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There is such a thing as good television |
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Written by Rick Kushman, McClatchy-Tribune
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Tuesday, 06 March 2007 |
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So I'm on the phone with a guy, a very nice guy from New York, and we get to talking about TV, because when you watch television for a living, a lot of your conversations head in that direction.
Anyway, this nice guy says he hates TV. "It's all junk," he says.
No, I say, it's not. I'm polite. I like this guy, but I say that, yes, there's a lot of junk out there, but there's a lot of OK TV, too, and there's a lot of very good television.
He's cool with my point. We move on to talk about something less inflammatory, like taxes, religion and politics.
But it left me thinking. I say this a lot, and I'm going to do it again. Stop it. Stop that "TV is bad" gibberish. TV is powerful, pervasive, sometimes insidious, and it is everywhere. Some of it is truly awful. But it can also be extraordinarily interesting, instructive or moving. It can be great.
So much simply depends on how you use it and what you watch. TV as a babysitter? Not a great idea. TV as relaxation? Why not? TV as a family experience? That's one reason "American Idol" is so popular. TV as a healing force in society? Not if you watch cable news, or, heaven help you, "Nancy Grace." But after Sept. 11, most of America sat and watched television because this was a country that wanted to connect, and TV is still our common voice. The post-Sept. 11 concert that ran across almost all channels a few days later raised tons of money and tons of hearts. And it made many Americans just feel better about our nature.
Last week, ABC's "Lost" was a sweet, spirit-lifting episode about hope. NBC's "The Office," as painful as it can be, had a gentle lesson about real kindness. PBS' "Frontline" gave a chilling, critical explanation about what's happening to the news business.
There is so much across the TV universe, small happy shows ranging from the Food Network's "Iron Chef" to Comedy Central's "Reno 9-1-1" to USA's "Monk." You can watch anything you love — cooking, poker, fishing, rodeo, car repair, remodeling, modeling, antiquing, music or sports in every form.
And there are powerful, insightful dramas like FX's "The Shield" or "Rescue Me," or NBC's stellar "Friday Night Lights," or HBO's "The Wire" and "The Sopranos" (which, by the way, returns for its last run April 8.)
That's a tiny, tiny list. I'm just saying they're out there. More to the point, TV isn't just one thing. Nothing is just one thing. It's like saying food is terrible these days. It is, if you eat at some fast food joints. It's great if you get the right cook (or involve chocolate in any form, but that's a different point).
Television is more multi-faceted than any medium on the planet. It comes in every style, covers and involves everything. To describe TV, or anything, with a blanket statement is immature and small-minded and just plain wrong.
In short, here's what I say: Watch what you like, don't watch the TV you hate, and don't let TV — or not watching TV — control your life. Put more simply for the "I Hate TV" crowd, just open your mind.
'Course, you probably knew all that. You're reading a TV column. So, uh, yeah, I'm just venting.
___
And speaking of good TV, here's one you may not know about: Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs." It sends a cheerful, ready-to-be-a-fool Mike Rowe out to do the generally icky jobs – like cleaning septic tanks or farming worms – that keep society running.
Tuesday night (at 7 p.m.), Rowe wades into one of my favorite subjects: wine making. Rowe went to Merryvale's new Starmont Winery in Napa last fall to pick and sort grapes, shovel out wine tanks, fill barrels, and stuff mulch into dumpsters. He also tasted some wine, because you need to do that, too.
Rowe approached this as he does everything, like a playful, happy idiot, and I mean that in a good way. When he's done with his chores in Napa, his hands and arms are stained purple and his clothes are so covered with grape stuff he looks like a toddler playing with jelly.
It's not really a how-to-make-wine lesson, but it does show how much genuine hard work goes into wine, and Rowe has the ideal explanatory tone. "I'm on the verge of understanding something," he says, before trying to describe the trip that grapes take on the way to the tanks.
Later, while tasting some wine, he drinks from a beaker. The winemaker says a glass might be better.
"I'm good," Rowe says.
He's right. So is the show.
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Rick Kushman:
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