Ask TV Squad: Why are we so whiney?

During the weekend our comments were down, we got a pleasant little e-mail from a woman named Sandra. She was responding to Jonathan's post that gave five reasons to kill the CSI character Nick Stokes.

Sandra's eight-point missive told us a number a different things that we didn't really know about ourselves; namely, that we were "presumptuous", "shallow", and "stupid". At least our arguments were characterized that way. But what really struck me was this statement:

"7. Your website is pretty bland. This was my first time coming here and probably my last since I don't think I've met such a group of cantankerous writers in my life. I hate whiney writers."

She then signed off by calling us "Scrooges" and "Grinches."  At least she was in the holiday spirit.

Whiney? Cantankerous? Us? Well, maybe, but we're only that way because we care.

Actually, I don't really agree with Sandra; I personally think my fellow TV Squadders and I are more positive about TV and its contents than your average beaten-down newspaper TV critc, who's seen it all and thinks that things aren't as good now as they were when Norman Lear had eight shows on at once. No, I think we have a healthy appreciation for the different genres that TV offers, and we each have our own preferences: some of us like sitcoms, others drama, others reality. Heck, some of us even like game shows (well, Bob and I like them, at least).

When a show delivers the goods, like Arrested Development's been doing all season, it's a cause for celebration; we laugh hard if it's a comedy, or are emotionally engrossed if it's a drama. If there's suspense, our hearts pound in anticipation, and if there's something to cheer about, we applaud. If I watch a particularly satisfying episode of a series, for instance, I will do just that: applaud like I would if I was in a theatre watching a fantasitc play (yes, I need to get out more).

But when a show falls flat, especially one that we've relied on for quality entertainment, we're sorely disappointed. Not just because the show wasted our time, or that we're kicking ourselves for tuning into the show in the first place. Our disappointment stems from the fact that we remember the feeling that that show, or one like it, gave us when it reached its creative peak. We were happy that we spent a half-hour or hour with those characters and writers, and wanted to see more as soon as the show was over. When we don't achieve that feeling, we walk away disheartened. And, because we have a platform in which to do this, we vent about the letdowns our favorite shows give us.

Saturday Night Live is the best example of both the highs and the lows. In its good years, viewers like us would repeat lines from sketches like they were favorite songs. That's why, when it sucks like it does this year, we rag on the show so much; we want it to be good, we want to laugh. So when something comes along that is as funny and entertaining as "Lazy Sunday", we get excited, perhaps to the point of overpraising it. But we do it because it reminds us of how good SNL can be on the (now infrequent) times that it reaches its potential.

So, dear Sandra, we might be a bit grumpy about our TV at times. But it's only because we don't like being let down by it, whether we're watching Masterpiece Theatre or Beauty and the Geek. If you remember that, you'll like what we have to say here a whole lot better.

We bitch because we care. Maybe we should put that on a t-shirt...

[P.S. I got the cool baby photo from BBC.co.uk. Thanks, Beebsters!]