Television without Europeans
A recent media enquiry has made me wonder why there are no European equivalents of Television Without Pity. None that I know of anyway.
TWOP is a dedicated TV recap and discussion site, with a high level of snark. The episode recaps are as bitchy as they are informed and insightful. The discussion is intense and immediate. People rush to the boards straight after an episode has aired.
It really is a place for devout fans of TV shows only. In my experience, only the biggest fans can be as tough on the thing they love as people are at TWOP. It’s not for the casual viewer.
I find TWOP almost unamerican in its unabashed critcism and sarcasm. I love it most of the time. That’s why I wonder why there are no European equivalents, haven’t we always done sarcasm better? Americans in general don’t seem prone to such bite, bitterness and bile and are better known for their unfailing enthusiasm.
Am I missing something?
« Mucha - Jugendstil | Blogging from within Flickr »
Mar 11th 2004
There are currently 1,100+ TV-Channels in Europe, and only 200 of them aren’t aimed at one market in special. In countries like Britain, France, Italy and Spain foreign TV-stations get less than 1% of the viewing population on an average night.
Or in other words: nobody in Europe watches the same channels. TWOP only works because there are enough people watching the same shows at the same time. That’s virtualy impossible over here, except with mass events like the Olympics or the Football Championships.
Not everyone downloads TV-programs to watch them on their computer.
Mar 11th 2004
There were line breaks in my post.
Mar 11th 2004
I don’t mean there has to be one all over European site - god knows that didn’t work with that MeFi clone linklust.com thing I was involved in. You could have similar sites, perhaps on a smaller scale, per country. I know there are sites per programme, there were Big Brother sites, etc. But I like TWOP’s format, where you have interesting recaps to read + the commentary.
Mar 11th 2004
Does anyone watch TV in Europe any more? I thought we were all too busy texting each other.
Mar 12th 2004
I also feel like you’re underestimating the American capacity for sarcasm. You might not like THE ONION, but you can’t deny the sheer nastiness of the snark there, and those are all American writers — hell, the paper started out in Wisconsin, which is about as Midwestern as you can get. A lot of us over here are just as bitter as all you chain-smoking existentialist black-beret-wearin’ Euros, and don’t forget it! ;-D
Mar 12th 2004
Maybe ‘Americans’ like their sarcasm only when it’s clear that it is sarcasm. All collected in one place, like The Onion for example. Readers of Whedonesque have asked for a ’sarcasm’ font, so they can label their posts when they’re being sarcastic.
Mar 12th 2004
BTW, I know a lot of Dutch people who cannot get their heads around the UK/Irish/Aussie tradition of ‘taking the mickey’. Been at parties where the Dutch contingent would ask ‘why are you people so mean to eachother?’