''Up to Speed'' is a historical travel web series starring
Timothy "Speed" Levitch and directed by
Richard Linklater airing on
Hulu.
Details
''Up to Speed'' is a six-episode travel show produced by Magikal History Productions exclusively for
Hulu.
"The Ancient Craft of Tour-Guiding"
''New Yorker''. Retrieved 2015-09-09. It is hosted by the quirky New York tour guide Timothy "Speed" Levitch who takes viewers on a "magical history tour" in order to “hang out and empathize with the inner psyches of famous landmarks and visit with the monumentally ignored monuments.” Each episode seeks to highlight places, people, things, and monuments that are usually overlooked by the average tourist in lieu of the more known sites.
Visiting San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
, Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, and Monticello
Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...
/University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
Levtich narrates the history of each object and includes a broader history of the time so viewers can understand its importance. Besides highlighting little known monuments, the other aspect that makes ''Up to Speed'' different is that Levitch converses with each monument, asking them questions about their role in history and their feelings about current developments. Each of these items speaks back to Levtich with a unique and often equally quirky personality, some even going so far to yell profanities at him.
Each episode is written by Levitch and is infused with his unique poetic language and philosophies such as: "Status quo only begets more status quo unless we as a species attack it by way of appreciating the beauty in the unexpected" and "Instead of asking why, ask why the fuck not?” Levitch ends each episode performing with a band and freestyle singing about the monuments highlighted in that episode. These factors have made it a fan favorite on Hulu earning it a four star viewer rating and many positive reviews.
Episodes
Episode 1 San Francisco: A City Shaped by Earthquakes
Original Air Date: 08/09/2012
Synopsis: Speed takes us on a tour of renowned objects in San Francisco – a city shaped by earthquakes that makes a point of attacking the status quo and appreciating the beauty in the unexpected.
Episode 2 Chicago: To Conjure a Lost Neighborhood
Original Air Date: 08/16/2012
Synopsis: Speed spends a day steeped in the history of working class Chicago – a city of blue collar labor constantly fighting back against the status quo of their corporate overlords.
Episode 3 Kansas & Missouri: In the Middle of the Middle of the Midwest
Original Air Date: 08/23/2012
Synopsis: Speed explores the idea of borders and boundaries in Lawrence, Kansas – a city straddling the line between opposing sides during the American Civil War.
Episode 4 Virginia: The Many Flavors of Thomas Jefferson
Original Air Date: 08/30/2012
Synopsis: Speed sifts through the many flavors of Thomas Jefferson in Monticello and the University of Virginia – two historic landmarks representing the many sides of America’s most complicated founding father.
History Featured:
Episode 5 New York City: The Beauty of Randomness
Original Air Date: 09/05/2012
Synopsis:Speed wanders through the chaos of New York City – a metropolitan hub teeming with simultaneous bouts of randomness and synchronicity.
Episode 6 The Tour Guide Convention
Original Air Date: 09/13/2012
Synopsis: Speed goes on adventures with other tour guides across the country.
References
External links
Up to Speed
at Hulu
*
*http://speedlevitchonline.com/
*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0506171/
*http://blog.hulu.com/2012/08/09/a-new-hulu-original-series-let-speed-levitch-get-you-up-to-speed-on-your-city-andor-inner-self/
*http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/09/interview-up-to-speed-speed-levitch
*https://www.indiewire.com/article/television/speed-levitch-interview-up-to-speed-hulu-richard-linklater-the-cruise
{{Richard Linklater
2010s American comedy television series
American travel television series
English-language television shows
Hulu original programming
2012 American television series debuts
2012 American television series endings