TV Is Here Again

Kind-of-sort-of-almost-Fall

Let's just own up to one thing. I really like television.

Books or films with ambiguous endings are the bees-knees to my little brain. Likewise for serialized storytelling in any form. And because both techniques allow for a more engaged audience (at least in my experience), those are the types of stories that really grab me by the Dungarees. Having stories expand within the confines of my own head is a favorite past-time of mine, most likely because I tend to favor art and storytelling as a subjective experience -- my experience, dammit! -- rather than as an objective author-to-audience broadcast with no room for feedback or multiple interpretations. Bor-ing.

What I mean by all that lit-crit-babble is that the stories I like best are ones that keep going, whether in my mind or on the screen/page. So while I enjoy films and books with concrete endings, I enjoy serials, if done right, even more. Sure, The Great Gatsby is a fantastic novel, but I've found more enjoyment in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien that I have in the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Maybe that's not a fair comparison, but it's true for me, nonetheless.

Following that (il)logic, maybe that's why I'm eagerly looking forward to new seasons of Lost and Veronica Mars, as well as a host of new shows following this kind of serialized storytelling technique. For the longest time, TV was so boring to me, what with the cut-and-dry CSI and Law & Order franchises dominating the airwaves. But now I'm actually excited about television again, which in my book is a pretty good thing.

Granted, all stories must have an end. But sometimes it's just nicer if that end lies five or six years down the road.