Fresh Air - A David Byrne Christmas Special

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

The singer-songwriter and Talking Heads frontman presents some of his favorite holiday music — including songs by The Pogues, James Brown, LCD Soundsystem and Paul Simon. The playlist on Apple MusicThe playlist on Spotify Also, David Bianculli shares highlights from TV this year.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. When I interviewed David Byrne in November, I enjoyed it so much that when the interview was over, I asked if he'd consider returning before Christmas to play some of his favorite Christmas recordings. I am very grateful that he said yes, he's brought his list of songs, and he's here to play and talk about them. He included a holiday song he wrote and recorded, and I can't wait to play that for you. I consider David Byrne's return to our show a great Christmas gift for all of us who are about to hear him and the music he's about to play. Byrne is, of course, a founder and frontman of Talking Heads, which was a seminal new wave band in the 70s and 80s, although calling the band new wave or punk doesn't describe how unique they were or how they expanded out from the stripped-down music they began playing.

Byrne also founded the music label Luwakobop, which releases music of different genres from the U.S. and around the world. The restored version of the Talking Heads 1983 concert film Stop Making Sense was released earlier this year. It's widely considered to be one of the best concert films ever made. Byrne has also created the Broadway shows American Utopia and Here Lies Love. David Byrne, welcome back to Fresh Air. Happy holidays.

So great to have you back. Good to be back. So I want to start by asking you, what are the criteria that you use to compile this list? I wanted to not take it too seriously, not too seriously, the Christmas list, and have fun. So when I'm putting together these kind of playlists for friends or whatever, I'm thinking, I want them to just have fun. Let's give them something that will bring a little joy in the holidays, because the holidays can be stressful for a lot of people. Yeah, and we've got some songs about that, too, that you've

chosen. Yeah, we have that, too. We do have that. Fear not. There will be some sad songs. All right. I want to start with something from your list that I really love that I hadn't heard before, because I wanted to get off to a really strong start. So we're starting with a song that you wrote and recorded called Fat Man's Comin'. Now, most Santa Claus songs are so ho-ho-ho cheery. This one is like high drama. It sounds like the theme song for an opening dramatic film. Tell me how and why you wrote this song. Well, continuing on from our previous conversation, I sometimes have a tendency to take things a little bit literally. So I looked at the whole Santa phenomenon and said, well, what if I just describe this exactly as what's happening? Here's a stranger who's sneaking,

breaking into your house, basically, and leaving packages and dressed in a rather strange outfit. And I thought, what if I just do that? The arrangement is by a guy named Jarek Bischoff that I'd worked with before. And his arrangement is pretty incredible. Really kind of catches the flavor of when I'm getting this sort of slightly ominous,

despite my description of what Santa's up to, as being pretty accurate. It sounds more like a home invasion. Yes, yes. The arrangement gives it the appropriate mood. Absolutely. Let's hear it. This is David Byrne's Fat Man's Comin'. Comin' from the land of the ice and snow

A roly-poly man in the dark he's ridin' Everybody knows that he's out there now. Everybody knows that the fat man's coming. His hair is white as the snow. That funky man with the bird trim collar. Coming in from the cold Everybody says that you can't be real People say it's just my imagination

Everybody claims that they don't believe But everybody knows that the fat man's coming Wearing boots on a belt of leather He'll be creeping into your home Leaving packages unattended Before you know it, he's come and gone So that was David Byrne's song, Fat Man's Coming. David, of course, singing lead,

and an orchestration by Jarek Bischoff. I really love that. I hope you do more of that kind of high drama song with Jarek Bischoff orchestrations. Okay, so the next song we should play from your playlist is the Pogues song, Fairy Tale of New York. And the frontman of the Pogues, Shane McGowan, died very recently. So we should just acknowledge him and play this song.

It's a great song. I know it's a favorite of a lot of people. Tell us why you chose this and what the song means to you. It's a great song. He's a great songwriter. It's a duet with Christy McCall, somebody that I've worked with on a couple of records. And it's incredibly moving. It kind of brings you to tears every time you hear it. He paints a picture of this bickering couple that actually love one another very much. Immigrants who've come to New York and are finding a hard time of it getting their footing. And she's accusing him of all these promises that he made to her about how great New York

would be, and they're all broken promises. It's not been great. But it's, the way he's telling this, the thing she's accusing him of, he's sort of singing about himself, his unreliability and drunkenness and everything else. So it's, yeah, it's very moving. So let's hear it. This is The Pogues' Fairy Tale of New York, recorded in 1987. It was Christmas Eve, babe In the drunk tank

An old man said to me Won't see another one And then he sang a song The rare old mountain you I turned my face away And

dreamed about you Got on the lucky one Came in 18 to 1 I've got a feeling This year is remaining So happy Christmas

I love you baby I can see a better time When all our dreams come true They got cars big as bars, they got rivers of gold But the windows right through you, it's no place for the old When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve You promised me Broadway was waiting for me You were handsome, you were pretty, queen of New York City When the band finished playing, they huddled up for more Sinatra was swinging, all the drums they were singing Pretty Queen of New York City. When the band finished playing, they huddled up for more.

Sinatra was swinging, all the drums they were singing. We kissed on a corner, then danced through the night. The boys of the NYPD choir were singing, go away, bye. And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day. Oh my God, it's like heartbreaking from the first verse. Yeah, because he's in jail because he was drunk in public. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I don't think there were like bitter Christmas songs like this when you were growing up. I know there wasn't when I was growing up.

No. No. No. It was during the 60s and 70s, I think, that I remember there being songs that sort of criticized Christmas as far as talking about inequality and the emphasis on consumerism and things like that, you started to hear those kind of songs. Was Talking Heads ever asked to do a Christmas album? No, no, no. No one thought of that. And did you ever release a Christmas album on your label, the Wackabop? No, no. On one hand, Christmas songs are perennial. If you do one that people like, as we all know, every year you hear it again.

It starts getting played again and again and again for a few weeks, and then it's gone again. But it comes back. So you're set for your song royalties or whatever. But if it doesn't click, you've just got this embarrassing thing. That will only be viable for a month. Yes, only viable for a month. And then will be completely forgotten.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so moving on, we've got another song about Christmas in the city. And this is a classic. This is one of those songs that does get played every Christmas. And it's James Brown's Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto. Tell us why you chose this. It's a classic. And this was during the period where James Brown was actually starting to make some social commentary in some of his songs. But even though he's making this kind of pointed commentary about economics and inequality, he can't help but put joy in the funky beat and how danceable it is that, in a way, is a response to the criticism in the lyrics. Yeah, you could easily dance to this. Yeah.

Yeah. All right, so here's James Brown's Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto. Santa Claus goes straight to the Ghetto. Santa Claus Goes straight to the ghetto Hitch up your reindeer Goes straight to the ghetto Santa Claus Goes straight to the ghetto Fill every stocking you find The kids are gonna love you so

Leave a toy for Johnny Leave a doll for Mary Leave something pretty for Donnie And don't forget about Gary Santa Claus. Goes straight to the ghetto. Santa Claus. Goes straight to the ghetto.

Tell him James Brown sent you. Goes straight to the ghetto. You know that I know what you will see Cause that was once me Hit it, hit it The Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto, one of the Christmas recordings that David Byrne has brought with him today to play for us. So yeah, that's a great recording.

You brought several songs that are pretty sad and depressing Christmas songs. The holidays are hard. Yeah, what's hard for you about the holidays? Or what was hard for you about the holidays? I've had holidays where I've been completely alone. By choice or by? No, not exactly by choice. It wasn't like, oh, I don't want to see anyone.

It was just like everybody was gone and I was left eating a turkey TV dinner. It sounds like I'm really pulling at the heartstrings there. But yeah, and that happens to quite a lot of people. But also, I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the year end. Maybe it's just this kind of enforced joy that we're supposed to feel, that people kind of feel like, wait a minute, you're not going to, you can't tell me to be happy. And we have James Murphy and LCD Sound System doing us all a gold, Christmas will break your heart,

which in some cases is very, very true. Yeah, this is a great recording. I hadn't heard it before, so I'm really glad you brought it. So here's LCD Sound System with James Murphy, Christmas Will Break Your Heart. Christmas will break your heart if your world is feeling small. And there's no one on your phone You feel close enough to call

Christmas will crush your soul Like that laid-back rock and roll But your body's getting old It's much too time to be so bold Christmas can wreck your head Like some listless awkward sex So you refuse to leave your bed And get depressed when no one checks Yeah, Christmas will break your heart Like the armies of the unrelenting dark

Once the peace talks fall apart but still I'm coming home to you Not many Christmas songs have Christmas will crush your soul in the lyrics. Yes.

But it's a great song. I really like it a lot. And James doesn't sing that often. So, yeah, it's a nice thing. Do you often feel like everyone else is having a better time than you are on Christmas? I mean, I certainly feel that. Not so much anymore, but I used to feel like that. I certainly felt that way.

Look, they really are getting all the joy and they're going to parties and whatever they're doing. Yes. I'm not sure I'm totally down with all this. Do you ever perform on Christmas? I think I have, and then on New Year's Eve, I've done that. Those are, especially New Year's

Eve, can be a very lucrative performance date. It gets you off the hook of having to have a good time. Yes, you just go, okay, that's done. I provided the entertainment. Yes, I'll have a drink and go home. The next song I want to play, David, is I think the saddest Christmas song I've ever heard.

It doesn't get much sadder than this. And this is a Prince Christmas song called Another Lonely Christmas. You want to tell us about why you chose this one? Oh, to cheer us up. Yeah, this is to cheer everyone up. Wow. Prince is amazing. And I thought, wait a minute, didn't he do a Christmas song? But he gave it the twist of being like incredibly sad Christmas song, echoing LCD sound system and some of the others.

It's kind of like if you're alone for the holidays, it is, yeah, it is deeply sad. And he's alone because his girlfriend died on Christmas Day several years ago. You find that out deeper in the song. Yeah, yes, he's milking it there. Yeah, yeah, but he sounds so good on this. Yeah, yeah, he really gives it, it's a real vocal workout. Okay, so if you're in the mood for a sad Christmas song, David Byrne has one for you, and here it is. Prince's Another Lonely Christmas.

Last night, I spent another lonely Christmas. Darling, darling, you You should've been there For the ones I dream about You are the one that makes my love shine You are the only one I care for My mommy used to say Always trust your lover

Now I guess that all that matters Is baby you promised me Baby you promised me you'd never leave Then you died on the 25th of December Oh baby Last night It's been another lonely, lonely Christmas Darling baby

You should be there ¶¶ ¶¶ Your father said it was pneumonia Your mother said it was stress But the doctor said you were dead now I say it's senseless Every Christmas night for seven years now I drink banana daiquiri till I'm blind As long as I can hear you smiling, baby You won't hear my tears Another lonely Christmas is mine Let's take a short break and then we'll be back and hear more of the songs on David Byrne's playlist of his favorite Christmas songs.

I'm Terry Gross, and this is Fresh Air. Hi, it's Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. Before we get back to our show, the end of the year is coming up, and we're reflecting a bit here at Fresh Air. We've loved sharing conversations with you in 2023. Leslie Jones, Barbara Streisand, Kerry Washington, Zadie Smith, Ronan Farrow, David Byrne, and so many others. And we're looking forward to 2024, hopefully with your financial support. and anyone listening who already donates to public media. Your support is the reason everyone has free access to NPR shows and podcasts. To anyone out there who isn't a supporter yet, right now is the time to start, especially with journalists gearing up for an important election year. Supporting public media now takes just a few minutes and really makes a difference in what's possible moving forward.

So join NPR Plus at plus.npr.org or make a tax-deductible donation now at donate.npr.org slash fresh air. And thank you. This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to my interview with David Byrne, the co-founder and frontman of the band Talking Heads. He's put together a playlist of his favorite Christmas songs for us, and he's here to play and talk about them. So I asked him about one of the songs he chose, Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas, by the Staples Singers. The Staples are basically a gospel group that managed to blur the line between gospel songs and secular songs. They had secular hits, but they come out of the gospel and the civil rights tradition. And so here they're talking about who took the merry out of Christmas,

but I think they're also talking about who forgot about the real meaning of Christmas. Yeah. And sometimes when I hear this song, I think instead of Mary, M-E-R-R-Y, they're singing M-A-R-Y. They're talking about the biblical story. Yeah. No, that's right. That's right. That's right. That's right.

So this is Who Took the Marriott of Christmas, and it's the Staple Singers, one of the songs that David Byrne put on his Christmas playlist. Here we go. People all over the world forgot about Mary Busy fighting wars, trying to make it to Mars Searching for light and can't seem to find the right star Searching for light and can't seem to find the right star Who took the merit to smile Yeah People all over the world forgot about merit To be here to buy toys Learning about Santa's joys

Make him believe he's just another baby boy Oh Make him believe he's just another baby boy. Make him believe he's just another baby boy. Start to fly and can't seem to find the right star. I can believe he's just another baby boy Who took the man out of Christmas People all over the world, forgot about their bed. Yeah! That is really catchy.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, thank you for bringing that. Did you spend any Christmases in church? Oh, I probably did. My parents went to church when I was young. What kind of church was it? At one point, I remember they went to a Methodist church, which didn't have a lot of singing. And then they switched over to Unitarian.

I asked my dad, why don't you all switch? And he said, the music's better. What was the difference? What music was it? Was it like guitar? No, it wasn't. There was that period in church when it was like very folky? Yes, there was that period.

This was not that. This was going the other way. They had like full-on choirs and classical musicians playing. I mean, it was kind of incredible. So we have another like Christmas heartbreak song here, and this is Alexander 23 and Leve, who I am not familiar with. So tell us about them and why you chose this song. I don't know Alexander 23. I'm familiar with Leve, who's having quite a moment at the moment.

She's Icelandic and does songs that sound like they were written before the rock and roll era. And this is kind of almost one of them. It's kind of like a throwback to the kind of older school of Christmas songs. But much sadder. Yeah, but much sadder. Yes. Okay. So this is In Christmas, and let's hear it. I bought you a present, but you'll never get it. Because me and you said our goodbyes this December, oh no So I went to the furnace Thought maybe I'd burn it

My heart is a dry eye Can't even return it, oh no The most wonderful time of the year is breaking my heart. So tell me this Christmas, who'll keep you warm? Who'll put your presents down on the floor under the tree that you bought with me? Watch all those movies that we both have seen. Hundreds of times we know every line. But it's not about that.

It's about the time together on Christmas. So this Christmas ain't Christmas at all I made cookies for Nikki like you used to do but I got so damn sad that I ate one or two of them all So please turn off Mariah I'm not in the mood

cause all I want for Christmas Wants nothing to do with me now I really like that song. And the way they do it with a male and female singer, it sounds like they're both yearning for each other, but they've broken up and they should get back together. Exactly, yes, I'm going to burn your present. But you can tell she really thought,

why couldn't this have worked out? Yeah, because they love the same films. If you're just joining us, my guest is David Byrne, and he is co-founder and was the front man of Talking Heads. And he's brought with him a Christmas playlist for us, so we'll hear more Christmas songs chosen by David Byrne after we take a short break. This is Fresh Air. This is Fresh Air. Let's get back to my interview with David Byrne.

And it's a special Christmas presentation. He's brought with him his playlist of his favorite Christmas songs, which he's playing for us. Getting back to your playlist, since we've heard some songs about heartbreak and death, I thought let's lighten it up and play a song from your playlist that's just about the enjoyment of shopping for Christmas. Yes.

And I don't know if this is meant to be ironic, but it really is about, let's go shopping! Yeah, and tell us why you chose this song. It's from 1983. It's a sentiment that I might view with suspicion or assume was meant ironically, but

it's a song about shopping. About the joy of shopping. By a man named Joseph Washington Jr., whom I'm completely unfamiliar with, but I thought, oh my goodness, somebody's tackling this in a kind of unironic way. I'm unfamiliar with him too, but it's a fun song, so let's hear it. I'm going shopping, shopping shopping shopping around downtown i'm going

shopping i'm going shopping shopping shopping around downtown every time christmas comes around around it's time for shopping traffic jams it's time for shopping and I've got a Christmas dish together I'm gonna buy presents for all my love for my friends, for my family for everyone

that's been so good to me I'm going shopping I'm going shopping. I'm going shopping. Shopping. Shopping. Downtown. Downtown. I'm going shopping.

Downtown. It's Christmas time again. And I've got my shopping list together Let me see what I'm gonna buy I'm gonna buy, buy some presents For my lover, for my family For everyone that's been so good to me I'm going shopping

I'm voting for that it's not ironic because he's talking about the joy of buying gifts for people who you care about. Yes. And kind of going downtown, mingling with all the other shoppers who everybody's engaged in the same kind of activity. Do you buy a lot of gifts

or have you kind of signed off of that? I kind of activity. Do you buy a lot of gifts or have you kind of like signed off of that? I kind of signed off on it. But I often, I want to buy something for someone when I see the thing that so-and-so would love that. Then get it for them. Also as an adult,

there's always this fear as you're opening a gift that it's going to be something you know you want to give away because you don't need it and you don't have room for it. And someone's looking at your facial expression and going, hmm. Exactly, exactly. I remember a gift I gave to one of my parents and they opened it and they said, take it back. I don't need it.

It's the thought that counts. Yeah, I know. I was going to mention that. Oh, speaking of Christmas gifts. Yes. I'm going to visit a friend in Santa Fe, a musician and artist that I have known for years. And decades ago, I guess this would be in the late 80s, 90s, whatever, we used to communicate with one another through faxes. And his, I could tell, were typed on a manual typewriter, and then he'd put it in the fax machine. Mine might have been on a computer, but they might have been done the same way. But you could then add little drawings and whatever to it.

And so my Christmas gift to him, he doesn't know this yet, I'm bringing back to him all the faxes he sent me for his archives. Oh, you're kidding. It's a huge pile. Wow, you saved them. Yep, I saved them. Why did you save them? They're very idiosyncratic.

And they're kind of funny. I mean, it's sentimental, but it's also, they're not just, hi, what are you doing today? And whatever. What a great gift. Now, does he listen to our show or know anybody who does? Because that would kind of give away the surprise. He might listen to the show, but it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. So I want to end with a song that's actually a song that's really about Christmas. It's one of the carols, but it's an old song. It's from like the 1840s.

It's O Holy Night. And this is one of those songs that it's just a beautiful song. It's a beautiful melody. In the part that goes fall on your knees, there's some chord behind that part that is just, it's kind of gripping. is by Samara Joy. And she won like two Grammys this year for best jazz vocal album and best new artist. And this is a song with her family because her family all sang gospel music. And she's singing lead on it. And her father, who performed played bass, I think. Anyways, he sings on it, too. Do you like this song, David? Yeah, yeah. I haven't heard this version, so I'm really looking forward to this. Usually the versions I hear are very kind of cleaned up and very pristine.

And this sounds like it's going to have a little bit more passion in it. Yeah. Okay. Let's hear it. This is Samara Joy and the McClendon Family. Oh, holy night The stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth It's world A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn Fall on your knees Oh, hear the angel voices O night divine O night when Christ was born. O night divine. O night, O night divine

What'd you think? Wow. That's very moving. Yeah. Incredibly moving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I noticed some little kind of musical songwriting things, like she sneaks in an extra measure when she holds out a note.

Oh, I hadn't noticed that. Yeah, little things like that where you go, oh. That's the kind of thing you would notice. I guess so, yeah. Yeah. So that Samara Joy song was a song that I chose, but other than that, the songs we've been hearing today were chosen by David Byrne. It's his Christmas playlist. And David, I'm so grateful to you for coming back on the show and doing this. It's been so much fun. And you've introduced me to songs I didn't know and performers I didn't know. I knew some of them, but not all of them. So thank you for that. I personally thank you for that. And I wish you happy holidays.

Thank you. Same to you. Happy holidays. Thank you. Make it through the holidays. Yeah. You can find and listen to the Christmas playlist David Byrne put together for us at freshair.npr.org. David Byrne co-founded and fronted the band Talking Heads. The restored version of the band's 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense,

was released earlier this year. He also founded the record label Luwakabop, which releases music of different genres from the U.S. and around the world. After a short break, our TV critic David Bianculli will look back on the year in television and recommend shows you might want to catch up on over the holidays. This is Fresh Air. This is Fresh Air. Our TV critic David Bianculli is going to take a look back at the year in television. It's a year so full of good television, he says that he's still catching up with it, and he has a list of suggestions so you might use the holidays to do some catching

up of your own. For years, the end of each December was the time for me to trot out my picks for my best of the year list, saluting the finest shows television presented over that 12 month period. No more. I've given up. Can't do it. Oh, I can, and I will in just a few seconds, present a list of the best TV shows I've seen this year. But I can't even pretend that my list is all-inclusive or reflects the pinnacle of television produced in 2023. There's simply too much TV out there. So it's the best I've seen, period And some of it slipped by me when it first premiered So I get a chance now to praise it

And maybe to steer you in that direction In case you miss some of these, too Take Beckham, for instance This Netflix documentary series about the British football star Or the soccer star star if you prefer, was directed by actor Fisher Stevens with an unexpected amount of access, intimacy, and honesty. Here, for example, is his wife, Victoria Beckham, formerly known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, talking about a rough patch in their marriage.

She was very pregnant and scheduling a cesarean section in Madrid while her husband was planning a photo op for his endorsement deals with Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce. Are you kidding me? You've got a damn photo shoot with Jennifer Lopez, who is gorgeous and not about to have a baby. So I had my C-section, and I remember lying there. Don't feel at my most gorgeous, let's just say. And I remember someone showing me the front page of the newspaper, which was a gorgeous picture of David between Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce, and the headline was, What Would Posh Say?

Let me tell you what Posh would say. Posh was pissed off. Another non-fiction series that snuck up on me was the recently released three-part documentary on Apple TV Plus called John Lennon, Murder Without a Trial. Its attributes included samples such as this from the final interview recorded with Lennon before he was shot and killed in 1980. It was with RKO radio producer Laurie Kay who asked him about emerging after years away from the spotlight. How do you feel about after five years of silence, fearing yourselves to people? I'm saying here I am now. How are you? How's your relationship going? Did you get through it all? Wasn't the 70s a drag, you know? Here we are, well, let's try and make the 80s good, you know? That documentary also included a relatively rare audio clip,

an off-air discussion between Monday Night Football announcers Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford about whether or not to break the news of Lennon's death during their live football coverage on ABC. Narrator Kiefer Sutherland explains. The news of Lennon's death is impossible to contain, and it's the commentators of Monday Night Football who find themselves deliberating, off-air, whether they should tell the nation. I can't see this game situation allowing for that newsflash. Can you? Absolutely, I can see it.

You can? You betcha. You've got to. We know it. We've got to do it. All right. I don't hang on. It's a tragic moment.

All right. This is going to shake up the whole world. All right. I will get it in. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, shot outside of his apartment building, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.

Hard to go back to the game after that newsflash. Indeed it is. Documentaries weren't the only source of TV excellence in 2023. The resurgence of anthology series continued in a big way. The quartet of Wes Anderson adaptations of stories by Roald Dahl on Netflix

was a singular delight. The return of Black Mirror, also on Netflix, was a joy. A dark and twisted joy, but lots of fun regardless. And I consider Noah Hawley's recurring, constantly reinvented Fargo series on FX to be an anthology series, too, and an amazingly entertaining one. This new season, which we're halfway through, stars Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Jason Leigh,

and it's marvelous. In 2023, there were some noteworthy revivals of old series. Frasier, brought back by Paramount+, was good. And Justified City Primeval, a miniseries sequel by FX, was even better. And there were some unforgettable finales, too. The Crown on Netflix just ended, focusing on the period after Princess Diana's death in a way that was a bit too obvious, yet still interesting. HBO's Barry ended with a bang, lots of them, with one of the most violent yet appropriate TV finales ever. And another HBO series, Succession, went out on top as the best series of 2023. Well, the best I managed to see anyway. And it delivered a quote from the ill-fated patriarch aimed at his grown children

that I expect to outlive the series for a long, long time. Here's Brian Cox as Logan Roy, berating his own grown children for their latest business move. I love you, but you are not serious people. Another great piece of television was an episode of HBO's The Last of Us called Long, Long Time. It stunned me with its quality and subtlety, and caught me by surprise because The Last of Us is based on a video game and is about zombie vegetables or something. But I expect next month it'll end up winning quite a few Emmys.

Also surprising, and immensely well-made were the Netflix documentary spoof series, Kunk on Earth, make sure to find and sample that, and Showtime's The Curse, which is on right now. It stars Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone and is getting stranger every week. And finally, the continuing show I'm most excited about recommending from 2023, The Bear, which this year presented its second season on Hulu. There were three different episodes in this batch I thought were astounding, starting with that Christmas dinner crammed with all those guest stars. But if you're a latecomer to The Bear, which is about Jeremy Allen White as a talented chef with family troubles, don't feel bad. I was too. But binging over the holidays

is a good thing, at least when it comes to television. And it may be the only way to catch up, because 2024 is right around the corner. David Bianculli is professor of television studies at Rowan University. If you want a second chance to write down his suggestions, you can listen again or read the transcript of David's review on our website, freshair.npr.org. Tomorrow on Fresh Air, our guest will be actor Nicolas Cage. He starred in Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, and countless action films. In the new movie, Dream Scenario, he plays a college professor who becomes a star on the internet after he mysteriously appears in the dreams of millions

of people. I hope you'll join us. Thank you. media producer is Molly Seavey-Nesper. Teresa Madden directed today's show. Our co-host is Tanya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.