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A Fantasy Made Real

The Evolution of the Subjunctive Documentary on U.S. Cable Science Channels

Montana State University

The need for drama in the contemporary television science documentary, coupled with the advent of computer-generated imaging (CGI) technology, has led to the development of increasingly fiction-driven science documentary, specifically on cable outlets such as the Discovery suite channels and National Geographic. While subjunctive documentary shows such as Walking with Dinosaurs initially used CGI technology to illustrate scientists' best understanding of Earth prehistory, the use of CGI has quickly escalated to the animation of purely fantastical life forms. This trend has resulted in a baroque subjunctive documentary form that has evacuated any possibility of serious science documentary on cable channels devoted to science programming.

Key Words: television • documentary • Discovery Channel • subjunctive • science fiction • animation

This version was published on July 1, 2008

Television & New Media, Vol. 9, No. 4, 333-348 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1527476408315117


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