Television's second golden age : from Hill Street blues to ER : Hill Street blues, Thirtysomething, St. Elsewhere, China Beach, Cagney & Lacey, Twin Peaks, Moonlighting, Northern exposure, L.A. law, Picket fences : with brief reflections on Homicide, NYPD blue & Chicago hope, and other quality dramas / Robert J. Thompson

Date :

Type : Livre / Book

Langue / Language : anglais / English

ISBN : 978-0-8156-0504-1

ISBN : 0-8156-0504-8

EAN : 9780815605041

Séries télévisées -- États-Unis

Classification Dewey : 791.45/75/0973

Collection : The television series / Robert J. Thompson, series editor / Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press , 19??-

Résumé / Abstract : A gracefully written grabber overflowing with affection and canny detail. Fans of ‘quality TV drama series’ will have a field day with Syracuse University professor Thompson’s multidisciplinary examination of ‘the return of the seri­ous, literary, writer-based drama’ over the past 15 years. Allotting full chapters to breakthrough series Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, Thompson reviews a bit more briefly the histories of 1980s classics Cagney & Lacey, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, thirtysomething, and China Beach and their ‘quirky’ 1990s successors Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure, and Picket Fences. ‘The Future of Quality’ chapter describes the networks’ retreat from writer-based drama in the early 1990s and the return to it in series like NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Chicago Hope, and the number one hit, ER. This survey will appeal to several audiences: People readers will relish the gossip; Fortune readers will zero in on the economics of quality versus junk-food television; and readers monitoring media transmogrifications will find Thompson’s analysis of TV’s institutionalization of quality drama fascinating.