I have just managed to submit the Arrested Development paper, after spending a little time fighting with the MLA style for the reference list. I was going to wait another couple of days but then couldn’t really see that would make a huge difference. So I decided just to get stuck in and get it finished. It can always come back from the reviewing process with comments etc. I’m still not sure that it won’t be too abstract or general a discussion for what they are looking for, but it’s good to have accomplished a newish piece of writing. Even if this journal doesn’t want it, it’s definitely not wasted time and may lead on to something further.
I have included the abstract here for your reading confusion:

This paper uses the commercial failure of television comedy Arrested Development to explore the significance of such failures for our understanding of television. Considering the disjunction between this failure and Arrested Development’s positive critical reception enables us to recognise that while the program is marginalised to some degree, it is also central to understanding the contemporary field of television. Utilising Foucault’s evocative phrase describing the “lyricism of marginality” (301) we see how Arrested Development’s mockumentary style, which is arguably connected to its commercial failure, in fact opens up a new space for future programs to occupy, transforming our understanding of television’s potential.

It’s suitably vague of course (as my abstracts always seem to be). But I figure if they want the detail it appears and is repeated (some might unkindly say adnauseum) in the body of the paper. The strange thing for me is that this is one of my less complex arguments…which makes it seem like I haven’t done enough.
We’ll see I guess.