German Crime Dramas from Network Television to Netflix

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German Crime Dramas from Network Television to Netflix approaches German television crime dramas to uncover the intersections between the genres media-specific network and post-network formats and how these negotiate with and contribute to concepts of the regional, national, and global. Part I concentrates on the ARD networks long-running flagship series Tatort (Crime Scene 1970-). Because the domestically produced crime drama succeeded in interacting with and competing against dominant U.S. formats during 3 different mediascapes, it offers strategic lessons for post-network television. Situating 9 Tatort episodes in their televisual moment within the Sunday evening flow over 38 years and 3 different German regions reveals how producers, writers, directors, critics, and audiences interacted not only with the cultural socio-political context, but also responded to the challenges aesthetically, narratively, and media-reflexively. Part II explores how post-2017 German crime dramas (Babylon Berlin, Dark, Perfume, and Dogs of Berlin) rework the genres formal and narrative conventions for global circulation on Netflix. Each chapter concentrates on the dynamic interplay between time-shifted viewing, transmedia storytelling, genre hybridity, and how these interact with projections of cultural specificity and continue or depart from established network practices. The results offer crucial information and inspiration for producers and executives, for creative teams, program directors, and television scholars.

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German Crime Dramas is an important contribution to the burgeoning field of German media studies. With a special focus on questions of media convergence, Simon traces the transition from the network-based model epitomized by the long-lasting Tatort series to the transnational streaming models associated with recent successes such as Dark and Dogs of Berlin. Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary media culture in a global context and the uniquely German love affair with crime fiction. * Sabine Hake, Texas Chair of German Literature and Culture, The University of Texas at Austin, USA *
Move over German film, German television has the global audience! In this study, Sunka Simon offers us insight into the German, European, and global media industry in its major transformations from the 1970s to the present. She explores how the successful appeal of streaming blockbuster series developed out of domestic television strategies. And, she offers excellent close readings of not only the long-running Tatort crime series but also some of Netflixs biggest contemporary hits. * Randall Halle, Klaus W. Jonas Professor of German Film and Cultural Studies, University of Pittsburgh, USA *

Author Bio

Sunka Simon received her PhD from Johns Hopkins, University, USA. She is Professor of German, Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College, USA. Simon is the author of Mail-Orders. The Fiction of Letters in Postmodern Culture (2002) and co-author of Globally Networked Teaching in the Humanities (2015). Her articles and courses focus on German, European, and U.S. popular culture, specifically television, cinema, and popular music.