Description:
No network can claim to have had such a significant impact, not only upon the history and shape of television, but upon pop culture generally.
Review Quotes: "In The HBO Effect, DeFino (Iona College) demonstrates that HBO is fully embedded within a long history of "quality television" storytelling and uses its positions to take risks and walk the line between complexity and popularity. The book notes HBO so-called showrunners created "quality television" for networks long before working with HBO. Although the book can be applauded for its attention to early stand-up comedy and "sex-docs" like Cathouse, which others often ignore, DeFino's focus on character studies and comparative analysis (for example, a lengthy comparison of The West Wing and The Sopranos) does not provide much in terms of cable history that cannot be found elsewhere thoughtful television criticism, but the book could have been strengthened by engaging more thoroughly with scholarship that tackles issues of narrative complexity and industry studies. Less-experiences readers will likely enjoy the book, but specialists will leave wanting more." --S. Pepper, Northeastern Illinois University, CHOICE