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Action TV : tough-guys, smooth operators and foxy chicks

From re-runs of 'TV classics' like The Avengers or Starsky and Hutch, to soundtracks, club nights and film remakes such as Mission Impossible II, the action series is enjoying a popular revival. Yet little attention has been paid to the history, nature and enduring appeal of the action series, and its place in popular culture, past and present. Action TV traces the development of the action series from its genesis in the 1950s. From The Saint to Knigh t Rider, contributors explore the key shows which defined the genre, addressing issues of audiences and consumption, gender and sexuality, fashion and popular culture. They examine the institutional and cultural factors influencing the action series, and relate shifts in the genre to other forms of popular culture including film, pop music, fashion and popular literature. Chapters include: * Of leather suits and kinky boots: The Avengers, style and popular culture * 'Who loves ya, baby?': Kojak, action and the great society *'A lone crusader in a dangerous world': heroics of science and technology in Knight Rider * Angels in chains? feminism, femininity and consumer culture in Charlie's Angels * 'Who's the cat that won't cop out?' Black masculinity in American action shows of the sixties and seventies Paul Cobley, Anna Gough-Yates, Joke Hermes, Leon Hunt, Andy Medhurst, Nickianne Moody, Marc O'Day, Bill Osgerby, Elaine Pennicott, Martin Pumphrey, Roger Sabin, John Storey, Yvonne Tasker, Marianne We.

Alias. The complete first season [videorecording]

The adventures of a young and beautiful secret agent working for the CIA.

Television in transition [electronic resource] : the life and afterlife of the narrative action hero

Combining an exciting methodology alongside high-interest case studies, Television in Transition offers students of television a guide to a medium that has weathered the challenges of first-run syndication, a multi-channel universe, netlets, major media conglomerates, deregulation, and globalization--all in the space of twenty years. * Examines a return in television programming to action narratives with individual (super) heroes intended to navigate this new, international, multi-channel universe * Explores how television programming "translates" to new spatial geographies: different nations, cultures, broadcast systems; and different formats, distribution outlets, and screen sizes * Looks at the value of a program's "afterlife, " the continued circulation, repackaging and repurposing of programming beyond its initial iteration * Blends institutional and textual analyses in case studies of Highlander: The Series, Smallville, 24, and Doctor Who.

Online Wiley Online Library