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Veronica Mars production files
PA Mss 143
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Title:
Veronica Mars production files
Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 143
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
13 linear feet
(11 cartons, 1 document box, 1 flat oversize box)
Date (inclusive): circa 2004-2007
Abstract: This collection includes materials from the television series
Veronica Mars. It contains 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.
Physical Location: A portion of the collection is located at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).
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.
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
[Identification of Item],
Veronica Mars production files, PA Mss 143. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California,
Santa Barbara.
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.
Veronica Mars materials are largely comprised 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.
The collection is organized into the following series: Production files, circa 2004-2007, and Artifacts, circa 2004- 2007.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Veronica Mars (Television program) -- Archives
Television -- Production and direction
Women private investigators -- California -- Drama
Criminal behavior -- California -- Drama
Detective and mystery television programs
Television programs
Administrative records
Audiovisual materials
Banners
Financial records
Notes (documents)