You hear a lot about how Television rots the mind. How if you watch hours and hours of it you will actually get dumber. (Dumber? More Dumb? I don't know, I watch too much TV) And that is bullshit. Sure. there are tons of dumb reality shows, but even they have their place in the well-balanced pop culture diet. When it comes to detailed, intelligent, thoughtful story telling, television is the best medium. You have time to slowly develop characters and story lines. Characters change incrementally, the way they do in reality. Story lines can develop over seasons, and for those that forgo hand holding, something from season 1 can pop up late in season 2.
And I don't think this is limited to dramas. One of my favorite current shows is "How I Met Your Mother". They've taken the time for the characters to mature and i really care about them as if they were friends of mine. The show's not perfect by any means, but when a comedy does a decidedly unfunny episode and I am moved to tears and not pissed that I didn't laugh they are doing something right. Many, many shows cover that weird time when you're growing into adulthood, and now that I am about to be the same age the protagonist was in the first season I see myself more and more in the show. I think about how I would have done things differently, or in some cases, done the exact same thing. And how does that detract from my intelligence? A good television show is like a good novel, it takes you to a different place, acquaints you with some interesting characters and makes you think. It may be something as simple as, well, she shouldn't have dumped him for that, but its still thought provoking. And I believe that is the purpose of art. To get you thinking.
