Gomes looks at examples like Fora.tv, which is a kind of online C-SPAN (covered a couple of months ago on TDR), as well as The Research Channel, and Link TV. But he notes that not all of the fare they provide is gripping.

In an ideal world, so-called serious programming on the Web wouldn't be limited to this species of plain-vanilla videos of academics and authors giving speeches. Many of them are, to be frank, rather dull.

Great, gripping documentaries, such as the PBS "Nova" series or some of the latest BBC imports are expensive to produce, which is why we see them so infrequently on television and not at all online, at least not as original programming. But the Web is supposed to be all about boundless choice. For folks who get tired of short clips of dogs chasing their tale, their choices are beginning to multiply.