Television in Transition (eBook)

The Life and Afterlife of the Narrative Action Hero

Shawn Shimpach (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2010
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
9781444320688 (ISBN)

Infos

Combining an exciting methodology alongside high-interest case studies, Television in Transition offers students of television a guide to a medium that has weathered the challenges of first-run syndication, a multi-channel universe, netlets, major media conglomerates, deregulation, and globalization--all in the space of twenty years.

• Examines a return in television programming to action narratives with individual (super) heroes intended to navigate this new, international, multi-channel universe
• Explores how television programming 'translates' to new spatial geographies: different nations, cultures, broadcast systems; and different formats, distribution outlets, and screen sizes
• Looks at the value of a program's 'afterlife,' the continued circulation, repackaging and repurposing of programming beyond its initial iteration
• Blends institutional and textual analyses in case studies of Highlander: The Series, Smallville, 24, and Doctor Who

Shawn Shimpach is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research has appeared in the online scholarly fourm FLOW, as well as in many journals, including Social Semiotics and Cultural Studies and in the collectin Media and Public Sphere.

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Combining an exciting methodology alongside high-interest case studies, Television in Transition offers students of television a guide to a medium that has weathered the challenges of first-run syndication, a multi-channel universe, netlets, major media conglomerates, deregulation, and globalization--all in the space of twenty years. Examines a return in television programming to action narratives with individual (super) heroes intended to navigate this new, international, multi-channel universe Explores how television programming "e;translates"e; to new spatial geographies: different nations, cultures, broadcast systems; and different formats, distribution outlets, and screen sizes Looks at the value of a program's "e;afterlife,"e; the continued circulation, repackaging and repurposing of programming beyond its initial iteration Blends institutional and textual analyses in case studies of Highlander: The Series, Smallville, 24, and Doctor Who

Inhalt

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: The Time and Space of Television in
Transition.

1 Television in Transition.

2 The Hero.

3 How to Watch Television.

4 Highlander: The Immortal Cosmopolitan.

5 Smallville: "No Flights, No Tights": Doing Business with
Superman.

6 24: In Real Time.

7 Doctor Who: Regeneration through Time and (Relative Dimensions
in) Space.

Conclusion: Do We Need Another Hero?

Notes.

References.

Index.

Rezensionen

"Shawn Shimpach's Television in Transition is a timely and original
study of the complex industrial and textual dynamics of
contemporary televisoin production. . . Like the industry it
examines, Television in Transition's thesis is multifaceted, but
Shimpach does an excellent job in guiding the reader through the
new narratives and spatio-temporal configurations of TVIII."
(Popular Communication, 12 July 2011)

"Shimpach's canny book shows how these uncertain times reveal
a cultural and corporate desire--in on-screen heroics
and industrial antics alike---to
"save" television ... even as it transforms before our
very eyes." John Hartley, author of "Television
Truths"

"With trenchant insight and far-reaching interpretation, Shawn
Shimpach confronts transformations in the media landscape that
dramatically are changing the fundamental experience of TV
today. Most impressively, he demonstrates richly productive
ways to combine industry analysis with close reading of individual
programs in order to account for continuities and breaks in what
television now means in our everyday life. This is destined
to be a major work in television studies." Dana Polan,
Cinema Studies, New York University author of The Sopranos
(Duke University Press) and Julia Child's The French
Chef (forthcoming, Duke)

"Shimpach has written a smart and savvy book that connects the
new industrial configurations of American television to the texts
it produces. He examines aesthetics, narrative, and genre
while accounting for the ideological workings of gender and
incorporating an international perspective." Roberta Pearson,
University of Nottingham

"Shimpach eloquently describes the impact of new global business
forces in the TV industry through an insightful examination of four
different kinds of heroes. His analysis reveals new ways to think
about what stories TV can tell about heroism in the 2000s."
Sharon Ross, Columbia College Chicago

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.2.2010
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: Communication & Media Studies • Fernsehen u. Radio • Kommunikation u. Medienforschung • television studies, programming, multi-channel, television history, narrative, hero, global television • TV & Radio
• ISBN-13: 9781444320688 / 9781444320688