Corporate: "Society Tomorrow"

Corporate: "Society Tomorrow." Pat Bishop, director. Jake Fogelnest, script. Season 1, episode 8 (28 February 2018).

'"Mundane" Comedy/Satire TV series; the show is scheduled fairly late on Comedy Central, but it begins the run-up to The Daily Show, and the commercials indicate it's targeted for a fairly young audience. Logline for the episode, "The staff is enthralled with a new prestige TV show. Jake [a featured character] does all that he can to avoid watching it, while Matt's life begins to creepily mimic the show's events." The TV show alluded to is Society Tomorrow, which features a high-tech dystopian world, with "the GuardWrist" as "the central piece of technology": basically monitoring devices / ultrasmart smart-phones worn on wrists and forearms. Major character Matt adopts and puts on his company's similar device, the Hampton DeVille "HD StrapIn," with a double-meaning. When Matt tries to get the intrusive ads blocked by a colleague computer guru — having failed to update his device — the StrapIn locks on and becomes irremovable. Satiric targets in this episode includes obsession with a TV show: they're discussing it rather than a mass shooting in the world outside the DeVille Corporation, and, indeed, instead of the imminent threat of layoffs by the Corporation. Relevant for pretty realistic satire on smart phones, surveillance, invasive information-gathering, dealing with IT departments and warrantees, and literalizing the figure of speech of being shackled to one's phone. Voice-over and dialog makes ironically explicit commentary on all-encompassing technology, including on corporate «cube farms» and entrapment into the world of TV shows (at least those that achieve a mild variety of cult status). Note threat on Society Tomorrow of take-over of human actions, indicated by lighting up of the GuardWrist, and fear by at least Matt that something similar could happen to him from his company's StrapIn. Note also Jake's being both excluded from DeVille Corp. because he forgot his key-card, and trapped within corporate security protocols when he (easily) forces the entrance turnstile. The moral of the episode seems to be the anti-SF, satiric one that there is no vast conspiracy with an evil secret ruler controlling things, but a system of inept people mostly doing what they think right — badly — interspersed with mischief and petty tyranny.

RDE, Initial Compiler, 1Mar18