View source for The Best

{{Infobox
|bodystyle = width:30em;
|headerstyle = background:var(--infobox-header-color);
|labelstyle = background:var(--infobox-header-color);
|header1 = Series
|header3 = Original Broadcast Date
|header5 = Cast
|header7 = Format
|label10  = Preceded by: 
|label11 = Followed by: 
|data8 = [[:Category:Absurd Monologue|Absurd Monologue]], [[:Category:Improv Actors|Improv Actors]], [[:Category:Telephone|Telephone]], 60 minutes
|data4  = [[:Category:1992|1992]]
|below = [https://www.joefrank.com/?s={{#invoke:URLEncode|encode|{{PAGENAME}}}} Purchase]
|belowstyle= border-top: 1px solid #333;padding-top:5px;
|data6  = [[Larry Block]], [[Friederike Frank|Friederike Frank]], [[Freddy Frank|Teddy Frank]], Joe Frank
|data10 = [[El Cholo (In The Beginning)]]
|data11 = [[In The Dark (Part 1)]]
|data2  = [[Work In Progress]]
|
}}
''Rockwell gave visual form to essential American values.''

'''The Best''' is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series [[Work In Progress]]. It was originally broadcast in [[:Category:1992|1992]].

== Synopsis ==
Joe praises [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Rockwell Norman Rockwell]'s paintings, then [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Keane Margaret Keane]'s (the
children with the huge, liquid eyes).<ref>These pictures were originally attributed to her husband Walter.  
She proved in court that she had drawn them.  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Keane Walter Keane]'s Wikipedia page calls him a plagiarist, not
an artist.  Tim Burton's <i>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eyes Big Eyes]</i> (2014) tells the story.   [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/28/arts/margaret-keane-dead.html Her obituary in the <i>New York Times</i>] also does.</ref>

5: Joe talks about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude Christo], the environmental artist.

8: Joe talks about the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill crash of the Exxon Valdez] as environmental art,
building on Christo.

11:20: Joe talks about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot Pol Pot].

16:10: Joe talks about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson Charles Manson], contrasts him with Pol Pot.

19:40: Joe talks about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich Wilhelm Reich], says he was suppressed because
oil companies feared being put out of business by
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone orgone].<ref>Reich comes up again in [[Predator]], [[Summer Hill]], and
Rent A Family.</ref>

25:50: Joe tells us how important [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Manilow Barry Manilow]'s lyrics are, that he
eclipsed Reich's psychological insights.

32:20: [[Friederike Frank|Joe's mother]] calls to tell us how great Joe is - then makes
sure she's said enough.

33:20: [[Larry Block]] calls to tell us how great Joe is - then where to
send the check.<ref>The zip code is in the wrong state.</ref>

35: A dog barks, then gets shot.<ref>John, in [[Problems]], shoots
his wife's dog (re-used in [[In The Dark (Remix)]]); a story in [[Rent A Family (Part 2)]]
includes the shooting of a dog; a story in [[Karma Crash]] includes 
the shooting of a dog; Joe imagines shooting his
neighbor's dog in [[On The Edge]].  In a pledge drive, Joe asked for
pledges to keep a dog from getting shot; the cover of <i>National
Lampoon</i>, January 1973, is the [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Natlamp73.jpg "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog" cover])</ref>

36:10: Joe's stepfather, [[Freddy Frank | Teddy Frank]], calls to tell us how great Joe is, then
fumbles the 'I got a dog for my wife.' - 'Great trade!' joke.

38:30: Joe asks us what allows us to judge.

43: Joe addresses Alicia (absent) on her behavior.

53:50: Joe talks about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart Jimmy Swaggart], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bakker Jim] & [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammy_Faye_Messner Tammy Faye Bakker].

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:95%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Legacy Synopsis</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

* Mock intellectual presentations: Rockwell and Keen as visionaries, comparing Cristo with the Exxon Valdez oil spill, comparing Pol Pot and Charles Manson, Freud and Reich and Barry Manilow.
* People call Joe, praise him, and then poison the scene.  A dog barks and is shot.  Joe coaches his parents in making a similar call.
* Second person address to Alicia: eating meat, a misunderstood attack, adding reverb to a radio voice, an eloquent suicide note
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart Jimmy Swaggart]
</div></div>

== Music ==
{{Sketch (Penguin Cafe Orchestra)}} [Intro]
{{Pnoom (Can)}} [4:30]
{{Next To You (Toni Childs)}} [31:50]

== Additional credits ==
The original broadcast credits state: "[P]erformed by Joe Frank, and created in collaboration with [[Larry Massett]] and [[David Rapkin]]. Edited and mixed by [[Theo Mondle]]. Special thanks to [[Phil Proctor]], Sheila Bjornlie, and Ariana Morgenstern."

== Footnotes ==

[[Category:Absurd_Monologue]]
[[Category:Improv_Actors]]
[[Category:Larry Block]]
[[Category:Friederike Frank]]
[[Category:Freddy Frank]]
[[Category:1992]]
[[Category:Work In Progress]]
[[Category:Unknown_air_date]]
[[Category:Show|Best]]
[[Category:Show_by_date|19920003]]	{{Airdate|airdate=1992}}
{{Series|series=Work In Progress}}{{Cast|cast=[[Larry Block]], [[Friederike Frank]], [[Freddy Frank]], Joe Frank}}