ABSTRACT
Whatever the controversy about television’s role in our culture, there is no doubt that people enjoy it, and that watching it is a major source of pleasure in our lives. This word “pleasure” occurs widely in recent critical writings and appears to be crucial to our understanding of popularity. But, like many widely used terms, it is remarkably difficult to pin down and define. It is also multidiscursive, that is, it means differently in different discourses.
