The Cult TV Book: from Star Trek to Dexter, New Approaches to TV Outside the Box

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Television and film guide: p. 260-267. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments -- About the Contributors -- Introduction: 'Never Give Up-Never Surrender!': The Resilience of Cult Television / Stacey Abbott -- Part 1. Defining Cult TV: History, Aesthetics, Discourses -- Chapter 1. Observations on Cult Television / Roberta Pearson -- Chapter 2. Members Only: Cult TV from Margins to Mainstream / Sergio Angelini, Miles Booy -- Case Study: Twin Peaks-Miles Booy -- Chapter 3. The Aesthetics of Cult Television / Rhonda V. Wilcox -- Chapter 4. Babylon 5 / Sergio Angelini -- Chapter 5. Playing Hard to 'Get'-How to Write Cult TV / Jane Espenson -- Chapter 6. The Twilight Zone / Stan Beeler -- Part 2. Reading Cult TV: Texts and Contexts -- Chapter 7. The Avengers/The New Avengers / Paul Sutton -- Chapter 8. Mainstream Cult / Matt Hills -- Case Study: Grey's Anatomy / Hillary Robson -- Chapter 9. Transgressive TV / Jes Battis -- Case Study: Trailer Park Boys / Sharon Sutherland, Sarah Swan -- Case Study: Masters of Horror / Donato Totaro -- Chapter 10. Innovative TV / Stacey Abbott -- Case Study: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Stacey Abbott -- Case Study: The Prisoner / Sergio Angelini -- Chapter 11. Representation: Exploring Issuses of Sex, Gender, and Race in Cult Television / Lorna Jowett -- Case Study: Angel / Lorna Jowett -- Case Study: Battlestar Galactica / Bronwen Calvert -- Chapter 12. Boldly Going: Music and Cult TV / Jenet K. Halfyard -- Part 3. Constructing Cult TV: The Broadcast Industry and Cult Television -- Chapter 13. The Star Trek Franchise / Lincoln Geraghty -- Chapter 14. Cult TV and the Television Industry / Catherine Johnson -- Case Study: HBO and the Sopranos / Catherine Johnson -- Case Study: The Quatermass Serials / Catherine Johnson -- Chapter 15. Cult Channels: Showtime, FX, and Cult TV / Simon Brown -- Case Study: The X-Files / Simon Brown -- Chapter 16. Through the Oblong Window: The Regulated Duopoly and the Creation of a Cult Children's 'Canon' in Britain / Tat Wood -- Case Study: Bagpuss / Tat Wood -- Chapter 17. Cult TV and New Media / Denzell Richards -- Chapter 18. Doctor Who Miles Booy -- Chapter 19. Writing Tie-ins / Nancy Holder -- Chapter 20. South Park / David Simmons -- Part 4. The Cult in Cult TV: Audiences, Fans, and Fandom -- Chapter 21. Dark Shadows / Stacey Abbott -- Chapter 22. Television and the Cult Audience: A Primer / Hillary Robson -- Case Study: Da Ali G Show / Hillary Robson -- Chapter 23. The Cult of Cult TV? / Dick Fiddy -- Chapter 24. Subcultural Celebrity / Matt Hills -- Chapter 25. Sapphire & Steel / Sergio Angelini -- Chapter 26. Gen, Slash, OT3s, and Crossover-The Varieties of Fan Fiction / Roz Kaveney -- Works Cited -- Television and Film Guide -- Index. Brief Description: As evidenced by the recent proliferation of fan conventions, television show boxed sets, and collectible character figurines, cult TV shows have arguably become the most vital and interesting programming on television. The once-marginal genre manifests itself in a remarkable variety of programs, from the suburban mob drama "The Sopranos" to the beloved occult fantasy "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." "The Cult TV Book" is a guide to this phenomenon, complete with lively and diverse analyses of the work that goes into conceiving and marketing a cult series, as well as numerous investigations that explore the unique cult appeal of individual programs. Leading scholars, journalists, and writers consider the many aspects of a show -- both script-based and visual -- that attract the kind of uncompromisingly loyal fan bases that we know as "Trekkies," for example, or, more recently, "Losties.""The Cult TV Book" sheds light on the heretofore under-examined science of addictive TV programming, pinpointing the complex arcs and intentionally inadequate explanations that keep viewers coming back for more. The contributors cover every corner of the cult map, all the while trying to define the elusive genre, to understand the cult TV obsession from the outside in. Publisher Marketing: As evidenced by the recent proliferation of fan conventions, television show boxed sets, and collectible character figurines, cult TV shows have arguably become the most vital and interesting programming on television. The once-marginal genre manifests itself in a remarkable variety of programs, from the suburban mob drama The Sopranos to the beloved occult fantasy Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Cult TV Book is a guide to this phenomenon, complete with lively and diverse analyses of the work that goes into conceiving and marketing a cult series, as well as numerous investigations that explore the unique cult appeal of individual programs. Leading scholars, journalists, and writers consider the many aspects of a show--both script-based and visual--that attract the kind of uncompromisingly loyal fan bases that we know as "Trekkies," for example, or, more recently, "Losties." The Cult TV Book sheds light on the heretofore under-examined science of addictive TV programming, pinpointing the complex arcs and intentionally inadequate explanations that keep viewers coming back for more. The contributors cover every corner of the cult map, all the while trying to define the elusive genre, to understand the cult TV obsession from the outside in. Review Citations: Library Journal 06/15/2010 pg. 74 (EAN 9781593762766, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Abbott, Stacey Stacey Abbott is Senior Lecturer in film and television studies at Roehampton University in London.