Jamie Block: TV critics have true power

By Jamie Block
TV/New Media Columnist  On  September 27th, 2009

Television critics are afforded a unique opportunity that film and music critics have to go without: the opportunity to be wrong.

Now, all reviews are matters of opinion, but that's not what I mean by "wrong." There will always be reviews that disagree with the majority opinion, but the key factor that makes them as correct as a review ever can be is that they accurately reflect the views of the critics who wrote them. And with film and movie reviews, that's where it ends. The critics say what they have to say, and there's their opinion on the page — constant, permanent, unchanging. And that's because movies and albums don't change over time either. Maybe public opinion changes, but once each individual album or film is released, that's the way it's going to be forever (unless George Lucas is involved). TV shows, not so much.

A television show is in a constant state of qualitative flux, going through good seasons and bad seasons, each of which has its better episodes and worse episodes. It’s an unrealistic expectation to assume that a pilot episode will be indicative of a series as a whole. Yet, for the sake of timeliness, that’s all TV critics can really go off of when formulating an opinion. So it often comes to pass that critics may, partway through a season or several seasons through a series’s lifetime, come to disagree with their own reviews.

I recently revisited the first show I ever reviewed, “Fringe,” to see how it was faring as it entered its second season. I was less than enthusiastic about the pilot episode last fall and had given it only 2 out of 5 stars. But I had been hearing good things and discovered, upon re-inspection, the rumors are true. “Fringe” got good. The characters were more developed, the fake science jargon was toned down, and everything felt much more cohesive than it all did in my brief exposure to the world of televised fringe science — just like I suggested. Or at least, I should have.

What I’ve learned and hopefully adapted to is the fact that the job of the television critic must be, at least in part, to make suggestions. We can’t possibly hope to write a review that stands the test of a show’s lifetime. (Any review of “Heroes” from its first season would be far too favorable for any of the show’s subsequent disappointing, heart-destroying, absolutely unacceptable seasons.) But what we can do is help guide a show to greatness or help it stay there if it was lucky enough to start out on a good note. Music and film critics can’t do that. The content they critique is not modified after release, barring directors’ cuts and the like, which have nothing to do with critical input. So enjoy your petty free tickets and your awards shows that people actually watch, you foolish critics of other art forms — bask in your little naïve worlds while we television critics exact our true power upon our world. Muahahaha!

But world domination aside, the role of the TV critic is an important one — and it’s a job well worth sacrificing infallibility for. Television criticism is at its most effective when it not only pokes and prods, but also pushes and encourages. Without forward thinking, we can’t claim to be really reviewing a show, just an episode — and that would be pretty much useless. Sure, we’d escape the whole we-can-be-wrong thing, but I’d rather be always useful than always right. (Then again, I don’t know how useful my reviews of shows like “Coolio’s Rules” and "50 Cent: the Money and the Power" could ever be, regardless of my tips for the future.)

Obviously one review isn’t going to change a show’s direction — TV creators and writers look at ratings and overall trends instead of just reading The Daily (a flawed system of aggregating feedback, to be sure). But you read us, we tell you not to watch, then the writers figure out why you’re not watching and try to win you over. To use a TV metaphor, my colleagues and I are Captain Planet and you are the Planeteers. With your powers combined, led by our witty criticism and anti-pollution agenda, you can make the television world a better place as you clean up the streets and stop watching shitty reality shows. And as an added bonus, I won’t make any of you be Heart (but you can still have a pet monkey).

So go forth, loyal readers and TV watchers. Let us agree to each use our powers for good and not for evil. I shall offer suggestions, and not stretch my opinions beyond their jurisdiction. And you shall heed my words and not support the tyrannical regimes of awful television shows. Together, we can make the world a better place — then rub it in those film writers’ faces.

Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:31:17 -0500