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The essays in this collection explore taboo and controversial humour in traditional scripted (sitcoms and other comedy series, animated series) and non-scripted forms (stand-up comedy, factual and reality shows, and advertising) both on cable and network television. Whilst the focus is predominantly on the US and UK, the contributors also address more general and global issues and different contexts of reception, in an attempt to look at this kind of comedy from different perspectives. Over the last few decades, taboo comedy has become a staple of television programming, thus raising issues concerning its functions and appropriateness, and making it an extremely relevant subject for those interested in how both humour and television work.

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1.Taboo Comedy on Television: Issues and Themes. Chiara Bucaria and Luca Barra.- Part I.Controversial Humour in Comedy and Drama Series.- 2.The Rise and Fall of Taboo Comedy in the BBC. Christie Davies.- 3.The Last Laugh: Dark Comedy in U.S. Television. Kristen A. Murray.- 4.´This Is Great, We´re Like Slave Buddies!´: Cross-Racial Appropriation in ´Post-Racial´ TV Comedies. Carter Soles.- 5.Phrasing!: Archer, Taboo Humor and Psychocanalytic Media Theory. Matt Sienkiewicz.- 6.Taboo Humanity: Paradoxes of Humanizing Muslims in North-American Sitcoms. Kyle Conway.- Part II. Controversial Humour in Variety Shows, Commercials and Factual Programming.- 7.Dummies and Demographics: Islamophobia as Market Differentiation in Post-9/11 Television Comedy. Phil Scepanski.- 8.Excessive Stand-Up, the Culture Wars, and ´90s TV. Evan Elkins.- 9.Tosh.0, Convergence Comedy, and the ´Post-PC´ TV Trickster. Ethan Thompson.- 10.Crude and Taboo Humour in Television Advertising: An Analysis of Commercials for Consumer Goods. Elsa Simäes Lucas Freitas.- 11.Filthy Viewing, Dirty Laughter. Delia Chiaro.- 12.A Special Freedom: Regulating Comedy Offence. Brett Mills

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Chiara Bucaria is Associate Professor in English Language and Translation at the Department of Interpretation and Translation of the University of Bologna, Italy. Her main research interests include the translation of audiovisual products, censorship and textual manipulation, and dark humour. Chiara Bucaria was the recipient of the International Society for Humor Studies´ Emerging Scholar Award in 2006.

Luca Barra is Lecturer in Television and Media Studies at the Department of Arts of the University of Bologna, Italy. His research mainly focuses on television production and distribution cultures, comedy and humour TV genres, the international circulation of media products (and their national mediations), the history of Italian television, and the evolution of the contemporary media landscape."

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