ABSTRACT
The first decade of the twenty-first century has been among the most eventful periods in the history of television. Yet most critical assessments attend toward the dynamic programming, business strategies, and technologies of the broadcast and cable networks, while syndication-the non-network, non-cable distribution of programs directly to local stations-is scarcely considered. It is not difficult to see why. Syndicated programs are almost nobody’s favorite forms of television. Regarded in popular and critical imagination as the déclassé domain of aging reruns, mawkish talk shows, vapid games, and exploitative celebrity and court (and even celebrities-in-court) shows, syndication seems far removed from the redeemed, now-hip medium that delivers such critical darlings as The Wire and Mad Men, such popular myths as Heroes and Lost, and cutting-edge digital experiments like Current TV or ESPN360.
