Mittell Jason. Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling

NYU Press, 2015. — 402 p. — ISBN10: 0814771351, ISBN13: 978-0814771358.Over the past two decades, new technologies, changing viewer practices, and the proliferation of genres and channels has transformed American television. One of the most notable impacts of these shifts is the emergence of highly complex and elaborate forms of serial narrative, resulting in a robust period of formal experimentation and risky programming rarely seen in a medium that is typically viewed as formulaic and convention bound.Complex TV offers a sustained analysis of the poetics of television narrative, focusing on how storytelling has changed in recent years and how viewers make sense of these innovations. Through close analyses of key programs, including The Wire, Lost, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Veronica Mars, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Mad Men the book traces the emergence of this narrative mode, focusing on issues such as viewer comprehension, transmedia storytelling, serial authorship, character change, and cultural evaluation. Developing a television-specific set of narrative theories, Complex TV argues that television is the most vital and important storytelling medium of our time.Review
"A lucid and provocative exploration of modern television, from the inside out." -Emily Nussbaum, television critic at the "New Yorker""Complex TV is one of the most exciting books I have ever read. Each chapter contains useful and well-defined terms to put to work in formal analysis, and every argument is backed up with lively, detailed, and entertaining readings of familiar TV texts. The result is a rich and thorough piece of scholarship that will do for television studies what David Bordwell's historical poetics has famously done for film."-Robyn Warhol, co-editor of "Narrative Theory Unbound: Queer and Feminist Interventions"A lucid and provocative exploration of modern television, from the inside out. -Emily Nussbaum, television critic at the "New Yorker"""Complex TVis one of the most exciting books I have ever read.Each chapter contains useful and well-defined terms to put to work in formal analysis, and every argument is backed up with lively, detailed, and entertaining readings of familiar TV texts.The result is a rich and thorough piece of scholarship that will do for television studies what David Bordwell s historical poetics has famously done for film. -Robyn Warhol, co-editor of "Narrative Theory Unbound: Queer and Feminist Interventions""[ ]Mittel s compelling arguments about topics such as anti-heroes and melodrama help us see the bigger picture when it comes to the small screen. -"Seven Days ""Jason Mittell always writes accessibly and lucidly about television studies, and culture and media studies in general. His book 'Television and American Culture' was a milestone in television studies, and this 'poetics' of complex TV shows such as 'The Wire', 'Lost', 'Breaking Bad' and 'Game of Thrones' is the best study of so-called 'quality TV' (a term which Mittell criticises and does not use). Mittell's book is sharply critical, and takes into account various different approaches, but he also takes his own position, which makes his writing more personal. Thankfully, he always clarifies when his own value judgements shape his argument, and takes a friendly position towards television, and its viewers. It's a book about new forms of television, about the cultural and technological changes that change the way we think about TV. It's about how we come up with value judgements, and about underappreciated gems of TV history.About the Author
Jason Mittell is a Professor of Film & Media Culture and American Studies at Middlebury College. He is the author of Genre & Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture, Television & American Culture, and co-editor of How to Watch Television (NYU Press, 2013).