Steward, Tom (2010) Authorship, creativity and personalisation in US television drama. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the impact of writers, producers and directors on programming
and production in several periods of US television drama history. I address the role
authorship plays in shaping US television drama aesthetics and how creativity functions
within its production cultures. I also address the personalisation of programmes through
media and textual visibility and the place of authorship within the commercial and industrial
contexts of US network television. My methodology involves textual analysis of a large
viewing sample of programmes and a combination of archival research into original
production documentation and analysis of US TV coverage in newspapers, magazines and
trade journals. The thesis is divided into four case studies, each looking at the spaces for
authorship, creativity and personalisation in key historical moments of US TV drama
production and programming: early 1950s anthology writers, producers and directors (e.g.
Paddy Chayefsky, Fred Coe, Delbert Mann); anthology producer-hosts of the late 1950s (e.g.
Rod Serling, Alfred Hitchcock); executive producers of the 1980s-2000s (e.g. Steven
Bochco, Jerry Bruckheimer); and guest writers and secondary producers in the 1980s-2000s
(e.g. David Mamet, David Chase). The thesis aims to debunk the critical notion that
authorship is present only in boutique quality television or that authorship is purely an
invention of branding strategies and suggests new formulations of US TV authorship specific
to historical production contexts. The thesis extends the author paradigm to include multiple
authorship and a range of production roles and also revises several historiographical
assumptions about authorship, programming and production.
The thesis offers a model of authorship studies in television studies which frees
authorship from quality prescription. It addresses the issue of industrial collaboration and
incorporates it into our understanding of TV authorship. I relocate authorship studies from
cultural mythology to aesthetics and production analysis, and provide more medium and
industrial specificity.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	American drama -- History, Fiction television programs -- United States -- History, Television authorship -- United States, Television producers and directors -- United States
Official Date:	September 2010
Dates:	Date Event September 2010 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Film and Television Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Wheatley, Helen, 1974- ; Moseley, Rachel
Description:	Digital copy missing pages 332-348 for copyright reasons.
Extent:	386 leaves : ill.
Language:	eng

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