I was too annoyed with Virginia Heffernan's recent piece on the way new online "franchising" opportunities for TV shows may or may not help make them a hit to take the time to write up a response to it. Luckily for me, Maura had more time to spare, so I point you to her.
Pull quote:
i think what heffernan’s argument really boils down to is the fact that, generally speaking, scripted shows that are adored by self-proclaimed tv connoiseurs–from your alessandra stanleys to your twop message-board denizens–don’t really do well on a mass level in general....but the online chatter, ancillary fantasy worlds, and general obsessing about those sorts of shows creates the illusion of greater popularity than there really may be
(Yes, she doesn't use proper capitalization. We've mentioned it to her, yes. We love her regardless.)
Read the whole thing here.