ABSTRACT
Thusfar,Ihaveexploredhowtelevisiongenresoperateinculturalsitesatypical ofmostgenrestudies-policydecisionsconcerningquizshows,schedulingand brandingofcartoons,andaudiencediscoursesabouttalkshows.Additionally, thesethreegenresnecessitateadifferentapproachthanfilm-basedmodelsof narrative-drivengenreanalysis,eitherbecausetheirformlacksanarrativecenter(inthecaseofquizshowsandtalkshows)orbecausetheirgenrecategoryis definedprimarilybytechnologyratherthannarrativeformorcontent(inthe caseofanimation).Yettelevisiontextsremainimportantelementsinthe culturalpracticesofgenres,andtraditionalnarrativegenresremaincentralfor television.Thus,forthefinaltwochapters,Iturntomediatextsastheanchoringsiteofgenreanalysis,lookingattwogenresthataremoretypicalofnarrative-drivenmedia:policedramaandsituationcomedy.Asthischapter'scase studyofDragnet'sgenericpracticeslookstodemonstrate,wecanplacethe mediatextatthecenterofgenreanalysiswithoutrecreatingthetextualistassumptionthatmarkstraditionalapproachestogenre.
