Fandom is generally viewed as an integral part of everyday life which impacts upon how we form emotional bonds with ourselves and others in a modern, mediated world. Whilst it is inevitable for television series to draw to a close, the reactions of fans have rarely been considered. Williams explores this everyday occurence through close analysis of television fans to examine how they respond to, discuss, and work through their feelings when shows finish airing. Through a range of case studies, including The West Wing (NBC, 2000-2006), Lost (ABC 2004 -2010), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Doctor Who (BBC 1963-1989; 2005-), The X-Files (FOX, 1993-2002), Firefly (FOX, 2002) and Sex and the City (HBO, 1998-2004), Williams considers how fans prepare for the final episodes of shows, how they talk about this experience with fellow fans, and how, through re-viewing, discussion and other fan practices, they seek to maintain their fandom after the show's cessation.

Americans love talk shows. In a typical week, more than 13 million Americans listen to Rush Limbaugh, whose syndicated radio show is carried by about 600 stations. On television, Oprah Winfrey's syndicated talk show is seen by an estimated 30 million viewers each week. Talk show hosts like Winfrey and Limbaugh have become iconic figures, frequently quoted and capable of inspiring intense opinions. What they say on the air is discussed around the water cooler at work, or commented about on blogs and fan web sites. Talk show hosts have helped to make or break political candidates, and their larger-than-life personalities have earned them millions of fans (as well as more than a few enemies). Icons of Talk highlights the most groundbreaking exemplars of the talk show genre, a genre that has had a profound influence on American life for over 70 years. Among the featured: * Joe Pyne * Jerry Williams * Herb Jepko * Randi Rhodes * Rush Limbaugh * Larry King * Dr. Laura Schlesinger * Steve Allen * Jerry Springer * Howard Stern. * Oprah Winfrey * Don Francisco * Cristina Saralegui * Tavis Smiley * James Dobson * Don Imus Going behind the scenes, this volume showcases the techniques hosts used to motivate (and sometimes aggravate) audiences, and examines the talk show in all of its various formats, including sports-talk, religious-talk, political-talk, and celebrity-talk. Each entry places the talk format and its hosts into historical context, addressing such questions as: What was going on in society when these talkers were on the air? How did each of them affect or change society? What were the issues they liked to talk about and what reaction did they get from listeners and from critics? How were talk hosts able to persuade people to vote for particular candidates or support certain policies? Which hosts were considered controversial and why? Complete with photographs, a timeline, and a resource guide of sources and organizations, this volume is ideal for students of journalism and media studies.

In the years immediately following World War II, NBC's legendary David Sarnoff and his cross-town equal, CBS's William S. Paley, decided that American television would be identified with quality live drama surrounded by news, light entertainment (in the form of variety and quiz shows), and family-oriented series generally spun off from radio. That initial vision eroded over the years and decades, but the dramatic part of this equation endured well into the 1960s, when, with NBC's Project 120 (which commissioned movies expressly for television in 120-minute doses), the genres known as Movies Made for Television and the miniseries emerged. Today, as Angels in America, Band of Brothers, Into the West, and Lackawanna Blues continue to draw huge cable audiences, the television movie and anthology drama is now in a unique position to represent, in a simple and direct way, the various states of the television industry itself over the past 60 years. This volume covers all of the important landmarks in the genre, from Kraft Television Theater to Roots to Rome, and provides a parallel history of the relevant events in television and American culture that helped to ensure the popularity and viability of this genre over time. Until the early 1980s-when Cable began fragmenting the television audience-the three major networks had the airwaves mainly to themselves; but with Cable now on the scene, dramatic productions began falling victim to the bottom line. But just when it seemed that Cable was finally going to succeed in killing off such programming forever, it has itself come to play the savior to the genre; and now pay cable channels like HBO and Showtime (not subject to the same FCC restrictions as the original networks) thrive on such dramas as Angels in America, Band of Brothers, Into the West, and Lackawanna Blues. After making its several transitions across channels and decades and formats, the television movie is now in a unique position to represent, in a simple and direct way, the various states of the television industry itself over the past 60 years.

(Amadeus). Violinist and educator Efrem Zimbalist (1890-1985) led a legendary life in music in an age of violin legends. Of the dazzling stars to emerge from the Russian School at the beginning of the 20th century, Zimbalist earned a special place. David Oistrakh compared him to Heifetz: "While Heifetz conquered by sheer brilliance, Zimbalist captivated people by appealing to profound mysteries of heart and soul." Zimbalist was also one of the century's great teachers, for 40 years devoting himself to the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, serving as its director from 1941 to 1968. His was a remarkable journey, fortunately recounted in hundreds of hours of taped interviews with author and Curtis Institute student Roy Malan, longtime concertmaster of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Malan then waited nearly a decade after Zimbalist's death before seeking publication, so that the story could be told in its entirety. This definitive biography of the world's first globe-trotting virtuoso also includes a discography and a list of Zimbalist's students.

South Africa came late to television; when it finally arrived in the late 1970s the rest of the world had already begun to shun the country because of apartheid. While the ruling National Party feared the integrative effects of television, they did not foresee how exclusion from globally unifying broadcasts would gradually erode their power.

Throughout the apartheid-era, South Africa was barred from participating in some of television’s greatest global attractions, including sporting events such as the Olympics and contests such as Miss World. After apartheid, and with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison – itself one of the world’s most memorable media events, came a proliferation of large-scale live broadcasts that attracted the admiration of the rest of the world. At the same time, the country was permitted to return to international competition. These events were pivotal in shaping and consolidating the country’s emerging post-apartheid national identity.

Broadcasting the End of Apartheid assesses the socio-political effect of live broadcasting on South Africa’s transition to democracy. Martha Evans argues that just as print media had a powerful influence on the development of Afrikaner nationalism, so the “liveness” of television helped to consolidate the “newness” of the post-apartheid South African national identity.

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aEverybody knows that TV is crucial to globalization. Now, thanks to Lisa Parks and Shanti Kumar, we know why and how television matters globally. With TV studies moving out of the classroom and onto the world stage, this volume is an indispensable passport.a
--Toby Miller, editor of "Television & New Media"

From the 1967 live satellite program "Our World" to MTV music videos in Indonesia, from French television in Senegal to the global syndication of African American sitcoms, and from representations of terrorism on German television to the international Teletubbies phenomenon, TV lies at the nexus of globalization and transnational culture.

Planet TV provides an overview of the rapidly changing landscape of global television, combining previously published essays by pioneers of the study of television with new work by cutting-edge television scholars who refine and extend intellectual debates in the field. Organized thematically, the volume explores such issues as cultural imperialism, nationalism, postcolonialism, transnationalism, ethnicity and cultural hybridity. These themes are illuminated by concrete examples and case studies derived from empirical work on global television industries, programs, and audiences in diverse social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Developing a new critical framework for exploring the political, economic, sociological and technological dimensions of television cultures, and countering the assumption that global television is merely a result of the current dominance of the West in world affairs, Planet TV demonstrates that the global dimensions of television were imagined intoexistence very early on in its contentious history. Parks and Kumar have assembled the critical moments in television's past in order to understand its present and future.

Contributors include Ien Ang, Arjun Appadurai, Jose B. Capino, Michael Curtin, Jo Ellen Fair, John Fiske, Faye Ginsburg, R. Harindranath, Timothy Havens, Edward S. Herman, Michele Hilmes, Olaf Hoerschelmann, Shanti Kumar, Moya Luckett, Robert McChesney, Divya C. McMillin, Nicholas Mirzoeff, David Morley, Hamid Naficy, Lisa Parks, James Schwoch, John Sinclair, R. Anderson Sutton, Serra Tinic, John Tomlinson, and Mimi White.

Using the 2003 war in Iraq as an illustrative tool for highlighting the impact which advances in communication systems have had on message relays, this book comes as a useful tool kit for enabling a critical evaluation of the way language is used in the news.In a world in which advanced communication technologies have made the reporting of disasters and conflicts (also in the form of breaking news) a familiar and 'normalised' activity, the information presented here about television news reporting of the 2003 war in Iraq has implications that go beyond this particular conflict."Evaluation and Stance in War News" functions as a tool kit for the critical evaluation of language in the news, both as raw data in need of interpretation and as carefully packaged products of 'information management' in need of 'unpacking'. The chapters offer an array of theoretical and empirical instruments for revealing, identifying, sifting, weighing and connecting patterns of language use that construct messages. These messages carry with them world views and value systems that can either create an ever wider divide or serve to build bridges between peoples and countries.The Editorial Board includes: Paul Baker (Lancaster), Frantisek Cermak (Prague), Susan Conrad (Portland), Geoffrey Leech (Lancaster), Dominique Maingueneau (Paris XII), Christian Mair (Freiburg), Alan Partington (Bologna), Elena Tognini-Bonelli (Lecce and TWC), Ruth Wodak (Lancaster and Vienna), and Feng Zhiwei (Beijing). "The Corpus and Discourse" series consists of two strands. The first, Research in Corpus and Discourse, features innovative contributions to various aspects of corpus linguistics and a wide range of applications, from language technology via the teaching of a second language to a history of mentalities. The second strand, Studies in Corpus and Discourse, is comprised of key texts bridging the gap between social studies and linguistics. Although equally academically rigorous, this strand will be aimed at a wider audience of academics and postgraduate students working in both disciplines.

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"Offers the most insightful and significant scholarly analysis to date of the changes taking place in the economic "globalization" of television production. A delight to read, laced with wit and humor."--"Choice"

"Since reality television began to flood TV screens, we've had to deal with another phenomenon: a renewed debate about what is 'fun' versus what is 'good for you.' The essays in this volume enlighten that discussion and take us beyond it. They provide both the record of a strange moment in history and a contribution to contemporary cultural politics."
--Toby Miller, editor of "Television & New Media"

"The book explores the genre's institutional and sociopolitical development, its place in the cultural landscape, and how it serves as a source of meaning and pleasure."
--"NYU Today"

"Survivor," "The Bachelor," "Extreme Makeover," "Big Brother," "Joe Millionaire," "American Idol," "The Osbournes," It is virtually impossible to turn on a television without coming across some sort of reality programming. Yet, while this genre has rapidly moved from the fringes of television culture to its lucrative core, critical attention has not kept pace.

Beginning by unearthing its historical roots in early reality shows like "Candid Camera" and wending its way through "An American Family," "Cops," and "The Real World" to the most recent crop of reality programs, Reality TV is the first book to address the economic, visual, cultural, and audience dimensions of reality television. The essays provide a complex and comprehensive picture of how and why this genre emerged, what it means, how it differs from earliertelevision programming, and how it engages societies, industries, and individuals. Topics range from the construction of televisual "reality" to the changing face of criminal violence on TV, to issues of surveillance, taste, and social control.

By spanning reality television's origins in the late 1940s to its current overwhelming popularity, Reality TV demonstrates both the tenacity of the format and its enduring ability to speak to our changing political and social desires and anxieties.

Contributors include: Nick Couldry, Mary Beth Haralovich, John Hartley, Chuck Kleinhans, Derek Kompare, Jon Kraszewski, Kathleen LeBesco, Justin Lewis, Ted Magder, Jennifer Maher, Anna McCarthy, Rick Morris, Chad Raphael, Elayne Rapping, Jeffrey Sconce, Michael W. Trosset, Pamela Wilson.

From the stage of the Grand Ole Opry to concert halls around the world, and on television's "Hee Haw" and "Prime Time Country," Cousin Minnie Pearl entertained fans and friends with her stories about Grinder's Switch and her jokes. Now you can recall the best of them, such as . . .

• This week we decided we'd better take Brother up to Nashville and try to get him a job. So I took him to one of the places and the man said he'd give Brother a job. He said, "I can start you at thity dollars a week and in five years you'll get two hundred " Brother said, "That's fine. I'll be back in five years "
• Mr. Smith, a seventy-five-year-old multimillionaire, just married a young, beautiful eighteen-year-old girl. A friend asked, "How did you get an eighteen-year-old to marry you when you're seventy-five?" The man said, "I told her I was ninety-five "

Also included are memories of Minnie by . . .

• Porter Wagoner
• Ralph Emery
• Bill Anderson
• Johnny Russell
• Little Jimmy Dickens
• Jimmy C. Newman

America has always attempted to define itself through a network of invented myths and national narratives. Historically, this national mythmaking has focused on the building of the nation itself as a sort of grand adventure, as in the notion of manifest destiny, or the taming of the western frontier. This project has also naturally led to a focus on individual heroes, often playing the role of savior and redeemer in ways with clear religious resonances: Christ and "Shane" and Superman, for instance, all share key characteristics. At the same time, these superheroes have often been adolescents, designed to appeal to younger audiences as well. Other hero myths have been more down-to-earth, focusing on heroes who fight against evil, but in a more modest way, as in the case of the hardboiled detective. "Red, White, and Spooked" details the development of our national myths in an effort to try and see what these fantasies can reveal about what it means to be American today, and what we want it to mean.

Beginning with John Winthrop's city upon a hill sermon in 1630, American culture has been informed by a sense of its own exceptional nature. The notion of the Western hemisphere as a new world, a place filled with possibility and even magic, goes back to the initial voyages of Columbus, while the American Revolution gave even more impetus to the idea that the United States was a special place with a unique mission. As a result, America has always attempted to define itself through a network of invented myths and national narratives. "Red, White, and Spooked" details the development of our national myths which can be seen underlying the genres of country and film noir, the characters of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, television hits like "Deadwood" and "NYPD Blue," and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lord of the Rings" franchises as well.

This culture-spanning investigation begins with a historical survey of supernatural and superhuman themes in American culture, concluding with the recent upsurge that began in the 1990s. It then turns to a number of thematic chapters that discuss various works of recent popular culture with supernatural and superhuman themes - such as "The X-Files, Smallville, The 4400, Medium, Heroes, Lost," and "The Dead Zone" - organized according to the desires to which these works commonly respond. The object here is to try and see what these fantasies can reveal about what it means to be American today, and what we still want it to mean.

America has long exported its network and cable programming abroad, but with a changing world comes a changing dynamic. As global centers of power shift, and wealth becomes redistributed, and perhaps even re-centered, vast audiences which have never before had contact with American television will begin to gain access to the full wealth and abundance of American programming. The opening of new markets and new audiences, particularly within the growing superpowers of China and India, presents us with a novel situation. It is one thing for a show like "The OC" to be played in a nation like England, where the cultural and religious differences with the United States are not that profound, and quite another for it to air in a nation like India, where arranged marriages, the caste system, and pervasive poverty are still everyday realities.
"America Through the Eyes of China and India" explores the dynamics of television, identity, and cultural communication, providing a new lens for encountering, interpreting, and judging American culture and the American identity.