Interrogating The shield / edited by Nicholas Ray.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ray, Nicholas, 1975-

Series:

Television and Popular Culture

Television and popular culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television programs.

Shield (Television program).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (246 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When The Shield first appeared on US television in March 2002, it broke ratings records with the highest audience-rated original series premiere in cable history. In the course of its subsequent seven-season run, the show went on to win international acclaim for its abrasive depiction of an urban American dystopia and the systemic political and juridical corruption feeding it. The first book dedicated to the analysis of this immensely successful series, Interrogating "The Shield" brings together ten critical essays, written from a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives. Topics range from an exploration of the series' derivation, genre, and production, to expositions of the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of the show. As may be expected from a multiauthored collection, this volume does not seek to present a homogenized account of The Shield. The show is variously applauded and critiqued. In their critical variety, however, the essays in this book are a testament to the cultural significance and creative complexity of the series. As such, they are a reminder of the renewed power of quality television drama today.

Contents:

Introduction: trees falling

The derivation of a television crime drama / Concepción Cascajosa Virino

The meaning of messiness: The shield and the production of television style / Gary Needham

Sound policing: attending to acoustic matters in The shield / Nicholas Chare

Fitting the profile: Dutch Wagenbach, realism, and the ensemble / Lorna Jowett

Quality, controversy, and criminality: The shield as post-Sopranos cop show / Glyn White

Scenes from the interrogation room: power, character, truth, and justice in The shield / Douglas L. Howard

"You want me to lick your balls, daddy?" masculinity, race, and power in The shield / Mike Chopra-Gant

Glass ceilings: gender, sexism, and The shield / Jason P. Vest

"A different kind of cop": exception and complicity in The shield / Nicholas Ray

Cracking ice: The shield and the middle-class crisis of social reproduction / Stephen Shapiro.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-217) and index.

ISBN:

9780815651895

0815651899

OCLC:

844247344