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----From: "Liz Hedgecock" <lhedgecock@hotmail.com>
Call for papers
Must See TV: designing schedules, creating events, and finding audiences
Peter Kramer has claimed that a life is something you get when there¹s nothing on television. Indeed, he has provocatively asked whether one can name a crime movie of the past 15 years that is as good as an average episode of NYPD Blue or Homicide: Life on the Street; a horror film that is as good as an average episode of The X Files or Buffy the Vampire Slayer; or a romantic comedy film as good as an average episode as any one of a score of television sitcoms.
As this suggests, while television was traditionally discussed in terms of habitual viewing and televisual OEflow¹, changing audience demographics, new technologies, and industry strategies have all combined to produce the category of 'Must See TV¹: shows which are no longer produced or consumed as part of an habitual flow of televisual programming, but either through design or audience response, become anchors, hooking people into the schedule.
We are seeking proposals for articles on the topic of 'Must See TV¹.
Possible subjects might include:
> Changing industry strategies > * New televisual media (cable, video, satellite), the recycling of television programming, and the construction of the television classic > Changing audience demographics and habits of viewing > * Fan cultures > * OEOrdinary¹ viewing and OEordinary¹ audiences > * Genres and formats > * Specific programmes (e.g.): thirtysomething, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, The New Adventures of Superman, The X Files, NYPD Blue, ER, Star Trek, Buffy, etc. > * Event television (such as Diana's funeral; theme nights (Starsky and Hutch Weekend); schedule disrupting news coverage; final episodes [e.g. M*A*S*H, Cheers, Seinfeld])
Please send proposals of between 300 and 500 words -- or questions -- to: Robert McMinn, School of American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, England. Email: rbtmcm@aol.com OR Mark Jancovich, Institute of Film Studies, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD. Email: m.jancovich@nottingham.ac.uk. Telephone: 0115 951 4250; Fax: 0115 951 4270
Please also include contact details, and a brief bio. The deadline for proposals is 1 October 1999. The finished articles for accepted pieces would be expected by 1 October 2000.
=============================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP@english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/ or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu ===============================================
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