Television

Read both the John Storey article and the Stuart Hall Article.

Watch a television show critically and perform a self-evaluation of your viewing practices.
Are you a passive viewer? Active? Productive?
Why and how do you watch?
How does the show recognize the activity of the viewer (or not)?

Do you watch attentively?
Do you leave the television on as background noise? Why?

Do you watch alone or with others?
Do you get together in a group to watch any particular show? Is this a bonding experience?
Do you watch shows that others you know don't watch? Do you try to get others to watch?
Have you ever watched shows you don't particularly like in order to hang out with others?
Do you talk or comment during the show? To others? To the show itself? Does this detract or add to the experience?

Why do you watch the shows you watch? What do you get from watching?
Do you expect to be surprised by the shows you watch or do you like their familiarity?
How do the shows you watch influence your daily life? Do you schedule time to watch them? Do you tape them? do you discuss them with others?
Have you purchased DVDs of television shows you particularly like? Rewatched them?
Are there television shows you don't watch on principle? Shows you disdain?

Are the commercials tailored for your demographic? If so, how?
Do you watch the commercials? Do you do something else during the commercials?

What messages seem to be encoded in the shows you watch?
What kind of decoding practices do you participate in? Can you think of other ways to decode the show you watched?
Are you a dominant, negotiated or oppositional viewer? Some combination? Something else entirely?
Could you see the show as camp?
Would you categorize yourself as a resistant viewer, an ironic viewer,a fan, or a populist? Something else?

Look at the on-line community for your particular show. Search for fan sites and fan fiction sites. Start with FanFiction.net.
Read a fan fiction story from your show or search for a "vid."
What do you think of such consumer activity? Is it productive? Non-productive?

Please Post The Show You Are Writing On & At Least One Fan Or Fan Fiction Site to the Forum!