About Hey, What Are You Watching?

Welcome to Hey, What Are You Watching? — your new hub for pop culture recommendations, reviews, personal essays, and stray musings.

I’m Valerie Ettenhofer, a TV critic, essayist, and pop culture news writer working full-time freelance at publications including /Film, Dread Central, and IGN. I recently spent over half a decade covering television at Film School Rejects, where I served as head TV critic and penned the column "Episodes" – about the TV episodes that broke ground and made me cry. I'm also a voting member of the LGBTQ+ critics’ circle GALECA, as well as an associate member of the Critics Choice Association’s television and documentary branches. You can read one of my short essays in the anthology collection Sad Happens and find more of my bylines on sites like The Playlist, Certified Forgotten, and Nonfics. As a recent U.S. expat now based in Glasgow, when I'm not writing and watching TV, I'm typically out exploring Scotland along with my partner and our dog.

Hey, What Are You Watching? will publish new essays and capsule review posts periodically. As of January 2025, the cadence includes an essay or review and a list earlier in the month, and three different review round-ups to wrap up the month, but the schedule is subject to change depending on factors including my health and the general state of the world. The regular newsletters feature links to new writing from me, plus quick, often personal reviews of all the shows, films, books, and podcasts I've crossed paths with in the past month. This publication originally began on Substack in November 2022. If you’d like more information, you can find a lengthier description of what this project is going for here.

If you’re a paid subscriber, expect access to all posts, plus my undying gratitude. Free subscribers will still be able to access my undying gratitude, as well as 2 of every 3 posts I publish. Now and again, I'll make additional posts free to everyone for one reason or another, and will indicate as much in the post. No matter what brings you here or how you engage, you can always drop me a line in the comments or on social media anytime to answer the question I ask every week: hey, what are you watching?

NOTE: If you are having issues with your membership, have a press inquiry, or need to reach out for any reason, email me at valerieettenhofer@gmail.com.