(Orgs.) José Duarte (ULICES- Universidade de Lisboa), Ana Daniela Coelho (ULICES – Universidade de Lisboa) & Hermínia Sol (ULICES – Instituto Politécnico de Tomar)

Submissions are open until December 20, 2019

Publication of the dossier: July 2020

We live in a new age of television series with more and more quality shows being produced every day (McCabe & Akass, 2007) not only for different channels (BBC, CBS, Fox, HBO, Showtime), but also for different (streaming) platforms (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), not to mention the growing popularity of the web series. The current “Golden Age” of television is usually seen as having started in mid-to-late nineties/early 2000s until today, with series comprising longer episodes like The Sopranos (1999-2007), Six Feet Under (2001-2005), Downton Abbey (2010-2015), or the more recent phenomena of Game of Thrones (2011-2019), Narcos (2015-), Stranger Things (2016-), 3% (2016-) or Casa de Papel (2017); as well as shows with shorter episodes like The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019), Modern Family (2009-) or Black-ish (2014-).

These represent just a small fraction of a major wave of sophiscated creations that rise in quality and in quantity, thus giving more options to viewers and also to directors, actors, producers and all those involved in those creations. For some, this may pose a problem (Jeffrey, 2018) since with the numbers of programs rising this also means that too many choices may overwhelm audiences. For others, this is a unique opportunity to see what television programs have to offer and how they challenge the viewer with their “ability to bring into focus elements of the existing world” and explore the contemporary and current affairs – political, cultural, social or others (Shuster, 2018).

With this in mind, and aware that this is still an ongoing debate, and in spite of all the diverse studies on new television programs, there is still room for discussion to be conducted looking at these shows via their culture, their modes of production and their history. Most of all, it is highly relevant to do so. Therefore, we are looking for essays on the different aspects of the new “Golden Age” – between 2000-2019 – on series created by different nations (or in co-partnership) and how they relate to our contemporaneity.

Suggested topics include:

  • Television shows and contemporaneity;
  • Television shows as historical documents;
  • New modes of production and co-production;
  • Genres and subgenres;
  • Identity and culture national and/or international;
  • Interdisciplinary approaches;
  • Adaptations, remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, etc;
  • Fan-based creations;
  • The New Golden Age?;

We welcome submissions between 12-25 pages in English or in Portuguese.

To submit please follow the link: http://revistas.ufac.br/revista/index.php/tropos/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

For any queries please write to the official email of the dossier: tvseriesdossier@gmail.com