13 Acting Performance in Quality Television
Rachel Wilson
No, I am not talking about the quality of your television screen. Quality television is not about watching TV in HD with the biggest screen size, it’s about the kind of TV shows that you watch. With the Emmy Awards coming up, it’s only natural to take a look at what quality television is and why it is the best.
What is Quality Television?
Have you ever wondered why some shows feel like they are at a higher level than other shows? You are probably watching a show that can be defined as quality television. Quality television is the idea that television shows are of a higher quality if they have more complex narratives, mise-en-scènes, bigger budgets, successful well-known actors, etc. Quality television shows are shot in ways that compare to how films are shot. They have a higher style and usually fewer cameras than most shows that are not “quality”. Quality television shows are often associated with realism and/or darker themes, like sex, money, and violence, and are geared toward a more “highbrow” audience. By “highbrow” I mean the richer, whiter, and straighter male types of audiences who are more likely to enjoy male dominated stories about sex, money, and violence. Quality television shows earn more recognition and the most respectable award nominations because they have bigger audiences, and more money in their budgets to produce the best stories, cast ensembles, etc. The most noticeable detail from quality television shows is the higher caliber of acting and actors who star in the shows. This part of the overall performance of quality television is the most talked about and arguably the most important part of any show. If a quality television show does not have high-quality acting or good actors in it, then it is not seen as a good show, and is not given the recognition that the producers and creators of the show desire. Quality television shows require good acting performances to maintain their “quality”.
Why is Quality TV So Good?
Quality television shows can be found anywhere these days, but it all started with HBO. HBO became huge in the 90s with its original programming that premiered throughout the 90s. HBO used to, and still does, pride themselves on the quality of their programming that their slogan used to be “It’s not TV. It’s HBO” (HBO). HBO believed in their quality productions so much that they advertised themselves as better than all TV. In the article “Boundary Collisions in HBO-BBC Transnational Coproduction: Rome and Parade’s End,” Robin Nelson writes that “HBO distinguished itself, and transformed the television industry, in establishing a market for distinctive and aspirational TV series based on good writing under the creative freedom of a premium subscription channel not beholden to advertisers’ sensibilities” (149). This shows that HBO was the original subscription service that started the movement into quality television shows. With the move towards better writi