My exposure in helping to run a small Web community has introduced me to many new things to obsess over—music being a chief one [being that the community is music-focused], but also new television shows. For example, I’m now sucked into watching Gilmore Girls, due to many people, but I’ll blame Kari the most.

Like Stewart, I’m watching re-runs after the fact; I can’t particpate in our community’s online water-cooler discussion on GG, because I’m in the middle of Season Three right now. [Specifically, at the episode where the Independence Inn catches fire.] Given that the show is running Season Five on first run right now, I’m well behind them.

Mind you, TWoP is a big help in stimulating my interest in these shows—for example, I can now start to pick out the styles of the different writers, and I’m cultivating a healthy dislike for Daniel Palladino’s style, which tells more than it shows —but I’m earnestly seeking someone to discuss this with. My only option right now is my friend Misty, but I have no idea where she is in the show. She’s got their eleven-month-old son to worry about, so I bet she’s not plowing through this show like I have.

Stewart brings up a great possibility for someone like TiVo or Netflix:

I wonder if there’s an opportunity here for subscription services like NetFlix or TiVo or for retail outlets like Amazon or Blockbuster to create micro-communities of episodic entertainment viewers. Folks who aren’t watching the shows “as they happen,” but who are catching up. Netflix knows who else is watching Alias Season Three; could those users be connected for some watercooler conversation? Because I’m dying to talk with someone — anyone — about Sydney’s missing two years, while season four piles up on the TiVo…

I know that I’d be interested.