Television Criticism

PART I: ORIENTATION Chapter 1: The Work of the Critic Introduction The Ends of Criticism Journalistic Television Criticism The Critical Stance Criticism and Culture Narrative and Contextual Reality Critical Categories and Critical Choices The Familiar and the Unfamiliar in Television Critical Orientation Chapter 2: Demystifying the Business of Television Introduction The Impact of the Internet and the Role of Advertising, Schedules, and Ratings The Strategies of Television Advertising Product Promotion Within Television Programs Product Placement Scheduling and Advertising The Production of a Television Show The Production Team PART II: FORMAL ASPECTS OF TELEVISION Chapter 3: Production Techniques and Television Style Introduction Length of Shot and Framing Multi-Camera Production Reaction Shots Lighting Production on Film Versus Digital Video Style, Reception, and Digital Video Practices Camera Choice Follows Function Television Sound and Editing Production Styles Art Direction The Split Screen Directors Actors Chapter 4: Television, the Nation's Storyteller Introduction Storytelling and the Human Condition The Nature of Narrative Narrative Theories Narrative Structure Intertextuality Characters Archetypes Myth Chapter 5: Television Genres Introduction Television Genre, Production, and Scheduling The Rules for Classifying Genres Genre and Television Criticism Comedy Talk Shows News Magazine Shows Drama Soap Opera Science Fiction Reality Shows Sports Children's Television Game Shows Other Genres PART III: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO TELEVISION CRITICISM Chapter 6: Rhetoric and Culture Introduction Rhetoric Cultural Studies Chapter 7: Representation and Its Audience Introduction What Is Representation? Television Representation Interpreting Representation Reception of Televisual Images Symbols The Illusion of Reality The Need for Images Representation of the "Other" Advice for Television Critics Representation and Collective Memory Chapter 8: Postmodernism Introduction Postmodernism Defined Postmodern Television The Influence of MTV Postmodern Theories PART IV: CRITICAL APPLICATIONS Chapter 9: Guidelines for Television Criticism Introduction Critical Orientation Story and Genre Organization Demographics Context The Look of the Program and Its Codes Analysis Judgment Writing Television Criticism Chapter 10: Sample Criticism of a Television Program: The Big Bang Theory-Season 8, Episode 824, "The Commitment Determination" Introduction Thesis Purpose Description of The Big Bang Theory Production Information Description of the Episode Questions for Analysis Analysis and Interpretation