My former Silicon Alley Reporter Magazine colleague Brian Alvey documents the fundamental rules of good web design by way of a cable TV parable:
Running on HBO from the summer of 1997 through early 2003, Oz is everyone's favorite don't-drop-the-soap opera. Reflecting on the same years in my web design career, I see considerable parallels. Many of the lessons I learned watching Oz and designing websites are too similar to be coincidental.