“It’s not TV, it’s HBO”: Branding, Genre and the idea of ‘Quality TV’

September 25, 2013 · by · in

No contemporary show is ‘pure’ in terms of genre, they instead have a multiplicity of genre conventions. Jason Mittel wrote, “Genre definitions are no more natural than the texts that they seem to categorize. Genres are cultural products constituted by media practices and subject to ongoing change and redefinition”[1]

This week we looked at HBO’s Girls created and starring Lena Dunham. It’s a comedy drama, or what some like to call a ‘dramedy.’ Comedy dramas typically have storylines with a strong sense of seriality. This means that events and detail from early episodes are carried through to later episodes unlike sitcoms where each episode can stand alone, focusing on a different storyline each episode.

The continuity of character development and storylines are crucial in comedy dramas and shows that do this thoughtfully and complexly move into ‘quality television’ territory.

In these shows, characters’ backstories typically have a great overall effect on storyline. Something a character has done in the past will often catch up with him or her, events from past episodes are not forgotten but instead referenced as the series progresses creating a complex long form narrative.

Girls offers a satirical, honest, and more realistic portrayal of women and relationships than most shows have in the past. There are clear connections between Girls and HBO’s highly successful Sex and the City, with both series following a group of close girlfriends against the charming but unforgiving backdrop of New York City. But Dunham says Girls fills a void that has yet to be explored by any television series, “Gossip Girl was teens duking it out on the Upper East Side and Sex and the City was women who figured out work and friends and now want to nail family life. There was this whole in between space that hadn’t really been addressed.” [2]

We’re experiencing a new golden age of television led by networks like HBO in their current trend of “Arc TV,” shows where sitting down to a single episode out of context is not likely to reward a viewer. “Tidy endings to every episode and static characters are out. Long arcs of character and plot development filmed in big-ticket productions are in.”[3]

Quality TV is linked to the construction of a national culture. Audiences want to see relatable characters on screen, characters that reflect the beliefs, personalities and life events that occur in society. These are “real people saying real words and wearing real clothes.” [4] I think that the ability for Girls to represent societal issues such as sex, relationships, unplanned pregnancy, unemployment etc. in a truthful yet entertaining way is indicative of quality TV. The characters have depth and we see their many layers as they work through their unique story events.

“Who are the ladies?”

Girls has a clear generational and gender focus. Clearly aimed at twenty-something females, but it doesn’t isolate viewers outside that age bracket or distant men as the series presents diverse and interesting male characters too like, Ray, Adam and Charlie.

In the pilot episode Hannah declares, “I think that I may be the voice of my generation.” “Or at least a voice of a generation.” I found this to be a really interesting line; perhaps it says more about Lena Dunham as a writer than Hannah the character.

Changes in the television landscape over recent times, such as regulation and censorship, have allowed TV drama series to voice larger cultural concerns that other media forms like film and books have done in the past. Girls for example has been celebrated for its feminist voice. Elaine Blair, wrote for The New York Review of Books last year, “For all of its emphasis on sexual and romantic experience, Girls never suggests that a smoothly pleasant sex life is something worthy of serious aspiration.” [5]

Culturally audience members belonging to minority groups have felt the show is prejudice and there has been controversy over the series all white cast. Dunham tried to addressed in the second series with a fleeting new love interest for Hannah, a black Republican named Sandy, played by Donald Glover.

 (Added 30th Sep: Tina Fey recently spoofed Girls on SNL in a highly entertaining and accurate imitation of the leading characters whilst also bringing attention to the lack of ethnicity in the series through the introduction of a new Albanian character, Blerta.)

http://youtu.be/eXgocMeWKfQ