Who is Tellywonk? What is Tellywonk? Telly? Wonk? What?

By checking among the dictionary.com definitions for Wonk, I have just discovered, you can find out that one of the most common usage of the word is in describing ‘a stupid, boring, or unattractive person’. Investigation into the word Telly, meanwhile, leads one to the discovery that it is frequently employed by ‘the kidz’ as a contraction of the word hotel.

And though it might be tempting to change the direction of this blog at this early stage to be one entirely focussed on why so many hotels contain stupid and/or ugly people (and why ones in Vegas ((particularly the ones involved in reatity TV shows)) contain nothing but; and whether anyone can therefore explain why we shouldn’t just seal off the ends of the Strip and leave them to it), but that would be too easy.

Instead, I’ll go with the usual explaination. Telly is the normal British shortening of television, and wonk is a word for a slightly-obsessive geek or student in any particular area.

I can’t deny I know I am a wonk (of that latter kind) about telly (ditto), and this is the place to revel in that. I know it’s fashionable to be arch and cynical and full of the snark, but I like television, as a medium. I believe in it as a powerful and boundless container of brilliant writers, actors, directors, characters, storylines and subjects in all dramatic and documentary genres. I also don’t deny that it’s sometimes full of utter cruddock, but sometimes that kind of escapism is fun too.

Really, literally – who runs this site:

Basically, I’m Anna Pickard, I’m a British writer, living and writing in California, and for the last few years I’ve written about a lot of things, but primarily television and pop culture. I have another personal blog about other things, and you can find my professional work elsewhere, but this is my private site for doing that whenever I please, on any TV show that takes my fancy, and in whichever manner, voice or point of view that makes me happy today.

Want to join in?

Feel free to comment any time – though I’m quite a fan of people being nice to people, so even if you disagree or suspect I or anyone else on the site might be watching a different show from the one you consider your favouritest EVER, let’s engage in debate about why, rather than be mean. If you like the idea of joining in writing about things I’m planning on liveblogging some shows I love, and recapping some others, but I can’t do them all, and after a bedding in period, I’m hoping there might be more than me writing here. So if you’re a mate of mine (and I’m guessing if you’ve found your way here and managed to stick around for the first ten million words or so, we must be somewhat close) let me know at the usual address. Or the one at the top of the page. Both work.