This article explores how reality TV represents (distant) suffering, focusing on the first season of reality-based show Sweatshop: Deadly Fashion. Drawing from theories of media witnessing and mediated suffering, we analyze how reality TV negotiates working conditions in the global garment industry and reflects transnational power inequalities. Specifically, we critically dissect the multimodal strategies used to negotiate suffering and construct a story of transformation from privileged naivety to political mobilization. While acknowledging reality TV’s good intentions, the analysis reveals the common pattern of downplaying the role of systemic issues in perpetuating labor exploitation in the Global South. Additionally, results highlight the importance of context-dependent readings of complex cultural documents that carry political and ideological ambivalence, as well as entertaining dimensions

The article explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the production and narrative strategies of the 90 Day Fiancé franchise, focusing on its spin-off, 90 Day Fiancé: Self-Quarantined (2020). It examines how the programme adapted to mobility restrictions and lockdown policies through self-filming, remote interviewing, and focusing on mundane, pandemic-specific activities. Using theories of reality TV, documentary and authenticity, the study highlights the spin-off’s negotiation of authenticity via transtextuality, place anchoring and boredom. The article contributes to understanding how pandemic-era reality TV embraced flexibility and pragmatism, blending heightened authenticity with performative elements to maintain relatability and audience engagement.

Christopher Papakaliatis, a prominent figure in Greek television, propelled Greece into the global streaming arena with his series Maestro in Blue. Supported by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and initially aired on MEGA TV, the show made history on 19 December 2022 as the first Greek drama to debut on Netflix. This study explores the significance of such turning points for small television nations, analysing textual choices, production strategies, and broader significance for the visibility of Greek television on the global stage. As such, the study contributes to understanding the evolving landscape of transnational television and its implications for small television cultures and industries.

Christopher (Christoforos) Papakaliatis is one of Greece’s most recognizable and successful ‘television authors’ and Maestro in Blue, his latest creation, is the series that managed to turn Greece into a full “Netflix nation” (Lobato, 2019). Supported by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and originally broadcast by private television channel MEGA TV, Maestro in Blue became – on 19 December 2022 – the first Greek drama show to launch into global subscription video-on-demand streaming platform Netflix, with the latter having already acquired the rights for the second season. Shot on the Ionian islands of Paxoi and Corfu, using the locations strategically in a way that combines Papakaliatis’ signature glossy aesthetic style, traces of Mediterranean noir and ‘weird’ wave, and established (cinematic) representations of Greek island idyll, Maestro in Blue is addressed in this paper as part of Netflix’s glocalization practices (Sigismondi & Ciofalo, 2022) and as an example of “television that travels” (Waade et al, 2020).

By combining a textual analysis of the first season of the drama series with an overview of its production context and a mapping out of its popular/critical reception, this paper engages with the question around the significance of a small television culture gaining international visibility, focusing on three concrete analytical dimensions: 

(a)   exportability, addressed through a close examination of the visual and storytelling strategies potentially contributing to the appeal of the series to international audiences, including the importance of locations to narrative, iconography and cultural specificity

(b)  extroversion, addressed through an analysis of the creative synergies and production strategies orchestrated in order to resonate with a global commercial logic and (international) distribution

(c)   visibility, addressed through a discourse analysis of the series’ reception in both Greek and international popular/cultural criticism, and expressed primarily through the notions of quality and (national) pride.

Drawing from cultural theory, geomedia studies, and media industry studies, and informed by previous research on streaming platforms, international TV flows and content diversity (e.g. Lobato, 2018; Lotz et al, 2022), the present paper aspires to provide an empirically grounded analysis of small television industries’ engagement with developments in international media production and transnational television theory. What is more, it aims to discuss the drama series in question as a potential game changer for Greek television (studies), thus contributing to a broader discussion about the pleasures and gains of international appeal.

Book chapter in Greek.

Book title in English: The Box: Images of modern Greece in private television