” Dramatic television ‘shows’ are paracosms; invented ‘as if’ universes that persist by establishing and sustaining themselves in our imagination. Their formal purpose is to compete for popular attention in order to sell commercial products; those that win sell more products. Even ‘reality’ shows are paracosms, because the introduction of surveillance transforms the real into the enfictioned and affords a sense of spurious participation in viewers. “

https://www.facebook.com/notes/darin-stevenson/theater-of-mind-paracosms-and-television-shows/10153390978591169