This history of dramatic form in television examines early teleplays and the development of the dramatic series, the soap opera, and narrative films for television. The course covers the unique characteristics of the medium as it applies to drama, the special qualifications and pressures applied to drama for broadcast consumption, and the staging and aesthetic differences between drama for film and drama for television, including different directing and acting techniques. It treats television drama as a viable and substantive genre, not simply a form of popular entertainment. This course fulfills a history/theory requirement for the Television track of the major/minor and fulfills a visual and performing arts core requirement in history. Three credits.

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