Gen X TV: The Brady Bunch to Melrose Place

What should have been--indeed, what has been, many times over--a magazine article on the reflexive relationship between Generation X and TV has misguidedly been turned into a book. Operating on the hardly contested premise that most 18-34-year-olds' identities are inseparable from popular television shows--as well as the arguable statement that ""television today is better than it has ever been, and part of the credit for that must go to the discerning tastes of Generation X,"" Owen, a TV critic for the Albany Times Union and self-described ""Xer,"" stretches a skimpy topic. Despite promising sections on the constructivist connections between cyberspace and television and on the history of network and cable TV, Owen spends most of his time relaying utterly uninspired Internet remarks by students about shows such as Melrose Place, Friends, The Brady Bunch and The Real World, all in support of the stock idea that TV has played various roles for ""Xers,"" including baby-sitter, social facilitator and teacher. Although claiming a complex use of the term ""Generation X"" (""This book is not about slackers""), Owen still relies on over-simplified distinctions between ""Xers"" and ""Boomers"" (""Gen Xers were exposed to so much more than Boomers were""). The lack of insight and depth is not helped by a prose style that vacillates between textbook (he defines ""latchkey kid"") and fanzine (""At the beach wedding celebration [on Melrose]... no one even kicked sand in anyone else's face. Boring""). This is part of Syracuse University Press's Television Series. Photos. (Apr.)