First post

I thought if I started a blog, it would get me writing about televison and television issues. Right now my dissertation is in strong consideration for being published as a book and I've been keeping myself sort of "on deck" for that as when they get back to me I assume I'll really have to hustle, but in the meantime I have all these thoughts about TV and nowhere really to talk about them. So I am.

For anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, my dissertation was called "Girls Who (Don't) Wear Glasses: The Performativity of Smart Girls on Teen Television" and dealt with the brainy type of character starting with Father Knows Best, and moving forward through the TV decades, but concentrating predominantly on Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210, Angela Chase on My So-Called Life, Willow Rosenberg on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lindsay Weir of Freaks and Geeks, and Rory Gilmore, Paris Geller, and Lane Kim of Gilmore Girls.

I finished that and am now an assistant professor of Media Studies and Communications, and am teaching my own course in Television and Culture online, and am planning to develop a course in Women, Girls, and the Media for next fall.

I'm still watching teen shows, particularly Gossip Girl (thanks to Emily for letting me know I missed the most important one!) CW's new 90210, ABC Family's Greek (technically a college show and hence outside the parameters I set for myself), the BBC's Skins, THEN's Degrassi: The Next Generation and over the summer the appalling Secret Life of the American Teenager. I'm also paying attention to teen girls on shows like Heroes, and . . . I don't think there are any on other shows I watch since they fast forwarded the ones on Desperate Housewives.

I also watch The Office, Mad Men, Lost, Ugly Betty, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Weeds, Project Runway, and usually watch ER though, since it's so depressing and boring, I'm just as happy when there's something else in that timeslot and, as such, have seen the first two episodes of Life on Mars. I don't really like cop shows, but enjoy period pieces. We'll see if I keep it up. It's pretty violent. I also never miss The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which I usually watch the next morning since I don't like politics at night, and Jeopardy.

Yes--that's too much TV. I'm supposed to be working very hard. I spend a lot of time reading about TV when I'm not watching it. Which is why I feel like I need to write about the television rather than just consume.