A Service of UA Little Rock
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TV Critic ProFile: 'Television [Is] A Window Into How American Society Works'

NPR Television Critic/Correspondent Eric Deggans
Katie Burk, Claire Mueller
/
NPR
NPR Television Critic/Correspondent Eric Deggans

My name... Eric Deggans

Public radio employee since... Sept. 30, 2013

Public radio listener since... I owned my first car and could finally control the radio dial.

My job is... the coolest gig in the modern era, getting paid to watch television and tell people what I think about it (official name: TV critic/correspondent). But it's also a window into how American society works; what we value and don't, what we find frightening and funny, what we desire and find repulsive and much more. So the story of our relationship to television and what's on the various TV-producing devices we all own, is really the story of us. And telling THAT story is my real job.

I wanted to be... Omar Hakim ...when I grew up.

All Things Considered.... I probably shouldn't admit I can't stop hate-watching 'Law & Order: SVU.'

If I could share a coffee with anyone, it would be... 'The Daily Show' host Jon Stewart or The Roots/Jimmy Fallon bandleader Questlove.

Listening is most important when... my children are talking to me.

The Newscast headline reporting the last year in my life would be... Nerd from Gary Indiana Somehow Scores Even Cooler Job.

When I go on air, I always have... a finely-tuned sense of the absurd. After all, we're talking about TV.

I make it a point to never miss... 'The Walking Dead' or a chance to make fun of my editor.

Jeffrey Wright, Sam Jackson or Benedict Cumberbatch in anything ...is a breath of Fresh Air.

One thing everyone should know about me is... I'm not as geeky as this Q&A makes me sound. (I'm probably worse.)


Caitlin Sanders contributed to this post.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eric Deggans is NPR's first full-time TV critic.