The Form and Function of Television Without Pity
INTRODUCTION:
This entry is being used as a host for the midterm project for my Intro to New Media class, taken Spring 2007 at Pomona College. For my project I will be examining the website Television Without Pity. It is a fantastic site for television fans, and I will be arguing that its format and content put it on a level higher than other TV/fan-related websites.
SITE BACKGROUND:
Television Without Pity, which is officially abbreviated as “TWoP” (pronounced tuh-wop in one syllable), was created by David T. Cole, Tara Ariano, and Sarah D. Bunting in order “to give people a place to revel in their guilty televisual pleasures” (according to the site’s FAQ). The main focus of the site is its episode recaps, but once you familiarize yourself with TWoP you realize it is so much more than that. It has managed to practically create its own culture, complete with legions of devoted readers. It covers a hefty chunk of U.S. hour-long drama and reality series, and adds or gets rid of shows (in TWoP language, they are put on “permanent hiatus”) based on their popularity with the site’s viewers. The “snarky” tone of its recaps is what TWoP is best known for. Instead of the episode synopses you might read on a show’s official website or somewhere like TVGuide.com, the recaps on TWoP are full of sarcasm and wit. However, the site is not all about bashing bad TV, as most of its recappers (and readers) would consider themselves fans (after all, only a show’s biggest fans can be its harshest critics). In fact, while it’s often very enjoyable and refreshing to read snark and humor about a show, TWoP’s recappers also excel at bringing significant insight to a show and paying attention to the smallest details of its continuity. (There is definitely a different balance between the snarky and the insightful for each individual show and recapper. For example, Charmed had some of the most unrelentingly snarky recaps I’ve ever read, while Veronica Mars has some of the most thoughtful and thorough recaps.)
TWOP FEATURES:
One of the best things about TWoP is the variety of different features the site has - recaps are only the beginning! Here is a list of the different elements of the site that every visitor should explore:
Recaps: The meat of the site. As each is released, it appears as a link on the main page of the site in typical blog format (newest entries at the top). Recaps first and foremost do what you’d expect: They serve as detailed accounts of everything that happened in a given episode, useful for loyal viewers who may have missed the episode (or for the more die-hard fans who want to relive it!). They are also peppered with snarky commentary and the recapper’s own critical look at the episode, along with any other insightful bits of theory and comments that the writer may have. Instead of being presented in one big long chunk, they are broken up into pages that the viewer flips through (using page number links at the bottom of each page). Recaps generally fall in the area between seven and fourteen pages, depending on how much detail and commentary the recapper decides to include.
Grades: Each episode receives a letter grade (A through F) from the recapper when the recap is posted. Readers can also rate the episodes, and the two grades appear side-by-side in a column to the left of the recap’s text on every page.
Quotes: TWoP’s main page contains a different recap quote every week at the top of the page. One quote is also pulled from every page of a recap and placed in the column on the right side of the page above the episode’s grades. They tend to be the funniest bits from each section of the page. Recent reader quotes, pulled from the forums, appear on each show’s main page.
Staff (recappers): While I know very little about TWoP’s hiring process, its writers are at least semi-professional (most have other jobs), and do get paid for their work (the amount is unknown to the public as far as I can tell). The staff bios shed a little light on who these mysterious figures are, but are generally as quirky as the site itself.
Polls: Like the quotes, one general poll can be found on the main page with recap-specific polls sometimes taking the place of the quotes within the recap pages themselves. A weekly show-specific poll also appears on the main page for each show. TWoP polls are almost always snarky or tongue-in-cheek, naturally.
FAQs: There is a main site FAQ page as well as an individual FAQ page for each show. They are a mix of informative and snarky answers for people who are new to the site or to a specific show. For example, Don't you people have anything better to do than sit around criticizing TV shows? comes from the main FAQ, while the Charmed FAQ answers questions as seemingly perplexing as I'm afraid to ask and Oh, give me a fucking break. You're just making this shit up as you go along.
Forums: Besides the recaps and all they entail, the other main feature of TWoP is its collection of very crowded yet disarmingly intelligent message boards, or forums. While anyone is able to read through the forums, only registered users may post (registration is free). There are forums for each show, which are then broken down further depending on its popularity. Gilmore Girls remains the most popular current forum with four subforums and over 418,000 posts, compared to Top Design with only around 2,000 posts. Within each forum are different threads (“topics”), which each deal with a very specific topic. TWoP’s forum rules and codes of conduct are known to be rather strict, but seem to help keep things organized and relatively civil. Most of the chatter is discussion regarding happenings in each new episode, but there is also a significant amount of “meta-discussion”, where readers comment on the recaps and recappers themselves in the forums.
Merchandise: The TWoP store is a subset of Glarkware, which is owned by one of the TWoP creators. The store mainly sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, pins and magnets, which are all related to TWoP in general or specific shows. The store is most famous for its “Now-or-Never” line, where a few new designs are available for purchase each month for one month only. The designs are almost always cleverly-disguised references to the shows the site recaps, and are often based on inside jokes that only those who regularly read a show’s recaps would be able to recognize.
TWOP AS HYPERTEXT:
One of the staples of “new media” is the idea of hypertext, which unlike basic static text allows readers to make paths and jump between different sets of text easily. TWoP makes great use of hypertext. The site’s internal links and navigation are always present and easy to find, making sure visitors have instant access to any area of the site they desire. There is also much more for a user to do on a page of TWoP’s site than simply read some static episode summary. The user can grade episodes, vote in many polls, talk back in the forums, learn about the author of the recap, as well as easily jump between different pages, episodes, or shows.
One of the most innovative aspects of TWoP’s recaps also involves hypertext. In most instances, when the recapper is making a specific reference to something that happened either in a past recap or in a different show, the sentence will be linked to the exact passage it is referencing. For shows with detailed continuity, such as the Cylon mythology of Battlestar Galactica or the season-long mystery arcs of Veronica Mars, this technique can be invaluable to the reader who is trying to piece together all the pieces of a show. It also provides supporting evidence for the connections the recapper is trying to make, as the reader can click on a link and instantly be reading the part of an episode that took place years ago which was referenced by the current episode. As these pathways are embedded as textual links, they are unobtrusive of the text’s flow itself. They can be easily ignored if desired, or can be used to instantly trace a path through the intricate continuity and mythology of the represented shows. For example, the recap for the Battlestar Galactica episode ”The Eye of Jupiter” contains six hypertext references to previous Battlestar Galactica episodes/recaps and four hypertext references to other series.
SITE-VISITOR DYNAMICS:
In his book Computer Lib / Dream Machines, Theodor H. Nelson imagines and describes in great detail a computer that would support students in self-directed learning. Using the computer, the student would be able to easily structure his learning so that it would be tailored to his own level, interest, and learning style. A general theme in new media seems to be this idea that our technology will become so intuitive and personalized that it will always be serving us and making things easier, rather than the struggle many people have with the kinds of technologies and machines that are mass-marketed today.
I see TWoP paralleling Nelson’s idea in that its structure makes it incredibly easy for each individual visitor to the site to tailor their own experience. As opposed to being a static, flat page with a bunch of episode summaries, TWoP is flooded with hypertext which the reader can take advantage of to their liking. The site can be used in many different ways, depending on the intentions of the visitor: I could read a full recap to gain more insight to my favorite show, read it to catch up on things I missed, browse the shows and episode grades to look for something I might like to start watching, just have fun answering polls, follow one show’s recaps only, or follow multiple shows, read the “recaplets” if I don’t have the time or patience to read a full recap, just read the quote blurbs on each page to get the best bits, or use the site primarily as a message board where I can talk with other viewers. Or any combination of these! Whether you’re on the site for the recaps, the humor, the insight, the community, or just the great inside jokes, you’re free to mix-and-match TWoP’s features to get the unique experience you’re looking for.
CONCLUSION:
Television Without Pity goes beyond the format of the basic TV-centered website to offer its visitors a large array of easy-to-navigate features. It uses tools and ideas common to theories of new media to form a dynamic site that is easily molded to the desires of individual visitors. By taking advantage of all that hypertext has to offer and using innovative site design, TWoP is a super-powered website that can equally serve hardcore television fans and casual viewers alike.
Works Cited
Nelson, Theodor H. "From Computer Lib / Dream Machines." The New Media Reader. Eds. Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003. 301-38.
Television Without Pity. 5 March 2007. .
Wikipedia: Television Without Pity. 5 March 2007. .
This entry is being used as a host for the midterm project for my Intro to New Media class, taken Spring 2007 at Pomona College. For my project I will be examining the website Television Without Pity. It is a fantastic site for television fans, and I will be arguing that its format and content put it on a level higher than other TV/fan-related websites.
SITE BACKGROUND:
Television Without Pity, which is officially abbreviated as “TWoP” (pronounced tuh-wop in one syllable), was created by David T. Cole, Tara Ariano, and Sarah D. Bunting in order “to give people a place to revel in their guilty televisual pleasures” (according to the site’s FAQ). The main focus of the site is its episode recaps, but once you familiarize yourself with TWoP you realize it is so much more than that. It has managed to practically create its own culture, complete with legions of devoted readers. It covers a hefty chunk of U.S. hour-long drama and reality series, and adds or gets rid of shows (in TWoP language, they are put on “permanent hiatus”) based on their popularity with the site’s viewers. The “snarky” tone of its recaps is what TWoP is best known for. Instead of the episode synopses you might read on a show’s official website or somewhere like TVGuide.com, the recaps on TWoP are full of sarcasm and wit. However, the site is not all about bashing bad TV, as most of its recappers (and readers) would consider themselves fans (after all, only a show’s biggest fans can be its harshest critics). In fact, while it’s often very enjoyable and refreshing to read snark and humor about a show, TWoP’s recappers also excel at bringing significant insight to a show and paying attention to the smallest details of its continuity. (There is definitely a different balance between the snarky and the insightful for each individual show and recapper. For example, Charmed had some of the most unrelentingly snarky recaps I’ve ever read, while Veronica Mars has some of the most thoughtful and thorough recaps.)
TWOP FEATURES:
One of the best things about TWoP is the variety of different features the site has - recaps are only the beginning! Here is a list of the different elements of the site that every visitor should explore:
Recaps: The meat of the site. As each is released, it appears as a link on the main page of the site in typical blog format (newest entries at the top). Recaps first and foremost do what you’d expect: They serve as detailed accounts of everything that happened in a given episode, useful for loyal viewers who may have missed the episode (or for the more die-hard fans who want to relive it!). They are also peppered with snarky commentary and the recapper’s own critical look at the episode, along with any other insightful bits of theory and comments that the writer may have. Instead of being presented in one big long chunk, they are broken up into pages that the viewer flips through (using page number links at the bottom of each page). Recaps generally fall in the area between seven and fourteen pages, depending on how much detail and commentary the recapper decides to include.
Grades: Each episode receives a letter grade (A through F) from the recapper when the recap is posted. Readers can also rate the episodes, and the two grades appear side-by-side in a column to the left of the recap’s text on every page.
Quotes: TWoP’s main page contains a different recap quote every week at the top of the page. One quote is also pulled from every page of a recap and placed in the column on the right side of the page above the episode’s grades. They tend to be the funniest bits from each section of the page. Recent reader quotes, pulled from the forums, appear on each show’s main page.
Staff (recappers): While I know very little about TWoP’s hiring process, its writers are at least semi-professional (most have other jobs), and do get paid for their work (the amount is unknown to the public as far as I can tell). The staff bios shed a little light on who these mysterious figures are, but are generally as quirky as the site itself.
Polls: Like the quotes, one general poll can be found on the main page with recap-specific polls sometimes taking the place of the quotes within the recap pages themselves. A weekly show-specific poll also appears on the main page for each show. TWoP polls are almost always snarky or tongue-in-cheek, naturally.
FAQs: There is a main site FAQ page as well as an individual FAQ page for each show. They are a mix of informative and snarky answers for people who are new to the site or to a specific show. For example, Don't you people have anything better to do than sit around criticizing TV shows? comes from the main FAQ, while the Charmed FAQ answers questions as seemingly perplexing as I'm afraid to ask and Oh, give me a fucking break. You're just making this shit up as you go along.
Forums: Besides the recaps and all they entail, the other main feature of TWoP is its collection of very crowded yet disarmingly intelligent message boards, or forums. While anyone is able to read through the forums, only registered users may post (registration is free). There are forums for each show, which are then broken down further depending on its popularity. Gilmore Girls remains the most popular current forum with four subforums and over 418,000 posts, compared to Top Design with only around 2,000 posts. Within each forum are different threads (“topics”), which each deal with a very specific topic. TWoP’s forum rules and codes of conduct are known to be rather strict, but seem to help keep things organized and relatively civil. Most of the chatter is discussion regarding happenings in each new episode, but there is also a significant amount of “meta-discussion”, where readers comment on the recaps and recappers themselves in the forums.
Merchandise: The TWoP store is a subset of Glarkware, which is owned by one of the TWoP creators. The store mainly sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, pins and magnets, which are all related to TWoP in general or specific shows. The store is most famous for its “Now-or-Never” line, where a few new designs are available for purchase each month for one month only. The designs are almost always cleverly-disguised references to the shows the site recaps, and are often based on inside jokes that only those who regularly read a show’s recaps would be able to recognize.
TWOP AS HYPERTEXT:
One of the staples of “new media” is the idea of hypertext, which unlike basic static text allows readers to make paths and jump between different sets of text easily. TWoP makes great use of hypertext. The site’s internal links and navigation are always present and easy to find, making sure visitors have instant access to any area of the site they desire. There is also much more for a user to do on a page of TWoP’s site than simply read some static episode summary. The user can grade episodes, vote in many polls, talk back in the forums, learn about the author of the recap, as well as easily jump between different pages, episodes, or shows.
One of the most innovative aspects of TWoP’s recaps also involves hypertext. In most instances, when the recapper is making a specific reference to something that happened either in a past recap or in a different show, the sentence will be linked to the exact passage it is referencing. For shows with detailed continuity, such as the Cylon mythology of Battlestar Galactica or the season-long mystery arcs of Veronica Mars, this technique can be invaluable to the reader who is trying to piece together all the pieces of a show. It also provides supporting evidence for the connections the recapper is trying to make, as the reader can click on a link and instantly be reading the part of an episode that took place years ago which was referenced by the current episode. As these pathways are embedded as textual links, they are unobtrusive of the text’s flow itself. They can be easily ignored if desired, or can be used to instantly trace a path through the intricate continuity and mythology of the represented shows. For example, the recap for the Battlestar Galactica episode ”The Eye of Jupiter” contains six hypertext references to previous Battlestar Galactica episodes/recaps and four hypertext references to other series.
SITE-VISITOR DYNAMICS:
In his book Computer Lib / Dream Machines, Theodor H. Nelson imagines and describes in great detail a computer that would support students in self-directed learning. Using the computer, the student would be able to easily structure his learning so that it would be tailored to his own level, interest, and learning style. A general theme in new media seems to be this idea that our technology will become so intuitive and personalized that it will always be serving us and making things easier, rather than the struggle many people have with the kinds of technologies and machines that are mass-marketed today.
I see TWoP paralleling Nelson’s idea in that its structure makes it incredibly easy for each individual visitor to the site to tailor their own experience. As opposed to being a static, flat page with a bunch of episode summaries, TWoP is flooded with hypertext which the reader can take advantage of to their liking. The site can be used in many different ways, depending on the intentions of the visitor: I could read a full recap to gain more insight to my favorite show, read it to catch up on things I missed, browse the shows and episode grades to look for something I might like to start watching, just have fun answering polls, follow one show’s recaps only, or follow multiple shows, read the “recaplets” if I don’t have the time or patience to read a full recap, just read the quote blurbs on each page to get the best bits, or use the site primarily as a message board where I can talk with other viewers. Or any combination of these! Whether you’re on the site for the recaps, the humor, the insight, the community, or just the great inside jokes, you’re free to mix-and-match TWoP’s features to get the unique experience you’re looking for.
CONCLUSION:
Television Without Pity goes beyond the format of the basic TV-centered website to offer its visitors a large array of easy-to-navigate features. It uses tools and ideas common to theories of new media to form a dynamic site that is easily molded to the desires of individual visitors. By taking advantage of all that hypertext has to offer and using innovative site design, TWoP is a super-powered website that can equally serve hardcore television fans and casual viewers alike.
Works Cited
Nelson, Theodor H. "From Computer Lib / Dream Machines." The New Media Reader. Eds. Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003. 301-38.
Television Without Pity. 5 March 2007. .
Wikipedia: Television Without Pity. 5 March 2007. .