Television Finales

Today more than ever, series finales have become cultural touchstones that feed watercooler fodder and Twitter storms among a committed community of viewers. While the final episodes of The Fugitive and M*A*S*H continue to rank among the highest rated broadcasts, more recent shows draw legions of binge-watching fans. Given the importance of finales to viewers and critics alike, Howard and Bianculli along with the other contributors explore these endings and what they mean to the audience, both in terms of their sense of narrative and as episodes that epitomize an entire show. Bringing together a veritable "who’s who" of television scholars, journalists, and media experts, including Robert Thompson, Martha Nochimson, Gary Edgerton, David Hinckley, Kim Akass, and Joanne Morreale, the book offers commentary on some of the most compelling and often controversial final episodes in television history. Each chapter is devoted to a separate finale, providing readers with a comprehensive survey of these watershed moments. Gathering a unique international lineup of journalists and media scholars, the book also offers readers an intriguing variety of critical voices and perspectives.

(FAQ). TV Finales FAQ is the first book devoted exclusively to television's most memorable series finales. From Mary Richards' heartfelt goodbye to the WJM-TV newsroom in the classic finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to the puzzling conclusion of the enigmatic adventure series, Lost , to the tumultuous final hours in the life of Breaking Bad 's Walter White, TV Finales FAQ takes an up close, insightful, and entertaining look at the most memorable final episodes of television's most popular prime time, daytime, and late night series. Crafting the final episode to a long-running television series can be challenging for producers and writers who want to remain faithful to the show's characters and history, yet, at the same time, satisfy the high expectations of its loyal fan base. TV Finales FAQ offers television viewers the inside story on the creation, broadcast, and aftermath of the most famous (and infamous) final episodes of over 50 television series from the 1960s through the present day. The books features such shows as Dexter , Roseanne , Will & Grace , X-Files , The Sopranos , and some classic talk and late-night programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , and many others.

Over the past two decades, new technologies, changing viewer practices, and the proliferation of genres and channels has transformed American television. One of the most notable impacts of these shifts is the emergence of highly complex and elaborate forms of serial narrative, resulting in a robust period of formal experimentation and risky programming rarely seen in a medium that is typically viewed as formulaic and convention bound. Complex TV offers a sustained analysis of the poetics of television narrative, focusing on how storytelling has changed in recent years and how viewers make sense of these innovations. Through close analyses of key programs, including The Wire, Lost, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Veronica Mars, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Mad Men the book traces the emergence of this narrative mode, focusing on issues such as viewer comprehension, transmedia storytelling, serial authorship, character change, and cultural evaluation. Developing a television-specific set of narrative theories, Complex TV argues that television is the most vital and important storytelling medium of our time.

Translating Culture Specific References on Television provides a model for investigating the problems posed by culture specific references in translation, drawing on case studies that explore the translational norms of contemporary Italian dubbing practices. This monograph makes a distinctive contribution to the study of audiovisual translation and culture specific references in its focus on dubbing as opposed to subtitling, and on contemporary television series, rather than cinema. Irene Ranzato’s research involves detailed analysis of three TV series dubbed into Italian, drawing on a corpus of 95 hours that includes nearly 3,000 CSR translations. Ranzato proposes a new taxonomy of strategies for the translation of CSRs and explores the sociocultural, pragmatic and ideological implications of audiovisual translation for the small screen.

With today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving environment, media managers must have a clear understanding of different delivery platforms, as well as a grasp of critical management, planning, and economic factors in order to stay current and move their organizations forward. Developed for students in telecommunications management, media management, and the business of media, this text helps future media professionals understand the relationship and convergence patterns between the broadcast, cable television, telephony, and Internet communication industries. The second edition includes updated research throughout , including material on major business and technology changes and the importance of digital lifestyle reflected in e-commerce and personalized media selection, such as Netflix and iTunes, and the growing importance of Facebook and social networking from a business perspective.

Season Finale is an inside chronicle of the entertainment industry following the unexpected rise and fall of the WB and UPN networks. In the mid-1990s, Hollywood studios Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures each launched their own broadcast television network, hoping to become the fifth player in an industry dominated by ABC, CBS, NBC, and, more recently, Fox. Against all odds, the WB and UPN altered primetime television’s landscape, only to merge as the CW in 2006—casualties of conflicting personalities, relentless competition, and a failure to anticipate the business’s future. Following the money, egos, and risks of network television, former WB executive Susanne Daniels and Variety television reporter Cynthia Littleton expose the difficulties of trying to launch two traditional broadcast networks just as cable and the Internet were ending their dominance. Through in-depth reportage and firsthand accounts, Daniels and Littleton re-create the creative and business climate that birthed the WB and UPN, illustrating how the race to find programming spawned their heated rivalry and created shows that became icons of youth culture. Offering insider stories about shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Felicity, Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris, and America’s Next Top Model, the authors present the creative environment that ushered these groundbreaking programs into living rooms across America. Despite success, the WB and UPN unraveled due to corporate miscalculations, management missteps, and industry upheaval that led to their decline—and rebirth as the CW. This is a cautionary and compelling entertainment saga about a precarious moment in television history, when the transformation of the broadcast networks signaled an inevitable shift for all pop culture.