Branded Developments: The HBO Serial and Beyond Public

Abstract

This thesis argues that the serial form is crucial to the brand identity of HBO. The complexities of cross-media interaction accommodate seriality in creating, for example, multiple ways for us to enter the stories at different times and in different spaces; “stopping points” that fuel active speculation about where the story will go, and the (not necessarily linear) directions it will take; possibilities to keep the story world alive (in other platforms), as though there is no such thing as an ending. Cross-media interaction also intensifies the emotional investment a serial narrative asks that we make. I consider how the HBO serial can strengthen, or lead to, audience loyalty and love for the brand, blurring the boundaries between what it means to be a fan of a show, and a fan of HBO.

Chapter One considers notions of endings and finality as they relate to Six Feet Under (2001-2005), a show that looks at the transformative potential of death, a potential, I argue, that also works to keep HBO fresh, ever relevant in the cultural landscape. Chapter Two looks closely at the opening credits of Treme (2010- ) in order to highlight HBO’s distinctly political, even activist dimensions. Chapter Three examines how the first season of Bored to Death (2009- ) draws on audience familiarity with film noir in order to foreground HBO as a hipster brand community. Chapter Four focuses on the presence of HBO in David O. Russell’s The Fighter (2010), a boxing film that subtly details the story of HBO’s own rise to prominence, and works to strengthen consumers’ “faith” in the well-established HBO brand.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter One. The End: Serialized Branding and Six Feet Under 10

Chapter Two. Sounds Like HBO: Affective Politics and Treme's Opening Credits 37

Chapter Three. Part-time Noir: Bored to Death in 2009 63

Chapter Four. Beyond HBO 90

Works Cited 113

List of Figures

1. Newsweek cover (March 8, 2010) 10

2. "Support Our Troops" (Outside Hospital; "Static") 18

3. "Support Our Troops" (Outside Funeral Home, "Static") 18

4. Victor's TV and VCR ("Brotherhood") 21

5. Victor's Postings ("Brotherhood") 25

6. "War Is Now Behind Us," One ("Brotherhood") 25

7. "War Is Now Behind Us," Two ("Brotherhood") 25

8. Six Feet Under Box Cover 29

9. Paul's Hospital Room ("Static") 33

10. Treme, Title 42

11. Toxic Mold ( Treme Opening Credits) 46

12. Makeshift Morgue ("Smoke My Peace Pipe") 62

13. FEMA Trailers ( Treme Opening Credits) 62

14. Bored to Death Advertisement (2009) 68

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Film and Media Studies
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Cinema Mass Communications
Mot-clé	television serial branding convergence culture The Fighter Treme HBO Bored to Death Six Feet Under
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Schreiber, Michele, Emory University
Committee Members	Mueller, Eddy Von, Emory University Bernstein, Matthew, Emory University

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