Archive for the ‘Complex TV’ Category
From the earliest conception of my audiovisual book, “The Chemistry of Character in Breaking Bad,” I imagined that I would do a video on Skyler White, with the goal of situating her story at the narrative center of the series. In the first project proposal back in 2018, I wrote this chapter summary: “Skyler’s Story: […]
Filed under: Complex TV, TV Shows, Videographic Criticism | 2 Comments
Tags: breaking bad, character, videographic criticism, videographicBB
My Plans for an Audiovisual Book
As of today, I am officially on leave for the next academic year. I recognize what a privilege it is to get such a leave, as the tradition of the tenured academic position with regular leaves for focused research is becoming more rare and confined to elite institutions (and only some appointments within such institutions […]
Filed under: Academia, Complex TV, digital humanities, Narrative, Open Access, Publishing, Sabbatical, Television, Videographic Criticism | 7 Comments
Tags: breaking bad, character, videographicBB
Complex TV has arrived!
I’m holding in my hand a copy of my new book, Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling. Every book is its own unique journey. This one feels like the longest (which it was) and most significant, at least intellectually if not professionally. I presented the earliest version of the ideas that would eventually […]
Filed under: Academia, Books, Complex TV, Narrative, Publishing, Television | 1 Comment
Complex TV: Ends
I am filled with joy, relief, and many other emotions in posting the link to the final chapter of Complex TV. Not accidentally, the chapter is called Ends, and it focuses on conclusions, as well as serving as one for the book. Here’s the abstract: American commercial television differs from much of the world in […]
Filed under: Academia, Books, Complex TV, Media Politics, MediaCommons, Narrative, Open Access, Publishing, Television, TV Shows | 1 Comment
Tags: breaking bad, finales, Homeland, Lost, The Sopranos, The Wire
The Ends of Serial Criticism
As I mentioned in my previous post, my first stop on my return trip to Germany was to give the keynote address at the Popular Seriality Conference in my old hometown of Göttingen. I plan on incorporating this talk into my final chapter of Complex TV, but want to share it here first for any feedback […]
Filed under: Academia, Complex TV, Conferences, Media Studies, MediaCommons, Narrative, Open Access, Publishing, Representations, Television, TV Shows | 3 Comments
Tags: breaking bad, finales, Homeland, seriality
Complex TV: Serial Melodrama
So. For those readers who have been following my book-in-progress Complex TV, you may have noticed a lengthy hiatus since I last posted a chapter. Not coincidentally, the last chapter I posted was in August 2012, shortly before returning to the classroom after my sabbatical. Since then, my writing process has stalled considerably, in large […]
Filed under: Complex TV, Genre, MediaCommons, Narrative, Representations, Television, TV History, TV Shows | 3 Comments
Tags: breaking bad, friday night lights, Lost, melodrama, soap opera, the good wife, The Wire, Veronica Mars
Back to the Classroom
Summer is over (even though it remains in the 80s in Vermont this week), which means my sabbatical is completely over. It was a great one, with a wonderful fellowship in Germany, a lot of writing, travel for lectures & conferences, and lots of quality family time. But yesterday, I returned to the Middlebury classroom […]
Filed under: Academia, Books, Complex TV, Film, Media Studies, Middlebury, Narrative, Teaching, Television, TV Shows | Leave a Comment
Tags: Homeland, How to Watch TV, Mildred Pierce, Phineas & Ferb, syllabi
Last night’s Breaking Bad episode, “Dead Freight,” offers an interesting example of a phenomenon I’ve termed “surprise memory,” or the narrative effect of being surprised by something you know but have forgotten (or more accurately, allowed to be archived from your working memory). I discuss it in the latest chapter of Complex TV about Comprehension – here’s […]
Filed under: Complex TV, Narrative, Television, TV Shows, Viewers | 7 Comments
Tags: breaking bad, narrative comprehension, surprise
Complex TV: Comprehension
It’s been a dormant month of July on the book-writing/publishing front, as I’ve been busy returning from my year abroad in Germany, settling back in Vermont, and having some family vacation time. I do hope to resume writing and pre-publication, as I have only a few more chapters left to go before I’ve got a […]
Filed under: Complex TV, MediaCommons, Narrative, Spoilers, Television, TV Shows, Viewers | 5 Comments
Tags: Battlestar, cognition, curb your enthusiasm, dexter, Lost, memory, Veronica Mars
Pre-publication and publicity
It’s been a quiet month on the blogging and writing front, as I’ve taken a break from Complex TV to undertake the big move from Germany back to Vermont, and take some time for family vacation. But I hope to return to the book later this week to respond to comments, post new chapters, and finish […]
Filed under: Complex TV, Narrative, Open Access, Press, Publishing, Television | 1 Comment
Tags: cliffhangers, New Yorker
Complex TV: Character
My time in Germany is almost up, as we return to Vermont in early July. It’s been a productive writing year, with around 80% of Complex TV completed and a few other projects underway. Here is the last chapter of Complex TV to be posted from Germany, with the remaining chapters emerging over the Vermont summer. This one […]
Filed under: Complex TV, MediaCommons, Narrative, Television, TV Shows | Leave a Comment
Tags: angel, breaking bad, dexter, Game of Thrones, Lost, The Sopranos
Unmotivated Reading as Work
One of the most circulated and discussed articles in online academic circles last week was Bruce Henderson’s Chronicle piece arguing for the importance of acknowledging reading as a key part of our scholarly labor. I really liked this article, less for his coining of the awkward neologism “consumatory scholarship” to describe the practice of academic reading, […]
Filed under: Academia, Complex TV, Media Studies, MediaCommons, Not Quite TV, Open Access, Publishing, Reading | 2 Comments
Tags: peer review
As regular readers know, I’ve been serializing my new book, Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling, in a pre-publication draft at MediaCommons. One of the goals of publishing the manuscript online like this is to challenge some of the norms of academic publishing and peer review, as advocated & modelled by Kathleen Fitzpatrick […]
Filed under: Academia, Books, Complex TV, Media Studies, MediaCommons, Open Access, Publishing | 3 Comments
Tags: complex television, MediaCommons, survey
Complex TV: Evaluation
It’s time for another chapter of Complex TV – this one focuses on questions of evaluation in television scholarship. Here’s the abstract: Television studies, as forged by the influence of cultural studies, has been loath to include critical evaluation in its toolbox, as television’s own spot on the receiving end of numerous aesthetic condemnations has […]
Filed under: Academia, Complex TV, Media Studies, Narrative, Taste, Television, TV Shows | Leave a Comment
Tags: breaking bad, Mad Men, The Wire
It’s time for another chapter of Complex TV to go live on MediaCommons Press—this time, the topic is Transmedia Storytelling. It builds on work I have done in recent years about how television narratives expand into other media, especially around Lost and its ARGs, but very few of the chapter’s ideas have been published elsewhere. As […]
Filed under: Complex TV, Fandom, MediaCommons, Narrative, New Media, Television, TV Industry, TV Shows, Videogames, Viewers | 1 Comment
Tags: breaking bad, Lost, transmedia
Just TV 