THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN TELEVISION
It's been maligned for its content and accused of being the other opiate of the masses. But despite some bad PR, television has long been one of America's favorite pastimes, outpacing print and radio media in popularity, and securing coveted spots in the family living room and bedroom. Americans still tune in to watch in record numbers, though how and when we catch our favorite shows are changing dramatically.
This is a study of the most important social and cultural force in the United States during the past four decades. Since it emerged in the late 1940's as a nationally available medium of mass entertainment and information, commercial television has been the principal window through which Americans have viewed their world. What was new or popular or influential in American life came now through TV. The medium made nationwide events out of local happenings; and it transformed national, even international, events into neighborhood concerns. It made celebrities and toppled leaders. And as it described and interpreted the recent movements of humankind, it revealed the strengths and foibles of ourselves and others. It has shown us to be neither fully moral nor invincible: through TV we have realized our limitations.
The medium has also forever linked us to the capitalist ethic, by which it has been controlled from the outset. TV has operated as a commercial billboard, rudely invading the privacy of every American with its pitches for dog food, clothing, Bucks, fast food chains, and even candidates for the presidency of the United States. Still, the audience has never ceased to remain fascinated with the splashy spectacle. Indeed, its commercial announcements have become enduring cultural artifacts viewed devotedly for their nostalgic and artistic qualities.
Television rapidly became the cutting edge of social, political, economic, and cultural developments in the United States. It seemed to deliver the fullness of life of which the Great Depression and World War II had robbed earlier generations. It represented a reward for years of forbearance. TV was the ultimate American medium, requiring no physical labor, offering wonderful diversion, reaffirming the reliance on technology that Americans had developed in the twentieth century, and symbolizing a victory over deprivation that cut across class lines. Truly, video in the United States was the "tube of plenty," as media historian Erik Barnouw has described it.
This is a study of the most important social and cultural force in the United States during the past four decades. Since it emerged in the late 1940's as a nationally available medium of mass entertainment and information, commercial television has been the principal window through which Americans have viewed their world. What was new or popular or influential in American life came now through TV. The medium made nationwide events out of local happenings; and it transformed national, even international, events into neighborhood concerns. It made celebrities and toppled leaders. And as it described and interpreted the recent movements of humankind, it revealed the strengths and foibles of ourselves and others. It has shown us to be neither fully moral nor invincible: through TV we have realized our limitations.
The medium has also forever linked us to the capitalist ethic, by which it has been controlled from the outset. TV has operated as a commercial billboard, rudely invading the privacy of every American with its pitches for dog food, clothing, Bucks, fast food chains, and even candidates for the presidency of the United States. Still, the audience has never ceased to remain fascinated with the splashy spectacle. Indeed, its commercial announcements have become enduring cultural artifacts viewed devotedly for their nostalgic and artistic qualities.
Television rapidly became the cutting edge of social, political, economic, and cultural developments in the United States. It seemed to deliver the fullness of life of which the Great Depression and World War II had robbed earlier generations. It represented a reward for years of forbearance. TV was the ultimate American medium, requiring no physical labor, offering wonderful diversion, reaffirming the reliance on technology that Americans had developed in the twentieth century, and symbolizing a victory over deprivation that cut across class lines. Truly, video in the United States was the "tube of plenty," as media historian Erik Barnouw has described it.