The term "quality television" has become standard when describing highly serialized, narratively complex, high production-value television content that mostly originates in the United States. These shows have been widely received, debated and discussed in pop culture, in journalistic and cultural criticism as well as in academic circles. This discussion mostly emphasizes narratives and structural lines, interests that stem from a literary studies perspective. This article intends to show the political and economic structures in which content arises. It will attempt to show how narrative and content can be explained, in part, through the specific embeddedness of production in U.S. regulatory and economic frameworks. Quality television exemplifies a shift from a safety-minded orientation toward public morals to an orientation to attention.