Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies - Online First

This editorial provides an overview of the historical development of crime dramas on Italian television from the early years to contemporary challenges, while sketching many of the complexities of the giallo genre. With references to a large number of crime dramas, to the contributions included in this Special Issue and to relevant literature, the representation of investigators and criminals in Italian television is scrutinized in its most distinguishing features: from genre tropes and hybridizations to literary adaptations and digital transmedia aspects; from leading male and female characters to central and peripheral locations; from the global circulation of local content to the changing cultural and societal representations. As a result, Italian TV crime drama is shown as a field of constant negotiation where varied and satisfying forms of balance have been experimented.

At the beginning of the 1970s, the landscape of Italian television dramas intersects with transforming trends, allowing the crime genre to emerge as a fertile ground for experimentation. Detective stories draw upon 1970s counterculture and open up a cryptic universe no longer knowable by reason alone. Thus, a new narrative movement begins that lasts the entire decade, inspired by the subjects of the fantastic with supernatural mysteries dominated by the occult. These productions deconstruct the pedagogical mission of early television and find new trajectories for television drama. The most groundbreaking works of this period are often forgotten or confined to the category of minor productions: ESP and Extra. First framing the period historically, and then turning to a textual and culturological analysis of the two titles, this article attempts to shed light on the fracture created by the two sceneggiati in Italian TV. It explores the way these works recounted 1970s society and prefigured that of today.

This article addresses the development of TV crime dramas in Italy during the last two decades, arguing that the impact of international shows as well as national literary series gradually led to significant changes in the crime series produced by both public and private broadcasters. In particular, a few recent crime series produced by Rai participate in a process of ‘noirification’ of crime narratives, in an attempt to produce noir series addressed to an international audience and characterized by the combination of national literary sources and the model of US quality television. On the one hand, the aim is to explore the specific traits of the national approach to crime narratives. On the other hand, the investigation gives the opportunity to reflect upon the ‘noirification’ of European popular narratives more broadly, examining the uses of genre to increase the cultural and commercial value of TV series on the international market.

A common element among stories and characters in Italian crime drama is a fracture between the place where the detectives live and investigate and the place from which they come or that they aspire to return to. From the very origins of the genre, the narrative topos of the forced transfer for disciplinary or personal reasons represents a frequent antecedent to the presentation of the protagonist and a key element in the evolution of the plot. An historical overview of Italian crime drama allows for identification of recurring themes in the contrasting dynamics between Italy’s North and South, centre and periphery, thus analysing the relationship with the territory through the perpetuation of stereotypes that can trigger ironic or, in contrast, dramatic implications. Contemporary crime drama expands the possible locations to marginal spaces where the detectives’ inability or impossibility to merge with the location emphasizes their alienation and sense of misplacement.

This article explores the relationship between Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels and the RAI TV series, Il commissario Montalbano. While both are successful, the televised version has turned Montalbano into a household name across Italy, ranking as the most successful giallo production on RAI. The analysis delves into disparities between Camilleri’s literary character and the TV persona, examining alterations made for commercial viability. Focusing on recurring visual elements – geographic imagery and female beauty – the series addresses sensitive themes. The article concludes that the TV adaptation, not aiming for faithful reproduction, targets a different audience. It effectively adjusts the original message using cinematographic techniques, emphasizing female beauty, food and slapstick comedy to entertain while navigating uncomfortable topics.

Using Gomorra: La serie (Seasons 1–3) as a case study, this article examines how complex television crime drama engages with moral and artistic values. It proposes a novel framework that integrates analytic aesthetics with empirical audience research and film analysis to investigate whether and how this genre can shape viewers’ moral responses. The first section outlines the critical and public discourse surrounding the series. The second introduces the concept of ‘cinematic moralism’ to describe how Gomorrah’s narrative and stylistic choices are meant to elicit a morally reflective response from viewers. The final section explores how Twitter users engage with the series’ ethical cues, revealing a disconnect between intended and actual audience responses. The article supports a cautious view, suggesting that while fiction may invite moral reflection, empirical evidence does not confirm its power to improve moral judgment or function reliably as a source of moral learning. This conclusion aligns with Gregory Currie’s call for caution regarding the idea that fiction can serve as a reliable source of moral knowledge.

This article seeks to map the Italian crime dramas broadcast in Spain. Then we move on to the twenty-first century to analyse the scope of Italian TV crime in contemporary Spanish TV. As case studies for our investigation, we use the circulation and reception in Spain of two Italian series: Il commissario Montalbano (El comisario Montalbano, Inspector Montalbano) (1999–2021) and Gomorra – La serie (Gomorra, Gomorrah) (2014–21). Using a political economy approach, we first examine the reception of the literary sources by Andrea Camilleri and Roberto Saviano. Second, we contextualize the significant shifts in the Spanish media landscape where those series were broadcast. Third, we determine why and how these TV series were useful and appealing to Spanish programmers. The research is complemented with audience data, an analysis of the series’ aesthetics and their critical reception.