Elliott Smith on daytime television, a video essay

Huge Elliott smith fan, found this video of Elliott on a daytime tv show and thought it would be interesting to talk about

[@randit]

but also, shout out to the camera person who picked up on this and zoomed in on the faces of the crew showing how much their vibe changed

[@sowososmooth]

I love that performance of clementine so much.

[@danyasch]

and the faces of the people, that was becoming so serious, when he began sing

[@radioguy1667]

I think it's also good to acknowledge what this show was to TV at the time as well. This show was relatively unknown as well and would have probably revolutionized the dull, boring, EXTREMELY put together, well scripted, make sure your shirt's tucked in, no mistakes, completely stationary morning shows of the time. They weren't just mindless, run of the mill tv personalities. They openly celebrated and relished in the chaos of a live production, one time even, they jokingly started celebrating that they were 10 minutes behind and that segments are start "dropping like flies". Everyone here was actually truly trying to do something really special (and if you watch some of the clips of this show, they really were doing something special). They tried to start your day with comedy and laughter rather than boring news that you put on in the background as you brew some coffee (a sentence I'm plagiarizing from the Connor Higgins video TvT (now that I think about it, this whole paragraph is plagiarized from that video)). I feel this actually DOES add another level of beauty to the performance. While they were trying to be revolutionary in trying to make you smile and laugh in the morning by being over the top and wacky, here came in Elliott to remind people of the quieter, contemplative moments of beauty in life. They couldn't really mix well at first, hence Tom's admittedly awkward jokes (which I feel like if I were in his shoes, they'd probably keep me up at night in retrospect), but then it's like these 2 energies sort of merge and come to understanding with each other almost. Just wanted to write this to give the guys a little credit bc sometimes I do see comments where it feels like (let’s say hypothetically monty python was a forgotten show) Nick Drake all of a a sudden showed up on Monty Python and the gang awkwardly started joking around Nick, and then the comments to that video would be filled with people really being hard on Monty Python without realizing what exactly Monty Python was. Sorry if that analogy doesn’t make sense or is very flawed. I couldn’t find another way to describe it :’(( But yeah, what happened that day truly was really beautiful. Also I feel like this version of Clementine is just as good as the original (sometimes, I feel it's even better).

[@Lanooski]

i appreciate this video even more now having read this. thanks for the context!

[@radioguy1667]

@@Lanooski I’m glad this comment is doin somethin :’{ I just don’t want this clip to be their legacy. They were treated horribly enough. (by that I mean how the network treated them)

[@garysimonson1135]

Great comment. I totally remember this show - and to peel another layer of the onion back, you can't really understand this show and what it was unless you understand the full context of the the new channel FX and the slew of bizarre DIY-flavored shows it launched into the world. This was not the prestige TV FX we currently recognize - the one with shows like Atlanta, Reservation Dogs, The Americans, The Shield, etc. This was a bunch of seemingly super low-budget shows where people randomly hung out in "the FX Apartment" and tried to entertain people in various ways. There was: SoundFX - the cool music show focused mostly on Alternative Rock and Grunge; PersonalFX, a show about collectibles; Pet Department, the show where people received tips for taking care of their pets; some type of news show; Backchat, where they would read viewers letters; and, of course, Breakfast Time. I loved these shows, especially SoundFX (I was 14 when it premiered in 1994 and obsessed with music), because they barely seemed more produced than cable access. I loved the lo-fi energy of it, which perfectly suited that early-mid 90s vibe and aesthetic. Sadly, the network abandoned the "FX apartment" shows within a couple of years. Breakfast time definitely seemed like the biggest production of all of them and I see how it could be interpreted as kind of cheesy, but really in context it had more of this zany, bizzarro aesthetic and you could tell they were trying to do something interesting and different. Also, the mid-90s was a strange time where TV producers didn't really know what to do. Alternative, lo-fi culture had upended the mainstream in the early 90s beginning with Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit (and we had yet to transition to the glossier, more Baroque late 90s) and so things that were seen as wacky and out there were really cool - TV executives didn't really know how to commodify that and in my mind the FX apartment shows were a great example of an attempt to do so. Despite it all feeling a bit misguided, I actually think they had some pretty entertaining programming and there's no doubt the people involved were trying to do something cool beyond what the TV suits had in mind. I'm sure they hired a bunch of "alternative" people to book their guests and so it actually makes perfect sense that they would bring someone like Elliott Smith on. Even though the specific (read: loud) personalities of Breakfast Time and Elliott Smith were obviously not the best match. He probably would have been a better fit for the personalities on SoundFX, who had more of that Gen X "whatever" vibe. Either way, this is a brilliant time capsule that absolutely captures a much more interesting and complex dynamic than the misinformed "cool introspective singer guy goes on cheesy morning show" take that I've seen so many people have about this.

[@radioguy1667]

@@garysimonson1135 Great comment, to you too TvT. I had known about FX’s origins, but only truly knew about Breakfast Time. SoundFX sounds like a really cool show. That and the channel had some lovely and fun lil bumpers. Really jealous you got to experience this first hand TvT. Waking up to this must’ve been absolutely incredible, I’m sure.

[@CalmPeril]

My favorite interview ever. You can literally see how his song changed everyone’s demeanor and viewing of him. Love it so damn much. (I pretty much said what the creator said lol but it’s just such an amazing example of allowing your music to speak for you)

[@maxthomson11]

“It’s as if everyone freezes, then melts.” I love that

[@broken_disco_ball]

The dichotomy between Elliott's shy and tepid interview and the sheer power and beauty of his art is what's incredible about this segment. When he started playing, everyone froze.

[@ryantrout7642]

I love Elliott smith he was one of the greatest song writers ever ! Only love bro ,..... See you soon..❤

[@mattmullens3215]

Fantastic reading of this event, Jasmine. Sort of thrown to the wolves, we've seen artists deliver a belligerent response in similar circumstances. But Smith cut through the pretense all so briefly and beautifully with his vulnerability and the purity and honesty of his delivery. It was such a jarring contrast to the manufactured nature of the rest of the show (I've tracked down clips of the same episode it out of interest). He's so nervous, you can see his hands shaking. For me, this performance exceeds any other that Elliot has delivered of Clementine.

[@careyelliotteckert]

I have beenwriting a book about ES for the last two and half years, so I am of course immersed in all things ES and have seen this astonishing performance a hundred times. You absolutely nail it! Great essay!

[@amphetaminebunny]

@@careyelliotteckert I’d love to read it! I love ES literature ….thank you sm!!

[@gregoryirwin263]

I love Elliotts uncanny ability to make corporate clowns uncomfortable in their own environment it's like he forced them to experience humanity if only for a moment

[@TheMonolake]

Corporate Clowns ..good . its like he played these fools

[@fufuman27]

That woman looking in awe was in breaking bad 😮

[@SuperFoxGamingx]

Really??

[@ajv1437]

what I love about this video is that it almost feels like a music video like everything around seems like they wanna make fun of him and then with the performance he makes everyone around him blow their mind

[@finestcustard5647]

This guys music is just magic

[@qweenofhertz]

I love Elliott so much and had the exact same thoughts about this TV appearance as you when I first saw it. I really loved this essay so much because it's so true and exactly what o saw as well, plus I really admire your writing! You captured the scene perfectly I thought! It's funny because i started making my own video about Elliott, including about this TV appearance like five days ago. The world works in strange ways, haha. Great job! :))

[@aR0ttenBANANA]

I did not expect to see this today. Love how people actually stopped and listened to him tho, even if just for a moment.

[@maxbrown7471]

Fantastic essay, thank you!!

[@Lanooski]

very cool breakdown of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of broadcast TV. it's good to have reminders of the artifice of pop programming as well as their vulnerability to the truth and authentic art.

[@amphetaminebunny]

You’re gonna have to live with my error >:0

[@bomnitoperro9422]

Lady hear me tonight, your voice calms my anxiety wtf

[@snickermon]

I have always marveled at how strange this appearance was. I like the way you talked about it. Thanks for sharing.

[@loversspit]

thank you for this :)

[@SantiVanegas9]

i really liked this video 👍

[@finn4647]

.....this was so impactful for such a short video, thank you

[@AMOW42]

Hope you make more of these!!:)

[@bananabanana-b2h]

amazing video!

[@myriamdiatta2678]

the internet needs more videos like this. i wish this was the internet. they voice over video essay.

[@xXRozzinatorXx]

wonderful vid

[@_munkykok_]

Thank you Jasmine!

[@randit]

the thing that annoyed me the most about the host is when he asked elliott if they should be worried he was going to get violent on them. like...why

[@TheMonolake]

Its an amazing strange look at what was swirling around then in the American psyche E.S. just played it ..they tried to play him . but he just played them

[@seasonlightly]

the best performance

[@ava-wk5xw]

This is great! made me go and watch the performance and it's exactly like you described

[@romancandle1994]

they didnt expect him, and they didnt deserve him either.

[@jak3barnes]

Great video, and i always loved that video. Really is like a movie scene

[@jasperd2716]

Please make more videos in this vein they’d be great 🙏

[@broken_disco_ball]

Elliott was old friend's with Bob the puppet and visited as a favor for him.

[@jeradguitar]

Pretty sure this was from when Elliott lived in New York...

[@amphetaminebunny]

The thought did come to me halfway thru making this but I didn’t wanna edit it lol

[@jeradguitar]

@@amphetaminebunny I know the feeling lol, and it looks like I was wrong anyway... He didn't move to New York until some time in 1997, following the end of Heatmiser and after finishing Either/Or.

[@tylrr2476]

I’ve always made the assumption that it was just him being in new york for a show, and krs booked him to promo the album

[@PatrickTK21]

From what I understand he played lots of shows in NY even before he lived there

[@jerevillarreal7290]

Isnt the woman from 2:13 Gretchen from Breaking Bad??????

[@UteroMind]

Yes Jessica Heicht used to be on breakfast time and yes she played Gretchen

[@AaronLyons]

I loved this 👏❤️

[@csurname]

you called the puppet a bird?

[@zwclax]

EXCELLENT!

[@cheemsrei]

Really liked this bite-sized video, keep it up.

[@ak40kevn]

They couldn’t handle the fastball.

[@robbocat7643]

Lovely 😎

[@agneebags]

yes yes yes

[@randit]

accurate

[@Kamala-Walz-4-America]

And you felt like you should talk over Elliott playing, describing what we could see was happening but weren't allowed to hear? All the imaginative dialogue wasn't worth it when you stomped on him like that.

[@lukemei5ter]

Or maybe people were just critiquing him in there heads an zoning out thinking about sex and money like they always do. An he was lost in his own song regardless what they thought an they all saw that one key fact

[@ModestMa0ist]

How awkward would that have felt for u (i mean me) it's everything he wrote about :/

[@Genny-Zee]

Th.

[@benjaminburt4285]

Good job

[@hunterrahkonen3547]

what’s your snap?

[@ٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴٴۥ]

pls stop why does everyone have to create caricatures of such sacred and intimate moments. you clearly saw the comments and just mindlessly created a video. there was no need for this cringe vid.