Although not considered a formal area of study, scholarship on the uses, content, and effects of entertaining media has been central to communication studies and related fields for more than a century. The serious study of entertainment seems paradoxical, as we presume entertainment to be the “lighter side” of our daily lives. Yet as revealed in this volume, entertainment media serve as cultural artifacts that shape our understandings of various peoples and publics in ways that invite deeper, immersive, and increasingly interactive engagement.