It's Not TV

Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era

Marc Leverette editor Brian L Ott editor Cara Louise Buckley editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:14th Apr '08

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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It's Not TV cover

Since first going on the air in 1972, HBO has continually attempted to redefine television as we know it. Today, pay television (and HBO in particular) is positioned as an alternative to network offerings, consistently regarded as the premier site for what has come to be called "quality television."

This collection of new essays by an international group of media scholars argues that HBO, as part of the leading edge of television, is at the center of television studies’ interests in market positioning, style, content, technology, and political economy. The contributors focus on pioneering areas of analysis and new critical approaches in television studies today, highlighting unique aspects of the "HBO effect" to explore new perspectives on contemporary television from radical changes in technology to dramatic shifts in viewing habits.

It’s Not TV provides fresh insights into the "post-television network" by examining HBO’s phenomenally popular and pioneering shows, including The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City as well as its failed series, such as K Street and The Comeback. The contributors also explore the production process itself and the creation of a brand commodity, along with HBO’s place as a market leader and technological innovator.

Contributors: Kim Akass, Cara Louise Buckley, Rhiannon Bury, Joanna L. Di Mattia, Blake D. Ethridge, Tony Kelso, Marc Leverette, David Marc, Janet McCabe, Conor McGrath, Shawn McIntosh, Brian L. Ott, Avi Santo, Lisa Williamson

Foreword by Toby Miller

Marc Leverette is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of Professional Wrestling, the Myth, the Mat, and American Popular Culture and co-editor of Zombie Culture: Autopsies of the Living Dead and Oh My God, They Deconstructed South Park! Those Bastards!

Brian L. Ott is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age.

Cara Louise Buckley is a lecturer at Emerson College.

"The ultimate question of this varied collection is not whether HBO is TV, but whether television today is the same as it once was: has TV not changed to take account of new forms of leisure, new social and sexual mores, new modes of electronic entertainment and so on? With verve, the authors approach the HBO phenomenon from multiple perspectives to make clear its important role in a new, complex media landscape."--Dana Polan, Professor of Cinema Studies, NYU, and author of The Sopranos

"If HBO represents the apogee of post-network programming, the essays collected here represent the new wave in television studies. Cutting through HBO's self-promotional hype, the authors closely examine industrial and economic issues, while also discussing specific programs and audience responses. This extremely informative book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the key issues in today's TV industry."--Heather Hendershot, author of Shaking the World for Jesus and editor of Nickelodeon Nation

"The editors have carefully assembled an in-depth investigation unlike any before, and are to be saluted for the breadth and depth of this important work. HBO has redefined modern television, and this book, has in its own way, helped to redefine the way we look at HBO."--Brian Cogan, Molloy College

ISBN: 9780415960373

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 660g

260 pages