In this entertaining and informative book, journalist and political commentator Steven Stark takes us on a guided tour of the tube, and charts with unique wit and intelligence how America came of age, so to speak, in a box - watching everything from "I Love Lucy," "All in the Family," "The Brady Bunch," and "Saturday Night Live," to the CBS Evening News, "Roots," MTV, and "ER." Glued to the set asks the simple question - What has TV done to us? - and answers it with startling revelations about t...
Upstaging the Cold War (Culture, Politics & the Cold War)
by Andrew J. Falk
How dissident artists became cultural emissaries during the early decades of the Cold War. Traditional interpretations of the 1950s have emphasized how American anti-communists deployed censorship and the blacklist to silence dissent, particularly in the realm of foreign policy. Yet as Andrew J. Falk demonstrates, those efforts at repression did not always succeed. Throughout the early years of the Cold War, a significant number of writers and performers continued to express controversial views...
"From a leading cultural journalist, a definitive look at the rise of the female showrunner--and a new golden era of television. Female writers, directors, and producers have radically transformed the television industry in recent years. Shonda Rhimes, Lena Dunham, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Mindy Kaling: These extraordinary women have shaken up the entertainment landscape, making it look like an equal opportunity dream factory. But things weren't always this rosy. It took decades of determination i...
Christmas on Television (Praeger Television Collection)
by Diane Werts
Christmas just isn't Christmas without Christmas on TV. Whether it's the made-for-television specials of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, a M*A*S*H* Christmas in Korea, Kramer playing Santa on Seinfeld, or the annual holiday disaster on The Simpsons or South Park, television's many representations of this beloved holiday have become as essential a part of our holiday season as lights, gifts, or mistletoe. In this entertaining chronicle of television and the Christmas season...
Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is a seriously funny and irreverent memoir that gives an insider's view of the birth and rise of Saturday Night Live, and features laugh-out-loud stories about some of its greatest personalities--Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Michael O'Donoghue, and Chris Farley. Written by Tom Davis, an original SNL writer and comedy partner of Al Franken, Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss is the story of coming of age i...
Russian Television Today: Primetime Drama and Comedy (Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe)
by David Macfadyen
The way detectives access and attain the 'truth' about a crime is an important indicator of how they relate to contemporary political developments. This book explores these methods of detection and positions the genre in a specific political, aesthetic, narrative and industrial context.
Kurtz takes readers into the studio for an in-depth and disturbing look at the performers and pundits behind todays television and radio talk shows and at their corrosive influence on Americas social, political, and moral fabric. From Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus to Michael Kinsley and the McLaughlin Group, he guides us through our brave new electronic democracy, pointing out how the culture of celebrity has pervaded and even perverted journalism.
Pencils down—graphite and eyebrow—and eyes to front of the room for this one-of-a-kind lesson. Since debuting over a decade ago, the world of RuPaul's Drag Race has steadily collected both popular and academic interests. This collection of original essays presents insightful analyses and a range of critical perspectives on Drag Race from across the globe. Topics covered include language and linguistics, cultural appropriation, racism, health, wealth, the realities of reality television, digital...
Reality Television, Affect and Intimacy (Language, Discourse, Society)
by Professor Misha Kavka and M Kavka
Reality Television, Affect and Intimacy explains the appeal of reality television in terms of the affective power of the mediated image. In place of common objections that reality TV is 'not real', Misha Kavka argues that the feelings of intimacy engendered by unscripted drama are both real and socially informative.
Creating Television brings television and its creators to life, presenting fascinating in-depth interviews with the creators of American TV. Having interviewed more than 100 television professionals over the course of his 15 years of research, Professor Robert Kubey presents here the 40 conversations that provide the most illuminating insights about the industry and the people working in it. These interviews bring television's creators to life, revealing their backgrounds, work, and thoughts abo...
The best jokes, gags and scenes from a true British comedy classic. ‘Cheer up, could be worse. State the country's in, we could be free.’ ‘Doctor: I want you to fill one of those containers for me.Fletcher (other side of the room): What, from 'ere?’ You can count the number of truly classic British sitcoms on one hand – well, perhaps two. But however many hands you use, Porridge will be one of the first programmes to register for inclusion. Undoubtedly one of the re...
Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture addresses what may be the single most important question facing all kinds of performance today. What is the status of live performance in a culture dominated by mass media? Since its first appearance, Philip Auslander's ground-breaking book has helped to reconfigure a new area of study. Looking at specific instances of live performance such as theatre, rock music, sport, and courtroom testimony, Liveness offers penetrating insights into media cultur...
Fundamental questions are asked in this book about the nature of what appears on screen and how it variously engages, informs and entertains viewers. After setting out some of the distinctive features of the medium, illustrated by examples, the question of the likely and possible political consequences of these features is directly addressed. Chapters on the specific but changing forms of news, documentary and advertising provide a detailed analysis of some of television's most controversial way...
Sarah Oates gives a detailed examination on a central theme in political science: the relationship between democracy and the mass media. This significant book contains a wealth of information and data, including: public opinion surveys, content analysis of television news, focus groups and in-depth interviews to examine why political parties and the mass media failed so spectacularly to aid in the construction of a democratic system in Russia. The analysis presents compelling evidence that telev...
Music in Twin Peaks
In this edited volume, contributors explore an essential element of the influential television series Twin Peaks: the role of music and sound. From its debut in 1990 to its return to television in 2017, Twin Peaks has amassed a cult following, and inspired myriad scholarly studies. This collection considers how the music and sound design not only create the ambience of this ground-breaking series, but function in the narrative, encouraging multiple interpretations. With chapters that consider ho...