A Decade of Snark
I just wanted to somehow mark the fact that I believe that ten years ago today, Tara, Sarah, and Dave launched Television Without Pity (which was then called Mighty Big TV). They had done Dawson’s Wrap for a year prior, and decided to branch out and cover more shows. I was fortunate enough that they asked me to write the Real World recaps (continuing what I’d been doing on the time on my own site during the Hawaii season), and I’ve been writing and moderating forums for the site continuously ever since.
I have gone on to write over 900 pieces for the site (including two that were published today) on a total of 50 different shows. The site has provided me with income when I was only working part time at my day job, and allowed me to go back to part time when I decided full time wasn’t letting me have the work/life balance I needed.
But besides all that, writing for the site has helped me make lifelong friends, and made me proud of the accomplishment of all of the people I’ve met through the site. A lot of my fellow recappers have gone on to write professionally in various industries, not to mention the millions of laughs they have brought me from reading their recaps.
Just about every entertainment site does recaps of television shows now, and there are many forums out there to discuss your favorite shows, but few have been doing it for ten solid years. I know Tara and Sarah and Dave went through some really lean times, and put a lot of their own blood, sweat, and tears (and money) into keeping the site going even when it looked like it wasn’t possible — remember the Internet bust years earlier this decade? While none of them are affiliated with the site anymore, and I know they will all go on to do bigger and better things, I hope that they all take pride in having created a site that has been hugely influential and provided entertainment to millions of readers over the years.
Wow. Who would’ve thought that my stupid musings about Colin and Amaya would lead to this?
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Hear, hear. As one of those recappers who’s done other stuff, there’s nothing I’m more proud of than being part of TWoP.
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Congratulations on 10 years. I do have a question about the Dancing With The Stars recap published today. I remember the Conan O’Brien “Boys Are Back in Town”/Melissa Etheridge segment being a Andy Richter remote segment. How confident are you that it was Triumph?
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I used my old DW/MBTV/TwoP/Hissyfit/Fametracker handle for this comment–your recaps of RW Hawaii are almost indelibly etched on my brain. I will never forget Matt and his green terry cloth shirt.
It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years! I was in college when Dawson’s Wrap was my obsession, and had to stand in line to use a computer lab between classes so I could post in the forums.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Michael: You’re totally right about it being Andy and not Triumph. I’ll post a correction in tonight’s weecap.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Hey Kim, You may not have any interest in this at all but, I thought I’d provide some feedback on your comments about Penn over on TwoP. I had the same opinion of him until my wife and I attended their show in Vegas. After it was over, they both came out to sign autographs and just could not have been any nicer. They stood there until every single person was gone, and VERY graciously, and enthusiastically, complied with every request for pictures, autographs, etc. Totally changed my opinion of him so I thought I’d share. Cheers, Phil
November 30th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Kim, I just read the last weecap for this season’s DWTS, and I wanted to say congratulations on the twins! I have enjoyed following your weecaps on DWTS. They are funny, insightful, and fair. I know you are about to be incredibly busy (twins!!), but I hope you will still be able to write. Blessings, Amy Enoch (SSPB on TWOP)