History & Criticism

When the space drama Battlestar Galactica debuted on ABC in 1978, it was expected to be the most popular new program of the year. Instead, it was attacked as a Star Wars rip-off and canceled after a mere 17 stories. The author acknowledges the show was...

These new essays examine the many ways that issues of gender and sexuality intersect with other identities and practices--including race, religion, disability, music and education--on the Fox hit program Glee. With gender and sexuality concerns at the...

One of the most critically-acclaimed television series of all time, Arrested Development is widely hailed as a cutting-edge comedy that broke the traditional sitcom mold. The winner of six Emmys, the series was canceled by Fox in 2006, only to be...

Ingrid Bergman was not only an incomparable beauty but one of the finest actresses of cinema's Golden Age. She made her start in modest productions in Sweden before Hollywood beckoned and soon became one of filmdom's brightest stars. She appeared in many...

An exciting new strand in The Television Series, the 'Moments in Television' collections celebrate the power and artistry of television, whilst interrogating key critical concepts in television scholarship.Each 'Moments' book is organised around a...

Debuting in 2019, Disney+ quickly became one of the most popular streaming services worldwide. With hubs for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, Disney+ not only provides "vault" content from these brands but also original films...

The heroes, villains, and monsters portrayed in such popular science fiction television series as Heroes, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Doctor Who, and Torchwood, as well as Joss Whedon's many series, illustrate a shift from traditional,...

A spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D. became successful in its own right. The show aired from 1969 through 1971 and was consistently in the top 15 of the Nielsen ratings. Its demise was caused by the sudden elimination of...

By 1960, watching television had become the pastime of millions of viewers around the world. Week after week, audiences tuned in to watch their favorite programs and catch up with their favorite characters. During the 1960s, some of the most beloved...

Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s is the logical sequel to an earlier work also by Bob Leszczak titled Single Season Sitcoms 1948-1979, A Complete Guide. The decade of the 80s is presently being viewed with much reverence, and television programs,...

Rod Serling's anthology series The Twilight Zone is recognized as one of the greatest television shows of all time. Always intelligent and thought-provoking, the show used the conventions of several genres to explore such universal qualities as...

Before it reached television, science fiction existed on the printed page, in comic books, and on movie screens for decades. Adapting science fiction to the new medium posed substantial challenges: Small viewing screens and limited production facilities...

Once the major Hollywood studios got over their loathing of television as an entertainment medium, they moved quickly to try to dominate both domestic and international programming. In the United States, the eight major studios controlled an...

A number of books and articles have been written ranking the best situation comedies of all time. These have all had something in common-subjective criteria based on the authors' opinions. This book attempts an objective ranking of the best 100 American...

Monty Python's Flying Circus was one of the most important and influential cultural phenomena of the 1970s. The British program was followed by albums, stage appearances, and several films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and...

The critically-acclaimed BBC television series Sherlock (2010 - ) re-envisions Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective for the digital age, joining participants in the active traditions of Sherlockians/Holmesians and fans from other communities, including...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781612299181Author Josh MachamerFormat HardbackPage Count 148Imprint Common Ground PublishingPublisher Common Ground PublishingWeight(grams)...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781559361897Author Mark BlyFormat PaperbackPage Count 260Imprint Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S.Publisher Theatre Communications Group Inc.,U.S...

It has been said that M*A*S*H was a show set in the 1950s which reflected the shifting values of the 1970s and early 1980s. Hawkeye Pierce, Radar O'Reilly, Trapper John McIntyre, Sherman Potter, Margaret (Hot Lips) Houlihan, B.J. Hunnicutt, Frank...

This inside look at the production of 20th century television commercials begins with a review of advertising's beginnings going through the 1960s and early 1970s. The author, a career "Mad man," recounts lightheartedly his experiences on commercial...

According to Joss Whedon, the creator of the short-lived series Firefly (2002), the cult show is about "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things." The chronicles of crewmembers on a scruffy space freighter, Firefly...

Television screens in the 1980s reflected some of the most memorable programs of all time. In that decade, such critically acclaimed shows as Cheers, The Golden Girls, Hill Street Blues, Newhart, and St. Elsewhere debuted. In that same decade, iconic...

Often regarded as the first golden era of television, the 1950s was a decade when many classic programs-from I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke to The Honeymooners and Perry Mason, among others-made their debuts. Even after these shows departed the airwaves, they...

Widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, The Sopranos is also considered one of the most significant achievements in contemporary American culture. IThe series spearheaded the launch of a new wave of quality programming that...

Stories of time travel have been part of science fiction since H. G. Wells sent his nameless hero hurtling into Earth's distant future in The Time Machine. Time travel enables the storyteller to depict alternate realities, bring fictional characters face...

Rachel E. Dubrofsky examines the reality TV series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in one of the first book-length feminist analysis of the reality TV genre. The research found in The Surveillance of Women on Reality TV: Watching The Bachelor and The...

Originally known as a brand for greeting cards, Hallmark has seen a surge in popularity since the early 2010s for its made-for-TV movies and television channels: the Hallmark Channel and its spinoffs, Hallmark Movie Channel (now Hallmark Movies &...

Since the 1990s and the recent rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been a rise in diverse racial representation on television. In particular, Black characters evolved and began to move away from racial stereotypes. In this collection of...

Television has historically been largely ineffective at representing queerness in its various forms. In the 21st century, however, as same-sex couples have seen increasing mainstream acceptance, and a broader range of queer characters has appeared in...

How is the android Data like Shakespeare's character Hamlet? Is the vengeful Khan (original series episode "Space Seed" and the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) an echo of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick? The links between Star Trek and literature are...

The CW's hit adaptation of Supergirl is tailor-made for pop culture criticism and scholarship in the post-#MeToo era. The series features a new take on the classic DC character of Supergirl, updating it for a new audience and the modern moment. With a...

Bette Davis as a madam. Orson Welles hosting The Twilight Zone. Mae West voicing a cartoon character. Shirley Temple playing a social worker. While Hollywood stars like Lucille Ball, Loretta Young and Donna Reed successfully transitioned to television in...

What do Euphoria, Normal People, Atlanta, Ramy, Vida, I May Destroy You, Stranger Things, and Lovecraft Country have in common? In the 2016-2020 time period they were created, these TV shows exemplified one (or more) of four noteworthy trends:...

When the Television Food Network launched in 1993, its programming was conceived as educational: it would teach people how to cook well, with side trips into the economics of food and healthy living. Today, however, the network is primarily known for...

Male-female detective pairings often exhibit offbeat, dark humor and considerable chemistry as they investigate crimes. They have proven to be both entertaining and alluring on screen and television. This work reveals an evolutionary progression in...

For more than 30 years, Lifetime has aired a broad range of programming, including original movies, sitcoms, dramas and reality shows. As other networks dedicated to women have come and gone, Lifetime continues to thrive in an ever-expanding cable...

This collection of new essays focuses on The CW network's hit television series Arrow--based on DC Comic's Green Arrow--and its spin-offs The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. Comic book adaptations have been big business for film studios...

One of the most original shows in the history of television, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a beloved cult hit built on the back of another cult phenomenon: the bad movie. The show's premise involved a man and some robots watching cheesy movies and...

One of the first full-length academic projects on the television series Smallville, this collection of new essays explains why the WB/CW series is important to understanding contemporary popular culture. The essays are presented in four sections covering...

During its 33-season run, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968-2001) left an indelible mark on millions of children and their caregivers. Perhaps no series in the history of children's television has done more to develop the identity and ethics of the...