Telly Visions Turns 10
Not to toot our own horns, but: Telly Visions turns ten years old this week.
Yes, our very first post went up on September 21, 2011. (Insert your own Earth, Wind & Fire joke here, I guess.)
It's a remarkable milestone for many reasons - not the least of which being it mirrors my own ten year anniversary here at WETA - but also because this site started out as little more than a fun side project that most of us (again, read: me) never really expected to go anywhere. That it's grown from zero readers besides yours truly (and, true confession time, I've been pushing publish on every post here save its very first one) to literal millions over the course of its first decade is something that humbles and excites me every single day.
This is truly the best thing I do at work, and I cannot stress enough how grateful and thankful we all are that people out there in on the internet want to read and talk about British television, films, and culture as much as I - and the other folks behind the scenes here - do.
On every episode of Telly Visions: The Podcast, I open into our discussion for the week by describing us - as hosts of the show, but also as the larger brand concept - as being made for anglophiles, by anglophiles. And that's true - it's been the case since we first started publishing and will infuse everything we do here as long as the site and the show last. Telly Visions exists because we love this stuff as much as you all do, because the people making content behind the scenes here swoon over every Jane Austen adaptation we can get our hands on and eagerly track Dan Stevens' post-Downton Abbey career with as much enthusiasm as anyone who might be watching these programs at home.
Over the past decade, we've covered a lot of stuff. We've posted over 3,500 stories and our most popular posts have run the gamut from Downton to Doc Martin, and The Paradise to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, with a dash of Skins and Victoria and Inspector Lewis thrown on top. We've recapped years and years' worth of shows: Some we loved, some we didn't, and some we lost faith in by the time the final credits rolled. We've laughed, we've yelled, we've given people lots of recommendations about the things they should watch and why. We hired some contributors, who became like family more than work colleagues. We made a podcast and forced you all to hear long-winded stories about our cats. We have a Facebook page, and an official email address (tellyvisions@weta.org), and some snazzy Telly Visions t-shirts we plan to give away to some of you in the coming weeks. This is the dream, y'all.
As the self-styled managing editor of this...entirely incredible rodeo, I'm so grateful for every single person who has ever read what we've written here or laughed at a recap or nodded indignantly at a long-winded point. Who whooped at a renewal announcement or swore over a particularly painful cancellation. We love this stuff too, and I'm so grateful you're all out there loving it with us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you - and here's to the next decade of fun.
