well guys, i invented this blog, and then i left it to rot, didn't i? i'm not in an essay writing mood of sorts so, maybe i'll just spell out my intent. how does that sound?
how many of you grew up hear that the TV was the devil box from one person or another? whether it be your parents, the news, your teachers, or your friends, it was generally something that someone somewhere didn't believe was a great invention. me? i watched my fair share of tv from a young age, and this is not a reflection of my parents as bad parents. not at all. i got good grades, i was a good child, a good student, and i wasn't a zombie. i think my watching of tv had more to do with my parents love of watching tv (or being entertained in general), just like my music listening has more to do with my parents (mainly, my dad. my mom is a talk radio lady.) love of music (at least at a younger age). it was a normal thing to do. the way going to the movies was a normal thing to do (i like to brag that i was actually in the theater when empire strikes back first appeared in theaters, i was just in the womb. my parents actually stood in line through one showing to see it.
so, the tv. it was, at least back in the day, mostly thought of as an inferior version of entertainment to the film. the film was respectable, it was ART. the tv was, well, for soap operas, news casts, and silly sit coms, am i right? the first shows i remember watching as a kid were things like three's company (my mom used to tease me and tell me that i had a crush on mr. furley. this, was traumatic, folks. don knotts is sweet, but i honestly have no idea where this came from. i was like 4 at the time) the cosby show, alf, family ties, danger mouse, and sesame street (and please, this is just to name a few). i was also subjected to the greatness which was nick at nite (in its original and actually "old show" showing. that's not to say its bad now. the quality of tv definitely go better over the years, which makes for tricky programming and recognizing when something has become "classic.").
as my tv education grew, so did i, and honestly, so did the quality of tv shows. yes, as an adolescent, i made some poor choices, but what is a girl to do when she's 10 and she thinks that luke perry is dreamy? not watch 90210? okay, looking back, maybe the answer is actually "no," however, 90210 was fun for a time (the way The O.C. was fun for about 1 1/2 seasons) and i was a kid. i also liked NKOTB. cut me some slack.
by the time i was in high school, there were some pretty cool things on tv that i was devoted to. these were: the x-files, homicide: life on the street, friends, party of five, dawson's creek (this is not really seen as a lapse in judgement to me, as it was fun-ish and joshua jackson = <3), style="font-style: italic;">buffy the vampire slayer. i gave certain people a lot of shit for watching this show, until i watched it one night (a little episode called "innocence") and fell in love with it. then i was the one getting shit for trying to tell everyone that it was REALLY good.
i can't really account for all of my college tv watchings, except to say that i got away from watching sit coms (except for friends). i just couldn't do it. i really don't know why. maybe it was because i was all depressed and seriously and alone in college. maybe that's why. i watched more WB shows than i should probably admit to and i watched a lot more movies. it was college, i think i was kind of confused there (cliche, yes?), i can't take responsibility for all of my actions. such as my love of roswell (featuring two ladies who now not only call abc home, but are also on hit shows (emilie de ravin on lost and katherine heigl on grey's anatomy)). by the end of college, i could call these shows my favorites: buffy (still), angel, alias, friends (still), gilmore girls, and 24 (to a certain extent). these shows are more like the ones i watch now.
here is a list of shows that i think are great right now, and may or may not get all the love and care they truly deserve: grey's anatomy, lost, 24, gilmore girls, veronica mars, house, arrested development, nip/tuck, and entourage. on the reality front (and yes, i blame the roommate for this), i like america's next top model (i always laugh at tyra) and project runway.
now that i've blathered on and on about the tv i watch, let me tell you why i want to write about it: most people are still in denial about good tv. like, most americans (and please, i'm not assuming that the average american will read this, but we can pretend) watching things like survivor. they are the same people that put arrested development out of business (hopefully not forever). the biggest problem is that even smart people with relatively good taste will still refuse to watch good tv. its like we were raised to think tv was evil, but if we watch it, we should be sure to watch the really really stupid shit, just to enforce that tv is stupid and a waste of time.
so, what i've set out to do, what i hope to do, is write about some good tv every once in a while. or, every week. we will see how that goes.
(note: sorry if this feels incomplete. i started writing it this morning, but am, you know, at work. it kind of lost its steam. which is incidentally why i haven't started writing here yet.)
how many of you grew up hear that the TV was the devil box from one person or another? whether it be your parents, the news, your teachers, or your friends, it was generally something that someone somewhere didn't believe was a great invention. me? i watched my fair share of tv from a young age, and this is not a reflection of my parents as bad parents. not at all. i got good grades, i was a good child, a good student, and i wasn't a zombie. i think my watching of tv had more to do with my parents love of watching tv (or being entertained in general), just like my music listening has more to do with my parents (mainly, my dad. my mom is a talk radio lady.) love of music (at least at a younger age). it was a normal thing to do. the way going to the movies was a normal thing to do (i like to brag that i was actually in the theater when empire strikes back first appeared in theaters, i was just in the womb. my parents actually stood in line through one showing to see it.
so, the tv. it was, at least back in the day, mostly thought of as an inferior version of entertainment to the film. the film was respectable, it was ART. the tv was, well, for soap operas, news casts, and silly sit coms, am i right? the first shows i remember watching as a kid were things like three's company (my mom used to tease me and tell me that i had a crush on mr. furley. this, was traumatic, folks. don knotts is sweet, but i honestly have no idea where this came from. i was like 4 at the time) the cosby show, alf, family ties, danger mouse, and sesame street (and please, this is just to name a few). i was also subjected to the greatness which was nick at nite (in its original and actually "old show" showing. that's not to say its bad now. the quality of tv definitely go better over the years, which makes for tricky programming and recognizing when something has become "classic.").
as my tv education grew, so did i, and honestly, so did the quality of tv shows. yes, as an adolescent, i made some poor choices, but what is a girl to do when she's 10 and she thinks that luke perry is dreamy? not watch 90210? okay, looking back, maybe the answer is actually "no," however, 90210 was fun for a time (the way The O.C. was fun for about 1 1/2 seasons) and i was a kid. i also liked NKOTB. cut me some slack.
by the time i was in high school, there were some pretty cool things on tv that i was devoted to. these were: the x-files, homicide: life on the street, friends, party of five, dawson's creek (this is not really seen as a lapse in judgement to me, as it was fun-ish and joshua jackson = <3), style="font-style: italic;">buffy the vampire slayer. i gave certain people a lot of shit for watching this show, until i watched it one night (a little episode called "innocence") and fell in love with it. then i was the one getting shit for trying to tell everyone that it was REALLY good.
i can't really account for all of my college tv watchings, except to say that i got away from watching sit coms (except for friends). i just couldn't do it. i really don't know why. maybe it was because i was all depressed and seriously and alone in college. maybe that's why. i watched more WB shows than i should probably admit to and i watched a lot more movies. it was college, i think i was kind of confused there (cliche, yes?), i can't take responsibility for all of my actions. such as my love of roswell (featuring two ladies who now not only call abc home, but are also on hit shows (emilie de ravin on lost and katherine heigl on grey's anatomy)). by the end of college, i could call these shows my favorites: buffy (still), angel, alias, friends (still), gilmore girls, and 24 (to a certain extent). these shows are more like the ones i watch now.
here is a list of shows that i think are great right now, and may or may not get all the love and care they truly deserve: grey's anatomy, lost, 24, gilmore girls, veronica mars, house, arrested development, nip/tuck, and entourage. on the reality front (and yes, i blame the roommate for this), i like america's next top model (i always laugh at tyra) and project runway.
now that i've blathered on and on about the tv i watch, let me tell you why i want to write about it: most people are still in denial about good tv. like, most americans (and please, i'm not assuming that the average american will read this, but we can pretend) watching things like survivor. they are the same people that put arrested development out of business (hopefully not forever). the biggest problem is that even smart people with relatively good taste will still refuse to watch good tv. its like we were raised to think tv was evil, but if we watch it, we should be sure to watch the really really stupid shit, just to enforce that tv is stupid and a waste of time.
so, what i've set out to do, what i hope to do, is write about some good tv every once in a while. or, every week. we will see how that goes.
(note: sorry if this feels incomplete. i started writing it this morning, but am, you know, at work. it kind of lost its steam. which is incidentally why i haven't started writing here yet.)
posted by Kristen at 8:39 AM
0 comments
