Determinants of the Content and Creation of Modern Television Series. Selected Issues

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the most important factors affecting the creation and content of two different genres of television series– Polish television sagas and American post-soap operas. The analysis which I have carried out in the field allows the formulation of several conclusions. The creation of the two genres is similar. In both cases the most important people are the producers and scriptwriters and the most important criteria used for the assessment of a production are audience ratings and economic factors. Polish television sagas and American post-soaps are often very different with regard to their content and the ways they present social issues. The reasons for the differences include: genre convention, expectations of viewers, social and cultural context, and the emergence of commercial subscription television in the United States. At the turn of the 21st century HBO, an American pay television provider, followed by other stations began to produce shows which, even though they have originated from older television forms, break the ties with their antecedents. Makers of post-soaps address sensitive social issues and create their characters in an original and often controversial way.