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With its potential to engage a large audience and mark emerging social tendencies and with the rich narrative space that the seriality can bring, TV series can be a valuable cultural site through which to explore ageing as an experience in time. The Netflix's longest-running TV series Grace and Frankie (2015-2022) exhibits such potential, bringing together ageing and friendship into the popular cultural domain. Set in the contemporary US, the show closely follows two over-70, newly divorced, female protagonists and friends, Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin). Depicting the new opportunities and experiences they gain and drawing on the star persona of Fonda and Tomlin, the show presents an optimistic narrative of ageing into old age. This optimism, however, is more ambivalent about ageing than it appears, as it emerges from the context of the neoliberalization of ageing in the US and other Western societies. Considering friendship, entrepreneurship, the ageing woman's body and sexuality, and care in the show, we demonstrate how the show's optimism is premised on the construction of the neoliberal, successfully ageing subject in the two protagonists and on the othering of the fourth age, "'black hole' of ageing," as a time and space marked by the failing of the body, vulnerability and dependency (Higgs & Gilleard, 2015, 16). While the show's explicit engagement with the bodily ageing in some ways makes it more relevant to older audience, its evocation of the fourth age reflects and reinforces the broader cultural anxiety around it. Ultimately, the show brings in the fourth age only to reiterate the two protagonists' credentials as successful agers., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The situation of lockdown experienced during the months from March to June 2020 changed the daily lives of people in Spain and their leisure circumstances. This study analyses the narrative representations that people construct when they watched streaming TV series, during the covid-19 pandemic. To access these representations, the Spanish texts that appear on the Internet are analysed, including social networks and other social media. The paper adopts quantitative approaches that use big data analysis complemented with other qualitative approaches and inspired by content and discourse analysis. Findings show that these narrative representations constructed through conversations are on three levels in which context is revealed: first, institutional and community; second, online or offline interpersonal relationships which mention people as facts or as aspirations of their daily lives; and third, personal lives in the reconstruction of the series, projected on the plot reconstruction and the identity of the actors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Martínez-Borda, de-la-Fuente and Lacasa.)

This article draws on Gareth Morgan's theory of organizational metaphors. Using imaginization, this research examines practices of ethical leadership during a crisis, using The Walking Dead television series as a reference. The Walking Dead offers an artistic representation of different leadership styles, with business organizations likened to groups of survivors. Its post-apocalyptic setting offers something of an analogy to the COVID-19 crisis. Each firm's struggle for survival in the face of external threats is paralleled with each community's struggle to protect members' lives, preserve resources, and pursue development. The practices of the leaders in the program are compared to those of the leaders of firms such as P&G, Boeing, GM, Renault-Nissan, IBM, BP, GE, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Ali Baba, Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, and SpaceX. This paper illustrates why ethical leadership goes far beyond charisma and competencies to involve deep motivations and sincere emotions and why it is accessible to everyone through a process of learning and transformation. The study shows the need to adapt leadership style to context. Good leaders know when to step back, meditate, and be lucid. They balance consultation and initiative. They do not fear other leaders and mentor new ones., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Traditionally, in media studies research, the direct address or aside, i.e., a construction in which a speaker communicates a message directly to the audience breaking the continuity of the narrative flow, has been investigated mainly for its dramaturgical function. The present study aims to consider the direct address as a research object of the social psychology of communication to increase our understanding of this technique by going beyond the analysis of its dramaturgical function. In particular, the direct address will be examined through an integrated approach based on argumentative and conversational tools to highlight its less known polydimensional structure, i.e., diegetic and extra-diegetic dimensions and their interactions, and psychosocial functions, i.e., connecting the characters among each other within the show as well as with the audience. This objective will be achieved by analyzing two different direct addresses from the American TV series House of Cards. The analysis showed that the direct address performs its dramaturgical function by impacting both diegetic and extradiegetic levels. In the first case, as considered in previous studies, these plans are activated in parallel, aiming to build what we have defined as the "strategic subjectivity" of the character who employs this technique. Instead, in the second case-which comprises two direct addresses produced by two different characters-this technique involves the creation of what we will call "platforms of intersubjectivity." In this occurrence, the dramaturgical action establishes a "bridge" between the diegetic and extradiegetic plans that act synergistically. In conclusion, the present study shows how an integrated approach based on argumentative and conversational tools of analysis permits to enlarge the traditional media studies perspective, highlighting the less investigated polydimensional structure and analyzing the psychosocial functions of the direct address, here considered as a research object of the social psychology of communication examined in its diegetic and extra-diegetic dimensions. The integration of the pragma-dialectical approach to argumentation with the interlocutory logic theory has brought to light a new modality of use of the direct address that can be termed "intersubjective aside," a type of aside that can be added to the three already known, i.e., aside ad spectatores, monological aside, and dialogical aside., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Galimberti, Bova, Spanò and Vergine.)

The approach to the vision of TV series has deeply changed in the last years, and watching multiple episodes of TV content in a single session becomes a popular viewing pattern referred as binge-watching. Early studies defined binge-watching as a potentially addictive behavior showing characteristics similar to other behavioral addictions, such as loss of control and pleasure anticipation. This study aims to validate a short self-report questionnaire focused on assessing binge-watching behavior and determining whether it shows characteristics similar to addictive behavior, the Binge-Watching Addiction Questionnaire (BWAQ). An online survey was adopted to administer the questionnaire in the general population (N = 1277). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses assessed both the validity and the structure of the scale in two independent samples. The statistical analyses confirmed a four-factor model (i.e., "Craving", "Dependency", "Anticipation", "Avoidance") of the BWAQ with good psychometric properties. The BWAQ can differentiate between people who adopt maladaptive watching activities from those who use TV-series as leisure and entertainment activities. Therefore, this questionnaire may enable researchers to improve this emerging field of research significantly.

People with complex and rare diseases often have a difficult time in our health system. It can take years to reach a diagnosis and there is often no suitable therapy. Rare diseases are anything but rare among patients: around 4 million people are affected in Germany alone. Nevertheless, rare diseases can often only be diagnosed when they are well enough known and the population is made aware of their existence-this applies to both laypeople and medical professionals. The rather unusual form of imparting knowledge via entertainment television can make an important contribution to disseminate medical knowledge and to raise awareness of medical topics. In specific cases, entertainment television can help to diagnose rare diseases or encourage laypeople to take lifesaving measures, which we try to illustrate in this paper.Series and quiz shows reach more viewers than traditional health programs. They have also proven to be exceptionally effective in student teaching. Since the narrative form focuses on cheering and guessing, instead of simply conveying facts, the medical topics become more emotionally anchored memories and easier to recall. Entertainment television thus offers an innovative approach to increase the health literacy of the population-a potential that could be used more intensively in Germany.

Introduction: Following the digital progress and the availability of online streaming services, binge-watching (in the literature often defined as watching >2 episodes of a TV series in one sitting) has become a popular viewing pattern. Concerns about possible negative consequences of this behaviour have arisen and its proximity to behavioural addictions is discussed. The aim of the present study was to explore how depressive symptoms, impulsivity and their potential interaction are related to the consequences of binge-watching. In addition, the possible association of the Big 5 personality traits neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness with consequences from binge-watching was assessed., Method: An online survey including the assessment of intensity of and negative consequences from binge-watching (with an adapted version of the Short-Internet-Addiction Test and a newly developed questionnaire) and questionnaires on depressive symptoms (i.e., General Depression Scale), impulsivity (i.e., Barratt Impulsiveness Scale) and personality traits (i.e., short version of the Big 5 Inventory) was completed by 228 participants., Results: Regression analysis indicated that impulsivity was associated with loss of control and neglect of duties, while depressive symptoms led to neglect of duties and social problems. No significant interaction effects were observed. Conscientiousness was the only personality trait that explained a significant proportion of the variance of consequences from binge-watching., Discussion/conclusion: Our findings suggest that depressive symptoms and impulsivity are 2 independent pathways to negative consequences from binge watching. However, given the rather low proportion of variance proportion explained, future studies are warranted to enhance our understanding of other individual characteristics and to further clarify the proximity to behavioural addictions., (© 2020 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background and Aims: Binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of a TV series in one session) has recently become standard practice among TV series viewers; this expansion generates concerns regarding the potential negative outcomes associated with this habit. However, the investigation of its psychological correlates remains fragmentary, with few initial studies a priori conceptualizing this behavior as a new addictive disorder. This study explored these psychological correlates using cluster analysis of binge-watching behavior based on three key psychological factors: motivations, impulsivity, and emotional reactivity., Methods: An online survey was completed by 4,039 TV series viewers. Data were analyzed using hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses, the validity of the clusters being finally determined through mutual comparisons with a selection of external correlates., Results: Four clusters were identified: recreational TV series viewers (presenting low involvement in binge-watching), regulated binge-watchers (moderately involved), avid binge-watchers (presenting elevated but non-problematic involvement), and unregulated binge-watchers (presenting potentially problematic involvement associated with negative outcomes)., Discussion and Conclusions: This study underlines the heterogeneous and multidetermined nature of binge-watching. Our findings suggest that high engagement in binge-watching is distinct from problematic binge-watching, thus reinforcing the notion that conceptualizing binge-watching as an addictive disorder is of low relevance and might actually lead to the overpathologization of this highly popular leisure activity.

Background and aims Binge-watching (i.e., seeing multiple episodes of the same TV series in a row) now constitutes a widespread phenomenon. However, little is known about the psychological factors underlying this behavior, as reflected by the paucity of available studies, most merely focusing on its potential harmfulness by applying the classic criteria used for other addictive disorders without exploring the uniqueness of binge-watching. This study thus aimed to take the opposite approach as a first step toward a genuine understanding of binge-watching behaviors through a qualitative analysis of the phenomenological characteristics of TV series watching. Methods A focus group of regular TV series viewers (N = 7) was established to explore a wide range of aspects related to TV series watching (e.g., motives, viewing practices, and related behaviors). Results A content analysis identified binge-watching features across three dimensions: TV series watching motivations, TV series watching engagement, and structural characteristics of TV shows. Most participants acknowledged that TV series watching can become addictive, but they all agreed having trouble recognizing themselves as truly being an "addict." Although obvious connections could be established with substance addiction criteria and symptoms, such parallelism appeared to be insufficient, as several distinctive facets emerged (e.g., positive view, transient overinvolvement, context dependency, and low everyday life impact). Discussion and conclusion The research should go beyond the classic biomedical and psychological models of addictive behaviors to account for binge-watching in order to explore its specificities and generate the first steps toward an adequate theoretical rationale for these emerging problematic behaviors.

Health topics are omnipresent in the media. However, although both informational and entertainment formats can increase public understanding of health and illness, media representations of diseases involve challenges as well as opportunities. The entertainment-education (E-E) approach highlights the positive effects of incorporating health messages into entertainment media. The goal of influencing awareness, knowledge and attitudes is reached by transporting the audience into a narrative, which as such enhances persuasive effects and suppresses counterarguing. The NBC sitcom The Michael J. Fox Show (TMJFS) is an E-E format inspired by the actor's own experiences with Parkinson's disease (PD). Using TMJFS as an exemplar, we conducted a multimethodological study to understand both the challenges and the opportunities of E-E comedy formats. A content analysis focusing on the representation of PD in TMJFS showed a focus on motoric symptoms of PD. Subsequent recap analyses and qualitative interviews were conducted to better understand different readings of the show in terms of its informative and entertaining aspects. Additionally, we performed a standardized online survey and an experiment to measure attitudinal effects of TMJFS., (Copyright 4 May, 2017 Equinox Publishing.)

The TV series, Brothers & Sisters, broadcast from 2006 to 2011 by ABC (USA) and a year later by Channel 4 (UK) with quite high audience rates, starts when the patriarchal figure, William Walker, dies of a heart attack and two female figures around their sixties come center stage: his wife, Nora Walker, and his long-term lover, Holly Harper. Once the patriarchal figure disappears, the female characters regain visibility by entering the labor market and starting relationships with other men. In that sense, both protagonists experience aging as a time in which they are increasingly freed from social and family constraints. However, their roles as nurturers keep on bringing them back to the domestic space in which they are safe from being involved in uncomfortable and unsuitable situations. Drawing on previous studies on the representation of the older woman in fictional media, this article intends to discern to what extent stereotypes related to the older woman are challenged through the two main protagonists of a contemporary TV series., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)