The Columbia History of American Television » (New Edition)

Gary R. Edgerton is professor and chair of the communication and theater arts department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He has published eight books and more than seventy book chapters and journal articles on a wide assortment of television and media history topics, and is coeditor of the Journal of Popular Film and Television. In 2004 he received the American Culture Association Governing Board Award for Outstanding Contributions to American Cultural Studies.

Richly researched and engaging, The Columbia History of American Television tracks the growth of TV into a convergent technology, a global industry, a social catalyst, a viable art form, and a complex and dynamic reflection of the American mind and character.
Renowned media historian Gary R. Edgerton follows the technological progress and increasing cultural relevance of television from its prehistory (before 1947) to the Network Era (1948-1975) and the Cable Era (1976-1994). He considers the remodeling of television's look and purpose during World War II; the gender, racial, and ethnic components of its early broadcasts and audiences; its transformation of postwar America; and its function in the political life of the country. In conclusion, Edgerton takes a discerning look at our current Digital Era and the new forms of instantaneous communication that continue to change America's social, political, and economic landscape.

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction xi

Part I Going Public 1

1 An Idea Whose Time Had Come: Imagining Television-Before 1940 3

2 Not Going According to Plan: Remodeling the Tube in a Time of Crisis-1940-1947 60

3 Learning to Live with Television: Technology, Gender, and America's Early TV Audiences Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley 91

Part II Becoming National 111

4 Here Comes Television: Remarking American Life-1948-1954 113

5 The Halcyon Years: Beyond Anyone's Wildest Dream-1955-1963 156

6 Television and the Presidency: Eisenhower and Kennedy Mary Ann Watson 205

Part III Becoming International 235

7 A Great Awakening: Prime Time for Network Television-1964-1975 237

8 The Sky's the Limit: Satellites, Cable, and the Reinvention of Television-1976-1991 285

9 The Changing Face of Television: Turner Broadcasting System Jimmie L. Reeves Michael M. Epstein 323

Part IV Becoming Global 347

10 The Business of America Is Show Business: U.S. TV in Global Context-1992-Present 349

11 The Greatest Show on Earth: The Cosby Show and the Ascent of U.S. Sitcoms in the Global Television Marketplace Timothy J. Havens 390

12 Tune in Locally, Watch Globally: The Future of Television in the Age of the Internet 410

Notes 427

General Index 477

Television Programming Index 489