Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Humor And/in Crisis
	Understanding Crisis
	Humor, Television, and Culture
	In Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis
	Bibliography
Part I Systems and Institutions
	1 “Quiet Quitters”: Detectorists, Hobbies, and Resistance to Neoliberal Capitalism
		Amateurism Versus Employment
		Alternative Value Systems
		The Limits of Resistance
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	2 Laughing to Keep From Crying at Abbott Elementary: Humor’s Potential in the Teacher Demoralization Crisis
		Demoralization and Racial Capitalism in the US Public Education System
		Teacher Representation in Popular Media (Or, a Lack Thereof)
		How Abbott Elementary Disrupts the Teacher Narrative
		Humor, Joy, and Social Change
		Bibliography
	3 The Struggle Is Real and It’s Hilarious: The Crisis of Choice in Workin’ Moms
		Crisis in Contemporary Motherhood
		Motherhood as an Identity Crisis in Workin’ Moms
		Postpartum Struggle as a White Crisis: Surveillance and Race in Workin’ Moms
		Workin’ Moms and the Intersection of Class and Choice
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	4 Comedy at Cloud 9: Union Dynamics and Corporate Critique in Superstore
		Navigating the Capitalist Labor Crisis Through Comedy
		Labor Woes, Punchlines, and Capitalism in Superstore
		Laughing Through the Picket Line
		When Robots Meet Retail Workers
		Health Care Access Woes, But Make It Funny
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	5 Veep, Tragicomedy, and the Perpetual Crisis of American Democracy
		On Tragedy, Comedy, and the Tragicomic
		Veep, Tragicomedy, and American Democracy
		Bibliography
Part II Identity and Representation
	6 Never Have I Ever…Challenged Whiteness
		Whiteness as the Butt of the Joke
		Navigating Cultural Citizenship and What It Means to Be American
		Conclusion
		Notes
		Bibliography
	7 “Poor People Can’t Afford to Quit Their Jobs to Make Things Better”: Working-Class Crisis in The Conners
		Representations of the Working Class On Television
			Roseanne and The Conners
		Causes of Financial Struggles
		Education and Working-Class Inequalities
		Working-class Activism
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	8 “No, the World Is Ending Because of Me”: Satire, Neoliberal Crises, and the Millennial Female Subject in Search Party
		Ugly Feelings and Discomfort in Times of Crisis
		The Female Subject Amid Perpetual Crises
		Conclusion: Feminism’s Identity Crisis as Seen On TV
		Bibliography
Part III Speculation and Futurism
	9 “It’s Better Than Not Trying, Right?”: The Good Place and Humor in the Durative Present
		Moral Philosophy and The Good Place
		The Good Place and Contemporary Crisis
		The Role of Humor in The Good Place
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	10 The Crisis of Technological Reliance and the Spectacle of Authority: Avenue 5’s Ironic Depiction of Technology
		Crisis of Technological Reliance
		Spectacle of Technology
		Irony of Technology
		Conclusion
		Bibliography
	11 Kinship at the End of the World: Apocalyptic Media and The Last Man On Earth as a Manifesto for Life in Eco-Crisis
		But What About the Kids? Will Anyone Think of the Kids?
		If Someone Screams in an Elevator and No One’s Around…
		Environmental Kinship and the Limits of the Commodity
		Notes
		Bibliography
Index