Welcome to Litsy!

“Even more than most television of that era, the show sounded like a throwaway. It had that silly title [Buffy the Vampire Slayer]. It was based on a campy movie, starred a soap opera actress…And if you tried to describe the plot, it screamed “guilty pleasure”…It looked like a good way to kill time before getting back to analyzing themes of the public woman in George Eliot‘s Daniel Deronda…I‘d never finish my doctorate.”

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

I‘ve owned this book, “I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution”, forever. Once I learned that it contained spoilers for shows I haven‘t gotten around to watching, I decided not to read it “yet.” I may never read it.

This morning, though, I remembered that it kicks-off with an essay about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And that? That I can read. A dozen times over. 🧛🏻‍♀️🧄⚰️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nussbaum, a Pulitzer Prize winning critic, takes us through the shift in entertainment media over the last 25 years. I haven‘t watched much tv in recent years, but I was spastically dedicated to some of the ones mentioned: Sopranos, SATC, Nip/Tuck. My favorite essays discussed the white male antihero phenomenon, cultural biases, product integration, and the satirical nature of mockumentary-style shows. Oh, and Ryan Murphy!

🎧🧩🥃 Enjoying the last moments of the holiday weekend. Happy Labor Day, US Littens! 🇺🇸

#audiopuzzling #galisonpuzzles #booksandbooze

I passed on this book several times but I‘m glad I got around to it. While I‘m not a big watcher of current scripted television, Emily makes wish I were. She writes beautifully about past favs like SATC and 30 Rock. She mixes reviews with longer pieces profiling people like Ryan Murphy (AHS, Glee, etc.) and Kenya Barris (Blackish). My favorite piece was written just for this book about whether we throw the art out when the artist fails e.g. Cosby.

Just in!! Didn‘t quite finish my last book so I went back on the waitlist. Seven day limit is still difficult for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Emily Nussbaum is clearly the bomb because she kept me riveted while listening to this #audiobook about tv shows I have never watched. As she dissected some of them I found myself thinking “I would like to read that show as a novel.” Her insights on popular culture are thought-provoking & well-argued. My favourite piece is a long one in light of #MeToo on the question of whether art can or should be separated from a bad creator.

Of the tv shows Nussbaum writes about in this collection, many I had never even heard of. Out of the three that I‘ve seen at least one episode, All in the Family was the only one I was fully familiar with. Nausbaum describes All in the Family‘s audience as split between those who enjoyed it as satire & (the larger part) those who felt Archie Bunker validated their own prejudices. Her analysis helped me see why I felt queasy watching it.

I loved this book of essays, profiles, and criticism. Some of the reviews I had read already in the New Yorker, but the centerpiece essay reckoning with #MeToo and loving art by problematic men really resonated. Also I trust Emily completely because I know how much she loves Buffy, so I really just found myself agreeing with her a lot and also adding more things to my watch list.

I don‘t watch tv anymore, but used to watch a lot of it, including Buffy, Nussbaum‘s inspiration for becoming a tv critic. Here she‘s collected some of her pieces from over the years. I enjoyed the listen and appreciate her thoughtful approach to these shows, which becomes societal commentary.

I originally was not planning to read this book because I stopped watching tv a few years ago, but then I heard the author on a podcast. She was funny and I wanted to hear more from her. Most importantly, she talked about how her tv reviewing career started because of one of the best shows of all time, Buffy. I‘ve had some heavy reads recently, so I‘ve started this one to lighten things and am enjoying it so far.

Smart analysis of some of my favourite shows and some I am now going to check out.

I always say I don‘t watch much TV, but am realizing that‘s not really true. I was surprised to find I‘d watched more than half of the shows Nussbaum writes about in this collection. I‘ve been following her on twitter for a while but somehow never read her articles and this was truly enjoyable listening - her critical writing is just so expansive and on point. It made me excited about all that‘s out there to watch.

Gotta love a book that starts out with a Buffy reference. Like the show, “I Like to Watch” by Emily Nussbaum is deeper than it first appears.

Interesting enough, but while it was well done, I‘ll admit to a) not watching a lot of the shows she talks about, b) not caring about a lot of the shows she talked about, and c) not changing my mind about the shows or people she discusses after reading the book. That said, for people who are bigger tv fans than me, this would be a good pick. Thoughtful, passionate, and well written, it just wasn‘t for me.

It‘s been a busy August and this is the first book I‘ve finished all month 😩
Thankfully, it was a good one!

I love books - I grew up reading, always! Mr K grew up on TV and is equally passionate about it!

I‘m slowly finding more enjoyment on the small screen and look forward to ‘arguing‘ with Emily 🤣

#bookmail

I love TV, and because I like loving TV, I‘m sometimes tired of TV criticism. But I don‘t tire of Emily Nussbaum. I mostly know her from her smart and entertaining tweets, so these pieces were new to me, and I enjoyed every one. Her critiques are well-grounded in cultural context and never feel nitpicky. And her love of TV, and her firm belief that it should be respected as an artistic medium, always shine through.

I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum from is the best book I've read this summer. As the work-from-home, freelancer, hermit, stay-at-home dog mom, I mean, writer I am, I watch a lot more TV than I own up to. I have a lot of opinions, and I'm yet to find one of Nussbaum's I disagree with. Here's my review; you should read it, then read the book.

https://onthebl.org/2019/08/01/i-like-to-watch

I really admire Emily Nussbaum and thought this was a great collection of her thoughts on specific television shows (some that I love, some I‘ll never watch, some I will start immediately) and the medium as a whole.

Emily Nussbaum's upcoming collected essays about tv shows are fascinating, smart, and entertaining. I've been binging The Sopranos again after reading her great commentary about the finale and show overall. She is the tv critic for the New Yorker so this book contains cultural criticism, profiles of tv makers, commentary and more. The book will be released in June!
4.5 🌟 from me.
#arc #netgalley #essays #nonfiction #television #tv #newyorker

I Like to Watch is a culmination of 20+ years of revelatory television writing from Emily Nussbaum. The essays elevate the shows I‘ve watched and love to greater heights. It makes me feel like an idiot for having missed others. Even when panning shows a love, I came away with a richer view of the show. Beautiful ruminations on why we watch and why television is enriching art and not the brain draining waste some dullards try and make it out to be.