TV and Sympathy

The pursuit of recappiness

I saw Veronica Mars on Tuesday. So why do I feel like I haven't really processed the episode? Because I haven't read Couch Baron's recap. Who is Couch Baron, you may ask? He's one of the talented staff members over at Television Without Pity, a site that recaps, mocks, analyzes, and praises the latest on television.

Observe his comment about a recent VM:

Logan: "Excellent! The bar is so low we can step over it." Wallace shakes his head, probably because he knows that when push comes to shove, there's no way drama-queen Logan isn't doing the limbo under that shit.

Good times.

Good television necessitates conversation. There's a reason why certain shows are labeled 'watercooler' shows - because we viewers are driven to talk about them after watching. It's kind of a duh. In high school I used to watch my favorite shows in groups of girls and dish endlessly with my friends about the love lives of various WB characters. However, now that I'm older, and my friends live further away (many in different time zones), it's harder to maintain that same kind of dialogue.

Enter the internet. Online forums have taken the place of my friends (only in regards to TV discussion - not as far as emotional support). Chief among the forums is the snarktastic TWoP, which rocks my world weekly with its hilarious and often insightful commentary on a variety of programs. The TWoP recaps and forums draw my attention to things I've missed, make me say a 'hell yeah' to things I agree with, and just generally make me appreciate the effort that goes into making quality television. Though many of the recaps are laced with bitchery and criticism, many are quite funny and complimentary.

For TWoP, I think it's important to get a recapper that matches the show. Couch Baron is a perfect fit for Veronica Mars and Jacob is just right for Battlestar Galactica. Though it's possible that each of them watch both shows, I wouldn't want them to switch - that would be like dishing about The O.C. with my grandmother and talking JAG with my sister. Ain't gonna happen.

posted by Veltman @ 4:02 PM