It's Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era [Paperback]

Marc Leverette (Author), Brian L. Ott (Author), Cara Louise Buckley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2008 | ISBN-10: 041596038X | ISBN-13: 978-0415960380 | Edition: 1

Since first going on the air in 1972, HBO has continually attempted to redefine television as we know it. Today, pay television (and HBO in particular) is positioned as an alternative to network offerings, consistently regarded as the premier site for what has come to be called "quality television."

This collection of new essays by an international group of media scholars argues that HBO, as part of the leading edge of television, is at the center of television studies’ interests in market positioning, style, content, technology, and political economy. The contributors focus on pioneering areas of analysis and new critical approaches in television studies today, highlighting unique aspects of the "HBO effect" to explore new perspectives on contemporary television from radical changes in technology to dramatic shifts in viewing habits.

It’s Not TV provides fresh insights into the "post-television network" by examining HBO’s phenomenally popular and pioneering shows, including The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City as well as its failed series, such as K Street and The Comeback. The contributors also explore the production process itself and the creation of a brand commodity, along with HBO’s place as a market leader and technological innovator.

Contributors: Kim Akass, Cara Louise Buckley, Rhiannon Bury, Joanna L. Di Mattia, Blake D. Ethridge, Tony Kelso, Marc Leverette, David Marc, Janet McCabe, Conor McGrath, Shawn McIntosh, Brian L. Ott, Avi Santo, Lisa Williamson

Foreword by Toby Miller

Marc Leverette is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of Professional Wrestling, the Myth, the Mat, and American Popular Culture and co-editor of Zombie Culture: Autopsies of the Living Dead and Oh My God, They Deconstructed South Park! Those Bastards!

Brian L. Ott is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age.

Cara Louise Buckley is a lecturer at Emerson College.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The ultimate question of this varied collection is not whether HBO is TV, but whether television today is the same as it once was: has TV not changed to take account of new forms of leisure, new social and sexual mores, new modes of electronic entertainment and so on? With verve, the authors approach the HBO phenomenon from multiple perspectives to make clear its important role in a new, complex media landscape."--Dana Polan, Professor of Cinema Studies, NYU, and author of The Sopranos

"If HBO represents the apogee of post-network programming, the essays collected here represent the new wave in television studies.  Cutting through HBO's self-promotional hype, the authors closely examine industrial and economic issues, while also discussing specific programs and audience responses.  This extremely informative book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the key issues in today's TV industry."--Heather Hendershot, author of Shaking the World for Jesus and editor of Nickelodeon Nation

"The editors have carefully assembled an in-depth investigation unlike any before, and are to be saluted for the breadth and depth of this important work.   HBO has redefined modern television, and this book, has in its own way, helped to redefine the way we look at HBO."--Brian Cogan, Molloy College

From the Back Cover

"The ultimate question of this varied collection is not whether HBO is TV, but whether television today is the same as it once was: has TV not changed to take account of new forms of leisure, new social and sexual mores, new modes of electronic entertainment and so on? With verve, the authors approach the HBO phenomenon from multiple perspectives to make clear its important role in a new, complex media landscape."
--Dana Polan, Professor of Cinema Studies, NYU, and author of The Sopranos

"If HBO represents the apogee of post-network programming, the essays collected here represent the new wave in television studies. Cutting through HBO's self-promotional hype, the authors closely examine industrial and economic issues, while also discussing specific programs and audience responses. This extremely informative book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the key issues in today's TV industry."
--Heather Hendershot, author of Shaking the World for Jesus and editor of Nickelodeon Nation

"The editors have carefully assembled an in-depth investigation unlike any before, and are to be saluted for the breadth and depth of this important work. HBO has redefined modern television, and this book, has in its own way, helped to redefine the way we look at HBO."
--Brian Cogan, Molloy College --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 041596038X
• ISBN-13: 978-0415960380
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,656,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRIAN L. OTT (Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University) is a teacher-scholar of media and rhetorical studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. He is author of "The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age" and "Critical Media Studies: An Introduction" (with Robert Mack), as well as co-editor of "It's Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era" and "Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials." He currently serves as the editor of the "Western Journal of Communication."

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Media: film and television studies, equipment for living, new media, critical theory, pleasure, medium theory, convergence, Information Age.

Rhetoric: public memory, museum studies, visual communication, spatiality, materiality, post-structuralism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great scholarly texts about HBO, February 15, 2010

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Zarah Klink Hansen - See all my reviews
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This review is from: It's Not TV: Watching HBO in the Post-Television Era (Paperback)

This is a book that tries to have an academic perspective on TV and TV shows. It's a way of saying, that TV isn't always just trash. It focuses on HBO, because more than any other television channel HBO tries to create original, interesting, great quality TV. However, the book also discusses how, and whether or not, HBO succeeds in this project.
Great for Television buffs, who thinks that TV can also be studied in an academic and scholarly fashion.