{"title":"‘Are we having fun yet?’: The Starz television network and <i>Party Down</i> as indie TV","authors":"James Lyons","doi":"10.1177/17496020231201083","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the sitcom Party Down (2009-10) one of the first shows commissioned by the US premium cable service Starz as it sought to compete with HBO and Showtime, but cancelled after two seasons due to low ratings. Reports in 2021 of plans for its return characterised it as a ‘cult TV’ show revived due to fan demand. Yet by analysing its original production contexts and its aesthetic attributes the article argues that it is best understood as a proto-typical instance of ‘indie TV,’ aligned with Starz' strategic positioning in relation to its indie-oriented subscriber base at that time.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Critical Studies in Television","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020231201083","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"FILM, RADIO, TELEVISION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article examines the sitcom Party Down (2009-10) one of the first shows commissioned by the US premium cable service Starz as it sought to compete with HBO and Showtime, but cancelled after two seasons due to low ratings. Reports in 2021 of plans for its return characterised it as a ‘cult TV’ show revived due to fan demand. Yet by analysing its original production contexts and its aesthetic attributes the article argues that it is best understood as a proto-typical instance of ‘indie TV,’ aligned with Starz' strategic positioning in relation to its indie-oriented subscriber base at that time.
期刊介绍：
Critical Studies in Television publishes articles that draw together divergent disciplines and different ways of thinking, to promote and advance television as a distinct academic discipline. It welcomes contributions on any aspect of television—production studies and institutional histories, audience and reception studies, theoretical approaches, conceptual paradigms and pedagogical questions. It continues to invite analyses of the compositional principles and aesthetics of texts, as well as contextual matters relating to both contemporary and past productions. CST also features book reviews, dossiers and debates. The journal is scholarly but accessible, dedicated to generating new knowledge and fostering a dynamic intellectual platform for television studies.
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