Defining Visions: Television and the American Experience in the 20th Century » (1st Edition)

Mary Ann Watson is Professor of Electronic Media and Film Studies at Eastern Michigan University. She is author of The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years (1994) and has been a consultant to several museum exhibitions and documentary films. Watson serves on the editorial board of Television Quarterly and is a frequent contributor to its pages.

Defining Visions is a powerful narrative social history that examines television’s rise as the great “certifying agent” in American life. This newly updated and fully revised edition extends its coverage to the end of the 20th century. It defines the “Television Age” as a discrete period in American history bracketed by monumental events—the triumph of the Allied victory of WWII and the devastation of 9/11.

• A powerful narrative social history that examines television’s rise as the great 'certifying agent' in American life
  
• Extends its coverage to the end of the twentieth century, and defines the 'Television Age' as a discrete period in American history that is bracketed by the end of WWII and 9/11
  
• Includes discussions of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton impeachment; the massacre at Columbine High School; the 2000 presidential election; and the tragic events of September 11, 2001
  
• Considers the cultural impact of recent prime-time programs such as Seinfeld, CSI and Will & Grace
  
• Presents a sweeping account of the connections between TV and American culture

List of Illustrations     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
Prologue     3
Television Enters the Picture     13
Television and the Melting Pot: Race and Ethnicity     29
Home on the Screen: Gender and Family     57
The Killing Tube: Violence and Crime     85
TV Goes All the Way: Romance and Sexuality     109
The Boxed-In Workplace: Jobs and Professions     131
Tuning Out Restraint: Indulgence and Advertising     153
Taking the Cue: Television and the American Personality     175
Deep Focus: Television and the American Character     199
The Webbed Republic: Democracy in the Television Age     229
Epilogue     259
Select Bibliography     267
Index     285