Today's NYT op-ed page has an article by novelist Alissa Quart in which she calls television "The Thinking Person's Entertainment" and brings up all of the usual suspects:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/opinion/sunday/tv-the-thinking-persons-entertainment-of-choice.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 All well and good, except that the only current series she brings up in the article that you can get for free are "The Good Wife" and "Downton Abbey"--and most of these compelling, thinking person's shows are only available by paying more money to see. And even then, only a few channel clicks away from "Breaking Bad' is Honey Boo Boo and the Real Housewives. And on message boards you still have people complaining about how awful television is, usually using reality shows as the prime example. Could it be that our last great mass entertainment medium has become divided in two, with the great unwashed watching CBS procedurals and Fox and TLC reality shows while the 1% watches HBO and AMC drama series? (Of course, I realize that the higher-minded types also watch Honey Boo Boo and "Idol" or "Dancing" for ironic, post-modern winking reasons, as well, even if they wouldn't be caught dead watching "2.5 Men.") -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
