The Hierarchy of Contempt, Reality TV Edition
Since April is our wacky month, I decided to venture far afield, basically into the scariest minefield of cultural contempt that I can think of: reality TV.
George R. R. Martin in The New Yorker
The New Yorker writes about George R. R. Martin, his fans, his angry fans, his fantasy epic, A Song of Fire and Ice, the upcoming HBO series based on it, and his next book, A Dance of Dragons, six years in the writing: “I’m living the dream here. […]
Lost And Heroes, Compared.
James Poniewozik on Lost and Heroes: “Put another way: you have to be willing to suck if you ever want to be great. ‘Awesome’ and ‘awful’ are actually closer to each other on the continuum of quality than either is to ‘meh.’”
Home Stretch
I have a theory that television shows get a lot of practice in the cliff-hanger, in hooking the viewer to come back next week, but almost zero experience in creating satisfying endings. Structurally, commercially, the need for such a thing just doesn’t compute. A few genre shows in […]
Left Themselves Wide Open…
Wow, they left themselves wide open on this one: a devastating montage called Previously On Lost…
Rule One: Entertain Me!
This month we’re mixing it up at the Gutter with each editor writing about something outside their usual domain. This week James Schellenberg writes about tv. I’m a demanding SOB: I want to be entertained. I want shallow, repetitive, and sheer fun, but I also want a little […]
The Cultural Gutter 