Cult Television ENGL 6650/7650: Special Topics in Popular Culture Cult Television Spring 2011 Room: PH 308 Day/Time: Tuesday, pm

Cult Television Dr. David Lavery Office: PH 372 | Office Hours: TBA | | Office Phone/Voic ; Home Page: Dr. David Lavery is Professor of English at MTSU (1993- ). The author of over one hundred and twenty published essays, chapters, and reviews, he is author / co-author / editor / co-editor of twenty three books, including The Essential Cult Television Reader, the forthcoming textbook Television Art (Blackwell), and books on Lost (2), Twin Peaks, X-Files, The Sopranos (a trilogy), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Teleparody, Seinfeld, Deadwood, My So- Called Life, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, TV Finales, and Crying. The organizer of international conferences on the Whedonverses, Lost, and The Sopranos, a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in Television, he has lectured around the world on the subject of television (Australia, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany) and has been a guest/source for the BBC, NPR, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The New York Times, A Folha de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Publica (Portugal), AP, The Toronto Star, USA Today. From , he taught at Brunel University in London.

Cult Television Texts ECTVR TCTVB A Resource CD (provided by me)

Cult Television Class Members:  Shiloh Carroll  Jennifer Crosby  Ariel Dingus  Gary Gravely  Stephanie Graves  Leah Hurt  Mick Howard  Lisa Jass  B. J. Keeton  Luke Patton  Brandi Williamson

Cult Television Course Requirements: Critical Essay: A 2,000 word reading/analysis/interpretation of a particular episode or theme or character or narrative technique or cult characteristic, or icon... of a cult television series or show (or two or more considered together).—30% of course grade. Major Paper: A fully researched entry for the online version of the Essential Cult TV Reader (written in the style of the entries in the print volume) of not less than 4,000 words. Must be on a series/show not yet covered in the ECTVR. [Assignments made on a first come, first serve basis.]—50% of course grade. Take-Home Essay Exam: From a menu of topics (available two weeks in advance), you will select two and write 1500 word essays. These topics will all be "leading questions," intended to inspire your own comprehensive synthesis of course ideas, questions, problems.—20% of course grade.

Cult Television Agenda 1/25/11 | Meeting 2 Introduction to the Course Cult TV Series of the Week: Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and The Prisoner

Cult Television Agenda 2/1/11 | Meeting 3 Cult TV Series of the Week: Twin Peaks

Cult Television Agenda 2/8/11 | Meeting 4 Cult TV Series of the Week: British Cult Comedy [Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder, Black Books, Father Ted, The League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Red Dwarf, Shameless, Spaced]

Cult Television Agenda 2/15/11 | Meeting 5 Cult TV Series of the Week: The X-Files

Cult Television Agenda 2/21/11 | Meeting 6 Cult TV Series of the Week: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Cult Television Agenda 3/1/11 | Meeting 7 Cult TV Series of the Week: Firefly Spring Break

Cult Television Agenda 3/15/11 | Meeting 8 Cult TV Series of the Week: American Cult Comedy [Big Bang Theory, The Comeback, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Freaks and Geeks, The Larry Sanders Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Seinfeld, South Park, The Simpsons, Wonderfalls]

Cult Television Agenda 3/22/11 | Meeting 9 Cult TV Series of the Week: Life on Mars

Cult Television Agenda 3/29/11 | Meeting 10 Cult TV Series of the Week: Battlestar Galactica

Cult Television Agenda 4/5/11 | Meeting 11 Cult TV Series of the Week: Supernatural

Cult Television Agenda 4/12/11 | Meeting 13 Cult TV Series of the Week: Doctor Who

Cult Television Agenda 4/29/11 | Meeting 13 Cult TV Series of the Week: Fringe

Cult Television Agenda 4/26/11 | Meeting 14 Cult TV Series of the Week: Lost Either Critical Essay or Major Paper Due by this Date

Cult Television Agenda 5/3/11 | Meeting 15 Finale: Presentations