This course surveys the state of television theory by reading major authors and discussing key topics in the field of television criticism. Issues concerning video language, programming flow, �live� transmission, television genres, audience participation, interactivity, etc. are examined in order to understand what makes television different from other forms of mass media. Particular attention is given to televsion�s transition between spectatorship and hypertext, between analogical narrative and digital interactivity and to the role that television has had in transforming the notion of visuality in the last half century. Cross-listed as NMDS 5216.