I miss theremote control
Summary
A straphanger declares she misses the remote control, sparking Kareem's impassioned defense of channel surfing as the lost art of taste-making. He argues that growing up with MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and "QVC for some laughs" forced him to cultivate his own preferences instead of being spoonfed by algorithms. The conversation veers through Doug Funny and Patty Mayonnaise before landing on a revelation: we've rebuilt cable through streaming services. Why not just go back to the original? The guest's pro-cable stance wins the day. Then things get awkward when she tries to promote AdWorld, the show she co-hosts with Kareem, who flatly refuses to do "free marketing" for his own project.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? I missed the remote control.
100% disagree. Where did the remote control go? It's gone.
No, it's not. I literally—it's lost. It's lost. You've lost. You're wrong.
Let me explain something to you. When I was growing up, I had to fight for my sense of taste. Okay. I would sit with my little clicker, the remote, and I would scroll through the channels. I'd go MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Night, Bravo, E, QVC for some laughs, the 1000s for weird music. I cultivated who I was. I became a person with the remote control cuz you were browsing. Sure. I was creating a sense of taste. I had autonomy. Channel surfing. And today we are spoonfed. The algorithm makes us lazy and it feeds us taste. We don't have taste anymore. You're out on algorithm. I'm out on algorithm. You want programming. I think we need autonomy when it comes to curation and and creating taste. What was your favorite show growing up? I liked Hey Arnold.
Hey Arnold is fired. Hey Arnold is so fired. I also like Doug.
Terrific show. Doug Funny. Terrific show. Sker and Patty Mayonnaise. Good people. Great people.
All right. So, what are you going to do about this whole remote thing? I'm going to get cable. This is a pro cable take. Not a pro remote.
Well, if you think about it, the streamers are all—we're all making cable again. I mean, I'm paying for cable. It's literally like we have cable again, so why not just get the old school? Be OG, be cool. Get cable again. All right. I like it. Thank you. Um, do you think that we could do like a little promo for AdWorld?
No, we can't do it. Put that down. What? Put that down. Couldn't we just do like a quick like, oh, like watch AdWorld?
I don't want to promote other shows on my show. But you're in the show with me.
I know, but I'm not going to do free marketing for a show just cuz I'm in it. Okay.