unlocking the drawer

cutting corners, secret show, some other titles i considered

My friend who’s a comic texted me the other day. He wrote,

“Isn’t it weird man, like
We’re kind of young in a way, still?
But I feel 63, not 33
Like this game is
It’s so tiring”

For two seasons, I had a Showtime series called Flatbush Misdemeanors. No one ever asked why the show had that name. It never came up. I co-created, wrote, and starred in the show. I’m very proud of the work and it was an incredible learning experience and it’s responsible for at least two of my three forehead lines.

I wasn’t shocked or particularly saddened when it was canceled. There were factors well beyond what I could control that made it untenable to continue. It was the end of a chapter, onwards, upwards.

It did make me sad when it was removed from streamers. They pulled the show, along with many other series, in the midst of merger and strike mayhem, presumably to avoid paying more in streaming residuals if that were agreed upon. It’s worth it to them to pay more in streaming residuals for The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, etc. Flatbush was smaller.

But people still loved it. I kept getting DMs asking where they could find it to re-watch or to finish the series or to share it with a partner. And all I could say was, “Sorry, it no longer exists.” Which felt insane. It did exist; we made it. They wanted to watch it, I wanted them to watch it.

I uploaded all of the eps unlisted and threw them in unlisted folders, so when people started messaging or commenting asking how they could watch, I just started sharing them. Individually. I’m sure there’s a more efficient way to do it than copy-and-pasting the links to everyone, but that’s how I do it. Every day, at least a couple people DM. Yesterday, sixty people asked. I shared it with all of them. I don’t make a cent off it; it’s just so they can see the thing.

It’s silly that I spend time passing twenty episodes of a show around like they’re bootleg DVDs, but so much work and care and forehead lines went into the show. It feels nice that the people who are interested can pull some joy from it. The messages about how it’s helped people through rough patches, or just made them laugh, that stuff still means a lot.

I would include the links here, but if I make them public on YouTube, the Studio instantly copyright-strikes it. Why claim copyright just to keep it locked in a drawer? Odd stuff. I’m starting to question some of these mega corporations.

The title of that show. Flatbush because it was set in Flatbush, Brooklyn (clear enough) and the Misdemeanors was because it felt like the show was about all these characters that have to cut corners in small ways just to get through the day. That we’re spread so thin and life can be so cartoonishly brutal, that we need to cheat these arbitrary rules just to tread water. Fighting landlords or bosses or making money in off-book ways. As my friend texted, the game is tiring.

If you want to watch that series, I’ll share it with you, unlisted, zero dollars.

I’ve written here about my comedy doc short, Being Bublé. Since then, I’ve publicly shared it on YouTube, so now you can watch –

The New York Times wrote a very nice feature on the film here. It was nice to create something with friends that was ours, independent, removed from external ownership that can drain creative energy. The experience was purely positive. Just want to follow that joy. I hope you guys enjoy watching it half as much as we enjoyed making it.

No comment on whether corners had to be cut for this one to exist.

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