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CMNS 423: The Television Age
Communication Studies 423: The Television Age examines television as a technology, an industry, an educator, a medium for propaganda, and an art form. You will study the major trends in television broadcasting and performance as well as major trends in critical responses to television. Through assignments, readings, commentaries, and television viewing, you will examine and analyze the impact and implications of television in the past, present, and future. Is television a cultural tool or a detriment to civilized life? If it plays to the lowest common cultural denominator, does it succeed in creating large, like-minded audiences? Is it in its infancy, ascendancy, or decline?
Unit 1
Unit 2
Abramson, A. (1987). Archaeology and prehistory of television: 1671–1879. The history of television, 1880 to 1991 (pp. 1–9). McFarland & Company. [PDF]
Williams, R. (2004). The technology and the society. Technology and cultural form (pp. 1–12). New York: Taylor & Francis. [E-book]
Lapan, L. (2009). Network television and the digital threat. UCLA Entertainment Law Review, 16 (2), 343–393. [E-Journal]
Mirrlees, T., & Kispal-Kovacs, J. (2013). Introduction: A political economy of TV broadcasting in Canada and the United States. In T. Mirrlees & J. Kispal-Kovacs (Eds.), The television reader: Critical perspectives in Canadian and US television studies (pp. 18–33). Oxford University Press. [PDF]
Miller, P. (2022, March 25). The State of the Canadian Program Rights Market 2022 . CRTC.
Butler, J. G. (2018). An introduction to television structures and systems ebb and flow in the network era. Television (5th ed.) (pp. 3–15). Taylor & Francis.
Unit 3
Ohmann, R. (1966). Knowing/creating wants. Making and selling culture (pp. 224–238). Wesleyan University Press. [PDF]
Appel, G., Grewal, L., Hadi, R., & Stephen, A. (2020). The future of social media in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 48 (1), 79–95.
Radesky, J., Chassiakos, Y., Ameenuddin, N., & Navsaria, D. (2020). Digital advertising to children. Pediatrics , 146 (1).
Unit 4
Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (2020). Introduction: An owner’s manual for television. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 1–9). New York University Press.
Butler, J. (2020). Chapter 5: Mad Men : Visual style. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 51–60). New York University Press.
O’Sullivan, S. (2020). Chapter 8: The Sopranos: Episodic storytelling. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 79–87). New York University Press.
Fiske, J. (1987). Intertextuality. Television Culture (pp. 86–102). London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. [E-book]
Unit 5
Mittell, J. (2004). Television genres as cultural categories. Genre and television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture (pp. 1–11). Routledge. [Ebook].
Hendershot, H. (2020). Chapter 24: Parks and Recreation : The cultural forum. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 230–238). New York University Press.
Day, A. (2020). Chapter 22: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee : Feminist comedy. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 213–220). New York University Press.
Long, J. A., Jeong, M. S., & Lavis, S. M. (2021). Political comedy as a gateway to news use, internal efficacy, and participation: A longitudinal mediation analysis. Human Communication Research , 47 (2), 166–191.
Jenkins, H. (1995). Chapter 9: ‘Infinite diversity in infinite combinations’: Genre and authorship in Star Trek. In J. Tulloch & H. Jenkins (Eds.), Science fiction audiences: Watching Dr. Who and Star Trek (pp. 173–193). Routledge. [E-book]
Sculos, B. (2017). Rediscovering the future: What we need from Star Trek: Discovery (Part One). Power , 5 (3), 8.
Unit 6
Ernst, N., Blassnig, S., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., & Esser, F. (2019). Populists prefer social media over talk shows: An analysis of populist messages and stylistic elements across six countries. Social Media + Society , 5 (1).
Deller, R. (2019). Chapter 6: Reality television in the age of social media. Reality television: The TV phenomenon that changed the world (pp. 141–175). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Bengtsson, S., & Johansson, S. (2021). A phenomenology of news: Understanding news in digital culture. Journalism , 22 (11), 2873–2889
Unit 7
Alsultany, E. (2020). Chapter 9: 24 : Challenging stereotypes. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 91–98). New York University Press.
Becker, R. (2020). Chapter 13: Glee/House Hunters : Gay narratives. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 126–135). New York University Press.
Levine, E. (2020). Chapter 14: Grey’s Anatomy : Feminism. In Thompson, E., & Mittell, J. (Eds.), How to watch television, second edition (pp. 135–144). New York University Press.
Press, A. (2009). Gender and family in television’s golden age and beyond. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 625 (1), 139–150. [E-Journal]
Unit 8
Unit 9
Unit 10
