Television Show Trends, 2016–2020

What do Euphoria, Normal People, Atlanta, Ramy, Vida, I May Destroy You, Stranger Things, and Lovecraft Country have in common? In the 2016–2020 time period they were created, these TV shows exemplified one (or more) of four noteworthy trends: authenticity, diversity, sexual candor, and retrospection.
This is the first book to examine live action, fictional television shows produced within a five-year period through the lens of the trends that they epitomize. For each show, the following is discussed: the significance of the platform and the format; the intentions of the creators and showrunners; pertinent background information; similar shows and precedents; the storytelling approach; the cinematic form; and finally, how the show is emblematic of that particular trend. Since trends have the possibility of becoming part of the mainstream, they are important to identify as they emerge, especially for viewers who have a keen interest in narrative television shows.

Yvonne D. Leach is a faculty member in the Cinema & Television Department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She started her career as a filmmaker, but then became a television scholar, focusing on story and production topics, TV trends, and the depiction of gender, orientation, race, and ethnicity.
Nicholas J. Natalicchio is a faculty member in the Cinema & Television Department at Drexel University. He is an award-winning filmmaker with extensive hands-on experience across multiple industries, and teaches film and television studies.

Yvonne D. Leach and Nicholas J. Natalicchio
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 245
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8922-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5226-9
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction 1
I. Authenticity
1. Euphoria: Raw Portrayal of Adolescence in a Teen Drama 8
2. Normal People: Slice of Life Approach in a Coming-of-Age Miniseries 30
II. Diversity
3. Atlanta: First-Person Comedy-Drama on the Black Experience 52
4. Ramy: First-Person Comedy-Drama of an Arab Muslim Community 74
III. Sexual Candor
5. Vida: Sex-Positivity in a Drama 92
6. I May Destroy You: Overcoming Sexual Harm in a Drama 111
IV. Retrospection
7. Stranger Things: Exploring the Eighties Through Genre TV 138
8. Lovecraft Country: Exploring Our Racist Past through Genre TV 157
Chapter Notes 193
Bibliography 213
Index 233

• “”The authors provide new content for scholars, researchers, and fans of American popular culture. This book would also appeal to scholars and journalists researching and writing stories on television.”–Joshua K. Wright, Ph.D., author of Empire and Black Images in Popular Culture