TelevisionWithoutPity.com

When I was younger, I wanted to be a contestant on a game show (preferably Supermarket Sweep, because I am a loser). Then I got older, and I secretly wanted to be one of those people on VH1’s ‘Best Week Ever,’ even though most of them say the stupidest things. Now? I wish I could be one of the bloggers on Television Without Pity.

The basic concept of the Web site is that writers recap popular television shows, but not in a boring TV Guide sort of way. These are in a sarcastic, obscenity-laden way where the writers’ opinion of the show is strongly injected. Their tagline is ‘spare the snark, spoil the networks.’

Before the site was bought by the Bravo TV network (a slight but allowable sellout), they only recapped hourlong dramas and reality shows, citing that comedies were too hard to write about. But after the purchase, comedies like ‘The Office’ and ’30 Rock’ are now being covered, though the recaps are long and don’t do the actual shows justice.

The best recaps are for reality shows, like ‘Project Runway’ for example. The recap picks apart each of the contestants personalities, calling one ‘an idiot or something’ and compares another to Steve McQueen.

The site has a large following as evidenced by the forums, where site users can discuss the shows, their characters and everything and anything in between. It’s not hard to find an intellectual conversation about a show, but it’s also not hard to find idiots arguing with each other about whether Kyle Chandler got a haircut in the latest episode of ‘Friday Night Lights.’ The Internet is tricky like that.

-Erinn Connor, asst. feature editor

Published on November 27, 2007 at 12:00 pm