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Good TV
I believe television is going to be the test of the modern world, and that in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our vision, we shall discover a new and unbearable disturbance of the modern peace, or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television - of that I am quite sure. [1]
By May 9, 1961, it was clear to Newton N. Minow, at least, that we had discovered the former, and thus he declared TV a "vast wasteland":
You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And, endlessly, commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you will see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, try it. [2]
Oh, Mr. Minow, you poor, poor dear. You were shaking them off, and all they heard was, "Bring it on!" In 1961, Kirstie Alley was still in elementary school, and -- if his IMDB entry is to be believed -- Jeff Probst wouldn't be conceived for another nine months. Ryan Seacrest's parents were probably still minors. And don't look at us, dude. That was years before We were born.
Having been conceived, born, reared; having come of age, worked, married, and reproduced under the crushing -- if velveted -- fist of the vast wasteland (can lands, wasted or otherwise, have fists?), We -- as you can well imagine (or would have been able to, had you not struggled under the same oppressive conditions) -- often have difficulty not just speaking our minds, but formulating independent thought. And so We turn to the great sages for wisdom, and say, "Dog me. Mustard." [3]
No, that's not it. Need new sage. Ah. Cave Buffy:
TV is a good thing. Bright colours. Music. Tiny little people ... Want people. Where people go? ... Want. Want people. [4]
GoodTV.vox.com, neither intends to whittle away at, expand upon, prove Mr. Minow's famous declaration wrong, nor to imply those few television shows We do enjoy are The Best. Instead, as We traverse the vast wasteland, whenever We happen upon an oasis, We pitch our tents, and fire our Very pistols straight overhead, to alert our fellow travelers that there is refuge, and good TV, to be found.
Posted by She (He was surprised)
[1] Quoted from http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=964497600#question4
[2] Excerpted from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/newtonminow.htm
[3] Whistler, in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode 2:21, Becoming I.
