iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Managing a performing arts school is just like managing an athletic department, only with about 98% less money.

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(This thread brought to you as a reminder that Steven Spielberg’s rarely-streamed film debut DUEL (a 1971 Universal TVM) is streaming on Criterion this month).

Or just air every season of Naked and Afraid, Chopped, or Ridiculousness every day and night forever and ever amen.

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Basically, look at what the studios and networks did (as sellers and buyers, respectively) in the 1970s, and update the formats and genres to the 2020s.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Outside the box idea for Disney, NBCU, or (sigh) Skydance: bring back standalone made-for-TV movies. The industry needs more feature-length proving grounds for young talent, and these could be done cheaply and repurposed from network to streamer and back (and vice versa).

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We’re doing exactly what we thought we’d be doing in the 21st century: staring most of the day at a pocket computer that makes us angry and anxious. We’re living the dream.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Man. Things are moving very quickly. Sucks about Mike and Pam. I'm guessing Gunn and Safran's leash will be tightened as well, and they'll have only one big at-bat (Man of Tomorrow next year) to buy more time. Unless they're already on the way out...

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What a semester, huh? Lemon, it's October 1st.

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Great and prescient TT job. More of this please! If I were 30 years younger (and, to be fair, much better trained in LIS), this would be a dream job.

Busy as hell amidst lots of institutional change, but doing OK. Thanks for checking in! I miss seeing you at conferences in this country, but I totally get it as well. I hope you’re doing well!

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An annoying but also fascinating academic thing is long-term faculty and staffers having reflex assumptions, reactions, and suspicions stemming from how things were run several department chairs, Deans, or Provosts ago. Gothic horror, only the ghost is some Dean from 1997.

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pondering the viability of a NIL collective for our visual and performing arts students.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Well that was fast. Score one (a big one) for team WB.

My new campus hero is the kid who wears the all-white suit every day (complete with white headphones and tennis shoes) who smells faintly of clove cigarettes. He’s like his own 2000s “The” band or a self-contained Wes Anderson protagonist.

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Though I agree that the capital in this whole deal is rickety and touchy enough for it to unravel quickly. The cable brands will be dead weight soon enough, and creatives are already wary of doing business with the Ellisons. So there’s opportunity for another reinvention circa 2032.

Great historical context on the stubborn durability of the WB core. Though since is their third invasion in less than a decade, are the ranks and structure still strong enough to power through? I’d imagine however Bloys v Holland plays out will be an early tell.

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But each of our clocks eventually run out. We just need to plot carefully how and when we want them to end.

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The layered temporalities of academic life take a collective psychic toll. Especially these days, when there are more of them than ever demanding simultaneous attention.

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Hell, I still miss 1996 USENET.

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The only place I can imagine possibly ever hearing it in the wild in my usual habits and travels is from outdoor speakers from some campus event as I walk to my office.

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Wait, people think there are still inescapable pop songs in this era of algorithm-delivered pop culture? 🤔 (Speaking as a Texan who only listens to Bandcamp, NTS, and his own Plex library and was not aware of (and still haven’t heard) something called “Choosing Texas” until this morning.)

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you’re looking for a slightly off-the-radar show on that list with some amazing women characters and performances, I’ll put in a pitch for Andor, if you haven’t yet seen it.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Good for you! Keep your scholarly momentum going as long as you can through promotions. The service will always still be there for you later!

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Another faculty job at SMU Meadows! This one is to lead our growing Sports Media program in Journalism. Details in the link! apply.interfolio.com/191548

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Most of the top 20 was too high, and should have been swapped for most of shows 21-40.

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I only listed things I've actually watched, which left out several biggies that I haven't yet (or never want to) get to. Also, some of us (ok, just me) are probably still currently discovering and watching more shows from the last century than from this one.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My all-animation variant. The Gravity Falls-P&F era was magical for those of us with Gen Z kids (who grow up and introduce you to Smiling Friends).

A list of top animated TV Shows of the 21st century, including Gravity Falls, Smiling Friends, Phineas and Ferb, Over The Garden Wall, The Backyardigans, Samurai Jack, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Creature Commandos, Justice League Unlimited, and Bluey.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Calling on the power of industrial-grade processed sugar to please make it feel like fall in Texas, instead of permanent early August.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Reminder: we have open faculty positions at SMU Meadows! Art History! Film! Theatre! And more to come! Apply now! www.smu.edu/meadows/abou...

smu.edu

Employment

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It could also be better with bracingly ruthless editing at every stage. And, I have to say it, less Tracey Ullman.

For starters: every single UW Madison-produced Comm Arts PhD for the past 40-odd years has a university gen ed Public Speaking requirement to thank for their TAships and first stabs at pedagogy. These folks have shaped entire fields in Comm Studies, Film Studies, and Media and Cultural Studies.

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You’re inspiring me to do a political economic history of how the last century of US education policy shaped me, and you know I think that would be an interesting last look back when I’m ready to call it (in about 10-12 years).

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Also need another list of Top TV Seasons of Shows That Kinda Disappointed On The Whole… Doctor Who S1, 4, 5, 9 Stranger Things S1, 3 The Bear S1 Beef S1 Westworld S1, S2 Loki S1 Etc…

Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

A caveat that there are a few biggies that I haven’t gotten around to yet, and another dozen or so that I have seen that fall just off the list. My top 10 In no particular order…

A grid of thumbnail art for a ten best TV shows list, including Mad Men, Andor, Survivor, Pluribus, Severance, Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Arrested Development

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It's worth pondering if this whole lawsuit was always an elaborate bit of theatrics, destined to result in an almost toothless settlement designed to minimize any corporate discomfort. As these things often turn out. Condolences to Hollywood, and, well, all of us.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’m just grateful for everyone who sees past these dark horizons and shares their wisdom, kindness, joy, love, humor, and art with the rest of us.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It’s no wonder we’re drowning in cruelty, clowning, gaslighting, denial, panic, resentment, and resignation. It’s practically all we’re fed.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Human societies have always produced and capitalized on mass despair under the cover of “a good life,” but never at this scale, velocity, and relentless saturation from cradle to grave.

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Derek Kompare @dkompare.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I received what seemed to be a push-poll from the Patrick campaign and had the same reaction. I've lived in Texas for 27 years, and this is the first time I've seen genuine concern from the GOP in the gov and lt. gov races.