Big Brother: Reality TV in the Twenty-First Century

by J. Bignell

Overview

Jonathan Bignell presents a wide-ranging analysis of the television phenomenon of the early twenty-first century: Reality TV, exploring its cultural and political meanings, explaining the genesis of the form and its relationship to contemporary television production, and considering how it connects with, and breaks away from, factual and fictional conventions in television. Relationships with surveillance, celebrity and media culture are examined, leading to an appraisal of the directions that television culture is taking in the new century. His highly-readable style is accessible to readers at all levels of Culture and Media studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403916846
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/16/2005
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	189
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Bignell is Professor of Television and Film at the University of Reading, UK. He works on the history and analysis of television, especially television drama in the UK and USA, using archival sources and the detailed analysis of programmes. Recent publications include An Introduction to Television Studies (3rd editon, 2012), Beckett on Screen: The Television Plays (2009) and A European Television History (co-edited with A. Fickers, 2008)

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction PART 1: GENESIS Introduction The Documentary Heritage The Possibilities of Production Technologies Television Institutions Risking Reality TV Reality TV as the End of Documentary History Case Study: Wife Swap PART 2: THE WORLD IS WATCHING Introduction Reality TV and Theories of Globalization International Programmes and Formats from Britain The Globalization of Privacy Publicized Reality TV and Television Scheduling The Globalization of Institutional Forms Local Regulatory Cultures Case study: Big Brother as a Transnational Property Conclusion PART 3: REALITY TV Introduction Generic Conventions and Docusoap Docusoap, Ordinariness and Celebrity The Aesthetics of Reality TV Reality TV and the Public Sphere The Passion and Revelation of the Real Narration and Mediation Case Study: The House Series; Simulation, Recreation and Education Conclusion PART 4: DRAMA Introduction Narrative Forms Performance and Genre Characters Melodrama Dramatizing Gender Reality TV and the Displacement of Drama From Docusoap to Drama Case Study: The Cruise , Performance and Authenticity Conclusion PART 5: SURVEILLANCE Introduction The Prison of Real Spaces of Surveillance Discipline and Confession Rights and Regulations Threat and Reassurance Car Crash TV Case Study: Witnessing and Helping in Crimewatch UK Conclusion PART 6: BIG BROTHER CULTURE Introduction Cross-platform and Intermedial Texts Audience Composition and Modes of Address Audience Perceptions of Reality TV Television Institution and Reality TV Audiences Television Talk and Gossip Poaching and Fandom Case Study: The Osbournes , Celebrity and Multi-accentuality Conclusion CONCLUSION Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'Jonathan Bignell challenges traditional notions of the transnational flow of program material as he discusses reality television and deftly shows the links between reality television and the other television forms to which it is related as well as the genesis of the format in the new, multi-channel television environment. This book is a welcome addition to the study of reality television that will be accessible to undergraduate and graduate students in media studies and cultural criticism alike.' - Ronald J. Compesi, Professor, Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department, San Francisco State University, USA

From the Publisher