people in our specific age bracket made us respond to this special so well! It's like Mulaney did it for people age 30-40 and I DON'T KNOW HOW.
I just watched this last night and it SO. DELIGHTFULLY. WEIRD. I spent the first part being like "who is this ...for?" and then it dawned on me. This is for me, exactly me. Happily weird & childfree 30ish-year-old people. Thanks John Mulaney for my present.
Also Do Flowers Exist at Night was strange and prob the worst song but the one I can't stop thinking about today.
Please tell me you (and everyone else) has read the interview about this conducted by an actual 10 year old. It is absolutely delightful. https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/john-mulaney-on-john-mulaney-and-the-sack-lunch-bunch.html
The entire movie focus group bit. As someone who works with children and does not have them, this entire scene is very relatable. Children and their movies and tv shows. After the first frozen, a child came up to me, (we had only been acquainted for 15 minutes) and took my hand and earnestly told me she knew all the songs from frozen.
It's been nearly a month and I still have "Grandma's Boyfriend Paul" still stuck in my head. I was unpacking boxes from a recent move and realized I had just been singing "He calls waiters garcon!" over and over every few minutes. "Life and love and Sherlock Gnomes" has also become a frequently uttered phrase in our house.
I love this special so deeply and so unironically. In the event my husband and I conceive soon, god willing, this will be my classical music that I listen to every day.
I flipped out about Andre de Shields pretty hard, but much more importantly...
It was the part where Jake Gyllenhaal is trying to make "music" with the toilet and all of a sudden this stench started tickling my nostrils. I thought, "Wow, that's wild, I'm having such a powerful psychological association with toilets to smells..." And then I realized that my dog had farted on my bed and I needed to leave the room.
So, thanks John Mulaney. I briefly thought I was hallucinating.
my fiance and i have been shouting "he's not dead he's....MISSING" at each other for weeks now and we can. not. stop.
"Everything is going to be fine, David Byrne" is really getting me through some dark times at the moment and I'm planning to get it (min) cross stitched and (max) tattooed. Everything Jacob delivers is perfect. "I sat next to the wrong dad," "he breathed out through his nose and I said 'that's our Mandy!'" A national treasure/MVP.
At least once a day now, my husband or I will break a silence with "My call time was at 3, and he was dead at 3."
I have worked with Andre de Shields. He is that man.
It is just SO GOOD at identifying a) the existential questions that are part of all of our lives, including children's, that just don't have satisfactory answers even when you become an adult and b) the very specific concerns that are unique to childhood, we have ALL met at least one child who only ate pasta with a little bit of butter (but not too much butter.)
"Who put glass here?!"
"It landed on a truck full of pillows that was passing by only then."
Reader, when I tell you I had to pause it because I couldn't breathe...
My teen is an extreeeeeemely picky eater with lots of food anxiety around flavors & textures and as we -- Mulaney stans, both -- watched Plain Plate of Noodles (With A Little Bit of Butter), she turned to me and said "I feel really seen!" Even if he never does another good thing in his career, I'll never forget this gift to my child <3
I really strongly identified with "a plain plate of noodles with a little bit of butter, that's the only thing I'll eat!" as a former extremely picky child. (though my "plain plate of noodles" was a cheese sandwich - no meat, no condiments, just cheese and bread!)
it made me so horny for david byrne? oops
My favorite part was the movie focus group (when my mom said, "Is that a real movie?!") and when David Byrne showed up (when my dad said, "Is that David Byrne!?) My sister and I made our entire family watch this on Christmas day. They didn't like it but they had to humor us because I was deep in the throes of Norovirus.
Ok the tag with Andre DeShields made me cry
Please may I submit for your consideration: the chess game.
the intro to Algebra Song where John says he asked the other parents, and then smilingly corrects to '-well, the rich parents" was frighteningly real
My favorite part of "Mr. Music" are the opening bars when Jake Gyllenhaal is CLEARLY counting in his head before he begins to sing.
As a person who was and is mildly (extremely) obsessed with Really Rosie and Chicken Soup with Rice (I own the vinyl album and sing along, poorly, at a very high volume pretty regularly) I loved every moment of Sack Lunch Bunch but most especially Mr. Music because it was the perfect amount of weird and delightful.
i've watched it .... at least four times & am singing "grandma's boyfriend paul" at least 5 times a day. "that's not fair to Paul, that he shouldn't hum at all" officially killed me
My little hag heart was so happy to introduce my sons to André DeShields. We all loved when he made algebra rhyme with -cadabra
I watched this show with my 5-year-old before realizing that it is not, precisely, intended for children, but he loves "Mr. Music", so maybe it wasn't too much of a parenting fail? The "What sort of sound did it make?"/"It made a squishy sound, like a butt!" exchange is a sure-fire winner in that demographic.
"Grandma's Boyfriend Paul" and "Music, Music Everywhere" have become staples on my commute everyday. "I'm making music! You're ignorant!!" and "He also eats all the cashews" in particular slay me.
Also "Do Flowers Exist At Night?" is an UNDERRATED GEM.
MANDY PATINKIN
During the Chess sketch when the Kid makes John specify the moon landing he's referring to 😂
Also, Pay Attention is just *chef's kiss*, especially "We even thought about who says what"
"Grandma's boyfriend Paul, he calls waiters 'garcon'!" has been killing me for weeks
ALSO, I turned to my husband when Andre de Shields came on and said "See, I TOLD you we should go see 'Hadestown'!"
André De Shields is a treasure!! I desperately want my friends to watch Sack Lunch Bunch just so I can geek out about how good that song is.
Also, I love that in this interview Mulaney says that they cast Jake Gyllenhaal in hopes that he would bring the same energy as his character from Okja: https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/john-mulaney-on-john-mulaney-and-the-sack-lunch-bunch.html
Also: the purge (the concept)
I related way too hard with the crying white woman. She was an icon. And also the pasta with butter song was beautiful and everything kid-me would have needed. We Stan John Mulaney and how much he loves his wife in this house.
I loved all of it, but the girl who had the nightmare of where they kept saying her name, "I didn't know nightmares could know your name" (not the exact quote but you know what I mean) HAUNTED me.
Also the chess game, especially: "Did you know the moon landing was faked?" "Which one?"
Totally not on topic: Your Autism piece this morning was *so* good, and I look forward to you increasing visibility for Autistic women, especially those of us in the “lost” generation. (Basically born before 1990, never would have been diagnosed in elementary school, maybe only figuring things out now...) Thank you, and best wishes on your own path, adult diagnosis (formal or otherwise) is a really interesting journey!
I feel like I have completely rediscovered Jake Gyllenhaal as a result of this special. Like, I never knew him before.