"Legitimating television: Media convergence and cultural status," by Michael Z. Newman and Elana Levine

Abstract

Review of Michael Z. Newman and Elana Levine, Legitimating television: Media convergence and cultural status. New York: Routledge, 2011, paperback, $36.95 (232p) ISBN 978-0415880268.

Disability Dates as Microgenre: 1990s Sitcoms and Backlash to the Americans with Disabilities Act

“…A crucial component of Mittell's reframing of genre as a textual, intertextual, and extratextual phenomenon is that it prioritizes not simple description but analysis of how genres work and how they fit in to larger systems of cultural power. For instance, the rise of "quality television" as a generic marker of a certain type of hour-long dramatic series was closely linked to prioritizing the tastes of wealthy, educated, and largely white audiences, particularly masculine audiences (Lotz 2014;Newman and Levine 2012).…”

From After School Specials to After School Threesomes: Industrial Shifts in the Depiction of Sex on Teen TV and its Formation of the Sex Positive Teen Girl

“…Thus, both approaches still framed their content as providing moral modeling. However, by even including more nuanced discussions of sex, and with 2010s shows such as the original run of Gossip Girl (The CW, 2007-2012 or Pretty Little Liars (Freeform, 2010(Freeform, -2017 pushing the envelope on such depictions even further, teen TV also began to bridge narrative approaches between the didactic VSE and the consciously lesson-less approach to sexual storylines that are now en vogue.…”

El discurso metatelevisivo y la sitcom en la televisión estadounidense. Estudio de caso de la serie de televisión WandaVision (Schaeffer, 2021)

“…Este contexto justifica la pertinencia de la presente investigación. A pesar de que la nueva comedia recibe una mayor consideración en los discursos televisivos desde la perspectiva de la industria, la audiencia y la academia (Newman & Levine, 2012), la sitcom aún queda relegada en los enfoques académicos, a favor de otros formatos como el drama. Este trabajo busca contribuir a solventar esta circunstancia con el estudio de la serie WandaVision desde una perspectiva holística, aplicando una metodología cualitativa basada en el análisis de las características de la sitcom, tanto textuales como estéticas.…”