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Television is one of the most important socializing forces in contemporary culture. This book is a cultural history of prime-time television in America during the 1990s. Examines changes that took place in programming, such as the rapid adoption of cable, the proliferation of content providers, the development of niche marketing, the introduction of high-definition television, the blurring of traditional genres, and the creation of new formats like reality-based programming Argues that television programmes of the 1990s afforded viewers a symbolic resource for negotiating the psychological challenges associated with the shift from the Industrial Age to the Information Age Explores the ways in which television provided viewers with tools for coming to terms with their fears about living in the fast-paced , increasingly diverse, information-laden society of the 90s

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A movie that swept the 1934 Academy Awards and captivated Depression-era America, It Happened One Night challenged the ways Americans imagined marriage, romance, gender, and class difference. This book examines key scenes and formal features of It Happened One Night, and explores its lasting importance in film history and in cultural studies. Consideration of the film’s role in establishing the genre of the romantic comedy film Investigations into the film’s persistent sexuality and its creativity in avoiding Depression-era censorship Establishment of the cultural, economic, and political context of a film that directly addresses the Depression and class issues Exploration of how the film invokes and develops the stardom of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert and how this stardom intersects with the film’s topics of gender, genre, sexuality, and class

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A Companion to Television is a magisterial collection of 31 original essays that charter the field of television studies over the past century Explores a diverse range of topics and theories that have led to television’s current incarnation, and predict its likely future Covers technology and aesthetics, television’s relationship to the state, televisual commerce; texts, representation, genre, internationalism, and audience reception and effects Essays are by an international group of first-rate scholars For information, news, and content from Blackwell's reference publishing program please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/reference/

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For over four decades, Martin Scorsese has been the chronicler of an obsessive society, where material possessions and physical comfort are valued, where the pursuit of individual improvement is rewarded and where male prerogative is respected and preserved. Scorsese has often described his films as sociology and he has a point: his storytelling condenses complex information into comprehensible narratives about society. In this sense, he has been a guide through a dark world of nineteenth century crypto-fascism to a fetishistic twentieth century in which goods, fame, money and power are held to have magical power. Author of Tyson: Nurture of the Beast and Beckham, Ellis Cashmore turns his attention to arguably the most influential living film- maker to explore how Scorsese envisions America. Greed, manhood, the city and romantic love feature on Scorsese's landscape of secular materialism. They are among the themes Cashmore argues have driven and inform Scorsese's work. This is America, as seen through the eyes of Martin Scorsese and it is a deeply unpleasant place. Cashmore's book discloses how, collectively, Scorsese's films present an image of America. It's an image assembled from the perspectives of obsessive people, whether burned-out paramedics, compulsive entrepreneurs, tortured lovers, or celebrity-fixated comedians. It's collected from pool halls, taxicabs, boxing rings and jazz clubs. It's an image that's specific, yet ubiquitous. It is Martin Scorsese's America.

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This is a major new assessment of the American movie industry in the 1990's, focusing on the development of new communication technologies such as cable and home video and examining their impact on the production and distribution of motion pictures.

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Radio in the Global Age offers a fresh, up-to-date, and wide-ranging introduction to the role of radio in contemporary society. It places radio, for the first time, in a global context, and pays special attention to the impact of the Internet, digitalization and globalization on the political-economy of radio. It also provides a new emphasis on the links between music and radio, the impact of formatting, and the broader cultural roles the medium plays in constructing identities and nurturing musical tastes. Individual chapters explore the changing structures of the radio industry, the way programmes are produced, the act of listening and the construction of audiences, the different meanings attached to programmes, and the cultural impact of radio across the globe. David Hendy portrays a medium of extraordinary contradictions: a cheap and accessible means of communication, but also one increasingly dominated by rigid formats and multinational companies; a highly 'intimate' medium, but one capable of building large communities of listeners scattered across huge spaces; a force for nourishing regional identity, but also a pervasive broadcaster of globalized music products; a 'stimulus to the imagination', but a purveyor of the banal and of the routine. Drawing on recent research from as far afield as Africa, Australasia and Latin America, as well as from the UK and US, the book aims to explore and to explain these paradoxes – and, in the process, to offer an imaginative reworking of Marshall McLuhan's famous dictum that radio is one of the world's 'hot' media. Radio in the Global Age is an invaluable text for undergraduates and researchers in media studies, communication studies, journalism, cultural studies, and musicology. It will also be of interest to practitioners and policy-makers in the radio industry.

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A Companion to Literature in Film provides state-of-the-art research on world literature, film, and the complex theoretical relationship between them. 25 essays by international experts cover the most important topics in the study of literature and film adaptations. Covers a wide variety of topics, including cultural, thematic, theoretical, and genre issues Discusses film adaptations from the birth of cinema to the present day Explores a diverse range of titles and genres, including film noir, biblical epics, and Italian and Chinese cinema

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Television in the Antenna Age is a brief, accessible, and engaging overview of the medium’s history and development in the US. Integrating three major concerns–television as an industry, a technology, and an art—the book is a basic primer on the complex, fascinating, and often overlooked story of television and its impact on American life. Covers the entire history of American television, from its urban, middle-class beginnings in the late 40s, to the contemporary impact of new technologies and consolidated corporate. Includes interview segments with industry insiders, pictures, and sidebars to illustrate important figures, trends, and events

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The best jokes, gags and scenes from a true British comedy classic.Del: You were gun running during the Spanish Civil War?Grandad: Well…that was the best time to do it!‘A man like you needs something to reflect your image – I've got a lovely Skoda in the forecourt.'Boycie (…trying to sell a used car to Del)In the history of British comedy classics, there is no better example than the hugely popular and critically-acclaimed Only Fools and Horses. Set in Peckham, inner London, it chronicles the adventures and exploits of ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter, his gormless younger brother Rodney, and a host of other unusual misfit characters, in their attempts to get rich selling anything and everything to anyone who'll buy it.Written and created by comic genius John Sullivan, the classic British sitcom had an incredible cast, including, most notably, legendary actor Sir David Jason.Between 1981 and 1991 seven series of the show were broadcast in the UK, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. Even now it remains the most-watched British sitcom of all time, holding the record for the highest UK audience for a sitcom episode for the 1996 special 'Time On Our Hands'.The Best of British Comedy – Only Fools and Horses includes:• The History: an overview of how Only Fools and Horses was born and developed• Gags and Catchphrases: a collection of classic quotes• Did You Know?: snippets of info about the show, cast, etc.• Favourite scenes: the most memorable scenes in full• An OFAH quiz'I'm depressed because of the state of my life at the moment. I've got this 'orrible feeling that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, knowing my luck, I'll come back as me!'Rodney'I heard a rumour that Mickey Mouse wears a Rodney Trotter wristwatch.'Boycie

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The best jokes, gags and scenes from a true British comedy classic.‘Do you reckon I’m in love with Mrs. Batty, or is it just sex?’ CompoCompo: I thought you'd be open.Sid: Well that's a natural assumption if you ignore the drawn blinds and the forty foot sign that says closed.Set and filmed in and around Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, Last of the Summer Wine follows the adventures of three quirky pensioners and their equally unusual neighbours. A true British classic that appeals to all generations, it is our nation's longest running comedy programme. The line-up of the comedy trio has changed numerous times over the years, but the calibre of the family-friendly humour Roy Clarke creates has remained the same, and it’s as funny and eccentric now as it was in the first episodes he wrote over 25 years ago.Including the pilot, broadcast ten months before the first series, 29 series, made up of 279 episodes, have been screened to date, with the 30th series set to air this autumn. The sitcom has consistently been a favourite in the ratings, with viewing figures peaking at 18.8 million in the mid-eighties.Famous fans include Prince Charles, the Queen Mother and the Queen, who said it was her favourite TV show.The Best of British Comedy – Last of the Summer Wine includes:• The History: an overview of how Last of the Summer Wine was born and developed• Gags and Catchphrases: a collection of classic quotes• Did You Know?: snippets of info about the show, cast, etc.• Favourite scenes: the most memorable scenes in full• A LOSW quiz'If God's omnipotent, what could he possibly want with my old woman?' CleggCompo: Your old lady's dog is crapping all over the pavement.Blamire: That's funny. He usually sews it up in little bags and sends it by post.

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