----------------------------Original message---------------------------- In response to Gene Stavis, and some of the other critics who have excoriated the *American Cinema* series, although I agree with much of the criticism that has been voiced on Screen-L thus far, many of the comments on the installments of the series are more reflective of academic arrogance and nit-picking than realistic criticism of a series geared as an INTRODUCTION to the topics presented in each show. On that level, I find what I've seen of the series informative and most applicable to introductory film history courses, or even as introductions to genre courses. I believe some of us need to be reminded that our expectations for the *American Cinema* series should not eclipse what the filmmakers have set out to do: Create a series interesting to mass tastes.