Television Entertainment [Paperback]

Television entertainment rules supreme, one of the worlds most important disseminators of information, ideas, and amusement. More than a parade of little figures in a box, it is deeply embedded in everyday life, in how we think, what we think and care about, and who we think and care about it with.

But is television entertainment art? Why do so many love it and so many hate or fear it? Does it offer a window to the world, or images of a fake world? How is it political and how does it address us as citizens? What powers does it hold, and what powers do we have over it? Or, for that matter, what is television these days, in an era of rapidly developing technologies, media platforms, and globalization? Written especially for students, Television Entertainmentaddresses these and other key questions that we regularly ask, or should ask. Jonathan Gray offers a lively and dynamic, thematically based overview with examples from recent and current television, including Lost, reality television, The Sopranos, The Simpsons, political satire, Greys Anatomy, The West Wing, soaps, and 24.

Introduction What Is Television Entertainment?  Chapter 1 Art with Strings Attached: Creativity, Innovation, and Industry  Chapter 2 Broadcasting Identities: Affect, Fantasy, and Meaning  Chapter 3 Television Unboxed: Expansion, Overflow, and Synergy  Chapter 4 Keeping it Real: Reality and Representation  Chapter 5 Plugged In: Politics and Citizenship  Chapter 6 Channel Interference: Television and Power  Bibliography  Index

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