Something amazes me about NBC’s primetime/late night challenges. The Jay Leno 10 PM experiment did not work and will stop by mid-February 2010 (as confirmed by NBC and detailed in this New York Times article). Now NBC is struggling to quickly fill the slot in the short term, while ordering up multiple new pilots for the long run (including one that I’m very excited to hear about, a reworking of the Rockford Files, produced by House co-creator David Shore and Office star, Steve Carrell).

What amazes me about the short-term struggle is that after a few years of placing some of the Law & Order product on USA Network, why has NBC never considered airing Burn Notice (or any of the USA Network [owned by NBC Universal] original series),  in the 10 PM slot? Back in August 2009, as noted in this TV Squad article, Burn Notice’s “August airings are burning down nine million viewers at a pop”. NBC wishes Leno could have pulled numbers on that level at 10 PM consistently.

Tim O’Shea: Did your association with The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series start with your editing of the Metallica edition in the series?

William Irwin: Actually South Park and Philosophy was the first book to appear in the series. But yes, the first book I actually worked on with Blackwell was Metallica and Philosophy, and it’s my favorite because I’ve been a Metallica fan for nearly 25 years. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4. It’s nice to see them getting their props, and I hope people will take a look at my book to discover their hidden depth.

O’Shea: How did you get involved with the Blackwell series?

Irwin: Previously I had edited a similar series for Open Court which included such titles as: Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Simpsons and Philosophy, and The Matrix and Philosophy. I was dissatisfied with the way Open Court operated. So I ended my relationship with them and began the new series with Blackwell.

O’Shea: Last December saw the release of House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies. How did you come about the topics covered in the book?

Irwin: The volume editor, Henry Jacoby, and I brainstormed. We’re both big fans of the show as well as philosophy professors. Some of the topics were obvious, House’s medical ethics (or lack thereof), for example, or House’s existentialist worldview, for another. Perhaps a not-so-obvious topic was House’s similarities to Sherlock Holmes and his use of logic and reason.

O’Shea: In editing the book, how hard is it to make sure the author was not focrcing a philosophical concept into a House plot or in some other way have philisophically pursued a flawed path of logic that cannot be justified?

Irwin: There were some places where we were in danger of forcing an issue, for example on the topics of Zen and Tao. But there we just tried to make clear that we were using House to illustrate these concepts; we weren’t claiming the show was intentionally about them.

O’Shea: What was the biggest challenge of editing the House essays in general?

Irwin: Avoiding repetition. Some of the more famous lines and most memorable episodes came up several times, but so far readers haven’t complained about it.

O’Shea: Were you a fan of House before embarking on the book?

Irwin: Yes, it’s probably my favorite show on TV right now. My wife actually got me into it–much as I hate to admit that.

O’Shea: On the Watchmen book, did co-editor Mark White brace you before handing you his essay, The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly? That’s one unique title.

Irwin: Mark White is a real character, and so I wasn’t too surprised by his title. Mark also edited Batman and Philosophy for my series, and so I knew who I was dealing with!

O’Shea: How hard is it to compile a collection of fresh perspectives on a topic like the X-Men, given how analyzed the characters have been over the years–via the comic books, cartoons and film?

Irwin: It’s always hard to say something entirely new, but my series comes at these topics from an unusual angle. We’re philosophy professors looking at this material for the way it expresses philosophy and can be used to illustrate philosophy. So we usually manage to come up with something a little different.

O’Shea: In the next several months of 2009, you will be editing three different books covering Terminator, Heroes and Twilight. This is all in addition to your job demands as a college professor. How do you keep everything straight and not get confused between the different fictional universes?

Irwin: Who said I keep it all straight? I just drift from one fictional universe to the next. It beats living in reality! Seriously, though, it’s alot of fun, and when you like what you do it doesn’t seem like work.

O’Shea: In all the Blackwell books you help edit, do you ever start seeing common philosophical themes or elements that all the books share?

Irwin: Oh, sure. Certain topics come up repeatedly: the nature of good and evil, freedom, personal identity, the nature of reality …

O’Shea: Were you a fan of pop culture long before you developed an appreciation of philosophy or did it happen the other way around?

Irwin: I was definitely a fan of pop culture first, and so when I first started to teach I tried to connect with students through pop culture references in the classroom. Eventually that led to these books.