Teen TV PDF
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TEEN TV Teen TV explores the history of television’s relationship to teens as a desired, but elusive audience, and the ways in which television has embraced youth subcultures, tracing the shifts in American and global televisual teen media. Organized chronologically to cover each generation since the inception of the medium in the 1940s, the book examines a wide range of historical and contemporary programming: from the broadcast bottleneck, multi-channel era that included youth-targeted spaces like MTV, the WB, and the CW, to the rise of streaming platforms and global crossovers. It covers the thematic concerns and narrative structure of the coming-of-age story, and the prevalent genre formations of teen TV and milestones faced by teen characters. The book also includes interviews with creators and showrunners of hit network television teen series, including Degrassi’s Linda Schuyler, and the costume designer that established a heightened turn in the significance of teen fashion on the small screen in Gossip Girl, Eric Daman. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and teachers interested in television aesthetics, TV genres, pop culture, and youth culture, as well as media and television studies. Stefania Marghitu is a visiting faculty member at Pitzer College. She has also taught courses at Chapman University, California State University Northridge, and Columbia College Hollywood. She received her PhD from the University of Southern California’s Division of Cinema and Media Studies. Her primary interests deal with critical and cultural studies of television, the showrunner and modes of authorship, production cultures, and feminist media studies. Her dissertation is titled Women Showrunners: Authorship, Identity, and Representation in US Television. She has published in Feminist Media Studies, Communication, Culture and Critique, New Review of Film and Television, and The Spectator. ROUTLEDGE TELEVISION GUIDEBOOKS The Routledge Television Guidebooks offer an introduction to and overview of key television genres and formats. Each guidebook contains an introduction, including a brief history; defining characteristics and major series; key debates surrounding themes, formats, genres, and audiences; questions for discussion; and a bibliography of further reading and watching. REALITY TV Jonathan Kraszewski THE SITCOM Jeremy Butler FAIRY-TALE TV Jill Terry Rudy and Pauline Greenhill SPORTS TV Victoria E. Johnson TEEN TV Stefania Marghitu For more information about this series, please visit: https://www. routledge.com/Routledge-Television-Guidebooks/book-series/ RTVG TEEN TV Stefania Marghitu First published 2021 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Taylor & Francis The right of Stefania Marghitu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-0-415-31585-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-71389-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-22964-5 (ebk) Typeset in Perpetua by codeMantra In Memory of Thomas Russel Parten, 1991–2020 CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii Teen TV Introduction 1 1 Baby Boomer Teen TV 23 2 Generation X Teen TV 65 3 Millennial Teen TV 105 4 Gen Z Teen TV 159 Discussion Questions 213 Teen TV Filmography 215 Index 225 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The process behind this book often mirrored the rollercoaster of adolescence. I could not have done it without the support and encouragement of so many wonderful people, professionally and personally. My husband Conor kept me grounded and never doubted me throughout all of this. My grandparents didn’t know our Beverly Hills 90210 nights would be so influential, just one of the many ways they helped shape who I am. My patient and selfless parents, for letting me indulge in my teen- age fandom. I thank those who took the time to be interviewed for the book: Kathleen Bedoya, Eric Daman, Winne Holzman, and Linda Schuyler. My dissertation chair, Henry Jenkins, encouraged me to pursue every project I felt passionately about, and he made the work balance seem possible. Aniko Imre, an incredible mentor, always took time to listen to me and to offer advice and positive reinforcement. Christine Acham reminded me to be valued for the work I have done. Jennifer Holt told me to “write my best,” and spoke of the gaps in scholarship that the field needs. My academic community spans across the US and abroad. Friends as well fellow early career scholars lifted me up to write this book: Elisa Jochum, Kelsey Moore Johnston, Erendira Espinoza-Taboada, Katie Panhorst Harris, Caroline and Chandler White, Matthew Parten, Qui Ha Nguyen, Rachel Fullmer, Anna Strand, Leslie Streicher, viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Nadia Bhuiyan (from watching and talking about The O.C. from our teens to thirties), Sabrina Howard, Courtney Cox, Perry John- son, Rachel Summers (rehashing The O.C. and discussing new teen shows), Megan Connor, Katie Walsh, Lydia Burt, Sigi Priessl, Anne Mette Jaeger Hansen, Filipa Marques, Lydia Burt, Andy Enkeboll, Lina Nguyen, Rossen Sanchez-Baro, Michelle Doman, and Manish Agarwal. Marley Thrower for always willing to discuss Normal People summer 2020. Ben Stevens and Conrad Ng always listened to me and let me know “I got this.” Denise Reyes for her pride and support and willing- ness to discuss teen shows. Stephanie Mendonce, for always supporting my writing a bright star. Alexa Altman, for her unconditional friend- ship and encouragement. Thank you to Meg O’Connell for her design advice and warmth. Friends and mentors in academia who took the time to help me and express enthusiasm about my work and provide advice and insight: Andrea Kelley (and of course Izzy), Michael Newman, Elana Levine, Gry Rustad (the leading expert on Skam), Alfred Martin, Sarah Louise Smyth, Shelley Cobb, Sarah Banet-Weiser, Harvey Cohen, Tanya Horeck, Linde Murugan, Elizabeth Affuso, Emily Carman, Erica Aguero, Dianah Wynter, Frances Gateward, René Bruckner, Alyx Vesey, Amanda Keeler, Daniel Murphy, Joan Hawkins, Lee Griveson, Melvyn Stokes, and Justyna Beinkek. My Irish-Korean family, the O’Neills, The Crawfords (The original Derry girls), and to Rosie: XOXO Gossip Girl. I thank my undergraduate students at USC, Chapman, and Pitzer who provided engaging discussions and helped fuel my writing. My undergraduate research assistant Livi Edmonson, who was always there to discuss teen media and helped me along the process. To Erica Wetter for her initial guidance as editor at Routledge. Finally, my thanks to Emma Sheriff at Routledge for supporting the project, particularly during a global pandemic. ix
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