Columnists or not Columnists

Welcome to TV or Not TV

From industry insiders and hardcore fans, this is one of America’s longest running forums on the television medium. Tracking trends and mulling over last night’s top shows, and keeping up with what’s next, you’ll feel smarter every time you gather at our virtual watercooler.

Thomas Allen Heald, not just the president of “TV or Not TV,” I’m also a client.
Thomas Allen Heald has been watching television almost nonstop since he was born. It has been claimed that he thought “Mr. Rogers was talking only to him and not anyone else.” This was true. Thanks to the kindness and generocity of Aaron Barnhart, he gained a platform to annoy Tom Snyder and Dick Clark. He currently is an A&E columnist at the Rapid City Weekly News in Rapid City, SD and to actually make money, he surveys land with his father. His current goal in life is to be caller #9 on K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the Seventies Weekend. Not because he wants the monster truck tickets himself, but so he can prevent someone else from winning them.

Kevin Marousek, Head Writer, Doherty admirer
Kevin received his B.F.A. in Broadcast Communications from Pacific Lutheran University in 1996, where (among other things) he learned how to completely wire and maintain an analog television studio… a skill rendered obsolete by the digital revolution six months later. Around the dawn of the new millennium, he spent five years working in Hollywood as (among other things) an intern, videographer, audio engineer, secretary, talent escort, page, audience coordinator, actor, production assistant, runner, production coordinator, security coordinator, personal assistant, and writer’s assistant. He decided to leave the television industry in 2002 to join the United States Peace Corps, where he served as a volunteer in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan. He presently teaches middle school English and Computer Technology (among other things) in San Diego, CA and is a freelance producer of independent documentaries and short films. His favorite beer is Guinness.

Joe Belkin
Joe has worked in many aspects of television including the creative, advertising and managerial side. I love TV and wish there were a thousand more channels especially international channels on my TV. I also think people who whine about paying for channels they ‘aren’t watching’ are just not watching enough TV - come on people, give all the channels a chance! About the only thing I hate about TV are the on-screen bugs/logos and now a puppet show I did not ask for at the bottom of my screen. I could also do with less lawyers running entertainment but don’t quote me on that as I might get sued. So, in the words of Homer Simpson, “TV, be more funny!”

Ed Dravecky III, contributing editor
Ed is a media junkie, a condition not alleviated by spending his college years writing for school newspapers nor his dozen years in broadcasting. A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Ed spent his radio days moving town to town, up and down the dial, before settling in Dallas to help develop music scheduling and broadcast automation software with several leading companies. His current favorite shows are Doctor Who, Life, Battlestar Galactica, Corner Gas, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. When not watching TV, Ed is the president of his local science fiction club, listening to nuclear polka by Brave Combo, or editing Wikipedia. Except that he attended Georgia Tech, not MIT, Ed strongly suspects that Weird Al Yankovic’s “White and Nerdy” is based on his life story.

Jim Ellwanger, contributing editor, cue card boy, caboose engineer
Jim is a Florida native who is now an online advertising copy editor in Los Angeles. His favorite TV shows of all time include Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Arrested Development, and Jeopardy!. When not sitting in front of the TV, he might be out at a baseball game, performing karaoke, riding somewhere on a train, or at a club seeing one of those hot new alternative rock bands the kids like so much. Jim graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in radio/television/film and worked for over seven years as a closed captioner, which qualifies him to state that television’s downslide began when the networks stopped using jingle-based promo campaigns.

Jay Lewis
Born, and currently living in small-town Canada (East Coast, represent!), Jay has had a life-long fascination with television. His earliest TV memory is not Sesame Street, Mr Rogers, Mr Dressup or even The Friendly Giant but of the American game show Match Game from the late 70s. Not surprisingly, this has shaped his current love of game shows, with a penchant for the games of old and disdain for the current crop of reality TV. When not working on his website, QWIZX.com, Jay enjoys House, The Price is Right, the late-morning/early-afternoon block on GSN, Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs and Stargate among others.