New Thing #78: The A.V. Club

AV_ClubMy friend Justin, who you know from Music Mondays, isn't just a one-trick pony. In addition to knowing a lot of different music, he also watches a lot of different television. (He's a real renaissance man.)

Just kidding. He is also extremely smart and has a wide variety of interests.

And we share many of those interests.

That's how I knew, when he mentioned The A.V. Club to me, that I'd probably enjoy it.

I suppose this isn't 100% new in 2013 - I think Justin told me about the website back in November.

But it's only been in the past month or so that I've been regularly checking in on the site, seeing what they have to say about my favorite shows.

There's a wide array of content on the site - I know I've only just scratched the surface of what they have to offer. But what I use it for generally is to read their recaps of the shows I like.

I like to check in and see if what I thought about an episode of The Office, or Parks and Recreation, or The Americans is the same as the general consensus.

Or, as Justin puts it, "AV Club recaps are great because they tell you what to think."

I've begun following The A.V. Club on Twitter recently too, and that's where I've found some interesting articles. They play on nostalgia every so often, and if you, like me, enjoyed watching DuckTales and the 'Disney Afternoon' shows growing up, take some time to read this article about how TV was changing at exactly the time DuckTales became a success. I loved it.

I don't really need someone to tell me what to think. What I do occasionally need is a nudge in the direction of something I might enjoy. So that's the good part about visiting this site more than once a week - while searching through to see what they wrote about a TV show, I might come across something else that I never would have otherwise read about.

My wife and I often fall behind on our favorite shows. It used to be a feeling of satisfaction for me when we caught up on the DVR.

Now, that's just step one for me. I don't get closure on an episode until I read the A.V. Club wrap-up.