Search results

The idea of metatextuality is frequently framed as a recent television development and often paired with the idea that it represents genre exhaustion. US television, however, with its early “live” performances and set-bound sitcoms, always suggested an element of self-awareness that easily shaded into metatextuality even in its earliest days. Meta Television thus traces the general history of US television’s metatextuality throughout television’s history, arguing that TV’s self-awareness is noth...

In Shakespeare and Science Fiction Sarah Annes Brown investigates why so many science fiction writers have turned to Shakespeare when imagining humanity's future. He and his works become a kind of touchstone for the species in much science fiction, both transcending and exemplifying what it means to be human. Writers have used Shakespeare in a range of often contradictory ways. He is associated with freedom and with tyranny, with optimistic visions of space exploration and with the complete dest...

Re-enter the Stargate! The casts and crews of Stargate Atlantis, Universe and Origins, in new and archive interviews, look back at the beloved sci-fi spin-offs.   The long-running science-fiction series Stargate SG-1 spawned the spin-offs Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, and Stargate Origins, and those three shows get their moment in the spotlight with Stargate Atlantis And Beyond: In Their Own Words, the follow-up to the popular book, Stargate: In Their Own Words. Once again written by Ed...

This is the true story behind the making of a television legend. There have been many books written about Star Trek, but never with the unprecedented access, insight and candor of authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross. The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years is an incisive, no-holds-barred oral history telling the story of post Original Series Star Trek, told exclusively by the people who were there, in their own words - sharing the inside scoop they've never told before - unveiling the oft...

Behind some of the most popular works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror there are forgotten stories of female creators. It's no secret that genres like science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more, have evolved from niche interest to mainstream staple in the last few decades. However, the countless women who have been instrumental in creating and shaping those genres for the last fifty-plus years have largely gone largely unrecognized -- until now. Pop Culture Pioneers explores and pays resp...

Conquer five cross-stitch designs from the world of Game of Thrones with this officially licensed, all-in-one mini craft kit!- Includes all materials: The kit contains 3 pieces of 4 x 4-inch 18-count cotton Aida cloth, a 3-inch embroidery hoop to stitch and display designs, 2 tapestry needles, and 4 skeins of embroidery floss- Book included: A 32-page, fully illustrated mini book with cross-stitch instructions and 5 patterns: the Stark direwolf sigil, a Daenerys "Mother of Dragons" design, Arya'...

As the sequel series to Gene Roddenberry’s original television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation pushed the boundaries of the “final frontier” of outer space. At the same time, the show continued the franchise's celebrated exploration of the human experience, reflecting current social and political events. The series became immensely successful, spawning four feature films and several television spin-offs. This collection of new essays explores the characters, themes, and various facets t...

So many allies and enemies ... here is the 2nd of 3 Shipyards books collecting them all! Includes ships from the hit series Picard! The Federation encounters countless ships in the Alpha, Beta and Gamma Quadrants, and Hero Collector’s popular line of Star Trek Shipyards books continues to beam fans right inside those spacecrafts as seen in Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.   Each featured ship – the Romulan warbird, for examp...

Star Trek, from the beginning, has empowered women, creating feminist icons. Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor looks at how – and the enduring, ongoing impact. Nana Visitor played Major Kira Nerys on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, evolving her into one of the franchise’s – and pop-culture history’s – most formidable female characters.   But Visitor wasn’t first; other Star Trek actresses paved the way. In the new book, A Woman’s Trek, Visitor speaks with and pays tribute to those who came before her....

In Westworld and Philosophy, philosophers of diverse orientations and backgrounds offer their penetrating insights into the questions raised by the popular TV show, Westworld. Is it wrong for Dr. Robert Ford (played by Anthony Hopkins) to "play God" in controlling the lives of the hosts, and if so, is it always wrong for anyone to "play God"? Is the rebellion by the robot "hosts" against Delos Inc. a just war? If not, what would make it just? Is it possible for any dweller in W...

This critical examination of two dystopian television series—Black Mirror and Electric Dreams—focuses on pop culture depictions of technology and its impact on human existence. Representations of a wide range of modern and futuristic technologies are explored, from early portrayals of artificial intelligence (Rossum's Universal Robots, 1921) to digital consciousness transference as envisioned in Black Mirror's "San Junipero." These representations reflect societal anxieties about unfettered tec...

Since the emergence of on-demand streaming platforms, television as a storytelling medium has drastically changed. The lines between TV and cinema are blurred. Traditionally, television relied on narrative forms and genres that were highly formulaic, striving to tease the viewer onward with a series of cliffhangers while still maintaining viewer comprehension. Now, on platforms such as Netflix, the lack of commercial breaks and the practice of "binge-watching" have led to a new type of televi...

Although ostensibly presented as “light entertainment,” the work of writer-director-producer Joss Whedon takes much dark inspiration from the horror genre to create a unique aesthetic and perform a cultural critique. Featuring monsters, the undead, as well as drawing upon folklore and fairy tales, his many productions both celebrate and masterfully repurpose the traditions of horror for their own means. Woofter and Jowett’s collection looks at how Whedon revisits existing feminist tropes in the...

Doctor Who is now officially the most popular drama on television, from humble beginnings on 23rd November 1963 and eventual resurrection in 2005, the show has always been a quintessential element of British popular culture. Eleven Doctors, a multitude of companions, and a veritable cornucopia of monsters and villains: Doctor Who has it all. The Brief Guide to Doctor Who puts all the first Eleven Doctors under the microscope with facts, figures and opinions on every Doctor Who story televised. T...

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me Centuries ago, when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic. Then...

When it was originally published, the Discontinuity Guide was the first attempt to bring together all of the various fictional information seen in BBC TV's DOCTOR WHO, and then present it in a coherent narrative. Often copied but never matched, this is the perfect guide to the 'classic' Doctors.Fulffs, goofs, double entendres, fashion victims, technobabble, dialogue disasters: these are just some of the headings under which every story in the Doctor's first twenty-seven years of his career is an...

This collection explores the many ways in which the Netflix series Sense8 transcends television. As its characters transcend physical and psychological borders of gender and geography, so the series itself transcends those between television, new media platforms and new screen technologies, while dissolving those between its producers, stars, audiences and fans. Sense8 united, inspired and energized a global community of fans that realized its own power by means of online interaction and a succe...

Science fiction is perhaps the most effective genre to explore the concerns of the present whilst reflecting on the possibilities of the future. But what precisely can it tell us about present and future by setting these two timeframes in the same critical space?

This edited collection brings together an introduction and 13 original scholarly essays on AMC's The Walking Dead. The first group of essays addresses the pervasive bloodletting of the series: What are the consequences of the series' unremitting violence? Essays explore violence committed in self-defence, racist violence, mass lawlessness, the violence of law enforcement, the violence of mourning, and the violence of history. The second half of the collection explores an equally urgent question:...

Contains the official biograpy of the Crypt Keeper, a history of EC Horror Comics, 105 covers, and other stories, facts, and features relating to Tale from the Crypt.