Black and Blue TV explores the ways television productions have responded to the Black Lives Matter movement. Television programs’ engagement with BLM was common before George Floyd’s murder sparked international protests in the summer of 2020, at which point it became nearly unavoidable for many series. Images of police using violence against Black Americans fueled criticisms of the role of television—especially cop shows—in perpetuating “copaganda,” highlighting the fact that television’s cops are nearly always the good guys, even when they break the law and use excessive force. Black and Blue TV identifies trends and anomalies in television’s engagement with BLM but also investigates the people who influence what those representations look like. Pairing textual criticism with interviews with television creatives, executives, and media activists, author Laurena Bernabo traces shifts in how these individuals understand their role in televisual culture, and the cultural forum of narratives that are produced and distributed as a result.
"Black and Blue TV is a compelling and timely work that sheds new light on television's relationship to a particularly fraught moment in recent U.S. history. Stretching far beyond the boundaries of genre analysis, Laurena Bernabo’s research engages deeply with the on-the-ground tensions within the television industry that enable and constrain meaningful calls for change. Thisis a terrific book that promises to be a touchstone for further research in television production studies."
"Urgent and illuminating, Black and Blue TV offers a nuanced look at how television has responded to era-defining racial justice activism. Built on rare access to media professionals, Bernabo’s production studies approach delivers incisive takes on how TV creators are grappling with their role shaping understandings of crime, justice, and race."
Introduction 1 1 BLM and DEI: On-and Off-Screen Diversity Initiatives 23 2 Early BLM Cop Shows (2013–2020): Adjusting to a New Normal 53 3 Post-Floyd TVPD: How Policing Is Broken and Why It Will Never Be Fixed 82 4 Beyond the Police Procedural: Black Lives Matter in Comedies and Dramas, Too 107 5 Beyond 2020: Or, Back to Business as Usual? 140 Acknowledgments 157 Notes 159 Index 000
LAURENA BERNABO is an assistant professor of entertainment and media studies in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
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