The Show That Refused To Die : The Rise and Fall Of AMC’s The Killing

Abstract

The Show That Refused to Die: The Rise and Fall of AMC’s ‘The Killing’ interrogates the impact of digitalisation on the modern global television industry. Discussing one case study series, the adaptation of Danish crime series, Forbrydelsen (Danmarks Radio (DR), Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK)/Sveriges Television (SVT)/ZDF Enterprises[(2009-2012]/Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), to the USA’s The Killing (KMF Films/Fuse Entertainment/Fox Television Studios/The Killing Production [2011-14]) this article examines the complex narrative of cable television’s incursion in the US TV landscape with particular attention to the practices of cable channels HBO, AMC and streaming service, Netflix. With a tight focus on the representation of motherhood, read through maternal workplace legislation, this article contends that the series adaptation exposes hotly debated notions of ‘ideal’ maternity and how they inform attitudes towards those deemed ‘unfit’ for the role. The narrative hostility towards motherhood in The Killing, was notably absent from, Forbrydelsen, and exposes how precarious the adaptation market can be once cultural attitudes towards maternity and maternal rights are laid bare.