In my course, students are prompted to surf the World Wide Web as a research tool, not just for research papers on traditionally academic subjects, but also for papers about their own lived cultural experience. For one assignment in particular, I ask them to choose a television show which they can watch for several weeks and critique. Most decide on relatively popular shows like ER, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, or Frasier. Because I want students to recognize the variety of media sources available, they are then required to surf the net for information about the show as a part of their research. I use the cultural studies assignment not only to stress the multiplicity of research sources, but also to explore the ways in which popular visual media reflect-- and impact on-- larger social, political and economic conditions.