Tripod: Media: Web Filter

<body bgcolor="#996699" text="#000000" link="#FFFFFF" alink="#996699" vlink="#CC99CC"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="TOP" align="CENTER" width="178">  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="170"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/logo-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/logo.gif" alt="Tripod Map" border="0" height="58" width="170" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/universal-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/universal.gif" alt="Member Services Map" width="170" height="45" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/zones-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/zones.gif" alt="Zone Map" width="170" height="69" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/pods-map.html"><img src="../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/pods.gif" alt="Pod Map" width="170" height="18" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="TOP" width="170" bgcolor="#999966"> <form name="pod_list"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value);"> <option value="">What's Your Interest?</option> <option value="Activism">Activism</option> <option value="Alt.Music">Alternative Music</option> <option value="Crafty">Arts & Crafts</option> <option value="Beer%20Lovers">Beer</option> <option value="BookTalk">Books/Reading</option> <option value="Carburetor%20Junction">Cars</option> <option value="Christian%20Fellowship">Christianity</option> <option value="TechBits">Computers</option> <option value="Cooking%20Capers">Cooking</option> <option value="Stone%20Circle">Earth Religions</option> <option value="Extreme%20Sports">Extreme Sports</option> <option value="Mod">Fashion & Style</option> <option value="Freebies">Freebies</option> <option value="Gamesta'">Games</option> <option value="Holiday">Holidays</option> <option value="Alternative%20Health">Holistic Medicine</option> <option value="Funny%20Bone">Humor</option> <option value="Mac%20Computing">Macintosh Computers</option> <option value="Film%20Buffs">Movies</option> <option value="Musicology">Music (general)</option> <option value="Critters">Pets</option> <option value="Photography">Photography</option> <option value="Science%20Fiction">Science Fiction</option> <option value="Spirituality">Spirituality</option> <option value="Sports%20Fans">Sports (general)</option> <option value="TV%20Lounge">Television</option> <option value="Second-Hand">Thrift</option> <option value="Travel">Travel</option> <option value="PageSlave">Web Design</option> <option value="X-Squared">Women's Issues</option> <option value="Smallbiz">Work Issues</option> <option value="Writers'%20Block">Writing</option> <option value="Zine">Zines</option> </select> </form> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td valign="TOP"><base target="_top"> <form name="navbar"> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="RIGHT"> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/index-html/anchor_toc.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="TOP" align="RIGHT"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value)"> <option value="">Related Pods</option> <option value="Alt.music">Alt.Music</option> <option value="BookTalk">BookTalk</option> <option value="Film%20Buffs">Film Buffs</option> <option value="Photography">Photography</option> <option value="Musicology">Musicology</option> <option value="Science%20Fiction">Science Fiction</option> <option value="TV%20Lounge">TV Lounge</option> <option value="Writers'%20Block">Writers' Block</option> <option value="Zine">Zine</option> </select></td> </tr> </table> </form> <br clear="ALL"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="0" align="CENTER" valign="TOP"> <tr> <td align="center"> </td> <td> <font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="+2"><b>Where Have You Gone, Must-See TV?</b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#996699" colspan="2" valign="TOP"> </td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td bgcolor="#996699"> <table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1"> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC99CC"> <font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="-2"> <b>by MICHAEL AGGER</b></a> </font> </td> </tr>  <tr> <td valign="BOTTOM" colspan="2" bgcolor="#993399"> <font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="-2"> <b>CHECK THESE OUT</b> </font> </td> <tr> </tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#993399"> <p> <font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="-2"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/columns/tuckett/971201realworld.html"><b>Avoiding the Real World:</b></a> Why I said no to MTV. </font> <p> <font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="-2"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/webfilter/970819tv_ads.html"><b>Web Filter:</b></a> TV is good  good and addictive! </font> <p><font face="helvetica, verdana, arial" size="-2"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/webfilter/971020mcbeal.html"><b>Web Filter:</b></a> Three cheers for Ally McBeal! </font> </td> </tr>  </table> </td> <td bgcolor="#996699" colspan="2"> <font size="-1" face="helvetica, verdana, arial"> <b>I don't like to talk when getting a haircut, but my barber will not leave me in peace.</b> After we exhaust our discussion of the weather, the subway, and the fishing off of the Rockaways, I usually play my trump card: "Did you see 'Seinfeld' last night?" This sets off a paroxysm of pleasure: "Oh yes, it was wonderful, that Kramer is so funny, did you see his face when he came in the apartment and Jerry was..." And so on. He loves "Seinfeld." So do a lot of other folks. I hear people recounting episodes in restaurants, in the office, and on the street. <p> In New York, I work around the corner from the Rockefeller Center, where the "Today" show has its street-level studio. Just to the right of the studio are two large color portraits of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. Occasionally, I will find flowers and notes left at the base of the images, like handwritten prayers left by the faithful at religious shrines. Standing on 49th Street, I will see tourists walking along, looking distractedly at the buildings. Suddenly, they catch a glimpse of the studio and their eyes go wide as they rush over for a closer look. I remember one man telling his son: "This is where the television happens... they sit in those chairs right there!" The boy responded by licking the glass with his tongue. <p> Lately, I've become nostalgic when I witness moments like these, because I wonder if prime-time television will lose its cultural potency the way the network news broadcast did. Television is our most ubiquitous media. It is in most every American home, and when we watch a show we know that millions are watching along with us. Some shows, like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "E.R.," or "The Simpsons" become part of the cultural lexicon, required viewing for certain subcultures and office cliques. But if Web and television integration becomes everything it's planned to be, we will soon order up our television shows on demand. People will choose what they want to watch and when they want to view it. We will no longer be beholden to TV Guide. <p> While the communal nature of television viewing will not die out completely, it's clear that American culture will continue to fractionate into smaller and smaller devoted subgroups. I can imagine a future where there will be a longing amongst people of a certain age for the <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/webfilter/970909noll_TV.html" target="new">"dumb"</a> technology of TV. They way it required you to be somewhere at a certain time. The way you endured commercials. The way you just sat there and did not have to make any decisions. Only in their absence do we recognize the virtue of the most banal things. <p><hr><p> <b>Michael Agger</b> recently made eye contact with Neve Campbell at a crowded New York bar. E-mail him at <a href="mailto:Michael_Agger@prenhall.com">Michael_Agger@prenhall.com</a>. </font> </td> </tr> </table><br><br> <form name="navbar"> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" align="RIGHT"> <tr> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="MIDDLE" align="MIDDLE"> <a href="../../../www_subdomain/media/index-html/anchor_toc.html" target="_top"></a></td> <td valign="TOP" align="RIGHT"> <select name="pod_name" onchange="self.top.podRedirect(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value)"> <option value="">Related Pods</option> <option value="Alt.music">Alt.Music</option> <option value="BookTalk">BookTalk</option> <option value="Film%20Buffs">Film Buffs</option> <option value="Photography">Photography</option> <option value="Musicology">Musicology</option> <option value="Science%20Fiction">Science Fiction</option> <option value="TV%20Lounge">TV Lounge</option> <option value="Writers'%20Block">Writers' Block</option> <option value="Zine">Zine</option> </select></td> </tr> </table> </form> <br clear="ALL"> </td> </tr> </table> </body>