Abstract
Even though the global nature of television industries, programmes and reception is undisputed and routinely acknowledged, the actual study of this medium is all too often confined within national borders. The endurance of national research traditions, the nation-centred focus of funding bodies, linguistic and cultural obstacles and the convenience of access to sources, all help perpetuate such a state of affairs despite frequent calls for the internationalization of media research. In this context, Timothy Havens’ book is a refreshing and commendable achievement, offering a truly global investigation of a segment of television production whose transnational scope and success has not yet received adequate appreciation. Tracing the travels of shows such as the mini-series Roots (1977), the situation comedy The Cosby Show (1984–1992) and the adult animation series The Boondocks (2005–present), Havens takes his readers on a fascinating journey through space and time, hopping from the post-Second World War US across communist Hungary and to apartheid South Africa and Nigeria, and from Brazil across Germany and France to Japan and Australia. Drawing on interviews with television executives and programmers from around the world as well as African American television producers in the US, he develops a sharp and enlightening analysis of the ways in which transnational markers, audience preferences, editorial strategies and boardroom politics have shaped the global travels of ‘Black television’, and of the ways in which they were, and continue to be, involved in contemporary racial discourses.
Eschewing the traps of both celebratory and damning approaches to globalization, Havens views media globalization as a multifaceted process that provided opportunities as well as created obstacles for African American television, spurring innovation in some genres while stifling development in others, and stimulating greater diversity of representation with regard to some characters and greater uniformity and stereotypical depictions with the regard to others. He adopts a similarly nuanced perspective when examining the interweaving of the commercial logic of global television trade and the nature of racial stereotyping. Here, the benefits of adopting a global, multi-sited, as well as historically informed approach come most clearly to the fore: as Havens shows, the diversity of reception contexts and the fragmentation of audiences rule out any simple conclusion about the impact of global commerce on racial stereotyping. Different historical and social contexts gave rise to different representational practices, and as these travelled to other contexts, they were appropriated in ways that did not necessarily follow the original representational logic.
The choice of sources foregrounded in the book – namely interviews with television programmers and producers – may suggest that the analysis is weighed in favour of television production and distribution, yet the book manages to skilfully combine the analysis of the internal logic of global television production and trade with the examination of stereotypical depictions found in texts as well as with the appreciation of diverse audience responses. At the same time, the focus on corporate actors, industry practices and funding frameworks also means that the book departs from the tradition of examining processes of television production from the point of view of writers and producers as authors. Instead, Havens emphasizes the importance of programming executives and the executive culture more generally, as a crucial site in which popular tastes, economic and technological forces interact to form the institutional parameters within which producers and writers operate.
After an introductory chapter that lays out the key principles of the analysis and situates it with regard to existing scholarship, the rest of the book charts the global travels of African American television chronologically. Chapter 1 follows the global success of the mini-series Roots (1977), exploring its portrayal of blackness first in the context of contemporary US racial discourses and then with regard to the different institutional needs, cultural and political preferences of Western and Eastern European broadcasters that acquired and broadcast the series. Chapter 2 moves on to the ‘integrated’ sitcoms that featured ‘colour-blind’ characters and examines their acquisition and programming in apartheid South Africa. Chapter 3 focuses on the global journeys of The Cosby Show (1984–1992), a series whose international sales records surpassed those of Dallas (1978–1990). This success, argues Havens, marks the beginning of a coherent transnational industry lore regarding African American television. Chapter 4 discusses the success of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996) and examines it in the context of the growing international appetite for programming addressed at young viewers outside of peak times. Chapter 5 turns to newer forms of African American television exemplified by the sketch comedy Chapelle’s Show (2003–2006) and the adult animation series The Boondocks (2005–present), linking their global success to technological developments that encouraged further audience fragmentation. In Chapter 6 Havens moves beyond the US to consider the global trade in black programming produced elsewhere, focusing on examples of programmes produced in Brazil, Australia and Nigeria.
Even though aimed primarily at researchers and graduate students, Black Television Travels also has potential to serve as a useful teaching tool, offering an engaging alternative to teaching television studies, media globalization and the mediated politics of race and ethnicity. Even though focused primarily on shows produced in the US, its geographic scope and consideration of different national contexts should make the book appealing to researchers and teachers worldwide.