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.

Chiara Bucaria is Tenured Lecturer 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 Post-Doctoral Fellow Researcher at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in Milan, Italy. His research mainly focuses on the international circulation of media products (and their national mediations), the history of Italian television, television production and distribution cultures, comedy and humour TV genres, and the evolution of the contemporary media landscape.