Television Episodes About Artificial Intelligence Codexery

Joan Is Awful

A woman's life is streamed as a real-time TV series.

The episode was seen as prescient for its portrayal of AI-generated entertainment and was released shortly before the 2023 Hollywood strikes over AI use.[1] Streamberry, a platform that parodies Netflix, dramatizes the life of a woman without her permission in "Joan Is Awful".[2][3][4]

Quick Facts

Series
Black Mirror
Episode
1
Director
Ally Pankiw
Writer
Charlie Brooker
Photographer
Catherine Lutes
Editor
Tony Kearns
Air date
15 June 2023
Length
56 minutes

Facts from the source article.

Making and release

Broke and Bones produced the series, while House of Tomorrow's parent company, Banijay, retained ownership.[5] Charlie Brooker was the screenwriter for "Joan Is Awful"[6] Following the 2019 release of its fifth series, Black Mirror entered a period of inactivity.[7] Netflix confirmed in May 2022 that a sixth season of Black Mirror was being created.[7]

The 2022 miniseries "The Dropout", about the Theranos tech startup's rise and fall, served as an inspiration for Brooker.[8][2] September 2022 was the filming period, and the production used the code name "Red Book".[9] Exterior shots were filmed at a bungalow in Crowthorne, England, designed in an American style.[9] Jennifer Johnston, the property's owner, had bought it with an eye toward its use for film production.[10]

The episode's filming concluded prior to ChatGPT's public launch, a timing that pleased Brooker.[11][2]

What the cited sources add

Brooker said that the episode was about "automatically generated entertainment that is endlessly targeted directly at individuals"[2] Streamberry's design, user interface, and "tudum" sound logo are direct imitations of Netflix's.[12][4] At the 4th Critics' Choice Super Awards, the episode received the award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie, and Annie Murphy won Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie.[13] Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of 17 critics' reviews of the episode are positive.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kang, "Hollywood's Slo-Mo Self-Sabotage", 30 July 2023; White, "Annie Murphy and 'Black Mirror' Director on 'Joan Is Awful's' Feminist Themes and 'Spookily Timely' AI Story", The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2023; Patten, "SAG-AFTRA Strike Could Hinge On AI; Deep Divisions Remain Between Actors & Studios In Final Hours Of Talks", Deadline Hollywood, 11 July 2023; Heritage, "'Joan Is Awful': Black Mirror episode is every striking actor's worst nightmare", The Guardian, 13 July 2023; Webster, "Actors say Hollywood studios want their AI repli en.wikipedia.org
  2. Stefansky, "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode", Esquire, 15 June 2023. facts only, no text reused. esquire.com
  3. Bootle, "Black Mirror: Joan is Awful, Netflix, review: Without the power to shock, Brooker is making us laugh", i, 15 June 2023. facts only, no text reused. inews.co.uk
  4. Bojalad, "Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 1 Review: Joan Is Awful", Den of Geek, 15 June 2023. facts only, no text reused. denofgeek.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ravindran, "Black Mirror Returns: New Series in the Works at Netflix (Exclusive)", 16 May 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Holub, "Black Mirror season 6 reveals episode details, new photos", 11 May 2023; Stefansky, "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode", Esquire, 15 June 2023; Griffin, "Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker explains 'Red Mirror' label", Radio Times, 15 June 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ravindran, "'Black Mirror' Creators Quit Endemol Shine-Owned Label While Navigating IP Headaches With Netflix", Variety, 24 January 2020; Kanter, "'Black Mirror' Creators Charlie Brooker & Annabel Jones Waste Little Time In Launching New Production Outfit", Deadline Hollywood, 10 February 2020; Ramachandran, "Netflix Makes Long-Term Investment in 'Black Mirror' Creators' New Production Company", Variety, 30 July 2020; Morris, "Charlie Brooker gives Black Mirror season 6 update: "I don't know what stomach there would be for stories about s en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stefansky, "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode", Esquire, 15 June 2023; Flood, "Black Mirror season six post-watch guide: trivia, set secrets and more", NME, 16 June 2023; Harrod, "Charlie Brooker on satirising TV in Black Mirror: 'If it wasn't on Netflix, we'd be sued'", Financial Times, 7 June 2023; Press, "Black Mirror s Charlie Brooker Keeps Finding New Ways to Freak Us Out", Vanity Fair, 16 June 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Miller, "Annie Murphy's 'Black Mirror' episode, 'Joan Is Awful,' is about the future of AI. It 'terrifies' her", Today, 15 June 2023; Buckley, "Salma Hayek lives in my house in Black Mirror", BBC Radio Berkshire (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buckley, "Salma Hayek lives in my house in Black Mirror", BBC Radio Berkshire; "Black Mirror episode filmed in Crowthorne, starring Salma Hayek", Bracknell News, 13 June 2023; Carlson, "Black Mirror's latest season a 'mini film festival' says production designer Udo Kramer", Dezeen, 15 June 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stefansky, "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode", Esquire, 15 June 2023; Press, "Black Mirror s Charlie Brooker Keeps Finding New Ways to Freak Us Out", Vanity Fair, 16 June 2023; Rees, "Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker: 'I've worked out how to beat AI'", The Daily Telegraph, 16 June 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lewis, "Netflix releases fake Streamberry website based on Black Mirror episode 'Joan Is Awful'", The Independent, 20 June 2023; Rees, "Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker: 'I've worked out how to beat AI'", The Daily Telegraph, 16 June 2023; Stefansky, "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode", Esquire, 15 June 2023 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR 4TH ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS HONORING SUPERHERO, SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY, HORROR, AND ACTION MOVIES AND SERIES", Critics Choice Association, 2024-04-04 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Joan Is Awful" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Joan Is Awful (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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