»The Sopranos«, »Lost«, »The Wire«, »Mad Men«, »Breaking Bad« etc.: the contemporary American television series is marked by enormous diversity, distinctive aesthetics and remarkable audience success. But what is really »new » about the so-called »new« series? To what extent are they subordinate to specific cultural schemata or cultural scripts; and what cultural work do they perform when it comes to dealing with social changes and experiences of crisis? This anthology collects German and English-language articles from Media Studies and American Studies, which use selected examples to subject the format to reflections informed by Media Theory and Cultural Studies.