The legends of King Arthur have not only endured for centuries, but also flourished in constant retellings and new stories built around the central themes of the legends. Clearly, soon after movie-making was underway, Arthur was destined to hit the screen. This revised edition of ""Cinema Arthuriana"" presents 20 essays on the topic of the recurring presence of the legend of King Arthur in film and television from 1904 to 2001. Four of the essays included are taken directly from the previous edition, ten are revised from the original, and six are newly written. The essays cover such films as ""Excalibut"" (1981), ""Monty Python and the Holy Grail"" (1975), television productions up to the televised version of ""The Mists of Avalon"" (2001), and French and German films about the Quest for the Holy Grail and the other adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

In the modern world of networked digital media, authors must navigate many challenges. Most pressingly, the illegal downloading and streaming of copyright material on the internet deprives authors of royalties, and in some cases it has discouraged creativity or terminated careers. Exploring technology's impact on the status and idea of authorship in today's world, The Near-Death of the Author reveals the many obstacles facing contemporary authors. John Potts details how the online culture of remix and creative reuse operates in a post-authorship mode, with little regard for individual authorship. The book explores how developments in algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) have yielded novels, newspaper articles, musical works, films, and paintings without the need of human authors or artists. It also examines how these AI achievements have provoked questions regarding the authorship of new works, such as Does the author need to be human? And, more alarmingly, Is there even a need for human authors? Providing suggestions on how contemporary authors can endure in the world of data, the book ultimately concludes that network culture has provoked the near-death, but not the death, of the author.

This book examines queer characters in popular American television, demonstrating how entertainment can educate audiences about LGBT identities and social issues like homophobia and transphobia. Through case studies of musical soap operas (Glee and Empire), reality shows (RuPaul's Drag Race, The Prancing Elites Project and I Am Cait) and "quality" dramas (Looking, Transparent and Sense8), it argues that entertainment elements such as music, humour, storytelling and melodrama function as pedagogical tools, inviting viewers to empathise with and understand queer characters. Each chapter focuses on a particular programme, looking at what it teaches-its representation of queerness-and how it teaches this-its pedagogy. Situating the programmes in their broader historical context, this study also shows how these televisual texts exemplify a specific moment in American television.

This book explores many of the theological and religious themes inherent in the Game of Thrones HBO television series and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Written for academics yet accessible for the layperson, the chapters explore themes of power, religion, and sacred institutions in Westeros; Christian ecclesiology in the Night's Watch and the religion of the Iron Islands; Augustinian notions of evil in the Night King and anthropology in the Seven; Orientalism, Hinduism, and the many worldviews in the World of Ice and Fire, and the series more controversial and disturbing themes of rape and death. Theology and Game of Thrones will appeal to theology and religious studies scholars and fans alike as it explores these elements in Martin's complex fantasy epic.

Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession argues that highly praised prestige TV shows reveal the underlying fantasies and contradictions of upper-middle class political centrists. Through a psychoanalytic interpretation of The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, House of Cards, Dexter, Game of Thrones, and Succession, Robert Samuels reveals how moderate "liberals" have helped to produce and maintain the libertarian Right. Samuels' analysis explores the difference between contemporary centrists and the foundations of liberal democracy, exposing the myth of the "liberal media" and considers the consequences of these celebrated series, including the undermining of trust in modern liberal democratic institutions. Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession contributes to a greater understanding of the ways media and political ideology can circulate on a global level through the psychopathology of class consciousness. This book will be of great interest to academics and scholars considering intersections of psychoanalytic studies, television studies and politics.

Lighting for Televised Live Events unlocks the science, art, philosophies, and language of creating lighting for live entertainment and presentations that work for the television camera as well as for the live audience. The book explores how to retain the essence and excitement of a live production while assuring that the show looks its best on-camera for the millions of viewers that can only see it on their TV, computer, tablet, or mobile phone screen. Readers will learn how to adapt an existing stage show for the camera, as well as how to design live entertainment or events specifically for TV. Filled with real-life examples and illustrations, the book covers a wide range of topics, including: how exposure and color work for the camera; how angle, visual balance, and composition can make people and backgrounds look their best, while preserving theatricality; information on camera equipment, screens, and projectors, as well as the control room environments that are found on a professional shoot; the unique challenges of lighting for the IMAG video screens used at festivals and concerts. Lighting for Televised Live Events is aimed at lighting design students, as well as professional designers that are considering a career - or a career expansion - in television. It is an essential resource for any stage lighting designer whose show may be shot for a television special or a live webcast and who will be asked by their client to collaborate with the incoming video team.

The tensions between utopian dreams and dystopian anxieties permeate science fiction as a genre, and nowhere is this tension more evident than in Star Trek. This book breaks new ground by exploring music and sound within the Star Trek franchise across decades and media, offering the first sustained look at the role of music in shaping this influential series. The chapters in this edited collection consider how the aural, visual, and narrative components of Star Trek combine as it constructs and deconstructs the utopian and dystopian, shedding new light on the series' political, cultural, and aesthetic impact. Considering how the music of Star Trek defines and interprets religion, ideology, artificial intelligence, and more, while also considering fan interactions with the show's audio, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of music, media studies, science fiction, and popular culture.

In this study, Falero explores how online communities of participatory audiences have helped to re-define authorship and audience in the digital age. Using over a decade of ethnographic research, Digital Participatory Culture and the TV Audience explores the rise and fall of a site that some heralded as ground zero for the democratization of television criticism. Television Without Pity was a web community devoted to criticizing television programs. Their mission was to hold television networks and writers accountable by critiquing their work and "not just passively sitting around watching." When executive producer Aaron Sorkin entered Television Without Pity's message boards on The West Wing in late 2001, he was surprised to find the discussion populated by critics rather than fans. His anger over the criticism he found there wound up becoming a storyline in a subsequent episode of The West Wing wherein web critics were described as "obese shut-ins who lounge around in muumuus and chain-smoke Parliaments." This book examines the culture at Television Without Pity and will appeal to students and researchers interested in audiences, digital culture and television studies.

Being Mara Brock Akil: Representations of Black Womanhood on Television examines the body of work of Mara Brock Akil, the showrunner who produced Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane, and Love Is__. The contributions to this volume are theoretically anchored in Patricia Hill Collin's Black Feminist Thought, with a focus on how Brock Akil's shows intentionally address Black humanity and specifically provide context for Black women's lived experiences and empathy for Black womanhood by featuring woman-centered characters with flaws, strength, and complexity. Shauntae Brown White and Kandace L. Harris have compiled a volume that analyzes themes that define Black womanhood and examines audience reception of and social media interaction with Brock Akil's work.

A history of the love affair between BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism) and science fiction and fantasy. Lewis Call explores representations of BDSM in the 1940s Wonder Woman comics, the pioneering prose of Samuel Delany and James Tiptree, and the television shows Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse.

This edited collection is the first book to offer a wide-ranging examination of the interface between American independent film and a converged television landscape that consists of terrestrial broadcasters, cable networks and streaming providers, in which independent film and television intersect in complex, multifaceted and creative ways. The book covers the long history of continuities and connections between the two sectors, as seen in the activities of PBS, HBO or Sundance. It considers the movement of filmmakers between indie film and TV such as Steven Soderberg, Rian Johnson, the Duplass brothers, Joe Swanberg, Lynn Shelton and Gregg Araki; details the confluence of aesthetic and thematic elements seen in shows such as Girls, Breaking Bad, Master of None, or Glow; points to a shared interest in regional sensibilities evident in shows like One Mississippi or Fargo; and makes the case for documentaries and web series as significant entities in this domain. Collectively, the book builds a compelling picture of indie TV as a significant feature of US screen entertainment in the twenty-first century. This interdisciplinary landmark volume will be a go-to reference for students and scholars of Television Studies, Film Studies and Media Studies.

This edited collection is the first book to offer a wide-ranging examination of the interface between American independent film and a converged television landscape that consists of terrestrial broadcasters, cable networks and streaming providers, in which independent film and television intersect in complex, multifaceted and creative ways. The book covers the long history of continuities and connections between the two sectors, as seen in the activities of PBS, HBO or Sundance. It considers the movement of filmmakers between indie film and TV such as Steven Soderberg, Rian Johnson, the Duplass brothers, Joe Swanberg, Lynn Shelton and Gregg Araki; details the confluence of aesthetic and thematic elements seen in shows such as Girls, Breaking Bad, Master of None, or Glow; points to a shared interest in regional sensibilities evident in shows like One Mississippi or Fargo; and makes the case for documentaries and web series as significant entities in this domain. Collectively, the book builds a compelling picture of indie TV as a significant feature of US screen entertainment in the twenty-first century. This interdisciplinary landmark volume will be a go-to reference for students and scholars of Television Studies, Film Studies and Media Studies.

"I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger!"

When a mild-mannered chemistry teacher teamed up with a small-time meth dealer - and, over five chaotic and addictive seasons, transforms into a ruthless kingpin - nobody expected the show to become a global sensation. But the gripping tale of Walt's descent into the criminal underworld has smashed records, making Breaking Bad the most critically acclaimed show of all time.

Now the legacy of this trailblazing series has been refined into the gift that keeps on giving. Say My Name: The Little Guide to Breaking Bad is contaminated with the loco misadventures of Walt, Jesse, Skyler, Saul, Gus, Mike and Hank through a wealth of wicked wit and wisdom, and classic, killer catchphrases. Just remember, tread lightly - we wouldn't want you to get hooked on the show all over again. Or would we?

This book was partly born of frustration - personal frustration with how complicated the simple act of trying to watch TV can be, and the professional frustration of being around almost twenty years of television-, advertising-, and technology-industry floundering with how to better reach TV audiences.The internet, we argue, is finally ready to change all that. Not in the way most people think and experts talk about incessantly - Jetsons-like visions of TV everywhere anytime. While it can do that, the internet can also do something much more powerful for viewers, programmers, and advertisers alike: allow viewers to discover and organize what they really want to watch.Solving that problem is worth billions. Not only because it will extend the lifecycle of so-called linear TV, but it can extend and improve television's economic returns while simultaneously seizing the strategic high ground for the transition to the day when television and the internet become one.That's what this book is about- why it's a problem worth solving, how to go about solving it, and how today's television industry will benefit from stepping in where cable companies, phone companies, and their technology suppliers are failing miserably.Aimed primarily at Hollywood, this book is for studio, network, and channel executives, producers, show runners, ad agency strategists ("digital" or otherwise), media buyers, and executives at ratings/measurement companies. We describe how Hollywood can both extend the life of so-called linear television and control the transition to internet-delivered TV, while building upon existing "starter" digital assets such as Hulu, or channel- and program-specific web properties and applications.Finally, this book is also a wake-up call to internet content and technology companies to take a fresh look at an old problem, using a comparatively new, low-cost set of approaches produced by the "Web 2.0" and cloud computing waves which emerged over the last several years.

Draws on the authors' extensive careers in television to describe the process of creating a successful media format, presenting the tricks and techniques you need to create, develop and sell your own formats. Each chapter addresses a key elements of a good format, such as audience, structure or business, and shows how they work in current successful formats. Includes insightful case studies based on interviews with experienced television professonals such as Stephen Lambert, creator of Undercover Boss and Gogglebox. Teaches students to create a format bible that will enable them to create a defined set of rules which will make their format recognisable, repeatable and capable of evolving.

The essays in this anthology study Israeli television, its different forms of representation, audiences and production processes, past and present, examining Israeli television in both its local, cultural dynamics, and global interfaces. The book looks at Israeli television as a creator, negotiator, guardian and warden of collective Israeli memory, examining instances of Israeli original television exported and circulated to the US and the global markets, as well as instances of American, British, and global TV formats, adapted and translated to the Israeli scene and screen. The trajectory of this volume is to shed light on major themes and issues Israeli television negotiates: history and memory, war and trauma, Zionism and national disillusionment, place and home, ethnicity in its unique local variations of Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians, gender in its unique Israeli formations, specifically masculinity as shaped by the military and constant violent conflict, femininity in this same context as well as within a complex Jewish oriented society, religion, and secularism. Providing multifaceted portraits of Israeli television and culture in its Middle Eastern political and local context, this book will be a key resource to readers interested in media and television studies, cultural studies, Israel, and the Middle East.

Baroness Floella Benjamin is an inspiration, an actress and much-loved children's television presenter who is a member of the House of Lords. But how did the girl from Trinidad end up lunching with the Queen? In What Are You Doing Here? Floella describes arriving in London as a child, part of the Windrush generation, and the pain caused by the racism she encountered every day. It was offset by the love of her parents, who gave her the pride in her heritage, self-belief and confidence that have carried her through life. From winning a role in groundbreaking musical Hair (while clearly stating she would not take her clothes off) to breaking down barriers on Play School, from refusing to be typecast in roles to speaking out for diversity at the BBC and BAFTA, she has remained true to herself. She also reveals how she met husband Keith, became a mother of two, was befriended by Kenneth Williams, hugged President Obama, and found a purpose that would underpin everything she did - campaigning for the needs of children. Sharing the lessons she has learned, imbued with her joy and positivity, this autobiography is the moving testimony of a remarkable woman.

Already acknowledged by Metacritic and the Guinness World Records as the highest-rated series in the history of television, Breaking Bad has elicited an unprecedented amount of criticism. Writers both popular and academic, columnists as well as eager commenters, have addressed every imaginable topic, from the show's characterization and major scenes, to fine details such as Walt's knack for picking up habits from those he kills, and the symbolism inherent within the cars that characters own. This book considers another perspective, one relatively unexplored to date. By considering the series from the perspective of its interior spaces, two possibilities emerge. Firstly, the spaces become a tangible record of their characters' inner lives, one that provides something like an objective correlative or photographic negative of their thought processes and approach to the world. They provide more, and richer ways to trace the course of character, action, and themes throughout the series. Secondly, Breaking Bad's spaces are not simply acted upon or within: they interact with characters as well. Interpreted through the theories of Judith Butler, Michel de Certeau, and many others, the series' homes, labs, RVs and elevators take on new significance. The collection plumbs the interior spaces of Breaking Bad from many angles. Ultimately, these diverse perspectives enrich an appreciation for the series and its innovative handling of interiors (both literal and metaphorical). They also suggest new ways of reading the series, ensuring it can continue to be explored by academics, students, and fans well into the future.

In response to the growing scope and popularity of wedding-related offerings and the media attention given to celebrity and royal weddings, The Bride Factory critically examines various bridal media outlets, artifacts, and the messages they convey about women today. The book departs from conventional wisdom and other treatments of the bridal industry as a scholarly topic by revealing how media portray women in modern American society, and how these portrayals reflect feminism and femininity and illustrate the hegemony created by these media. The book discusses the portrayal of women as brides in media coverage throughout history; the various forms of wedding media, including print, television, and the Internet; how bridal media forward ideals of feminine beauty; how reality wedding programs depict brides - and the new "bridezilla" - as agents of control over their perfect day; the role of men in wedding planning; and the extent to which the white wedding ideal is embraced or resisted, with special attention given to alternative wedding media. Cohesive and multidisciplinary in its approach, The Bride Factory is the first major publication to shed critical light on bridal media and their feminist implications.

In October 1957, Screen Gems made numerous horror movies available to local television stations around the country as part of a package of films called Shock Theater. These movies became a huge sensation with TV viewers, as did the horror hosts who introduced the films and offered insight--often humorous--into the plots, the actors, and the directors. This history of hosted horror walks readers through the best TV horror films, beginning with the 1930s black-and-white classics from Universal Studios and ending with the grislier color films of the early 1970s. It also covers and the horror hosts who presented them, some of whom faded into obscurity while others became iconic within the genre.

- This is an all-inclusive playbook that offers readers a real world based "how-to" manual to create factual television programming. - Includes exclusive industry interviews with top television executives including Matt Taylor (Disney, National Geographic International), Winona Meringolo (Investigation Discovery), Babette Perry (innovative Artists), and more. - Breaks down different areas of factual television that are not explored elsewhere.

This volume addresses the relationship between irony and popular culture and the role of the consumer in determining and disseminating meaning. Arguing that in a cultural climate largely characterised by fractious communications and perilous linguistic exchanges, the very role of irony in popular culture needs to come under greater scrutiny, it focuses on the many uses, abuses, and misunderstandings of irony in contemporary popular culture, and explores the troubling political populism at the heart of many supposedly satirical and (apparently) non-satirical texts. In an environment in which irony is frequently claimed as a defence for material and behaviour judged controversial, how do we, as a society entrenched in forms of popular culture and media, interpret work that is intended as satire but which reads as unironic? How do we accurately decode works of popular film, literature, television, music, and other cultural forms which sell themselves as bitingly ironic commentaries on current society, but which are also problematic celebrations of the very issues they purport to critique? And what happens when texts intended and received in one manner are themselves ironically recontextualised in another? Bringing together studies across a range of cultural texts including popular music, film and television, Isn't it Ironic? will appeal to scholars of the social sciences and humanities with interests in cultural studies, media studies, popular culture, literary studies and sociology.