Prestige Television: Cultural and Artistic Value in Twenty-First-Century America

by Seth Friedman (Contributor), Amanda Keeler (Editor), David R. Coon (Contributor)

Prestige Television explores how a growing array of 21st century US programming is produced and received in ways that elevate select series above the competition in a saturated market. Contributing authors demonstrate that these shows are positioned and understood as comprising an increasingly recognizable genre characterized by familiar markers of distinction. In contrast to most accounts of elite categorizations of contemporary US television programming that center on HBO and its primary streaming rivals, these essays examine how efforts to imbue series with prestigious or elevated status now permeate the rest of the medium, including network as well as basic and undervalued premium cable channels. Case study chapters focusing on diverse series, ranging from widely recognized examples such as The Americans (2013-2018) and The Knick (2014-15) to contested examples like Queen of the South (2016-2021) and How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014), highlight how contributing authors extend conceptions of the genre beyond expected parameters.
 

240 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2022

Reviews

[M. Sellers Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collected edition on the contention of a 'prestige' quality in TV and Media Studies.

Pithy and accessible chapters.

[Syd · Rating 3 out of 5]

currently writing an essay on succession for my tv studies class!!