One of the most tragic things about the discussion and analysis of television is that so many of the people who complain about "dumbing down" are some of the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet.

And the reason it's tragic is not because they're entirely wrong. I want a fair amount of television to treat its audience with a little more respect too.

But so many people who use that phrase haven't got anything else to offer themselves.

You see it all the time on Twitter. People will spout that phrase, and then you scroll down their feed.

Nine times out of ten, they have nothing else to offer the world. It's cliches, tired talking points, and abuse.

I want TV to be better. And I want TV to be better in many, many different ways. Even some of the more erudite TV columnists seem to only want TV to be better in certain, narrow ways.

I want it *all* to be better.

What's perhaps most fascinating of all is the wafer-thin difference between a great show, and a mediocre show. At least on paper.

The Repair Shop and Money for Nothing have so much in common on the page. In practice, they're miles apart.

On the page, Come Dine With Me is distinctly average.

In practice, it's explosively funny.

The people who complain about "dumbing down" so often don't realise that television isn't about making a certain, narrow kind of show to a high intellectual level.

It's about making *every* kind of show the very best it possibly can be.

And that's the big problem with British TV right now.

Not "dumbing down", at least not in a straightforward, tedious sense. But there are too many shows which are starved of money, time, and affection... or literally aren't made at all.

The ironic thing about the dumbing down debate is that hour-long documentaries on BBC One are actually some of the things the BBC does *best* right now.

I’m trying to figure out my favourite thing about this response.

I mean, there are just so many things. Is it the mention of Naked Attraction and Channel 5, which entirely backs up my point about "cliches and tired talking points"?

I mean, I guess we should just be grateful they didn't mention Big Brother.

Is it the phrase "how can you say that with a clean conscience"?

When it comes to television, my conscience is clean. I spent half my life writing about ways to make television better. I spent the other half actually making television better.

But no, I think my favourite thing about it is: if you read the thread carefully, I am actually arguing for television to be *better*. They have completely misunderstood my point.

I'm just not doing it in a cliched, tedious way.

I could not have had my point backed up in a more pleasing way.

If we want television to be better, we need to act like we actually *deserve* it to be better. Act like a boring twerp, and don't be surprised if TV doesn't treat you with the intelligence you think you deserve.

Related to all this, I want to talk briefly about a stupid advert.

Nearly all of you will know it. The classic Meow Mix ad.

Now, my favourite thing about that ad isn't the "Meow Meow Meow Meow" refrain. My favourite bit is 23 seconds in... where the *backing vocals* start meowing too.

It's fantastic. It's witty. It's unexpected. It makes me laugh every single damn time.

It is also not what many would class as smart television.

But... it *is*. Within the context of what that ad is doing, it's one of the smartest, most creative things they could have come up with.

That's the kind of TV I love.

Where everything is as good as it can be, on its own terms. That's what I'm driving at. Smart takes so many different forms.