So can we talk about the fact that our parents told us that TV would rot our brains, but TV is now like...becoming high art? Can we talk about that? I'd like to talk about that.

Great. Let's talk.

We are living in a second Golden Era of television. There was the first one - when TV was new and shiny and nobody knew what "good TV" versus "bad TV" or "OK TV" looked like - and now there's this one, where we have begun to perfect the art that is episodic storytelling, as well as the means through which we distribute it, to create optimal storytelling.

In other words: TV is having a major renaissance right now, because streaming has finally created the freedom needed to turn chapter books into shows.

It makes sense for so many reasons. Humans have always loved telling stories. It's one of the oldest professions - that, and prostitution. Our desire for a good story is as human as our desire for physical companionship. First we had oral tradition, spoken word, music, and poetry. Eventually we developed theatre, acting: Plays and other performances came next. (Ampitheatres existed in even our earliest known civilizations.) We all still learn Shakespeare to this day.

Similarly, the written word developed, once paper was eaiser to make and the printing press made it so that when you wrote a book you didn't just have That One Book. Humans bound up their stories in leather - or just with some string - and bought and sold them to one another, talked about them, and eventually made them great literature - Jane Austen was simply a storyteller who chose the pen as her tool.

We still learn about these great creators; Homer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen. Their stories are considered essential to who we are, they're taught in practically every English-speaking school (and surely, other cultures have similar creators that we know very little of here.) And yet, in their own time, they were regarded with shrugs, even derision - their work was considered "low art," stuff for the common folk, with very little substance or merit worth discussing.

We know the whole "artists are never appreciated in their time" thing isn't exactly revolutionary, but we're not just talking about artists here: We're talking about art forms.

Which brings me back to my main point:

Stop. Telling. Kids. Watching. TV. Isn't. Productive.

Seriously. Stop it. It's so demoralizing, to an entire group of children who are really just showing a budding interest in an underappreciated art form. Yes, yes, it's important for kids to get away from their screens and go outside and all that, but that's not what we're talking about here. We're not talking about phones or apps or tablets or texting. Just TV. Because the thing is, TV can be just as important for kids' learning as books.

'Oh, sure,' you may scoff, 'What is my kid learning from DuckTales?' But here's the thing: Maybe a lot.

Growing up, my mom hated when we watched Spongebob. Aside from the episode "Band Geeks" (which is impossible to hate), she thought the show was stupid and would rot our brains, and she'd rather us read books than sit and listen to that annoying laugh.

And okay, granted, I'm glad my mother made us read books. Love books. Got a lot out of them. But also, now that I'm an adult, I realize I got a lot out of Spongebob too.

Think about it: Spongebob taught our entire generation comedy. It's kind of a masterclass in it - those early episodes are brilliant, and you could easily use a lot of them to teach lessons about comedic timing, character work, or setting expectations. It's simple storytelling, but that didn't mean it wasn't good.

And that's just one example. There are hundreds of other really good TV shows out there, shows that are good at telling stories and speaking truths and getting answers about humanity and experienceing being human - as good as any Shakespeare play or Austen novel in its time. The Good Place is literally a philosophical dissertation in TV form. Bridgerton is a study of feminism in the Regency period. Derry Girls taught me more about The Troubles in Ireland than any history class in my American school ever would have. I could go on and on and on.

Look. Books are great. I loved them growing up - I loved their ability to take me away to somewhere else, and allow me to experience being human from another perspective - even one that someone entirely made up.

But I also loved it becuase I had the ability to. I could make the pictures in my head plain as day (or at least, plain enough) - some people don't have that skill. I was a fairly quick and easy reader, I had very little trouble scanning the words on the page - so many kids do not have that luck. It doesn't seem fair to me that, while I was praised as a scholar for simply doing what came naturally to me - for diving into a story - other kids, who were essentially trying to do the same thing, just in a different, way, were chastized for it.

What I'm saying here is: Kids who like to watch TV aren't lazy. They like stories. If you engage them in that enjoyment, maybe by watching the show with them or asking them to explain it to you, or asking questions about it, you'll be able to see that. And, even better, if you encourage that love, you may find that you have a storyteller of your own on your hands, and you'll be able to help them take the next steps to turn that love into something more.

The alternative is that these storytellers grow up with a deep love they don't know they have, not realizing when going to make big life decisions about careers and college majors that they should actually be taking that love of TV into account. It's taken years to get there with film - let's make sure TV catches up fairly quickly.

(And also, in general: Try to indulge your kids' weird passions. Even if they seem stupid, you never know if that obsession with a character in a series of 1-minute TikToks could make them into next generation's Shonda Rhimes.)

Tags: Shonda Rhimes