A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
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.
An Arresting Development
by: Jason Mittell / Middlebury College
What can the cancellation of Arrested Development tell us about the present and future state of the television industry?
Devils in the Details
by: Christine Becker / University of Notre Dame
HDTV and the future of television — what are the possibilities?
Broadcasting Is Dead, Long Live Broadcasting
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
As Internet companies move towards increasing video content they have begun to look to television as a model. What lessons can be learned from the history of broadcast as Internet/TV convergence gains momentum? In 4 case studies of Internet/TV convergence, the issues of access, fair use and public initiatives are explored and critiqued.
Speculation with Spoilers
by: Jonathan Gray / Fordham University
It is now possible to discover upcoming plot twists in your favorite television series with a little internet research. How does the proliferation of “spoilers” in online fan communities change the way we understand television spectatorship?
“You Got to Know When to Hold Em”: Notes Against the Academicization of Television
by: Walter Metz / University of Montana-Bozeman
The relentless pressure to be taken seriously must not prevent TV scholars from admitting that on occasion, like the average viewers, they do slack in front of the tube. Metz watches “Poker TV” or even the Simpson’s just for their saccharine appeals and for relaxation purposes.
The Worst Happened
by: Cynthia Fuchs / George Mason University
While remaining largely unnoticed, Discovery Times’ Off to War provides a much needed perspective on the war in Iraq.
TV in the Season of Compassion Fatigue
by: Diane Negra / University of East Anglia
What, ultimately, drives the production and consumption of television disaster coverage?
The August Audience
by: Jonathan Gray / Fordham University
While television networks are rolling out their lineups of new shows this month, many potential viewers have already decided which programs they will tune in to, and which they will actively avoid. How does pre-season marketing play in to the way audiences interpret television texts, and how do we analyze those readings as critics in television studies?
Teen Choice Awards: Better Than The Emmys?
by: Sharon Ross / Columbia College Chicago
Hidden behind the surfboards is an awards show that celebrates much of what the Emmys have overlooked.
Bring the War Home: Iraq War Stories from Steven Bochco and Cindy Sheehan
by: Aniko Bodroghkozy / University of Virginia
What Over There and the coverage of Cindy Sheehan can tell us about who has a stake in the current war in Iraq.
To Have and Have not (You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone)
by: John Hartley / Queensland University of Technology
The afterlife of Dead Like Me on Australian cable television and the pleasures and perturbances of watching an already-in-the-grave series.