ABSTRACT
This chapter examines contemporary forms of television (TV) drama that thematize class identities and in which people self-consciously perform class. Downton Abbey faces class and wealth disparity head on but creates a safe space for exploring its personal ramifications. Focusing on two modes, comedy and melodrama, and two ontological states, fiction and non-fiction, the chapter identifies forms and techniques that subdue potentially radical impulses and, by producing different types of audience recognition and producer engagement, result in distinct forms of class containment. Some reality TV portraits are positive, many more are negative, and some go back to comedy to process class judgments. In Duck Dynasty, The Robertsons often display a comic ingenuity which suggests that "rednecks" can improvise within the strictures of poverty. They differ from most entertainment casts in that they have a definite political awareness and affiliation, although this is generally excluded from the program lest it spoil the fun or alienate advertisers.
