About

“I find a lot of TV to be unwatchable, because I don’t see it as being reflective of anything. I start seeing those seams where people have sewn together melodrama. When I start seeing scenes of that, that they don’t care about Iraq or they don’t care about why there’s violence in the inner city, I have no interest in watching. A lot of TV is about sustaining the franchise. They’re interested in having a TV show and writing these characters and maximizing the number of eyeballs.”

– David Simon, creator of The Wire

As a person who is always kept out of lengthy discussions because I hate watching crap, I’ve instead decided to torture myself and get through some of the most popular and “critically acclaimed” TV series of recent times. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to talk about something to someone. I once heard that holding conversation was a sociable skill.

Why the bitterness for TV, though? Refer to Mr. Simon’s quote above. Television sucks on principle. It’s hardly ever thought-provoking, nuanced, or clever compared to other forms of entertainment. A lot of emotional pandering has to be fitted into a serial to keep it from cancellation. A monkey wrench or two is casually thrown into the plot to keep the season from getting stale. It’s pulp shlock at its worst.

Despite my pessimism, I don’t expect everything I watch to suck. I really do hope to find some genuinely good stuff on this sofa-ridden journey (check my Good TV page for shows I admire). Nevertheless, fans of television will find that what I write will make their blood boil more often than not. I might even make you feel pretty stupid for liking the stuff you like.

Use the comments section if you want to cry a bit. Your tears are my sustenance. Also use it to recommend stuff for me to watch.