Television Comedy and Femininity: Queering Gender (Library of Gender and Popular Culture, #9)

Until recently - with the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler achieving dazzling success with 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation - popular entertainment has rarely featured women comedians in leading roles. Can comedy on television harbour elements of gender transgression or subversion? And if a man is permitted to be 'funny peculiar' - playing the underdog or misfit - does a woman seem stranger in his place? Mapping examples from British and American comedy television over the past sixty years, from I Love Lucy to Roseanne and Absolutely Fabulous to Jam and Jerusalem, the book asks: are particular forms of television comedy gendered in specific ways? Paying attention to performances and series yet to receive critical attention as well as more established shows, the book offers fresh insights for the fields of television studies, gender and women's studies, cultural history and comedy. Cover Author Biography Editorial Title Page Copyright Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Series Editors’ Foreword Introduction Funny Peculiar: Queering Gender, Comedy and Television Queering Gender Queering Femininities Queering Comedy Queering Television 1. Gracie, Martha, Eve and Lucy: Queering Femininity in Early American Television Comedy Queering Space and Time in 1950s American Sitcom: The Burns and Allan Show (CBS 1950–8) Queering Sitcom: Our Miss Brooks Queering the Gaze: The Martha Raye Show (NBC 1953–6) Lucy and Lucille Queering Suburbia 2. Back to the Dollhouse? Queering Postfeminism in Contemporary American Sitcom Postfeminism and the New Comedy Not Unruly Women? Sex and the City: Queering Postfeminism 30 Rock ‘I Want to Go to There’ Parks and Recreation Postscript 3. The Big Bang Theory: Queering Masculinity in American Sitcom Queer Masculinities in Contemporary American Sitcom Two and a Half Men The Big Bang Theory Race and Ethnicity in The Big Bang Theory Sheldon Cooper: A Third Gender? Resolving Queer Masculinities 4. Smack the Pony: Feminist Negotiations in British Sketch Comedy Contexts: Not a Feminist Sketch Show Queer Temporalities Contexts: Postfeminism, Femininity and the ‘Norm’ The Grotesque, the Queer, the Monstrous Feminist Praxis: The Production of Smack the Pony Queerly Desiring Subjects Speaking and Stunting Legacies 5. Queering Age: Older Women in British Television Comedy Queer Times Queering Ageing The Young Old: The Golden Girls and Last of the Summer Wine You’re Only Young Twice Waiting for God Going Forward? Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index Can Comedy On Television Harbour Elements Of Gender Transgression Or Subversion? If A Man Is Permitted To Be ‘funny Peculiar’ – Playing The Underdog Or Misfit – Does A Woman Seem Stranger In His Place? Mapping Examples From British And American Comedy Television Over The Past 60 Years, From I Love Lucy To The Big Bang Theory And Smack The Pony To Waiting For God, Television Comedy And Femininity Asks: Are Particular Forms Of Television Comedy Gendered In Specific Ways? Paying Attention To Series Which Have Not Been Addressed In Academic Work, As Well As More Established Shows, White Offers Fresh Insights For The Fields Of Television Studies, Gender And Women’s Studies, Cultural History And Comedy--publisher's Description. Funny Peculiar: Queering Gender, Comedy And Television -- Gracie, Martha, Eve And Lucy: Queering Femininity In Early American Television Comedy -- Back To The Dollhouse? Queering Postfeminism In Contemporary American Sitcom -- The Big Bang Theory: Queering Masculinity In American Sitcom -- Smack The Pony: Feminist Negotiations In British Sketch Comedy -- Queering Age: Older Women In British Television Comedy. Rosie White. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 208-223) And Index. Can comedy on television harbour elements of gender transgression or subversion? If a man is permitted to be ‘funny peculiar’ – playing the underdog or misfit – does a woman seem stranger in his place? Mapping examples from British and American comedy television over the past 60 years, from I Love Lucy to The Big Bang Theory and Smack the Pony to Waiting For God, this book asks: are particular forms of television comedy gendered in specific ways? Paying attention to series which have not been addressed in academic work, as well as more established shows, White offers fresh insights for the fields of television studies, gender and women’s studies, cultural history and comedy.