ABSTRACT
Lately, so-called quality TV series have been extremely successful—both in terms of audience shares and critical acclaim. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to define the concept of quality serial television, giving a brief history of its development, systematizing its characteristics, and modeling the entertainment experience. I will argue that quality TV as a culturally bound, discursive construct functions as a meta-genre with concrete implications for selection, experience and possible effects of entertaining quality TV. This argument is summarized in a model of the quality TV entertainment experience.
