NYU Press How to Watch Television, Second Edition: 3 (User's Guides to Popular Culture)

A new edition that brings the ways we watch and think about television up to the presentWe all have opinions about the television shows we watch, but television criticism is about much more than simply evaluating the merits of a particular show and deeming it "good" or "bad." Rather, criticism uses the close examination of a television program to explore that program's cultural significance, creative strategies, and its place in a broader social context.How to Watch Television, Second Edition brings together forty original essays-more than half of which are new to this edition-from today's leading scholars on television culture, who write about the programs they care (and think) the most about. Each essay focuses on a single television show, demonstrating one way to read the program and, through it, our media culture. From fashioning blackness in Empire to representation in Orange is the New Black and from the role of the reboot in Gilmore Girls to the function of changing political atmospheres in Roseanne, these essays model how to practice media criticism in accessible language, providing critical insights through analysis-suggesting a way of looking at TV that students and interested viewers might emulate. The contributors discuss a wide range of television programs past and present, covering many formats and genres, spanning fiction and non-fiction, broadcast, streaming, and cable. Addressing shows from TV's earliest days to contemporary online transformations of the medium, How to Watch Television, Second Edition is designed to engender classroom discussion among television critics of all backgrounds. Review [I]t is a damn good collection, featuring 40 different contributions from American scholars, plus Matt Hills from Aberystwyth and Roberta Pearson from Nottingham. Their contributions are organised under five main themes: Aesthetics and Style;TV Representations: Social Identity and Cultural Politics;TV Politics: Democracy, Nation, and the Public Interest;TV Industry: Industrial Practices and Structures; and TV Practices: Medium, Technology, and Everyday Life. As with television schedules, it is easy to flick and pick and read. Indeed, the editors in their Introduction actively encourage & readers to go straight to a particular program or approach that interests them.--Geoff Lealand, CST Online Ask anyone in Hollywood and they'll tell you the movies are dead. TV is where its at, and this book will show you why. Thompson and Mittell offer an essential guide to television today, featuring the most insightful critics writing about the most creative and engaging shows. Whether student, fan, or TV professional, it belongs on your bookshelf.--Michael Curtin, co-author of The American Television Industry There's not a single dull page in this book.--Jose Solis, Popmatters There's quite simply no book out there that can match this in scope and quality. The contributors are a 'Who's Who' of contemporary television studies, and the prose is engaging and highly readable. If you're looking for models of how to think about television from a range of perspectives, you need look no further.--Greg M. Smith, author of Beautiful TV: The Art and Argument of Ally McBeal This book, unlike the manual that comes with your TV set, is utterly readable, highly engaging, and worth referring back to, long after you've switched on your favorite channel. . . . Regardless of which essay one chooses to tune in to, How to Watch Television is an accessible and impressive group of essays by a powerhouse cast of television scholars.--Journal of American Culture This second edition ensures that this title will remain a staple of television studies courses, and the accessible style welcomes students and general readers to explore these essays and see their favorite television shows in new ways.-- "CHOICE" What happens when you give 40 smart television scholars ten pages each to write about a television show that interests the