Recent episodes of Doctor Who and Supernatural take up the narrative of storyteller as God, raising questions about our fascination with the auteur.
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TV
In the Beginning Was the Word
What Are You Missing? Apr 28 – May 11
Ten (or more) media industry news items you might have missed recently.
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Letterman’s “Stooge of the Night” and Late Night Politics
Within the context of network late night television, David Letterman's shaming of senators opposed to gun control is startlingly bold.
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All My Commodities: Valuing the Online Soap Opera
Prospect Park’s soap opera strategy tests traditional conceptions of televisual value within an evolving space of digital distribution.
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Murder, Rape, and More Murder on “Quality” TV
Onscreen violence against women has made several otherwise compelling programs unwatchable.
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Aereo and “Free” Broadcasting
Considering the larger historical context of the broadcasters' objections to Aereo, how might this case reflect how broadcasters are revising their commitment to "free" television?
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Young Faces, Fast Cars, and the Other NBCs
Grandpa Peacock may be floundering, but the kids—MSNBC and NBC Sports Network—are holding their own.
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More than Logos: AMC, FX, and Cable Branding
Whereas AMC’s new slogan reflects its consistent lack of direction, FX’s brand extension embodies its continuous push forward.
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Framing a Legacy: The Office‘s Diegetic Documentary
While The Office's documentary aesthetic has often led to the assumption the show itself was the final product, the choice to position the diegetic documentary as public television and a successful international export pushes against this assumption in interesting ways.
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WWE vs. Glenn Beck: Potshots to Publicity, Controversy to Cash
While the issue is ostensibly about the negative portrayal of the Tea Party, Glenn Beck and WWE have taken advantage of the situation for publicity.
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“We Saw Your Misogyny”: The Oscars & Seth MacFarlane
The controversy surrounding Seth MacFarlane's hosting of the 2013 Oscars offers an opportunity to have productive discussions about the role of the media in shaping ideology.
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One World, Two Ways In (For Some): Syfy’s Defiance
While Defiance may seek to expand its focus beyond a primarily male audience, as a broader transmedia initiative it highlights the gendered realities of convergent media practices.
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An Entourage Movie? Why?
Entourage may have already given HBO’s parent company Time Warner all that it’s capable of giving.
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The Advertisements of Super Bowl XLVII: On Dodge’s ‘Farmer’
This wasn't such an interesting Super Bowl in terms of commercials, but one spot for the Ram truck line stood out to us. Was there an ad that seemed particularly notable to you?
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Current TV, Al Jazeera America, and the Experience of the Foreign
The sale of U.S. cable station Current TV to the Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera raises questions about how a foreign network might explain Americans to themselves. Might Al Jazeera provide a foreign lens for Americans to examine themselves? What would that even look like?
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