Channels of Discourse has become the definitive text on TV studies. The first systematic consideration of commercial television in the light of contemporary culture, literary and cinematic criticism, the essays address the place of semiotics, narrative theory, reception theory, ideological analysis, psychoanalysis, feminist criticism and British cultural studies in the critical analysis of television. The second edition includes two new chapters discussing postmodernism and television theory: Television and Modernism' and Relations of Discourse'. The original essays have been substantially revised and updated in the light of contemporary theory, and refer to recent programmes such as Twin Peaks as well as being illustrated with more than 30 TV stills. Together they open up new directions for television studies now and in the future.