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| American TV Series as a Cultural Product: their Mainstream Types, Industrial System, and Ideology |
| CHANG Jiang1, TIAN Hao2 |
1.College of Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518060;
2.School of Journalism and Communication,Tsinghua University,Beijing, 100091 |
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Abstract American TV series, an important carrier of American culture, circulate all across the world. We can look at American TV series from three dimensions of their mainstream types, industrial systems and ideology. In terms of the mainstream types, with the increasing integration of broadcast channels and TV culture, American TV series are not limited to comedies and dramas, but have developed diverse genres in recent years. In terms of system and organization, American TV programs are essentially industrialized pop culture products, and American TV series is one of the most powerful cultural exports of the United States. The number of national broadcast platforms of American TV series are very limited, maintaining a relatively balanced oligopoly. In terms of ideology, American TV series have been adapting to changes in the world. Under different historical conditions, American TV series articulate different thoughts and discourses, and feature de-radicalization in strategy. The entire American TV series industry has always adhered to the establishment of its own unique production, aesthetic and cultural standard system, and practitioners in American TV series have made great efforts to coordinate the relationship between commercial interests and quality standards. The whole industry of American TV series consciously define the ideology of its products, instead of directly presenting a specific and crystallized ideology. It is really necessary for Chinese TV industry to define an appropriate ideological strategy. These characteristics and strategies of American TV dramas are valuable experiences for China’s TV drama industry to learn from.
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Received: 06 December 2019
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2020, Vol. 37 
