Lost and Genre

Angela Ndalianis. “Lost in Genre: Chasing the White Rabbit to Find a White Polar Bear.” Reading Lost Marc Dolan, “Lost.” Essential Cult TV Reader (forthcoming U P Kentucky, 2009). Ed. David Lavery.

Dictionary genre | ˈ zh änrə| Noun a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter. ORIGIN early 19th cent.: French, literally ‘a kind’ (see gender ). Thesaurus Noun historical fiction is my favorite genre of literature category, class, classification, group, set, list; type, sort, kind, breed, variety, style, model, school, stamp, cast, ilk.

Megagenre: A large, all encompassing, umbrella genre, having no distinct subject matter or style or iconography or formulae. The megagenres of the movies might be thought of as non-fiction (documentary) film, fiction film, animated film, and experimental / underground film.

Action Adventure Comedy Crime/Gangster Drama Epics/Historica l Musicals Science Fiction War Westerns Major Movie Genres (according to Tim Dirks [filmsite.org])

Biopics Chick Flicks Detective/Mystery Disaster Fantasy Film Noir Guy Films Melodrama Road Films Romance Sports Supernatural Thrillers/Suspense Major Movie Sub-Genres (according to Tim Dirks [filmsite.org])

Aviation Buddy Caper Chase Espionage Fallen Woman Jungle Legal Martial Arts Medical Parody Police Minor Movie Sub-Genres (according to Tim Dirks [filmsite.org]) Political Prison Religious Slasher Swashbucklers

Movie Genres/Subgenres Action Adventure—Jungle | Martial Arts | Mountain | Spy | Swashbuckler Art—Any genre or subgenre may be an "art" film Comedy—Buddy | Black Comedy | Mocumentary | Parody | Road | Romantic Comedy | Satire | Screwball Comedy | Slacker Crime—Blaxploitation | Caper | Film Noir | Gangster | Hardboiled Detective | Police Procedural | Prison | Private-Eye | Trial Films Cult—Any genre or subgenre may be a "cult" film Drama—Domestic | Education | Historical | Political Epic--Biblical | Greek Myth Gender—Gay and Lesbian | Rape-Revenge | Women’s Pictures Horror—Demonic Possession | Haunted House | Monster | Serial Killer | Slasher | Vampire Life Story—Autobiography | Biopic | Diary Film Melodrama—Disease/Disability | Ethnic Family Saga | Weepie | Yuppie Redemption Music—Concert Films | Musicals | Rocumentary Science Fiction and Fantasy—Cyber Punk | Disaster | Dystopia | Fantasy | Post- Apocalypse | Prehistorical | Space Opera | Supermen and Other Mutants | Time Travel Sports—Auto Racing | Baseball | Basketball | Boxing | Football | Horse Racing | Track | Wrestling Teen Films—Pre-Teen Comedy | Teen Sex Comedy | Coming of Age War—Aerial Combat | Civil War | Korean | Prisoner of War | Submarine | Viet Nam | World War I | World War II Western—Cattle Drive | Indian War | Gunfighter

ActionAnimationChildren’s Programs Cop Shows Costume DramaDocumentaryDramaEducational Programming HospitalInfotainmentLifeysMiniseries MusicNewsQuick ShowThe Single Play Soap OperasSportsTalk ShowsTeen Shows TelenovelasWestern Creeber’s Classification of Television Genres

“The classification of texts is not just the province of academic specialists, it is a fundamental aspect of the way texts of all kinds are understood.” (Neale in Creeber p. 1)

“In many cases, of course, it is likely that audiences will have some idea in advance of the kind of film (or play or programme) they are going to watch. They will have made an active choice either to watch or, if their preferences dictate, to avoid it. They will have done so on the basis of information supplied by advertising, by reviews, and previews, perhaps by a title (such as Singin’ in the Rain) or by the presence of particular performers. They are therefore likely to bring with them a set of expectations, and to anticipate that these expectations will be met in one way or another.” (Neale in Creeber 1)

Relevant Terms for Genre from Hans Robert Jauss, German Reception Theorist/Reader-Response Critic “generic audience” “generic frustration” “generic tension”

“In English-speaking countries, the term ‘genre’ came to be applied to literary works during the nineteenth century, at a point in history at which art of all kinds began to be industrialized, mass-produced for a popular public (Cohen, 1986, 120).”--Neale in Creeber 2)

The “repertoire of elements” that identify genres (Lacey [2000], cited by Neale in Creeber 3): Character Types Setting Iconography Narrative Style

Institutional Aspects of Genre: Scheduling Modes of Production Demands of Advertisers Demands of Audiences Developments in Adjacent Entertainment Institutions/Media (Neale in Creeber 4)

Zapping/grazing/channel surfing feeds genre recognition (Feuer, 1992, p cited by Neale in Creeber 4). Umberto Eco speaks of the “instinctive semioticians” who use RCDs.

“For those who study television, genre is a means of managing TV’s notorious extensiveness as a cultural form by breaking it up into more discrete or comprehensible segments” (Turner in Creeber 5).

Complaints Against Genre Criticism: 1)Circularity--critics dismiss texts for failing to meet criteria they have themselves established. 2)Prescriptiveness--critics dismiss genre shows/series for departing from Platonic “ideal” versions. (Turner in Creeber 6)

Hybridity: The now common tendency to “splice” together different genres.

Todd Gitlin (Inside Prime Time [1985]) uses a genetics metaphor when he speaks of the rise of “recombinant programming” in the 1980s.

“Genres came to be identified with impersonal, formulaic, commercial forms and distinguished from individualized art. Ironically, this represented a reversal of previous characterizations, which saw ‘high art’ as rule-bound and ordered (as evident in genres lke the sonnet and tragedy) and ‘low art’ as unconstrained by the rules of decorum (Cohen, 1986, 120).”--Neale in Creeber 2

Dictionary | ˌ fôrmy ə ˈ lāik| Adjective-- constituting or containing a verbal formula or set form of words : a formulaic greeting. ･ produced in accordance with a slavishly followed rule or style; predictable : much romantic fiction is stylized, formulaic, and unrealistic. Thesaurus Adjective--the homes here are not the products of a formulaic design conventional, stock, unoriginal, stereotypical, uninspired, cliched, paint- by-number. Formulaic

“Some important new critical theories have challenged the primacy of genre as a basic critical concept. The next important task of genre theory is to examine these objections in order to discover to what extent they require revision of the theory of popular genres and to what extent they may require us to go ‘beyond genre’” (John Cawelti, “The Question of Popular Genres Revisited” [1997]).

Thomas Schatz's life history of a genre (from Hollywood Genres) : “an experimental stage, during which its conventions are isolated and established, a classic stage, in which the conventions reach their ‘equilibrium’ and are mutually understood by artist and audience, an age of refinement, during which certain formal and stylistic details embellish the form, and finally a baroque (or ‘mannerist,’ or ‘self- reflexive’) stage, when the form and its establishments are accented to the point where they ‘themselves become the “substance” or “content” of the work.’” (37-38)

Genre films essentially ask the audience, "Do you still want to believe this?" Popularity is the audience answering, "Yes." Change in genre occurs when the audience says, "That's too infantile a form of what we believe. Show us something more complicated." And genres turn to self-parody to say, "Well, at least if we make fun of it for being infantile, it will show how far we've come." Films and television have in this way speeded up cultural history. --Leo Braudy, The World in a Frame

Lavery, David. “The Island’s Greatest Mystery: Is Lost Science Fiction?” The Essential Science Fiction TV Reader. Edited by J. P. Telotte. Lexington: U P of Kentucky, 2008:

Lost and Genre Cult Television

The Essential Cult Television Reader Edited by David Lavery University Press of Kentucky Introduction: How Cult TV Became Mainstream—David Lavery (US, )—Steven Peacock 2. Absolutely Fabulous (UK, , )—Angelina I. Karpovich 3. Adventures of Brisco County, The, Jr. (US, )—Bartley Porter and Lynnette Porter 4. Alias (US, )—Henrik Örnebring 5. Angel (US, )—Joyce Millman 6. Avengers, The (UK, )—Angelina I. Karpovich 7. Battlestar Galactica (US, )—Ian Maull and David Lavery 8. Blake’s 7 (UK, )—Steve Duckworth 9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (US, )—Milly Williamson 10. The Comeback (US, 2005)—Joanne Morreale 11. Daily Show, The (1996- ) and The Colbert Report (2005- ) (US)—Sam Ford 12. Dark Shadows (US, , 1991)—Jonathan Lampley The Essential Cult Television Reader Edited by David Lavery University Press of Kentucky

13. Dexter (US, )—Michele Byers 14. Doctor Who (UK, ; 1996; )—Matt Hills 15. Farscape (Australia/US, )—Jes Battis 16. Firefly (US, 2002)—J. P. Telotte 17. Freaks and Geeks (US, )—Jonathan Gray 18. Heroes (US, )—Nikki Stafford 19. League of Gentlemen (UK, )—Leon Hunt 20. Life on Mars (UK, )—Robin Nelson 21. Lost (US, )—Marc Dolan 22. Miami Vice (US, )—Jon Stratton 23. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (UK, )—Marcia Landy 24. My So-Called Life (US, )—Michele Byers 25. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (US, )—Robert Holtzclaw 26. The Prisoner (UK, )—Douglas L. Howard The Essential Cult Television Reader Edited by David Lavery University Press of Kentucky

27. Quantum Leap (US, )—Lynnette Porter 28. Red Dwarf (UK, )—De Amy-Chinn 29. Roswell (US, )—Stan Beeler 30. The Simpsons (US, )—Jonathan Gray 31. South Park (US, )—Jason Jacobs 32. The Star Trek Franchise (US, )—Rhonda Wilcox 33. Stargate SG-1 (US, )—Angela Ndalianis 34. Supernatural (US, )—Alison Peirse 35. This Life (UK, )—Stephen Lacey 36. Torchwood (UK, )—Matt Hills 37. Twilight Zone (US, )—Jonathan Lampley 38. Twin Peaks (US, )—David Bianculli 39. Ultraviolet (UK, 1998)—Stacey Abbott 40. Veronica Mars (US, )—Sue Turnbull 41. Wonderfalls (US, 2004)—Stan Beeler 42. The X-Files (US, )—Mikel J. Koven 43. Xena: Warrior Princess (US/New Zealand, )—Carolyn Skelton The Essential Cult Television Reader Edited by David Lavery University Press of Kentucky

Lost and Genre “Cult television’s imaginary universes support an inexhaustible range of narrative possibilities, inviting, supporting and rewarding close textual analysis, interpretation, and inventive reformulations.”--Jones and Pearson Cult Television

Lost and Genre That: cult tv has evolved into “a meta-genre that caters to intense, interpretive audience practices,” affording “fans enormous scope for further interpretation, speculation and invention.”--Jones and Pearson Cult Television

Lost and Genre We should focus on “analyzing and defining cult TV as a part of broader of broader patterns within changing TV industries” (Matt Hills, “Defining Cult TV” 522). Cult Television

Lost and Genre “hyperdiegesis”: ”the creation of a vast and detailed narrative space, only a fraction of which is ever directly seen or encountered within the text...” (Matt Hills, Fan Cultures 137) Cult Television

Lost and Genre Cult television is most readily identifiable by “[t]he fervency of a program’s audience support, the degree to which its ‘language’ and catchphrases enter its audience’s vocabulary, fans’ determination to amass collectibles and memorabilia, and conventions at which likeminded souls can congregate and share their passion” (Robert Holtzclaw, recapitulating TV Guide, in his essay on Mystery Science Theater 3000) Cult Television

Lost and Genre Is it possible that a dip in a show’s quality may actually enhance its cult appeal? (we’re looking at you 24). Lost and Genre Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre What obligation do the makers of cult series have to answer the clamor of fans for more involvement? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Does the presence of a star with cult street cred or a cult of personality guarantee cult status? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation? Of badness—what Steven Duckworth calls “the sheer crappiness of the series and the crappiness it attributes to the universe” in his essay on Blake's 7—and cult tv? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Does “brilliant but cancelled” status (the name of a website on the subject) actually enhance cul thood? Lost and Genre Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for television cult shows? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre How does the strategic use of the cameo amp the possibilities of cult? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Is it possible for a television show to gain cult status largely through nostalgia? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Would the current conversation about cult television have transpired without the validation of TV on DVD? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Would the current conversation about cult television have transpired without the validation of TV on DVD? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Are “B.Y.O subtext” shows (Joss Whedon’s phrase) ipso facto cult shows? What role do intertextuality, metaxtextuality, and seriality play in the growth of cult television? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Is cult tv always counter-cultural? (Is the reverse true?) Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Has SHOWTIME consciously positioned itself (against its “not TV” rival HBO) as a cult TV venue? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Does cult television exhibit a unique approach to character investment? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Is it still true that your standard issue television cult work, in keeping with the tradition, “represents a disruptive rather than a conservative force” (Kawin)? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre How does cult television differ—in subject matter, audience, marketing, narrative—from cult film? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Do cult shows by their very nature record seismic shifts in the evolution of television programming? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre How will the emergence of multiple platforms for television programming change the nature of cult television? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Are there narrative forms unique to cult television, and if they exist, how have they influenced all of series television? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Are there narrative forms unique to cult television, and if they exist, how have they influenced all of series television? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Are there narrative forms unique to cult television, and if they exist, how have they influenced all of series television? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre What is the place of the “conspiracy theory” in fostering/sustaining cult TV? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre Are the traditional youth demographics of cult television changing? Cult Television Questions

Lost and Genre To what degree has cult television created “transnational” languages and viewing practices and furthered globalization? Cult Television Questions