Action TV: Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks PDF Download

Author: Anna Gough-Yates
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136358722
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
From re-runs of 'TV classics' like The Avengers or Starsky and Hutch, to soundtracks, club nights and film remakes such as Mission Impossible II, the action series is enjoying a popular revival. Yet little attention has been paid to the history, nature and enduring appeal of the action series, and its place in popular culture, past and present. Action TV traces the development of the action series from its genesis in the 1950s. From The Saint to Knigh t Rider, contributors explore the key shows which defined the genre, addressing issues of audiences and consumption, gender and sexuality, fashion and popular culture. They examine the institutional and cultural factors influencing the action series, and relate shifts in the genre to other forms of popular culture including film, pop music, fashion and popular literature. Chapters include: * Of leather suits and kinky boots: The Avengers, style and popular culture * 'Who loves ya, baby?': Kojak, action and the great society *'A lone crusader in a dangerous world': heroics of science and technology in Knight Rider * Angels in chains? feminism, femininity and consumer culture in Charlie's Angels * 'Who's the cat that won't cop out?' Black masculinity in American action shows of the sixties and seventies

Author: Jonathan Bignell
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719065477
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
"This is the first academic study of the science fiction television devised and written by Terry Nation, who wrote Dalek stories and other serials for Doctor Who, and created the BBC's 1970s post-apocalyptic space adventure series Blake's 7".--Back cover.

Author: Amanda D. Lotz
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479800589
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
The emergence of "male-centered serials" such as The Shield, Rescue Me, and Sons Of Anarchy and the challenges these characters face in negotiating modern masculinities. From the meth-dealing but devoted family man Walter White of AMC’s Breaking Bad, to the part-time basketball coach, part-time gigolo Ray Drecker of HBO’s Hung, depictions of male characters perplexed by societal expectations of men and anxious about changing American masculinity have become standard across the television landscape. Engaging with a wide variety of shows, including The League, Dexter, and Nip/Tuck, among many others, Amanda D. Lotz identifies the gradual incorporation of second-wave feminism into prevailing gender norms as the catalyst for the contested masculinities on display in contemporary cable dramas. Examining the emergence of “male-centered serials” such as The Shield, Rescue Me, and Sons of Anarchy and the challenges these characters face in negotiating modern masculinities, Lotz analyzes how these shows combine feminist approaches to fatherhood and marriage with more traditional constructions of masculine identity that emphasize men’s role as providers. She explores the dynamics of close male friendships both in groups, as in Entourage and Men of a Certain Age, wherein characters test the boundaries between the homosocial and homosexual in their relationships with each other, and in the dyadic intimacy depicted in Boston Legal and Scrubs. Cable Guys provides a much needed look into the under-considered subject of how constructions of masculinity continue to evolve on television.

Author: Johnson, Catherine
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)
ISBN: 033521729X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
"Since breaking the BBC's monopoly in 1955, ITV has been at the centre of the British television landscape. To coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the first ITV broadcast, this accessible book offers a range of perspectives on the complex and multifaceted history of Britain's first commercial broadcaster."--BOOK JACKET.

Author: Sue Turnbull
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748678204
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
This book provides an historical analysis of the TV crime series as a genre, paying close attention not only to the nature of TV dramas themselves, but also to the context of production and reception.

Author: Steven Gerrard
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1801175187
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Gender and Action Films 2000 and Beyond: Transformations looks at Action Cinema from the old to the new, offering an exciting interrogation of the portrayal of gender in the new millennia. A necessity for academics, students and lovers of film and media and those interested in gender studies.

Author: Rob Turnock
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857717324
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The radical expansion of television broadcasting in the post-war years and beyond both reflected and promoted a cultural revolution sweeping across British society. Reaching out to a mass audience for the first time, the new television industry made visible the transition from drab austerity and seeming cultural consensus to the brash, heady glitz and individualism of the new consumer age."Television and Consumer Culture" explores television's institutional, technological and programming developments during this period, revealing how genres as different as action adventure series, serious dramas, situation comedies and quiz and game shows simultaneously promoted both consumer culture and class conflict. Drawing on historical analysis and sociological theory, and looking at issues such as celebrity, scheduling, intimacy and sociability, Turnock argues that television during this era established and promoted itself as a culturally powerful force, a fact that has implications for the way that media power is understood to operate today.

Author: Rosie White
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113419806X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
The female spy has long exerted a strong grip on the popular imagination. With reference to popular fiction, film and television Violent Femmes examines the figure of the female spy as a nexus of contradictory ideas about femininity, power, sexuality and national identity. Fictional representations of women as spies have recurrently traced the dynamic of women’s changing roles in British and American culture. Employing the central trope of women who work as spies, Rosie White examines cultural shifts during the twentieth century regarding the role of women in the professional workplace. Violent Femmes examines the female spy as a figure in popular discourse which simultaneously conforms to cultural stereotypes and raises questions about women's roles in British and American culture, in terms of gender, sexuality and national identity. Immensely useful for a wide range of courses such as film and television studies, English, cultural studies, women’s studies, gender studies, media studies, communications and history, this book will appeal to students from undergraduate level upwards.

Author: Subcultures Network
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526120615
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Ripped, torn and cut offers a collection of original essays exploring the motivations behind – and the politics within – the multitude of fanzines that emerged in the wake of British punk from 1976. Sniffin’ Glue (1976–77), Mark Perry’s iconic punk fanzine, was but the first of many, paving the way for hundreds of home-made magazines to be cut and pasted in bedrooms across the UK. From these, glimpses into provincial cultures, teenage style wars and formative political ideas may be gleaned. An alternative history, away from the often-condescending glare of London’s media and music industry, can be formulated, drawn from such titles as Ripped & Torn, Brass Lip, City Fun, Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Toxic Grafity, Hungry Beat and Hard as Nails. The first book of its kind, this collection reveals the contested nature of punk’s cultural politics by turning the pages of a vibrant underground press.

Author: Gladys L. Knight
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
This book offers 25 profiles of some of the most popular female action heroes throughout the history of film, television, comic books, and video games. Female action heroes, like other fictional characters, not only reveal a lot about society, but greatly influence individuals in society. It is no surprise that the gradual development and increase in the number of female action heroes coincides with societal changes and social movements, such as feminism. Nor is it a surprise that characteristics of female action heroes echo the progressive toughening of women and young girls in the media. Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video Games, Film, and Television brings to the forefront the historical representation of women and girls in film, television, comic books, and video games. The book includes profiles of 25 of the most popular female action heroes, arranged in alphabetical order for easy reference. Each chapter includes sections on the hero's origins, her power suit, weapons, abilities, and the villains with whom she grapples. Most significantly, each profile offers an analysis of the hero's story—and her impact on popular culture.