Jason Mittell
As curator/editor
As reviewer
As commenter
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Paratextual affect and serialization
Ross, yes I think that there are good parallels between these different affective paratextual experiences. In all of them, serialization is important- they build on pre-existing franchises that, for both DOCTOR WHO and TWIN PEAKS, have had long dormant ga ... -
Allusions and Target Audiences
One element I find interesting about this allusion is how unselfconscious it is, not calling attention to itself in any playful or overt manner. Given that the young PLL target audience in 2010 would be highly unlikely to know TWIN PEAKS, I'm curious ... -
Teaching seasons
I've had good luck teaching single seasons of a few programs, but the most successful has been the first season of HOMELAND in my intro to TV course. It works to discuss the different venues of premium vs. basic vs. broadcast (as most of the other sc ... -
Cartoon style and Tashlin
Your interesting connection to cartoon visual style makes me think of the work of Frank Tashlin, who started as a Warner Bros. animator and then took his cartoon aesthetic into live-action in the 50s & 60s (most notably working with Jerry Lewis). His ... -
New Forms of Specialness
A few thoughts building off of your interesting post. One challenge to the "special episode" in today's more serialized environment involves the issue of character memory that I brought up in yesterday's post. Today, we'd expect t ... -
Parody of series vs. iteration
Nice post to round out the week! I do think there is a different between the parody of an iteration (like this) and a parody of the entire series. This video highlights the love/hate that goes into any critical fan production, as clearly the creators watc ... -
Codes of comprehension
Very interesting post & conversation! This is somewhat anticipating my post for tomorrow,** but I am particular interested in how viewers/readers draw upon our accumulated knowledge about a character to infer interiority & backstories in a series. ... -
Series/serial characters
Shane, I see the distinction you're making between series & serial characters, and agree that it's a useful one. I'm curious about the boundary cases like Batman where he's a serial figure lacking clear continuity, except for when ... -
Cuing Depth
Daniel & Shane, Thanks for the comments. I think this is a crucial issue to understanding characterization, and one I'll be exploring more in my book: how do series cue us to fill-in a character's interiority, or dissuade us from doing so? F ... -
Objects & Mechanics
Great points about both objects & mechanics, which I think are crucial to BB. The former is partly due to its meticulous production design, and general small scale of cast & setting, where props serve as vital totems in the character lives, trigge ...