The course focuses on television as a form of expression and as a medium in which current perception and experience are formed. The objective being pursued is the construction of a survey of the state of Italian television, with particular reference to the following key terms: illusion, glory, appearance, imaginary, proximity, success, cynicism, celebrity, amateur. A network of lemmas aimed at joining certain moments that constitute the pre- and post-history of the reality show, understood, on the one hand, as the moment in which the assumptions and hopes of television communication culminate, and, on the other, as the portal of access to digital platforms. Finally, a monographic in-depth study will be devoted to the figure of the detective, studied from its literary genesis to the most recent reconfigurations in Italian and international television seriality.

The bibliography for the examination consists of two books:
Tito Vagni, Abitare la TV. Teorie, immaginari, reality show, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2017.

The second book must be chosen from the following list:
Alberto Abruzzese, La grande scimmia. Mostri, vampiri, automi, mutanti, Luca Sossella Editore, Roma, 2007.
Annette Hill, Esperienze mediali. Dalle serie tv ai reality, Minimum Fax, Roma, 2019.
Sigfrid Kracauer, Il romanzo poliziesco, SE, Milano, 2011.
Neil Postman, Divertirsi da morire. Il discorso pubblico nell'era dello spettacolo, LUISS University Press, Roma, 2021.
Sue Turnbull, Crime. Storia, miti e personaggi delle serie tv più popolari, Minimum Fax, Roma, 2019