In the November 2018 issue of Lion's Roar, eight meditators discuss Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. Rod Meade Sperry says the characters in Mad Men are like hungry ghosts, endlessly consuming liquor, drugs — and each other. When we think of Matthew Weiner’s game-changing AMC series Mad Men, what do we picture? Smoking, suits, and sex. (Not to mention sexism.) So [...]
Alan Ball’s “Here and Now” Doesn’t Shy Away from Suffering
In the November issue of Lion’s Roar magazine, eight practitioners discuss the Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. Between compassion, reality, and the cause of suffering, there’s lots to contemplate in Here and Now, says Jessica Pimentel. Although Alan Ball’s new series Here and Now is not being renewed for a second season, I found season one interesting from a [...]
Samsara and “The Bachelor”
In the November issue of Lion’s Roar magazine, eight practitioners discuss the Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. Just like samsara, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong notes, The Bachelor runs on delusion. Every competition-based reality show traffics in metaphorical death. Survivor, American Idol, Project Runway, and the many shows they inspired create suspense by [...]
“The Good Place” Is a Show About Why We’re Good
In the November issue of Lion's Roar magazine — on newsstands next month — eight practitioners discuss the Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. According to Zen priest Gesshin Greenwood, NBC's The Good Place shows us people are good because of their bond to each other — even in the afterlife. Eleanor Shellstrop is dead. In the first episode of The Good Place, she [...]
In final episode of “Parts Unknown,” Anthony Bourdain discusses death and Buddhism in Bhutan
Bourdain, who died in early June, attended a Buddhist death ritual on the final day of shooting the last episode of the show. The final episode of late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain's travel show "Parts Unknown" aired on CNN on Sunday. In it, Bourdain and his friend, director Darren Aronofsky, travel the country of Bhutan, discussing food, Buddhism, and death. "It is [...]
What do “2001,” “Dear White People,” and Buddhism have in common?
This month, Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, turns 50. In an interview with LionsRoar.com, Justin Simien talked about how Buddhism and Kubrick both challenge one's ego without attacking it — a strategy that later leaked in his own series, Dear White People. Sam Littlefair: You say that you try to acknowledge that there’s no right and wrong in Dear [...]
Watch the trailer for Judd Apatow’s HBO documentary “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling”
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling will explore the late comedian's life, comedy, and wisdom. The trailer for The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling—Judd Apatow’s HBO documentary about the life and wisdom of late comedian Garry Shandling—was released Thursday. Judd Apatow, who directed the film, considers Shandling his most important mentor, dubbing him his “comedy Buddha.” [...]
“Lost” actor Daniel Dae Kim developing Buddhist detective TV series
Actor, director, and producer Daniel Dae Kim is developing a new television show about a Buddhist detective through his production company, 3AD, reports Buddhist Door. The show, titled First Rule of Ten, is based on a series of "spiritual fiction" mystery novels by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay, published by Hay House. As Deadline reports, the series follows Tenzing [...]
Judd Apatow, HBO to share “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling” in March 2018
Judd Apatow's documentary about the life and wisdom of the comedian Garry Shandling — who died in 2016 — will air in two parts in March. For a while now, there have been rumblings about filmmaker and comedian Judd Apatow developing a documentary film about his friend, the late, and truly great Garry Shandling -- comedian, TV pioneer, and yes, serious Zen Buddhist. Now, I'm [...]
Twin Peaks, in key new episode, nods to Buddhism again
Unpacking the Buddhist reference in episode 14 of Twin Peaks: The Return. Twin Peaks' eccentric, upstanding FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper may well have been on to something when, twenty-five years ago, he tried to employ “deductive technique, Tibetan method, instinct, and luck” in unraveling the mystery of Laura Palmer's murder. That was way back in the show's third episode, [...]
