While controversy is nothing new for reality TV, the political overtones of Bristol Palin's run on Dancing with the Stars illuminate the genre's tenuous relationship with the principles of democracy.
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Archive for November, 2010
Dancing with Democracy
Lessons from Los Angeles: Top Takeaways from the TV Academy (Part Two)
The second in our two-part series on the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences Foundation's faculty seminar.
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Lessons from Los Angeles: Top Takeaways from the TV Academy (Part One)
The first in our two-part series on the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences Foundation's faculty seminar.
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What Are You Missing? November 7-20
Ten (or more) media industry stories you might have missed recently.
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Not Dancing in Central Square
Last week, Viacom announced that it was planning to sell Harmonix and had already classified the Cambridge-based development studio as a “discontinued operation.”
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Late to the Party: Twin Peaks (1990-91)
Welcome to our new feature, Late to the Party. Each week, our contributors will consume and report on a canonical or otherwise significant piece of media that they have missed until now. First up: Myles McNutt on Twin Peaks.
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Araña: The State of Latinidad in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics has quietly responded to the increased presence of Latinos in America with a corresponding, if tentative, increase in the number of Latino Marvel characters, as epitomized by this week's debut of a new Spider-Girl series starring Puerto Rican Anya Sofia Corazon.
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Analog Video and Derisive Laughter
What's so funny about old videotape?
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Replying with the Enemy: Showrunners on Twitter II
For showrunners, the risks and rewards of replying to Twitter users are magnified: replying could create a sense of a personal relationship with their followers, but getting into long conversations with fans (especially antagonistic fans) could spark controversy.
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Conan and the Warm Embrace of Narrowcasting
Basic cable might turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to Conan O'Brien.
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Media, Mothers, and Me
CBS's The Good Wife doesn't shy away from the challenges its protagonist faces in negotiating her adult life, something more than we tend to expect to see on television, where story lines often trade in emotionally false dichotomies.
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What Are You Missing? Oct 24-Nov 6
Ten (or more) media industry stories you might have missed recently.
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Rehabilitating the Investment in Sports Stardom
Nike tries to give LeBron James a chance to address his off-season controversy in a new 90-second ad while re-establishing the commodity of sports stardom.
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The Flying Frenchman: Édouard Carpentier, 1926-2010
Precursor to what would now be called a "sports entertainer," the athletic Carpentier came into his own as wrestling expanded its influence on North American pop culture through television and film.
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Are Bodies Politically Meaningful? Report from The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
What is the meaning of political bodies in a hypermediated world? If five hundred thousand of my best friends show up and the New York Times doesn't know how to read us, has Sanity occurred? A report from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
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