The WELL: inkwell.vue.380: Aaron Barnhart, "Tasteland"

#43: Julie Sherman (julieswn) Thu 15 Apr 10 18:13

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:13:00 PDT

What Gail means is that Aaron was in New Orleans. Not sure what happened. Sorry for the lack of response.

In any case, our attention in Inkwell moves to a new discussion (with Don Lattin on his new book, "The Harvard Psychedelic Club") but this topic will stay open indefinitely. Thanks to all who contributed to the conversation. [Read entire topic]

#42: Gail Williams (gail) Thu 15 Apr 10 16:28

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:28:00 PDT

Must have been the Big Easy. [Read entire topic]

#41: David Wilson (dlwilson) Thu 15 Apr 10 11:47

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:47:00 PDT

What happened to the discussion here? Someone pull the plug? [Read entire topic]

#40: Slowly I Turn (tcn) Wed 14 Apr 10 00:00

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 PDT

Like all these questions. Aaron, I'm wondering about interactive TV, what happened to that? Will it revive with all the new interconnections? [Read entire topic]

#39: Gail Williams (gail) Tue 13 Apr 10 15:15

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:15:00 PDT

Shows I don't see much tv news.

Does the book do any prognosticating or extensions of trends?

I wonder about increased forms of interactivity, and also about ad targetting. We may get to where there can no longer be a discussion of great ads, or the Superbowl ad buys, because one household is seeing Pepsi while another sees BMW in the same time slot.

What about mobile devices: I'll watch TV as a semi-social activity, but am less interested in solo podcast mode. I expect I may be in a pretty un-influential minority.

Will popular small devices drive production investments and artistic choices as well as almost certainly driving the ads served to each individual? I wonder how that plays out. [Read entire topic]

#38: Julie Sherman (julieswn) Tue 13 Apr 10 08:45

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:45:00 PDT

It crosses over to TV news, which is kind of funny. Not to mention the reading of tweets on CNN, MSNBC, and the like. Now when a particularly funny youtube video goes viral it often ends up as a 30-second story on the news. [Read entire topic]

#37: Gail Williams (gail) Tue 13 Apr 10 08:01

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:01:00 PDT

I wonder what effect youtube has on the overall direction of television. It's added a new kind of material that has never been seen on tv -- the carefully crafted amateur production. Still, I don't see that material crossing over to tv often. Am i just missing that? [Read entire topic]

#36: David Wilson (dlwilson) Mon 12 Apr 10 12:52

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:52:00 PDT

Doesn't this indicate that our television viewing behavior is changing?

I was over TV after the Rockford Files closed down. Then came the ability to watch entire series and seasons on DVD. Suddenly I could catch up on The Sopranos, The Wire, Dexter, Damages etc.

There is a continuum of quality of the various series ranging from high concept serious through entertainment to outright exploitation. Then there seems to be a new set of categories: critically acclaimed, popular, acclaimed but low ratings, low but continued, low but canceled etc.

I find myself watching the high concept series one episode after another. Same with trashy guilty pleasures. Can't get enough of them when they hook me. The more pedestrian and those derived from a comic book concept are much more difficult to watch that way. I'll either fade in and then out, or space myself to watch between longer intervals. Now the streaming sites made it possible for me to start watching continuing series weekly like old style TV. [Read entire topic]

#35: uber-muso hipster hyperbole (pjm) Mon 12 Apr 10 11:49

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:49:00 PDT

I own The Wire and Oz, mostly because I missed most of them on TV. I still need to catch up on Oz. [Read entire topic]

#34: Julie Sherman (julieswn) Mon 12 Apr 10 11:46

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:46:00 PDT

At the back of Aaron's book, was a list of 100 best TV shows of the last 15 years. I was surprised at how many I had not seen. But I guage how much I love shows by how much I want to own the DVDs when they come out. I own:

West Wing, the first two seasons Sex and the City, the whole series Picket Fences, several seasons Northern Exposure various seasons

I spent many hours of chemo transfusions watching the West Wing. It was great for taking my mind off of the present. When Northern Exposure was on cable I loved most every episode before Rob Morrow left and used to get the episodes, in order, from Netflix. Also loved My So-Called Life and got all the episodes from Netflix and watched them again. Some of Star Trek: The Next Generation holds up nicely too. SO what TV series do you own on DVD? or which ones to you rent from Netflix? [Read entire topic]