Television Style

Abstract

The arrival of Jeremy Butler's Television Style seems timely. Recent years have seen a decisive return to the ‘text’ in certain sections of television studies (arguably in response to the boom in US ‘quality’ television). Critical interest in series such as Lost (ABC, 2004–10), The Wire (HBO, 2002–08), Battlestar Galactica (Syfy, 2004–09) and Mad Men (AMC, 2007– ) – which has coincided with a surge in both professional and amateur television criticism online – has seen a renewed focus on close analysis.1 Although these series have seen more analysis of genre, form, narrative and representation than ‘style’ itself, the majority of this work is informed by a close attention to the foundational elements of the television text. However, Butler's book avoids any predictable focus on recent culturally valorized ‘quality’ texts, as his central argument is that all television texts contain style; that ‘a programme does not need geniuses or flourishes in order to possess style. … All television texts contain style. Style is their texture, their surface, the web that holds together their signifiers and through which their signified are communicated’ (p. 15). This is evidenced by his case studies – the distinctive aesthetics of Miami Vice (NBC, 1984–90) and ER (NBC, 1994–2009) sit alongside the daytime soap opera, commercials and sitcom as Butler explores ‘the narrative power of style – its ability to signify, heighten or occasionally undercut stories on television’ (p. 108).