Time in Television Narrative: Exploring Temporality in Twenty-First-Century Programming Book

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Television Studies in the Twenty-First Century 3

I Promoting the Future of Experimental TV: The Industry Changes and Technological Advancements That Paved the Way to "New" Television Ventures

1 Television's Paradigm (Time)shift: Production and Consumption Practices in the Post-Network Era Todd M. Sodano 27

2 "A Stretch of Time": Extended Distribution and Narrative Accumulation in Prison Break J. P. Kelly 43

3 "It's Not Unknown": The Loose-and Dead-End Afterlives of Battlestar Galactica and Lost Jordan Lavender-Smith 56

4 Zero-Degree Seriality: Television Narrative in the Post-Network Era Norman M. Gendelman 69

5 "Play It Again, Sam … and Dean": Temporality and Meta-Textuality in Supernatural Michael Fuchs 82

II Historicizing The Moment: How the Cultural Climate Impacts Temporal Manipulation on the Small Screen

6 Temporality and Trauma in American Sci-Fi Television Aris Mousouizanis 97

7 The Fear of the Future and the Pain of the Past: The Quest to Cheat Time in Heroes, FlashForword, and Fringe Melissa Ames 110

8 Lost in Our Middle Hour: Faith, Fate, and Redemption Post- 9/11 Sarah Himsel Burcon 125

9 "New Beginnings Only Lead to Painful Ends": "Undeading" and Fear of Consequences in Pushing Daisies Kasey Butcher 139

III The Functions of Time: Analyzing the Effects of Nonnormative Narrative Structure(s)

10 "Did You Get Pears?": Temporality and Temps Mortality in The Wire, Mad Men, and Arrested Development Gry C. Rustad Timotheus Vermeulen 153

11 Temporalities on Collision Course: Time, Knowledge, and Temporal Critique in Damages Toni Pape 165

12 Freaks of Time: Reevaluating Memory and Identity through Daniel Knauf's Carnivàle Frida Beckman 178

13 The Discourse of Medium: Time as a Narrative Device Kristi McDuffie 190

IV Moving Beyond The Televisual Restraints of the Past: Reimagining Genres and Formats

14 Making Sense of the Future: Narrative Destabilization in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse Casey J. Mccormick 205

15 Why 30 Rocks Rocks and The Office Needs Some Work: The Role of Time/Space in Contemporary TV Sitcoms Colin Irvine 218

16 Change the Structure, Change the Story: How I Met Your Mother and the Reformulation of the Television Romance Molly Brost 232

17 Like Sands through the Half-Hourglass: Nurse Jackie and Temporal Disruption Janani Subramanian 245

18 The Television Musical: Glee's New Directions Jack Harrison 257

V Playing Outside of the Box: The Role Time Plays in Fan Fiction, Online Communities, and Audience Studies

19 "Nothing Happens Unless First a Dream": TV Fandom, Narrative Structure, and the Alternate Universes of Bones Melanie Cattrell 273

20 Two Days before the Day after Tomorrow: Time, Temporality, and Fandom in South Park Jason W. Buel 285

21 Lost in Time?: Lost Fan Engagement with Temporal Play Lucy Bennett 297

About the Contributors 310

Index 315