The first book devoted exclusively to how Stanley Cavell’s thoughts about film apply to television. In a dozen chapters, a number of acknowledged critics and philosophers articulate how Cavell’s remarks on the moral perfectionism of cinema apply even more to the twenty-first century television series.

This collection of new work on the philosophical importance of television starts from a model for reading films proposed by Stanley Cavell, whereby film in its entirety—actors and production included—brings its own intelligence to its realization. In turn, this intelligence educates us as viewers, leading us to recognize and appreciate our individual cinephilic tastes, and to know ourselves and each other better. This reading is even more valid for TV series. Yet, in spite of the progress of film-philosophy, there has been a paucity of concurrent analysis of the ethical stakes, the modes of expressiveness, and the moral education involved in television series. Perhaps most conspicuously, there has been a lack of focus on the experience of the viewer. 

Cavell highlighted popular cinema's capacity to create a common culture for millions. This power has become dispersed across other bodies of work and practices, most notably TV series, which have largely appropriated the responsibility of widening the perspectives of their publics, a role once associated with the silver screen. Just as Cavell's reading of films involved moral perfectionism in its intent, this project is also perfectionist, extending a similar aesthetic and ethical method to readings of the small screen. Because TV series are works that are public and thus shared, and often global in reach, they fulfil an educational role—whether intended or not—and one that enables viewers to anchor and appreciate the value of their everyday experiences.

Contributions from: William Rothman, Martin Shuster, Elisabeth Bronfen, Hugo Clémot, David LaRocca, Jeroen Gerrits, Stephen Mulhall, Michelle Devereaux, Thibaut de Saint-Maurice, Hent de Vries, Catherine Wheatley, Byron Davies, Sandra Laugier, Paul Standish, Robert Sinnerbrink.

Introduction: The Fact and Fiction of Television: Stanley Cavell and the Terms of Television Philosophy DAVID LaROCCA and SANDRA LAUGIER
DOI: 10.47788/KRMY5433

PART I: NEW TELEVISION
1. Justifying Justified WILLIAM ROTHMAN
DOI: 10.47788/AGFC4945
2. ‘You Get Paid for Pain’: Kingdom and New Television MARTIN SHUSTER
DOI: 10.47788/LUXS1638
3. To See and to Stop: The Problem of Abdication in Succession ELISABETH BRONFEN
DOI: 10.47788/ZIFG7093
4. When TV is on TV: Metatelevision and the Art of Watching TV with the Royal Family in The Crown DAVID LaROCCA
DOI: 10.47788/WIGS5588

PART II: BIG PERFECTIONISM ON THE SMALL SCREEN
5. It’s My Party and I’ll Die Even If I Don’t Want To: Repetition, Acknowledgment, and Cavellian Perfectionism in Russian Doll MICHELLE DEVEREAUX
DOI: 10.47788/XVUL5590
6. ‘Nobody’s Perfect’: Moral Imperfectionism in Ozark HENT de VRIES
DOI: 10.47788/VCBJ3466
7. A Zigzag of a Hundred Tacks: Narrative Complexity in The Good Place CATHERINE WHEATLEY
DOI: 10.47788/TTNJ9122
8. Im/Moral Perfectionism: On TV’s Two Worlds JEROEN GERRITS
DOI: 10.47788/LPIC1465

PART III: EVERYDAY EDUCATION
9. The Sublime and the American Dream in Fargo HUGO CLÉMOT
DOI: 10.47788/FIVE2115
10. TV Time, Recurrence, and the Situation of the Spectator: An Approach via Stanley Cavell, Raúl Ruiz, and Ruiz’s Late Chilean Series Litoral (2008) BYRON DAVIES
DOI: 10.47788/UUOB5662
11. Education about Trust in Homeland THIBAUT de SAINT MAURICE
DOI: 10.47788/YQZP9599
12. Small Acts PAUL STANDISH
DOI: 10.47788/UWMZ4497

PART IV: POPULAR TV AND ITS GENRES
13. The Event of Television: Sitcoms, Superheroes, and WandaVision STEPHEN MULHALL
DOI: 10.47788/ZDKW6571
14. Love, Remarriage, and The Americans SANDRA LAUGIER
DOI: 10.47788/CWPQ2215
15. True Detective: Existential Scepticism and Television Crime Drama ROBERT SINNERBRINK
DOI: 10.47788/WMOI4740

Index