The show went for three seasons yet has such an intriguing and unique format. It could be because I also just like shows with constraints and seeming low budget. Shows that have a lot of voice and character. Something I have never seen before.
There was one episode that I liked, and apparently, a lot of other people did also: the show about Risotto.
Like the other episodes, it begins with: Hello New York. It’s a shout out to a person. It’s written like it’s a letter or an email to New York as a whole but also intimate feeling, like it is to one person. The show uses the second person. It is shot in a first person style. You rarely see the narrator. But the narrator speaks in the second person about himself. And he uses the format of self help – a how to guide for life. Which is smart because the only thing people seem to care about are how to / self help / make money / get a six pack type content. So he cleverly wraps the show in that. But people are also drawn to personal stories about relationships and interpersonal drama. Which the show also has. In fact that is really what it is. A sort of journal disguised in self help how to guru stuff.
Then when he gets into the how to he goes on an odyssey to solve the problem but inevitably gets lost down a rabbit hole, talking with some random person who often reveals some deeply personal information that in turn is the key to Mr. Wilson solving the REAL dilemma the show is about.
So the how to cook risotto episode is actually about his landlady who is almost a motherly figure to him. I found the script for the show. So let’s analyze it a little.
It’s about 3789 words.
It begins with an introduction about how nice is landlady is to him. Tto show is appreciation, he wants to cook her risotto. The intro is about 247 words.
After the intro, there is a little back story, research-type content about the Risotto dish. He then goes on a tangent about learning Italian to respect the dish more. After that, he researches how to make risotto by going on youtube. And he picks up some funny tips like keeping a risotto journal.
After some research he heads out into his neighborhood to look for someone who can help him make risotto. This is where magic starts to happen. He meets random people who expose their quirks. We are about 500 words in. Of course, after the lesson in Risotto, the person he randomly found tells him some personal quirk which happens to be about aliens. After he has “heard enough,” the narrator now attempts to make the risotto on his own. We are about 100 words in. With 3789, we are getting to close to a midpoint, which should be around 1800-1900 words.
It turns out that he can’t make the risotto despite multiple attempts, and he appears distracted with cat vomit and eBay listings. He thinks the problems may have to do with the lack of nicotine which is the doorway to talk about his smoking addiction.
So he decides in order to make the risotto which has failed – he has a new plan: to perfect the art of quitting first. And this is fairly close to the midpoint. As he goes down this new tangent about quitting vaping, he ends up talking to a guy who had a lot of exhaust blowing out of his truck. It turns out this was intentional. And as he is talking to the guy about his “addiction” to blowing smoke out of his car – he notices a bag of chips looks very inflated. This leads him on another tangent to try and pop the bag by going higher and higher in the atmosphere. And he keeps going onto this target until he realizes that he hasn’t thought about nicotine or vaping. He has beat his habit and now he is ready to make risotto. This is 2259 of 3789 words. About 60%.
So he’s back to making the risotto. As he is looking for new cookware, he also notices that the COVID strain seems to be appearing. People are taking action about it. The market is overloaded with long lines, which makes it hard for him to get ingredients.
So, even with his new plan, he still fails. It is a low point. 2821 words of 3789. Just about 75%. The end of the third act? All is lost? Does this follow screenwriting formulas? Like so much that is enjoyable?
Now everything is changing, and the time alone is making him appreciate time with his landlady even more. He debates trying to make the risotto even more until there is a new twist. His landlady is in an ambulance. 3379 out of 3789 words or 89% of the way through. Things are spiraling out of control even more.
Is the lesson to have taken more action when he had the chance? Because the world seems upside down now. And no one knows the rules. Everything he learned in other episodes doesn’t seem to matter. The new lesson: his idea of perfection doesn’t matter. He should do what feels right. He might have to relearn everything he thought he knew.
And that’s the end of the episode.
I asked ChatGPT for it’s analysis of the show and it mentioned the subtle narrative arc and tangents also. So I guess I’m on the right track.
To make compelling television, or a story, or a visual essay, even seemingly unique and usual shows, follow a traditional narrative arc. There is conflict, drama, obstacles and lessons learned. Relationships and how he interacts in the world form the foundation of what people want to see and read.
Even cool concept stories need the foundation of an interpersonal relationship story – and seemingly boring concepts can be made interesting by exploring interpersonal relationships.