Journal Description
We are delighted to announce that effective the 4th September 2015, this title (previously published by Manchester University Press) will now be published by SAGE. For more information on the transfer of 10 titles from MUP to SAGE please click here.
Critical Studies in Television publishes articles that draw together divergent disciplines and different ways of thinking, to promote and advance television as a distinct academic discipline. It welcomes contributions on any aspect of television—production studies and institutional histories, audience and reception studies, theoretical approaches, conceptual paradigms and pedagogical questions. It continues to invite analyses of the compositional principles and aesthetics of texts, as well as contextual matters relating to both contemporary and past productions. CST also features book reviews, dossiers and debates. The journal is scholarly but accessible, dedicated to generating new knowledge and fostering a dynamic intellectual platform for television studies.
CSTonline is updated weekly to include industry and journal news, CFPs, event announcements (conference, symposia), as well as various blogs (where scholars reflect on various aspects of television studies). It also includes information about TV archives and resources, where to study and the latest research news.
Books for review should be sent by publishers to:
Amy Harris
Student Advice Centre
0.42 Clephan Building
De Montfort University
The Gateway
Leicester
LE1 9BH
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Journal Feed
- by Nicholas HolmCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. One of Cartoon Network’s most successful shows ever, Rick and Morty (2013–present) has established a cult following for its blend of dark humour and existential themes. However, the show is more than just a representation of popular nihilism; through its sustained engagement with nihilistic themes, it also demonstrates how nihilism can be embraced, exhausted, and potentially eventually surpassed in a popular context. Drawing on Richard Hoggart’s model of “social hermeneutics,” this article analyses key episodes as a means to think through the broader trajectory of nihilism as an influential element of twenty-first century […]
- by Richard BramwellCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. This paper examines the representation of trauma recovery in the television series I May Destroy You (). Research on rape in fictional television programmes overwhelmingly focus on rape myths or how rape is represented. There is scant research on recovery from rape trauma in television drama. This paper contributes to scholarship on rape in fictional television, through a focus on the process of trauma recovery. Michaela Coel’s portrayal of the struggle to recover from the traumatic experience of sexual assault, makes a nuanced contribution to debates on sexual violence, victim behaviour, and black […]
- by Karin van EsCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Using Netflix as a lens, this article identifies and unpacks three central interrelated myths – binge-watching, on-demand, and big data – surrounding global video-on-demand services. These myths are problematic because they make certain ideas about these services seem natural and self-evident, restricting our understanding of their role in culture and society. Moreover, these services provide little transparency and data access to evaluate their claims leading to a call for more media industry studies and empirical research. This article points to valuable avenues of inquiry, emerging from recent studies, that can serve as a […]
- by Stephen LaceyCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 387-390, December 2024.
- by Ruchi Kher JaggiCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 503-505, December 2024.
- by Eliisa VainikkaCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. This article presents a qualitative interview study of Finnish screenwriters and commissioners about the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the profession of screenwriting. We ask how screenwriters and commissioners see the benefits and risks of AI tools in screenwriting and how screenwriters see their changing profession in the future. We identify three stances towards AI-driven work practices in screenwriting. The functional, critical and curious stance reflect the ways in which the writers position themselves against AI technologies. Prompt engineering has emerged as a new skill in commanding AI and will become a […]
- by Mehdi AchoucheCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 508-510, December 2024.
- by Marta F SuarezCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 506-508, December 2024.
- by Tom MayCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 510-513, December 2024.
- by Max SextonCritical Studies in Television, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 501-503, December 2024.
- by Frederik DhaenensCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Since the late 2010s, there has been a surge in gay teen drama series that portray their gay male protagonists as cute. This article focuses on four series (Heartstopper, Young Royals, Love, Victor, and wtFOCK) and examines which formal and narrative practices are used to convey cuteness. It argues that, first, each series participates in the creation of the cute gay boy archetype; second, each series represents cuteness as vulnerable in an ambiguous and, at times, resistant manner; third, cute aesthetics are used to soften the blow when tackling heavy or disturbing issues […]
- by Shenglan QingCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. This study reveals the transformation of representation and voting mechanisms in the successes and failures of talents shows in China over the past four decades. This article analyses how talent shows have been shaped within the constraints of political power in China, global neoliberal economic logic and the collective power of population. As an inherent tactic of talent shows to engage the populations of audiences, users and consumers in commercial society, voting mechanisms have not been suspended but rather modified. Talent shows ranged across a spectrum of bureaucratic/commercial elitism and ordinariness. In this […]
- by Olivia StowellCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Thanksgiving-themed episodes of cooking television open up questions about the interrelations of food, history, power, and culture. This study addresses such questions through textual and thematic analysis of 46 Thanksgiving-themed episodes of reality cooking competition programmes on US cable TV, exploring how the Thanksgiving episode operates as a site for the deployment of the culinary as a category by which the past is re/created. I argue that the Thanksgiving episode represents history through two frames: “tradition” and “reenactment.” Reading the Thanksgiving episode as a site of history's reconstruction illuminates popular media's involvement in […]
- by Mads Møller T AndersenCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. This article is based on a three-year-long content analysis of the use of reality TV content on the front pages of four popular video streaming services in Denmark: DRTV, TV 2 Play, Viaplay, and Netflix. The results give rare insights into front pages that are normally hidden behind logins but also longitudinal perspectives about the services’ changing curation practices. In particular, the two institutions with public-service obligations, DR and TV 2, have VOD services that showcase reality content more prominently than the two commercial competitors in this study. These findings point to how […]
- by Andrew LynchCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Netflix has commissioned and released an increasing number of high-end international series that tap into the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror. These follow one of two strategies: (1) local productions that engage with local folklore and myths, or (2) productions centred in the ‘West’, where international talent is brought in to create cosmopolitan ‘global’ TV events such as 1899 (2022). The first strategy brings together local storytelling with a globally appealing packaging. The second strategy risks reducing ‘transnational’ production to a few tokenistic stars and narratives which are ultimately from everywhere […]
- by Thalia Van WichelenCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. SKAM (2015–2017) and its Flemish adaptation wtFOCK (2018–2021) use several digital platforms to provide viewers with content, enabling different types of audience engagement. By means of a social media analysis, this study investigates how producers utilise transmedia tools to enhance viewers’ involvement with the depicted storyline and how viewers interact with the provided content on LGBTQ issues. An analysis of Instagram comments and posts illustrates three different ways audience members gather online: Instagram serves as (1) a platform to connect while co-viewing, (2) a safe environment against homophobia, and (3) a collective of […]
- by Timothy GitzenCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. This article explores both US and European streaming shows that feature a protagonist in scenes of queer youth sex, focusing on how the show treats and frames these scenes as constitutive of a broader representational narrative of queer youth sex(uality). By comparing US and European shows, I argue that queer pleasure supplants panic featured in each show by framing the scenes of queer youth sex as destigmatized and even mundane.
- by Daphne R IdizCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Considering the implications of Netflix’s role as a content producer for cultural diversity in Europe, this methodological article investigates how to define and measure the locality of Netflix Originals. We employ a threefold methodological study based on industry data analysis, audience reception research, and content analysis. This replicable and scalable methodological design provides a solid analytical framework for future studies examining Netflix Originals from the normative perspective of cultural diversity. Demonstrating the steps of our exploratory study, we also find that Netflix’s locally-produced but globally-oriented content uses culture as window dressing, warranting further […]
- by Christopher L MooreCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. WandaVision launched the Disney+ subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform by blending the sitcom and the superhero genres in a nostalgia-inducing fusion of Marvel comics, cinema and television. The series represents the canonisation of Marvel media into a single cohesive narrative ‘multiverse’, yet the story focuses on the personal experience of the character, Wanda, and her struggle with loss, grief, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this article, we explore how WandaVision presents a unique examination of the tension between the role of screen media as comfort TV and the pervasive fears over the obsessive […]
- by Alexander Hudson BeareCritical Studies in Television, Ahead of Print. Ted Lasso (2020-present) follows American Football coach, Ted Lasso, as he transforms the waning English Premier League team, AFC Richmond, through his relentless optimism and his mantra of ‘believe’. The show has been praised by critics for its emphasis on kindness and particularly for its exploration of ‘positive’ and ‘vulnerable’ masculinities. It is placed front and centre not just in promotion for Apple TV+ but also for the broader Apple brand which is heavily integrated into the show’s storyworld. Through a textual analysis of the series, this article critically examines Ted Lasso’s representations […]