aminorthreat55
10/30/08, 06:51 AM
If anyone is looking for a catharsis from the election this weekend, Sundance is once again (they did this before the 2004 election) playing every episode of Tanner '88, a tv show about a fictional presidential campaign which is supposed to be hilarious. I've never seen it, so its a bit of a blind recommendation, but it was written by Garry Trudeau (creator of the Doonesbury comics) and directed by Robert Altman (MASH, Short Cuts, Gosford Park, etc.) and features tons of cameos by Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Gary Hart, Bob Dole, and many others. It's also available on DVD from Netflix for those without Sundance.
Synopsis
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics, in which actors Michael Murphy (as contender Jack Tanner) and Cynthia Nixon (as his daughter) rub elbows on the campaign trail with real-life political players Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart, Bob Dole, Ralph Nader, Kitty Dukakis, and Gloria Steinem, among many others.
Synopsis
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics, in which actors Michael Murphy (as contender Jack Tanner) and Cynthia Nixon (as his daughter) rub elbows on the campaign trail with real-life political players Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart, Bob Dole, Ralph Nader, Kitty Dukakis, and Gloria Steinem, among many others.