Veronica Mars production files, circa 2004-2007

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection contains materials from the television series Veronica Mars. It includes production documents from each episode, administrative and financial records from the series, a banner taken from the set, as well as audiovisual media utilized during the series' production.
Extent:
13 linear feet (11 cartons, 1 document box, 1 flat oversize box)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Veronica Mars production files, PA Mss 143. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

These materials are largely composed of and organized by documentation related to specific episodes of the series. Each episode of the first three seasons of Veronica Mars, as well as a season 4 presentation, is accounted for in this collection, with each record containing information about the shooting, budgeting, casting, and other details about the episode's production. Though the bulk of the collection consists of these reports and other administrative and financial documents pertaining to the series in general, handwritten production notes, a Neptune High School banner from the series, and audiovisual materials, including inserts, playbacks, and producers cuts are included.

Biographical / historical:

The television series Veronica Mars ran for three seasons in the United States, from September 22, 2004 until May 22, 2007. The first two seasons aired on the United Paramount Network (UPN), and the final one screened on the newly established CW Television Network (CW). Based on an untitled teen detective novel by Rob Thomas (author of such novels as Rats Saw God and Slave Day), the titled hero of the series, Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), served as a young private investigator fighting crime in this weekly noir-esque mystery series. As scholars Rhonda V. Wilcox and Sue Turnbull note, Veronica Mars is "supposedly teen television," yet "friendship, family, loyalty and rape, murder, corrupt law officials, and gangs, whether bikers or 09ers – all are part of the mixture of honor and darkness, heroism and social cynicism, that is Veronica Mars" (3). This unusual mixture of themes, combined with the show's undaunted consideration of complex issues like race, class, gender, and sexual orientation, resulted in positive critical attention during the first two seasons. Ratings waned and the CW opted to cancel the series after its third season, but persistent Veronica Mars fans successfully backed a 2013 Kickstarter campaign for a cinematic sequel. The film was released in 2014 and, as of this collection's publication, a Veronica Mars revival is currently being planned through the online streaming website Hulu.

Hibberd, James. "Veronica Mars Revival Starring Kristen Bell Is in the Works at Hulu." Entertainment Weekly. August, 21, 2018. Accessed September 18, 2018. https://ew.com/tv/2018/08/21/veronica-mars-hulu/.

Wilcox, Rhonda V. and Sue Turnbull. "Introduction. Canonical Veronica: Veronica Mars and Vintage Television." In Investigating Veronica Mars: Essays on the Teen Detective Series, edited by Rhonda V. Wilcox and Sue Turnbull, 1-22. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2011.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: Production files, circa 2004-2007, and Artifacts, circa 2004- 2007.

Physical location:
A portion of the collection is located at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. A portion of the collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval. Audiovisual materials have not been processed and are not available for research at this time.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Veronica Mars production files, PA Mss 143. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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