This book constitutes the first major exploration of HBO's current programming, examined in the context of the transformation of American television and global society. Bringing together an international group of media and cultural studies scholars to offer an in-depth look at issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and power behind HBO's new and original voices, shows such as Game of Thrones, Girls, Insecure, Looking, Silicon Valley, The Comeback, The Leftovers, True Detective and Veep and Vinyl are examined. A significant intervention in television studies, media studies and cultural studies, this book illuminates the emergence of a new era of culturally relevant television that fans, students, and researchers will find lively, accessible and fascinating.

Dr Victoria McCollum is a Lecturer in Cinematic Arts, in the School of Arts and Humanities, at Ulster University (Northern Ireland). Her most recent research examines how horror films, including some of its most transgressive subgenres, deal with memory, ideology, and the often competing claims of nationalism, American exceptionalism and cultural sorrow. She is the author of Post-9/11 Heartland Horror: Rural Horror Films in an Era of Urban Terrorism and is currently working on a new edited collection entitled, Make America Hate Again: Trump-Era Horror and the Politics of Fear.

Dr Giuliana Monteverde is a Lecturer in Media Studies, in the School of Communication and Media, at Ulster University (Northern Ireland). Her most recent research revolves around representations of complicity in contemporary feminist discourse, looking at, amongst others, Sheryl Sandberg, Miley Cyrus, and the Kardashian klan. Giuliana contributed a chapter to Complicity: Concepts and Case Studies (2016), and has published articles in The Journal of International Women's Studies and Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty. She is currently working on an article for Gender, Work and Organization, and a book chapter on The Handmaid's Tale.

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Introduction (Giuliana Monteverde and Victoria McCollum)

Part I: Authorship, Gender, Reception

1. Our Bodies, Our Self(ies): Mediating and Mitigating Social Media and Selfveillance in Girls (Hannah Bonner)

2. The Rise and Fall of the HBO Empire: Vinyl and the Gender of TV Legitimation (Stéfany Boisvert)

3. Queer Fantasies, Queer Echoes: The Post-Closet World of Looking (Nicholas Manganas)

4. Feminism, "Dick" Jokes, & (Re)Defining Masculinity: Satirising the Tech World in Silicon Valley (Amy Mackelden)

Part II: Race, Place, Power, Risk

5. The Personal and Political: Exploring Comedic Masculinity and Femininity in Veep (Carrie Hou, Nathan Stewart and Elena Chabbi)

6. Race and Place in Black and White: The False Dichotomy in True Detective (Jessica Maucione)

7. Praising, Erasing, Replacing and Race-ing Girls - Intersectional Online Critiques and the Ascent of Insecure (Francesca Sobande)

8. Forced Devotion vs. Acceptable Doubt: The Leftovers as a Paradigm Shift for Religion in Popular Culture (Kristen Donnelly)

Part III: Consumption, Criticism, Fandom

9. HBO's Hall of Mirrors: The Comeback as Meta-Commentary on Television and Celebrity Culture (Jennifer O'Meara)

10. Marnie is the Worst: Antipathetic Characters in Contemporary HBO Programs (Oliver Kroener)

11. The Last-night's Watch Game of Thrones, Contemporary Recap Culture, and HBO's Continuing Legacy (Andrew Lynch)

12. Tone Deaf?: Game of Thrones, Showrunners and Criticism (Shiloh Carroll)

Index