Tune In, Recap, Drop Out: Why I’ll Never Recap a TV Show Again [Television Without Pretty]

Tracie Potochnik has recapped America’s Next Top Model for Television Without Pity since its third cycle started airing eight years ago. Over the years, she announced recently, she has written more than 1,350,000 words on the show. That’s more than two War and Peaces, but these volumes of work don’t so much as have the honor of collecting dust. They are ephemeral by nature, tied to episodes of seasons of whole shows that are forgotten virtually as soon as they air. Recapping television, especially with the detail and craft of Potochnik, ultimately amounts to writing sandcastles—and yet it’s become a beloved staple of the blogger’s oeuvre. More »