(5/9 Summer1 Classes Begin)
5/9 Course Introduction
5/10 Introduction: Why (and How) Do We Study Television?
“HumancentiPad,” South Park, (S15E01, 2011, 22’).
READ: Mittell, “Introduction: Why Television?”
- (background) du Gay, et al., “Introduction,” from Doing Cultural Studies.
- (optional) Smith, “Chapter 1: ‘It’s Just a Movie’: Why You Should Analyze Film and Television,” from What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss.
5/11 Introduction: Television Programming
The Making of South Park: 6 Days to Air (2011, 42’)
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 1: Exchanging Programming.”
View 60-75 minutes of linear television on one network (by 5/14 at the latest). Broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, or NBC) are preferable but not required.
5/12 Post-Network Programming
TV Journal Format Guidelines [DOC] [PDF].
READ: Butler, “Television’s Ebb and Flow in the Post Network Era,” in Television: Critical Methods and Applications.
5/16 Introduction: Television Audiences and Advertising
“Jack-Tor,” 30 Rock (S01E05, 2006, 27’)
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 2: Exchanging Audiences.”
- (optional) Nussbaum, “What Tina Fey Would Do for a SoyJoy.”
- (optional) Jenkins, “Buying into American Idol: How we are Being Sold on Reality TV ” from Convergence Culture.
5/17 The Television Business: TV’s Technological History
YouTube
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 11: Television’s Transforming Technologies.”
5/18 The Television Business: Post-Network Audiences and Platform Mobility
READ: Perren, “Business as Unusual: Conglomerate-Sized Challenges for Film and Television in the Digital Arena.”
5/19 The Television Business: Paid or “Free” TV?
READ: Newman, “Free TV: File-Sharing and the Value of Television (2011),” in Dines & Humez.
(5/22 Last day to drop Summer1 classes without a “W” grade)
5/23 Producing Television: The Showrunner
DUE: TV Journal #1 (4 entries)
Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show (Doyle, 2014, 88′)
5/24 Producing Television: Branding “Quality TV”
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” Mad Men (S01E01, 2007, 48’)
READ:
- Lowry, “How Mad Men Glammed Up AMC.”
- Apello, “Emmys: How AMC Became HBO’s Nightmare.”
- Steinberg, “Why ‘Mad Men’ Has So Little To Do With Advertising.”
5/25 Producing Television: Pre-Views and (Narrative) Expectation
“Natural Selection,” Orphan Black (S01E01, 2013, 44’)
READ: Gray, “Television Pre-Views and the Meaning of Hype.”
5/26 Producing Television Meaning
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 5: Making Meaning.”
ORPHAN BLACK OUTSIDE VIEWING BEGINS
VIEW: “Instinct” and “Variation Under Nature,” Orphan Black (S01 E02-E03, 2013, 44’ each)
5/30 Memorial Day, NO CLASSES
5/31 Producing Television Meaning
“Pilot,” Nip/Tuck (S01E01, 2003, 66’)
DISCUSS: Midterm Exam [PDF]
READ: Aslinger, “Nip/Tuck: Popular Music,” in How to Watch Television.
6/1 Producing Television Meaning: Tele-sensoriality
Food Network programming
(optional) READ: Newman, “Everyday Italian: Cultivating Taste,” in How to Watch Television.
6/2 Producing Television Meaning: Narrative
“Uprising,” Switched at Birth (S02E09, 2012, 44’)
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 6: Telling Television Stories.”
VIEW: “Effects of External Conditions” and “Conditions of Existence,” Orphan Black (S01 E04-E05, 2013, 44’ each)
6/6 IN-CLASS MIDTERM EXAM
6/7 Television Aesthetics: Narrative & Genre
“Variations Under Domestication,” Orphan Black (S01E06, 2013, 44’)
6/8 Producing Television Meaning: Narrative & Adaptation
“Days Gone Bye,” The Walking Dead (S01E01, 2010, 67’)
READ: The Walking Dead, issue #01, (focus on pages 2-14; anything afterward is optional)
- Jenkins, “The Walking Dead: Adapting Comics,” in How to Watch Television.
6/9 Producing Television Meaning
READ: Orphan Black Comic Issue #1, “Sarah.”
VIEW: “Parts Developed in an Unusual Manner” and “Entangled Bank,” Orphan Black (S01 E07-E08, 2013, 44’ each)
6/13 Televised Representation & Identity: Gender & Class
“Trick or Treat,” Roseanne (S03E07, 1990, 24’)
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 8: Representing Identity.”
6/14 Television Representation & Identity: Gender & Sexuality
6/15 Televised Representation & Identity: Race
The Jefferson’s, Boondocks, Chappelle’s Show
(OPTIONAL) READ: Torres, “Television and Race,” in Wasko, A Companion to Television.
6/16 NO CLASS
VIEW: “Unconscious Selection,” Orphan Black (S01 E09, 2013, 44’)
6/20 Television Audiences: Types of Viewership
READ: Mittell, “Chapter 9: Viewing Television.”
(OPTIONAL) READ: Mittell, “Chapter 10: Television for Children.”
6/21 Orphan Black in Perspective
“Endless Forms Most Beautiful,” Orphan Black (S01E10, 2013, 44’)
6/22 Orphan Black in Perspective
READ: Locate an article (dated 07/2013–04/2014, preferably between 01/2014–04/2014) about Orphan Black, based upon any topic you find interesting. Bring a copy of the article to class for a discussion about critical reviews of the first season.
6/23 NO CLASSES
DUE: TV Journal #2 (6 entries), Uploaded to Blackboard by 5:00pm
(6/23 Last day of Summer1 Classes; 6/26 Last day to drop Summer1 Classes with a “W” grade)