Watching TV Poker
by: Mark Andrejevic / University of Iowa
Andrejevic considers the cultural logic of the recent surge in televised poker tourneys.
Category: Volume 03
Redefining Indecency
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
Television networks fearful of steep fines and consumer backlash rush to ensure decency standards are upheld. This article looks at indecency in myriad of ways, from the Superbowl pre-game and half-time shows to the funeral of Coretta Scott King.
Do Good TV?
by: Laurie Ouellette / Queens College, CUNY
ABC’s programming shifts toward “do-good” reality shows. What can explain ABC’s foray into the helping culture?
TiVoing Childhood
by: Jason Mittell / Middlebury College
What is television to a child who only knows TiVo?
Rating the Runway: Project Runway and New York Fashion Week
by: Moya Luckett / New York University
Project Runway is an example of how recent reality television shows rely on viewer responses to help construct the narrative. the show maintains a distinct textual presence while they advocate viewer participation, play with the idea of permeable and non-permeable textual boundaries and highlight the different ways in which we can access ‘the real world.’
Stripping (Part 2)
by: Daniel Marcus / Goucher College
How does stripping popular series for syndication affect the how viewers receive actors, subplots, and secondary characters? In the final installment of his two-part series on stripping, Marcus explores the impact of syndication practices and raises some interesting questions about how cable channels and DVD technology alter how we watch TV.
Truth and Beauty
by: Christopher Anderson / Indiana University
Perhaps it’s time to focus a bit more of our attention on the technology, industry, and visualization strategies of medical imaging.
“Big Man on Campus Ladies”
by: Walter Metz / Montana State University
Metz discusses the Oxygen TV show Campus Ladies and the so-called outrageous collegiate lives, the politicization of academia and the “vitriol reserved at this moment of American culture for professors.”
Micro-Ethnographies of the Screen: Sundance 2006
by: Dan Leopard / St. Mary’s College of California
A discussion of the small screens, Sundance, and the future of independent film distribution.
Merging With Diversity, or, Got MLK?
by: Jonathan Gray / Fordham University
Will the upcoming merger between the WB and UPN networks result in the whitewashing of what little African American programming network television has mustered thus far?
“Ad”ing by Subtraction
by: Chandler Harriss / Alfred University
How do you know you’re “too old” for advertisers (and therefore networks) to cater to you? Perhaps when you’re at home on Saturday night….
Lessons from the Undead: How Film and TV Zombies Teach Us About War
by: Heather Hendershot / Queens College
How zombies are used to make potent anti-war statements.