Jorie Lagerwey

Very Special Episodes explores various examples of the “very special episode” to chart the history of American television and its self-identified status as an arbiter of culture. Through the study of this unique television format, this anthology traces the history of television’s engagement with many of the most important political, aesthetic, economic, and social movements that continue to challenge our society today.

Inspired by the current public fascination with single women, Single Lives traces the relationship between modern and contemporary representations of single women. The original essays collected here analyze a broad range of texts that examine the ways films, cookbooks, archives, popular literature, and other British and American texts express norms, ideals, and challenges for single women and their relationship to dominant ideals of marriage and the family. This volume looks backwards to constellate existing scholarship, constituent fields, and unrecognized single voices and forward to consider new methods for interdisciplinary singles studies.

Very Special Episodes explores various examples of the “very special episode” to chart the history of American television and its self-identified status as an arbiter of culture. Through the study of this unique television format, this anthology traces the history of television’s engagement with many of the most important political, aesthetic, economic, and social movements that continue to challenge our society today.