The End of an Era

Back in 2007, my favorite website, Television Without Pity, was bought by Bravo. Since that time, the creators, as well as many of the original recappers, have left. With the departure of Miss Alli on March 20, it's the end of an era, as well as the end of my interest in the new content on the site.

The site's been around for a decade, first as Dawson's Wrap, then as Mighty Big TV, and finally as Television Without Pity. I found the site seven years ago, quite by accident. I was searching for recaps of Queer As Folk episodes that I couldn't download off the internet, and came upon the site. I didn't watch a lot of TV at that time, and so the only other thing that interested me on the site was the recaps of Dawson's Creek. I read through them rapidly, and fell completely in love with the site.

Since that very moment (which I remember vividly), it's been a fixture in my daily life. It's one of the first sites I visit in the morning, and I always have an old recap up in my browser (I'm into season 3 of the Apprentice right now, some of Miss Alli's finest work, and I'm about to start into The Amazing Race, recapped by Miss Alli from it's first season up until this past season). It's where I go when I need a laugh, and when I want to find out more about an episode of a show I just saw. I've met some of my best friends through the site; I was just invited to the wedding of one of them.

It was kind of an underground thing for awhile. You had to be very interested in TV, and relatively internet savvy -- they didn't advertise on other sites; you had to want to find something like it, or come across it by accident while searching or reading something else. By 2006, when you mentioned it in conversation, it was likely that at least one person would know what you were talking about. And that was mostly from word of mouth. Even with more people loving the site, you felt like you'd discovered something subversive. You were current, you knew what was going on, and you obviously had a killer sense of humor.

The best thing about the site at that time (and before) was that it was created and owned by people who loved TV. Sara, Tara, and Dave were (and are) smart, witty, and talented. It was them, and the writers they hired (Pamie, Stee, Miss Alli, Shack, LTG, Regina/Erin) that rose the profile of the site due to the high quality of their writing. The site wasn't fancy, it didn't have a lot of diverse content (like blogs, videos, games), but what it did have was smart, biting commentary on the current state of TV. It didn't pull its punches, and even the superfan recappers were able to make fun of the shows they loved.

When Bravo acquired the site, it underwent a massive redesign, an expansion in content, and an expansion in staff. It also lost much of what made it such a gem. The new content (weecaps, sitcom recaps, videos, blogs, games) made the site kind of schizophrenic -- it couldn't decide what it was about anymore. The best known recappers seemed stretched thin, and the new recappers, who were often inserted into shows replacing other recappers with no warning or introduction, didn't have the same sense of humor or wit as the site was used to. I couldn't stand the sitcom recaps, I never bothered to look at the videos, and I stopped reading most of the new stuff, save for the recaps of the Amazing Race, Project Runway, and American Idol.

The news that the founders and some of the best recappers were leaving was extremely sad news, if not completely unexpected. It became obvious with the arrival of new recappers that didn't live up to previous standards, and the new content that didn't seem related to anything, that the founders didn't have creative control of their baby anymore. While I had wished that they hadn't sold the site, I never wished for them to leave it. It's not TWoP without them, it's a sad shell of its former, glorious self.

The demise of the original TWoP leaves a hole that won't be filled soon, if at all. While I'll still visit the site to read recaps from the glory days, and to read what Jacob is writing about American Idol, I can't in good conscience continue to really be a fan. I'm saying goodbye to a big part of my life. It's the end of an era, and it was good while it lasted.

In conclusion, NBC Universal and Bravo can fuck me. Thank you for ruining something that was perfectly amazing before you stepped in with your "ideas" and your "meddling hands covered in shit." Bite me.