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Robert Thompson poses in his office at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., Monday, May 7, 2007. Thompson, is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, where he is also a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He is often sought out by the media for comments on pop culture news.(AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Last week was pretty slow in the world of pop culture news. But the media sought out Robert Thompson just the same.

The Syracuse University professor was quoted on the image of motherhood on TV. On the phenomenon of animal shows on cable. The danger of Hollywood trilogies. Rosie O'Donnell's future. The hipness of being a nerd.

Such exposure is nothing unusual for Thompson, a font of pop culture knowledge like few others. There may well be an expert somewhere who has a more wide-ranging, obsessive knowledge of this highly amorphous subject. But if so, they're keeping quiet about it.

So often has Thompson been quoted, over 17 years at Syracuse, that some news organizations (including The Associated Press) have lately tried consciously NOT to quote him.