The Presence of Performance and the Stakes of Serial Drama: Accrual, Transience, Companionship Elliott Logan MPhil (University of Queensland, 2013) BA, Hons (University of Queensland, 2009) BA (University of Queensland, 2007) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2018 School of Communication and Arts Abstract This thesis shows how performance is a critically neglected but crucial aspect of serial television drama as an art form. One of serial drama’s obvious storytelling attractions is its ability to involve viewers in relationships between characters over long periods of time. Such involvement takes place through a recurring structure of episodes and seasons, whose unfolding reflects the extensive, ongoing history through which interpersonal bonds form and develop, deepen and decay. The characters we watch onscreen are embodied and performed by actors. Television studies, however, has persistently overlooked screen performance, hampering appreciation of serial drama’s affinity with long-term relationships as a resource for aesthetic significance. Redressing such neglect, this thesis directs new critical attention to expressive stylistic relationships between serial form, screen performance, and the subject of companionship in some recent US serial dramas. The focus of that attention is a particular aesthetic quality: the provisional, which emerges through serial drama’s distinctive tension between permanence and transience. In the first chapter, I argue that the provisional is central to an affinity between screen performance, seriality in television drama, and companionship as an aspect of human life. Chapters Two and Three then show how the art of the provisional in particular series has been underappreciated due to television studies’ neglect of performance and expressiveness as dimensions of serial form in television fiction. The final two chapters of the thesis highlight contrasting treatments of provisionality, performance, and the survival of social bonds in two critically celebrated US dramas of the mid- 2000s: Mad Men (AMC, 2007–15) and Homeland (Showtime, 2011–19). In doing so, this thesis illuminates the significance and value to be found in an under-explored dimension of experience made available by performance in particular serial dramas. Its original contribution is to highlight overlooked features of this medium whose potential aesthetic significance should be a priority for the criticism of serial drama in television studies. 1 Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, financial support and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my higher degree by research candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis and have sought permission from co-authors for any jointly authored works included in the thesis. 2 Publications during candidature Logan, Elliott. 2019. “Faces of Allegiance in Homeland: Performance and the Provisional in Serial Television Drama.” In Television Performance, edited by Lucy Fife Donaldson and James Walters. Basingstoke: Red Globe Press. ———. 2018. “Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria.” In Close-Up: Great Cinematic Performances Volume 1: America, edited by Murray Pomerance and Kyle Stevens, 276–85. International Film Stars. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ———. 2017a. “Depths of Black in The Night of the Hunter.” New Review of Film and Television Studies 15, no. 1: 95–107. ———. 2017b. “Making-Over Mise-en-Scéne.” Rev. of Adrian Martin’s Mise en Scéne and Film Style: From Classical Hollywood to New Media Art, John Gibbs’s The Life of mise-en- scéne: Visual Style and British Film Criticism, 1946–78, and Lucy Fife Donaldson’s Texture in Film. Projections 11, no. 1: 121–32. ———. 2016a. “Breaking Bad” and Dignity: Unity and Fragmentation in the Serial Television Drama. Palgrave Close Readings in Film and Television. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ———. 2016b. “‘Quality Television’ as a Critical Obstacle: Explanation and Aesthetics in Television Studies.” Screen 57, no. 2: 144–62. ———. 2015. “How Do We Write About Performance in Serial Television?” Series 1, no. 1: 27– 37. ———. 2014. “The Ending of Mad Men’s Fifth Season: Cinema, Serial Television and Moments of Performance.” Critical Studies in Television 9, no. 3: 44–53. Publications included in this thesis Logan (forthcoming) – incorporated into Chapter Four. Logan (2016b) – partly incorporated into Chapter Two. 3 Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects No animal or human subjects were involved in this research. 4 Acknowledgements This thesis has taken a long time to write, and I have accrued debts to many people along the way. First of all, to my three advisors: Jason Jacobs, Lisa Bode, and Steven Peacock. Each has been unfailingly generous in sharing with me their time and insight, not only into television fiction, screen performance, and criticism, but also the difficulties and pleasures of scholarship and writing. Without their help, I would not have found my way to this project, nor been able to see it through in this form. It has been a great privilege to benefit from years of their teaching and friendship – I look forward to many more. The School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland has been my scholarly home for the last eight years. During this time, my thinking about television has been deepened by countless conversations with many people, including Tom O’Regan, Frances Bonner, Ted Nannicelli, and Angela Tuohy (who is a boundless resource on the wonders of Twin Peaks). The work in this thesis has also benefited from the insights I gained while teaching film and television to undergraduates with the guidance of Ted Nannicelli, Lisa Bode, Tom O’Regan, and Jane Stadler. The more difficult aspects of postgraduate study have been leavened by the good company and encouragement of my fellow students, in particular Pratik, Amanda Van Der Drift, Richard Murray, Matthew Cipa, Melanie Piper, Mairead McKinnon, Robyn Emerson, Graham Akhurst, and Pearl. Among the school’s greatest treasures are its administrative staff, who are a seemingly endless source of cheer and unflappable help. Jennifer Yared has had a welcome greeting for me nearly every early morning for almost five years; Stormy Wehi is a model of how to share happiness at work; and Angela Tuohy has been a sage lifesaver for me on many occasions. From November 2015, I was fortunate to spend six months of my candidature working closely with Steven Peacock at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, where many of the ideas underpinning the thesis started to come together. I have endless thanks to Steven for his encouragement and financial support, and also to his colleagues at Hertfordshire for their warm welcome and enjoyable discussions, especially Sylvie Magerstadt. My time away from home was made less painful by many friends in London and elsewhere. Peter Hubert was, as he always is, a source of hilarious and serious conversation. Hillary Emmett showed wonderful hospitality, not only during our morning teas at the British Library and meals at her home, but in making sure I would have a place to stay. Without her I would not have met Chin Tee, who was a welcoming housemate and became a good 5 friend, as did Tom Wright. Jessi and Tom Drewett, along with Maggie Webster and Ryan Bishop, helped me feel less far away from Australia, as did Tom O’Regan when he met with me to appreciate Dali’s “Christ of Sain John on the Cross” at Kelvingrove, during a trip to Glasgow. Thanks to Tom and Jessi, I was lucky enough to find another circle of friends in Rob, Jen, Phil, Callum, and Al. I was grateful for the company of Dim and Aidan, and the deep conversations about television and meaning modern life with Rico Tice. Visiting the UK allowed me to present a seminar at the University of Bristol, which developed some of the ideas driving the thesis. Thank you to Alex Clayton for inviting me and being a generous host, and to the members of his school for being a thoughtful audience, in particular Sarah Street and Hoi-Lun Law. Other material related to the thesis was presented at the Film-Philosophy conference in Oxford, the Mad Men conference at Middle Tennessee State University, and SCMS in Toronto. My thanks to the audiences for those papers, whose feedback and discussions provided encouragement and new inspiration. While at Oxford, Murray Pomerance introduced me to the late Victor Perkins, whose company and conversation I enjoyed on two afternoons in the sun, discussing actors on television; Victor was kind enough to visit me during one of his trips to London.