Mothers on American television takes an in-depth look at how motherhood is represented on some of the most popular television series produced this century. Adopting a feminist, Marxist, cultural studies and psychoanalytical approach, the book offers a history of the positioning of mothers within American society. It provides detailed analysis of The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Handmaid’s Tale and more, while reflecting on the newspaper ‘mommy wars’, employment patterns and alternative views of motherhood. -- .

In his seminal book "Television's Second Golden Age", Robert Thompson described quality TV as 'best defined by what it is not': 'it is not "regular" TV'. Audacious maybe, but his statement renewed debate on the meaning of this highly contentious term. Dealing primarily with the post-1996 era shaped by digital technologies and defined by consumer choice and brand marketing, this book brings together leading scholars, established journalists and experienced broadcasters working in the field of contemporary television to debate what we currently mean by quality TV. They go deep into contemporary American television fictions, from "The Sopranos" and "The West Wing", to "CSI" and "Lost" - innovative, sometimes controversial, always compelling dramas, which one scholar has described as 'now better than the movies!' But how do we understand the emergence of these kinds of fiction? Are they genuinely new? What does quality TV have to tell us about the state of today's television market? And is this a new Golden Age of quality TV? Original, often polemic, each chapter proposes new ways of thinking about and defining quality TV. There is a foreword from Robert Thompson, and heated dialogue between British and US television critics. Also included - and a great coup - are interviews with W. Snuffy Walden (scored "The West Wing" among others) and with David Chase ("The Sopranos" creator). "Quality TV" provides throughout groundbreaking and innovative theoretical and critical approaches to studying television and for understanding the current - and future - TV landscape.

Premiering in 2006, the stylish and award winning US hit show Ugly Betty, about kind-hearted ugly duckling Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), is the latest incarnation of a truly global phenomenon that started life as a Colombian telenovela, Yo soy Betty, la fea, back in 1999. The tale has since taken an extraordinary journey around the globe, from the original Colombian Beatriz, Indian Jassi, Chinese Wudi and Israeli Esti to the Flemish Sara, Spanish Bea, Greek Maria and Dutch Lotte as well as Czech Katka, Russian Katka and Turkish Gonul. This groundbreaking book about how television formats go global asks what the Betty phenomenon can tell us about the international circulation of locally produced TV fictions as the Latin American telenovela is sold to, and/or re-made for, different national contexts. The contributors explore what Betty says about the tensions between multimedia conglomerates' commercial demands and the regulatory forces of national broadcasters, about national TV industries' struggle in competitive markets, and about what this international trade reveals about cultural storytelling and audience experience, as well as ideologies of feminine beauty. The book features original interviews with buyers and schedulers, writers, story editors and directors, including the creator of Yo soy Betty, la fea, Fernando Gaitan.