Complex TV
by Jason Mittell · Jason Mittell
A poetics of contemporary serial television, examining beginnings, characters, comprehension, and endings through series such as The Wire and Lost. Readers acquire analytic terms for narrative complexity and can apply them to their own close readings.
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More resources on Television Studies
flowjournal.org
Flow Journal is an online publication focused on media and communication, offering articles, essays, and multimedia that explore media theory, digital culture, and contemporary media practices.
In Media Res
A MediaCommons project where media scholars each post a short clip with a brief commentary, five per themed week, followed by open discussion. Readers see how academics build arguments about television and film from specific moments.
Television: Technology and Cultural Form
A 1974 study arguing that television's social uses were shaped by institutions and policy rather than the technology itself, introducing the concept of 'flow'. Readers gain a framework for analyzing broadcasting as a cultural form.
amandalotz.com
An academic resource hub by television studies scholar Amanda Lotz, featuring research on TV history, streaming, and media industries. The site includes publications, books, talks, and teaching materials (course syllabi, tutorials) along with blog posts on television, audiences, and policy.
The Television Will Be Revolutionized
Traces the American television industry's shift from network-era mass broadcasting to on-demand, multichannel distribution, covering business models, technology, and audience measurement. Readers gain vocabulary for describing how the medium's economics changed after 2000.
televisionstudies.org
TelevisionStudies.org is a scholarly resource hub for television studies, offering articles, bibliographies, and teaching materials for researchers and students. It also provides information on conferences, events, and field-specific resources.