University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 6-1-2013 Penning the Shipper-Worthy Screenplay: Exploration of Network Television Situational Comedy and the Crime Procedural Kacie Henderson University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the American Film Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Henderson, Kacie, "Penning the Shipper-Worthy Screenplay: Exploration of Network Television Situational Comedy and the Crime Procedural" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 282. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/282 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
[email protected],
[email protected]. PENNING THE SHIPPER-WORTHY SCREENPLAY: EXPLORATION OF NETWORK TELEVISION SITUATIONAL COMEDY AND THE CRIME PROCEDURAL __________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts __________ by Kacie Henderson June 2013 Advisor: Rodney Buxton ©Copyright by Kacie Henderson 2013 All Rights Reserved Author: Kacie Henderson Title: PENNING THE SHIPPER-WORTHY SCREENPLAY: EXPLORATION OF NETWORK TELEVISION SITUATIONAL COMEDY AND THE CRIME PROCEDURAL Advisor: Rodney Buxton Degree Date: June 2013 Abstract Network television writers often utilize ongoing romantic turmoil as a plot device to form loyal fan bases called “shippers,” viewers who become deeply invested in the romantic relationships between their favorite television couples. For my thesis, I explored the shipper paradigm and the differences between network sitcoms and crime procedurals by creating one spec script The Big Bang Theory and another for Bones.