Many years ago I wrote a series of books exploring American drama in the twentieth century. I wanted to stake a claim for work that had not always received the attention it might, especially within an academic world at the time drawn to the novel and literary theory. It seemed to me that, for all the achievements of European drama, this had in many ways been an American century as far as theatre was concerned. Of course, America still produces major talents who command the interest of audiences around the world, but there is a degree to which some writers of drama, along with novelists, have shifted their attention to television. Once, that had seemed unthinkable.

For many, American television was this one-eyed man in the corner of the room with little to offer beyond shallow entertainment, and in the country of the bland the one-eyed man is king. It was seen as implicitly and explicitly reinforcing a national ideology to do with production and consumption, its programmes regularly interrupted not only to sell products but to sell the idea of consuming as a value. If mysteries existed in television drama series, if there was violence, the former were resolved while violence was either punished or authorised as a legitimate and necessary response to those who would disturb a peaceful norm, disrupt a national dream of endeavour rewarded. The perpetrators of crime were brought to justice. Lawyers pursued truth. Enemies were defeated. Social issues were less addressed than seen as the background to melodrama.