Watching TV with Stanley Cavell

Further Remarks on 'The Crown' as Metatelevision

Abstract

Stanley Cavell’s contributions to the study of television as a medium commenced in earnest in the immediate wake of the expanded edition of The World Viewed. By the early 1980s, he had occasion to write more directly about how television differs from film and to articulate some of its special features. In a recent stocking-taking on the matter, contributors to the open-access Television with Stanley Cavell in Mind probed these and related issues as part of an ongoing investigation into the philosopher’s legacy. In that volume, I drew Cavell’s reflections on TV into conversation with thoughts on metatelevision as the mode expresses itself in The Crown (2016-23, Netflix). As he was by the art of film, Cavell remained intrigued by the special ways in which a medium can call attention to itself – and television, it turns out, manifests its own potentialities. In this special issue of Conversations, I pick up where I left off there, continuing an exploration of the meta-traits that are so ably and admirably achieved in Peter Morgan’s celebrated, award-winning television series. For those keeping track, the following portion of remarks address the first four seasons of the series.