Television Commons^™

An Interview With The Scorpion: Walter O’Brien, Walter O'Brien

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

An interview with Walter O'Brien (hacker handle: "Scorpion"), known as a businessman, information technologist, executive producer, and media personality who is the founder and CEO of Scorpion Computer Services, Inc. O'Brien is also the inspiration for and executive producer of the CBS television series, Scorpion.

"Everyone Has Thought About Killing Someone - One Way Or Another": Cannibalism And The Question Of Morality In Bryan Fuller's Hannibal, Kristi Michelle Pierse

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Popular criticism insists that violence in the media perpetuates violence in the real world. This is an especially relevant argument today as we witness on a daily basis the violence that is occurring in the United States through mass shootings, police brutality, and countless other forms of aggressive actions. While studies do show a correlation between violent media and real-world violence, there is no absolute conclusion that proves such. My thesis addresses the moral lessons that can be learned through violence on television, particularly through the creative adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter series as reimagined by Bryan Fuller in …

Statistical Plight Of Black Women, Kimberly-Joy M. Walters

Sociology Summer Fellows

The purpose of this research is to examine how television shows and their portrayals of professional Black women impact the interpretation of marriage rates by race and perpetuate ideologies about the angry, unlovable Black woman. Using a content analysis of cable and network television shows with Black professional women as lead characters, this study connects an analysis of the characters’ lived experiences to normative expectations of Black women in relationships to call into question the prevailing narrative that Black women are in part personally responsible for their statistical plight. I will closely study how the two stereotypes, the Jezebel and …

Broadcasting The Crisis: Spanish Television As Critique, Eva Velasco Pena

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Television is often thought of as monolithic and totalizing, controlling viewers and upholding the status quo. This project will propose different understandings of the mass-medium. In order to historically contextualize my study, I will begin with a brief discussion of the role of television in democratic Spain (from c.1978-present). The thesis will primarily consist of an analysis of two sides of contemporary Spanish TV: fiction and politics; and will explore the way that certain programs, alternately catalyze critical thought and actions or enable spectators to, following John Ellis, “work through” traumatic events. I furthermore propose that imaging a concept might …

Gay Doesn’T Begin To Cover It: Non-Binary Sexuality In Community’S Dean Pelton”, Jessica Mae Harmon

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In modern media, characters whose sexuality lies outside of binary gender and sexuality representations are few and far between. Most queer characters in mainstream American television are labeled as either gay or lesbian, and in a few rare cases bisexual. Bisexuality, while least visible among sexual minorities that fit within the prescribed LGBT acronym, is most visible outside of the gay/straight dichotomy. Meanwhile the spectrum of non-binary sexualities is largely ignored. In this essay I will examine one character that breaks this mold and forces the modern viewer to consider non-binary sexuality, Dean Craig Pelton of NBC/Yahoo’s Community. The …

Developments In Television Viewership, Lucile E. Hecht

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years the ways in which we watch television has changed, and so has the television we watch. “Binge watching,” almost the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2013, has taken a firm hold on the American television audience who now watches television not according to the broadcast schedule but on its own terms. So, too, has the practice of engaging with other audience members, be they friends, family, or strangers, while watching a show by using a secondary device – a “second screen.” These practices have been developing for some time, and as technology adapts to …

Deconstructing Downton Abbey: The House That Masterpiece Built, Nicole Flynn

English Faculty Presentations

Featured scholar in an article by Katy Beem on the series Downton Abbey. Published in South Dakota Public Broadcasting Magazine.

Happily Ever After? Marriage And Modernity In Downton Abbey, Nicole Flynn

English Faculty Presentations

In anticipation of the Downton Abbey series finale, South Dakota Public Broadcasting hosted several fundraising teas across South Dakota. I was invited to give a talk to the attendees at the event.

How 9/11 Changed The Movies: The Tony Scott Barometer, E. Deidre Pribram Ph.D.

Communications: Faculty Publications

In an essay written some years ago on the 1945 film, Mildred Pierce, Linda Williams raises the intriguing question, why does the narrative frequently allude to but refrains from ever specifically mentioning World War II (22)? Williams’ assessment is that certain films are capable of addressing the most significant political events of the era in ways they could not have had they chosen to use direct depictions (24). Released in October 1945, following the end of U.S. involvement in the war, Mildred Pierce coincided with a period of demobilization and the economic and social reintegration of the returning American, largely …

Gynecologists, Bureaucrats, And Stoners: The Rise Of Women In Television Comedies And Critiquing The Postfeminist Perspective, Victoria Montecillo

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis looks to explore the rise of women in television comedy and the accompanying implications of this phenomenon. Using a historical framework, this thesis looks at the progression of representations of women in television comedies beginning in the 1950s up to today. Considering factors such as the rise of social media, as well as online television streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix as more legitimate avenues to distribute content, this thesis traces women’s place within television comedy, and argues that shows such as Parks and Recreation, The Mindy Project, and Broad City serve as examples of the progress …

Hanging With The Boys: Homosocial Bonding And Bromance Coupling In Nip/Tuck And Boston Legal, Pamela Hill Nettleton

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Melodious Marketing: The Intentions Of Music In T.V. Commercials, Katelyn Reithel

University Honors Program

Whether intentional or not, music seems to be an important element in television commercials. This thesis will determine exactly how effective music is and if a company’s marketing team considers using music to reach a specific advertising goal. To do this, several areas are discussed including psychomusicology (the effects of music on a human’s responses) in relation to emotional response and memorability, music’s effect of brand attitude and purchasing intentions made by consumers, the use of jingles, effects of T.V. commercials on the music industry, and the challenges that may arise by using music in a T.V. commercial. Regardless of …

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's...Cultural Anxiety? Using Detective Comics' Three Biggest Heroes To Identify And Explore Cultural Anxieties As Depicted Through Television, Jonathan Vander Lugt

Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers

This collection of essays uses the mythic nature of superheroes to examine and discuss specific cultural anxieties as they’re navigated and alleviated in superhero television texts. First, I examine the way that anxiety over feminism and the women’s rights movement manifested itself in Wonder Woman, the 70s television series starring Lynda Carter. Next, I use Smallville and its depictions of a teenaged Superman to explore its handling of anxieties over the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Finally, I performed a content analysis of six different series of Batman cartoons to examine the way they respond to national concerns over …

Mobile Production: Spatialized Labor, Location Professionals, And The Expanding Geography Of Television Production, Myles Mcnutt

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

This article addresses the spatial challenges facing television laborers amid an increasingly expansive and contingent environment of local production incentives. Pushing away from the term runaway production and its limited engagement with local, spatialized dynamics of labor, I argue for a consideration of “mobile production,” wherein television series are capable of being executed in an increasingly wide range of locations—not necessarily Los Angeles—and capable of being moved should changes in an incentive system create the need to do so. Through personal interviews and analysis of industry discourse, this case study of location professionals considers how the mobility of production affects …

Food Tv, Kathleen Collins

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Switching Screens: An Examination Of How House Of Cards And Scandal Represent Shifting Strategies In Television, Laura Rossiter

Scripps Senior Theses

Both House of Cards and Scandal have similar conceits (White House? Check. Sex? Check. Murder? Check.) but use different platforms: House of Cards is a Netflix Original production while Scandal is a broadcast television program on ABC. Through the course of this paper, I will examine how the platform and type of consumption affects the content and distribution of the show and the types of relationships they forge with their viewers.

The Basque Big Boy? Basque Masculinities In Vaya Semanita, Iker González-Allende

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

This article argues that the television show Vaya semanita portrays a specific Basque masculinity, different from the Spanish or Mediterranean ones. The traditional Basque masculinity shares some values with the most accepted forms of Spanish masculinities –including manhood as a challenge to be overcome, physical strength, intemperate drinking, and gluttonous eating – but differs from them in the way men behave in relation to women and sex, and the way they maintain close friendships with each other. Basque men appear as dependent on their mothers and wives, making them look emasculated and infantile. Their male bonding is also interpreted as …

Representing Us All? Race, Gender, And Sexuality In Orange Is The New Black, Michael Robert Chavez

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Orange Is the New Black is a Netflix television series that began in 2013. The series focuses on the lives of inmates in a fictional women's prison. Television series about prison have focused primarily on men in prison. This thesis will expand upon previous research on representation of minorities in television using a feminist media analysis to examine the first season of the series. I will explore how race, gender, and sexuality are represented within the series. I examine the representations of four characters during the first season. I chose these four characters because they represented different racial groups, sexualities, …

The Integration History Of Kuwaiti Television From 1957-1990: An Audience-Generated Oral Narrative On The Arrival And Integration Of The Device In The City, Ahmad Hamada

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to compose an account of television history in Kuwait, one that focuses on its integration into society and is told from the audience's perspective and experience. This study represents a cultural alternative to the overwhelmingly national, institutional, and biographical focus that accompanies television history works in Kuwait and the Arab world.

The narrative is gathered and generated through the individual oral stories of 25 Kuwaitis over the age of 50, who generally represent the six geographical districts of Kuwait. Through their oral stories, the narrators examine the different areas in which television has integrated itself into society …

Faith, Doubt, And Chiasmus In Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue I, William Bartley

Journal of Religion & Film

This article proposes a reinterpretation of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s exploration of the first commandment in Decalogue I. It argues that the narrative structure of the story is chiastic—i.e., inversely parallel—which follows from recognizing for the first time the crucial role that Irena, the devoutly Catholic sister of Krzysztof, a professor and religious skeptic, plays in the story. The pattern of inverse parallelism (chiasmus) emerges as Krzysztof and Irena respond separately to the tragic death of Krzysztof’s son, Pawel: as Krzysztof’s skepticism gives way to a new faith in God, inversely and unexpectedly Irena’s faith retreats into doubt. This outcome, in …

Where Have All The Good Men Gone? A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Absent Fathers & Bad Dads On Abc's Lost, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Fictional fathers in narratives are often allegorical in nature and contemporary television is not immune from this. ABC’s groundbreaking television drama, Lost, offers a multitude of father figures that suggests not only a crisis concerning the role of the father in the 21st century but also the crisis of national security experienced by Americans after the attacks. In particular, the program showcases three specific types of troubled father/child relationships: those in which the father is absent and/or dead, those where the father is portrayed as abusive and/or evil, and those where the father and child are estranged and/or their relationship …

Defining The Audience: Redefining Public Service, Ann-Marie Murray

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

Where Have All The Good Men Gone? A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Absent Fathers & Bad Dads On Abc's Lost, Melissa R. Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Fictional fathers in narratives are often allegorical in nature and contemporary television is not immune from this. ABC’s groundbreaking television drama, Lost, offers a multitude of father figures that suggests not only a crisis concerning the role of the father in the 21st century but also the crisis of national security experienced by Americans after the attacks. In particular, the program showcases three specific types of troubled father/child relationships: those in which the father is absent and/or dead, those where the father is portrayed as abusive and/or evil, and those where the father and child are estranged and/or their relationship …

Not Dead At All, Martin Becerra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Not Dead At All is a nontraditional thesis, a creative product, the result of a combination of media production and social research. This paper is an attempt to explain the creative and production process behind the creation of an original media content, using the social research as a tool to increase the likeability of our characters and therefore increase the show’s chances of success.

"Punk-Ass Book Jockeys": Library Anxiety In The Television Programs Community And Parks And Recreation, Eamon Tewell

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Library anxiety, defined as the fear of using libraries, is a psychological barrier that impedes academic achievement and the development of information literacy. Using key episodes and protagonists from Community and Parks and Recreation, this paper will demonstrate how library anxiety is represented in these series. From the infamously manipulative public librarian Tammy Swanson in Parks and Recreation to the library as pillow fight battlefield in Community, these indications of anxiety towards libraries will be evaluated with the intent of illuminating current discourse in popular television regarding library use.

A Prison For Others—A Burden To One's Self, Anne Collins Smith, Owen M. Smith

Faculty Publications

Women have come a long way since the mid-1960's, both in the real world and in the world of philosophy. Given the advances in society and the developments within feminism that took place between that decade and the first decade of the 21st century, we might reasonably expect the new Prisonerseries to present a more contemporary perspective on women than the original. Such is most emphatically not the case. If we compare the original Village to the new one, it looks as if those pennyfarthing wheels are spinning backwards instead of forwards.

Subscribing To Governmental Rationality: Hbo And The Aids Epidemic, Shayne Pepper

Communication, Media and Theatre Faculty Publications

Between 1987 and 2013, HBO produced or distributed over twenty HIV/AIDS programs. These films trace a cultural shift from an early focus on AIDS as a public health issue to be dealt with through individual “safe-sex” practices and ethical citizenship to a later focus on AIDS as a global pandemic where the explicit strategy becomes a reliance on non-state actors to combat AIDS. This article argues that HBO's HIV/AIDS films are embedded within a cultural approach to AIDS that relies on governmental logics and neoliberal solutions – not direct action, but directing action.

The Rainbow Effect: Exploring The Implications Of Queer Representation In Film And Television On Social Change, Maya S. Reddy

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I explore how specific films and television shows use the preexisting structure and mechanics of narrative film in order to create queer characters and stories that defy their otherness and stereotypes, thus creating a profound cinematic experience. Not only does the manipulation of these structures and mechanics heighten the realism and depth of the narrative at hand, it also enhances audience identification by allowing queer viewers to find themselves and straight viewers to understand the “other.” In this manner, the New New Queer Cinema and television have had lasting effects on the modern gay rights movement, changing …

The Circuit: An Original Television Series, Grace T. Ding

CMC Senior Theses

Between good and evil there's a whole lot of gray: Welcome to The Circuit.

A shady private security firm recruits criminals straight out of prison and sells its services to the highest bidder, saint and sinner alike (mostly sinners). Through the trials and tribulations of a diverse ensemble cast, the show explores some of my absolute favorite themes in storytelling: gray morality, found families, and unlikely heroes. Follow our gritty and guarded lead Shaye as she struggles to tame a group of talented and contentious ex-cons under the shadow of her ambitious and manipulative father, all the while struggling to …

Revenge: Baltimore's Justice, Rachel M. Bellwoar

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

This essay explores the concept of revenge and whether or not seeking it out is ever legitimately justified. Using an example from HBO’s critically acclaimed television drama, The Wire, specific focus is placed on fan favorite character, Omar Little’s, violent search for vengeance following the season one murder of his boyfriend, Brandon. Some points considered are what consequences Brandon’s killers would have faced for their crimes if Omar hadn’t sought punishment on his own initiative, what the collateral damage is of such focused anger, and the impact of environment on what kind of retribution is desired.