Merry wives, jealous husbands, faeries and a wedding! This play - rumored to be written at the behest of Queen Elizabeth herself - is a comedy unlike any of the others in Shakespeare's repertoire. An almost proto-restoration play about class, fidelity, and trust, it's a forward looking play that retains the very serious ability to make us laugh.
This week we talk about the themes, comedy, and characters present in the play, especially around gender and jealousy. Join us for an exploration of this rarely produced, but very gratifying play.
Notes: 
Thankfully (and unbeknownst to Lindsay at the time of recording), the Folger Shakespeare library has put their "A Modern Perspective" set of essays online, and we encourage you to check out the one dedicated to this play.
Lindsay also located this wonderful mini-essay online (also from Folger) that dives into what makes this comedy so different from Shakespeare's others.
Ancient Bickerings: 
Our question was a simple one: who are the more untrustworthy characters of the play? The men or the women?

Episode 36 - The Merry Wives of Windsor

A bickering husband and wife duo discuss their faves.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Fiction

Note: We will be taking a summer break for the next 4-5 weeks to coincide with some vacation plans, but will be returning in the second half of summer with Season 5.
For this week, join us as we revisit the episode that had the largest divergence of opinions in our Season 4 breakdown, "First Contact" complete with Riker sex innuendo and reactionary martyrs. It may not be the perfect episode, but it did provide some fodder for banter with The Bicks.

Episode 26.5 - TNG Season 4 Watchalong - First Contact

Season 4 -- the first full 90s season, as Lindsay says -- doesn't feature a whole bunch of changes on screen or behind the camera, but did bring a lot of depth to the characters and the world they inhabit. Join us as we talk about family, friends, drama, and First Contact, one of the greatest episodes of the show! (Yes, Aidan wrote this intro...)
Episode Sponsor: Ancestry.federation. To find out more about your genetic heritage, use the promo code 'TheBicksFamSentYou' to get a discount on your premium testing kit!
Bicks Log: What does it say about genetic families in Star Trek that they're so secondary to the one found on board the Enterprise?
Notes:
Once again, it was time for a tier ranking of Season 4 episodes, so be prepared for Aidan to defend how great (almost) every episode is, while Lindsay tries to knock them all down a few pegs.


Recognitions:
Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls

Episode 26 - The Next Generation Season 4

Another season, another watchalong of TNG, this time the season 3's classic exploration of Star Trek's greatest philosophical topics, the Prime Directive. Join us as we chat and joke our way through "Who Watches the Watchers".

Episode 25.5 - Star Trek The Next Generation Watchalong - ”Who Watches the Watchers”

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 is widely considered the start of "good Trek" in the TNG era. Whether you agree with that or not, this season definitely ups the ante in terms of storytelling, characterization, thematic links, and philosophical import. This week, Aidan and Lindsay deep dive into the production history, some of the changes behind and in front of the camera, and explore the larger story arcs that are going to take us into the second half of the series' run.
Episode Sponsor: Rexadrin Cliffhanger Episode Anti-Anxiety Pills: Find Your Calm With Rexadrin
Bicks Log: How useful is the Prime Directive?

Notes and Recognitions:
The intro music is different between Season 1 (strings high in the mix) and Season 2 (strings lower) and again to Season 3 (strings seem to not be there at all in some places) so Lindsay is kinda right but also kinda full of shit...
OrangeRiver has a great Season 3 breakdown video we watched in preparation for this podcast as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEzxaVfTAw&ab_channel=OrangeRiver 
Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
Ad Music: Coconut Grove by Hotham is licensed under a Creative Commons License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Stream: https://linktr.ee/hothammusic Free Download: https://hypeddit.com/hotham/coconutgrove Support by RFM - NCM: https://bit.ly/3TzyYA1
Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls

Episode 25 - The Next Generation Season 3

Join us for another watchalong episode of TNG, this time the season 2 dark horse favourite "The Royale".
One note: Fermat's Last Theorem had a first proof published in 1995, only a few years after this episode.

Episode 36 - The Merry Wives of Windsor

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