![TV Intelligentsia [IQ]](/brand-hero.jpg)
TV Intelligentsia is the credibility layer for what to watch. We score titles using a published methodology grounded in cognitive science, developmental psychology, and media-effects research, with credentialed review for children's content.
Every rating system tells you whether something is good. None tell you whether it's good for you. Rotten Tomatoes measures critic consensus. IMDb measures popularity. Metacritic aggregates reviews. None of them answer the question that actually matters.
We built the IQ Score to fill that gap. A 0–200 scale that measures the cognitive demand a title places on its audience across three dimensions: Cognitive Stimulation, Educational Value, and Craft & Quality. Not a test of your intelligence, a measure of what the show demands of it. How we score →
You can't improve what you can't measure. The IQ Score gives you a vocabulary for talking about the intellectual value of entertainment.
A low IQ Score doesn't mean a show is bad. It means it serves a different purpose. We measure. We don't judge.
Our methodology is published. Our scoring rubrics are open. We show the three dimension scores, not just the final number.
Editorial scores, rankings, and findings are controlled by TVI, and by TVI alone. We may take on paid advisory, assessment, and research work: a private review of a slate, a developmental assessment, methodology consulting. But no commercial relationship buys public coverage, advance access to a score, favorable treatment, or a change to a published finding. For any title-specific paid work, we either recuse that title from public scoring or label the work as commissioned. We never quietly blend the two.
2,597 titles scored. Scores are computed from thirteen sub-dimensions across three weighted dimensions, using a framework grounded in published cognitive science.
Founding Editor · TV Intelligentsia
Jordan built TV Intelligentsia because he was tired of finishing a series and not being able to articulate why it felt different from everything else. Some shows leave you sharper. Some leave you numb. The difference should be measurable.
Board-certified surgeon and Plastic Surgery Fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Navy Lieutenant Commander. Built the IQ Score rubric across 2025 and 2026 and reviews every adult-vertical TVI Essential grant. TVI Essential is an editorial designation; IQ Score is a content rating, not an intelligence measurement.
Founding Editor · TVI Kids
Cordelia is a licensed school psychologist (Education Specialist degree, Nationally Certified School Psychologist). She reviews the TVI Kids methodology against the CASEL framework, applies the SEL Score to every kids title, and grants the TVI Kids Rated designation.
Active developmental-psychology content presence at @cordelias.garden.
Questions about the methodology, partnership inquiries, or just want to argue about a score?
jordan@tvintelligentsia.com →