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| You Can Stream, but You Can’t Hide | You Can Stream, but You Can’t Hide |
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| I could always count on Bob Belcher. | I could always count on Bob Belcher. |
| My younger son and I have been making our way through the entire run of Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” on Hulu for about a year or so. It’s our reliable go-to, a feel-good nightcap. So when we sat down a few days ago to watch the Season 9 premiere, “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now,” I wasn’t really looking for an escape from coronavirus anxiety. But I wasn’t not looking for an escape, either. That’s what TV’s for now, right? | My younger son and I have been making our way through the entire run of Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” on Hulu for about a year or so. It’s our reliable go-to, a feel-good nightcap. So when we sat down a few days ago to watch the Season 9 premiere, “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now,” I wasn’t really looking for an escape from coronavirus anxiety. But I wasn’t not looking for an escape, either. That’s what TV’s for now, right? |
| In the episode’s B-plot, the hamburger slinger Bob is entrusted with caring for an adorable baby rat that his friend Teddy has been keeping in a cardboard box. This presents some complications, given that Bob prepares food for a living, especially when he learns that he has to give the ratling an intimate therapeutic massage. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll just wash my hands really, really well, like how surgeons do.” | In the episode’s B-plot, the hamburger slinger Bob is entrusted with caring for an adorable baby rat that his friend Teddy has been keeping in a cardboard box. This presents some complications, given that Bob prepares food for a living, especially when he learns that he has to give the ratling an intimate therapeutic massage. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll just wash my hands really, really well, like how surgeons do.” |
| I’ll just wash my hands. Really, really well. Like how surgeons do. Ha ha, where have I heard that lately, I wondered, as I stared glumly at the soap-ravaged mitts in my lap. | I’ll just wash my hands. Really, really well. Like how surgeons do. Ha ha, where have I heard that lately, I wondered, as I stared glumly at the soap-ravaged mitts in my lap. |
| But never mind! This was still just a fun, silly, distracting comedy, with no relationship to our current anxious reality. Set in a beachside town whose tourism business would no doubt be drying up right now. And at the sort of small, family-owned restaurant that would probably be shuttering right now if it weren’t drawn by animators … | But never mind! This was still just a fun, silly, distracting comedy, with no relationship to our current anxious reality. Set in a beachside town whose tourism business would no doubt be drying up right now. And at the sort of small, family-owned restaurant that would probably be shuttering right now if it weren’t drawn by animators … |
| Sigh. Even our escapes, it turns out, aren’t entirely escapes anymore. | Sigh. Even our escapes, it turns out, aren’t entirely escapes anymore. |
| Once officials advised people to avoid public spaces, practice social distancing and self-quarantine if necessary, it seemed clear that TV, particularly streaming, would be the art form of the moment. | Once officials advised people to avoid public spaces, practice social distancing and self-quarantine if necessary, it seemed clear that TV, particularly streaming, would be the art form of the moment. |
| Binge-watching wouldn’t just pass the time. It would be a kind of emergency shelter. The streaming services and their libraries were like vast tunnel networks, carved into the cultural bedrock over decades, a chance to hunker down in a psychically protected zone and visit more carefree, or at least more hands-on, times. Plenty of news outlets, like this one, offered guides to stress-melting quarantine TV. | Binge-watching wouldn’t just pass the time. It would be a kind of emergency shelter. The streaming services and their libraries were like vast tunnel networks, carved into the cultural bedrock over decades, a chance to hunker down in a psychically protected zone and visit more carefree, or at least more hands-on, times. Plenty of news outlets, like this one, offered guides to stress-melting quarantine TV. |
| But it wasn’t long into the outbreak that I began to find that anything I watched, be it an upcoming critics’ screener or a beloved rerun, could slap me back to reality unawares. | But it wasn’t long into the outbreak that I began to find that anything I watched, be it an upcoming critics’ screener or a beloved rerun, could slap me back to reality unawares. |
| The problem wasn’t necessarily pandemic-specific material, like my screeners of “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” the latest spinoff of the AMC drama about — well, you know. Some viewers have even sought out such stories, like the recent rush on “Contagion,” as a kind of cathartic psychological inoculation. | The problem wasn’t necessarily pandemic-specific material, like my screeners of “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” the latest spinoff of the AMC drama about — well, you know. Some viewers have even sought out such stories, like the recent rush on “Contagion,” as a kind of cathartic psychological inoculation. |
| No, it’s the once ordinary behavior that’s most triggering, the casual, off-handed references to now-verboten acts that fill shows shot before 2020. | No, it’s the once ordinary behavior that’s most triggering, the casual, off-handed references to now-verboten acts that fill shows shot before 2020. |
| A family watch of “Derry Girls” finds the Northern Irish teens excited about a school trip to Paris, a city I was going to fly to next week that now seems as distant as the moon. What sitcom about young people in the city doesn’t involve constant apartment drop-ins, brunches, inadvisably close partying? During a cheese commercial, friends grab at a communal plate of quesadillas and I wince. I watch an episode of “Australian Survivor,” and I can only think, “Stop. Touching. Your. Faces!” | A family watch of “Derry Girls” finds the Northern Irish teens excited about a school trip to Paris, a city I was going to fly to next week that now seems as distant as the moon. What sitcom about young people in the city doesn’t involve constant apartment drop-ins, brunches, inadvisably close partying? During a cheese commercial, friends grab at a communal plate of quesadillas and I wince. I watch an episode of “Australian Survivor,” and I can only think, “Stop. Touching. Your. Faces!” |
| How did I never notice before how much TV was a decadent Saturnalia of facial self-exploration? Casual eye-rubbing and breaching the six-foot radius: This is our porn now, and a cruel reminder. What would have been the most minor behaviors a week ago — the unprotected high-five, the leaned-in whisper, the detective getting in a suspect’s face — now seem as otherworldly as wights and flying dragons. | How did I never notice before how much TV was a decadent Saturnalia of facial self-exploration? Casual eye-rubbing and breaching the six-foot radius: This is our porn now, and a cruel reminder. What would have been the most minor behaviors a week ago — the unprotected high-five, the leaned-in whisper, the detective getting in a suspect’s face — now seem as otherworldly as wights and flying dragons. |
| You might think there would be a safer mental refuge in science-fiction or fantasy series, far removed from our physical realities. This would be a great time to rewatch “Lost”— although there is the whole story line about the Dharma Initiative working on a vaccine for a mysterious illness. Or “Pushing Daisies,” starring Lee Pace as a man who can never touch the woman he loves lest she die. | You might think there would be a safer mental refuge in science-fiction or fantasy series, far removed from our physical realities. This would be a great time to rewatch “Lost”— although there is the whole story line about the Dharma Initiative working on a vaccine for a mysterious illness. Or “Pushing Daisies,” starring Lee Pace as a man who can never touch the woman he loves lest she die. |
| Even HBO’s “Avenue 5,” about passengers stranded in close quarters, on an interplanetary cruise ship with questionable leadership, suddenly hits unintendedly close to Earth. | Even HBO’s “Avenue 5,” about passengers stranded in close quarters, on an interplanetary cruise ship with questionable leadership, suddenly hits unintendedly close to Earth. |
| Of course, we’re still going to turn to a lot of TV to get us through this period. At least I am. But we ought to be realistic about what it can and can’t do. | Of course, we’re still going to turn to a lot of TV to get us through this period. At least I am. But we ought to be realistic about what it can and can’t do. |
| The words “escape” and “escapist” are built into our language for entertainment. But that’s always been the wrong way to think of it. Art doesn’t exist to make you forget your life. It has all of life in it — the good and the bad and the awkward reminders. Art isn’t an anesthetic. It makes you feel things. This isn’t a failing, it’s the point. | The words “escape” and “escapist” are built into our language for entertainment. But that’s always been the wrong way to think of it. Art doesn’t exist to make you forget your life. It has all of life in it — the good and the bad and the awkward reminders. Art isn’t an anesthetic. It makes you feel things. This isn’t a failing, it’s the point. |
| This is true both in ordinary times and extraordinary times. Even the lightest entertainment is really a way of engaging with your world on a metaphorical level. All the more so when your world is tightly, if temporarily, circumscribed. | This is true both in ordinary times and extraordinary times. Even the lightest entertainment is really a way of engaging with your world on a metaphorical level. All the more so when your world is tightly, if temporarily, circumscribed. |
| Updated June 24, 2020 | |
| Scientists around the country have tried to identify everyday materials that do a good job of filtering microscopic particles. In recent tests, HEPA furnace filters scored high, as did vacuum cleaner bags, fabric similar to flannel pajamas and those of 600-count pillowcases. Other materials tested included layered coffee filters and scarves and bandannas. These scored lower, but still captured a small percentage of particles. | |
| A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. | A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. |
| The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth. | The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth. |
| The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave. | The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave. |
| So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement. | So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement. |
| Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. | Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks. |
| A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. | A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study. |
| The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. | The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April. |
| Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. | Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days. |
| If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) | If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.) |
| If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. | If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. |
| The other day, I rewatched some of “The Office” with my wife. Both of us are exiled from our own offices. (I usually work from home, but once it’s mandatory, you still feel it.) And yeah, it’s a little weird to deal with an enforced home stay by watching other people punch the clock. | The other day, I rewatched some of “The Office” with my wife. Both of us are exiled from our own offices. (I usually work from home, but once it’s mandatory, you still feel it.) And yeah, it’s a little weird to deal with an enforced home stay by watching other people punch the clock. |
| But it’s also perfect. The whole creative engine of “The Office,” after all, is that big ensemble of characters showing how the enforced closeness of a group of co-workers can drive you nuts. In the pre-corona era, you might have watched it as a fun-house mirror of your own workplace and its neuroses. Now, it summons a kind of odd instant nostalgia for weeks or even days ago. | But it’s also perfect. The whole creative engine of “The Office,” after all, is that big ensemble of characters showing how the enforced closeness of a group of co-workers can drive you nuts. In the pre-corona era, you might have watched it as a fun-house mirror of your own workplace and its neuroses. Now, it summons a kind of odd instant nostalgia for weeks or even days ago. |
| Then and now, though, it was the same show — a collection, like so many workplace sitcoms, of the ways that human contact can be sustaining and maddening. All this time, TV has been amassing a gargantuan visual history of handsy, shoulder-to-shoulder life in the Before Times, of all the enviable, boring activities we once took for granted and that we will someday enjoy, and then take for granted, again. (Maybe with cleaner hands.) | Then and now, though, it was the same show — a collection, like so many workplace sitcoms, of the ways that human contact can be sustaining and maddening. All this time, TV has been amassing a gargantuan visual history of handsy, shoulder-to-shoulder life in the Before Times, of all the enviable, boring activities we once took for granted and that we will someday enjoy, and then take for granted, again. (Maybe with cleaner hands.) |
| Maybe it’s wrong to think of TV as a shelter in this moment after all. Maybe it’s more like a quarantine pantry: a set of experiences and ways of living that we gathered, preserved and shelved when they were in season. | Maybe it’s wrong to think of TV as a shelter in this moment after all. Maybe it’s more like a quarantine pantry: a set of experiences and ways of living that we gathered, preserved and shelved when they were in season. |
| Now they’ll have to tide us over until the day — coming, eventually, even if we can’t see it — when we can once again enjoy them fresh. | Now they’ll have to tide us over until the day — coming, eventually, even if we can’t see it — when we can once again enjoy them fresh. |