Televisuality
Style, Crisis, and Authority in American Television
By John T Caldwell | Publisher: Rutgers University Press
About the book
Although the \"decline\" of network television in the face of cable programming was an institutional crisis of television history, John Caldwell's classic volume Televisuality reveals that this decline spawned a flurry of new production initiatives to reassert network authority. Television in the 1980s hyped an extensive array of exhibitionist practices to raise the prime-time marquee above the multi-channel flow. Televisuality demonstrates the cultural logic of stylistic exhibitionism in everything from prestige series (Northern Exposure) and \"loss-leader\" event-status programming (War and Remembrance) to lower \"trash\" and \"tabloid\" forms (Pee-Wee's Playhouse and reality TV). Caldwell shows how \"import-auteurs\" like Oliver Stone and David Lynch were stylized for prime time as videographics packaged and tamed crisis news coverage. By drawing on production experience and critical and cultural analysis, and by tying technologies to aesthetics and ideology, Televisuality is a powerful call for desegregation of theory and practice in media scholarship and an end to the willful blindness of \"high theory.\"
Editions of Televisuality
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781978816039
- EBook
- ISBN 9781978816220
- PDF
- ISBN 9781978816244
Read an Excerpt
Although the \"decline\" of network television in the face of cable programming was an institutional crisis of television history, John Caldwell's classic volume Televisuality reveals that this decline spawned a flurry of new production initiatives to reassert network authority. Television in the 1980s hyped an extensive array of exhibitionist practices to raise the prime-time marquee above the multi-channel flow. Televisuality demonstrates the cultural logic of stylistic exhibitionism in everything from prestige series (Northern Exposure) and \"loss-leader\" event-status programming (War and Remembrance) to lower \"trash\" and \"tabloid\" forms (Pee-Wee's Playhouse and reality TV). Caldwell shows how \"import-auteurs\" like Oliver Stone and David Lynch were stylized for prime time as videographics packaged and tamed crisis news coverage. By drawing on production experience and critical and cultural analysis, and by tying technologies to aesthetics and ideology, Televisuality is a powerful call for desegregation of theory and practice in media scholarship and an end to the willful blindness of \"high theory.\"
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Televisuality about?
Although the \"decline\" of network television in the face of cable programming was an institutional crisis of television history, John Caldwell's classic volume Televisuality reveals that this decline spawned a flurry of new production initiatives to reassert network authority. Television in the 1980s hyped an extensive array of exhibitionist practices to raise the prime-time marquee above the multi-channel flow. Televisuality demonstrates the cultural logic of stylistic exhibitionism in everything from prestige series (Northern Exposure) and \"loss-leader\" event-status programming (War and Remembrance) to lower \"trash\" and \"tabloid\" forms (Pee-Wee's Playhouse and reality TV). Caldwell shows how \"import-auteurs\" like Oliver Stone and David Lynch were stylized for prime time as videographics packaged and tamed crisis news coverage. By drawing on production experience and critical and cultural analysis, and by tying technologies to aesthetics and ideology, Televisuality is a powerful call for desegregation of theory and practice in media scholarship and an end to the willful blindness of \"high theory.\"
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Televisuality?
Society and Social Sciences > Society and culture: general > Cultural and media studies > Media studies
Where can I read a sample of Televisuality?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781978816039
Is Televisuality part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Communications, Media, and Culture Series
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Televisuality?
John T Caldwell
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Televisuality is available as paperback(ISBN 9781978816039) and ebook(ISBN 9781978816220) and pdf(ISBN 9781978816244)
Where can I buy Televisuality online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Televisuality from below
Where can I buy Televisuality?