2008 Woodie Awards
Watch This Space
Sheila Seles
Issue date: 1/13/05 Section: Arts
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Publicly, Middlebury may be known for its rigorous academics and first-rate winter sports, but those of us who live on campus know Middlebury's true character - it's a horrible place for TV. Some luddite rule forbids us from getting cable in our rooms unless we live in senior housing. And if any of you have tried the old rabbit ears you know that TV reception is an impossibility unless you consider reception to be static that occasionally resembles ABC out of Middle-of-Nowhere, New York.
This makes me angry. I don't believe TV makes you stupider. In fact, I'm writing a thesis on TV, so I would argue TV has actually made me smarter. But I'm a senior and I have a television with digital cable in my suite, so it would be a waste of my time to wage a campaign to bring television to the huddled masses of Middlebury. Those of you who love TV will continue to thrive as you always have - setting up VCRs and leaving notes on public televisions reserving them for your favorite shows. TV is a precious commodity - especially on this campus. It's unbelievably difficult to be a loyal devotee of a TV show while living the dorm life at Midd. You need a little guidance. You need to watch this space.
So, what's going on in TV land? It's officially J-term. To me that means one thing - and it's not skiing or drinking heavily, though those are two admirable ways to spend January. It's time for mid-season replacements - that time when television networks roll out a bunch of marginal shows to take the place of all the marginal shows that were recently canceled.
Overall, this crop of shows looks expectedly dismal. NBC has been heavily promoting both Committed (Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.), a sitcom about a guy trying not to go crazy, and Medium (Mondays at 10p.m.), a show about a woman with a sixth sense. By all accounts, Committed has critics all over the country reaching for the Valium. Medium seems slightly more promising, if only because it co-stars talented Middlebury alum Jake Weber.
This makes me angry. I don't believe TV makes you stupider. In fact, I'm writing a thesis on TV, so I would argue TV has actually made me smarter. But I'm a senior and I have a television with digital cable in my suite, so it would be a waste of my time to wage a campaign to bring television to the huddled masses of Middlebury. Those of you who love TV will continue to thrive as you always have - setting up VCRs and leaving notes on public televisions reserving them for your favorite shows. TV is a precious commodity - especially on this campus. It's unbelievably difficult to be a loyal devotee of a TV show while living the dorm life at Midd. You need a little guidance. You need to watch this space.
So, what's going on in TV land? It's officially J-term. To me that means one thing - and it's not skiing or drinking heavily, though those are two admirable ways to spend January. It's time for mid-season replacements - that time when television networks roll out a bunch of marginal shows to take the place of all the marginal shows that were recently canceled.
Overall, this crop of shows looks expectedly dismal. NBC has been heavily promoting both Committed (Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.), a sitcom about a guy trying not to go crazy, and Medium (Mondays at 10p.m.), a show about a woman with a sixth sense. By all accounts, Committed has critics all over the country reaching for the Valium. Medium seems slightly more promising, if only because it co-stars talented Middlebury alum Jake Weber.