"Television criticism (also called TV criticism or TV reviewing) is the act of writing or speaking about television programming to subjectively evaluate its worth, meaning, and other aspects."
Analyzes and evaluates TV programs and their cultural significance, including their representation of gender, race, class, and sexuality.
Television genres: Different types of programs that fall under genres such as drama, comedy, reality TV, etc. Understanding the conventions of each genre and how they affect audience expectations is essential for analyzing television.
Television history: How television evolved from its early days to the present day. Examining key moments such as the decline of broadcast networks and the rise of streaming services is important in understanding the current television landscape.
Aesthetics: The visual and audio elements of television production. Understanding how factors such as cinematography, sound, and lighting contribute to the overall experience of watching TV is crucial to evaluating it.
Representation: How different groups of people are portrayed on television. Analyzing the impact of stereotypes, tokenism, and authentic representation is essential for understanding the role TV plays in shaping cultural attitudes.
Audience Reception: How audiences respond to and interact with television. Studying audience research, fandom, and social media engagement can help to understand the impact of television on viewers.
Authorship: The creative contributions of directors, writers, and producers to television shows. Examining how choices made by individual creators shape the final product is important in evaluating the quality of television.
Industry: The economic and political structures that shape the television industry. Understanding the role of networks, studios, and streaming services in producing and distributing television content is important in analyzing the industry as a whole.
Narrative: The structure and development of storylines in television shows. Understanding plot arcs, character development, and how themes are explored is crucial in evaluating both individual episodes and entire shows.
Technology: The technologies and platforms used to create and consume television content. Understanding how technological advancements have shaped the television medium and how they continue to impact it is essential for analyzing contemporary television.
Globalization: How television is produced, distributed and consumed across international borders. Understanding how cultural and political contexts influence television in different countries and how global trends impact TV creation and distribution is important in studying television on a global scale.
Formalist Criticism: Analyzes the formal elements of television such as cinematography, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene to understand the meaning and impact of the television show.
Genre Criticism: Studies the different genres of television such as drama, comedy, reality television, and news to understand how viewers interpret and relate to television content.
Ideological Criticism: Investigates the ideological messages and representations portrayed through television shows and examines how they support or challenge the cultural dominant values.
Aesthetic Criticism: Assesses the aesthetic value of television, such as its visual and auditory appeal, and how it appeals to the aesthetics of the viewers.
Marxist Criticism: Analyzes the ways that television reflects and reinforces the class struggle and inequality in the society, examining the relationship between production, power, and cultural representation.
Feminist Critique: Focuses on the representation of women on television and addresses the issues of gender, sexuality, and race in television programs.
Postmodernist Critique: Examines the fragmentation of meaning and the relationship between signifiers and meanings on television, emphasizing the role of mediation, production, distribution, and consumption.
Cultural Studies Criticism: Investigates popular culture and its relationship to societal values and identities, looking to understand the relationship between the social context, audience, and television shows.
Comparative Criticism: Compares the television shows from different cultures and periods to examine similarities and differences in themes, narratives, and representation.
Reception Studies Critique: Investigates the reception and interpretation of television programs by viewers and how it affects individuals and society.
"It is often found in newspapers, television programs, radio broadcasts, Internet, and specialist periodicals and books."
"While originally developed to critique content for children..."
"It has been used to critique how various issues and topics are presented on television, including race and femininity."
Relations with audiences and networks are important to critics..."
"...problems can arise with both [audiences and networks]."
"...writing or speaking about television programming..." - Related to question 1
"...to subjectively evaluate its worth, meaning, and other aspects."
"It is often found in... newspapers..."
"It is often found in... Internet..."
"It is often found in... television programs..."
"...to subjectively evaluate its worth, meaning, and other aspects."
"...critique how various issues and topics are presented on television, including race and femininity."
"Relations with audiences and networks are important to critics..."
"It has been used to critique how various issues and topics are presented on television, including race and femininity." - Related to question 3
"While originally developed to critique content for children..."
"...content for children."
"...writing or speaking about television programming..."
"It is often found in... specialist periodicals and books."
"...how various issues and topics are presented on television, including race and femininity." - Related to question 4