Annotated Bibliography

Overview: Our group will be analyzing various television shows to see how they depict youth, consumerism, economic inequality, and other social issues.  Mainstream sitcoms as well as dramas and reality shows from both network television and premium cable will be explored.  We will compare and contrast shows such as Friends, Modern Family, The Wire, King of Queens, Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, Rosanne, True Life, and others in order to see what they show both overtly and subliminally about the above issues.

Three possible research questions:

1.      How strongly does depiction of economic hardship effect the quality of lighter sitcoms? Does having an unrealistic depiction of character’s economic situation in the name of comedy have a negative impact on the viewer?

2.      When we compare a gritty urban crime drama such as The Wire to a sitcom like Friends what do we see in terms of the balance between socially responsible/realistic material and the need to still be entertaining?

3.      Can there be reality TV that is entertaining, informative, and actually reality?

Simon, D. (Writer) (2006). Home rooms [Television series episode]. In Simon, D. (Executive        Producer), The wire. Baltimore, MD: HBO. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uonc7BEZ4g

This is a clip from the HBO series The Wire in which the issues of funding for inner city schools and No Child Left Behind are addressed.  This clip depicts a real world issue involving the lower class in a gritty urban setting which is different from some of the material in the lighter sitcoms we will be analyzing.

Eiesenberg, D. (2004, 11 01). Nbc's new reality. Time, 164(18), 62-63.

This article explores NBC’s decline in ratings after the end of Friends and Frasier and how it is losing its 18-49 year old viewership.  This article can help us show the business value of some of the sitcoms we are analyzing and how the loss of such shows can really damage a network.

Thomashoff, C. (1995, 4 17). The joy of six. People, 43(18), 80.

This article gives background about the concept of the show Friends, what makes it so popular, as well as input from the stars of the show.  We can use this information when we analyze why people are drawn to the show despite some of its departures from reality in terms of the financial situations of the main characters.

Power, R. (2013). The wire and alternative stories of law and inequality . Indiana Law Review, 46(2), 425-487.

This journal article focuses on the five seasons of The Wire and how they depicted inequality in Baltimore.  This source will help in addressing many of the issues we have discussed in class regarding the gap between the rich and poor via the show.

Simon, D. (Producer) (2006). In Simon, D. (Executive Producer), The wire. Baltimore: HBO. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A118kV5PU48
The second part of this clip from The Wire shows the harsh reality of what faces many youth in urban areas without education which is a life of poverty and sometimes crime.  This is another source we can use to emphasize the show’s realistic depiction of urban youth.

Crane, D. (Producer) (n.d.).In Crane, D. (Executive Producer), Friends. New York: NBC.            Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86kPVkZUeTg

This is a short comedic clip from friends in which Chandler is talking about his job interview he is going to.  This clip is useful because it shows the massive apartment they live in and it also is making jokes about finding a job which is something we can analyze.

[Web log message]. (2013). Retrieved from http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2013/09/breaking-bad-series-finale-delivers-a-record-10-3-million-viewers/

This blog entry from the official Breaking Bad blog discusses the record setting episode of Breaking Bad and also provides some background on the show.  We can use this to have another example of a wildly popular cable show that is not a sitcom.

[Web log message]. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thewireblog.net/

This is a blog dedicated to The Wire that provides in depth analysis of many of the issues in the show.  This is another great source with a variety of posts that we can use to further our analysis of this show.

Nielsen. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en.html

This is the Nielsen website that shows the ratings and popularity of different shows on television.  This is a good source because we can use hard data to show how popular the programs we are analyzing are.

Kimsley, M. (1990). Bart for president. New Republic, 203(4), 4.

This older journal article discusses Roseanne as well as the Simpsons and what their depictions of lower middle class mean politically.  This will be useful as Roseanne is one of the few highly successful sitcoms that is about a lower class family.

Friends central. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://friends.wikia.com/wiki/Friends_Wiki

This website has background information about the characters and numerous episodes of Friends.  This will be useful as a reference point for basic information about the show as well as character backgrounds.

Television without pity. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/

This is a website that gives numerous reviews of many television programs.  This is a good source for seeing what critics think of shows and is also a way we can gauge the popularity of certain programs.

Democracy on HBO and Basic Cable

On this blog I have addressed many issues with the lack of realism in many television programs and have attempted to highlight a few series that make an earnest effort to depict real world issues.  Even though shows such as The Wire, Treme, and Oz are all on HBO, it is clear to see that they are the exception to the rule even when it comes to paid cable.  The most popular shows on HBO do not tackle problems of youth and democracy.  While entertaining, Entourage and Sex and the City seem to go out of their way to avoid the gritty realities shown in the three programs mentioned above.  While I loved The Sopranos (the most popular show in HBO history), it is also a program that deals in the realities of a tiny percentage of people (the Mafia).  Furthermore, it makes a wealthy criminal a likeable character and glorifies crime in the name of pursuing the all-mighty dollar.  Such shows do not tackle real issues of democracy, and neither does basic cable programming.

Are fictional movie star Vincent Chase and his crew a
realistic depiction of youth in this country? Not really.

 

 

One of the best things about The Wire is that it never shied away from the amount of political corruption in this country or the absurdly warped priorities of many politicians.  The parties involved in the mayoral race and the corrupt to the core State Senator Clay Davis show how urban youth are not a major concern when there is political power and the money that comes with it on the line.  When preparing his campaign for Mayor, Councilman Carcetti is advised to run on trying to reduce crime statistics rather than improve the abysmal school system in Baltimore.  The logic behind this is that the system is so bad that making promises to improve it are too big of a risk to future campaigns and political endeavors.  Later in the fourth season once he has been elected Mayor, he decides against having the Governor of Maryland bail out the school system’s $54 million budget deficit as this could be used as political ammunition against Carcetti’s future run for Governor.  I addressed the serious effects that failing inner city schools have on urban youth in my first post.  The Wire and Oz are not afraid to show how politics fuels the school to prison pipeline in the United States.

Programs about politics rarely tackle such dicey issues, especially on regular cable.  The West Wing was a very popular program that was aired on NBC.  Even though the show was written by famous writer Aaron Sorkin and boasted a well-known cast, it did not show the darker side of democracy in the manner The Wire did.  One critic complained that the show's characters were far too squeaky clean, as obtaining a position in the White House in today’s America would require serious political ruthlessness.  I cannot say with certainty if this is the media feeding its audiences a subconscious propaganda, or if it is the audiences themselves that do not want to believe that those in power may not have the people’s best interests in mind and therefore they respond better to less realistic shows.  It is an interesting question.

The school to prison pipeline is ever-present in The Wire.

In examining different television programs across multiple networks, I have concluded there is both a lack of realism in most programs as well as what seems like a conscious effort to omit serious issues that impact youth in the United States such as the school to prison pipeline.  I hope that more networks broaden the variety in their programming so that the average viewer can be exposed to shows such as The Wire, but I am afraid that is not a very realistic hope as of right now.