"What do they teach you in that school?"
"How to pass the weekly standardized tests to get the school more funding."
"Oh."
from Weeds
A lot of so-called intellectuals online put in their profiles that they are adamantly against television. TV is somehow the lowbrow cousin of the entertainment industry -- that embarrassing relative who tells those disgusting jokes you really really wish you never had to deal with.
So I ask -- how is TV somehow considered less relevant? How is the writing on television of lesser quality than in the movies or television? Sure, you're thinking of reality television, or bland sitcoms that cater to the lowest common denominator. To which I give you The Davinci Code, which the entire nation somehow thought groundbreaking when the themes were recycled and the writing was infantile, or Click, that puerile mess of an Adam Sandler movie.
Is the portrayal of "high school for the rest of us" in Freaks and Geeks any less relevant than, say, Dazed and Confused or Catcher in the Rye simply because it aired on a small screen?
Are the themes of rape, family dynamics, and social stresses any less relevant in Veronica Mars because it starred a perky blonde on UPN? The themes of personal development and growing up a teenage girl less applicable because she was Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead of the heroine of a book? Is the social commentary of Aaron Sorkin less brilliant because it airs on television rather than in written essays?
As in movies and books, there is brilliant television, and there is puerile television. Even I, secret addict of Big Brother, would not claim it has any redeeming value. But simply because something airs on the small screen doesn't mean it has any more or less value than other forms of "entertainment." I dare you to watch the episode "The Body" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and not be moved and stunned. Or the incredibly well-planned season one plot arc of Veronica Mars. Or a few episodes of Sports Night and its discussion of our roles as individuals within greater society. Watch Freaks and Geeks and remember your own high school years -- the good and the bad.
'cuz, in the end, I don't think you come off as more intellectual if you avoid television and instead elevate books and movies alone as "art forms." Justify the fourth-grade level writing of James Patterson, or the existence of The Hills Have Eyes to me first.
Just for shits and giggles, my favorite writing on TV:
"The Body," "The Gift," & "Hush" -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"A Trip to the Dentist" & "Leave it to Beaver" -- Veronica Mars
"Dear Louise" -- Sports Night
"Three Stories" -- House
"Chokin' and Tokin'" -- Freaks and Geeks
"I Spy Apocalypse" -- MI:5
A View From The Gallery" & "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" -- Babylon 5
