3.0

Average Course Rating

If Shakespeare were alive today, he would be writing for TV. So would Jane Austen. With the advent of cable networks, DVDs, and live streaming, TV—once considered a “vast wasteland”—has become the most dynamic and creative medium for storytelling, attracting a host of talented writers, directors, and actors. This First-Year Seminar will introduce you to college life by applying analytical tools to some of the most significant TV shows of the past twenty years. Starting with the ground-breaking series The Sopranos, we will explore the innovations that disrupted the privileged position of film and ushered in a new Golden Age of TV in such series as Breaking Bad, The Wire, Mad Men, and Jane the Virgin. Careful analysis of select episodes will be complemented by critical readings and comparisons to literature, cinema, and other visual arts. Through our study of composition, editing, sound, character development, costume design, color palette, and narrative strategies, we will ask how TV both reflects and participates in social and political change. We will also consider technical and business pressures on the creative process as well as academia's lingering skepticism about what we are doing in this class: taking TV seriously. We have a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington, DC, to see their extraordinary collection of TV and film artifacts (costumes, props, ect), including from Breaking Bad and Mad Men. We will also tour the exhibit Entertainment Nation, which provides a dynamic historical overview of the role of entertainment in the United States