CFP: Screwball Television: Gilmore Girls (11/1/06; collection)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Screwball Television: Gilmore Girls

Edited by David Scott Diffrient (Washington University in St. Louis) and
David Lavery (Brunel University, London)

Proposals are being sought for an edited collection of original essays
focusing on GILMORE GIRLS, a WB television series (soon to merge with UPN
into The CW) that will enter its seventh (and perhaps final) season this
fall. Since its debut on October 5, 2000, this quirky, family-friendly
program created by writer and producer Amy Sherman-Palladino has built up a
cult following and become an object of intense devotion among fans who flock
to their TV sets weekly, seeking comfort in the fictional hamlet of Stars
Hollow, Connecticut.

Although an ensemble series filled with eccentric characters, GILMORE GIRLS
centers on the sister-like relationship between thirtysomething mother
Lorelai and her teenage daughter Rory. However, their relationship is only
one of many notable aspects of the program. Another frequently highlighted
feature is its precise yet seemingly stream-of-conscious dialogue, delivered
with the assurance and speed associated with Hollywood’s screwball comedies
of the 1930s and peppered with the kinds of pop cultural references that
make even the most discerning TV critics sit up and take notice.

The editors for this proposed volume seek contributors who will examine
GILMORE GIRLS from a variety of critical, theoretical, and cultural
perspectives. Contributors are asked to take into consideration not only
the show’s unique wordplay and intense intertextuality, but also such larger
issues as gender, sexuality, feminism, masculinity, race, ethnicity, and
class.

This collection will be aimed at an educated but not highly-specialized
audience. Your essay should be scholarly but not obscure. The editors are
also considering the possibility of including creative writing (short
stories and poems) that will give readers a taste of GILMORE GIRLS fan
fiction.

The following is a list of topics and themes that contributors might explore
(these are merely suggestions):

· Amy Sherman-Palladino and husband Daniel Palladino (as creative partners;
as television “authors;” as the “Nick and Nora” of contemporary
screwball/romantic comedy; etc.)

· Creative contributions made by frequent collaborators (including Helen
Pai, Jamie Babbit, Chris Long, and “Buffy” alums Jane Espenson and Rebecca
Kirshner)

· Roles of particular characters and performances of particular actors
o Lorelai “Rory” Leigh Gilmore (Alexis Bledel)
o Luke Danes (Scott Patterson)
o Sookie St. James-Belleville (Melissa McCarthy)
o Lane Kim (Keiko Agena)
o Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale)
o Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop)
o Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann)
o Paris Geller (Liza Weil)
o Kirk Gleason (Sean Gunn)
o Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki)
o Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia)
o Jason “Digger” Stiles (Chris Eigeman)
o Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry)
o Babette Dell (Sally Struthers)
o Patricia “Miss Patty” LaCosta (Liz Torres)
o Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda)

· Uncanny cameos and cultural celebrity (Norman Mailer, Madeleine Albright,
Barbara Boxer, and Paul Anka, etc.)

· Childhood and parenthood

· Class divisions

· Ethnic diversity

· Social conformity and “outlaw” images

· Closeted/uncloseted queer identities

· Images of academia, elitism, and school rivalry (Chilton, Harvard, Yale,
etc.)

· Coffee consumption and food culture

· Body sizes and dress styles

· Music of GG
o “Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls” (CD
compilation)
o Alternative music and Lane Kim’s audiophilia
o Sebastian Bach as Gil (guitarist in Lane’s band)
o The opening theme (“Where You Lead,” by Carole King and Louise Goffin)
o Dueling troubadours and the “Greek choir” of Grant-Lee Phillips

· GG and TV genres (romance; teenpic; comedy of remarriage; family
melodrama; social satire; coming-of-age tale; etc.)

· “Gilmore-isms” (puns; wordplay; pop culture references; etc.)

· Female viewers and the gendering of fandom

· Online fan cultures (websites; slash fiction; YouTube; iTunes; etc.)

· GG and “Viewers for Quality Television”

· GG compared to other WB television series (BUFFY; ANGEL, FELICITY;
DAWSON’S CREEK; SMALLVILLE; 7TH HEAVEN; REBA; ONE TREE HILL; etc.)

Please send your abstract (500-750 words in length) or completed essay
(5,000-7,000 words), plus a brief biographic statement, as e-mail
attachments (in Word or as a Rich Text File) to both of the editors:

David Scott Diffrient (sdiffrie_at_wustl.edu)
Lecturer, Film and Media Studies Program
Washington University in St. Louis
Mallinckrodt Center, Room 307
Campus Box 1174
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130

and

David Lavery (david.lavery_at_gmail.com)
Chair in Film and Television
Brunel University
Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH
United Kingdom

Deadline for abstract submission: November 1, 2006.

If your essay is chosen for final consideration, you will have until the end
of next spring (2007) to complete the first draft.

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Received on Mon Sep 04 2006 - 18:55:45 EDT