Source:
British Film Institute (2003)
Keywords:
fandom;
TVfield;
TVx4
Abstract:
DESCRIPTION (back to top)
Why are some contemporary television shows so compelling? The Sopranos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, and ER are examples among many of a new era of the "must-see" program. These shows and others, like The X-Files and Ally McBeal, have a compulsiveness, a depth of characterization and backstory that puts most of cinema to shame.
Quality Popular Television looks at this new category of "cult" television (mostly U.S.-produced) and the reasons for its emergence. Considering shows as diverse as Ally McBeal, Martial Law, Buffy, Lois and Clark, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Ellen, the book examines the particular qualities necessary for success and how they relate to issues such as the economics of network scheduling, the growth of the Internet, and contemporary debates about television audiences. This important new book provides an invaluable window on transformations in contemporary television culture.
CONTENTS (back to top)
1. Introduction, Mark Jancovich and James Lyons
Part One: Industries, Networks and Programming
2. Vertical Vision: Deregulation, Industrial Economy and Prime-Time Design Jennifer Holt
3. Must See TV: Programming Identity on NBC Thursdays, Nancy San Martin
4. The Changing Face of American Television Programmes on British Screens, Paul Rixon
Part Two: 'Content is King': Formats, Shows and Events
5. Transnational Context to Long-Format Special-Event Television: Branding Networks, John McMurria
6. Must See Queer TV: History and Serial Form in Ellen, Anna McCarthy
7. 'You're not going to see that on TV': Star Trek: The Next Generation in Film and Television, Roberta E. Pearson and Maire Messenger-Davies
8. Brave New Buffy: Rethinking 'TV Violence', Lisa Parks
Part Three: Commodity Audiences: Cults, Fans and Dedicated Audiences
9. Martial Law and the Changing Face of Martial Arts on US Television, Andrew Willis
10. Superman on the Set: The Market, Nostalgia, and Television Audiences, Ian Gordon
11. Web Wars: Resistance, Online Fandom and Studio Censorship, Sara Gwenllian-Jones Afterword
12. What is Television For?, Alan McKee
