Introduction 1. Baby Boomer Teen TV 2. Gen X Teen TV 3. Millenial Teen TV 4. Gen Z Teen TV
Biography
Stefania Marghitu is a visiting faculty member at Pitzer College. She has also taught courses at Chapman University, California State University Northridge, and Columbia College Hollywood. She received her PhD from the University of Southern California’s Division of Cinema and Media Studies. Her primary interests deal with critical and cultural studies of television, the showrunner and modes of authorship, production cultures, and feminist media studies. Her dissertation is titled Women Showrunners: Authorship, Identity, and Representation in US Television. She has published in Feminist Media Studies, Communication, Culture and Critique and The Spectator.
"Stefania Marghitu has written the book on the evolution of an often overlooked yet fiercely beloved TV genre, teen television. Teen TV provides a rich and insightful chronological history of the genre from Baby Boomer teen TV to the teen TV of Gen Z by mixing textual, cultural, and industrial analysis interspersed with illuminating interviews with key producers of the genre. A must read for everyone who’s watched TV as a teenager."
Gry C Rustad, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway
"In Teen TV Stefania Marghitu anchors engaging and accessible genre analysis not to decades but rather to generations. By accentuating generational specificities, cross-generational conflicts, and demographic shifts, Marghitu invites us to consider how different youth cultures are cultivated and chased by the corporate television complex. Attentive to key creatives, series, and episodes, Teen TV crafts a sweeping and swift journey through a television genre that is always on the verge of stirring up a moral panic."
Deborah L. Jaramillo, Associate Professor of Film and Television, Boston University, USA
"Teen TV is not just about how teens were portrayed on U.S. shows, but also skilfully traces the changing roles, status, financial and cultural power of them over a 70-year period. A clear and interesting read with insightful interviews with TV professionals."
Harvey G. Cohen, Senior Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries, King’s College London, UK
"Marghitu combines nuanced analysis of shows, audiences, producers, marketing and programming trends, and shifting media ecologies with interviews with leading producers of teen television series. The resulting book is short but sweet — easy to read and teach but also rich in insight and deeply grounded in historical research."
Henry Jenkins, Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education, University of Southern California, USA
