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This paper discusses the evolution of television serial drama in China. It argues that Chinese television drama production has progressed through three periods: industrial (1958-89), market (1990-2002), and most recently interpersonal (2003 onwards). These three stages of development are in turn associated with standardised production according to state-directed formulae, outbreaks of producer autonomy, and celebration of modern lifestyles and consumer culture. The paper provides an overview of the development of drama production during these three periods, and notes a shift from 'socialist reality' towards contemporary popular reality.

Devised to introduce the themed section of this MIA issue and the 'popular' area of TV drama that is its focus, this paper examines the contemporary drama series form and outlines some key institutional and cultural conditions for its production in non-American countries. (1) Interested in the commercial pressures being brought to bear on drama by intensifying primetime competition and increasing audience fragmentation, the paper looks at how the series, in particular, has adapted to these. It assesses the contribution of three pervasive approaches to this area of drama: 'recombination' (Gitlin, 1994), flexi-narrative' (Nelson, 1997) and 'must see-TV' (Jankovich and Lyons, 2003). To foreground some specific challenges for locally produced drama in the emerging era of television 'plenty ', a case study of New Zealand TV drama follows. Although its domestic TV drama has a 40-year tradition, New Zealand's efforts to maintain profile and diversity in this meta-genre have been frustrated by its position as a small, English-speaking country for whom leading American and British imports have been popular, affordable and available. Risky and commercially fragile in comparison with these imports, the position of New Zealand TV drama has never been guaranteed to the extent that it is reliant on the support and supply of public funding. Since the mid-1990s, these problems have combined with the challenges of multi-channel competition in television. While the resulting pressures have left some forms of local TV drama as 'endangered species', it is the popular, long-form genres--the drama series, soaps and sitcoms--that have shown the greatest resilience.

Recent reports in the entertainment media suggest that the ratings for so-called reality television are declining. In fact, a man is suing NBC for $2.5 million, alleging that he threw [...]

JESSICA SIMPSON has been singing her heart out since she was 12, but the massive success she now enjoys is not a result of her booming voice, but rather her [...]

ENCORE's production report includes all known features and television drama and non-drama television programs which have a network presale. Projects in the planning stage appear once only and the listing [...]

the audio-post-for-television marketplace has quickly become one of the most competitive for both facilities and professionals faced with servicing creative shows with constricting budgets. It's a struggle that's sure to [...]

As the distribution sector packs its bags for Mip-TV, it's tempting to hope they have packed extra red carpet to woo the bevy of producers who, after the communications act, [...]

When the cast and crew of the WB Network's 'Angel' wrapped their debut episode five years ago, series co-creator David Greenwalt leaned toward star David Boreanaz and wryly quipped, 'One […]

ON A SATURDAY MORNING LAST SUMMER, as I inched along with the crowds in the St. Lawrence Market, fingers ribbed red and white with the weight of shopping bags, I […]

It has become a cliche to say that the TV sitcom Seinfeld was "a show about nothing." But to anyone who loves words and appreciates good (and even bad) word […]

Some factual programmes are changing the fundamental nature of programming, blurring the lines and challenging the traditional form. Television Asia Plus speaks to three industry professionals on the gravity of [...]

The popular television program 'Friends' began its ninth season in fall 2002. It will most likely be the show's last season, and predictions for the final season, and favorite moments, are given.

The dead body of a young woman lies on a cold bathroom floor. Flashlights shine and cameras click as crime-scene investigators Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows comb the room for [...]

The premises and stars of 10 television programs that could prove to be popular hits and are worth watching are described.

A mother discusses some of the television programs most enjoyed by a teenage audience, such as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Dawsons Creek'.

Byline: Jordan Crucchiola Kaley Cuoco (http://www.vulture.com/2016/09/kaley-cuoco-more-big-bang-theory-is-an-expensive-question.html?mid=full-rss-vulture) told Jimmy Kimmel back in September that the possibility of more Big Bang Theory beyond the show's tenth season is 'a very expensive question.' [...]

Introduction Since Kouwenhoven's original description of modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation[1] and the obvious early successes of the technique,[2] resuscitation has become increasingly commonplace in hospitals and the community. The advent of [...]

The BBC medical drama Casualty is one of the most successful series on British television, having started in 1987 with a regular viewing audience of between 11 million people and 17 million people each week. The main character is senior nurse Charlie Fairhead who runs the accident and emergency department at fictional Holby City Hospital. The series covers the relationship between management and the nursing profession, with the emphasis on nurses working in partnership with doctors.

HORROR HAS BEEN A TELEVISION STAPLE since the medium's dawn. And with zombies, vampires, ghouls, psychopaths and monsters feasting on tasty ratings, a look at the pipeline during this development [...]

Examination of 240 transitions between prime-time programs on the four broadcast networks demonstrated the existence of a modest transition effect and revealed differences in transitions over time, suggesting that a transition effect associates with the new fall network schedules but not with familiar spring schedules. It showed that program endings had a significant impact on duplicated viewers in subsequent programs but that standardization of approaches to program starts had taken place in the early 1990s. As the locus of control shifts between the industry and the viewers, transitional strategies have joined lead-in ratings and competitive factors as significant impacts in models of inherited viewership and audience choice.

This study poses two questions about the portrayals of aggressive behavior on non-fictional television programs. First, to what extent do the patterns of antisocial activity in televised non-fictional programming correspond to patterns in the real world? These patterns were assessed by comparing the patterns of criminal acts, as well as the demographics of the perpetrators and victims. Second, what is the meaning of the antisocial activity? An answer to this question is constructed through an analysis of contextual variables of consequences, reward/punishments, intention, and style. The data base for the analysis contains 2126 antisocial acts found in a composite week of 65.5 hours of non-fiction television programming. The patterns of antisocial activity presented in non-fictional television were not found to correspond well with patterns in the real world. Also, contextual patterns (low rates of punishment, high rates of absence of negative consequences, high prevalence of intentions) would increase the likelihood that viewers would be negatively influenced by this type of content.

Historically, dominance has been operationalized in terms of the frequency of some behavior (talk, gaze). An alternative measure of dominance is based on the asymmetry of predictability in which a 'dominant' individual's preceding behaviors elicit a predictable response from someone else but not the inverse. Various types of communicative influence are examined in order to explain modeling of family interaction on television. The portrayal of family interaction is examined in one of the most popular comedy shows of the 1980's. A time-series analyses of turn-at-talk revealed varying patterns of family interaction as a consequence of familial roles (parents, children, sibling). The results are discussed in terms of socio-egocentric speech in which individuals speak in monologues rather than dialogues.

Prior investigations of television's demography often relied upon programs sampled across varying periods of time to describe character populations. Results are sometimes conflicting and it is difficult to generalize these independent findings to longitudinal trends. This study examines a census of 1,757 major characters added to broadcast network lineups through new season programming from 1966 to 1992. New characters are examined in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, and occupational patterns occurring across 27 years of network program activity.

Soap operas mean serious business to thousands of entertainment professionals despite the soapdish tag attached to daytime dramas. Not only are the hours long, the work entails minimal rehearsal and requires a retentive memory. Moreover, there is stiff competition for a contract role, beauty still being a prime prerequisite of casting directors. Currently, the storylines still border on the ludicrous but soap operas have improved due to the network ratings war and the professionalism of actors in the field., The old soap opera joke went something like this: Two characters sit down in October to have a chat. They wrap up their conversation sometime in March. While that may [...]

Watching soap operas for several weeks have revealed a few trademarks of daytime dramas. One is that most actors spend a lot of time preparing for copulating. Another is the agressiveness of female characters in contrast to the gentleness of male leads.