ENGL 6310/7310 Popular Culture Studies Fall 2011 PH 300 M Dr. David Lavery 11/7/11 ENGL 6310/7310 Popular Culture Studies Fall 2011 PH 300 M Dr. David Lavery 11/7/11

Popular Culture Studies

The Un-dead Auteur Chair: Peter Krämer  J. W. Briggs: Unaired Pilot or Bad Quarto: Textual Problems in Buffy and Shakespeare in an Internet Age  J. Gray: Resurrecting The Author: Joss Whedon’s Place In Buffy’s Textual Universe  D. Lavery: A Religion in Narrative: Joss Whedon and Television Creativity 2002

Popular Culture Studies 2006

Popular Culture Studies 2007

Popular Culture Studies 2009

Popular Culture Studies 2010

Popular Culture Studies  Freaks and Geeks  The Simpsons 2010

Popular Culture Studies 2011

Popular Culture Studies  Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. New York: Routledge.  Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated Era. New York: New York University Press.  Television Entertainment. New York: Routledge.  Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. New York: New York University Press.  Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts. New York: New York University Press.  Television Studies. London: Polity.  University of California, Berkeley  Fordham University  University of Wisconsin

Convergence Culture "The... ways the business landscape is changing in response to the growing integration of content and brands across media platforms and the increasingly prominent roles that consumers are playing in shaping the flow of media" (Convergence Culture Consortium). Popular Culture Studies

Multi-Platform (or Cross-Platform) Originally a designation for software capable of running on different operating systems, now refers as well to media forms appearing on multiple media. Lost, for example, is incarnated not just on television but in books, videogames, board games, websites, internet-based "alternative reality games," cell phones, music CDs, and DVDs. Popular Culture Studies

Companion Books “Read Any Good Television Lately? Television Tie-In Books and Quality TV.” “Read Any Good Television Lately? Television Tie-In Books and Quality TV.” Contemporary American TV Drama: The Quality Debate. Edited by Janet McCabe and Kim Akass. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007: Popular Culture Studies

Credit Sequences (a collection can be watched here)a collection can be watched here  The Sopranos  Six Feet Under  Deadwood  Dexter  Buffy the Vampire Slayer  Mad Men  Who Buffyized Who Buffyized Popular Culture Studies

DVD Extras  Making of Documentaries  Gag Reels  DVD Commentaries (directors, writers, showrunners, actors) Popular Culture Studies

DVD Extras

Popular Culture Studies

Easter Eggs “A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message, in-joke or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, web page or video game. The term was coined—according to Warren Robinett—by Atari after they were pointed to the secret message left by Robinett in the game Adventure. It draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many Western nations as well as the last Russian imperial family's tradition of giving elaborately jeweled egg-shaped creations by Carl Fabergé which contained hidden surprises. This practice is similar in some respects to hidden signature motifs such as Diego Rivera including himself in his murals, Alfred Hitchcock's legendary cameo appearances, and various "Hidden Mickeys" that can be found throughout the various Disney Parks. An early example of this kind of "Easter egg" is Al Hirschfeld's "Nina". Atari's Adventure, released in 1979, contained what was thought to be the first video game "Easter egg", the name of the programmer (Warren Robinett). However, evidence of earlier Easter eggs has since surfaced. Several cartridges for the Fairchild Channel F include previously unknown Easter eggs, programmed by Michael Glass and Brad Reid- Selth, that are believed to predate Robinett's work. Another possible origin for the term comes from the film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Filmed in 1975, the crew had an actual Easter egg hunt one day on the set and seem to have missed some of the eggs. As a result, there are three confirmed scenes where an actual Easter egg can be seen.” [Wikipedia] Popular Culture Studies

Easter Eggs (continued) Popular Culture Studies

Easter Eggs (continued) Lindelof on finding Easter Eggs in Lost... Popular Culture Studies

Anagrams Popular Culture Studies

Anagrams Popular Culture Studies

Fanfic Stories written by viewers (and often posted on the web) which make use of a television’s show’s characters in new, sometimes improbable situations. Slash Fanfic: Fan fiction which links together [Buffy/Spike], usually in sexual situations, pairs of characters who are not so involved in the diegesis. In slash fan fiction, Mulder and Skinner might become lovers, or Spock and Kirk, or Buffy and Giles. Popular Culture Studies

Fanfic Popular Culture Studies

Fanvids Popular Culture Studies

Games Tanya Krzywinska, the UK’s First Professor of Video Games Popular Culture Studies

Games Popular Culture Studies

Alternative Reality Games “An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions. The form is defined by intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real-time and evolves according to participants' responses, and characters that are actively controlled by the game's designers, as opposed to being controlled by artificial intelligence as in a computer or console video game. Players interact directly with characters in the game, solve plot-based challenges and puzzles, and often work together with a community to analyze the story and coordinate real-life and online activities. ARGs generally use multimedia, such as telephones, and mail but rely on the Internet as the central binding medium. ARGs are growing in popularity, with new games appearing regularly and an increasing amount of experimentation with new models and subgenres. They tend to be free to play, with costs absorbed either through supporting products (e.g. collectible puzzle cards fund Perplex City) or through promotional relationships with existing products (for example, I Love Bees was a promotion for Halo 2, and the Lost Experience and FIND815 promoted the television show Lost). However, pay-to-play models are not unheard of.”--Wikipedia Popular Culture Studies

Imaginal Geography Popular Culture Studies

Imaginal Geography Popular Culture Studies

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Interviews  On Morning Programs  On 24 Hour News Channels (FOX, CNN, MSNBC)  On Fake News Shows (The Daily Show, Colbert Report)  On Talk Shows (Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, Conan)  On Blogs  In Entertainment Magazines (Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, TV Guide, Premiere)  On DVDs Popular Culture Studies

Logos  Bad Robot Bad Robot  Mutant Enemy Mutant Enemy  Chuck Lorre Chuck Lorre  R & D R & D Popular Culture Studies

Magazines Popular Culture Studies

Media Franchises A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media (usually a work of fiction), such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements. Multiple sequels are often planned well in advance, and (in the case of motion pictures) actors and directors often sign multi-film deals to ensure their participation. Popular Culture Studies

Some Media Franchises Harry Potter | James Bond | Star Trek |Star Wars |Indiana Jones | Pirates of the Caribbean | Batman | Spiderman | Doctor Who | CSI | Law & Order | NCIS | Ugly Betty | The Office | Big Brother | Resident Evil | Terminator | Aliens | Predator | Toy Story | Halloween | Friday the 13 th | Nightmare on Elm Street | Twilight Saga | Transformers | Shrek | Saw | Jason Bourne | Matrix | Lord of the Rings/Hobbit | Mission Impossible | NCIS? Popular Culture Studies

Mobisode "[A] term first coined by Daniel Tibbets then trademarked by his employer, Fox Broadcasting Company, for a broadcast television episode specially made for viewing on a mobile telephone screen and usually of short duration (from one to three minutes)" (Wikipedia). A new factor in multi-platform storytelling.multi-platform Popular Culture Studies

Novelizations Fictionalized versions of media texts. A popular film turned into a novel. Tie-In Novels Canonical or non- canonical fictions taking place in the ‘verse of a movie or series. Popular Culture Studies

Parody Popular Culture Studies

Parody This is parody's mission: it must never be afraid of going too far. If its aim is true, it simply heralds what others will later produce, unblushing, with impassive and assertive gravity. Umberto Eco, "Preface" to Misreadings  The Daily Show  The Colbert Report  The Onion  Saturday Night Live  Mad Magazine  Monty Python Popular Culture Studies

Pilot "[A] sample episode of a television show, [which] acts as a model for new programming which may be chosen by networks for the following fall's schedule" (Encyclopedia of Television). Popular Culture Studies

Podcasts "[A] series of digital-media files... distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers" (Wikipedia). Many television shows inspire their own official (Ron Moore's podcast commentaries for each episode of Battlestar Galactica for example) or unofficial/fan-produced podcasts. Popular Culture Studies

Podcasts During the four season run of Battlestar Galactica ( ), a re-imagining of a semi- cultish but unimaginative late 70s science fiction series intended to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars, co-creator Ronald D. Moore delivered discerning, and often too honest web podcasts on Battlestar from his Vancouver home (like many American TV series BSG was filmed in British Columbia). Almost every week Moore’s rather annoying wife would interrupt (usually with stupid questions), and he could be counted on to announce the identity of that week’s designated bourbon. One week, of course, his inebriant of choice was not a distilled spirit but imported, illegal-in-the-US absinthe. Degas, The Absinthe Drinker  Popular Culture Studies

Previously On A recollective montage, ordinarily preceding the teaser and the credit sequence, of moments from already aired episodes of a television series relevant to the episode to follow, intended to get viewers caught up on the narrative so far. From Buffy’s 100 th Episode Popular Culture Studies

Promos The example of Twin Peaks Popular Culture Studies

Recaps Internet sites which offer critical, often sudden, often snarky—TWoP’s moto: “Spare the snark, spoil the networks—takes on current television. Archived, such recaps become episode guides to particular shows. Television without Pity: TVGasm: Onion TV Club: Popular Culture Studies

Remakes “The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source. For example, 2001's Ocean's Eleven is a remake of the 1960 film, while 1989's Batman is a re-interpretation of the comic book source material which also inspired 1966's Batman. With some exceptions, remakes make significant character, plot, and theme changes. For example, the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair is centered on a bank robbery, while its 1999 remake involves the theft of a valuable piece of artwork. Similarly, when the 1969 film The Italian Job was remade in 2003, few aspects were carried over. Another notable example is the 1932 film Scarface which was remade in 1983 starring Al Pacino; whereas the setting of 1932 version is the illegal alcohol trade, the characters in the 1983 version are involved in cocaine smuggling. Sometimes a remake is made by the same director, for example Yasujiro Ozu's black and white A Story of Floating Weeds was remade into the color Floating Weeds. Alfred Hitchcock remade his Popular Culture Studies

Remakes (ctd.) 1934 black and white The Man Who Knew Too Much in color in 1956; as did Cecil B. DeMille with his 1956 remake of his silent 1923 film The Ten Commandments. Not all remakes use the same title as the previously released version; 1983's Never Say Never Again, for instance, is a remake of the 1965 film Thunderball; the 1966 film Walk Don't Run is a remake of the World War II comedy The More the Merrier. This is particularly true for films that are remade from films produced in another language, such as: Point of No Return (from the French Nikita), Vanilla Sky (from the Spanish Abre los ojos), The Magnificent Seven (from the Japanese Seven Samurai), A Fistful of Dollars (from the Japanese Yojimbo), and The Departed (from Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs). In the history of cinema, remakes have generally been considered inferior to earlier versions by film critics and cinema-goers alike, e.g., The Wicker Man, Psycho,The Fog, My Man Godfrey, Show Boat, Born Yesterday, Babes in Toyland, Sabrina, and The Karate Kid, among many others. Popular Culture Studies

Remakes (ctd.) Another noteworthy (and increasingly common) development is the use of a successful (usually older) television series to be remade as a feature film. Like other film remakes, these often fare badly at the box- office and/or are considered a poor reflection on the source material (e.g. The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Dudley Do- Right); however, some have gone on to become successful film franchises (e.g. Scooby-Doo, The Addams Family, Mission: Impossible).”- -Wikipedia Popular Culture Studies

Reboots “The term reboot, in media dealing with serial fiction, means to discard much or even all previous continuity in the series and start anew with fresh ideas. Effectively, all established fictive history is declared by the writer(s) to be null and void, or at least irrelevant to the new storyline, and the series starts over as if brand-new. Through reboots, film franchises are revamped and reinvigorated to attract new fans and stimulate economic revenue. Therefore, reboots can be seen as attempts to rescue franchises which have grown "stale.” The term originates from its use in computer science. After a computer is rebooted, nothing (except non-volatile storage, such as on a disk drive) of the computer's previous operating session has any bearing on its new session. A reboot differs from a remake and a prequel, in that the latter two are generally consistent with the canon (previously-established continuity) of the series. With a reboot, the older continuity is largely discarded and replaced with a new canon. Popular Culture Studies

Reboots (ctd.) Additionally, prequels are often developed by the same creator as the original series they lead up to, while a remake is often produced by a different author from that of the original series, and can be seen as re- telling of the same story and essentially maintaining the same canon. The term "remake" often applies to films or film adaptations of TV programs, such as 1993's The Fugitive, whereas the term reboot is ascribed to franchises such as Police Story (rebooted in the 2004 film New Police Story), Batman (2005's Batman Begins), James Bond (2006's Casino Royale), The Pink Panther (the 2006 Pink Panther film), Star Trek (the 2009 Star Trek film), and The Incredible Hulk (2008's The Incredible Hulk).--Wikipedia Popular Culture Studies

Reboots (ctd.) Two Reboots Ronald D. Moore and David Eick  David Eick-> Popular Culture Studies

Reboots (ctd.) Reboots Within a Series: Alias Mad Men Chuck Angel Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Fringe Popular Culture Studies

Sequel Popular Culture Studies

Prequel A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative takes place before that of a preexisting work or a sequel. [Answers.com) Popular Culture Studies

Snark Recapping the final episode of Alias on the ever-snide Television- WithoutPity.com website, ‘Erin’ would seem to have been reverting to the original meaning of ‘incredible’: ‘impossible or hard to believe’. Snidely observant, Erin describes the setup for a sequence in which five years of Rambaldi mythology (and a thirty-year quest by criminal mastermind Arvin Sloane) comes to a climax: Mongolia. Somebody get me a sherpa and a flagon of yak’s milk and get me the hell out of here. At a large encampment in the middle of Palm Desert, Sloane arrives in a Humvee. He gets out and meets with a man speaking Russian. The man says he thinks they’ve ‘found it’, and Sloane walks with him into a bunker that has the Rambaldi eye symbol on it. But then her incredulity gets the best of her and she loses it: Well, that [a Rambaldi symbol in Mongolia] can’t be good. Or maybe it’s awesome. Anything that moves this plot along is fine by me. The closer we are to this mess ending the better. Oh, what? Like YOU don’t feel the same? Please. Even the ACTORS think this show should’ve ended, like, two seasons ago. And they actually LOVE it. And Jay- brams CLEARLY thought it should have ended ages ago because he left back when shit still made sense, and he’s barely returned long enough to have a piece of cheesecake down in the damn commissary. This shit is over, dudes. OVER. (my italics) Well the shit (aka Alias’ no longer credible writing2) may have been ‘over’ (aka ‘outstayed its welcome’, ‘continued its narrative too long’, ‘didn’t know when to quit’), but the episode was not. –David Lavery, “Five Incredible Years” (in Reading Alias) Popular Culture Studies

Spin-Off "The spin-off is a television programming strategy that constructs new programs around characters appearing in programs already being broadcast. In some cases the new venue is created for a familiar, regular character in the existing series (e. g. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. from The Andy Griffith Show). In others, the existing series merely serves as an introduction to and promotion for, a completely new program (Mork & Mindy, from Happy Days)" (Encyclopedia of Television). Popular Culture Studies

Spoilers Information, avidly sought by some fans, available in advance of airing, about narrative developments in an ongoing story. Spoiler Whore: A fan who actively seeks out and/or propagates spoilers. Spoiler Virgin: A fan who avoids spoilers at all cost. Popular Culture Studies

Conan’s Titles Popular Culture Studies

Angel the Puppet (from “Smile Time”) Toys Popular Culture Studies

Doctor Who Stuff Toys Popular Culture Studies

Lost, the Cake Popular Culture Studies

Trailers/Teasers “A trailer or preview is an advertisement for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening.[1] That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film (or the A movie in a double feature) begins.” [Wikipedia] Teaser usually describes more preliminary, less formal, sometimes lacking in actual sampled content previews. Avengers Trailer Popular Culture Studies

Trailers/Teasers Popular Culture Studies

Web Series “A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode (the term webisode has been largely deprecated). While the popularity of web serials is continuing to rise, the concept itself isn't entirely new. Scott Zakarin created the first advertiser supported web series in 1995, The Spot. Homicide: Second Shift was a pioneering Internet web series that tied into the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street. The web series started in 1997 and was ultimately cancelled due to financial constraints and technological restrictions. The rise in popularity of web series can be seen as a result of the increasing availability of broadband and the improved video streaming technology. This has allowed independent producers to create low budget series distributed on the Internet, but more recently major television production companies are using the Internet as a means of promoting their TV shows as well as developing specific media and shows for the Internet.”--From Wikipedia Webisode—"[A]n episode of a television show that airs initially as an Internet download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television" (Wikipedia). A new factor in multi-platform storytelling. Felicia Day’s Web Series The Guild Popular Culture Studies

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog ( Webcast, 2008)

The Horrible Website Popular Culture Studies

Dr. H, Captain Hammer, Penny Popular Culture Studies

Hammer and Horrible Popular Culture Studies

Joss Whedon on the Set of Firefly Popular Culture Studies

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (hereafter DHSAB) premiered, free (for a limited time) on the web, posted, one act at a time, July 15 th, 17 th, and 19 th of Horrible then disappeared (midnight July 20 th ), available only on ITunes until its release on a DVD late in the year. Popular Culture Studies

“Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.” Horrible’s Origin Myth Popular Culture Studies

“Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single- handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.” Horrible’s Origin Myth Popular Culture Studies

“[T]o make it on the fly, on the cheap—but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.” The Horrible Master Plan Popular Culture Studies

“DHSAB was quintessential Whedon: naughty, hilarious, cultish, exhilarating, genre-bending, virally memorable (especially its catchy music and Sondheim-goes-geek patter lyrics)—a near-perfect manifestation of the “loser aesthetic” identified by Richard Burt and elucidated by Matt Hills (Fan Cultures) that had been Whedon’s TV auteur signature in Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. And, needless to say, it was inherently collaborative.” --David Lavery, Joss: A Creative Portrait of the Maker of the Whedonverses Popular Culture Studies

The end of 2008 brought many accolades for this “TV show that has never been shown on TV” (Guardian). The American Film Institute, for example, named the Dr. one of the 10 “Moments of Significance” for the year,” and Time Magazine’s James Poniewozik perplexingly designated it one of the top ten television shows of the year. Much deserved praise indeed—except for the minor caveat that Dr. Horrible has never aired on television. As a fully-loaded, highly original DVD—featuring perhaps the first ever sung commentary track—DHSAB achieved best seller status on Amazon.com. Popular Culture Studies

Dr. Horrible as...  Convergence Culture  Transmedia Storytelling Popular Culture Studies

Whedon discounts any claim to internet guru status— claiming to be so ignorant he can’t even find porn—or being a business pioneer--“Somebody coming to me for business advice is like somebody asking a guy who makes balloon animals how to pick up women.” Popular Culture Studies

“I’m interested in being an Internet Roger Corman [pictured]. He’s responsible for a slew of the greatest directors of the last couple decades, because he was the only B- movie system that there was. Now the whole world can be that system.” --Joss Whedon (Rosen 33) Popular Culture Studies

Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) The Horrible Cast Popular Culture Studies

Penny (Felicia Day) The Horrible Cast Popular Culture Studies

Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) The Horrible Cast Popular Culture Studies

Moist (Simon Hedberg) The Horrible Cast Popular Culture Studies