ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 provides an overview of the television series’ various medial “locations” (classical TV programs, DVD boxsets, streaming platforms) and discursive attributions (everyday companion, auteur, and quality television). It highlights four distinct, albeit interconnected, states of the series: as TV broadcasts whose dramaturgies and narrations are economically determined, as brands aiming for (self-)distinction among channels and audiences alike, as cultural artifacts breaking away from their original broadcasting context through DVD publication and newfound appreciation, and as online content adopting a hard-to-grasp, floating status on streaming platforms and calling for accelerated modes of consumption (e.g., binge-watching).
