Abstract
This new collection on the transnational television phenomenon makes clear how broad its subject actually is; while the title clearly limits the scope of the volume to relations between the United States and the United Kingdom, its subtitle ‘Industries, Programs, and Fans’ suggests a breadth that might appear to be beyond the reach of a collection of case studies. However, this edited volume makes good on its title, offering a series of focused but in-depth analyses that are largely contextualised by a recurrent framing of the subject matter within the landscape of contemporary television in the United States and the United Kingdom. The collection begins with an introduction that is invaluable in its overview of what is implicitly at stake in transnational broadcasting, as well as a history of its place within television studies. The editors should be applauded here: while many collected volumes betray their origins as disguised conference proceedings, being organised somewhat artificially according to the offerings of the originating event, this volume, with its extensive general introduction as well as a solid introduction for each of the three parts, seeks to solidify its overview of its subject matter and offer a comprehensive survey, despite the necessarily individual nature of each of the case studies.
The first section of the volume, on ‘Transatlantic Industries’, offers case studies for the many industrial interactions between Britain and the United States. Michele Hilmes discusses the transatlantic nature of PBS’s long-running series Masterpiece Theatre and posits that it is a forerunner in what is now-ubiquitous niche programming, while also making clear the impact of purely industrial pressures like co-financing and government decision-making. Karen Petruska and Faye Woods analyse the increasingly ambiguous use of the term ‘original’ (‘a Netflix original’) in the wake of streaming platforms’ amalgam of co-productions, original commissions and exclusive first-run rights. As in the previous chapter, Petruska and Wood are careful to pay attention not just to the disruption implicit in the new television landscape but its continuity with well-established past traditions. Christine Becker and Sam Ward focus on channels where the transnational becomes a fundamental aspect of marketing strategies: Becker discusses BBC America and its attempts at creating a BBC brand outside its domestic mandate, while Sam Ward’s analysis of Sky Atlantic as ‘home of HBO in the UK’ offers a unique case study in which, as he says, ‘promotional discourse represents content importation’ (p. 89).
The second section highlights ‘transatlantic programs’ and features a first chapter by Roberta Pearson on Sherlock (2010–) and Elementary (2012–2019) as examples of high-end and ‘routine television’ from either side of the Atlantic; these programmes are used as case studies to argue that cultural and temporal proximity may function differently not only in relation to national identity (and its industrial expectations) but also as types of television. Eva N Redvall discusses Downton Abbey (2010–2015) and its importance for Masterpiece Theatre, a pairing that not only brings together the commercial channel ITV and the public channel PBS but also combines the setting of British heritage drama and the fast-paced plot of American workplace dramas. Robin Nelson discusses a similarly odd pairing between American private powerhouse HBO and the venerable BBC in his analysis of Rome (2005–2007) and Parade’s End (2012), while Jonathan Bignell analyses Episodes (2011–2017), a series which deals with the chaos that ensues when a British couple is invited to remake their hit show in an American context. Transnational production is central to the fiction but, as Bignell remarks, while it must foreground cultural differences, they must ultimately be collapsed, both culturally and structurally, in order for the series to work on both sides of the Atlantic. The final chapter in this section discusses acting styles in Game of Thrones and highlights the problematic nature of stereotypes regarding American and British acting styles. The exploration of individual scenes itself is very interesting and its contextualisation in relation to other British actors in US fictions is welcome, though the choice of two Irish actors (Northern Irish Conleth Hill and Irish Liam Cunningham) leaves the reader somewhat frustrated at not having an US point of comparison for what is necessarily a qualitative rather than a quantitative analysis.
The final section of the volume focuses on reception, a crucial and understudied aspect of transnational fictions which is too often confined to fandom or reception studies but which is particularly welcome in the context of transatlantic studies. Matt Hills discusses how the move of the series Black Mirror (2011–) from Channel 4 to Netflix was perceived by fans, using this case study as a means of highlighting Netflix’s influence on the national imaginaries of television, as well as the transformation from viewer to fan through the practice of binge viewing. Paul Rixon studies reception of ‘quality’ American dramas through the prism of The Guardian’s television journalism, offering valuable insight into the impact of television criticism on public consumption, as well as foregrounding the new roles being played by this profession in the wake of online journalism and its inherent interactivity with readers. Lincoln Geraghty discusses fan reception at Comic Con while the final two articles discuss fan creations: Lori Morimoto focuses on fan fiction and the desire for cultural authenticity in fan works made by foreign fans while Paul Booth broaches the fan mash-up Superwholock, a fan-created form of transnational fictions.
This is a varied and wide-ranging collection that shows almost unfailing excellence (unsurprisingly given the calibre of many of the authors included); it is a valuable addition to this rapidly expanding field.