Cable Guys Television and Masculinities in the Twenty-First Century

"Amanda Lotz impressively maps out important features of television's representations of men and shifting masculinities in the 21st century. Her careful analyses of these series makes this book an essential resource for anyone interested in television, gender, and culture." - Ron Becker,author of Gay TV & Straight America "Cable Guys is an incredible work that should further cement Lotz's place as a considerate yet comprehensive expert on media and gender studies. Her writing . . . oozes confidence, knowledge, and reflection for her themes and televised tales." (PopMatters) "Lotz (communication studies, Univ. of Michigan;Redesigning Women: Television After the Network Era) here explores how cable television is dramatizing contemporary American male masculinity. The author identifies and focuses on three narrative types: serials that emphasize the development of of a central male protagonist (e.g.,Breaking Bad; Dexter), shows set in male enclaves (e.g.,Rescue Me; Entourage), and stories featuring intimate male friendships (e.g.,Boston Legal; Nip/Tuck). Lotz argues that these dramas depict straight, largely white men wrestling with what it means to be manly in today's post-second-wave feminism and in the context of rising queer visibility. She concludes that the shows' characters all struggle to combine old and new modes of manhood . . . . Lotz offers a concise and insightful analysis of the productions she does examine. Verdict:Scholars will value Lotz's contribution to media and masculinity studies, as will more casual viewers who enjoy watching cable television with a critical eye." (Library Journal,Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Massachusetts Historical Soc. Lib., Boston) "Cable Guysis essential reading for students and scholars working in television studies and in the gendered politics of representation. The book is clear enough to be accessible to anundergraduate audience, while it is also sufficiently subtle and illuminating to be satisfying to more advanced students and scholars. " (International Journal of Communication,Katherine Sender) "Lotz explores modern visions of masculinity following third wave feminism and epitomized in the rhetoric of male protagonists in cable programming. Mostly eschewing networks depictions of problematized males, Lotz zeroes in on straight male one-on-one friendships, what she calls the & homosocial enclave of the male group, and a genre that particularly challenges male characters, the emerging & male centered-serials." (Choice)