I bet YOU don’t like Moby Dick.

Yes, yes I did. I’m talkin’ cover-of-TV-Guide America. You’re over here in my snobby cultured sidestream :p

Oh, you said America? Guess I am, then. ;)

You can’t generalize like that. I loathe Moby Dick. Even though I love Austen, Hawthorne, and Dickens. There are well-written shows, and poorly written shows. Some well-written shows end up being shown on network TV. Chances are, a few will. The rest of the well-written, intelligent, groundbreaking shows are on HBO.

Well, yeah. You don’t like The Whale. So does mainstream America, but that bare fact doesn’t render you mainstream. It does not place you inside the mainstream Venn diagram to irrationally despise one of the finest works of American literature; it simply means you cannot use that particular work as an emblem of your nonmainstreamitude. You must rely on your other snobby tastes (such as those you’ve noted) to differentiate you.

I will note, however, that it’s not merely BEING on network TV, but being a network TV darling which is at issue. Fox is pretty much network TV, and they regularly air fantabulous shows which they then kill off. AS WELL YOU KNOW. Lost, on the other hand, enjoys much adulation and viewership all around, much as Alias did when it was new.

Yes, but I don’t understand the geekish tendency to dislike things (or be ashamed of liking things) purely on the basis of others’ positive assessment of them. Does it matter what anyone else thinks? My friend Christiansen in college would never admit that the Dave Matthews Band had merit, and his sole objection was that everyone else liked them. Never understood that.

Well, yes. There’s nothing to be proud of in slavish conformance to non-conformancy.

I was poking fun at the tendency in myself, which I agree is silly and often downright pompous.