Action television

The action television genre is a style of film that emerged in the 1960s. As with the action film genre, the action television is at term applied flexibly to present itself in conjunction with various tropes of multiple other genre narratives. This is showcased in early examples of the genre such as Starsky & Hutch (1975–1979) which featured regular sequences of car chases, shoot-outs, explosions, fights and scenes of urban pursuit. The style attaches itself to various other styles of film such as fantasy and horror, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and 21st century military themed espionage shows like 24 (2001–2010, 2014) and NCIS.

Unlike the film genre, the action genre for television was described by academic Yvonne Tasker as both was "largely untheorised" and understudied in media academia which she suggested was due to the low cultural status of early television works who developed the style.