Television as Spectacular Commodity

Marshall Meyer is a writer, educator, and psychoanalyst with a Ph.D. in the humanities from Johns Hopkins University and affiliations with the Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis and GIFRIC. He works primarily in the domains of psychoanalytic theory, political theory, and media studies.

"There are many books which combine two different domains of theory (like philosophy and psychoanalysis) and thereby produce a path-breaking new insight. Meyer’s The Spectacular Commodity of Television goes a step further and combines three domains: psychoanalytic theory, the Marxist notion of commodity fetishism, and an analysis of new trends in TV series. The result of this combination is an explosion of insights: the Marxist notion of commodity fetishism throws a new light on psychoanalytic processes as well as on TV series, and top quality TV series are analyzed as exercises in serious thinking, not just as amusement. In short, our entire understanding of contemporary society is shattered. Meyer’s clearly written book should reach a wide public not only in the humanities but among all those who want to understand the world we live in. If it does not become an instant classic, then we live in a world from which human spirit has disappeared."Slavoj Žižek, Philosopher"Psychoanalysis has always seemed intrinsically drawn to film, undoubtedly because of the link between movies and dreams. But television has proven resistant to psychoanalytic interpretation until recently. In a movement in which Marshall Meyer plays a leading role, television becomes not just an object for psychoanalytic inquiry that allows us to understand works from contemporary cringe comedy to the best of prestige television. It also serves as a site for Meyer to develop new formulations of seemingly tired psychoanalytic concepts, such as the death drive and enjoyment. These concepts bring television alive as a theoretical medium, while television revitalizes the psychoanalytic approach. For all television spectators, Meyer has constructed a masterpiece not to be missed. I will never look at a television series the same way again, and neither will anyone else who reads this breakthrough work."Todd McGowan, University of Vermont

• 1. Introduction: Defining The Spectacular Commodity 2. Television Beyond the Pleasure Principle: Cringe Comedy and the Cunning of Reason 3. There’s No Such Thing as Growing Up: Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show as Avant-Garde Sitcoms 4. Beyond the Zombie: The Twenty-First-Century Sitcom and the End of Analysis 5. “Nature Thus Gives Way to Loyalty”: Enjoyment Right and Left in Succession and Other Contemporary Satires of the Mega-Rich 6. Conclusion: The Uncertain Future of the Spectacular Commodity in Television