Seeing It on Television: Televisuality in the Contemporary US 'High-end' Series investigates new categories of high-end drama and explores the appeal of programmes from Netflix, Sky Atlantic/HBO, National Geographic, FX and Cinemax. An investigation of contemporary US Televisuality provides insight into the appeal of upscale programming beyond facts about its budget, high production values and/or feature cinematography. Rather, this book focuses on how the construction of meaning often relies on cultural discourse, production histories, as well as on tone, texture or performance, which establishes the locus of engagement and value within the series. Max Sexton and Dominic Lees discuss how complex production histories lie behind the rise of the US high-end series, a form that reflects industrial changes and the renegotiation of formal strategies. They reveal how the involvement of many different people in the production process, based on new relationships of creative authority, complicates our understanding of 'original content'. This affects the construction of stylistics and the viewing strategies required by different shows. The cultural, as well as industrial, strategies of recent television drama are explored in The Young Pope, The Knick, Stranger Things, Mars, Fargo, The Leftovers, Boardwalk Empire, and Vinyl.

Kirk Rush is a struggling English screenwriter who is obsessed by the action TV shows of the 1980s. Now he's finally been offered his dream job of writing The A-Team movie - provided he can set it in the Gulf War and make Face bisexual. But Kirk's attempts to knuckle down to his script are thwarted by the news that his younger sister Denise has taken herself off dialysis in Miami and is planning to commit assisted suicide with the help of the notorious Dr Death and his 'Sisters of Mercy'. It will take all of his powers of imagination, not to mention the assistance of KITTSCH (his Knight Rider car-cum-conscience) to help him on his heroic quest to save her.

Finalist, 2020 Latino Book Awards, Best Academic Themed Book The surprising effects of American TV on global viewers As a dominant cultural export, American television is often the first exposure to American ideals and the English language for many people throughout the world. Yet, American television is flawed, and, it represents race, class, and gender in ways that many find unfair and unrealistic. What happens, then, when people who grew up on American television decide to come to the United States? What do they expect to find, and what do they actually find? In America, As Seen on TV, Clara E. Rodríguez surveys international college students and foreign nationals working or living in the US to examine the impact of American television on their views of the US and on their expectations of life in the United States. She finds that many were surprised to learn that America is racially and economically diverse, and that it is not the easy-breezy, happy endings culture portrayed in the media, but a work culture. The author also surveys US-millennials about their consumption of US TV and finds that both groups share the sense that American TV does not accurately reflect racial/ethnic relations in the US as they have experienced them. However, the groups differ on how much they think US TV has influenced their views on sex, smoking and drinking. America, As Seen on TV explores the surprising effects of TV on global viewers and the realities they and US millennials actually experience in the US.

America in the 1950s: the world was not so much a stage as a setpiece for TV, the new national phenomenon. It was a time when how things looked--and how we looked--mattered, a decade of design that comes to vibrant life in As Seen on TV. From the painting-by-numbers fad to the public fascination with the First Lady's apparel to the television sensation of Elvis Presley to the sculptural refinement of the automobile, Marling explores what Americans saw and what they looked for with a gaze newly trained by TV. A study in style, in material culture, in art history at eye level, this book shows us as never before those artful everyday objects that stood for American life in the 1950s, as seen on TV.

What's going on with the rise of tv law programs - both fictional and documentary, and how does that affect our lives and real court rooms.

Youth Fantasies is a collection of studies conducted in cross-cultural collaboration over the past ten years that theorizes 'youth fantasy'; as manifested through the media of TV, film, and computer games. Unlike other media studies and education books, the authors employ both Lacanian and Kleinian psychoanalytic concepts to attempt to make sense of teen culture and the influence of mass media. The collection includes case studies of X-Files fans, the influence of computer games and the 'Lara Croft' phenomenon, and the reception of Western television by Tanzanian youth. The authors see this book as a much needed reconciliation between cultural studies and Lacanian psychoanalysis, and attempt to highlight why Lacan is important to note when exploring youth fantasy and interest in the media, especially in shows like X-Files .

Do you want thicker, fuller hair? How about a bigger bustline? A smaller waistline? Or buns of steel? Are you troubled by garden pests, unsightly stains, or an inexplicable desire to look like Richard Simmons? If you answered "Yes" to these questions, we can't really help you. But you might enjoy As Seen on TV, an illustrated history of the greatest gizmos and gadgets ever hawked on television. Here are the real-life stories of Ginsu Knives, K-Tel Records, the Clapper, the Thighmaster, NordicTrack, Time-Life Books, and dozens of other products that have broken the backs of UPS delivery men everywhere. This nostalgic tribute is jam-packed with color photography, fascinating trivia, and loads of fun. You'll learn the secrets of the perfect pitch from As Seen on TV pioneer Ron Popeil. You'll discover unauthorized uses for your favorite products (yes, Virginia, you can eat your Chia Pet sprouts). And you'll find out which of TV's biggest celebrities--from Florence Henderson to Ricardo Montalban--would agree to hawk diet aids, ab-blasters, blemish removers, and teeth whiteners. But that's not all! Purchase this incredible volume today, and we'll give you an extra chapter on the Auto Hammer, Bacon Magic, and The Craftmatic Adjustable Bed--absolutely free!

From an established author with a growing international profile in media studies, Media/Theory is an accessible yet challenging guide to ways of thinking about media and communications in modern life. Shaun Moores draws on ideas from a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, and expertly connects the analysis of media and communications with key themes in contemporary social theory. Examining core issues of time and space, Moores also examines matters of interactions, signification and identity, and argues that media studies is bound up in the wider processes of the modern world and not just about studying the media. This book makes a distinctive contribution towards rethinking the shape and direction of media studies today, and for students at advanced undergraduate or postgraduate level.

The overview of television criticism, which this book provides, comes appropriately at a moment of change. Television is becoming dramatically different as a result of new and developing technologies such as cable, HDTV, satellite transmission and broadband distributions. By concentrating on the still-dominant notion of television, what the authors call "Classical Network Television," they argue that it is as important to understand this model as it is to understand Classical Hollywood Cinema. The co-authors have a unique approach to the study of television, viewing its history and reception not only through important articles about the medium, but also through analyzing how Hollywood auteur cinema has commented on television over the decades, in films such as Tootsie, Network, The Last Picture Show, A Face in the Crowd, Rollerball, The King of Comedy and others. Not only does this reflect the pervasive use of cinema theory to discuss television, it also helps to emphasize the importance of clarifying the distinctions between the criticisms of the two media. Television at the Movies argues that the study of television is a crucial aspect of understanding our recent and contemporary culture, and it provides an illuminating point of entry for students and researchers in the field.

Managing Television News provides a practical introduction to the television news producer, one of the most significant and influential roles in a newscast. The book provides critical skill sets to help resolve ethical dilemmas, as well