University of Kentucky UKnowledge American Popular Culture American Studies 1-18-2008 The Essential HBO Reader Gary R. Edgerton Jeffrey P. Jones Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Edgerton, Gary R. and Jones, Jeffrey P., "The Essential HBO Reader" (2008). American Popular Culture. 15. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/15 THE ESSENTIAL HBO READER ESSENTIAL READERS IN CONTEMPORARY MEDIA AND CULTURE This series is designed to collect and publish the best scholarly writing on various aspects of television, fi lm, the Internet, and other media of today. Along with providing original insights and explorations of critical themes, the series is intended to provide readers with the best available resources for an in-depth understanding of the fundamental issues in contemporary media and cultural studies. Topics in the series may include, but are not limited to, critical-cultural examinations of creators, content, institutions, and audiences associated with the media industry. Written in a clear and accessible style, books in the series include both single-author works and edited collections. SERIES EDITOR Gary R. Edgerton, Old Dominion University THE ESSENTIAL READER Edited by Gary R. Edgerton and Jeffrey P. Jones THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2008 by The University Press of Kentucky Paperback edition 2009 Photos courtesy of HBO The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offi ces: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508–4008 www.kentuckypress.com The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: The essential HBO reader / edited by Gary R. Edgerton and Jeffrey P. Jones. p. cm. — (Essential television reader series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8131-2452-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Home Box Offi ce (Firm) I. Edgerton, Gary R. (Gary Richard), 1952- II. Jones, Jeffrey P., 1963- PN1992.92.H66E87 2008 384.55'523—dc22 2007037996 ISBN 978-0-8131-0248-2 (pbk.: acid-free paper) This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction: A Brief History of HBO / Gary R. Edgerton 1 I. DRAMA Overview: Producing an Aristocracy of Culture in American Television / Christopher Anderson 23 1. Films / Dana Heller 42 2. Oz / Michele Malach 52 3. The Sopranos / David Thorburn 61 4. Six Feet Under / Kim Akass and Janet McCabe 71 5. The Wire / Brian G. Rose 82 6. Deadwood / Horace Newcomb 92 7. Tanner ’88 / Joanne Morreale 103 8. From the Earth to the Moon / Michael Allen 116 9. Band of Brothers / Thomas Schatz 125 10. Angels in America / Gary R. Edgerton 135 II. COMEDY Overview: At Home on the Cutting Edge / Bambi Haggins and Amanda D. Lotz 151 11. Comedy Talk Shows / Jeffrey P. Jones 172 12. The Larry Sanders Show / George Plasketes 183 13. Sex and the City / Ron Simon 193 14. Curb Your Enthusiasm / David Lavery 204 III. SPORTS Overview: It Isn’t TV, It’s the “Real King of the Ring” / Toby Miller and Linda J. Kim 217 IV. DOCUMENTARIES Overview: Form and Function / Thomas A. Mascaro 239 15. America Undercover / Susan Murray 262 16. Erotica / Jeffrey P. Jones 274 17. Theatricals / Carolyn Anderson 288 V. REFLECTIONS 18. What Has HBO Ever Done for Women? / Janet McCabe and Kim Akass 303 19. HBO’s Ongoing Legacy / Gary R. Edgerton and Jeffrey P. Jones 315 List of Contributors 331 Television and Film Index 337 General Index 345 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is the fi rst in the University Press of Kentucky’s Essential Readers in Contemporary Media and Culture series, which is designed to examine and analyze contemporary subjects in television, fi lm, and popular culture. The main purpose of this series is to provide an in- depth, scholarly overview of each topic, along with explorations of critical themes. The idea for this book was conceived on a plane ride between Norfolk and San Diego that I (GE) shared with my oldest daughter, Katherine, in March 2005. We were talking and joking about a variety of things when she observed that someone really should do a book on HBO. I immediately fell in love with her suggestion, and I have never looked back. Kate has also contributed to this project as a research assistant and in digitizing a number of the images that appear. Needless to say, we’ve enjoyed innumerable hours together watching and discussing HBO programming, along with my wife, Nan, and younger daughter, Mary Ellen. Jeff Jones, too, has been involved as my partner on this project from almost the beginning. Together, we designed the format and organizational scheme and recruited the various contributors, co-editing the chapters as they came in. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the other authors who contributed their work to this collection. Each one added an indis- pensable dimension from his or her own special perspective. Jeff and I learned a great deal from all of our colleagues on this project, and we fully enjoyed working with each and every one of them. Most of all, though, I’d like to thank Jeff for making the collaborative process of completing this book a pleasure from start to fi nish. Neither this book nor this series would ever have seen the light of day vii Acknowledgments without the unfl agging encouragement and enthusiasm of Leila Salisbury. She fi rst sparked my interest in developing the series by sending me a copy of The Essential Agrarian Reader, a 2003 publication from the University Press of Kentucky, and suggesting that the kind of approach taken in this collection might work with a wide assortment of media and culture subjects. I agreed immediately and let that initial prompt percolate in the back of my mind for a while until everything took shape with this HBO project. This is the third book that I’ve done with Leila, and as always, working with her has been a delightful and rewarding experience. I also want to thank her assistant Will McKay, production manager Richard Farkas, publicity manager Mack McCormick, and the rest of their always helpful colleagues at the University Press of Kentucky who helped Jeff and me see this book from proposal to publication. Thanks too to Dean Chandra de Silva of the College of Arts and Letters at Old Dominion University for his generous support in funding the index, and to Dr. Marty Norden for creating a superb one. Finally, I express my deepest thanks and appreciation to my family and friends for their continuing love and support. G.E. I (JJ) wish to thank Horace Newcomb, to whom I dedicate this book, for insisting that once I had a bona fi de job after leaving graduate school, it was my duty as a television studies scholar to subscribe to HBO. The narratives I found there (fi ction and nonfi ction) have led me to believe that television is not just America’s “most popular art,” but also one of America’s most important and provocative art forms at this moment in time. I also wish to thank my wife, Shana, for the thought-provoking and enjoyable discussions that always accompany our watching HBO together. Although she declared war on the network for canceling Deadwood, the network redeemed itself in our household by offering The Wire as a substitute. Producers and writers David Simon and Ed Burns deserve thanks for bringing the tragedy that is Baltimore to the attention of the American public. Having lived in Baltimore, I am embarrassed and ashamed that our nation fi nds such poverty, injustice, and the breakdown of civil society acceptable, especially four decades after the publication of Michael Harrington’s The Other America. But I appreciate daring writers viii Acknowledgments and programming executives who are willing to produce what amounts to real-life stories and make them both compelling and heartbreaking. I also wish to thank the newest addition to my family—Andrew Campbell Jones—for reminding me of the unbridled joy life can be and of the human need for uproarious bouts of belly laughter. Finally, I am indebted to my friend and mentor Gary Edgerton for including me in this project, for his continual support, guidance, and patience, and for his winning spirit and always pleasant disposition. Working hard is so much more enjoyable when people like Gary are along for the ride. J.J. ix INTRODUCTION A Brief History of HBO Gary R. Edgerton The founding of Home Box Offi ce Inc. (HBO) was a harbinger of some- thing new and innovative that was happening to television as an indus- try and a technology during the early to mid-1970s. Cable entrepreneur Charles Dolan fi rst conceived of the network in 1971 as the Green Channel.