I was reading New York Magazine and they reviewed some book that speaks out against snark. They didn't have a very positive view of said book. I don't blame them; as might be assumed from my blog title, I have a very positive view of snark. That said, the review defended Television Without Pity's brand of snark, calling the viewers there exactly what TV executives want, passionate and opinionated.
Oh. Hell. No.
I used to LOVE Television Without Pity, back in like, the beginning of high school when everyone watched Survivor. They didn't cover many TV shows, but they did a great job of recapping and gently poking fun at the things that weren't so great about these TV shows. Over the years, they've gotten more expansive, with larger forums and more shows and recappers, and now Television Without Pity simply fucking sucks. Its motto is "spare the snark, spoil the networks," but it might as well be "spare the snark, leave the people who like to bitch about everything in the cold." No recapper seems to actually enjoy the show they watch; the chick that used to review Survivor from uh, Pearl Islands? on spewed hate on every single damn contestant, and the guy who did The Office in S2 treated it like it was fucking Masterpiece Theater. It's these people that piss me off when it comes to The Office; it's not The Serious Jim And Pam Talk About Their Issues Show, it's The Office. The most celebrated episode involves the boss grilling his foot, and one of the employees running into a pole and vomiting all over his car.
The forums are even worse, despite how respectable they may seem at first glance due to the good grammar and whatnot. The moderators have ridiculous rules and moderate with iron fists. Though some recappers on the site are still good, the forums do not understand the difference between "snark" and "being a humongous asshole for the sake of it." It's very rare that anything positive is said about anything. It's like if someone made a major forum about Anne Hathaway, and the only person who ever posted there was me.
So, to conclude. Snark = good; Television Without Pity = bad.
