Kim Akass

More than ever this year I find myself coming up against Facebook
memories.  You know, the ones that pop up and remind you of how many
years ago it was since something nice happened, like meeting up with
people in crowded places pre-Coronavirus, memories of family, friends
and moments passed, gatherings that now seem impossible: sweaty pubs,
dinner parties, concerts, crowded classrooms, in person meetings, nights
out with colleagues and, of course, theatres and cinemas.

If going to the cinema and sitting in crowded rooms seems a lifetime
away, watching television is something that has become increasingly
familiar.  Pandemic bingeing is the new box-set bonanza and, for many, a
lifeline to the outside world.  Never has  television viewing meant so
much to so many and yet, ironically, 3 months into the pandemic and
television drama production [could be under
threat](https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-06-23/tv-filming-coronavirus-restart-how-when/) while
the BBC has begun [a series of swinging cuts to regional
staff](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jul/02/local-tv-stars-to-go-as-bbc-cuts-450-staff-from-regional-programmes) as
well as [possibly axing
BBC4](https://cstonline.net/everybody-needs-a-place-to-think-or-do-they-the-end-of-bbc-four-arts-programming-and-precarity-by-leanne-weston/).

These news stories fill me with horror as my life and memories are
punctuated by compulsive television viewing.  Like many, I use TV to
distract from real life as well as to enrich it.  I only need to read
about a television programme and the feelings and emotions associated
with it are instantly aroused.  For example, any number of Andrew
Pixley's blogs about television (too many to link here -- just put his
name in the search bar above) will prompt a rush of memories and an
email flurry between us as I bore him rigid with memories of [*The
Clangers*](https://cstonline.net/the-game-of-the-name-by-andrew-pixley/)
and watching TV with my dad, how his blogs [are going to be used in my
American TV history
classes](https://cstonline.net/what-have-itc-ever-done-for-the-us-by-andrew-pixley/)
and just why [this particular blog made me
cry](https://cstonline.net/village-people-by-andrew-pixley/).

John Ellis's blog about [Broadcast TV in a
Crisis](https://cstonline.net/what-do-we-need-in-a-crisis-broadcast-tv-by-john-ellis/) had
me weeping (I must admit to crying at the drop of a hat at the moment)
as it reminded me of the British TV that I still so badly miss.  It also
made me think of the way watching television during the pandemic has
united and sometimes divided families (see John Ritchie's blogs
[here](https://cstonline.net/what-are-we-watching-by-john-ritchie/),
[here](https://cstonline.net/blurring-by-john-ritchie/) and
[here](https://cstonline.net/prime-mover-by-john-ritchie/)).

In fact, one of the very few good things about this lockdown -- in
addition to the planetary pollution pause -- is the sheer amount of
really good television we have been watching and, at CSTonline, the
variety of excellent blogs we have received.  Take Elke Weismann's
[wonderful
contribution](https://cstonline.net/returning-the-public-bbc-television-in-lockdown-by-elke-weissmann/)
that introduced me to *The Room Next Door*, Matt Hancock's Daily
Briefing and all things Dominic Cummings:

And not to mention the programme's take on Trump's Disinfectant Claims
which actually made me cry with laughter (yep, crying again):

  
It takes a lot to make me laugh about politics at the moment, but *The
Room Next Door* totally does it for me.

In addition, Elke's post made me think about the way TV functions in our
lives (both now and in the past), as she comments on how pandemic TV is
a great leveler: reducing hierarchies 'that structure contemporary life'
as 'we start to relate to ... celebrities as fellow pandemic
lockdowners'.  A subject that [Liz Guiffre's recent
blog](https://cstonline.net/comedy-television-equals-tragedy-plus-time-are-we-there-yet-by-liz-giuffre/)
also taps into when she talks about *Staged*.

In fact, looking back over the vast amounts of blogs we have received
over the past few months I realize that not only are we lucky to have
had so many people writing for us, but that the contributions have come
from across the world.  Without Liz writing about Australian TV I would
never have even known about *At Home Alone Together,* let alone how to
meet a younger man post 60:

I owe you one, Liz.

Without the blog series coming out of the [Reaching Young
Audiences](https://comm.ku.dk/research/film-science-and-creative-media-industries/rya/)
project, I would have no awareness of the Danish web series,
[*Centrum*](https://cstonline.net/covid-19-from-a-teenage-web-series-perspective/),
or the [popularity of singing series with the Danish viewing
public](https://cstonline.net/family-binge-watching-in-times-of-corona/). 
I'm also pretty convinced that I would have had no idea of how [*The
Goodies* had been repeated umpteen times on Australia's Broadcasting
Corporation](https://cstonline.net/goodies-down-under-by-marcus-harmes/). 
And, maybe, just maybe, if Victoria McCollum had not written her blog
about [why we should be watching *Parks and Recreation* during the
pandemic](https://cstonline.net/why-you-should-be-watching-parks-and-recreation-during-the-pandemic-by-victoria-mccollum/)
Michael Schur would not have written a [pandemic special of the very
same
show](https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/parks-and-recreation-reunion-coronavirus-episode.html). 
Well, maybe he would. Still, the synchronicity of that blog amazed me.

In the past few months, CST bloggers have brought us astonishing
insights into international television, how TV has been traded globally
both
[past](https://cstonline.net/what-have-itc-ever-done-for-the-us-by-andrew-pixley/)
and present, [what the television archive means for
us](https://cstonline.net/what-do-we-make-of-the-television-archive-by-helen-wheatley/)
(which may take on a whole new meaning post-pandemic), [what it means to
succumb to Netflix in
Mexico](https://cstonline.net/succumbing-to-netflix-in-mexico-by-toby-miller/)
and how [that same streaming service encourages families to watch
TV](https://cstonline.net/family-watch-together-tv-netflix-and-the-dark-intergenerational-fantasy-by-djoymi-baker-jessica-balanzategui-and-diana-sandars/)
together.  We have also been given insights into [Scandinavian Slow TV
for
children](https://cstonline.net/scandinavian-slow-tv-is-moving-strongly-into-the-2020s-and-is-now-also-for-children/)
and how programmes about death take on a new meaning when watched during
a pandemic
([here](https://cstonline.net/why-the-fk-not-you-montaigne-six-feet-under-and-life-in-the-face-of-inevitable-death-by-christopher-nunn/)
and
[here](https://cstonline.net/reliving-your-master-day-montaigne-nietzsche-and-russian-doll-by-chris-nunn/)).

[And I haven't even mentioned *Tiger King*
yet](https://cstonline.net/circus-a-la-king-by-andrew-j-salvati/).

Suffice to say, there isn't much that we haven't covered on this website
since the Coronavirus pandemic locked us down into our isolated
television viewing madness.

Over the years I have been so proud to read every single blog that has
appeared on this website -- the variety of approaches, the amount of
different voices and the sheer hard work that has gone into these
contributions week in week out takes my breath away.

As this is the last day for CSTonline until we kick off again on 4
September, I wanted to take a moment to pause (much like nature has over
the past few months) and say a big thank you to everyone for continuing
to write for us.  You do this freely (and for free) and I don't think I
have ever expressed the gratitude I feel for your continued support.

So, excuse the cheesiness but, ...

While I'm at it I'd like to especially thank contributors that have been
there since the very beginning of CSTonline. Jonathan Bignell, for
example, whose blog on [the first
Bond](https://cstonline.net/the-first-screen-bond-casino-royale-on-tv-in-1954-by-jonathan-bignell/)
beautifully chimed in with my teaching last semester; Toby Miller whose
[blog this
week](https://cstonline.net/football-television-race-and-ownership-by-toby-miller/)
is, as usual, timely and pertinent and John Ellis, who appeared on the
CSTonline re-launch in February 2011 writing [from
Philadelphia](https://cstonline.net/letter-from-america-by-john-ellis-3/)
-- a mere 20 minute drive from where I live now.  What goes around comes
around and I am reminded that CSTonline has been in its present form for
nearly 10 years with amazing support from a variety of people. 
 [Douglas L
Howard](https://cstonline.net/you-cant-go-home-again-some-long-overdue-thoughts-on-deadwood-the-movie-by-douglas-l-howard/)
and [Gary R
Edgerton](https://cstonline.net/hollywood-apolcalypse-by-gary-r-edgerton/)
are among those that I haven't mentioned yet but have been with us since
the start. As has Richard Hewett whose last blog on being [locked down
in Muswell
Hill](https://cstonline.net/locked-down-in-muswell-hill-by-richard-hewett/),
you guessed it, had me blubbing with homesickness, again.

Talking of old familiars, ECREA continues to supply the site with
regular international blogs such as these from [Berber
Hagedoorn](https://cstonline.net/the-power-of-my-own-platform-nikkietutorials-and-television-talk-in-the-age-of-platform-culture-by-berber-hagedoorn/),
[Manuel José
Damásio](https://cstonline.net/covid-19-the-end-of-the-audiovisual-sector-by-manuel-jose-damasio/)
and [Sarah
Arnold](https://cstonline.net/reflections-on-media-education-during-the-covid-19-lockdowns-by-sarah-arnold/). 
 Without the editing skills of Elke Weissmann and David L Palatinus, my
job here would be so much harder.  And, on that note, a HUGE SHOUT OUT
to Tobias Steiner for supporting me over the past few years, making sure
the website runs smoothly and giving me regular sage advice beyond just
the technical know-how.

There really isn't enough room to thank everyone.  I haven't even
mentioned the editorial board of *Critical Studies in Television* and
especially my collaborator and partner in crime, Janet McCabe, who
continues to helm the journal brilliantly as well as Christine Geraghty
who, along with Richard Hewett, deals with the book reviews.   In fact,
let it be known that if you aren't mentioned here, it isn't that I don't
appreciate you and that your contributions are not valued.

While I'm on the subject of *Critical Studies in Television*, I'd like
to take another moment of your time to mention that we are going to
publish a series of short essays or 'Provocations' about TV studies in
the age of COVID-19 in the Winter 2020 edition.  We couldn't let this
historic moment pass without marking it in some way.  Not only have we
contended with the pandemic, but we've had \#BlackLivesMatter and the
appalling events that led up to the recent protests across the globe. 
What a year it has been.  We would therefore like to invite you to send
a provocation into the journal for consideration.  Some themes we'd like
to address (but, of course, this is not exhaustive) are:

- What role do you think television scholarship can (and should) play at
  this particular cultural moment?
- How have different national TV territories responded to this current
  moment, and how might those responses make us think differently and/or
  with fresh eyes?
- How has TV studies responded, what have we learnt and how should those
  lessons translate into our work?
- How do the images that have been beamed around the world impact on the
  way we watch and/or thinking about TV?
- How are we to de-colonize and de-center TV studies and the curriculum?

Finished articles of around 1-3,000 words should be submitted by the end
of August to our submission site.  [Details
Here](https://cstonline.net/submission-guidelines/).

And, before I sign off, I wanted to go back to a problem that has
plagued me since arriving in America last September.  I was relieved to
read that, according to Cathy Johnson at least, I am not alone. For even
if [TV viewing has surged during lockdown -- it has become too technical
for
some](https://cstonline.net/tv-viewing-has-surged-during-lockdown-but-has-become-too-technical-for-some-new-research-by-catherine-johnson/).
On that final note I want to reassure everyone that I have, at last,
learned how to turn the TV off. [\[1\]](#_edn1){#_ednref1}

Until September, keep safe and have a good summer.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Kim Akass** is Professor of Radio, Television and Film at Rowan
University. She is co-founding editor of *Critical Studies in
Television: The International Journal of Television Studies*, co-series
editor of 'The Reading Contemporary TV' series for I.B. Tauris (now
Bloomsbury Academic) and is managing editor of CSTonline. She is still
working on her monograph: *From Here to Maternity: Representations of
Motherhood in the Media* and is stranded in the USA because of Trump's
travel ban.

 

 

#### Footnotes

[\[1\]](#_ednref1){#_edn1} Literally in the last week.  I'll say it
again, technology is not my friend.


More than ever this year I find myself coming up against Facebook memories.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS (OR, HOW TV KEPT ME SANE DURING A PANDEMIC)