Written By Rick Ellis

Profiles Of Near Courage
In some fundamental ways, it's not easy being a TV critic--particularly one for a newspaper. You don't get much respect from the traditional news reporters, most of which consider television and media reporting to be just one step above covering garden shows and mall openings. While movie critics are thought of journalists covering an art form, most TV critics are thought of as lightweight writers, incapable of hard reporting.

Not that this is necessarily a wrong impression.

Many TV critics are not exactly portraits of intellectual courage. Some are lazy, willing to just regurgitate whatever the networks feed them. Some have been doing the job for so long that they're just cruising through the years until they can retire and swill cheap drinks on some beachfront retirement village. And sadly, some of just afraid of alienating the network publicists and other powers that be at the networks.

This behavior is never more apparent than at the TCA gatherings. Held twice a year in Southern California, they remain at best a way for networks to give critics from smaller publications the opportunity to interview some network stars. At worst, they're junkets that allow critics to hang out with their brethren, attend a few panels and network presentations, then write the obligatory column whining about how much it sucks to have a job where you have to watch pilot after pilot all day.

I've had jobs where I spent all day digging ditches. Watching TV is not exactly hard lifting.

But despite all of that, I proudly consider myself luck to be a television critic. Because the best TV and media critics are as fine of examples of journalism as any award winning investigative reporter. There are a number of TV critics who care about the quality of their work. And that's what makes this all worth while.

One example of that journalism is mentioned in passing in this Washington Post article. The piece discusses the recent CBS presentation at the TCA, and mentions a lot of the same quotes you'll see in a hundred other columns from a hundred other writers. But there is one passage that made me smile. And made me proud.

CBS head Les Moonves was answering questions from the assembled critics, and they were typically predictable. Questions about 60 Minutes, The Reagans miniseries and other well-worn topics. Until one critic showed just how the job is supposed to be done:

But Moonves was taken completely off guard by a question about whether he would recuse himself from decisions regarding "The Early Show." (Moonves has an ongoing personal relationship with the morning show's co-anchor Julie Chen).

"What do you mean?" Moonves asked the critic from the Philly Inquirer, who asked the question. "Are you writing for Page 6 now?" he ad-libbed to buy time, as the flock of CBS yesmen hovering in the back of the room sucked in their breath loudly. It was the most exciting moment yet in the two-week old Winter TV Press Tour 2004. Okay, it was the only exciting moment in the two-week old Winter TV Press Tour 2004 -- unless you count the previous night's Fox party.

"I think it's a legitimate question," the Philly Inquirer reporter asked -- getting back to "The Early Show" question. Nobody else cared. It was just a thrilling moment in press tour history, and they were glad for it.

"Am I going to recuse myself? Boy, that's a tough question," Moonves continued. "Andrew [Heyward, CBS News president] and I have worked out a system where it's fine," he said, recovering.

"What's the system?" Philly asked.

"I'm not going to tell you about our internal politics, but don't worry, everything will be done above board." And then, it was over.

In any other context, it wouldn't be over. Other reporters would ask follow-up questions, try and get Moonves to discuss the situation in more detail. How long has the policy been in place? Did he have any say in the decision to keep Chen in the CBS Morning Show when everyone else was replaced?

I happen to believe that at it's best, television is as much an art form as movie making, writing a novel or any other creative category. But until we cover it with the respect and tenacity it deserves, we'll all be stuck simply writing reviews of the latest episode of Average Joe: Hawaii.

What do you think? Email me at rick@AllYourTV.com