Abstract

This paper vindicates the current US television drama as an example of quality television able to entertain the audience and to stimulate its intelligence as well with complex dramatic structures and thematic density. The starting point is Robert S. Thompson's statement that in the eighties the US television began his second golden age. Next we will analyze four network dramas, two remarkable for their thematic quality (The west wing and Buffy, the vampire slayer) and two for their fascinating plot structures (24 and Lost).