Television Without Pity

URL	http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Online collection of television series recaps and related discussion forums
Registration	Optional
Owner	NBC Universal
Created by	David T. Cole, Tara Ariano, Sarah D. Bunting, various contributors

Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) is a website that provides detailed recaps of certain television dramas and reality TV shows, often by mocking them. There are also forums in which members can discuss myriad television related topics. The site was recently acquired by the Bravo unit of NBC Universal.^[1][2] The site began by recapping the television show Dawson's Creek and was originally called Dawson's Wrap; later it broadened its scope and changed names to Mighty Big TV before settling on the current moniker. The site is notable for its wide usage of the word "snark" to describe its typical style of sarcastic review. Their official motto is "Spare the snark, spoil the networks," a takeoff on "spare the rod, spoil the child." Image File history File links TWoP_HomePage. ... Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a technical, Web-related term used in two distinct meanings: in popular usage, it is a widespread synonym for Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) — many popular and technical texts will use the term URL when referring to URI; strictly, the idea of a uniform syntax for... NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electrics NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of Vivendi Universal. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, images, videos and other digital assets and hosted on a particular domain or subdomain on the World Wide Web. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the U.S. cable network. ... NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electrics NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of Vivendi Universal. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dawsons Creek Dawsons Creek was an American primetime television drama, which first aired from January 20, 1998, to May 14, 2003, on The WB network. ...

The site's mascot is Tubeelzebub (a portmanteau of tube and Beelzebub - "Tubey" for short), a demonic television set replete with horns and a pointed tail. Questions can be asked of Tubey and are sometimes answered in the Ask Tubey section of the site. Look up portmanteau word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Television (disambiguation). ... Beelzebub as depicted in Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris, 1863). ...

The recaps and forums have their own jargon, detailed in the site's FAQ ([1]. Recappers also commonly coin nicknames for show characters, based on inside jokes or an actor's previous work.

Famous visitors

Some actors and producers have been known to visit the website. The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin posted in the forums, and his experience is believed to have inspired the episode "The U.S. Poet Laureate". In this episode, a character posts on his fansite and is vehemently attacked by members of the forum for his beliefs and his violation of the forum rules [2]. In contrast, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has more fully embraced the TWoP message board community, with a discussion thread in his show's forum [3] open to directly communicate with viewers. In addition, on a recent episode of My Name Is Earl, a character using the screen name WhoJackie was shown typing a post on the site's forums. As it turns out, a user by that same name had written the same post several days before the episode first aired. [4] The West Wing is a popular and widely acclaimed American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin and produced and co-written by John Wells. ... Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born on June 9, 1961 in New York City) is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright. ... The U.S. Poet Laureate is episode 60 of The West Wing. ... Veronica Mars TV series. ... Rob Thomas (born August 15, 1965 in Sunnyside, Washington) is an author and screenwriter, best known for his book Rats Saw God and his television program Veronica Mars. ... My Name Is Earl is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom created by Greg Garcia. ...

For the past few years, posters at the site have organized "TARCon" in New York City which is a viewing party for the season finale of the Amazing Race. The party has been attended by many of the show's contestants from current and past seasons. New York, NY redirects here. ... A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program. ... The Amazing Race is a reality game show broadcast in one-hour episodes in which teams of two race around the world in competition with other teams. ...

Show recaps

Recaps differ in styles: some of the recappers write shorter, more concise recaps while others write more comically, inserting references to their personal life, for example. Naturally, each style attracts different readers, with some preferring to use the site as information for episodes that they have missed, and others preferring the more humorous ones, which can be equally (or more) enjoyable to those who also watched the episode.

Shows cancelled by the network (or deemed to be unpopular with the readers of TWoP) are considered to be in permanent hiatus, a status which is rarely reversed. Big Brother is one such exception, having been included as of June 2006 among active shows for the first time since its third season. Readers are encouraged to chat in their forums about current and past shows. As of now, the 2005 remake of Night Stalker holds the record for the shortest run on TWoP having been PH'd after only one recap, although the 2005 series Sex, Love & Secrets was expunged before even one recap, due to incredibly low viewer response in the forums. The shows covered are almost exclusively American, with the exceptions of the new series of Doctor Who, which is a British import to US television, and the original UK version of Queer as Folk, which was a British import to Canadian television. (Both are Russell T. Davies productions.) Permanent Hiatus (often abbreviated PH) comes from the television recap site Television Without Pity. ... // Big Brother is a reality show in which a number of strangers live in an isolated house and compete to win a cash prize. ... Darren McGavin as Kolchak in The Night Stalker (1972) Kolchak: The Night Stalker is a television series that aired on ABC in 1974, about a newpaper reporter -- Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin -- who investigates crimes with mysterious and unlikely causes that the proper authorities wont accept. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sex, Love, & Secrets was a television series on the UPN network. ... The Doctor Who diamond logo, used in the shows opening titles from 1973 to 1980 Doctor Who is a British television science-fiction series, produced and screened by the British Broadcasting Corporation on their BBC One channel from 1963 to 1989 in its original form, with a new series... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme (and 1996 television movie) produced by the BBC about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs. ... Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men let loose in Manchesters gay village around Canal Street. ... Russell T Davies, interviewed for the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential in 2005. ...

Staff

• Sars (Sarah D. Bunting), Wing Chun (Tara Ariano), and Glark (David T. Cole) are the founders of the site, and also serve as "Heads of Programming" at TWoP.
• Glark was the first official member of the TWoP site and is mainly in charge of its organization and maintenance.

Recappers

TWoP's writers and the shows they currently review:

Jane Espenson is reportedly joining the site in 2007. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Farscape (1999 – 2003) is a science fiction television series, featuring a present-day astronaut who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. ... Veronica Mars TV series. ... Supernatural is an American paranormal drama television series that debuted on September 13, 2005 on the WB, and is now part of The CWs lineup, where the second season premiered on September 28, 2006. ... Friday Night Lights is an award winning American television serial drama adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book of the same name. ... Heroes is an American science fiction drama television series, created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. ... Desperate Housewives is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television series of the dramedy genre, created by Marc Cherry, that began airing on October 3, 2004 on ABC. It is the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with a worldwide audience of approximately 119 million viewers. ... AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO DEATH OF SIMON ... For other uses, see The Apprentice (disambiguation). ... Battlestar Galactica refers to a re-imagined science fiction universe debuting in 2003 and based on the 1970s Universal Studios movie and television franchise of the same name. ... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme (and 1996 television movie) produced by the BBC about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs. ... Farscape (1999 – 2003) is a science fiction television series, featuring a present-day astronaut who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. ... Project Runway is an American reality television series on the Bravo network that focuses on fashion design. ... AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO DEATH OF SIMON ... Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is a Golden Globe Award-nominated American NBC dramatic television series that takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show (also called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), whose format is similar to NBCs Saturday Night Live. ... Brothers & Sisters is an hour-long American TV drama series about a large mature family and the events that befall them. ... Top Chef is an American reality competition show airing on the Bravo cable television network in which chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges. ... Jericho is a serial drama produced by CBS Paramount Network Television, with executive producers Jon Turteltaub, Stephen Chbosky and Carol Barbee. ... This article is about the TV series. ... Greys Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American primetime television medical drama. ... Greys Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American primetime television medical drama. ... Lost is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning serial drama television series that follows the lives of a group of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, somewhere in the South Pacific. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Rock Star is a television series in which aspiring singers compete to become the lead singer of a featured group. ... Rome is a multiple Emmy Award-winning historical drama, produced in Italy for television by the BBC (UK), HBO (USA), and RAI (Italy). ... The Amazing Race is an American multiple Emmy Award-winning reality game show normally broadcast in one-hour episodes in which teams of two or four race around the world in competition with other teams. ... // Big Brother is a reality show in which a number of strangers live in an isolated house and compete to win a cash prize. ... Survivor is a popular reality television game show produced in many countries throughout the world. ... Top Design is a reality television series airing on the Bravo network which features 12 aspiring interior designers to get cash and receive a spot in New Yorks Designer showcases. ... Smallville is an American television series that follows the adventures of a young Clark Kent (Tom Welling), as a teenager living in Smallville, Kansas, during the years before he becomes Superman. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ugly Betty is a Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning American television dramedy series starring America Ferrera, Vanessa Williams, and Eric Mabius. ... House, also known as House M.D., is a critically-acclaimed American medical drama television series created by David Shore and executive produced by film director Bryan Singer. ... The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on FOX in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. ... Prison Break is an American television series that premiered on the Fox Network on August 29, 2005. ... Big Love is an HBO television drama about a polygamous family, starring Bill Paxton, Chloë Sevigny, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ginnifer Goodwin and Amanda Seyfried. ... Farscape (1999 – 2003) is a science fiction television series, featuring a present-day astronaut who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. ... Drive is an upcoming American television series executive produced by Tim Minear, Ben Queen, and Greg Yaitanes. ... Men in Trees is a romantic comedy-drama television series starring Anne Heche. ... This article is about the television series. ... Jane Espenson is an American writer who has worked on several television series and comic books, as well as on a variety of other projects. ...

Now or Never t-shirts and related merchandise

Every month, in conjunction with clothing vendor Glarkware, Television Without Pity prints a set of limited edition t-shirts with an obscure reference to one of the shows covered by their reviewers. The company also produces accessories relating to TWoP, including buttons and magnets (collectively referred to as thingees) as well as messenger bags. Though various series have been referenced in the Now or Never line, among the most frequently noted are Alias, with four related shirts and two thingee items; and Veronica Mars and The Simpsons, with three related shirts each. Multiple selections have also been produced relating to Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, and Lost. Reefer Madness was issued in a Special Addiction as a reference to the cult films ironic appeal. ... T-Shirt A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a shirt with short or long sleeves, a round neck, put on over the head, without pockets. ...

Criticism

The forums are known for their strict moderation and elaborate rules. As a result, the community has been criticized at times as cliquey, elitist, and self-congratulatory. Posters who do not adhere to the many rules and standards posted in the site's FAQ are given warnings and may eventually be banned from the site. TWoP explains that this policy is necessary to ensure decorum, but many banned members disagree with the claim. They believe application of the rules is inconsistent or selective, and causes discussions that tend to parrot the moderators' viewpoints out of fear that the poster will be banned. Also, it has been suggested that in certain sections of the boards, the rules stated come off as hypocritical (such as the rule against taking a condescending or rude tone with other members, which is delivered by certain mods with varying amounts of rudeness or condescension towards the members) or inconsistent and confusing (claiming a thread isn't about a sub-topic it may actually be about as a whole - such as stating that a topic is about a certain character or actor and not how the poster feels about them, or how much the poster likes or hates them or what the poster may think of other peoples' reactions to that person or character). According to some posters, the forums' increasingly firm moderation and TWoP's growing popularity in recent years have led to a decline in the quality of the site.^{[citation needed]}

Largely as a result of these disagreements, several anti-TWoP groups have been created. Posters at these sites can express their reasons for dislike of TWoP and share jokes about the site, whether their complaint be with the forums or the politics of the site as a whole.

The forums are not the sole target of these groups' criticism. The recaps have also come under fire by those who find them unnecessarily smug and vicious. While the very name of the site suggests a lack of pity toward the shows, the recaps are considered to be rude merely for the sake of rudeness. More damaging is the claim that the site's increased popularity has caused the recappers to write far less controversial recaps, with much of their snark far more safe, inoffensive, and conservative than in its early years.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Television Without Pity
• Suggested pronunciation of "TWoP"
• glarkware :: television without pity - vendor for the site's "Now or Never" limited edition t-shirts.
• TWoP Crit

References

1. ^ TWoP Announcement on Bravo acquisition
2. ^ Variety - Bravo nabs popular TV Web site