Television history was made on October 11, 1975, when Chevy Chase welcomed America to the first episode of a new late-night comedy and variety show. Featuring cutting-edge humor, an absurdist sensibility, and a scrappy cast of young, talented performers, Saturday Night Live would go on to become one of the brightest stars in the pop-culture ......
Bloody Women traces changing gender dynamics in the horror film industry to explore how women have played a crucial role in defining the genre of horror understood as a scholarly discipline, cultural institution, and site of pleasure. While acknowledging that women in the industry face ongoing challenges, this book focuses on their diverse ......
In this book, Curt Hersey explores the history of U.S. media, demonstrating how news parody has entertained television audiences by satirizing political and social issues and offering a lighthearted take on broadcast news. Despite shifts away from broadcast and cable delivery, comedians like Samantha Bee, Michael Che, and John Oliver continue this ......
Representations of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Holocaust in C
A 2023 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title Haunted Laughter addresses whether it is appropriate to use comedy as a literary form to depict Adolf Hitler, The Third Reich, and the Holocaust. Guided by existing theories of comedy and memory and through a comprehensive examination of comedic film and television productions, from the United ......
A collection of essays analyzing ecohorror motifs in literature, manga, film, and television, illuminating ambiguities that arise from human encounters with nonhuman nature and examining the scale and effect of ecohorror in, and of, the Anthropocene.
Hybridity, Appropriation, and Intertextuality in Gothic Storytelling
Through an examination of texts from diverse periods and media, Gothic Mash-Ups explores the role that appropriation and intertextuality play in Gothic storytelling. Building on recent scholarship on Gothic remix and adaptation, the contributors demonstrate that the Gothic is ...
This book analyzes the ways in which television dramas allow audiences to vicariously experience fantasy-indulging, escapism-satisfying, and reality-reckoning stories. Contributors discuss how our innate desire to tell human stories both binds us together and motivates us to persevere as a community on a global scale.
From ancient Greek actors to all-male Elizabethan casts to the drag queens of today, cross-dressing performers have been around for nearly as long as live performance itself. In It’s a Drag, Janet Tennant provides a fascinating and colorful look at performing artists who adopt the characters and dress of others. With a particular focus on ......
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s emblem, which has opened thousands of movies since 1924, is the most recognized corporate symbol in the world. Not just in the entertainment industry, it should be noted, but of any industry, anywhere, in the history of human civilization. But MGM has been a competitively insignificant force in the motion picture industry for ......
