This is an insider's tour, touching on the network's dizzying decision-making process, and the artists who have revolutionized the medium.
Reviews
A gracefully written grabber overflowing with affection and canny detail. Fans of 'quality TV drama series' will have a field day with Syracuse University professor Thompson's multidisciplinary examination of 'the return of the seri ous, literary, writer-based drama' over the past 15 years. Allotting full chapters to breakthrough series Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, Thompson reviews a bit more briefly the histories of 1980s classics Cagney & Lacey, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, thirtysomething, and China Beach and their 'quirky' 1990s successors Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure, and Picket Fences. 'The Future of Quality' chapter describes the networks' retreat from writer-based drama in the early 1990s and the return to it in series like NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Chicago Hope, and the number one hit, ER. This survey will appeal to several audiences: People readers will relish the gossip; Fortune readers will zero in on the economics of quality versus junk-food television; and readers monitoring media transmogrifications will find Thompson's analysis of TV's institutionalization of quality drama fascinating.



Book Information
ISBN 9780815605041
Author Robert J. Thompson
Format Paperback
Page Count 220
Imprint Syracuse University Press
Publisher Syracuse University Press
Weight(grams) 284g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 16mm