television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
show created by
Bobby Ciraldo
Bobby Ciraldo (born 12 October 1974 in Skokie, Illinois, Skokie, Illinois) is a filmmaker and web-based artist whose works include ''Hamlet A.D.D.'', ''William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet'',David Robbins, and Andrew Swant. The half-hour program has aired in Southeastern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
affiliate
WVTV
WVTV (channel 18) is a television station in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with The CW and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on Calumet Road in the Park Place office park near the ...
since February 2009. It is
broadcast
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
from
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
on a bi-monthly basis, usually on a Friday night.
Episodes of ''Something Theater'' typically have nothing to do with one another, so viewers never know what to expect. Each episode is usually split into short
comedic
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
,
viral videos
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haup ...
,
short films
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
, or
experimental films
Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...
.
In December 2009 an episode aired which featured outtakes from the 2014 feature film '' Hamlet A.D.D.''.
In May 2010 David Robbins produced an episode entitled "The County Line" which was later shown at The Suburban gallery, curated by
Michelle Grabner
Michelle Grabner (born 1962 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) is an artist, curator, and critic based in Wisconsin. She is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has curated sever ...
, and at the ''No Soul For Sale'' art fair at the
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
In July 2010 ''Something Theater'' aired an episode that featured a 30-minute version of ''Gas 'N Fuel'', a short film made by the creators of the
Found Footage Festival
The Found Footage Festival is an American film festival and live comedy event and featuring unusual and humorous found footage clips and films.
History
Founded in 2004, the Festival originated in Wisconsin and Minnesota by Joe Pickett, Nick Prue ...
. A 15-minute version of the film had previously screened at the
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
Film Festival and 12 other film festivals.
In September 2010 an episode of ''Something Theater'' screened at the
Oriental Landmark Theatre
Oriental Theatre is a theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin operated by Milwaukee Film. The theater was built and opened in 1927 as a movie palace with East Indian decor. It is said to be the only movie palace to incorporate East Indian artwork. Des ...
as part of the Milwaukee Film Festival.
In July 2011 an episode entitled "The Title is a Drawing" aired which was made by
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
-based artist/filmmaker
Marc Horowitz
Marc Horowitz (born July 19, 1976, Columbus, Ohio) is an American artist who works in a large variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, performance and video.
Biography
Marc Horowitz is a Los Angeles-based artist wo ...
.
Steven Hyden
Steven Hyden (born September 7, 1977) is an American music critic, author, and podcast host. He is the author of the books ''Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me'' (2016, on rivalries in pop music history), ''Twilight of the Gods'' (2018, on the his ...
of ''
The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August ...
'' and ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' called the series, "All weird, all the time." Mary Louise Schumacher of the ''
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...
'' said, "This is not art for artists. Swant, Ciraldo and Robbins obviously love TV themselves and are earnestly trying to create something for a mainstream audience. This is far more rare than you might expect. In fact, I don’t know of any contemporary artists who are trying to make TV shows."Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/entertainment/79086877.html?sort=last+to+first
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...