I'm watching I, CLAUDIUS, so I get it - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

joshuajfriedman.com • 37 days ago

I'm watching I, CLAUDIUS, so I get it

like many right now, I am watching twin peaks for the first time and it is ASTOUNDING to me how even though this show is famously, notoriously known for being deeply weird … it is still weirder than I ever could have imagined. how the *hell* was this on network tv. I love it so much

Comments

assiduousrabbit.bsky.social•37 days ago

One of my favorite books and series!

nanak8.bsky.social•36 days ago

I watched I Claudius on PBS many many years ago and it was fascinating. And I totally see what you’re talking about.

crescendoofpeace.bsky.social•37 days ago

"I, Claudius" was one of my very favorite series when it first appeared, so much so that, after the series "Rome" culminated, I promptly sought out a DVD copy of "I, Claudius."

Derek Jacobi and the entire cast - John Hurt, Brian Blessed, Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies - were simply amazing.

iuthink-12.bsky.social•36 days ago

Only thing I really miss from the DVD release of I, Claudius was Alistair Cooke’s weekly intro.

crescendoofpeace.bsky.social•36 days ago

Agreed.

iuthink-12.bsky.social•36 days ago

Fortunately I purchased a SONY betamax and recorded all
13 episodes on the highest quality recording setting. It required a lot of Beta tapes but it was that or VHS.

yelnikmcwawa.bsky.social•36 days ago

Oddly enough they reran it in the summer of 1991
- when Twin Peaks had just ended -and I saw it for the first time. It was absolutely nothing like Twin Peaks but it filled a void for me.

yelnikmcwawa.bsky.social•36 days ago

Also The Prisoner! That was reran in that same summer

jclangdell.bsky.social•37 days ago

"The Prisoner" probably held that status for several decades after airing on CBS in 1968.

patyom.bsky.social•36 days ago

I took one semester of Latin and all I remember about it is us watching I, Claudius episodes.

den0408.bsky.social•36 days ago

1977. My fiancé and I were saving for our wedding. Highlight of our week, instead of going out we curled up on the couch and settled in to watch I, Claudius. Never gets old!!

lawcreep.bsky.social•37 days ago

We watched the full run in my high school Latin class (that the teacher got the library to order I think)

trevorpk.bsky.social•36 days ago

Great series. The guy holding the severed head was a bit much, but I was young and that sort of thing wasn't on TV that much in those days. After cartoons and reruns of Gilligan's Island it was quite a shock.

kelleyceccato.bsky.social•36 days ago

I adore this series.

literallyadele.bsky.social•36 days ago

I love I, CLAUDIUS. We watched a small amount of it in history class. We couldn't watch much, of course. But I was enamoured, and my teacher was kind enough to arrange for me to watch it in the library during my lunch breaks. No regrets. I now own the DVDs. Still no regrets.

mewhins.bsky.social•36 days ago

We watched it in middle school Latin class, and we all lost our minds when Sir Patrick Stewart showed up with a full head of hair.

p-french.bsky.social•36 days ago

I read the book too-- series was better.

agateboy.bsky.social•36 days ago

UM...because people who should know better keep watching it. SPOILER ALERT...you will never know what is happening because as Sienfeld told the world....that's it. That's the show. Enjoy!

justarose6373.bsky.social•36 days ago

Love that show

skiesdivided.bsky.social•36 days ago

livia: "by the way... don't touch the figs"

COLD AS ICE

apearlma.bsky.social•37 days ago

only the 2nd weirdest show to see in a 3 year period as a kid

expatinpa.bsky.social•37 days ago

Begs the question - 1st weirdest?

apearlma.bsky.social•37 days ago

The Holocaust miniseries

apearlma.bsky.social•37 days ago

only Jewish kid in my grade, know something's generally weird about my Jewish status, must be something simple, right?

oh...

expatinpa.bsky.social•37 days ago

Oh. Well you aren’t wrong.

plessinger.com•37 days ago

Riget

aaronm-azza-h.bsky.social•36 days ago

I recommend drinking coffee and eating pie while watching episodes.

rustybalzak.bsky.social•36 days ago

I, Claudius is amazing. So happy I bought it years ago on DVD.

expatinpa.bsky.social•37 days ago

The one with Derek Jacobi? That was amazing.

chrisnoble.bsky.social•36 days ago

Just don’t mention the wobbly sets 🙂

spiderandme.bsky.social•37 days ago

you stole my skeet 😹😹

expatinpa.bsky.social•37 days ago

Sorry?

crescendoofpeace.bsky.social•37 days ago

Meaning she was going to say the same thing.
💙

hectoroftroy.bsky.social•36 days ago

Perfect.

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

If you too are watching I, CLAUDIUS—or if you want to reminisce about the last time you did—I recommend John Hodgman @hodgman.bsky.social and Elliott Kalan's charming recap podcast for @maximumfun.org, I, PODIUS!

ladymolson.com•36 days ago

"I, Claudius" on PBS inspired me to take Latin instead of Spanish or French in high school. I studied it for eight years, and then Ancient Greek for four.

(I also did it to be different, truth be told, but then I later found out my dad majored in Middle English, so being different was in my genes)

bakerdphd.bsky.social•36 days ago

Ooo my last rewatch was a few years ago. Maybe when I finish this greys anatomy rewatch of the early seasons.

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

Yes! Forgive the free association, but I was also just rewatching the early seasons of Homicide, and I spotted baby Isaiah Washington

bakerdphd.bsky.social•36 days ago

Ok this is getting me in the feels because he was one of the best things about greys until he (allegedly) was homophobic on set so he was fired and they wrote him off the show and it destroyed my dreams

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

Oof, yes, I heard about that, and it's several kinds of heartbreaking

bakerdphd.bsky.social•36 days ago

I'll just sigh a lot while watching

rootfire.bsky.social•36 days ago

The wigs are epic.

emilyintheworld.bsky.social•36 days ago

Oh my god, this was made for me I think

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

Oh, hooray!

moarchampers.bsky.social•36 days ago

Thank for the rec. I adore I, CLAUDIUS. This is a very good time for a research abetted by John and Elliot!

moarchampers.bsky.social•36 days ago

*rewatch*

joelbad.bsky.social•36 days ago

It's always there when I log into Hoopla and I fondly remember

claudiocastro.bsky.social•36 days ago

How i didnt knew about i, claudius?! Thanks for the tip !

jwoodlands.bsky.social•37 days ago

OMG dude, cl-cl-cl-Claudius! What a great idea to watch that! Derek Jacobi is a genius.

sunsetcrest.bsky.social•36 days ago

Are you serious? With Sir Jacobi and Patrick Steward with hair??

leathercrow.bsky.social•36 days ago

well, with someone's hair

moderately-grouchy.bsky.social•37 days ago

The days when PBS was good for a dose of boobs if you knew about it

moderately-grouchy.bsky.social•37 days ago

Also add Shaka Zulu to that list, even though technically cable (TBS)

neonpersephone.bsky.social•36 days ago

A staple in my house growing up.

stinkowitz.bsky.social•36 days ago

Yeah, I'm watching Full House reruns. Believe me, I totally get it.

slarti-bartfast.bsky.social•36 days ago

I've been a lifelong fan of Derek Jacobi because of that series, as well as John Hurt.

adenalbert.com•36 days ago

Yup. Watched it in high school Latin almost uhhhhh 26 years ago

shylofontenot.bsky.social•36 days ago

Watched it for the first time in history class and loved it.

riverdaleboy.bsky.social•36 days ago

So good

ms-lint.bsky.social•36 days ago

May I present my cat, Clawdius…

aundreadawn.bsky.social•36 days ago

I also have a Clawdius!

ms-lint.bsky.social•36 days ago

It’s a great cat name!

elagourmand.bsky.social•36 days ago

Claw claw clawdius!

ms-lint.bsky.social•36 days ago

Exactly!

katvanzan.bsky.social•37 days ago

See "Max Headroom" for a blast from (the more recent) past.

irish-druid.bsky.social•36 days ago

I Claudius, the most brilliant work I ever saw

irish-druid.bsky.social•36 days ago

seen

shirley-ujest.bsky.social•36 days ago

We were so obsessed with Twin Peaks when it first aired. Still magnificently strange.

potz1773.bsky.social•36 days ago

Love that CD series!!

sewsimply.bsky.social•36 days ago

I dearly loved “Soap”

https://youtu.be/UeKPlvscQ_8?si=ZL-uTryfDxPMoqRh

trixie1810.bsky.social•36 days ago

I LOVE I Claudius!
Seen it 3 or 4 times

lincat13.bsky.social•36 days ago

I Claudius is an amazing series. I holds up today and has a tremendous cast. So well written and acted. I watch it again every decade or so

jenniferdamon.bsky.social•36 days ago

I just started rewatching Twin Peaks-still love it!! Just finished the famous dream....:)

rgrenader.bsky.social•37 days ago

Interesting, we just finished rewatching I, Claudius.

mr-0-tragicomedian.bsky.social•36 days ago

Wasn’t I, Claudius on the bbc, tho?

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

Why do you ask?

mr-0-tragicomedian.bsky.social•36 days ago

It seems that the bbc was/is willing to take more risks. That’s all

joshuajfriedman.com•36 days ago

Ahhh, thanks, now I see what you mean! Yes, it was created and originally aired by the BBC, though it was also shown the next year on PBS, so they were willing to take the risk of broadcasting it

ottosimm.bsky.social•36 days ago

It was aired on Russian tv prime time and formed the popular basis for Russians’ understanding of American society.

homonovae.bsky.social•36 days ago

If you ignore the three cardboard boxes used as the set, I Claudius, is a brilliantly acted series with so much connected to current experience whenever yo watch it. I watch it once every couple of years and enjoy it all over again.

slarti-bartfast.bsky.social•36 days ago

It was the epitome of Masterpiece Theater, a cultural treasure.

francesferguson.bsky.social•37 days ago

Oh! If you haven’t already, please also read the robert graves novels the BBC series is based upon!

joshuajfriedman.com•37 days ago

Ah, thanks! I'll have to do that next

marypcbuk.bsky.social•37 days ago

then come back and chat about how much we'd all like a Log King rather than a Stork King right now

kevdog.bsky.social•37 days ago

I worked with the Log Lady at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and she was an absolute gem of a human.

marypcbuk.bsky.social•37 days ago

*slightly* different concept but I wouldn't put it past Lynch to have mined some Aesop along the way

ochoalauren.bsky.social•37 days ago

One of my favorite books

jneas.bsky.social•37 days ago

Forever grateful to my late high school Latin teacher, Mr. Kuntz, for having us watch one episode of I, CLAUDIUS, every Friday in class until we'd seen the whole thing.

chrisnoble.bsky.social•36 days ago

I hope you called it I Clavdivs, to annoy him, though

robertfiore.bsky.social•36 days ago

Actually it got so flaky and ranged so far away from its original tone that I stopped watching it in the second season.

derekkeepstrying.bsky.social•36 days ago

It was great, then and now.

harrissocal.bsky.social•36 days ago

Have it on DVD

doitforjonnymann.bsky.social•36 days ago

I, Claudius was amazing!

robertrosenthal.bsky.social•37 days ago

Very well done, but also weird. A friend said he couldn't imagine accepting Patrick Stewart as Captain of the Enterprise after seeing him as Sejanus.

chestercat.bsky.social•37 days ago

We forget how weird the early '90s really were, coming out of the even stranger '80s.

andymonk.bsky.social•36 days ago

Probably the single best miniseries of all time. My favorite for 30+ years.

briangerstel.bsky.social•36 days ago

Of course, one of the weirdest things for me about that series is a clean-shaven Brian Blessed.

susanneaj.bsky.social•36 days ago

I loved every minute of that show!!

elizs.bsky.social•37 days ago

I still can't believe my parents let me watch that as a kid. As long as it was on PBS, it was ok 😂😂

iuthink-12.bsky.social•36 days ago

Best line in BBC’s I, Claudius is: “Rome, you are finished!”

cin13.bsky.social•36 days ago

I watched it first time around and it was glorious!! I’ve got the dvd’s but alas no dvd player anymore :(…I’m going to have to round one up and get back into that!! It was fantastic! I was always so excited each week for it to come on! No streaming back then!! lol

mommablue1922.bsky.social•36 days ago

I absolutely love Twin Peaks! “Damn good cherry pie” 😀

misssavoy.bsky.social•36 days ago

Because I, Claudius was on PBS parents allowed their children to watch it. I saw it during a rerun when I was 11 or 12. There are kids that saw it in school because PBS is educational. I saw Twin Peaks as a teen when it aired. But we were also the generation that read Stephen King as tweens.

jenjrowan.bsky.social•36 days ago

Same. Our folks let us watch it and wow… eye opener for sure. But oh Derek Jacobi. ❤️

warren.nyc•37 days ago

Rewatched it after having seen it 40+ years earlier as a kid. So many good actors in there but my favorite is seeing Patrick Stewart as Sejanus. I had no idea he was in it.