Teen Television

by Ross, Sharon Marie

• ISBN13: 9780786435890
• ISBN10: 0786435895
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-24
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

This essay collection explores the phenomenon of "teen TV" in the United States, analyzing the meanings and manifestations of this category of programming from a variety of perspectives. Part One views teen television through an industrial perspective, examining how networks such as WB, UPN, The CW, and The N have created a unique economic framework based on demographic niches and teen-focused narrowcasting. Part Two focuses on popular teen programs from a cultural context, evaluating how such programs reflect and at times stretch the envelope of the cultural contexts in which they are created. Finally, Part Three explores the cultures of reception (including the realms of teen consumerism, fan discourse, and unofficial production) through which teens and consumers of teen media have become authors of the teenage experience in their own right.

Author Biography

Sharon Marie Ross is an assistant professor in the television department at Columbia College, Chicago. She has written extensively about television, and is currently the associate editor for the Journal of International Digital Media Arts Association. She lives in Chicago. Louisa Ellen Stein is an assistant professor of television, film, and new media at San Diego State University. She has written previously on contemporary media culture, including film, television, the internet and videogames. She lives in La Mesa, California.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 1
Introduction: Watching Teen TV	p. 3
The Industrial Context of Teen TV	p. 27
TV Teen Club: Teen TV as Safe Harbor	p. 27
Teen Television and the WB Television Network	p. 43
Defining Teen Culture: The N Network	p. 61
Rocking Prime Time: Gender, the WB, and Teen Culture	p. 78
Teens on TV	p. 93
"Normal is the watchword": Exiling Cultural Anxieties and Redefining Desire from the Margins	p. 93
Riding the Third Wave: The Multiple Feminisms of Gilmore Girls	p. 114
"That girl of yours-she's pretty hardboiled, huh?": Detecting Feminism in Veronica Mars	p. 132
The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Fan: Consumption and Queer Inspiration in Six Feet Under	p. 150
"They stole me": The O.C., Masculinity, and the Strategies of Teen TV	p. 170
Cultures of Reception	p. 185
Fashion Sleuths and Aerie Girls: Veronica Mars' Fan Forums and Network Strategies of Fan Address	p. 185
The Adventures of a Repressed Farm Boy and the Billionaire Who Loves Him: Queer Spectatorship in Smallville Fandom	p. 207
Pushing at the Margins: Teenage Angst in Teen TV and Audience Response	p. 224
Contributors	p. 245
Index	p. 249
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