Television Aesthetics: an Infantile Disorder

Television aesthetics, media and cultural studies and the contested realm of the social

“…In the (to date) four articles that comprise the exchange between Matt Hills and Jason Jacobs (Hills, 2005(Hills, , 2011Jacobs, 2001Jacobs, , 2006, one passage around which disagreement has unfolded is the following, from Jacobs's initial article:…”

“…In the (to date) four articles that comprise the exchange between Matt Hills and Jason Jacobs (Hills, 2005, 2011; Jacobs, 2001, 2006), one passage around which disagreement has unfolded is the following, from Jacobs’s initial article:Clearly, it is not appropriate to apply criteria of authenticity, creativity and innovation in the same way to Who Wants to be a Millionaire? [ITV, 1998–2014] and ER [NBC, 1994–2009].…”

Broadcast drama and the problem of television aesthetics: home, nation, universe

“…What is at issue then, is not the problem of canon formation per se, but canon formation of a particular kind -that which sees creative and artistic achievement as primary. 16 The apparent caution he attributes to Creeber is then related to a wider crisis of confidence in critical authority. On this matter, Jacobs' article has since been usefully critiqued by Matt Hills, expressly for the 'pre-Structuralist' assumption that 'inherent textual value [is] assumed to be simply there.'…”

“…He begins one article by likening his exploration of the danger facing television aesthetics (that 'of ossifying into a web of doctrines') to Lenin's famous attack on the 'doctrinal insistence' of European 'Left-wing' communism. 31 However, the similarity seems rather token: Jacobs' various attacks on other scholars suggests he may have more in common with E.M. Forster and the contempt the latter once expressed for the 'pseudo-scholar' motivated by economic necessity. 32 The pseudo-scholar, so Forster argued in 1927, is at his most 'pernicious' when he deigns to meddle in criticism 'because he follows the method of a true scholar without having his equipment'.…”

Proposing a Post-heritage Critical Framework:The Crown, Ambiguity, and Media Self-consciousness

“…Sarah Cardwell (2006, 73), a major proponent of television aesthetics, argues for allowing the text to lead toward conceptual and philosophical questions while also mitigating the issues of an inherently evaluative approach (Cardwell 2006, 75). Cardwell (2006, 76) posits that “television aesthetics does not assume any particular hierarchy of texts or agreed canon, but it does address questions of value, critical judgement and the selection of criteria for evaluation.” However, there are substantial difficulties in delineating a precise methodology applicable to all screen aesthetics (Geraghty 2003, 32; Jacobs 2006, 24). Nevertheless, within the specific realm of television period drama a post-heritage framework may suggest a workable methodology by which programs with a “disruptive edge” (Caughie 2006, 14) can be assessed.…”