Media production studies and performing arts

This class will investigate the main stages of the historical evolution of American TV serial narratives. Starting from the cultural centrality of the U.S. case, the key moments of this history will be examined through the definition and deepening of the three golden ages of television seriality. The class will bring together issues related both to the evolution of the American industrial and media landscape, and to a more properly aesthetic and narrative nature. In the final part, the course will focus on the category of "complex television" through the analysis of some case studies. In this regard, some pilot episodes of specific television series will be discussed, considering together aesthetic, narrative, and production models and strategies.

Fundamentals of Television History.

Erasmus students and non-Italian speakers have to study: - Kristin Thompson, Storytelling in Film and Television (Harvard UP, 2003) - Jason Mittell, Complex TV. The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling (NYU Press, 2015) - Brett Martin, Difficult Men. Behind The Scenes of a Creative Revolution (Penguin, 2013) All students must see (at least) one episode each (preferably the pilot) of the following TV series: - I Love Lucy (1951-1957, CBS) - Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962, CBS) - The Twilight Zone (1959-1964, CBS) - Hill Street Blues (1981-1987, NBC) - Seinfeld (1989-1998, NBC) - Twin Peaks (1990-2017, ABC) - The X Files (1993-2002, Fox) - Friends (1994-2004, NBC) - Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003, WB-UPN) - Sex & The City (1998-2004, HBO) - The Sopranos (1999-2007, HBO) - 24 (2001-2010, Fox) - The Wire (2002-2008, HBO) - Lost (2004-2010, ABC) - The Office (2005-2013, NBC) - Mad Men (2007-2015, AMC) - Breaking Bad (2008-2013, AMC) - Black Mirror (2011-, Channel 4/Netflix) - House of Cards (2013-2018, Netflix) - True Detective (2014-, HBO) - Fleabag (2016-2019, BBC-Amazon Prime) - Succession (2018-2023, HBO) - Ted Lasso (2020-, AppleTV+) - WandaVision (2021, Disney+)

Lectures and seminar discussions.

Attending students will take the exam by writing a paper and working on a video essay on an issue to be agreed with the teacher, to be presented in class. Specific indications of the organization of the works will be communicated by the teacher at the beginning of the class. Not-Attending students will take an oral exam based on the books and the TV series listed in the specific section.

This class will be taught just in person.