Big Brother

Reality TV in the Twenty-First Century

By: J. Bignell

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Hardcover | 1 March 2006 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
200 Pages

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21.6 x 14.0 x 1.27

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Jonathan Bignell presents a wide-ranging analysis of the television phenomenon of the early twenty-first century: Reality TV, exploring its cultural and political meanings, explaining the genesis of the form and its relationship to contemporary television production, and considering how it connects with, and breaks away from, factual and fictional conventions in television. Relationships with surveillance, celebrity and media culture are examined, leading to an appraisal of the directions that television culture is taking in the new century. His highly-readable style is accessible to readers at all levels of Culture and Media studies.

Industry Reviews

'Jonathan Bignell challenges traditional notions of the transnational flow of program material as he discusses reality television and deftly shows the links between reality television and the other television forms to which it is related as well as the genesis of the format in the new, multi-channel television environment. This book is a welcome addition to the study of reality television that will be accessible to undergraduate and graduate students in media studies and cultural criticism alike.' - Ronald J. Compesi, Professor, Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department, San Francisco State University, USA

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Paperback

Published: 1st March 2006

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Preface and Acknowledgements	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Genesis	p. 8
Introduction	p. 8
The documentary heritage	p. 10
The possibilities of production technologies	p. 13
Television institutions	p. 16
Risking Reality TV	p. 20
Reality TV as the end of documentary history	p. 25
Case Study: Wife Swap	p. 28
Conclusion	p. 31
The World is Watching	p. 33
Introduction	p. 33
Reality TV and theories of globalization	p. 34
International programmes and formats from Britain	p. 38
The globalization of privacy publicized	p. 40
Reality TV and television scheduling	p. 42
The globalization of institutional forms	p. 47
Local regulatory cultures	p. 49
Case Study: Big Brother as a transnational property	p. 53
Conclusion	p. 58
Reality TV	p. 60
Introduction	p. 60
Generic conventions and docusoap	p. 62
Docusoap, ordinariness and celebrity	p. 65
The aesthetics of Reality TV	p. 67
Reality TV and the public sphere	p. 70
The passion and revelation of the real	p. 72
Narration and mediation	p. 75
Case Study: The House series: simulation, recreation and education	p. 80
Conclusion	p. 86
Drama	p. 88
Introduction	p. 88
Narrative forms	p. 88
Performance and genre	p. 91
Characters	p. 94
Melodrama	p. 97
Dramatizing gender	p. 100
Reality TV and the displacement of drama	p. 103
From docusoap to drama	p. 106
Case Study: The Cruise, performance and authenticity	p. 110
Conclusion	p. 113
Surveillance	p. 117
Introduction	p. 117
The prison of the real	p. 118
Spaces of surveillance	p. 122
Discipline and confession	p. 126
Rights and regulations	p. 128
Threat and reassurance	p. 132
Car crash TV	p. 136
Case Study: witnessing and helping in Crimewatch UK	p. 138
Conclusion	p. 142
Big Brother Culture	p. 144
Introduction	p. 144
Cross-platform and intermedial texts	p. 146
Audience composition and modes of address	p. 147
Audience perceptions of Reality TV	p. 149
Television institutions and Reality TV audiences	p. 155
Television talk and gossip	p. 156
Poaching and fandom	p. 160
Case Study: The Osbournes, celebrity and multi-accentuality	p. 162
Conclusion	p. 169
Conclusion	p. 171
Bibliography	p. 178
Index	p. 185
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Big Brother

Reality TV in the Twenty-First Century

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Paperback

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