Johnny Staccato and Pete Kelly's Blues (both 1959) both featured a moody musician-turned-PI. Over here in the UK, Rock Follies (1976) and the sequel Rock Follies of '77 dramatised a Labelle-like girl group's fortunes - something I'm looking at at the moment. Would The Singing Detective and/or Pennies From Heaven count? I hesitate to mention The Partridge Family.... Although I'd quite like to toy with the conceit of David Cassidy as a tormented soul. On 29/11/04 9:10 pm, "Michele Hilmes" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Seizing this opportunity to stop grading exams and do something > interesting....I will give your actual question more thought, but it > strikes me that the one type of creative cultural endeavor that you do see > represented on TV is the tormented, zany producer/writer of > radio/television shows. From Jack Benny through Fred Allen to Dick Van > Dyke, Murphy Brown, Frasier, WKRP, News Night, etc. etc. it's a carryover > of that self-reflexive, "show about putting on a show" aesthetic so > characteristic of network radio in its formative period. I believe it > carries over from vaudeville onto radio and thence TV. > > Not exactly the Romantic artist -- but perhaps a pointed comment on that > whole concept? The poor man/ lowbrow's equivalent? > > An interesting observation, Jeremy -- If people reply directly to you, > would you consider routing their comments to the list? > > Regards, Michele > > At 02:29 PM 11/29/2004 -0600, Jeremy Butler wrote: >> I'm currently working on a revision of the textbook, Television: Critical >> Methods and Applications. Specifically, I'm revising/enlarging the >> chapter on critical methods. Although I think the auteur theory has very >> limited application to television, I have a small section discussing it. >> >> This has led me to thinking about the Romantic, Byronic conception of the >> artist--meaning both painters and poets, novelists, musicians, et al.--as >> a tormented and usually demented individual. While it's easy to come up >> with dozens of examples of FILMS about such poor souls (e.g., POLLACK, >> BASQUIAT, etc. etc. etc.), I'm struggling to think of a single television >> series. >> >> I suppose there's THE MONKEES and FAME. And LOVE, SIDNEY did cast Tony >> Randall as an artist. But surely there are better examples than that. >> >> Or does episodic television not favor the Romantic artist as a stereotype >> the way that the cinema does? >> >> I have been thinking mostly of U.S. television since that is where the >> textbook is principally distributed, but I'd be curious to hear about any >> instances of television series (and not just one-time documentary-style >> biographies) centered on an artist, author, or musician. >> >> Thanks. >> >> >> Jeremy Butler >> [log in to unmask] >> ======================================================== >> Resources for film/TV educators and students: >> www.ScreenSite.org >> Television: Critical Methods and Applications: >> www.TVCrit.com >> >> _______________________________________________ >> The SCMS homepage: http://www.cmstudies.org/mailman/ >> >> SCMSTV info and archive: http://www.cmstudies.org/mailman/listinfo/scmstv >> >> SCMSTV is supported by the Telecommunication and Film Department, the >> University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu . Opinions expressed here do >> not necessarily represent the those of SCMS, the TCF Department, or the >> University of Alabama. > > Michele Hilmes > Professor of Media and Cultural Studies > Director, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research > Department of Communication Arts > University of Wisconsin-Madison > > 6040 Vilas Hall > 821 University Ave. > Madison, WI 53706 > > 608-262-2543 > 608-262-2547 > 608-262-9953 fax > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > -- Dr Laurie Stras Music, School of Humanities University of Southampton Highfield Southampton SO17 1BJ UK tel: +44 (0)23 8059 3425 fax: +44 (0)23 8059 3197 http://www.soton.ac.uk/~lastras Musica Secreta are on Linn Records www.linnrecords.com "Were Botticelli's Primavera to burst into song, she would probably sound like this." - Independent on Sunday ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org