CFP: The Golden Age of Television Drama (6/1/14; 10/29-11/1/14)

From: Cynthia Miller <[email protected]>

Call for Papers

CFP: The Golden Age of Television Drama

An area of multiple panels for the 2014 Film & History Conference:
Golden Ages: Styles, Personalities, Genres, and Histories
October 29-November 2, 2014
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor=92s Club
Madison, WI (USA)
Deadline for Abstracts: June 1, 2014

Area: The Golden Age of Television Drama

The television drama has been, and continues to be, one of the most =
important and contested elements of television production in the United =
States and around the world. In America, the genre=97mostly episodic in =
style=97came into its own in the late 1940s and early 1950s, =
experiencing what many call its first =93Golden Age.=94

In the 1980s, series like Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, L.A. Law, and =
Thirty Something marked the medium=92s second =93Golden Age.=94 These =
series adapted the serial form associated with the production of daytime =
soap operas in order to create stories that were long form, more complex =
in structure, and designed to attract a more educated and upscale =
audience. With the airing of shows such as Sex and the City, and The =
Sopranos on HBO in the 1990s, and Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking =
Dead in the 2000s on AMC, television critics suggest that America is =
experiencing its third  =93Golden Age=94 of television dramas.

Why has the television drama continued to be one of the most vibrant =
forms of programming? How has the genre been able to incorporate =
numerous changes in terms of format, content, style, and production =
methods over time? This area invites 20-minute papers dealing with all =
aspects of understanding television drama and its relationship to the =
evolution of the medium and society.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

=95	Early forms of American television drama such as Studio One, =
Kraft Television Theater, Playhouse 90
=95	Anthology forms of drama series such as Alfred Hitchcock =
Presents, Twilight Zone and contemporary iterations in series like =
American Horror Story and True Detectives
=95	Early writers and creators of television drama such as Rod =
Serling, Paddy Chayefsky, Stephen J. Cannell, etc.
=95	The Role of cablevision in creating a new landscape for =
television drama, with series like The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Shield, =
Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad
=95	Television drama Showrunners like Matthew Weiner, Graham Yost, =
Vince Gilligan, David Chase and the nature of television drama =
auteurship
=95	The future of television drama in relation to convergence and =
transmedia
=95	Changing modes of exhibition and reception for television dramas =
such as =93binge-watching=94

Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are welcome. =
All proposals must include an abstract, contact information, including =
email for each presenter. For updates and registration information about =
the upcoming meeting see the Film & History website =
(www.filmandhistory.org).

Please email your 200-word proposal by 1 June 2014 to the area chair:

Dr. Brian Faucette
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute
[email protected]=

 --