Module Identifier TF23820  
Module Title AMERICAN POPULAR TELEVISION  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr Mikel Koven  
Semester Semester 2  
Pre-Requisite TF10420  
Course delivery Lecture    
  Seminars / Tutorials    
  Other   SCREENINGS  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Assessment Essay60%
Semester Exam  40%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
  1. PARTICIPATE IN THE CRITICAL DEBATES WHICH INFORM THE STUDY OF POPULAR TELEVISION
  2. BE ABLE TO USE THE TELEVISUAL TEXT AS SUPPORT FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION WITHIN THOSE DEBATES

Content

Lecture topics and illustrative shows (subject to change):

"Must-See-TV": American network television (Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier); Ideology (ER, 24, Law and Order); Gender (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess); Ethnicity and Race (The Sopranos); Exploitation and Reality TV (Cops, Mounties, Rescue 911); Satire (The Simpsons, South Park, The Family Guy); Postmodernism (Twin Peaks, Firefly); Fandom (Star Trek); Folklore (The X-Files); American TV: globalization or colonization?

Seminar topics (subject to change):

Textual analysis; Representational analysis; television as cultural discourse; postmodernism and self-reflexivity; colonialism.

Brief description

This module examines American popular television as a dominant force within the discourse of contemporary television studies. Through examining some of the various theoretical debates within television studies, using American popular television shows as illustrative texts, this module focuses on developing students' abilities in textual analysis of the television text and their understanding of the relevant critical theory debates.

Reading Lists

Books
Casey, N, Casey, B, Lewis J, Calvert, B and French, L (2001) Television Studies: The Key Concepts Routledge
Creeber, G ed. (2001) The Television Genre Handbok BFI
Fiske, J (2003) Reading the Popular Routledge
Fiske, J and Hartley, J (2003) Reading Television Routledge
Geraghty, C and Lusted D (eds) (1997) The Television Studies Book Arnold
Jancovich, M and Lyons, J (eds) (2003) Quality Popular Television BFI
Kaveney, R (ed.) (2002) Reading the Vampire Slayer Tauris Parke
Laverey, D (ed.) (2002) THis Thing of Ours: Investigating THe Sopranos Wallflower
Lavery, D (ed.) (1995) Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks Wayne State UP
Lavery, D. Hague, A . and Cartwright, M. (eds.) (1996) Deny All Knowledge: Reading the X-Files Faber and Faber
Miller, T ed. (2002) Television Studies BFI
Morley, D (1992) Television, Audiences, and Cultural Studies Routledge
Neale, S and Krutnik, F (1990) Popular Film and Television Comedy Routledge
Wilcox, R and Lavery, D (eds.) (2002) Fighting the Forces Rowman and Littlefield

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5