I didn't want to push my point about podcasts and experimentation too far, because even though there are a number of examples of a kind of exuberant experimentation with the medium in early television, TV also very quickly fell into replicating existing formats (radio quiz shows, news broadcasts, cinema serials, etc.)…

On a tangentially related point, I've been watching the Ernie Kovacs Collection on Netflix. I find it fascinating to watch, though I have a soft spot for early live television and its particular form of weirdly intimate theatricality.I would guess that the early segments that have been preserved (the live stuff, as…

On a tangentially related point, I've been watching the Ernie Kovacs Collection on Netflix. I find it fascinating to watch, though I have a soft spot for early live television and its particular form of weirdly intimate theatricality.I would guess that the early segments that have been preserved (the live stuff, as…

"An Austinite standing in the three-hour long queue for Franklin Barbecue… sums up his city’s obsession with food perfectly: 'If there’s a line for food, I'm going to stand in it.'"

"An Austinite standing in the three-hour long queue for Franklin Barbecue… sums up his city’s obsession with food perfectly: 'If there’s a line for food, I'm going to stand in it.'"

Explaining why something tastes good makes it not taste good.
Explaining why something is beautiful makes it not beautiful.
Explaining why something is ugly makes it not ugly.

Explaining why something tastes good makes it not taste good.
Explaining why something is beautiful makes it not beautiful.
Explaining why something is ugly makes it not ugly.

Of that list, the only ones I could imagine being plausibly willing and able (that is, charismatic enough) to host a TV series would be Spike Lee and Woody Allen. Shyamalan would be a maybe — he certainly isn't camera shy — but I don't think he actually has much of an engaging persona. I don't know about Lucas'…

Of that list, the only ones I could imagine being plausibly willing and able (that is, charismatic enough) to host a TV series would be Spike Lee and Woody Allen. Shyamalan would be a maybe — he certainly isn't camera shy — but I don't think he actually has much of an engaging persona. I don't know about Lucas'…

Likewise, anyone with Netflix must go and watch the episode "Mummy Daddy" of Amazing Stories. That is a stone classic (and a good candidate for an article like this).

Likewise, anyone with Netflix must go and watch the episode "Mummy Daddy" of Amazing Stories. That is a stone classic (and a good candidate for an article like this).

O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" was adapted for TV back in the 60s on some anthology program. Just more evidence that the anthologies back then (some of them, anyway) actually did take seriously the idea of having a cultural curatorial function.

O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" was adapted for TV back in the 60s on some anthology program. Just more evidence that the anthologies back then (some of them, anyway) actually did take seriously the idea of having a cultural curatorial function.

And looking back over my examples, Tarantino and Smith both lack gravitas. But Scorcese does have that aura of mastery about him.

And looking back over my examples, Tarantino and Smith both lack gravitas. But Scorcese does have that aura of mastery about him.

I wonder if part of the problem is that, compared to a half-century ago, genre short fiction is a rather anemic market (or so I presume — I know there are still sci-fi and mystery magazines out there, but I also know I've read a number of headlines announcing old, long-standing pulp magazines closing, and short…

I wonder if part of the problem is that, compared to a half-century ago, genre short fiction is a rather anemic market (or so I presume — I know there are still sci-fi and mystery magazines out there, but I also know I've read a number of headlines announcing old, long-standing pulp magazines closing, and short…

Didn't you get the memo? The only TV worth watching is heavily serialized TV. Non-serialized TV is for stupid people with no attention span.

Didn't you get the memo? The only TV worth watching is heavily serialized TV. Non-serialized TV is for stupid people with no attention span.

I wish we had more directors of real stature who had stronger public personas and who engaged with the public in a circus ringmaster kind of way like Hitchcock did, and who can become a spokesperson for a whole genre. Scorcese seems to be one of the only ones I can think of who comes close. Tarantino sometimes…