Customer Reviews

Gen X TV: The Brady Bunch to Melrose Place (Television)

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I loved the idea of this book. I love TV and Owen is an outstanding TV writer (for a good sample, read his column on-line). The book has some interesting ideas, but the book gets dull. It breaks no new ground and doesn't shed light on others. I liked the fact that it wasn't steeped in the usual "media criticism", but there is no depth to much of the book. I think Owen will write a great book on TV one day...he just isn't there yet.

What fun! Rob Owen's book took me back to days when the TV (especially Scooby-Doo) was my
babysitter. It's hard to believe that someone
could get paid to write something so fun.
Gen X TV is a must-read for anyone between the ages of 20 and 35!

I hoped this book would have more insight into the topic than just a collection of overviews of the particular series. That's been done before and better.

"Owen, a TV critic for the ALBANY TIMES UNION, takes a look at American youth between 22 and 32 years old
and the impact of TV on their collective attitude.
He deftly analyzes programs watched during the growing years
(THE BRADY BUNCH), landmark series (BEVERLY HILLS,
90210), SHOWS ABOUT GEN X ITSELF (FRIENDS), and, in
an intriguing but sobering look at cyberspace, the
impact of the Internet as a means of communicating
about cutting-edge favorites. . . . Some illuminating
food for thought here on contemporary culture.
Recommended."--LIBRARY JOURNAL

Like a bad monster film where you can see the monster's wires sticking out, "Gen X TV" is so bad it's good. Not only good, but downright hilarious. Let me explain...

As someone raised on TV (but cognizant of its bland way of repackaging whatever works for one show to fill up the rest of the schedule, and other crimes), I am always wary of attempts to document the "history" of any particular movement in television. What's more, so much on television (especially at the time this book was released) is unworthy of being discussed in such grandiose terms that you can't help but feel books like this miss the point. Television is so ephemeral that it seems almost foolhardy to try and document it.

Now for the fun part, and why you should rent this from the library (save your money, folks): the now-canceled or forgotten shows that the author profiles. Sure, "Living Single" might have been a decent show, but it doesn't merit an entire portion of the chapter. The embrace of "The Brady Bunch" by Gen X (which thankfully, due to Owen's chronology, I don't belong to) is proof positive that they deserve all the mockery you can hoist.

And a serious discussion of "Melrose Place"? Give me a break!

What's also funny (at least to those of us who never cared for a certain much-hyped sitcom about twenty-somethings in New York) is the way the author lauds certain shows like "Friends" and how they "impacted" television. If by "impact" you mean "caused other networks to rush out clones on the air and ever since try to repeat the same tired formula as a sure way of suckering the American people into watching said crap", then I guess you've got a point.

Web-savvy post-Gen-Xers will laugh out loud at the "glossary" the book provides for technical terms that have since become part and parcel of the English language. Then again, what is a "world wide web" anyway, right?

It's almost cruel of me to point out how bad this makes the Gen-Xers look, but people who offer testimony on how "The Real World" changed their viewing habits really deserve much worse. I remember the same Gen X tv this book documents, and it just reminds me how bad some of this garbage was.

Oh, and the talk about how Gen Xers "demand more realistic content" should serve as a bellweather for anyone looking into the reasons behind reality TV. Thanks again, Gen X.

If anything, this book makes you laugh when you shouldn't, with serious discussion of (among others) "Models Inc.", "Partners", "My So-Called Life", and various other waste paper collecting at the bottom of TV's dustbin. I'm not saying post-Gen-X TV is all that much better (reality shows, the promotion of Paris Hilton to superstar status, etc), but at least we have "Arrested Development". The greatest cultural contributions of Gen X? "Beverly Hills 90210". I believe that makes my point.

All in all, this book was written with good intentions, but comes off as dated and even laughably bad to anyone post-1997. The simple fact that it was published too early to document the single greatest crime of Gen X ("Dawson's Creek" and other ripoff teen angst shows) is a point in its favor. Read it to remember, read it to laugh, read it to feel superior to your older brother or sister; anyway you slice it, you will get some enjoyment out of this. It might not be the kind the author had in mind, however...