Television as Spectacular Commodity

Television as Spectacular Commodity: A Psychoanalytic Inquiry uses Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory to demonstrate how, despite being themselves commodities, a small minority of television series undermines the libidinal foundations of capitalism itself.

Unlike traditional television scholarship that prioritizes serial dramas, this groundbreaking work highlights the subversive nature of episodic television, which resists narrative closure and character development to channel what Freud called the death drive in viewers. Through detailed analyses of sitcoms like The Office (UK), Seinfeld, and Peep Show and Prestige programs like Succession, the book uncovers how these programs navigate themes of failure and repetition, and what kind of politicized enjoyment they drum up in viewers. Bridging psychoanalytic theory with television studies, it offers a fresh perspective on the cultural and psychological impact of contemporary media.

Written with clarity and precision, this book is ideal for scholars and students of psychoanalysis, media studies, and cultural theory, as well as professionals and ambitious lay readers with an interest in the deeper libidinal implications of the media we consume.