Over and Over (Paperback)

Paperback. How does serial drama earn, keep, and reward our attention for so longover episodes, seasons, months, and years? While we know that characters are the focus of story and viewer interest in television fiction, scholars have for decades overlooked the way those characters are performed on-screen and the lure of performance as a key formal and thematic aspect of long-form television storytelling. In Over and Over, Elliott Logan offers close readings of performance in some of the most celebrated television dramas of the century, casting new light on the attractions and significance of the medium's seriality. The book shows how the patterning and expressive resonance of performers on-screen binds together otherwise unconnected episodes of shows like The Sopranos and Mad Men. In doing so, it highlights the provisionality of identity and meaning as crucial to their interest in the sustenance of human relationships over long periods of time. In accounting for the resonance of performance over time in serial drama, this book shows, we find the terms of our own attachment to its compelling depictions of human life In Over and Over, Elliott Logan explores serial drama's power as a medium for screen performance. Through close readings of key moments from the century's most celebrated shows - including a bold new account of the ending from The Sopranos - this book sheds new light on the significance of seriality in television drama. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…