If TV is a never-ending conveyor belt of plotlines, character development and frantic discussion, I fear that I’ll never find a lull in the chaos to properly jump on.
Sure, I keep up with quite a few shows. But in a world where 40-minute-long episodes take a back burner to the everyday stress of college life, I’m beginning to feel overwhelmed by how much is out there that I don’t have time to properly enjoy.
I’m hopelessly behind on “Scandal.” The final season of “Mad Men,” which critics argue is one of the most intriguing historical dramas of all time, is upon us starting next week. “How I Met Your Mother” just ended Monday, and TV lovers everywhere are hysterical. And my friends threatening to disown me if I don’t start “Doctor Who,” stat.
Trying to catch up on all of these shows, and seeing my efforts fail, is even more painful than taking that terrible anthropology midterm. I confess: I am lagging behind, unable to try out every single new series everyone is buzzing about. And unfortunately, that jades me.
In sixth grade, I started trying to keep up with the here-and-now of pop culture. I watched “American Idol” for a few years to figure out why, exactly, people would call a guy with a perfectly nice name like “Simon” a dick.
I attempted to jump on the bandwagon of crime procedurals by indulging in a couple of “Law and Order” episodes, and I rented “One Tree Hill” from Hollywood Video (when it was still cool, and still in business). I obliviously worshiped the CW and watched “Gossip Girl,” “Privileged” and “90210” (all of which ended up canceled and/or lame).
And soon enough, I gave up trying to follow it all because I was so tired. At what point can one follow enough shows to be classified as a normal TV enthusiast and simultaneously retain their sanity?
Now I’m stuck with this perpetual frustration again, as I realize that my attention span and daily preoccupations do not afford me enough time to catch up on everything my classmates, online friends and Entertainment Weekly tell me is cool.
I don’t always enjoy rushing to the computer or TV to try to finish off seven episodes of some new trend at once. I hate hearing about how everyone’s not watching “New Girl” anymore; they’re watching “The Walking Dead” because suddenly the new “Z” is for zombies, not Zooey Deschanel. I can’t come to terms with the inability to keep up with Netflix-binge sessions while balancing a full class load.
But now, especially as a TV columnist, I realize the overwhelming amount of good TV shouldn’t be a weapon. It should be an asset that is good, and even necessary, simply for my own enlightenment.
I’ve always been interested in sociology and human interactions, and TV has a unique place in that sphere. Like literature, television shows have a simpler set of motifs, tropes and symbolism hitting audiences over the heads with a point. But you can argue that they play a part as important, if not marginally more important, in getting society to _feel something_.
When everyone’s on their couch or on their laptop, fixated on a screen, they’re all paying attention to and feeling the character’s emotions, especially as that character grows with them over the years. The people on that screen are tangible beyond imagination, and they’re in front of you as clearly as if you were watching a live-action scene, experiencing the perils of life for longer than a 110-minute movie.
We’re making strides with our unconventional anti-heroes, strong female protagonists and superhero series, and this accessible world is friendly. Its demand of our attention isn’t hostile; it’s a friendly hand extended toward us, inviting us to learn something from the worlds they’ve created.
If I need to pace myself to properly achieve said satisfaction and take it all in, so be it. There is no race to finish in this context. There should be no cognitive dissonance between “If you ever want to be a TV critic, you must watch more” and “But I want to _really_ have that episode hit home, so I’m gonna waste another hour recapping what I just saw. Instead I’ll just keep watching more!”
