Tags: Books   Reviews   TV


I’ve been a Douglas Coupland fan since my brother loaned me his copy of Shampoo Planet many years ago. Since then I’ve discovered Microserfs, easily in my top 10 favorite books of all time, and now JPod, which I’m currently reading. When I found out that JPod has been turned into a TV series, I was thrilled! Microserfs and JPod are books about my mysterious caste of professionals: software developers, a.k.a. programmers. No one knows what we really do, and no one understands how we spend our days. Maybe JPod can enlighten and inform. I just finished watching the series premiere on CBC, so I’ll give my thoughts on it.

The first thing I noticed (with a gasp!) is that the theme song is one of my favorite Bonobo songs, and the episode featured a second Bonobo tune. The show automatically gets 3 stars! It’s like Douglas Coupland stole my vinyl collection!

Next, I noticed that the JPod cubicles are ridiculously hip and cool, in an office setting I would kill for. It seems like the show creators have obviously never spent any time in a real programmer’s work area, a world of beige, dust, and white noise. If only work was as fun as JPod makes it look! However, I must admit that HR sometimes puts people anywhere they can fit a desk or cubicle, like telephone rooms and the wasted space around structural pillars. True story. So, the JPod is not an entirely impossible setting.


The acting overall was good, with some great laugh out loud moments. Cowboy gave me some good laughs, especially when he tried to deny frequenting a website about hugging. Alan Thicke is a bit awkward as the father. I hope he can ease up on the fromage in future episodes. David W. Kopp was great as Ethan, suitably average but with geek flair orbiting him at all times. He plays the straight man in contrast to the abundance of comic relief, being the island of sanity in an otherwise absurd show.

The pop art interludes are a nice touch, being visual (and in my opinion better) versions of the ones in the book. After Kaitlin reveals that she’s from Florida, an interlude appears showing a Florida orange with snow falling on it, alluding to how frosty Kaitlin is to the other reluctant members of JPod. Cute.

The episode flew by at a fast pace, like most of Coupland’s books, and the closing scene left me wanting more. Finally, I’ve got something to watch on Tuesday nights! I recommend JPod to all geeks and programmers, and their family and friends who want a glimpse of what we do. It’s good enough to pull me away from my laptop for an hour, and that’s saying a lot!

(Confession: I had my laptop on my lap throughout the entire episode. I have no editor, so I'm not changing that last line.)

Now, time to play some Bonobo records.