Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television

by Lee Siegel

Television has taken firm hold of American life ever since the first flickering images replaced the disembodied voices innocently crackling from the radio. Ever present and evolving, television thrives at the crossroads of commerce, art, and entertainment. In Not Remotely Controlled cultural critic Lee Siegel collects his reportage and musings on this most hybrid medium. Whether chronicling the history of the “cop” drama, revealing the inherent irony in Donald Trump’s character on “The Apprentice,” or shedding light on those unheralded gems that Neilsen ratings swept away prematurely, Siegel gives each episode, series, or documentary the attention and respect usually reserved for high-art and dusty literature. Going far beyond mere pans and praise, Siegel has given long-overdue attention to America’s most pervasive art form: television.

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Lee Siegel is a New York writer and cultural critic who has written for Harper's, The New Republic, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many other publications. Siegel is a senior editor at The New Republic and lives in New York City with his wife and son.

In September 2006, Siegel was temporarily suspended from The New Republic, after an internal investigation determined he was participating in misleading comments in the magazine's "Talkback" section, in response to anonymous attackers on his blog at The New Republic's website. The comments were made through the device of a "sock puppet" dubbed "sprezzatura", who, as one reader noted, was a consistently vigorous defender of Siegel, and who specifically denied being Siegel when challenged by an anonymous detractor in "Talkback." In response to readers who had criticized Siegel's negative comments about TV talk show host Jon Stewart, 'sprezzatura' wrote, "Siegel is brave, brilliant, and wittier than Stewart will ever be. Take that, you bunch of immature, abusive sheep." The New Republic posted an apology and shut down Siegel's blog. In an interview with the New York Times Magazine, Siegel dismissed the incident as a "prank." He resumed writing for The New Republic in April 2007. Siegel's critique of Web culture, entitled Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob, was published in January 2008.

Reviews

[Shawntelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of essays on television by someone who is way too intellectual to be watching so much television. I am enjoying some of his insights into social and psychological trends behind popular television shows, characters and categories, but there seems to be a defensive or embarassed tone in some of the pieces that makes me wonder how he really feels about what he does for a living (reviews TV for "smart" markets).

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting collection of reviews. Siegel uses the medium of TV to comment on all aspects of American Society. What makes the collection so interesting is Siegel's opinions of some of the programs. I was genuinely surprised when he was unfavorable towards such usual critical darlings as Jon Stewart and Curb Your Enthusiasm. What makes these reviews great is that if you read through you actually begin to see his point.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fairly interesting but ultimately became a little tedious. There was a slight whiff of snobbery in several of the reviews, but it was inconsistent. And even if he was writing for The New Republic, the frequent intrusion of his politics was jarring and distracting. Still, many of his observations were interesting to read.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It's very academic and theoretical, which I loved since I am always looking for more intelligent writing on television, but someone expecting to read a bunch of casual essays might be disappointed.