Middlebury’s Jason Mittell: Just call him Professor TiVo

Just call him Professor TiVo: Rutland Herald Online: “While their peers in nearby classrooms study advanced subjects like linear algebra, molecular biology and international relations, one group of Middlebury College students has watched scenes from ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Miami Vice.’

“Yup, that’s stuff from the boob tube – mindless entertainment. It’s hard to imagine that television is taken seriously at this highly selective liberal arts college. After all, isn’t TV a vast wasteland of reality shows, soap operas and other dreck, watched by couch potatoes who should be reading a good book, enjoying friends or skiing?

“Not according to Jason Mittell. A newly tenured professor at Middlebury, Mittell believes television can be a serious art form, to be analyzed and evaluated just as rigorously as fine literature.”