Background
Thompson, Robert James was born on August 3, 1959 in Hinsdale, Illinois, United States. Son of LeRoy Edward and Joan Alice Thompson.
( Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this volume...)
Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this volume breaks new ground in television studies as the first booklength study of an individual television producer. Robert J. Thompson examines the work of Stephen J. Cannell, one of television's most prolific and successful producers. Thompson uses theories of film authorship revised for application to television texts and provides close analysis of Cannell's programs, including individual episodes of The Rockford Files, The A-Team, and The Greatest American Hero. Moving away from the notion that a television series is the creation of an individual author, the book begins with a look at the televisionmaker. Thompson probes the polyauthorial nature of the medium and introduces a new method of studying television authorship. The book then turns to Cannell and a study of his career, focusing on how he developed the formula for his many highly rated television series. Students and teachers of television and television criticism will find Adventures on Prime Time a source of stimulating ideas about the nature of the medium.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/027593330X/?tag=2022091-20
( Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this contri...)
Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this contributed volume is the only collection of essays on television authorship. It includes work of some of the most prominent scholars in television studies. Rather than assigning one author to individual television texts, the contributors probe the relationship between the various authors at work within the institutional, cultural, and economic settings that characterize the television industry. This book analyzes and defines the unique methods of television authorship and suggests numerous candidates for authorial accountability allowing the medium to enter the realm of contemporary criticism. The first part of the volume provides a case study in four chapters on authorship issues surrounding Frank's Place, the short lived but compelling situation comedy. This is followed by three chapters focusing on issues of authorship in international television. The book then probes the studio's role as author, including essays on Warner Brothers, Desilu, and Screen Gems. Finally the contributors examine individual TV authors and cover such topics as point of view in music video, television production as collective action, and unconventional television.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275927466/?tag=2022091-20
media historian university professor
Thompson, Robert James was born on August 3, 1959 in Hinsdale, Illinois, United States. Son of LeRoy Edward and Joan Alice Thompson.
Bachelor, University Chicago, 1981. Master of Arts, Northwestern University, 1982. Doctor of Philosophy, Northwestern University, 1987.
Thompson is the Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Staten Island Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. His areas of research are television history, Popular Culture, media criticism, and television programming. Thompson"s various soundbites have been dubbed by the Associated Press as "Thompson-isms".
On February 4, 2009 Jon Hein of the Howard Stern Show announced that Thompson is his "arch nemesis," referring to popular culture trivia.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Chicago and an Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in radio, television and film from Northwestern University.
( Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this volume...)
( Part of Praeger's Media and Society Series, this contri...)
Author: Adventures on Prime Time: The Television Programs of Stephen J. Cannell, 1990, Television's Second Golden Age, 1996. Co-author: Prime Time, Prime Movers, 1992. Co-editor: Television Studies, 1989, Making Television, 1990.
Contributor articles New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, Los Angeles Daily News, more.