Global Maladies, Local In Treatment: “Quality” TV Fiction Formats, Glocal Forms of Prestige, and Cumulative Cross-Cultural Dialogues

Abstract

With the rise of television formats in global television, several studies have examined the economic, political, and cultural aspects of this media product’s production and circulation. This study analyzes the complex path of a television drama series from a local critical and popular phenomenon to a global “quality” fiction format, focusing on the transnationalization process of the format of the Israeli program BeTipul from its arrival in the United States to its adaptation and reception in Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Italy. The study emphasizes the cross-cultural dialogic attributes of the quality fiction format, which support a strategy comprising both mutual benefits and competition, as opposed to the allegedly “odorless” or “neutral” features of reality and game-show formats.