History & Criticism

In the early 1950s, when television networks did not broadcast regular programming before 11 a.m., radio and newspapers were the most popular and reliable ways for Americans to get their morning news. Then, Sylvester (Pat) Weaver, vice president of...

In a richly developed fictional universe, Doctor Who, a wandering survivor of a once-powerful alien civilization, possesses powers beyond human comprehension. He can bend the fabric of time and space with his TARDIS, alter the destiny of worlds, and...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781598511123Author Mike OlszewskiFormat PaperbackPage Count 189Imprint Gray & Company PublishersPublisher Gray & Company PublishersWeight(grams)...

In the 1990s the big three networks were being challenged by upstarts FOX and the WB for viewer loyalty. Alongside must-see stalwarts like Frasier, Friends, and Seinfeld, the new networks introduced pop culture touchstones like Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

American Ideal: How American Idol Constructs Celebrity, Collective Identity, and American Discourses by Amanda Scheiner McClain provides an insightful analysis of the popular television show American Idol and explores contemporary notions of celebrity,...

Toward the end of the twentieth century, science fiction television took a dark turn. Series like The X-Files, Millennium, and Dark Skies wove menacing technologies, paranormal forces, and shadowy government agencies into complex tales of corruption and...

Television of the 1970s reflected the shifting attitudes of the nation, as more shows attempted to represent social changes across the country. Edgier programs like All in the Family and M*A*S*H pushed the boundaries of popular programming to become...

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics: Cultural Studies and the Tao of South Park argues that progressives should conceive the connections between media, policy, and culture beyond the limits of "politics" and "news." With sustained analyses of...

From Amos 'n' Andy to The Jeffersons to Family Matters to Chappelle's Show, this volume covers it all with entries on all different genres-animation, documentaries, sitcoms, sports, talk shows, and variety shows-and performers such as Muhammad Ali, Louis...

The Wire (2002-2008) was a searing exploration of post-9/11 America. It detailed the struggles of those living in America's disintegrating industrial heartlands and drug-ravaged neighborhoods, as well as those striving against the odds in its schools,...

With diverse contributions from scholars in English literature, psychology, and film and television studies, this collection of essays contextualizes Fringe as a postmodern investigation into what makes us human and as an examination of how technology...

First broadcast in the not too distant past on a television station in Minnesota, Mystery Science Theater 3000 soon grew out of its humble beginnings and found a new home on cable television. This simple show about a man and two robots forced to watch...

The O.C., A Critical Understanding, by Lori Bindig and Andrea M. Bergstrom, is a feminist cultural studies analysis of FOX's hit teen television drama The O.C. (2003-2007). Episodes of The O.C. are analyzed as a set of media texts that blur the...

Studying the Star Trek myth from the original 1960s series to the 2009 franchise-reboot film, this book challenges frequent accusations that the Star Trek saga refuses to represent queer sexuality. Arguing that Star Trek speaks to queer audiences...

Television's Community follows the shenanigans of a diverse group of traditional and nontraditional community college students: Jeff Winger, a former lawyer; Britta Perry, a feminist; Abed Nadir, a pop culture enthusiast; Shirley Bennett, a mother;...

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has for decades pursued the goal of unifying its homeland into a single sovereign nation, ending British rule in North Ireland. Over the years, the IRA has been dramatized in motion pictures directed by John Ford (The...

In the mid-20th century, Mickey Spillane was the sensation of not just mystery fiction but publishing itself. The level of sex and violence in his Mike Hammer thrillers (starting with I, the Jury in 1947) broke down long-held taboos and engendered a...

The Big Bang Theory's mix of humor, nerdy protagonists, sexy female leads and quirky characters have made the series one of CBS's most successful shows and have brought it international acclaim. Like Friends before it, The Big Bang Theory is touted...

What comes to mind when you think about superheroes? Strength, bravery, and heroism are common answers. However, superheroes do not only have physical strength, but they also have mental strengths and skills. Superheroes tend to have intelligence and...

Playing Doctor is an engaging and highly perceptive history of the medical TV series from its inception to the present day. Turow offers an inside look at the creation of iconic doctor shows as well as a detailed history of the programs, an analysis of...

Since its inception in November 1963, the British science fiction television series Doctor Who has exerted an enormous impact on the world of science fiction (over 1,500 books have been written about the show). The series follows the adventures of a...

Beyond the Box gives students and couch potatoes alike a better understanding of what it means to watch television in an era of profound technological change. Charts the revolution in television viewing that is currently underway in living rooms across...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780965618342Author Neil HagertyFormat PaperbackPage Count 68Imprint Drag CityPublisher Drag CityWeight(grams) 87g

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780385484398Author Thomas RichardsFormat PaperbackPage Count 208Imprint Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing GroupPublisher Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing...

Graduate students of media studies have benefited from a variety of books on television genres, yet lower level students lack resources that focus specifically on TV drama. With this genre now dominating this area of study, it is important for students...

For decades after its invention, television was considered by many to be culturally deficient when compared to cinema, as analyses rooted in communication studies and the social sciences tended to focus primarily on television's negative impact on...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781630450151Author Joel AllegrettiFormat PaperbackPage Count 348Imprint NYQ BooksPublisher NYQ BooksWeight(grams) 508gDimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 20mm

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781630450175Author Joel AllegrettiFormat HardbackPage Count 348Imprint NYQ BooksPublisher NYQ BooksWeight(grams) 662gDimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 24mm

Watching While Black Rebooted: The Television and Digitality of Black Audiences examines what watching while Black means in an expanded U.S. televisual landscape. In this updated edition, media scholars return to television and digital spaces to think...

This is the first book that examines how "ethnic spectacle" in the form of Asian and Latin American bodies played a significant role in the cultural Cold War at three historic junctures: the Korean War in 1950, the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and the...

The television industry is changing, and with it, the small screen's potential to engage in debate and present valuable representations of American history. Founded in 1972, HBO has been at the forefront of these changes, leading the way for many...

For the first 70 years of television, broadcasters dictated the terms of the viewing experience, deciding not only when but how much of a program an audience could watch. Binge-watching destroyed that model by placing control of the experience in the...

The origins of, and in many ways the prototype for, modern reality programming can be traced to Real People, a show that premiered on the NBC network in April of 1979. An instant ratings success, Real People appealed to an audience that clamored for...

First broadcast on HBO in 1998, Sex and the City quickly became a mainstream success. Following four women who navigate the promise and peril of social, political, and sexual relationships in New York, the series caused a stir in the popular media...

Real-world leaders hold the fates of companies, armies, and nations in their hands, but the leaders portrayed in science fiction play for larger stakes. Their decisions determine the survival of species, planets, or reality itself. They tend, therefore,...

Television Truths considers what we know about TV, whether we love it or hate it, where TV is going, and whether viewers should bother going along for the ride. This engaging volume, written by one of television's best known scholars, offers a new take...

We all have images that we find unwatchable, whether for ethical, political, or sensory and affective reasons. From news coverage of terror attacks to viral videos of police brutality, and from graphic horror films to transgressive artworks, many of the...

Coloring Whiteness pays homage to the ways that African American artists and performers have interrogated tropes and mythologies of whiteness to reveal racial inequalities, focusing on comedy sketches, street theater, visual art, video, TV journalism,...

"I just always had this vision of me being ...well, Donna Reed, you know. (Laughter) Donna Reed, only I never had the pearls." This comment is one of the many recorded in this book, a study of how women's views of television and the media relate to their...

When critics decry the current state of our public discourse, one reliably easy target is television news. It's too dumbed-down, they say; it's no longer news but entertainment, celebrity-obsessed and vapid. The critics may be right. But, as Charles L...