Encyclopedia of Television. Volume 3. M-R (2004)

M U S E U M O F B R O A D C A S T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
TELEVISION
Encyclopedia of
Second Edition
M U S E U M O F B R O A D C A S T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
TELEVISION
Encyclopedia of
Second Edition
Volume 3
M–R
Horace Newcomb
EDITOR
FITZROY DEARBORN
New York • London
Published in 2004 by
Fitzroy Dearborn
An imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016
Copyright © 1997, 2004 Fitzroy Dearborn, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
First published by
Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers
70 East Walton Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
U.S.A.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Encyclopedia of television / Museum of Broadcast Communications ; Horace

Newcomb, editor.––2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57958-394-6 (set : alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-57958-411-X (v. 1 :
alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-57958-412-8 (v. 2 : alk. paper) -- ISBN
1-57958-413-6 (v. 3 : alk. paper) -- ISBN 1-57958-456-X (v. 4 : alk.
paper)
1. Television broadcasting--Encyclopedias. I. Title: Encyclopedia of
television. II. Newcomb, Horace. III. Museum of Broadcast
Communications.
PN1992.18.E53 2005
384.55'03--dc22
2004003947
ISBN 00-203-99783-2 Master e-book ISBN

Inhalt
Advisory Board vi
Alphabetical List of Entries vii
The Encyclopedia Entries M–R 1395–1986
Notes on Contributors 2639
Index 2659
Advisory Board
Robert C. Allen Mary Jane Miller

Martin Allor Albert Moran
Manuel Alvarado Barry Sherman
Charlotte Brunsdon Lynn Spigel
Edward Buscombe Christopher H. Sterling
Herman Gray Mary Ann Watson
John Hartley Brian Winston
vi
Alphabetical List of Entries
Volume 1
Abbensetts, Michael American Women in Radio and Television

Abbott, Paul Americanization
ABC Family Channel America’s Funniest Home Videos
Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) America’s Most Wanted
Absolutely Fabulous Amerika
A.C. Nielsen Company Amos ’n’ Andy
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Anchor
Action/Adventure Programs Ancier, Garth
Action for Children’s Television Ancillary Markets
Activist Television Andy Griffith Show, The
Adaptations Animal Planet
Advanced Television Systems Committee Anne of Green Gables
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Annenberg, Walter
Advertising Anthology Drama
Advertising Agency Arbitron
Advertising, Company Voice Archives for Television Materials
Advocacy Groups Argentina
Aesthetics, Television Arledge, Roone
Africa, Sub-Saharan Armstrong Circle Theatre
Ailes, Roger Army-McCarthy Hearings
Alcoa Hour, The Arnaz, Desi
Alda, Alan Arsenio Hall Show, The
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Arthur, Beatrice
Alice Arthur Godfrey Shows (Various)
All Channel Legislation Arts and Entertainment
All in the Family Ascent of Man, The
Allen, Debbie Asner, Ed
Allen, Fred Asper, Izzy
Allen, Gracie Association of Independent Television Stations / As-
Allen, Steve sociation of Local Television Stations
Alliance Atlantis Communications Atkinson, Rowan
Allison, Fran Attenborough, David
Allocation Aubrey, James T.
Ally McBeal Audience Research: Cultivation Analysis
Almond, Paul Audience Research: Effects Analysis
Altman, Robert Audience Research: Industry and Market Analysis
Amen Audience Research: Overview
American Bandstand Audience Research: Reception Analysis
American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
American Forces Radio and Television Service Australia
American Movie Classics Australian Production Companies
vii
Australian Programming Boys from the Blackstuff

Australian Programming: Indigenous Boys of St. Vincent, The
Avengers, The Brady Bunch, The
Azcarraga, Emilio, and Emilio Azcarraga Milmo Bragg, Melvyn
Brambell, Wilfrid
Baird, John Logie Branding
Bakewell, Joan Bravo
Ball, Lucille Bravo! Canada
Barney Miller Brazil
Barnouw, Erik Brideshead Revisited
Bassett, John Briggs, Asa
Batman Brinkley, David
BBM Canada British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Beachcombers, The British Programming
Beaton, Norman British Sky Broadcasting
Beavis and Butt-head British Television
Belgium Brittain, Donald
Bell Canada Broadband
Bell Globe Media Broadcasting
Bellamy, Ralph Broadcasting Standards Commission
Ben Casey Brodkin, Herbert
Bennett, Alan Brokaw, Tom
Benny, Jack Brooke-Taylor, Tim
Benson Brooks, James L.
Berg, Gertrude Brookside
Berle, Milton Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Berlusconi, Silvio Bureau of Measurement
Bernstein, Sidney Burnett, Carol
Bertelsmann AG Burns, Allan
Berton, Pierre Burns, George
Betacam Burns, Ken
Betamax Case Burr, Raymond
Beulah Burrows, James
Beverly Hillbillies, The
Beverly Hills 90210 Cable Modem
Bewitched Cable Networks
Big Brother Cable News Network (CNN)
Billy Graham Crusades Cable Television: United States
Birt, John Caesar, Sid
Black Entertainment Television Cagney and Lacey
Black and White in Colour Call Signs/Call Letters
Black and White Minstrel Show, The Camcorder
Blacklisting Cameron, Earl
Bleasdale, Alan Canada
Blue Peter Canada: A People’s History
Bob Newhart Show, The/Newhart Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Newsworld
Bochco, Steven Canadian Cable Television Association
Bogart, Paul Canadian Film and Television Production
Bolam, James Association
Bonanza Canadian Morning Television
Boone, Richard Canadian Production Companies
Borrowers, The Canadian Programming in English
Boyle, Harry Canadian Programming in French
viii
Canadian Specialty Cable Channels Cock, Gerald

Canadian Television Network Codco
Candid Camera Coe, Fred
Cannell, Stephen J. Cole, George
CanWest Global Communications Colgate Comedy Hour, The
Captain Video and His Video Rangers Collins, Bill
Captioning Color Television
Cariboo Country Colorization
Carney, Art Coltrane, Robbie
Carol Burnett Show, The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
Carsey, Marcy Columbo
Carson, Johnny Comedy Central
Carter, Thomas Comedy, Domestic Settings
Cartier, Rudolph Comedy, Workplace
Cartoon Network Communications Act of 1934
Cartoons Communications Satellite Corporation
Case, Steve Computers in Television
Casualty Convergence
Cathy Come Home Cooke, Alistair
Cavalcade of America Cooking Shows
Censorship Cooney, Joan Ganz
Channel Four Coproduction, International
Channel One News COPS
Charles, Glen and Les Copyright Law and Television
Charlie’s Angels Corbett, Harry H.
Chase, David Corday, Barbara
Chayefsky, Paddy Coronation Street
Cheers Cosby, Bill
Cheyenne Cosby Show, The
Chicago School of Television Cost-Per-Thousand and Cost-Per-Point
Children and Television Country Music Television
China Country Practice, A
China Beach Couric, Katie
Chung, Connie Courtroom Television
Citytv Cousteau, Jacques
Civil Rights Movement and Television, The Cracker
Civil War, The Craft, Christine
Civilisation: A Personal View Craig, Wendy
Clark, Dick Crawford, Hector
Clarkson, Adrienne Criticism, Television (Journalistic)
Clearance Cronkite, Walter
Cleese, John C-SPAN
Clinton Impeachment Trial Cuba
Closed Captioning Curtin, Jane
Closed Circuit Television Czech Republic, Slovakia
Volume 2
Da Vinci’s Inquest Daly, Tyne

Dad’s Army Danger Bay
Dallas Dann, Michael
ix
Danny Kaye Show, The East Side/West Side

Dark Shadows EastEnders
Dateline NBC Ebersol, Dick
Davies, Andrew Ed Sullivan Show, The
Day After, The Educational Television
Day, Robin Egypt
Death on the Rock Eisner, Michael
Defenders, The Elderly and Television, The
Degrassi Ellen
Demographics Ellerbee, Linda
Dench, Judi Emerson, Faye
Denmark E.N.G.
DePoe, Norman English, Diane
Deregulation Englishman Abroad, An
Desmond’s Entertainment Tonight
Detective Programs Equal Time Rule
Development Ernie Kovacs Show, The (Various)
Development Communication Ethics and Television
Dick Van Dyke Show, The European Audiovisual Observatory
Different World, A European Broadcasting Union
Digital Television European Commercial Broadcasting Satellite
Digital Video Recorder European Union: Television Policy
Diller, Barry Eurovision Song Contest
Dimbleby, Richard Experimental Video
Dinah Shore Show, The (Various) Eyes on the Prize
Dingo, Ernie Eyewitness to History
Direct Broadcast Satellite
Director, Television Fairness Doctrine
Disasters and Television Falk, Peter
Discovery Channel Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, The
Discovery Channel (Canada) Famille Plouffe, La
Disney, Walt Family
Distant Signal Family on Television
Dixon of Dock Green Family Ties
Doctor Who Family Viewing Time
Docudrama Farnsworth, Philo T.
Documentary Father Knows Best
Docusoap Father Ted
Dolan, Charles F. Fawlty Towers
Donahue, Phil FBI, The
Dowdle, James Charles Fecan, Ivan
Downs, Hugh Federal Communications Commission
Dr. Kildare Federal Trade Commission
Dragnet Fifth Estate, The
Dramedy FilmFour/ Film on Four
Drew, Robert Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
Dubbing Finland
DuMont, Allen B. Fireside Theatre
Dyer, Gwynne First People’s Television Broadcasting in Canada
Dyke, Greg Fisher, Terry Louise
Dynasty Flintstones, The
Flip Wilson Show, The
E! Entertainment Network Flow
Early Frost, An Fontana, Tom
x
Food Network Goodyear Playhouse

Foote, Horton Grade, Lew
For the Record Grade, Michael
Ford, Anna Grandstand
Format Sales, International Grange Hill
Forsyte Saga, The Great Performances
Forsythe, John Greece
Four Corners Green Acres
FOX Broadcasting Company Greenberg, Harold
France Greene, Lorne
Francis, Arlene Griffin, Merv
Frank N. Magid Associates Griffith, Andy
Frank, Reuven Griffiths, Trevor
Frankenheimer, John Grundy, Reg
Frank’s Place Gunsmoke
Frasier Gyngell, Bruce
Frederick, Pauline
Freed, Fred Hagman, Larry
“Freeze” of 1948 Haley, Alex
French, Dawn Hallmark Hall of Fame
Friendly, Fred W. Hancock’s Half Hour
Friends Hanna, William, and Joseph Barbera
Front Page Challenge Happy Days
Frontline Harding, Gilbert
Frost, David Harris, Susan
Frum, Barbara Have Gun—Will Travel
Fugitive, The Have I Got News for You
Furness, Betty Hawaii Five-0
Hazel
Garner, James Heartbreak High
Garnett, Tony Hemsley, Sherman
Garroway at Large Henning, Paul
Gartner, Hana Hennock, Frieda Barkin
Gelbart, Larry Henry, Lenny
Geller, Henry Henson, Jim
Gender and Television Hewitt, Don
General Electric Theater Hey Hey It’s Saturday
Genre High-Definition Television
Geography and Television Hill Street Blues
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Hill, Benny
Germany Hillsborough
Gerussi, Bruno Hill-Thomas Hearings
Get Smart Hird, Thora
Gleason, Jackie History and Television
Gless, Sharon Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The
Globalization Hockey Night in Canada
Godfrey, Arthur Hodge, Patricia
Goldbergs, The Holbrook, Hal
“Golden Age” of Television Hollywood and Television
Golden Girls, The Holocaust
Goldenson, Leonard Home Box Office (HBO)
Goldie, Grace Wyndham Home Shopping as Concept and the Television Chan-
Good Times nels (various)
Goodson, Mark, and Bill Todman Home Video
xi
Homicide Kellner, Jamie

Homicide: Life on the Street Kendal, Felicity
Honey West Kennedy, Graham
Honeymooners, The Kennedy, John F.: Assassination and Funeral
Hong Kong Kennedy, Robert F.: Assassination
Hood, Stuart Kennedy Martin, Troy
Hooks, Benjamin Lawson Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960
Hope, Bob Kenya
Hopkins, John Kids in the Hall
Hour Glass Kinescope
Howdy Doody Show, The King, Larry
Howerd, Frankie King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr.: Assassination
Huggins, Roy King of Kensington
Hungary Kinnear, Roy
Huntley, Chet Kinoy, Ernest
Kintner, Robert E.
I Claudius Kirck, Harvey
I Love Lucy Klein, Paul
I Spy Kluge, John
Iceland Knowledge Network
Iger, Robert Koppel, Ted
Independent Production Companies Kovacs, Ernie
Independent Television Service Kraft Television Theatre
India Kukla, Fran and Ollie
Inspector Morse Kuralt, Charles
Interactive Television Kureishi, Hanif
International Telecommunications Union
International Television Program Markets L.A. Law
Ireland La Femme Nikita
Isaacs, Jeremy La Frenais, Ian
Israel La Plante, Lynda
Italy Lamb, Brian
It’s Garry Shandling’s Show/The Larry Sanders Show Lambert, Verity
I’ve Got a Secret Landon, Michael
Lane, Carla
Jackson, Gordon Language and Television
Jackson, Michael (British) Lansbury, Angela
Jaffrey, Madhur Lassie
Jaffrey, Saeed Late Show with David Letterman (Late Night with
James, Sid David Letterman)
Japan Laverne and Shirley
Jason, David Law & Order
Jeffersons, The Lawrence Welk Show, The
Jenkins, Charles Francis Laybourne, Geraldine
Jennings, Peter Le Mesurier, John
Jeopardy! Lear, Norman
Jewel in the Crown, The Leave It to Beaver
Johnson, Lamont Leno, Jay
Jones, Quincy Leonard, Herbert B.
Julia Leonard, Sheldon
Julien, Isaac Leslie Uggams Show, The
Juneau, Pierre Letterman, David
Levin, Gerald
Kate and Allie Levinson, Richard
Keeshan, Bob Liberace Show, The
xii
License Local Television

License Fee Lone Ranger, The
Life of Riley, The Loretta Young Show, The
Life on Earth Lou Grant
Lifetime Low Power Television
Likely Lads, The Lumet, Sidney
Link, William Lumley, Joanna
Little House on the Prairie Lupino, Ida
Littlefield, Warren Lyndhurst, Nicholas
Loach, Ken
Volume 3
Magic Roundabout, The Mercer, Rick

Magnum, P.I. Mergers and Acquisitions
Malone, John C. Messer, Don
Mama Mexico
Man Alive Miami Vice
Man From U.N.C.L.E., The/The Girl From Microwave
U.N.C.L.E. Midwest Video Case
Mann, Abby Miller, J.P.
Mann, Delbert Milton Berle Show, The
Mansbridge, Peter Minder
Marchant, Tony Miner, Worthington
Marcus Welby, M.D. Miniseries
Market Minow, Newton
Marketplace Mirren, Helen
Married . . . With Children Miss Marple
Marshall, Garry Mission: Impossible
Martin, Quinn Monkees, The
Marx, Groucho Monkhouse, Bob
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Monty Python’s Flying Circus
M*A*S*H Moonlighting
Mass Communication Moonves, Leslie R.
Mastermind Moore, Garry
Maude Moore, Mary Tyler
Maverick Moore, Roger
Max Headroom Morecambe and Wise
McDonald, Trevor Morning Television Programs
McGovern, Jimmy Motion Picture Association of America
McGrath, John Movie Network, The
McKay, Jim Movie Professionals and Television
McKern, Leo Movies on Television
McLuhan, Marshall Moyers, Bill
McQueen, Trina MSNBC
Media Conglomerates MTV
Media Events MuchMusic
Medic Munroe, Carmen
Medical Video Muppet Show, The
Meet the Press Murder, She Wrote
Melodrama Murdoch, Rupert K.
Mercer, David Murphy Brown
xiii
Murphy, Thomas S. Ohlmeyer, Don

Murrow, Edward R. Old Grey Whistle Test, The
Music Licensing Olympics and Television
Music on Television Omnibus
Must Carry Rules One Day at a Time
My Little Margie One Foot in the Grave
My Three Sons Only Fools and Horses
Open University
Naked City Original Amateur Hour, The
Naked Civil Servant, The Ouimet, Alphonse
Name of the Game, The Our Friends in the North
Narrowcasting Our Miss Brooks
Nash, Knowlton Ovitz, Michael
Nat “King” Cole Show, The Ownership
Nation, Terry Paar, Jack
National, The/The Journal Paik, Nam June
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Paley, William S.
National Asian American Telecommunications Asso- Palin, Michael
ciation Palmer, Geoffrey
National Association of Broadcasters Panorama
National Association of Television Program Execu- Park, Nick
tives Parker, Everett C.
National Broadcasting Company (NBC) Parkinson
National Cable and Telecommunications Association Parkinson, Michael
National Education Television Center Parliament, Coverage by Television
National Telecommunication and Information Admin- Partridge Family, The
istration Pauley, Jane
Nature of Things, The PAX Television
NBC Mystery Movie, The Pay Cable
NBC Reports Pay-per-View/Video-on-Demand
NBC White Paper Pay Television
Neighbours Peck, Bob
Nelson, Ozzie and Harriet Pee-wee’s Playhouse
Netherlands, The Pennies from Heaven
Networks: United States Perry Mason
New Zealand Person to Person
Newhart, Bob Pertwee, Jon
Newman, Sydney Peter Gunn
News Corporation, Ltd. Peter Pan
News, Local and Regional Peyton Place
News, Network Phil Silvers Show, The
Nichols, Dandy Philbin, Regis
Nick at Nite/TV Land Philco Television Playhouse
Nielsen, A.C. Phillips, Irna
Nixon, Agnes Pierce, Frederick S.
North of 60 Pilot Programs
Northern Exposure Pittman, Robert W.
Norway Playhouse 90
Not the Nine O’clock News Poland
Not Only . . . But Also . . . Poldark
NYPD Blue Police Programs
Police Story
O’Connor, Carroll Political Processes and Television
Odd Couple, The Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher
xiv
Pool Coverage Reality Television

Porridge Red Green Show, The
Post, Mike Red Skelton Show, The
Potter, Dennis Redmond, Phil
Powell, Dick Redstone, Sumner
Power without Glory Rees, Marian
Presidential Nominating Conventions Reid, Tim
Press Conference Reiner, Carl
Prime Suspect Reith, John C.W.
Prime Time Religion on Television
Prime Time Access Rule Remote Control Device
Primetime Live Reruns/Repeats
Princess Diana: Death and Funeral Coverage Reynolds, Gene
Prinze, Freddie Rich Man, Poor Man
Prisoner Rigg, Diana
Prisoner, The Riggs, Marlon
Producer in Television Rintels, David W.
Programming Rising Damp
PROMAX Rivera, Geraldo
Pryor, Richard Road to Avonlea
Public Access Television Robertson, Pat
Public Interest, Convenience, and Necessity Robinson, Hubbell
Public-Service Announcement Rockford Files, The
Public-Service Broadcasting Roddenberry, Gene
Public Television Rogers, Fred McFeely
Puerto Rico Rogers, Ted
Room 222
Quatermass Roots
Quebecor Media Rose, Reginald
Queer As Folk Roseanne
Quentin Durgens, M.P. Roseanne
Quiz and Game Shows Rosenthal, Jack
Quiz Show Scandals Route 66
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In
Racism, Ethnicity and Television Royal Canadian Air Farce, The
Radio Corporation of America Royalty and Royals on Television
Radio Television News Directors Association Royle Family, The
Randall, Tony Rule, Elton
Rather, Dan Rumpole of the Bailey
Ratings Rushton, William
Ready Steady Go Russell, Ken
Reagan, Ronald Russia
Real World, The
Volume 4
St. Elsewhere Sandford, Jeremy

Sagansky, Jeff Sandrich, Jay
Salant, Richard S. Sanford and Son
Sale of the Century Sarnoff, David
xv
Sarnoff, Robert Some Mothers Do ’ave ’em

Satellite Sony Corporation
Saturday Night Live Sopranos, The
Saunders, Jennifer Soul Train
Sawyer, Diane South Africa
Scales, Prunella South Korea
Schaffner, Franklin South Park
Schorr, Daniel Southeast Asia
Schwartz, Sherwood Space Program and Television
Science Fiction Programs Spain
Science Programs Spanish International Network
Scotland Special/Spectacular
Scrambled Signals Speight, Johnny
Second City Television Spelling, Aaron
Secondari, John H. Spin-Off
See It Now Spitting Image
Seeing Things Sponsor
Seinfeld Sports and Television
Sellers, Peter Sportscasters
Selling of the Pentagon, The Spriggs, Elizabeth
Serling, Rod Spy Programs
Sesame Street Standards
Sesame Workshop Standards and Practices
Sevareid, Eric Stanton, Frank
Sex Star, Darren
Sex and the City Star Trek
Sexual Orientation and Television Starowicz, Mark
Share Starsky and Hutch
Shatner, William Station and Station Group
Shaw, Bernard Steadicam
Sheen, Fulton J. Steptoe and Son
Sherlock Holmes Steve Allen Show, The (Various)
Shore, Dinah Streaming Video
Showtime Network Street Legal
Silliphant, Stirling Street-Porter, Janet
Silverman, Fred Studio
Silvers, Phil Studio One
Simpsons, The Subtitling
Simulcasting Sullivan, Ed
Singing Detective, The Super Bowl
Siskel and Ebert Superstation
Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Survivor
60 Minutes, 60 Minutes II Suspense
$64,000 Question, The/The $64,000 Challenge Susskind, David
Skelton, Red Sustaining Program
Skippy Suzuki, David
Smith, Howard K. Swallow, Norman
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Sweden
Soap Sweeney, The
Soap Opera Switzerland
Social Class and Television Sykes, Eric
Society for Motion Picture and Television Sylvania Waters
Engineers Syndication
xvi
Tabloid Television in the United States Turner Broadcasting Systems

Taiwan Turner, Ted
Talk Show in the United States 20th Century, The
Talking Heads 20/20
Tarses, Jay 24-Hour News
Tartikoff, Brandon Twilight Zone, The
Taxi Twin Peaks
Teaser 2000 Presidential Election Coverage
Technology, Television 227
Teenagers and Television in the United States
Telcos Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception, The
Telecommunications Act of 1996 Undercurrents
Telefilm Canada Unions/Guilds
Telemundo United States Congress and Television
Telenovela United States Presidency and Television (Historical
Teleroman Overview)
Teletext Universal (NBC-Universal, Vivendi Universal)
Telethon University Challenge
Television Studies Univision
Terrorism Untouchables, The
That Girl UPN Television Network
That Was the Week That Was Upstairs, Downstairs
Thaw, John
Theme Songs Valour and the Horror, The
thirtysomething Van Dyke, Dick
This Hour Has Seven Days Variety Programs
This Is Your Life Very British Coup, A
Thomas, Danny Victory at Sea
Thomas, Tony Video Editing
Thorn Birds, The Videocassette
Three’s Company Videodisc
Thunderbirds Videotape
Tiananmen Square Videotex and Online Services
Till Death Us Do Part Vietnam: A Television History
Tillstrom, Burr Vietnam on Television
Time Shifting Violence and Television
Time Warner Voice of Firestone, The
Tinker, Grant Voice-Over
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tisch, Laurence W (formerly Women’s Television Network)
Tiswas Wagon Train
Tommy Hunter Show, The Wales
Tonight Walking with Dinosaurs
Tonight Show, The Wallace, Mike
Top of the Pops Walsh, Mary
Touched By an Angel Walt Disney Programs (Various Titles)
Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy, A Walters, Barbara
Trade Magazines Waltons, The
Translators and Boosters War Game, The
Tribune Broadcasting War on Television
Trodd, Kenith Warner Brothers Presents
Troughton, Patrick Watch Mr. Wizard
Turkey Watch with Mother
xvii
Watergate Wojeck
Waterman, Dennis Wolf, Dick
Waters, Ethel Wolper, David L.
Watkins, Peter Women of Brewster Place, The
Watson, Patrick Wonder Years, The
Wayne and Shuster Wood, Robert
WB Network Wood, Victoria
Wearing, Michael Woodward, Edward
Weaver, Sylvester (Pat) Woodward, Joanne
Webb, Jack Workplace Programs
Wednesday Play, The World at War, The
Weinberger, Ed World in Action
Weldon, Fay Worrel, Trix
Welland, Colin Wrather, Jack
Wendt, Jana Wrestling on Television
Western Wright, Robert C.
Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse Writer in Television
Weyman, Ron Wyman, Jane
Wheel of Fortune
Wheldon, Huw Xena: Warrior Princess
Whicker, Alan X-Files, The
White, Betty XYY Man, The
Whitfield, June
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Yentob, Alan
Widows Yes, Minister
Wild Kingdom Young, Loretta
Wildlife and Nature Programs Young, Robert
Wildmon, Donald Your Hit Parade
Williams, Raymond Youth Television
Wilson, Flip
Winant, Ethel Z Cars
Wind at My Back Zapping
Windsor, Frank Ziv Television Programs, Inc.
Winfrey, Oprah Znaimer, Moses
Winters, Jonathan Zorro
Wiseman, Frederick Zwick, Edward, and Marshall Herskovitz
Witt, Paul Junger Zworykin, Vladimir
xviii
[(H1L)]
xix
M
Magic Roundabout, The
France/U.K. Children’s Entertainment
The Magic Roundabout was a long-running animation The first few programs introduced the basic story-
for preschool children that became a cult classic. The line. Mr. Rusty is unhappy because his roundabout
five-minute program was first broadcast in the 1960s, (fairground carousel with horses) has fallen into disre-
shown at the end of the British Broadcasting Corpora- pair, and the children no longer visit. A magical jack-
tion’s (BBC’s) weekday children’s programs. The in-the-box, called Zebedee, appears one day and, using
Magic Roundabout offered an assortment of colorful, his magic, repairs the roundabout. On the sound of the
toylike characters for children and a dry and witty script music from Mr. Rusty’s barrel organ, the roundabout
for adults. A revival on Channel 4 in the 1990s brought turns, and the children return to play. Zebedee offers
the Magic Roundabout to a new generation of fans. one of the children a special gift: a visit to a magic gar-
Despite being considered a national institution in den. The rest of the series follows this child, a young
the United Kingdom, The Magic Roundabout was dis- girl named Florence, and her encounters with the odd
covered in France by Doreen Stephens, the head of the assortment of characters that inhabit the magic garden.
BBC’s Family Programs. French animator Serge The remaining episodes were short interactions be-
Danot’s Le Manège Enchanté had been running on tween the characters, the program starting with the
French television for a couple of years. Danot built the roundabout and often ending with Zebedee bounding
sets and shot the puppets one frame at a time to create into the frame, announcing, “Time for bed!”
a three-dimensional animation. Eric Thompson, father In addition to Florence, the main characters were
of actress Emma and a presenter on the BBC preschool Dougal, a long-haired orange dog with a fondness for
program Playschool, was chosen as writer and narrator lumps of sugar; Brian, a yellow snail; Ermintrude, a
for the English version. Rather than translating pink cow with red spots who wore a hat; and Dylan, a
Danot’s script, Thompson chose to rename the charac- floppy-eared rabbit who wore clothes, carried a guitar,
ters and write new scripts. First appearing on the BBC and spent most of the time sleeping propped against a
in 1965, The Magic Roundabout was shown just be- tree. There were also two elderly characters, Mr.
fore the 5:55 P.M. main early-evening news bulletin on McHenry, the gardener who rode a tricycle, and the
BBC 1, which meant that many adults caught the pro- previously mentioned Mr. Rusty. The garden was
gram while waiting for the news. At the start of a new home to two-dimensional trees and flowers that spun
series in October 1967, Radio Times (the BBC listings like pinwheels. Aired in black and white, it was not un-
magazine) described the series as a “favorite with chil- til 1970 that the bright colors of Danot’s designs could
dren from two to ninety-two.” be seen in their true splendor on British television.
1395
Magic Roundabout, The
If the bright designs of the characters and scenery rent affairs, personalities, and topics well beyond the
appealed to its younger viewers, then it was Thomp- comprehension of its preschool audience. The series
son’s commentary, with frequent references to topical ran on Channel 4 until 1994, with reruns still being
issues and personalities, that appealed to the older shown to the present day.
viewers. One of the most often quoted pieces of dia- Danot made a feature length version of the program,
logue from the series was Dougal’s manifesto when Pollux et Le Chat Bleu (Pollux was the original French
standing before Parliament: “I’m in favor of the four- name for Dougal). Eric Thompson narrated an English
day week, the 47-minute hour and the 30-second version, Dougal and the Blue Cat, which was released
minute. This gives a lot of time for lying about in the in Britain in 1972. A stage production of the program
sun and eating” (a comment on the British govern- toured the United Kingdom in 1993.
ment’s introduction of the three-day week). Kathleen Luckey
As is the case with many cult programs, rumors
abounded about subliminal messages in the program.
Most of the rumors that surrounded The Magic Round- Programming History
about centered on drugs; the psychedelic garden was BBC 1965–77 Weekdays 5:50
an acid trip, Dougal’s favorite sugar lumps were LSD, Channel 4 1992–94 Weekdays 7:37
and Dylan was in fact named after Bob Dylan. All
these ideas were officially dismissed but added to the
cult status of the program. The BBC was inundated Credits (English version)
with complaints in October 1966, when the network Created by Serge Danot
moved The Magic Roundabout to the earlier time of For BBC (written and narrated by Eric Thompson)
4:55, which meant that fewer working adults would be For Channel 4 (written by Nigel and Roger Planer)
able to view it. The BBC bowed to public pressure and Narrated by Nigel Planer
moved it back to the later slot several weeks later. Produced/directed by Brendan Donnison
Even though Danot had stopped production of the se- Executive producer Lucinda Whiteley
ries in 1972, The Magic Roundabout remained on the A Lyps Inc. Production for Channel 4 and ABTV
BBC, with reruns, until 1977. (Danot resumed produc-
tion of the series in 1980 with 55 new episodes.)
Eric Thompson died in 1982, so when Channel 4 Further Reading
purchased rights to the new episodes in 1992, the actor
Cook, William, “Time for Bed Again,” New Statesman and So-
Nigel Planer (best known in the United Kingdom for ciety (March 8, 1996)
his role as Neil the hippy in The Young Ones) took over Home, Anna, Into the Box of Delights: A History of Children’s
the role of narrator, writing the new scripts along with Television, London: BBC Books, 1993
his brother Roger. Shown as one of Channel 4’s early- Law, Phyllida, Emma Thompson, and Sophie Thompson, The
morning children’s programs, Planer’s version re- Adventures of Dougal, London: Bloomsbury, 1998
Macksey, Serena, “His Life as a Dog, My Life as a Cow,” The
mained faithful to the earlier version (even carrying Independent (May 22, 1998)
the credit line “with grateful acknowledgement to Eric Matthews, John, “Magic Roundabout: The Trip That Never
Thompson”). The programs continued to refer to cur- Was,” Classic Television, 5 (June/July 1998)
Magid, Frank N. See Frank N. Magid Associates
1396
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
U.S. Detective Program
A permutation of the hard-boiled detective genre, offered a richness of narrative, moving beyond the
Magnum, P.I. aired on the Columbia Broadcasting simpler whodunit of the hard-boiled detective series
System (CBS) from 1980 through 1988. Initially, the that populated American television in the 1960s and
network had the series developed to make use of the 1970s.
extensive production facilities built during the 1970s Part of the success of Magnum, P.I. stemmed from
in Hawaii for the successful police procedural Hawaii the combination of familiar hard-boiled action and ex-
Five-O and intended the program to reflect a style and otic locale. Just as important perhaps, the series was
character suited to Hawaiian glamour. For the first five one of the first to regularly explore the impact of the
years the series was broadcast, it ranked in the top 20 Vietnam War on the American cultural psyche. Many
shows for each year. of the most memorable episodes deal with contempo-
The series was set in the contemporary milieu of rary incidents triggered by memories and relationships
1980s Hawaii, a melting pot of ethnic and social growing out of Magnum’s past war experiences. In-
groups. Thomas Magnum, played by Tom Selleck, is a
former naval intelligence officer making his way as a
private investigator in the civilian crossroads between
Eastern and Western cultures. In charge of the security
for the estate of the never-seen author Robin Masters,
Magnum lives a relatively carefree life on the property.
A friendly antagonism and respect exists between
Magnum and Jonathan Higgins III (John Hillerman),
Masters’s overseer of the estate. Though both men
come from military backgrounds, Magnum’s free-
wheeling style often clashes with Higgins’s more man-
nered British discipline. In addition, two of Magnum’s
former military buddies round out the regular cast.
T.C., or Theodore Calvin (Roger Mosely), operates
and owns a helicopter charter company, a service that
comes in handy for many of Magnum’s cases. Rick
Wright (Larry Manetti), a shady nightclub owner, of-
ten provides Magnum with important information
through his links to the criminal element lurking below
the vibrant tropical colors of the Hawaiian paradise.
Though originally dominated by an episodic narra-
tive structure, Magnum, P.I. moved far beyond the
simple demands of stock characters solving the crime
of the week. Without using the open-ended strategy
developed by the prime-time soap opera in the 1980s,
the series nevertheless created complex characteriza-
tions by building a cumulative text. Discussion of
events from previous episodes would continually pop
up, constructing memory as an integral element of the
series franchise. While past actions might not have an
immediate impact on any individual weekly narrative,
the overall effect was to expand the range of traits that
characters might invoke in any given situation. For the Magnum P.I., Tom Selleck, 1980–88.
regular viewer of the series, the cumulative strategy Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1397
Magnum, P.I.
deed, the private investigator’s abhorrence of disci- Cast

pline and cynical attitude toward authority seem to Thomas Sullivan Magnum Tom Selleck
stem from the general mistrust of government and mil- Jonathan Quayle Higgins III John Hillerman
itary bureaucracies that came to permeate American T.C. (Theodore Calvin) Roger E. Mosley
society in the early 1970s. Rick (Orville Wright) Larry Manetti
On one level, Magnum became the personification Robin Masters
of an American society that had yet to deal effectively (voice only) 1981–85 Orson Welles
with the fallout from the Vietnam War. By the end of Mac Reynolds Jeff MacKay
the 1980s, the struggle to deal with the unresolved is- Lt. Tanaka Kwan Hi Lim
sues of the war erupted full force into American popu- Lt. Maggie Poole Jean Bruce Scott
lar culture. Before Magnum began to deal with his Agatha Chumley Gillian Dobb
psychological scars in the context of the 1980s, net- Asst. District Attorney,
work programmers apparently believed that any dis- Carol Baldwin Kathleen Lloyd
cussion of the war in a series would prompt viewers to Francis Hofstetler (“Ice Pick”) Elisha Cook Jr.
tune it out. With the exception of Norman Lear’s All in
the Family in the early 1970s, entertainment network Producers
programming acted, for the most part, as if the war had Donald P. Bellisario, Glen Larson, Joel Rogosin, John
never occurred. However, Magnum, P.I.’s success G. Stephens, Douglas Benton, J. Rickley Dumm,
proved programmers wrong. Certainly, the series’ suc- Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider, Douglas Green,
cess opened the door for other dramatic series that Reuben Leder, Chas. Floyd Johnson, Nick Thiel,
were able to examine the Vietnam War in its historical Chris Abbot
setting. Series such as Tour of Duty and China Beach,
though not as popular, did point out that room existed Programming History
in mainstream broadcasting for discussions of the 150 episodes; 6 2-hour episodes
emotional and political wounds that had yet to heal. As CBS
Thomas Magnum began to deal with his past, so too December 1980–
did the American public. August 1981 Thursday 9:00–10:00
Critics of the show often point out, however, that in September 1981–
dealing with this past, the series recuperated and re- April 1986 Thursday 8:00–9:00
constructed the involvement of the United States in April 1986–June 1986 Saturday 10:00–11:00
Vietnam. While some aspects of the show seem June 1986–August 1986 Tuesday 9:00–10:00
harshly critical of that entanglement, many episodes September 1986–May 1987 Wednesday
justify and rationalize the conflict and the U.S. role. 9:00–10:00
As a result, Magnum, P.I. is shot through with con- July 1987–February 1988 Wednesday
flicting and often contradictory perspectives, and any 9:00–10:00
“final” interpretation must take the entire series into June 1988–September 1988 Monday 10:00–11:00
account rather than concentrate on single events or
episodes. The construction of this long-running narra- Further Reading
tive, riddled as it is with continuously developing
characterizations, ideological instability, and multi- Anderson, Christopher, “Reflections on Magnum, P.I.,” in Tele-
vision: The Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb, New
layered generic resonance, illustrates many aspects of York: Oxford University Press, 1976; 4th edition, 1987
commercial U.S. television’s capacity for narrative Flitterman, Sandy, “Thighs and Whiskers: The Fascination of
complexity as well as some of its most vexing prob- Magnum, P.I.,” Screen (1985)
lems and questions. Perhaps it is Magnum, P.I.’s nar- Haines, Harry W., “The Pride Is Back: Rambo, Magnum, P.I.,
rative and ideological complexity that has ensured the and the Return Trip to Vietnam,” in Cultural Capacities of
Vietnam: Uses of the Past and Present, edited by Peter
series’ ongoing success as a syndicated programming Mowies and Peter Ehrenhaus, Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex,
staple. 1990
Rodney A. Buxton Meyers, Richard, TV Detectives, San Diego, California: A. S.
Barnes, 1981
See also Action Adventure Shows; Detective Pro- Newcomb, Horace, “Magnum: The Champagne of TV,” Chan-
grams; Vietnam on Television nels of Communication (May–June 1985)
1398
Malone, John C.
Malone, John C. (1941– )

U.S. Telecommunications Executive
John C. Malone is the chairman of Liberty Media Cor- was able to purchase several existing large-market sys-
poration. Prior to its acquisition by AT&T in 1999, he tems, such as those in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and
was the chief executive officer of Telecommunica- St. Louis, Missouri, at bargain prices from companies
tions, Inc. (TCI), until that time the largest operator of that had financially overextended themselves in the
cable systems in the United States. Malone oversaw construction process.
TCI’s phenomenal growth from the time of his arrival As TCI grew throughout the 1980s, so did its power
at the company in 1973 and in the process came to be within the television industry. The company invested
regarded as one of the most powerful people in the heavily in programming services and eventually came
television industry. He has been praised by many for to hold stakes in more than 25 different cable networks
his outstanding business acumen and his technological under the arm of its Liberty Media subsidiary. How-
foresight, but at the same time he has also acquired a ever, TCI’s success was sometimes overshadowed by
less flattering reputation for his hardball style of busi- the public’s perception of it as a heavy-handed com-
ness practice. Among those who have been openly crit-
ical of Malone in this latter vein is Albert Gore Jr., who
once dubbed Malone the “Darth Vader” of the cable in-
dustry.
Malone began his career at AT&T Bell Labs in the
mid-1960s before moving on to become a manage-
ment consultant for McKinsey and Company in 1968.
He received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from
Johns Hopkins University in 1969 and soon joined the
General Instrument Corporation, where he became
president of its Jerrold cable equipment division. It
was here that he first established ties to many of the ca-
ble industry’s pioneers. In 1972 he turned down an of-
fer from Steve Ross of Warner Communications to
head its fledgling cable division, opting instead to
leave the East Coast to accept an offer from TCI
founder Bob Magness to run the small cable company
from its Denver, Colorado, headquarters.
Malone joined TCI just before it fell into very diffi-
cult times. Malone’s first major success at TCI was in
negotiating a restructuring of the company’s heavy
debt load. Once freed from the burden of this debt,
Malone embarked on a conservative growth strategy
for TCI. Rather than attempting to expand its holdings
by building large urban cable systems at great expense,
as many other cable companies did in the late 1970s,
Malone focused TCI’s growth efforts on gaining fran-
chise rights in smaller communities, where the costs to
build the systems would be far less onerous. The wis-
dom of Malone’s strategy soon became evident. TCI
was able to grow without encountering the exceed-
ingly high costs associated with building capital- John C. Malone.
intensive urban cable systems, and in the early 1980s it Photo courtesy of John Malone
1399
Malone, John C.
pany that occasionally would resort to bullying tactics Liberty Media into a new round of asset acquisition,
to achieve its desired ends. For instance, in TCI’s ear- most notably by reentering the cable operations busi-
lier days, some of its systems were known to replace ness by buying stakes in European cable systems. In so
entire channels of programming for days at a time, doing, Malone gave every indication of his intention to
leaving these channels blank except for the names and be as dominant a force in shaping the 21st century’s
home telephone numbers of local franchising officials. global telecommunications marketplace as he was in
The strategy aimed to gain leverage in franchise nego- influencing the direction of U.S. television in the last
tiations. Fairly or not, Malone came to personify TCI quarter of the 20th century.
and its negative public image. David Gunzerath
Despite the company’s poor public relations record,
See also Cable Networks; United States: Cable
few would deny that Malone and TCI were among the
Television
most powerful forces shaping the television industry in
the late 20th century. Like William S. Paley of the
John Malone. Born in Milford, Connecticut, March 7,
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and David
1941. Educated at Yale University, New Haven, Con-
Sarnoff of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
necticut, Phi Beta Kappa, B.S. in electrical engineering
an earlier era, Malone exercised great control over
and economics, 1963, and M.S. in industrial manage-
what American television viewers would or would not
ment, 1964; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
see. At TCI’s peak, nearly one in four cable subscribers
Maryland, Ph.D. in industrial engineering, 1969. Mar-
in the United States was served by a TCI system, and
ried Leslie; two children. Began professional career in
these viewers were directly affected by the decisions
economic planning and research and development with
Malone made. Even those who were not TCI sub-
Bell Telephone Laboratories/AT&T, 1963; worked as
scribers felt Malone’s influence because access to the
management consultant for McKinsey and Co., 1968;
critical mass of viewers represented by TCI’s cable
group vice president, General Instrument Corporation,
systems was crucial to any programmer’s success. Pro-
1970; former president, cable equipment division, Jer-
grammers needed carriage on TCI systems in order to
rold Electronics Corporation (a General Instrument
gather the audience numbers that provide solid finan-
Corporation subsidiary); president and chief executive
cial status. Malone assumed the position of a gate-
officer, TeleCommunications Inc., Denver, Colorado,
keeper, wielding enormous influence over the entire
1973–99; chairman, Liberty Media Corporation, since
television marketplace, which explains another nick-
1990. Chair emeritus, Cable Television Laboratories.
name that was sometimes applied to him: “The God-
Board member, Bank of New York; the CATO Institute;
father” of cable television.
Discovery Communications, Inc.; USANi, LLC;
Malone first hinted at his ultimate ambitions for TCI
UnitedGlobalCom, Inc.; and Cendant Corp. Recipient:
when he attempted to merge the company with the re-
TVC Magazine Man of the Year Award, 1981; Wall
gional telephone operator Bell Atlantic in 1993. Al-
Street Transcript’s Gold Award for the cable industry’s
though the deal was scuttled only four months after it
best chief executive officer, 1982, 1985, 1986, and
was announced, it foreshadowed Malone’s eventual
1987; NCTA Vanguard Award, 1983; Wall Street’s
plans for TCI’s place in the future television market-
Transcript Silver Award, 1984 and 1989; Women in Ca-
place. In 1999 Malone was able to successfully negoti-
ble’s Betsy Magness Fellowship Honoree; University
ate the purchase of TCI and its programming arm,
of Pennsylvania Wharton School Sol C. Snider En-
Liberty Media, by AT&T for a staggering $54 billion.
trepreneurial Center Award of Merit for Distinguished
The acquisition allowed AT&T to assume a central po-
Entrepreneurship; American Jewish Committee Sherrill
sition within the cable television industry, while Mal-
C. Corwin Human Relations Award; Communications
one was able to command top dollar for TCI
Technology Magazine Service and Technology Award;
shareholders in exchange for what were, in many in-
Financial World CEO of the Year Competition, 1993;
stances, older cable systems with infrastructures that
Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumnus
were technologically inferior to those of many other
Award, 1994. Honorary degree: Doctor of Humane Let-
cable services. In the meantime, Malone stayed on af-
ters, Denver University, 1992.
ter the acquisition as Liberty Media’s chairman.
AT&T struggled in the cable operations business,
and the relationship between Malone and AT&T Chair- Further Reading
man Michael Armstrong grew increasingly rocky until
“Another TBS Network Envisioned by Malone,” Broadcasting
2001, when AT&T divested its stake in Liberty Media (May 11, 1987)
and agreed to sell its cable systems to Comcast Corp. Auletta, Ken, The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information
With its newly found freedom from AT&T, Malone led Superhighway, New York: Random House, 1997
1400
Mama
Chen, Christine, “Liberty Media’s Surprising Reach,” Fortune Mehta, Stephanie, “The Island of Dr. Malone,” Fortune (July
(September 17, 2001) 24, 2000)
Davis, Lawrence J., The Billionaire Shell Game: How Cable Mermigas, Diane, “John Malone Making His Way in Europe,”
Baron John Malone and Assorted Corporate Titans Invented Electronic Media (March 5, 2001)
a Future Nobody Wanted, New York: Doubleday, 1998 Moshavi, Sharon D., “TCI’s Malone: Cable Nearing Compres-
“Malone Looks to the Future with Cable Labs,” Broadcasting sion Revolution,” Broadcasting (March 18, 1991)
(June 5, 1989) Roberts, Johnnie L., “Time’s Uneasy Pieces,” Newsweek (Octo-
“Malone Paints Rosy Picture for IRTS,” Broadcasting (March ber 2, 1995)
20, 1989) Samuels, Gary, “You Gotta Consolidate, You Gotta Swap” (in-
“Malone Urges Creation of Bandwidth Manager; TCI Wants terview), Forbes (December 19, 1994)
Vendors to Come Up with a Residential Communications Weinberg, Neil, “Taking Liberty,” Forbes (October 18,
Gateway Unit,” Broadcasting & Cable (August 15, 1994) 1999)
Mama
U.S. Domestic Comedy/Drama
Mama, which aired from 1949 to 1957 on the coffee—the show’s longtime sponsor—would frame
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), proves that each episode of the show. As George Lipsitz points
television was capable of complex characterizations in out, it was common for the dramatic solutions to in-
the series format even early in its history. A weekly
family comedy-drama based on Kathryn Forbes’s
Mama’s Bank Account as well as its play and film
adaptations I Remember Mama, Mama would best be
described today as “dramedy.” Unfortunately, except
for its last half season, when it was filmed, the program
aired live, with kinescope recordings prepared for
West Coast broadcasts. Consequently, it is unavailable
in the repetitive reruns that have made other domestic
situation comedies from the 1950s (including many,
such as Father Knows Best, that it influenced) familiar
to several generations of viewers.
Each episode dramatized, with warmth and humor,
the Hansen family’s adventures and everyday travails
in turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco. The
working-class Norwegian family included Mama,
Papa (a carpenter), and children Katrin, Nels, and Dag-
mar. Mama’s sisters and an uncle were semiregular
characters. Although earlier incarnations of the Forbes
material had focused on the relationship between
Mama and Katrin, the television series centered
episodes on all the characters, a technique made avail-
able and almost demanded by the production of a con-
tinuing series.
The stories might revolve around Dagmar’s braces,
Nels starting a business, or the children buying pre-
sents for Mama’s birthday. The entire family would
contribute to the drama’s resolution, however, and im- Mama, Peggy Wood, Judson Laire, 1949–57.
ages of them sitting down to a cup of Maxwell House Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1401
Mama
volve some kind of commodity purchase, not surpris- Cast

ing given the commercial basis of American network Marta Hansen (Mama) Peggy Wood
television and the consumer culture of the postwar Lars Hansen (Papa) Judson Laire
United States. What is surprising is how often the Nels Dick Van Patten
show foregrounded the contradictions of this con- Katrin Rosemary Rich
sumer culture in which everyone does not have access Dagmar (1949) Iris Mann
to the desired goods. Dramatic tension often resulted Dagmar (1950–56) Robin Morgan
from the realization that Mama’s endeavors provided Dagmar (1957) Toni Campbell
the foundation for the achievements of individual fam- Aunt Jenny Ruth Gates
ily members. It was not uncommon for Papa and the T.R. Ryan (1952–56) Kevin Coughlin
Hansen children to have to come to terms with the Uncle Chris (1949–51) Malcolm Keen
value of Mama’s work. Uncle Chris (1951–52) Roland Winters
The program’s complex treatment of cultural ten- Uncle Gunnar Gunnerson Carl Frank
sions resulted not only from Forbes’s original material Aunt Trina Gunnerson Alice Frost
but also from the contributions of head writer Frank Ingeborg (1953–56) Patty McCormack
Gabrielson, director-producer Ralph Nelson (a Holly-
wood liberal of Norwegian descent who went on to di-
Producers
rect the film Lilies of the Field), and a distinguished
Carol Irwin, Ralph Nelson, Donald Richardson
cast. Peggy Wood, who incarnated Mama, was a versa-
tile stage and film actress who had starred in operetta
and Shakespeare and is probably best known to today’s Programming History
audiences for her Oscar-nominated role as Mother Su- CBS
perior in The Sound of Music. (Mady Christians, who July 1949–July 1956 Friday 8:00–8:30
starred in the role of Mama on Broadway, was not con- December 1956–March 1957 Friday 8:00–8:30
sidered for the television role because she was black-
listed.) Dick Van Patten played Nels and would later
Further Reading
star in television’s Eight Is Enough in the 1970s. Robin
Morgan, who played Dagmar from 1950 to 1956, be- Lipsitz, George, “Why Remember Mama? The Changing Face
came a well-known feminist activist and writer. Not of a Woman’s Narrative?” in Time Passages: Collective
Memory and American Popular Culture, Minneapolis: Uni-
surprisingly, she attributes to Mama many of her early versity of Minnesota Press, 1990
lessons in feminine power.
Mary Desjardins
See also Comedy, Domestic Settings; Family on
Television
Man Alive
Canadian Religious/Information Program
A critically acclaimed, nondenominational program fully alive.” From a format that concentrated on theo-
that the show’s executive producer, Louise Lore, de- logical issues, the show’s focus has broadened consid-
scribes as “a religious program for a post-Christian erably in its 30 seasons.
age,” Man Alive is one of Canada’s longest-running in- Man Alive has profiled and interviewed many of the
formation programs. Begun in 1967 amid a renewed world’s most important religious figures, from Mother
sense of theological activism inspired by the reforms Teresa to the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond
of Vatican II, Man Alive takes its name and inspiration Tutu. An October 8, 1986, interview with the Aga
from a St. Irnaeus quote: “the glory of God is man Khan was this religious leader’s first formal North
1402
Man Alive
Throughout its history, the show has consistently

provided programming that appeals to a broad audi-
ence, and this has been one of the keys to its success. It
has delved into a variety of topics, from UFOs to the
threat of nuclear war, from father–son relationships to
life in a maximum-security hospital for the criminally
insane. Nor has it avoided controversial and unpopular
subjects, such as the Vatican bank scandal, sexual
abuse in the church, or aid to El Salvador. Some of the
show’s most critically acclaimed episodes have been
those that have chronicled very personal human dra-
mas, such as the story of David McFarlane, who met
the challenges presented by his Down syndrome to star
in a television drama, or the story of the Rubineks,
Holocaust survivors, and their moving return to Poland
after 40 years. Despite the changing nature of televi-
sion audiences and serious budgetary constraints, Man
Alive continues the tradition of providing an informa-
tive and well-balanced examination of relevant social
Man Alive.
Photo courtesy of National Archives of Canada/CBC Collec- issues and contemporary ethical questions.
tion Manon Lamontagne
American interview. He had declined previous re- Hosts

quests from such well-known shows as the Columbia Roy Bonisteel (1967–89)
Broadcasting System’s (CBS’s) 60 Minutes in favor of Peter Downie (1989– )
Man Alive because of the show’s reputation for bal-
ance and the relaxed, soft-spoken interviewing style of
the show’s host, Roy Bonisteel. Many Man Alive inter- Executive Producers
views were marked by their candidness and honesty, as Leo Rampen (1967–85); Louise Lore (1985– )
in the case of Archbishop Tutu, who related how
Jackie Robinson and Lena Horne were his boyhood
Programming History
heroes.
CBC
Bonisteel, the show’s host for 22 seasons and so
October 1967–March 1968 Sunday 5:00–5:30
identified with it that many mistake him for a minister,
November 1968–March 1978 Monday 9:30–10:00
is a journalist by training. He had been producing radio
October 1979–March 1980 Tuesday 10:30–11:00
shows for the United Church of Canada in the mid-
1960s, when he was approached to be the host of the
new television program. By the time he left, he had be-
October 1984–March 1987 Wednesday 9:30–
come the longest-running host of any information pro-
10:00
gram in Canada. He was succeeded by Peter Downie,
October 1987– Tuesday 9:30–10:00
former cohost of the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora-
tion’s (CBC’s) Midday current affairs program in the
fall of 1989. Man Alive observed its 25th anniversary Further Reading
with a one-hour special in February 1992 that cele- Bonisteel, Roy, In Search of Man Alive, Toronto: Totem, 1980
brated not only its longevity but also the diversity of its Bonisteel, Roy, Man Alive: The Human Journey, Toronto:
programming. Collins, 1983
1403
The Man from U.N.C.L.E./The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E./The Girl from

U.N.C.L.E.
U.S. Spy Parody
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which aired on the National episode, “The Jingle Bells Affair,” showed a Soviet
Broadcasting Company (NBC) from September 1964 premier visiting New York during Christmastime,
to January 1968, has often been described as televi- touring department stores and delivering a speech on
sion’s version of James Bond, but it was much more peaceful coexistence at the United Nations, 22 years
than that. It was, quite simply, a pop culture phenome- before Mikhail Gorbachev actually made a similar trip.
non. Although its ratings were initially poor early in The show also broke new ground in reconceptualiz-
the first season, a change in time period and crossing the action adventure hero. Prompted by a woman
country promotional appearances by its stars, Robert at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) he once
Vaughn and David McCallum, helped the show build a met who complained that the leads in U.S. series were
large and enthusiastic audience. all big, tall, muscular, and, well, American, producer
At the peak of its popularity, The Man from Norman Felton (Eleventh Hour and Dr. Kildare) de-
U.N.C.L.E. was telecast in 60 countries and consis-
tently ranked in the top ten programs on U.S. televi-
sion. Eight feature-length films were made from
two-part episodes and profitably released in the United
States and Europe. TV Guide called it “the cult of mil-
lions.” The show received 10,000 fan letters per week,
and Vaughn and McCallum were mobbed by crowds of
teenagers as if they were rock stars. U.N.C.L.E. was
also a huge merchandising success, with images of the
series’ stars and its distinctive logo (a man standing be-
side a skeletal globe) appearing on hundreds of items,
from bubble gum cards to a line of adult clothing.
The show had a little something for everyone. Chil-
dren took it seriously as an exciting action adventure.
Teenagers enjoyed its hip, cool style, identifying with
and idolizing its heroes. More mature viewers appreci-
ated the tongue-in-cheek humor and the roman à clef
references to such real-life political figures as Ma-
hatma Gandhi and Eva Peron, interpreting it as a
metaphor for the struggle common to all nations
against the forces of greed, cruelty, and aggression.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. redefined the television
spy program, introducing into the genre a number of
fresh innovations. Notably, the show broke with espio-
nage tradition and looked beyond the cold war politics
of the time to envision a new world order. The fictional
United Network Command for Law Enforcement was
multinational in makeup and international in scope, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., David McCallum, Robert Vaughn,
protecting and defending nations regardless of size or Leo G. Carroll, 1964–68.
political persuasion. For example, a third-season Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1404
nary concerns, it also demonstrated that ordinary peo-

ple could be heroic. During the course of each week’s
affair, at least one civilian or “innocent” was inevitably
caught up in the action. These innocents were average,
everyday people—housewives, stewardesses, secre-
taries, librarians, schoolteachers, college students,
tourists, even some children—people very much like
those sitting in U.N.C.L.E.’s viewing audience. At the
start of the story, they often complained of their bor-
ing, unexciting lives—lives to which, after all the ter-
ror and mayhem was over, they were only too happy to
return.
By contrast, U.N.C.L.E.’s villains were fabulously
exotic and larger than life. In addition to the usual in-
ternational crime syndicates, Nazi war criminals, and
power hungry dictators, U.N.C.L.E. also battled
THRUSH, a secret society of mad scientists, megalo-
maniac industrialists, and corrupt government officials
who held the Nietzschean belief that because of their
superior intelligence, wealth, ambition, and position,
they were entitled to rule the world. A number of
prominent actors and actresses guest starred each week
as either villains or innocents, including Joan Craw-
ford, George Sanders, Kurt Russell, William Shatner
and Leonard Nimoy (who appeared together pre–Star
Trek in “The Project Strigas Affair”), and Sonny and
Cher.
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Stefanie Powers, 1966–67.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection The U.N.C.L.E. formula was so successful that it
spawned a host of imitators, including a spin-off of its
own, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., in 1966. Starring Ste-
cided to vary the formula. His series, developed with fanie Powers as female agent April Dancer and Noel
Sam Rolfe (co-creator of Have Gun—Will Travel) Harrison (son of Rex) as her British sidekick, Mark
teamed a U.S. agent, Napoleon Solo (Vaughn), with a Slate, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. took its cue from the
Soviet one, Illya Kuryakin (McCallum). Each week wild campiness of the then-popular Batman rather than
they were sent off on their missions (called “affairs”) from its parent show. Although it featured many of the
by their boss, Alexander Waverly, a garrulous, craggy, same elements of Man, including a specially designed
pipe-smoking spymaster played by Leo G. Carroll. gun and other advanced weaponry and the supersecret
Neither the suave Solo nor the enigmatic Kuryakin headquarters hidden behind an innocent tailor shop,
were physically impressive. They were instead intelli- Girl’s plots were either absurdly implausible or down-
gent, sophisticated, witty, charming, always polite, and right silly, and the series lasted only a year.
impeccably well tailored. Sometimes they made mis- By its third season, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had
takes, and often they lost the battle before they won the also become infected by the trend toward camp, and
war. though the tone was readjusted to be more serious in
What made U.N.C.L.E. truly appealing was the way the fourth season, viewers deserted the show in droves.
it walked a fine line between the real and the fanciful, Once in the top ten, the series dropped to 64th in the
juxtaposing elements that were both surprisingly fan- ratings and was canceled midseason, to be replaced by
tastic and humorously mundane. For example, as they Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
battled bizarre threats to world peace, such as trained This was not the end of U.N.C.L.E., however. Be-
killer bees, radar-defeating bats, hiccup gas, cause of concerns about violence voiced by
suspended-animation devices, and earthquake ma- parent–teacher groups, the series was not widely syn-
chines, the agents also worried about expense ac- dicated, and reruns did not appear until cable networks
counts, insurance policies, health plans, and began to air them in the 1980s. Nevertheless, The Man
interdepartmental gossip. from U.N.C.L.E. was not forgotten. Nearly every spy
While the series showed that heroic people had ordi- program that appeared during the ensuing decades bor-
1405
rowed from its various motifs (naming spy organiza- Lisa Rogers (1967–68) Barbara Moore
tions with an acronym has become a genre cliché). For
example, Scarecrow and Mrs. King expanded the
Producers
premise of U.N.C.L.E.’s original pilot episode into an
Norman Felton, Sam H. Rolfe, Anthony Spinner,
entire series. Even nonespionage programs as diverse
Boris Ingster
as thirtysomething, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and
Seinfeld continued to make references to it.
In 1983 Vaughn and McCallum reunited to play Programming History
Solo and Kuryakin in a made-for-TV movie Return of 104 episodes
the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Af- NBC
fair. Three years later, the stars again reunited for an September 1964–December 1964 Tuesday
homage episode of The A-Team titled “The Say 8:30–9:30
U.N.C.L.E. Affair.” January 1965– September 1965 Monday
In the early 1990s, Felton and Rolfe negotiated with 8:00–9:00
Turner Broadcasting (TNT) to make a series of made- September 1965–September 1966 Friday
for-cable U.N.C.L.E. movies, but the project stalled 10:00–11:00
when Rolfe died in 1993. Subsequently, John Davis September 1966–September 1967 Friday
Productions optioned the property in order to produce 8:30–9:30
a feature-length film for theatrical release. Develop- September 1967–January 1968 Monday
ment, however, has not moved beyond the scripting 8:00–9:00
stage. In 1996, there were plans for Vaughn and Mc-
Callum to play villains on a spy-spoof series, Mr. and
Further Reading
Mrs. Smith, but the short-lived series was canceled be-
fore such an episode could be filmed. Eventually, only Anderson, Robert, The U.N.C.L.E. Tribute Book, Las Vegas,
McCallum appeared as a villain in an episode that Nevada: Pioneer, 1994
Heitland, John, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind-
aired in the United Kingdom. the-Scenes Story of a Television Classic, New York: St. Mar-
Cynthia W. Walker tin’s Press, 1987
Javna, John, Cult TV, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985
See also Spy Programs Paquette, Brian, and Paul Howley, The Toys from U.N.C.L.E.,
Worchester, Massachusetts: Entertainment, 1990
Worland, Rick, “The Cold War Mannerists: The Man from
Cast U.N.C.L.E. and TV Espionage in the 1960s,” Journal of
Napoleon Solo Robert Vaughn Popular Film and Television (winter 1994)
Illya Kuryakin David
McCallum
Mr. Alexander Waverly Leo G. Carroll
Mann, Abby (1927– )

U.S. Writer
Abby Mann’s television and film writing career has Wiesenthal Story (1989), and Indictment: The Mc-
spanned six decades and earned him widespread criti- Martin Trial (1995).
cal acclaim and numerous prestigious industry awards Mann’s made-for-television movies (a television
in the United States and abroad. He has received an genre in which he is widely acknowledged as a leading
Academy Award and New York Film Critics Award for practitioner) have covered a breadth of subjects. His
his screenplay for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and most daring (and controversial) scripts have offered
Emmys for The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973, the viewers a withering critique of the functioning of the
Kojak pilot), Murderers Among Us: The Simon U.S. criminal justice system. Although some critics
1406
Mann, Abby
tice, by refusing to reopen cases in which innocent per-

sons, often minorities, have been convicted; the possi-
bility that law enforcement officials conspired in the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; the failure of
union leaders to fight adequately for the rights of their
workers; the greed and questionable ethics of some
members of the legal, medical, and mental health pro-
fessions; and the sensationalized coverage of murder
cases by the media, who tend to prejudge cases accord-
ing to their perception of general public sentiment.
Mann began his professional writing career in the
early 1950s, writing for the National Broadcasting
Company’s (NBC’s) Cameo Theater and for the noted
anthology series Studio One, Robert Montgomery Pre-
sents, and Playhouse 90. His script for the celebrated
film drama Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), recounting
the Nazi war crimes trials, was originally produced for
Playhouse 90. Mann moved to Hollywood as produc-
tion on the feature film version began. Other success-
ful film scripts quickly followed, including A Child Is
Waiting (1963), directed by John Cassavetes, which
offered one of the first sympathetic film portrayals of
the care and treatment of mentally challenged children,
and a screen adaptation of Katherine Anne Porter’s
novel Ship of Fools (1965), the story of the interlock-
Abby Mann in the 1970s. ing lives of passengers sailing from Mexico to pre-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Hitler Germany, directed by Stanley Kramer (who had
directed Judgment at Nuremberg).
Mann returned to television writing in 1973 with the
have argued that Mann has, on occasion, selectively script for The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which launched
marshaled facts and taken “polemical” positions in his Universal Television’s popular Kojak series. Univer-
portrayal of his subjects, almost all have expressed ad- sal approached Mann about doing a story based on the
miration for his exhaustive investigative research and 1963 brutal rape and murder of Janice Wylie and
his rich dramatic portrayal of character. Most impor- Emily Hoffert, two young, white professional women
tant, few have questioned the factual basis for his argu- living in midtown Manhattan. George Whitmore, a
ments. young black man who had previously been arrested in
Mann, the son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant jew- Brooklyn for the murder of a black woman, signed a
eler, grew up in the 1930s in East Pittsburgh, Penn- detailed confession for the Wylie and Hoffert murders.
sylvania, a predominantly Catholic, working-class Whitmore later recanted his confession, claiming that
neighborhood he describes as a “tough steel area.” As he was beaten into signing it. Mann visited Whitmore
a Jewish youth in these surroundings, Mann felt him- in jail in New York before agreeing to write the screen-
self an outsider. Perhaps this in part explains the per- play, and he became convinced not only that Whitmore
sistent preoccupation, in his scripts, with the working was innocent but also that some top officials in the
poor and racial minorities: outsiders who are trapped Manhattan and Brooklyn district attorneys’ offices
in a social system in which prejudice, often institution- had ignored Whitmore’s alibi that he was in Seacliff,
alized in the police and judicial apparatus, is used to New Jersey (50 miles from New York City), at the mo-
deprive them of their rights. ment of the murders. After the airing of The Marcus-
This recurrent overarching theme is developed in Nelson Murders, for which Mann won an Emmy and a
stories focusing on the forced signing of criminal con- Writers Guild Award, Whitmore was released from
fessions; inadequate police and district attorney inves- prison.
tigation of murder cases involving victims who are Although he was not involved in the production of
minorities, poor, or both; judicial and police officials Kojak, Mann was unhappy with the treatment of the
who protect their reputations and careers, when con- series by its producer, Universal Television, which, he
fronted with evidence of possible miscarriage of jus- argued, reframed the police melodrama as a formulaic
1407
Mann, Abby
cops-and-robbers potboiler, whereas in The Marcus- wife. Skag also dealt with the larger social issues of
Nelson Murders he had sought to show that law en- steelworkers’ unhealthy working conditions and the
forcement officials should be monitored. failure of their unions to fight for their rights. Steel-
In his next television project, Mann cast his critical workers’ unions bitterly attacked Skag, calling Mann
gaze on one of the most sacrosanct institutions in the “anti-union.” With this series, however, Mann was at-
United States: the medical profession. Medical Story, tempting to draw attention to a class of Americans who
an anthology series produced by Columbia, premiered until the 1980s were grossly underrepresented in
on NBC in 1975 and had a brief four-month run. Mann prime-time television drama, a fictional world popu-
was the series creator and also served as co–executive lated largely by white, white-collar, middle-aged male
producer. protagonists.
Mann made his directorial debut with King, a six- While the premiere episode won critical praise and
hour docudrama on the life of civil rights leader Martin high ratings, viewership for Skag rapidly declined, and
Luther King Jr. He had wanted to do a feature film on the series ended its run after six weeks on the air.
King while King was still alive but was unable to raise Mann, who was involved in the first two regular series
the necessary financing. Ironically, unforeseen circum- episodes, attributed the series’ failure to uneven direct-
stances brought the project to fruition in 1978, ten ing of some of the subsequent episodes and artistic in-
years after King’s death. The central figure in The terference from the show’s star, Malden.
Marcus-Nelson Murders, George Whitmore, had Mann’s direct involvement with Medical Story and
claimed that he was watching King’s “I Have A Skag convinced him that the process involved in pro-
Dream” speech on television when the murders were ducing series television inevitably led to too many
committed. Mann asked King’s widow, Coretta Scott compromises, both ideological, as politically contro-
King, for the rights to use the film clip of King’s versial themes became “muddled,” and creative, as
speech in The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which she strong pilots were followed by aesthetically weak reg-
granted. She then asked Mann if he were still inter- ular series episodes. For these reasons, he decided in
ested in the piece on King’s life. Encouraged by Mrs. the 1980s to focus his artistic energy exclusively on
King’s continued interest, Mann pursued the project. made-for-television movies over which he had greater
In doing research on the script, Mann uncovered in- artistic control.
formation that led him to believe that a conspiracy The Atlanta Child Murders aired on the Columbia
involving the Memphis, Tennessee, police and fire de- Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1985. The notorious
partments may have been responsible for King’s death. Atlanta, Georgia, case involving multiple murders of
The conspiracy theory focused on the reassignment, black children focused on Wayne Williams, a black
just prior to the assassination, of a black police officer who was accused of recruiting young boys for his ho-
and two black firefighters who had been stationed in a mosexual father, using them sexually along with his
firehouse overlooking the motel where King was shot father, and then murdering them. Mann was urged by
despite numerous threats of assassination while King prominent black leaders in Atlanta not to take on the
was in Memphis. project because, they argued, the additional publicity
Reporter Mark Lane assisted Mann in his investiga- generated by a television movie focusing on an ac-
tion of the circumstances surrounding the King assas- cused black mass murderer would, in the end, only fur-
sination. The research resulted in an official House of ther damage the black community. Mann initially
Representatives inquiry into whether a conspiracy had withdrew from the proposed project, but he attended
indeed been involved in the assassinations. As a result, the Williams trial and was disturbed by the courtroom
Mann was publicly maligned by the Memphis police proceedings, which revealed to him the inadequate in-
and fire chiefs. vestigation into the murders of victims who belonged
For Skag, his next television project, which aired on to poor minority families, the introduction of poten-
NBC in 1980, Mann returned to the steel mills of the tially unreliable evidence, and the sensationalized me-
suburbs surrounding Pittsburgh. He developed the dia coverage of the trial.
concept and wrote the script for the three-hour pilot Mann, the only writer able to speak to Wayne
and was given “complete freedom” by NBC President Williams in prison after his conviction, raised doubts
Fred Silverman. Starring Karl Malden as Pete “Skag” about the case, arguing that the judicial system itself
Skagska, Skag was a unflinching, realistic portrait of a was on trial, as was a society that neither had compas-
middle-aged steelworker who had worked hard all his sion for the victims during their lives nor did justice
life but, when afflicted by a stroke, found himself sud- for them after their deaths. Critics praised the dra-
denly “expendable” because he was no longer able to maturgy of The Atlanta Child Murders, but some ques-
provide food for the table or perform sexually with his tioned Mann’s doubts about both the propriety of the
1408
Mann, Abby
courtroom proceedings and Williams’s guilt, arguing the day production on Indictment began, their house
that, after all, the Georgia supreme court had upheld was burned to the ground. Undeterred, Mann has con-
Williams’s conviction. After seeing the television tinued to write. In 2001 Judgment at Nuremberg was
movie, prominent defense attorneys Alan Dershowitz, adapted for the stage and appeared on Broadway.
William Kunstler, and Bobby Lee Cook agreed to join Hal Himmelstein
in a pro bono defense of Williams, but, according to
See also Anthology Drama; “Golden Age” of Tele-
Mann, once the publicity died down, they did not pur-
vision; Playhouse 90; Studio One
sue the appeal to reopen the case.
Mann’s more recent made-for-television movies
Abby Mann. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
premiered on Home Box Office (HBO), which he
1927. Educated at Temple University, Philadelphia,
found to be much more supportive of his often-
and New York University. Married: Myra. Gained
contentious stands on controversial social issues than
fame as television writer for Robert Montgomery Pre-
were the commercial broadcast networks, who felt
sents, Playhouse 90, Studio One, and Alcoa-Goodyear
they must avoid the inherent commercial risks of alien-
Theatre. Recipient: Academy Award; two Emmy
ating significant sectors of their mass audience. Most
Awards; Golden Globe Award; Writers Guild Award.
recent among these HBO films was Indictment: The
McMartin Trial, created by Mann and his wife Myra.
The film won an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 1995. Television Series
Once again, Mann questioned the workings of the judi- 1948–58 Studio One
cial system. This case involved the McMartin 1950–55 Cameo Theatre
preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, at which it 1950–57 Robert Montgomery Presents
was alleged that seven preschool teachers had mo- 1956–61 Playhouse 90
lested 347 children over the course of a decade. Most 1973–78 Kojak
people in Los Angeles were convinced of the veracity 1975–76 Medical Story
of the charges, which were supported by the accounts 1980 Skag
of hundreds of children who attended the school.
Mann became intrigued by the case when charges
against five of the defendants were dropped. The two Made-for-Television Movies
remaining defendants, Peggy Buckey, the school su- 1973 The Marcus-Nelson Murders
perintendent, and her son, Ray, were still under arrest. (executive producer, writer)
Buckey’s daughter argued on The Larry King Show 1975 Medical Story (executive producer,
that the Los Angeles district attorney was continuing writer)
with the prosecution of her mother and brother because 1979 This Man Stands Alone (executive
they had been kept in jail so long that the district attor- producer)
ney could not admit his error without losing face. As 1980 Skag (executive producer, writer)
Mann investigated the case, he once again confronted 1985 The Atlanta Child Murders
the seamy side of the justice system: informers who (executive producer, writer)
supposedly heard confessions saying so only because 1989 Murderers Among Us: The Simon
they had made financial deals to their own advantage, Wiesenthal Story (co–executive
greedy parents who were suing to get damages, and producer)
prosecutors who withheld crucial evidence and selec- 1992 Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser
tively ignored facts to advance their own careers by Story (executive producer)
obtaining a conviction. Mann was also intent on ex- 1995 Indictment: The McMartin Trial
ploring the important psychological question regard- (writer)
ing the ease with which children can be led by 2002 Whitewash: The Clarence Bradley
manipulative adults into admitting events that never Story (writer)
occurred.
Ultimately, despite two trials, no one was convicted Television Miniseries
in the McMartin case. Indictment produced very strong 1978 King (director, writer)
reactions among viewers. According to Mann, “People
seem . . . obsessed by it. I suppose they realize that they
have watched and believed stories that were as incred- Films
ible as the Salem witch hunt.” Reaction to the televi- Judgment at Nuremberg, 1961; A Child Is Waiting,
sion film had a direct impact on the Manns as well. On 1963; Ship of Fools, 1965; The Detectives, 1968;
1409
Mann, Abby
Report to the Commissioner, 1975; War and Love, Further Reading

1985. O’Connor, John J., “McMartin Preschool Case: A Portrait of
Hysteria,” New York Times (May 19, 1995)
Stage Shales, Tom, “Tipping the Scales of Justice,” Washington Post
Judgment at Nuremberg, 2001. (May 20, 1995)
Mann, Delbert (1920– )

U.S. Director, Producer
Like many directors of television’s “golden age,” Del- Cannes Film Festival and Academy Awards for Best
bert Mann came from a theatrical background. While Picture, Actor, and Screenplay and earned four other
studying political science at Vanderbilt University, Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Sup-
Mann became involved with a Nashville, Tennessee, porting Actress, Cinematography, and Art Direction.
community theater group where he worked with Fred Many of Mann’s works tackled social issues, such as
Coe, who went on to produce the alternating anthology the plight of the elderly in Ernie Barger Is Fifty, which
program Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse. aired on August 9, 1953, as part of The Goodyear The-
Mann received a masters of fine arts degree in direct-
ing from Yale School of Drama and then worked as a
director/producer at the Town Theatre (Columbia,
South Carolina) and as a stage manager at the Welles-
ley Summer Theater. When he first went to New York,
Mann worked as a floor manager and assistant director
for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
In 1949 Mann began directing dramas for Philco-
Goodyear Television Playhouse, where he was one of a
stable of directors that included Vincent Donahue,
Arthur Penn, and Gordon Duff. During the 1950s,
Mann also directed productions for Producers’ Show-
case, Omnibus, Playwrights ’56, Ford Star Jubilee,
and Ford Startime. Although he worked almost exclu-
sively on anthology series, Mann also directed live
episodes of Mary Kay and Johnny, one of the first do-
mestic sitcoms.
Mann is perhaps most often identified with the
Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (and subse-
quent film) production of Paddy Chayefsy’s Marty,
which has been praised by critics as one of the most
outstanding original dramas produced by Fred Coe and
the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse. Although
the production did not receive outstanding reviews
when it first aired on May 24, 1953, it was one of the
first television plays to receive any major press cover-
age and more than one line in a reviewer’s column.
When Mann directed the film version of Marty two
years later, he was awarded the Academy Award for Delbert Mann.
Best Director, and the film won the Palm d’Or at the Photo courtesy of Delbert Mann
1410
Mann, Delbert
atre series. However, the director contends that, at the See also Chayefsky, Paddy; Coe, Fred; “Golden
time, the teleplays were not thought of in terms of their Age” of Television; Goodyear Playhouse; Omnibus;
social issues—they were simply stories about people Philco Television Playhouse
and “just awfully good drama.”
Mann’s theatrical training was a tremendous influ- Delbert Mann. Born in Lawrence, Kansas, January
ence on his television work, as he tended to use a static 30, 1920. Educated at Vanderbilt University, Nash-
camera and actors staged within the frame. At Coe’s ville, Tennessee, B.A. 1941; Yale University, New
direction, close-ups were used only to emphasize Haven, Connecticut, M.F.A. Married Ann Caroline
something or if there was a dramatic reason for doing Gillespie, 1942; children: David Martin, Frederick G.,
so. The use of the static camera is particularly effective Barbara Susan, and Steven P. Served as first lieutenant
in the Marty dance sequence, which Mann filmed with in U.S. Air Force during World War II: B-24 pilot and
one camera and no editing. Actors were carefully squadron intelligence officer, 1944–45. Worked as di-
choreographed to turn to the camera at the exact mo- rector of Town Theater, Columbia, South Carolina,
ment when they needed to be seen. Combined with the 1947–49; stage manager, Wellesley Summer Theater,
crowded, relatively small set, the static camera fo- 1947–48; director, Philco-Goodyear Playhouse,
cused the audience’s attention on the characters and 1949–55; began film directing career with Marty,
their sense of uneasiness in the situation. Chayefsky 1954; freelance film and television director, since
later credited the success of The Bachelor Party (Octo- 1954. Honorary degree: L.L.D., Northland College,
ber 11, 1953) to Mann’s direction, noting that, through Ashland, Wisconsin. Former member, board of gover-
simple stage business and careful balancing of scenes, nors, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; former
Mann was able to illustrate the emptiness of life in the cochair, Tennessee Film, Tape and Cinema Commis-
small town and the protagonist’s increasing depression; former president, Directors Guild Educational
sion. Benevolent Foundation, Cinema Circulus; former lec-
Many of Mann’s works are period pieces based on turer, Claremont McKenna College; board of trustees,
the director’s own love of history, which he tried to re- Vanderbilt University, since 1962. Member: Directors
create accurately. But historical context is secondary to Guild of America (president, 1967–71).
the personal relationships in the story. Broadcast on
April 24, 1973, in the era of anti-Vietnam protests, The Television Series
Man Without a Country is a patriotic story of love of 1948–55 Philco-Goodyear Television
country and flag intended to stir a sense of nationalism Playhouse
during the Civil War and, simultaneously, the intimate 1949 Mary Kay and Johnny
story of one man’s oppression. 1949 Lights Out
Mann shifted to filmmaking in the 1960s but period- 1950 The Little Show
ically returned to television to pursue more personal, 1950 Waiting for the Break
people-oriented stories in made-for-television films. 1950 Masterpiece Theatre
Productions such as David Copperfield (March 15, 1954–56,
1970) and Jane Eyre (March 24, 1971) allowed him to, 1957, 1959 Omnibus
once again, tell stories of personal relationships in a 1955 Producers Showcase
historical setting. 1956 Ford Star Jubilee
Mann returned to his live television roots for the 1956 Playwrights ’56
productions of All the Way Home (December 21, 1981) 1958 DuPont Show of the Month
and Member of the Wedding (December 20, 1982) for 1958–59 Playhouse 90
NBC’s Live Theater Series. These productions differed 1959 Sunday Showcase (also producer)
from live television in the 1950s in that they were
staged as a theatrical production in a theater rather than Made-for-Television Movies
a studio and were filmed with a live audience in order 1968 Heidi
to show their reaction to the piece. 1968 Saturday Adoption
Mann has been nominated for three additional 1970 David Copperfield
Emmy Awards for directing: Our Town (Producers’ 1971 Jane Eyre
Showcase, 1955), Breaking Up (American Broadcast- 1972 She Waits (also producer)
ing Company [ABC], 1977), and All Quiet on the 1972 No Place to Run
Western Front (Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS], 1973 The Man Without a Country
1979). 1974 The First Woman President
Susan R. Gibberman (also producer)
1411
Mann, Delbert
1974 Joie (also producer) ducer), 1965; Fitzwilly, 1967; Kidnapped, 1972;
1975 A Girl Named Sooner Birch Interval, 1976; Night Crossing, 1982.
1976 Francis Gary Powers: The True
Story of the U-2 Spy Incident Opera
1977 Breaking Up Wuthering Heights, 1959.
1977 Tell Me My Name
1978 Love’s Dark Ride
1978 Tom and Joann Plays
1978 Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery A Quiet Place, 1956; Speaking of Murder, 1957;
1978 Home to Stay Zelda, 1969; The Glass Menagerie, 1973.
1979 All Quiet on the Western Front
1979 Torn Between Two Lovers Further Reading
1980 To Find My Son Averson, Richard, and David Manning White, editors, Elec-
1981 All the Way Home tronic Drama: Television Plays of the Sixties, Boston: Bea-
1982 Bronte con Press, 1971
1982 The Member of the Wedding Hawes, William, The American Television Drama: The Experi-
mental Years, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1986
1983 The Gift of Love Kindem, Gorham, editor, The Live Television Generation of
1984 Love Leads the Way Hollywood Film Directors: Interviews with Seven Directors,
1985 A Death in California Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994
1986 The Last Days of Patton Miner, Worthington, Worthington Miner, Metuchen, New Jer-
1986 The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story sey: Scarecrow Press, 1985
Nudd, Donna Marie, “Jane Eyre and What Adaptors Have Done
1987 April Morning (also coproducer) to Her,” Ph.D. diss., University of Texas at Austin, 1989
1991 Ironclads Shales, Tom, “When Prime Time Meant Live: NBC and Delbert
1992 Against Her Will: An Incident in Mann Revive a Golden Age,” Washington Post (December
Baltimore (also coproducer) 20, 1982)
1993 Incident in a Small Town Skutch, Ira, Ira Skutch: I Remember Television: A Memoir,
Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1989
(also coproducer) Snider, Gerald Edward, “Our Town by Thorton Wilder: A De-
1994 Lily in Winter scriptive Study of Its Production Modes,” Ph.D. diss.,
Michigan State University, 1983
Squire, Susan, “For Delbert Mann, All the Problems of Live TV
Films Are Worth It,” New York Times (December 19, 1982)
Marty, 1954; The Bachelor Party, 1956; Desire Under Stempel, Tom, Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American
the Elms, 1957; Separate Tables, 1958; Middle of Television Writing, New York: Continuum, 1992
the Night, 1959; The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Sturcken, Frank, Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946–1958
in New York, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1990
1960; The Outsider, 1960; Lover Come Back, 1961; Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein: Di-
That Touch of Mink, 1962; A Gathering of Eagles, rectors and Directions in Television, New York: Dutton, 1979
1962; Dear Heart, 1963; Quick Before It Melts Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Sur-
(also producer), 1964; Mister Buddwing (also pro- vivors, New York: Delacorte Press, 1976
Mansbridge, Peter (1948– )

Canadian Broadcast Journalist
Peter Mansbridge serves as anchor for The National, lengthy career with the CBC has made him one of
the flagship nightly newscast of the Canadian Broad- Canadian media’s most familiar figures, synonymous
casting Corporation (CBC), and all CBC news spe- with “the corporation.” The prominence to which
cials. He is also host of Mansbridge: One-on-One, on Mansbridge has risen, however, began in a somewhat
CBC’s 24-hour news network, Newsworld. His unorthodox fashion.
1412
Mansbridge, Peter
chief correspondent and anchor of the flagship CBC

broadcast The National, a weekday 10:00 P.M. news-
cast (22 minutes long) that was followed by the highly
respected current affairs and documentary broadcast
The Journal. The status attributed to this anchor posi-
tion was reflected in the public interest created by the
events that preceded Mansbridge’s assumption of the
job. Amid much press speculation, Mansbridge was
offered in 1987 a co-anchor position in the United
States, opposite Kathleen Sullivan on CBS This Morn-
ing, for a salary reputed to be five to six times his earn-
ings with the CBC. It was expected that Mansbridge
would follow the familiar exodus of Canadian broad-
cast journalists to the United States, where the level of
national and international experience of many Cana-
dian journalists is highly valued. This emigration has
included journalists such as Don Miller, Don McNeill,
Robert MacNeil, Morley Safer, and Peter Jennings. In
a last-minute, much-publicized effort to stop Mans-
bridge from leaving Canada, the current chief anchor
of The National, Knowlton Nash, stepped down early
to offer his position to Mansbridge. Nash and Mans-
bridge were consequently heralded as patriots and,
moreover, managed to promote the turnover of an-
chors.
Despite the respectable audience numbers drawn
under Mansbridge’s leadership, The National was
Peter Mansbridge.
Photo courtesy of National Archives of Canada/CBC Collec- moved in 1992 to CBC’s all-news network, News-
tion world. Mansbridge assumed the role of anchor (origi-
nally co-anchored by Pamela Wallin) on CBC’s Prime
In what is now Canadian news media folklore, a lo- Time News. This new broadcast was part of a contro-
cal CBC radio producer “discovered” Mansbridge in versial decision to move the national evening news
1968 as he was making a public address announcement from the 10:00 P.M. to the 9:00 P.M. time slot. In 1995,
in an airport while working as a freight manager for a network executives decided to reverse their previous
small airline in Churchill, Manitoba. Mansbridge scheduling move and return the news/current affairs
turned the resulting position as a disc jockey into one hour to 10:00, with the entire hour now titled The Na-
as a newscaster, simultaneously transforming himself tional and with Mansbridge continuing his role as
into a journalist despite his lack of formal training or newscast anchor. The revamped program currently airs
apprenticeship. From this unlikely beginning, Mans- on both the CBC and Newsworld.
bridge moved quickly through the ranks of CBC tele- During his tenure as CBC’s star anchor, Mansbridge
vision news, beginning with a one-year stint in 1972 has covered many of the key events that have attracted
with the CBC Winnipeg station as a local reporter, public attention in Canada, including federal elections
followed by another one-year position as the and leadership campaigns, the Gulf War, the Charlotte-
Saskatchewan-based reporter for the CBC national town Referendum, and the events of Tiananmen
newscast. From 1976 to 1980, Mansbridge held a spot Square. Coverage of these and other stories has gar-
on the prestigious parliamentary bureau in the nation’s nered Mansbridge eight Gemini Awards (Academy of
capital. Anchor status commenced with the Quarterly Canadian Cinema and Television). Mansbridge’s style
Report (co-anchored by Barbara Frum), a series of of presentation is understated and sober but suffi-
special reports concerning issues of an urgent, national ciently amiable to attract viewers in the increasingly
nature that aired four times a year. Beginning in 1985, entertainment-oriented news media. His understated
Mansbridge anchored the newly formed national delivery, in combination with his appearance (once de-
weekly Sunday Report. scribed as “bland good looks”), makes Mansbridge’s
Mansbridge’s nationwide prominence was secured presentation and persona consistent with the standard
in 1988, when he accepted the enviable position of among Canadian broadcast journalists.
1413
Mansbridge, Peter
Although the CBC has historically placed a great vorced). Served in the Royal Canadian Navy,
deal of emphasis on news and current affairs program- 1966–67. Disc jockey and newscaster, CBC Radio,
ming, this was particularly evident during the years of Churchill, Manitoba, 1968; reporter, CBC Radio,
Mansbridge’s rise within the corporation in the 1980s. Winnipeg, 1972; reporter, CBC Television News,
The reduced resources made available to the broad- 1973; reporter, The National, Saskatchewan, 1975; as-
caster, in addition to the challenges of broadcasting in signed to the Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa, 1976–
the increasingly multichannel media system, de- 80; co-anchor, Quarterly Report, and anchor, Sunday
manded a renewed focus by the CBC on this area in Report, from 1985; anchor, The National, since 1988;
which it was traditionally strong. The CBC’s subse- anchor of CBC’s Prime Time News, 1992–95. Recipi-
quent commitment to news has been evident in the ent: eight Gemini Awards, including Gordon Sinclair
continuing production of quality news programming Award.
and has assisted Mansbridge in developing a particu-
larly strong profile within the industry.
Television Series
Keith C. Hampson
1972–85 CBC News (reporter)
See also Canadian Television Broadcasting in En- 1985–88 Quarterly Report (co-anchor)
glish; National, The/The Journal 1985–88 Sunday Report (anchor)
1988–92, 1995– The National (anchor)
Peter Mansbridge. Born in London, England, 1948. 1992–95 Prime Time News (anchor)
Educated in Ottawa. Married: Wendy Mesley (di- 1999– Mansbridge: One on One
Marchant, Tony (1959– )

British Writer
Tony Marchant is one of British television’s most dis- Marchant began his career in the fringe theater at the
tinctive dramatic writers. Just one of his screenplays start of the 1980s, when, inspired by the “do it your-
(the comedy of transsexual love, Different for Girls), self” directness of punk music, he produced a string of
has had a theatrical release; otherwise, throughout his plays for the Theatre Royal in London’s Stratford East.
career, he has maintained a commitment to television Although rooted in his East End working-class experi-
drama as both the equal of cinema and the “true ence, however, his was not the stereotypical voice of
writer’s medium.” He has also fought against the disaffected youth. Welcome Home, about soldiers re-
market-led ideology of drama commissioning in the turning from the Falklands conflict to attend a friend’s
1990s and the drive to deliver audiences by means of funeral, carefully juggled opposing ideological views,
standardized generic formulae. In 1999, the year that while Raspberry explored two women’s differing ex-
he received the British Academy of Film and Televi- periences on a hospital gynecological ward. While at
sion Arts (BAFTA) Dennis Potter Award for Television Stratford East, Marchant first worked with Adrian
Drama, he spoke up for what he called “the singular Shergold, the director who was to become one of his
and eccentric voice” of the writer. Two dramas broad- principal collaborators on television and whose film-
cast in that year perhaps embody the range encom- ing would bring to his work a potent rhythmic and vi-
passed by that voice. In Kid in the Corner, he drew on sual style.
his own experience as the parent of a boy with learning It was with a screen version of Raspberry, produced
difficulties to deliver a deeply intimate account of a by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in
couple’s relationship with a son suffering from atten- 1984, that Marchant moved into writing for television.
tion deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while in The play was well received, and he followed it over the
Bad Blood he traced the moral disintegration of a sur- next five years with a string of single dramas on so-
geon, desperate to adopt a Romanian boy, through the cially resonant topics ranging from money dealing in
increasingly surreal metaphor of vampirism. the London foreign exchange (The Moneymen) to the
1414
Marchant, Tony
struggle by a mother to bring to justice the people re- Chaucer’s story of courtly love into a gripping account
sponsible for her son’s death from a drug overdose of the rivalry between two prisoner friends for the love
(Death of a Son). In 1989 the BBC broadcast his first of a continuing-education language tutor, revealing po-
serial, the three-part Take Me Home. It is the story of a etic passion, tenderness, and honor in a seemingly bru-
passionate and ultimately doomed affair between a talized world. A similar reversal of expectation
middle-aged man, forced into redundancy and now permeates Never, Never, a story of the relationship be-
working as a minicab driver, and the young wife of a tween a loan shark debt collector and a young woman
successful computer programmer. Set against the high- living on an inner-London estate. Here, as in Swallow,
tech sterility of a British “new town,” the story pro- where a woman addicted to antidepressants battles
vided a potent metaphor of social and spiritual with a pharmaceutical company, and Passer-By, which
isolation in a culture imbued with the apparent virtues follows the terrible consequences of a man’s decision
of success and prosperity. This was followed by two to ignore the appeal of a woman in distress, Marchant
further three-part dramas, Goodbye Cruel World, about creates a modern social fable that has not only a wider
a woman suffering from an unspecified and incurable political resonance but, at its core, a deeply intimate
form of motor neuron disease and her husband’s cam- story of goodness and hope. His characters are on jour-
paign to set a charity on her behalf, and Into the Fire, neys, the ends of which are never predictable but that
in which a hitherto upstanding businessman’s involve- invariably entail an encounter with moral and social
ment in insurance fraud to save his company leads to responsibility. “I’m sure it has something to do with
the death of a young employee and a relationship with the fact that I was brought up a Catholic,” he admits in
the boy’s mother. In each work, one can begin to rec- an interview article by Louise Bishop, published in
ognize Marchant’s characteristic preoccupation with Television in May 1998. “I have to admit that a lot of
motives and principles and his engagement with serial the stuff I write is to do with redemption and guilt.”
drama as a means of following through the complex Jeremy Ridgman
ethical ramifications of impulsive but socially induced
actions. Tony Marchant. Born in London, England, July 11,
It is this concern, amplified into a sweeping narra- 1959. Left school at age 18; unemployed, then worked
tive of epic proportions, that permeates what could be in local office of Department of Employment. British
considered Marchant’s masterpiece. The eight-episode Theatre Association Award, Most Promising Play-
serial Holding On was inspired by sources as diverse wright (1983); Recipient: Royal Television Society
as Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend and Robert Writer’s Award for Goodbye Cruel World (1992) and
Altman’s multistranded film Short Cuts and was com- Holding On (1997); British Academy of Film and
missioned by the BBC on the back of the success en- Television Arts TV Awards, Best Drama Serial (1998)
joyed by Peter Flannery’s Our Friends in the North. Its for Holding On and Dennis Potter Award (2000).
setting is London and its subject the city and the con-
nections that lie, dark and unrecognized, between the
Television Series
disparate lives of its inhabitants. The violent death of a
1989 Take Me Home
young woman at the hands of a schizophrenic provides
1992 Goodbye Cruel World
the catalyst for a dark journey through cause and ef-
1993 Westbeach (3 episodes)
fect, culpability and guilt, involving a range of charac-
1993 Lovejoy (“God Helps Those”)
ters who either were linked to the victim and the
1996 Into the Fire
perpetrator or witnessed the event. Marchant’s vision
1997 Holding On
of corrupted social responsibility is embodied in the
1999 Great Expectations
central story of a tax inspector lured into bribery by the
1999 Bad Blood
millionaire whom he is investigating for fraud, while
1999 Kid in the Corner
the London Underground replaces Dickens’s River
2000 Never, Never
Thames as the metaphoric thoroughfare ominously
2001 Swallow
linking the lives of the characters.
2002 Crime and Punishment
Marchant was subsequently commissioned to dra-
2004 Passer By
matize Dickens’s Great Expectations, to which he
brought a contemporary sense of the preoccupation
with social class, and Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Pun- Television Plays
ishment, another tale of unraveling guilt. For the 1984 Raspberry
BBC’s series of modern adaptations of The Canter- 1985 Reservations
bury Tales, his version of The Knight’s Tale transposed 1988 The Moneymen
1415
Marchant, Tony
1989 Death of a Son Welcome Home, 1983; Lazydays Ltd, 1984; Specu-
1989 The Attractions lators, 1987; The Attractions, 1987.
1994 Speaking in Tongues
1999 Different for Girls
Further Reading
2003 The Knight’s Tale (Canterbury Tales)
Bishop, Louise, “London Calling,” Television (May 1998)
Davies, John, “How to Be Good? An Interview with Tony
Marchant, Television Playwright,” Critical Quarterly, 44,
Stage Plays no. 3 (October 2002)
Remember Me?, 1980; Thick As Thieves, 1981; Stiff, Towner, Angus, “The World According to Marchant,” Televi-
1982; The Lucky Ones, 1982; Raspberry, 1982; sion Today (January 16, 1992)
Marcus Welby, M.D.

U.S. Medical Drama
Marcus Welby, M.D., which aired on the American episodes of the difficulty often sparked movement to-
Broadcasting Company (ABC) from late September ward a cure, but only after Welby or Kiley uncovered
1969 through mid-May 1976, was one of the most the root causes of the behavioral problems.
popular doctor shows in U.S. television history. Dur- In one case, for example, Dr. Welby and Dr. Kiley
ing the 1970 television year, it even ranked number become concerned about Enid Cooper, a counselor in
one among all TV series, according to the Nielsen an orphanage, when they learn that she is addicted to
Television Index. As such, it was the first ABC pro- pills. The doctors are unable to persuade the young
gram to take the top program slot for an entire season. woman to give them up. Then, under the influence of
The Nielsen data suggested that Marcus Welby, M.D. pills, Enid is responsible for a car accident in which
was viewed regularly in about one of every four U.S. one of her charges is hurt. That allows Welby to move
homes that year. her toward conquering her addiction.
The program was created by David Victor, who had This emphasis on the psyche and medicine was cel-
been a producer on the hit Dr. Kildare television series ebrated by Robert Young, who played Marcus Welby.
during the 1960s. Victor took a centerpiece of the basic Young suffered from chemical imbalances in his body
doctor-show formula (the older physician-mentor tu- that led him toward depression and alcoholism. To
toring the young man) and transferred it from the stan- fight those difficulties, he had developed an approach
dard hospital setting to the suburban office of a general to life that mirrored the holistic health philosophy that
practitioner. The sicknesses that Marcus Welby and his he now acted out as a TV doctor. People who worked
young colleague Steven Kiley dealt with—everything with him on the set said that it was often hard to tell
from drug addition to rape, from tumors to autism— where Young stopped and Welby began, so closely did
ran the same wide gamut that hospital-based medical the actor identify with his role. Viewers seemed to
shows had covered. In fact, many of the patients ended have that difficulty, too. Young received thousands of
up in the hospital, and Welby even moved his practice letters asking for advice on life’s problems.
to a hospital toward the end of the show’s run. Never- In choosing topics to deal with in the program itself,
theless, Marcus Welby, M.D. was different from other Welby’s producers and writers benefited from a soften-
shows of its era, such as Medical Center and The Bold ing in the U.S. television networks’ rules regarding
Ones. Those shows stressed short-term illnesses that what was acceptable on TV in the early 1970s. The re-
paralleled or ignited certain unrelated personal prob- laxation came about partly because of increased net-
lems. Welby, on the other hand, dealt consistently with work competition for viewers in their 20s and 30s and
long-term medical problems that were tied directly to partly as a result of new demands for openness and the
the patient’s psyche and interpersonal behavior. Acute questioning of authority that the social protests of the
1416
Marcus Welby, M.D.
incredibly solicitous and loyal bedside manner was

leading their patients to question why they did not act
toward them as Welby would. Was it true, as writer-
physician Michael Halberstam contended in the New
York Times Magazine, that the series could not help
“but make things better for American doctors and their
patients”? Or was it the case, as others claimed, that
Welby was among the factors contributing to the rise of
malpractice actions against physicians?
The debate marked the first time that the physicians’
establishment got involved in a large-scale argument
over whether fictional images that were positive actu-
ally had negative effects on their status. The argument
would continue about other doctor shows in the com-
ing years. But to Robert Young, Marcus Welby incar-
nate, it was a nonissue. According to an article in
McCall’s magazine, a doctor said to Young at a con-
vention of family physicians, “You’re getting us all
into hot water. Our patients tell us we’re not as nice to
them as Doctor Welby is to his patients.” Young did
not mince words. “Maybe you’re not,” he replied.
Joseph Turow
See also Young, Robert
Cast
Marcus Welby, M.D., Robert Young, 1969–76. Dr. Marcus Welby Robert Young
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Dr. Steven Kiley James Brolin
Consuelo Lopez Elena Verdugo
Myra Sherwood (1969–70) Anne Baxter
late 1960s brought. It allowed David Victor to initiate Kathleen Faverty (1974–76) Sharon Gless
stories, such as one on venereal disease, that he could Sandy Porter (1975–76) Anne Schedeen
not get approved for Dr. Kildare. Phil Porter (1975–76) Gavin Brendan
The show did ignite public controversies. One Janet Blake (1975–76) Pamela Hensley
episode called “The Outrage” centered on the rape of a
teenage boy by a male teacher. It ignited one of the first
organized protests against a TV show by gay activists. Producers
More general were complaints by the rising women’s David Victor, David J. O’Connell
rights movement that Marcus Welby’s control over the
lives of his patients (many of whom were women) rep- Programming History
resented the worst aspects of male physicians’ pater- 172 episodes
nalistic attitudes. ABC
While scathing, such opposition made up a rather September 1969–May 1976 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
small portion of the public discussion of the series over
its seven-year prime-time life. More consistent was the
controversy over Welby’s impact on physicians’ im- Further Reading
ages. With previous doctor shows, the concern of Turow, Joseph, Playing Doctor: Television, Storytelling, and
physicians was to cultivate as favorable an image as Medical Power, New York: Oxford University Press,
possible. Now some physicians worried that Welby’s 1989
1417
Market
Market
Broadcasting is inherently a medium of fixed location, of providing television ratings, once defined areas of
and because of its dependence on direct-wave radia- dominant influence (ADIs). Both acronyms are still
tion, television broadcasting is particularly so. In the commonly used and designate essentially the same
United States, because of the dominance of advertising, thing.
these fixed locations have come to be called “markets.” DMAs are defined by county or, in some cases, parts
Additionally, the term “market” may refer to a group of of counties (for convenience, counties will suffice in
people of interest to broadcasters and/or advertisers for this discussion). Every county in the United States is
business reasons. Indeed, the term is increasingly used assigned to one and only one DMA. Each DMA is
in this manner throughout the world, as more and more named after the city that defines its center, such as the
television systems become supported by advertising Chicago DMA or the Des Moines (Iowa) DMA. Each
revenue or other commercial underwriters. county is assigned to that DMA for which the most-
The broadcast television signal operates by direct- watched television stations are broadcast. So, for exam-
wave radiation; the signal waves must travel in a ple, Los Angeles County is assigned to the Los Angeles
straight line from the transmitting to the receiving an- DMA because the television stations that the people in
tenna. Even if transmitters could operate with unlimited Los Angeles County watch most often are located in
power, television broadcasting operates in a geography Los Angeles County. Orange County is also assigned to
fixed by the horizon of the curve of the Earth’s surface. the Los Angeles DMA because the most frequently
As the signal radiates outward from a transmitting an- watched television stations by viewers in Orange
tenna, it produces a more or less round geographical County are also located in Los Angeles County.
coverage pattern, with a radius of about 60 miles for Such a system of categories, in which every county
VHF (very high frequency) stations and about 35 miles in the United States is assigned to one and only one
for UHF (ultrahigh frequency) stations. The coverage DMA, is considered mutually exclusive and exhaus-
contour can be distorted by hills and mountains that tive. Such systems have formal advantages. The key
block the signal, increased by antenna height, or added benefit here is the simple arithmetic for manipulating
to by translators that rebroadcast the signal at another numbers associated with the categories. Since none of
frequency in another location or by retransmission on the markets overlap, numbers associated with any of
cable television systems. them can be added together to describe a market that
Reflecting the inherent “locatedness” of television would be defined as the aggregate of the smaller mar-
broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commis- kets. Since no area is left out of the system of market
sion (FCC) allocates channels and assigns licenses to definitions, the sum of all of them defines the national
facilities in communities. The word “market” has market. This eases the calculation of ratings and other
come to be the designator of those communities, re- data for local, regional, or national markets and for
flecting the degree to which advertising dominates syndicated, cable, and network television shows avail-
television in the United States. Anyone doing any type able in different areas.
of business in an area may of course refer to that area In addition to these formal uses of the term “mar-
or the people living in it as a market, placing the ket,” as Nielsen’s DMA or regional or national aggre-
boundaries wherever sensible for the business in ques- gates of DMAs, there are various other uses for the
tion. This practice includes the operators of commer- term in the television business. One of the most com-
cial television. (The operators of noncommercial mon is in phrases such as “the African-American mar-
television facilities have less reason to use the word ket,” “the Hispanic market,” “the youth market,” or
“market,” although it is increasingly applied in this “an upscale market.” These are extensions of the use of
arena.) In the business of television, these geographi- demographics to define types of people of interest to
cally outlined markets are formally defined by the advertisers and other businesspeople. In either usage,
ratings companies, among which Nielsen Media Re- the term remains a clear marker of the commercial as-
search dominates. pects of the U.S. television industry, in which buying
Markets are defined by Nielsen as designated market and selling—of both programs and audiences—is a
areas (DMAs) in a manner essentially the same that the central component.
Arbitron company, which is no longer in the business Eric Rothenbuhler
1418
Marketplace
See also Advertising; Call Signs/Letters; Frank N. Compaine, Benjamin, et al., editors, Who Owns the Media?
Magid Associates; Ratings; Share Concentration of Ownership in the Mass Communication In-
dustry, New York: Harmony Books, 1979
Multimedia Audiences, New York: Mediamark Research,
Further Reading 1986
Study of Media and Markets, New York: Simmons Market Re-
Bagdikian, Ben H., The Media Monopoly, Boston: Beacon search Bureau, 1990
Press, 1992 Turow, Joseph, Media Systems in Society: Understanding In-
Bogart, Leo, Commercial Culture: The Media System and the dustries, Strategies, and Power, New York: Longman,
Public Interest, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 1992
Marketplace
Canadian Consumer Affairs Program
Marketplace, which went on the air in 1972, is a amended, new regulations adopted, and consumer
weekly half-hour, prime-time consumer news show on guidelines imposed as a result of Marketplace re-
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It has ports. Its major contributions include the banning of
won many national and international awards, including urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) and lawn
the Gemini in 1994 as Canada’s best information pro- darts, warnings on soda pop bottles that sometimes
gram. The format, which has changed little over its explode on store shelves, prosecution of retailers for
history, involves a pair of hosts introducing segments false advertising (leading in one case to a fine of $1
on product testing, service evaluation, fraudulent prac- million), new standards for bottled drinking water
tices, and trends in consumer advocacy. The show’s and drinking fountains, new regulations for chil-
audience has held up well for more than four de- dren’s nightwear (to make the clothing less
cades—it remains one of the CBC’s most highly rated flammable), and new designs for children’s cribs.
shows—and it is regarded by many in the CBC as the From tests for bacteria content in supermarket ham-
benchmark by which other public affairs programs burger (an early report) to checks on the safety of fur-
should be judged. naces and long-haul tractor-trailers, the program has
The first producer, Dodi Robb, with consumer re-
porter Joan Watson (from CBC Radio) and broadcaster
George Finstad as hosts, had a mandate to inform con-
sumers about questionable sales practices and inferior
products. From the beginning, the show treated con-
sumer information as hard news, but it gradually ex-
panded its mandate to include investigative reports
with particular attention to public health and safety.
According to Globe and Mail television writer John
Haslett Cuff, the program is “a veritable gadfly in the
hard-sell marketplace of consumer television.” It is
“routinely monitored . . . by manufacturers and govern-
ment regulatory agencies and frequently copied by
American newsmagazine programs such as 60 Minutes
and 20/20.” Although it does put defenders of com-
mercial practices and products on the “hot seat,” Mar-
ketplace has an earnest quality that distinguishes it
from the “ambush journalism” sometimes practiced by
U.S. public affairs producers.
The program not only gets headlines; as one re- Marketplace.
viewer put it, it also gets results. Laws have been Photo courtesy of CBC Television
1419
Marketplace
used its small staff—relying on independent labora- Hosts

tories for tests—to considerable effect. More recent George Finstad
investigations include the safety of rebuilt air bags, Joan Watson
lead in children’s jewelry, and toxic waste. It has ex- Harry Brown
amined both specific consumer and larger issues of Bill Paul
public health and safety. Despite lawsuits and threats Christine Brown
of suits (and other pressures), the show has retained Norma Kent
its probing quality. The longest-serving hosts, Joan Jim Nunn
Watson and Bill Paul, became leading consumer ad- Jacquie Perrin
vocates. Erica Johnson
Reviewers have commented that the tough-minded
consumer advocacy practiced by Marketplace is the
kind of programming that public broadcasters, some- Producers
what insulated from commercial considerations, Dodi Robb, Bill Harcourt, Jock Ferguson, Murray
should be providing. It is unlikely that the show would Creed, Joe Doyle
have had the same effectiveness and longevity in
private-sector television. Its producers attribute consis- Programming History
tent good ratings to its focus on the personal concerns CBC
of its audience, which derives in part from careful at- October 1972–
tention to the thousands of letters it receives from
viewers each year, many of which have led to Market- Further Reading
place investigations. Freedom from commercial pres-
sures may also be significant. Recently, Marketplace Miller, Mary Jane, Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television
Drama Since 1952, Vancouver: University of British
has made its reports available on its website Columbia Press, 1987
(http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market). Stewart, Sandy, Here’s Looking at Us: A Personal History of
Frederick J. Fletcher and Robert Everett Television in Canada, Toronto: CBC Enterprises, 1986
Married . . . with Children

U.S. Situation Comedy
Married . . . with Children (MWC), created by Michael “patriarch” Al Bundy (Ed O’Neil), whose family credo
Moye and Ron Leavitt, premiered as one of the new is, “when one of us is embarrassed, the others feel bet-
FOX Broadcasting Company’s Sunday series in 1987. ter about ourselves.” In MWC, almost every character
Moye and Leavitt had previously produced The Jeffer- is amusingly tasteless and satirically vulgar.
sons, a long-running comedy about a black en- Bundy is a luckless women’s shoe salesman who
trepreneur who becomes wealthy and moves his hates fat women, tries to relive his days as a high school
family to an almost all-white New York City neighbor- football hero, and does almost anything to avoid having
hood. Set in Chicago, their new show was a parody of sex with his stay-at-home, bon-bon-eating spouse,
American television’s tendency to create comedies Peggy (Katey Sagal). Peg loves to shop, and her ability
dealing with relentlessly perfect families. Their pro- to buy always exceeds Al’s capacity to earn. She re-
gram was immediately termed “antifamily.” fuses to cook, and the Bundys must take desperate mea-
At the time of MWC’s appearance, the top-rated sures to stay fed, frequently searching beneath the sofa
U.S. television series was The Cosby Show. In the cushions for crumbs of food. After one family funeral,
Cosby version of family, an African-American doctor the Bundys steal the deceased man’s filled refrigerator.
and his attorney-wife raise their college-bound off- Peggy’s clothes are too tight, her hair is too big, her
spring in an upper-middle-class environment. Instead makeup is too thick, and her heels are too high. She
of such faultless people, Moye and Leavitt presented wants sex as much as Al avoids it.
1420
Married . . . with Children, Christina Applegate, David Faustino, Katey Sagal, Ed O‘Neill, 1987–97.
©20th Century Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
The Bundy’s stereotypically beautiful, dumb-blonde down. Marcy is a banker and activist for almost any
daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate), is a frequent cause that will defeat Al’s current get-rich-quick
target of their naive con artist son, Bud (David scheme. She marries Jefferson (Ted McGinley) while
Faustino). Moye and Leavitt created Kelly in the guise drunk and discovers him in her bed the next morning.
of Sheridan’s Mrs. Malaprop; she can never manage to He has no career, although he has claimed to be a
find the right word, and her verbal confusions are fe- clever criminal, now living in the witness protection
licitous. According to Bud, Kelly will have sex with program.
any available male. In one episode, Kelly acquires The show had a small, loyal following until Febru-
backstage passes to a rock concert and announces she ary 1989, and the producers had a history of arguments
is just one paternity suit away from a Caribbean home. over taste and language with FOX’s lone, part-time
The Bundys think Bud has no chance of ever attracting network censor. One episode, “A Period Piece,” in
a date; running jokes mention his collection of inflat- which the Bundy and Rhoades families go camping,
able rubber women. All characters have a common was delayed one month in the broadcast schedule be-
failing: none exercises good judgment. cause it focused on the women’s menstrual cycles.
In MWC, Moye and Leavitt not only lampooned Two months later, the episode scheduled for February
Cosby but also parodied its creator, Marcy Carsey. The 19, 1989, “I’ll See You in Court,” was pulled from the
other continuing characters in the series were the schedule and never aired on the FOX network. The
Bundy’s upscale next-door neighbors. In the initial episode involves sexual videotapes of Marcy and
seasons, the neighbors were Marcy (Amanda Bearse) Steve that Al and Peggy view when they rent a sleazy
and Steve Rhoades (David Garrison). Garrison was a motel room. When both couples realize their activity at
series regular from 1987 to 1990 and made frequent the motel was broadcast to other rooms, they sue. The
guest appearances after Steve and Marcy split. Then, jury chooses to compensate the couples for their per-
in the 1991 season, Marcy remarried, to a man named formance quality, with Al and Peggy getting no money.
Jefferson D’Arcy—giving her the moniker Marcy That same winter, two weeks after “A Period Piece,”
D’Arcy. Marcy and her husbands serve as a device to an episode titled “Her Cups Runneth Over” led to a so-
entice and challenge the Bundy clan, then put them cial stir. The segment features Peggy’s need for a new
1421
brassiere, coinciding with her birthday. Al and Steve est rating of any FOX show to that date. FOX began
travel to a lingerie shop in Wisconsin, where an older charging the same amount for commercials in MWC
male receptionist wears nothing below his waist but that the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) asked
panties, a garter belt, stockings, and spike-heeled shoes. for 60 Minutes. The comedy began intermittently win-
Steve fingers leather-fringed falsies attached to the nip- ning its time slot.
ples of one near-naked mannequin; women flash Al and By 1995 the show had become the longest-running
Steve, although the nudity is not shown on camera. situation comedy currently programmed on network
One television viewer, Terry Rakolta, from the television, on the air as long as the classic comedy
wealthy Detroit, Michigan, suburb of Bloomfield Cheers. In its final years, MWC no longer pushed new
Hills, took offense at the show after the brassiere boundaries of good taste, and the jokes became routine
episode. She saw her children watching the program and expected, even when still funny.
and found both the language and the partial nudity un- The show did, however, have an extremely lucrative
acceptable for a program airing during a time when afterlife in daily syndication, running strongly for
children made up a large portion of the audience. years in many markets. In Los Angeles, FOX’s station
Rakolta acted by writing to advertisers and asking KTTV ran the program twice each weekday in the
them to question the association of their products with prime-time access hour. Daily viewership for the show
MWC’s content. She also brought her cause to national continues to be strong, and with 11 seasons of episodes
television news shows. to add variety to off-network reruns, MWC is likely to
In March 1989, Rakolta said on Nightline, “I picked consistently remain one of the most successful proper-
on Married . . . with Children because they are so con- ties in the history of television syndication. At the end
sistently offensive. They exploit women, they stereo- of its run on June 9, 1997, the program’s off-network
type poor people, they’re anti-family. And every week earnings were estimated to be more than $400 million.
that I’ve watched them, they’re worse and worse. I During its long run, the show won no awards, but
think this is really outrageous. It’s sending the wrong the actors were recognized for their performances. The
messages to the American family.” Hollywood Foreign Press nominated the show for
Rakolta had mixed success. Some advertisers, in- seven Golden Globe Awards: one for the program as
cluding major movie studios and many retail stores, re- Best TV-Series—Comedy/Musical, four for Katey Sa-
fused to buy commercials on the new FOX network gal’s acting, and two for Ed O’Neill. American Com-
(prime-time telecasts had started less than two years edy Award nominations also went to Sagal (three) and
earlier). Media brokers cited a bad connotation with O’Neill (one).
FOX programming. Newsweek magazine featured a Joan Giglione
front-page story on “Trash TV,” questioning the stan-
dards of taste in prime-time television. Both MWC and Cast
tabloid news shows such as A Current Affair were pri- Al Bundy Ed O’Neill
mary examples. Peggy Bundy Katey Sagal
However, the greater effect of Rakolta’s campaign Kelly Bundy Christina Applegate
was strongly positive for FOX. Among the fledgling Bud Bundy David Faustino
network’s greatest problems at the time of the contro- Steve Rhoades (1987–90) David Garrison
versy was limited viewer awareness. Many viewers Marcy Rhoades D’Arcy Amanda Bearse
simply did not know that a fourth network existed. Re- Jefferson D’Arcy (1991–97) Ted McGinley
lated to this was the fact that a small, mostly homoge-
neous viewing group comprised FOX’s entire Producers
audience. Moreover, many FOX stations had weak John Maxwell Anderson, Calvin Brown Jr., Vince
UHF (ultrahigh frequency) signals that were difficult Cheung, Kevin Curran, Pamela Eells, Ralph Far-
to receive. Rakolta’s complaints garnered substantial quhar, Ellen L. Fogle, Katherine Green, Richard
national publicity, and this seemed to assist the net- Gurman, Larry Jacobson, Ron Leavitt, Stacie Lipp,
work in solving many of its difficulties. After Night- Russell Marcus, Ben Montanio, Michael G. Moye,
line, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Arthur Silver, Sandy Sprung, Marcy Vosburgh, Kim
most other national and local news shows featured the Weiskopf
controversy over MWC, viewer awareness rose dra-
matically. People purposely sought out their local FOX Programming History
affiliates, and MWC became a success. 262 episodes
By April 1989, MWC had reached a 10 rating, ac- FOX
cording to Nielsen’s national measurements, the high- April 1987–October 1987 Sunday 8:00–8:30
1422
Marshall, Garry
October 1987–July 1989 Sunday 8:30–9:00 Block, Alex Ben, Outfoxed, New York: St. Martin’s Press,
July 1989–August 1996 Sunday 9:00–9:30 1990
Impoco, Jim, “The Bundys Meet the Censors at FOX,” U.S.
September 1996–January 1997 Saturday 9:00–9:30 News and World Report (September 11, 1995)
January 1997–June 1997 Monday 9:00–9:30 Lowry, Brian, “Married . . . with Few Regrets As Series Ends Af-
ter 11 Years,” Los Angeles Times (April 27, 1997)
Stuller, Joan, “Fox Broadcasting Company: A Fourth Network
Further Reading Entry Within the Broadcasting Marketplace,” Masters thesis,
American Broadcasting Company, “Steamy TV” (transcript), California State University, Northridge, 1989
Nightline (March 2, 1989)
Marshall, Garry (1934– )

U.S. Producer, Writer, Actor
Garry Marshall was the executive producer of a string antic schemes were reminiscent of those portrayed on I
of sitcoms that helped the American Broadcasting Love Lucy. Viewers were introduced to the frenetic
Company (ABC) win the ratings race for the first time young comic Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy, a se-
in the network’s history in the late 1970s. While Nor- ries about an alien (Williams) who comes to Earth to
man Lear’s Tandem Productions and Grant Tinker’s study human behavior by moving in with an all-
MTM Enterprises had put the Columbia Broadcasting American young woman (Pam Dawber). Joanie Loves
System (CBS) on top in the early part of the decade, by Chachi followed two of the younger characters from
the end of the 1978–79 season, four of the five highest- Happy Days as they struggled to make it as rock-and-
rated shows of the year were Marshall’s. roll musicians.
Marshall became a comedy writer during the last While Norman Lear had used such shows as All in
years of television’s “golden age.” He started out as an the Family and Maude to explore contemporary social
itinerant joke writer for an assortment of TV comics issues such as racism, the women’s movement, and the
and eventually secured a staff writing position on The war in Vietnam, Marshall’s shows were usually more
Joey Bishop Show. There he met Jerry Belson, with concerned with less timely, personal issues, such as
whom he would go on to write two feature films, a blind dates, making out, and breaking up. Lear, Tinker,
Broadway play, and episodes for a variety of TV se- and others had attracted young audiences with “rele-
ries, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Lucy vant” programming earlier in the decade; Marshall at-
Show, and I Spy. The last project Marshall and Belson tracted even younger ones with lighter, more escapist
did together was the most successful of their partner- fare, most of it set in the supposedly simpler historic
ship. The Odd Couple, a series they adapted from the past. In an interview reprinted in American Television
Neil Simon play in 1970, would run for five seasons Genres (1985), Marshall recalled that, after producing
and have a major impact on Marshall’s comic style. the adult-oriented Odd Couple, he had been anxious to
Rather than forming his own independent produc- make shows “that both kids and their parents could
tion company, which had become standard procedure watch.” When he gave a speech on accepting the Life-
for producers at the time, Marshall remained at time Achievement Prize given at the American Com-
Paramount to make a succession of hit situation come- edy Awards in 1990, Marshall said, “If television is the
dies for ABC. Happy Days debuted as a series in Jan- education of the American people, then I am recess.”
uary 1974, and by the 1976–77 season, it was the most Not surprisingly, four of Marshall’s sitcoms were
popular show on TV. Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in adapted into Saturday morning cartoons.
the 1950s and centered around a teenager (Ron Marshall continued to borrow from The Odd Couple
Howard), his family, and his friends, Happy Days gen- throughout his career. Over and over again, he em-
erated three spin-offs, all of which Marshall super- ployed the comic device of coupling two distinctly dif-
vised. Laverne and Shirley featured two working-class ferent characters: the hip and the square on Happy
women (Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams), whose Days, the earthling and the Orkan on Mork and Mindy,
1423
Marshall, Garry
ily Matters, became staples of ABC’s lineup in the

later 1980s and early 1990s.
Robert J. Thompson
See also Comedy, Domestic Settings; Happy Days;

Producer in Television; Laverne and Shirley
Garry Marshall. Born in New York City, November

13, 1934. Educated at Northwestern University, B.S. in
journalism, 1956. Married: Barbara; children: one son
and two daughters. Served in the U.S. Army during the
Korean War, writing for Stars and Stripes and serving
as a production chief for the Armed Forces Radio Net-
work. Worked as a copy boy and briefly as a reporter
for the New York Daily News, 1956–59; wrote comedy
material for Phil Foster and Joey Bishop; drummer in
his own jazz band; successful stand-up comedian and
playwright; in television from late 1950s, starting as
writer for The Jack Paar Show; prolific television
writer through 1960s, creator and executive producer
for various television series from 1974; also active cre-
atively in films and stage.
Television Series
1959–61 The Jack Paar Show (writer)
1961–65 The Joey Bishop Show (writer)
1961–64 The Danny Thomas Show (writer)
1961–66 The Dick Van Dyke Show (writer)
Garry Marshall, 1999. 1962–68 The Lucy Show (writer)
©Robert Hepler/Everett Collection 1965–68 I Spy (writer)
1966–67 Hey Landlord (creator, writer,
director)
1970–75 The Odd Couple (executive
the rich and the poor on Angie, and, later, the business- producer, writer, director)
man and the prostitute in the movie Pretty Woman. In 1972–74 The Little People (The Brian Keith
1982 he brought a short-lived remake of The Odd Cou- Show) (creator, executive producer)
ple to ABC, this time with African Americans Ron 1974–84 Happy Days (creator, executive
Glass and Demond Wilson playing the parts of Felix producer)
and Oscar. 1974 Blansky’s Beauties (creator,
By the mid-1980s, Marshall had turned his attention executive producer)
to directing, producing, and occasionally writing fea- 1976–83 Laverne and Shirley (creator,
ture films, including Young Doctors in Love (1982), executive producer)
The Flamingo Kid (1984), Nothing in Common (1986), 1978 Who’s Watching the Kids? (creator,
Overboard (1987), Beaches (1989), Pretty Woman executive producer)
(1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Runaway Bride 1978–82 Mork and Mindy (creator, executive
(1999), and The Princess Diaries (2001). He also be- producer)
gan appearing on screen occasionally, most notably in 1979–80 Angie (creator, executive producer)
a recurring role on Murphy Brown. 1982–83 Joanie Loves Chachi (creator,
Marshall’s television tradition was carried on by executive producer)
Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett, two alumni of 1982–83 The New Odd Couple (executive
Marshall’s production staff. Their youth-oriented se- producer)
ries, such as Perfect Strangers, Full House, and Fam- 1988–98 Murphy Brown (actor)
1424
Martin, Quinn
Made-for-Television Movie Stage

1972 Evil Roy Slade (creator, executive The Roost (writer, with Jerry Belson), 1980; Wrong
producer) Turn at Lungfish (writer, with Lowell Ganz; also di-
rector, actor), 1992.
Television Special
1979 Sitcom: The Adventures of Garry
Marshall Publication
Films Wake Me When It’s Funny: How to Break into Show
How Sweet It Is (writer-producer), 1968; The Business and Stay There, 1995
Grasshopper, 1970; Young Doctors in Love (also
executive producer, director), 1982; The Flamingo
Kid (also co-writer), 1984; Nothing in Common, Further Reading
1986; Overboard, 1987; Beaches, 1988; Pretty Kaminsky, Stuart, with Jeffrey H. Mahan, American Television
Woman, 1990; Frankie and Johnnie, 1991; Psych- Genres, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1985
Out (actor), 1968; Lost in America, 1985; Jumpin’ Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
Jack Flash, 1986; Soapdish, 1991; A League of Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
Their Own, 1992; Hocus Pocus, 1993; The Other TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Lit-
tle, Brown, 1992
Sister, 1999; Runaway Bride, 1999; The Princess Newcomb, Horace, and Robert S. Alley, The Producer’s
Diaries, 2001; Raising Helen, 2004; The Princess Medium: Conversations with Creators of American TV, New
Diaries 2, 2004. York: Oxford University Press, 1983
Martin, Quinn (1922–1987)

U.S. Producer
Quinn Martin, among the most prolific and consistent Walter Grauman, and John Conwell are but a few of
television producers, helped to create and control some the names to appear again and again in the credits of
of television’s most successful and popular series from QM productions.
the 1950s through the 1970s. At various times in the QM and Martin entered into an era of considerable
1960s and 1970s, Martin simultaneously had as many success in the 1960s. Among the shows to come from
as four series on various networks. QM during this period were The Fugitive, Twelve O’-
Martin’s early television career consisted of writing clock High, The FBI, and The Invaders, all broadcast
and producing for many shows at Ziv Television and at on ABC. Indeed, the relationship between QM and
Desilu Productions. He produced the Desilu Playhouse ABC was enormously beneficial to both despite re-
two-hour television movie “The Untouchables,” which peated charges that they rode to their mutual successes
served as the basis for the series. Under Martin, The on a wave of violent programming that began with The
Untouchables became a huge hit for the American Untouchables and continued as a central stylistic fea-
Broadcasting Company (ABC). Martin left after the ture in QM programs.
first two seasons to form his own production company, It was also during this period that two aspects of
QM Productions. The first series from QM, The New Martin’s approach to television production emerged.
Breed, was unusual for Martin in that it was unsuccess- First was the QM segmented-program format: a teaser;
ful. During the years at Desilu and the first years of an expository introduction that often employed the
QM, Martin surrounded himself with a cadre of writ- convention of a narrator; a body broken into acts I, II,
ers, directors, and producers who would later ably III, and IV; and an epilogue, using an off-screen narra-
serve him when he was juggling the production sched- tor to explain or offer insight into the preceding action.
ules of several series. Alan Armer, George Eckstein, So recognizable did this convention become that it was
1425
Martin, Quinn
The successes of QM and Martin continued well

into the 1970s. Preeminent and longest running among
the QM shows of this era were The Streets of San
Francisco, Cannon, and Barnaby Jones, itself a spin-
off of Cannon. Martin had at least a half dozen other
series in prime time during the 1970s. During this pe-
riod, virtually every QM show dealt with law enforce-
ment and crime.
Since the first days of The Untouchables, Martin
had been criticized for using excessive violence in his
productions. A new criticism was now mounted
against Martin’s work because of the subject matter.
Critics claimed that Martin’s shows enforced the dom-
inant ideology of the inherent value of law and order.
They suggested that the bulk of Martin’s work legit-
imized a right-wing, conservative agenda. As Horace
Newcomb and Robert Alley indicate in The Pro-
ducer’s Medium, Martin openly acknowledged his
fondness for authority and his positive presentation of
institutions of police powers—individual, state, and
federal (see Newcomb and Alley).
Martin sold QM Productions to Taft Broadcasting
around 1978. Part of the agreement required Martin to
leave television production for five years and not to
compete with Taft. Martin became an adjunct profes-
sor at Warren College of the University of California,
Quinn Martin, 1965. San Diego. In the late 1980s, Martin became president
Courtesy of the Everett Collection/CSU Archives of QM Communications, which developed motion pic-
tures for Warner Brothers. He died in 1987, leaving a
production legacy of 17 network series, 20 made-for-
parodied in the 1982 sitcom Police Squad. Second, television movies, and a feature film, The Mephisto
Martin compartmentalized his productions. This was Waltz. No one has yet surpassed his streak of 21 years
done not only out of necessity, resulting from the vol- with a show in prime time.
ume of television being produced by the company, but John Cooper
also because of the trusted individuals with whom See also Arnaz, Desi; The FBI; The Fugitive; Pro-
Martin populated QM. At QM, the writers, producers, ducer in Television; The Untouchables;
and postproduction supervisors had very well defined Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse
tasks and would rarely stray beyond the parameters es-
tablished by Martin. John Conwell, casting director Quinn Martin. Born Martin Cohn in New York City,
and assistant to Martin for years, often referred to Mar- May 22, 1922. Educated at University of California,
tin as “Big Daddy” because of his paternalistic ap- Berkeley, B.A. 1949. Married: 1) Madelyn Pugh,
proach to production. 1958; child: Michael; 2) Muffet Webb, 1961; children:
Additionally, as John Cooper reports, Alan Armer Jill and Cliff. Served in U.S. Army Air Corps during
credited Martin with changing the face of the telefilm World War II. Began career as apprentice editor,
by moving from the soundstage to the outdoors and by MGM; worked as film editor, writer, and head of post-
ensuring authenticity by employing night-for-night production for various studios, including Universal,
shooting, as described in The Fugitive (see Cooper). 1950–54; writer and executive producer, Desilu Pro-
Too often producers would save a few dollars by sim- ductions’ Jane Wyman Theater, The Desilu Playhouse,
ply darkening film footage shot during the day to sim- and The Untouchables, 1957–59; founder, president,
ulate nighttime. Not Quinn Martin. He made money, and chief executive officer, QM Productions, 1960–78;
and he spent money. In 1965 Television Magazine sold QM Productions to Taft Broadcasting, 1978; chair
quoted Martin as saying that the 10 percent he would of the board, Quinn Martin Films; president, Quinn
have paid an agent (if he had retained one) was simply Martin Communications Group, 1982–87; adjunct pro-
rolled back into production. fessor of drama and in 1983 endowed the Quinn Mar-
1426
Marx, Groucho
tin Chair of Drama, Warren College, University of Made-for-Television Movies (selected)

California, San Diego; president, Del Mar Fair Board, 1970 House on Greenapple Road
with jurisdiction over Del Mar Race Track, 1983–84; 1971 Face of Fear
president, La Jolla Playhouse, California, 1985–86. 1971 Incident in San Francisco
Trustee: Buckley School, North Hollywood, Califor- 1974 Murder or Mercy
nia; La Jolla Playhouse. Recipient: TV Guide Award, 1974 Attack on the 5:22
1963–64; Emmy Award, 1964. Died in Rancho Santa 1975 The Abduction of St. Anne
Fe, California, September 6, 1987. 1975 Home of Our Own
1975 Attack on Terror
1976 Brinks: The Great Robbery
Television Series 1978 Standing Tall
1955–58 The Jane Wyman Theater (writer)
1958 The Desilu Playhouse (writer) Film
1959–63 The Untouchables The Mephisto Waltz, 1971.
1961–62 The New Breed
1963–67 The Fugitive
1964–67 Twelve O’clock High Further Reading
1965–74 The FBI Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele-
1967–68 The Invaders vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 1975; 2nd re-
1970–71 Dan August vised edition, 1990
1971–76 Cannon Cooper, John, The Fugitive: A Complete Episode Guide,
1963–1967, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture Ink,
1972–73 Banyon 1994
1972–77 The Streets of San Francisco Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
1973–80 Barnaby Jones Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
1974 Nakia (coproducer) TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Lit-
1974–75 The Manhunter tle, Brown, 1992
Newcomb, Horace, and Robert S. Alley, The Producer’s
1975 Caribe Medium: Conversations with Creators of American TV, New
1976 Bert D’Angelo/Superstar York: Oxford University Press, 1983
1976–77 Most Wanted Robertson, Ed, The Fugitive Recaptured, Los Angeles:
1977 Tales of the Unexpected Pomegranate, 1993
Marx, Groucho (1890–1977)

U.S. Comedian
Although often remembered as the quipping leader of with a real one, but his attributes were otherwise un-
the team of brothers who starred in anarchic film changed. The show simply let Groucho be Groucho. He
comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, Groucho Marx unleashed his freewheeling verbal wit in repartee with
reached a far larger audience through his solo televi- contestants, scattered good-natured insults at his will-
sion career. As the comic quizmaster of the longing participants, and lived up to his billing as “TV’s
running You Bet Your Life, Marx became an icon of King Leer” by greeting female guests with his charac-
1950s television, maintaining a weekly presence in the teristic raised eyebrows and waggling cigar. Groucho’s
Nielsen top ten for most of the decade. personality and gift for gab drove the program, with the
The familiar Groucho persona served as a comedic quiz playing only a minor role. So immediate was his
anchor for the popular quiz-show format when the 60- success in the medium that Groucho received an Emmy
year-old Marx made the transition to television in 1950. as Outstanding Television Personality of 1950 and was
Groucho replaced his trademark greasepaint mustache on the cover of Time a year later.
1427
Marx, Groucho
The show’s idiosyncratic production methods had as

much to do with the nature of Groucho’s performance
style as they did with the logistics of working in two
media simultaneously. Both the radio and the televi-
sion version of The Groucho Show (as it was retitled in
its final season) were somewhat pioneering in that they
were recorded and edited for later broadcast. Visually,
the TV edition was quite static, using a single set:
Groucho sitting on a stool chatting with contestants. A
multicamera system used two cameras to film the in-
terviews from each of four angles, including a slave
camera on Groucho. The look was simple, but the
setup allowed the producers to edit and sharpen Grou-
cho’s performances. He could venture into risqué ban-
ter, knowing that anything too blue for broadcast could
be cut. Dull bits of his unrehearsed, hour-long inter-
views were deleted, leaving only the comic highlights
for the 30-minute telecasts.
Putting the program on film (and paying a star’s
salary) gave You Bet Your Life a higher production cost
than other game shows. The investment was returned,
however, by both high ratings and the ability to repeat
episodes. During the 13-week summer hiatus, NBC
aired The Best of Groucho, helping to innovate the pro-
gramming convention of the rerun. When production
ceased in 1961, The Best of telefilms also went straight
Groucho Marx. into daily syndication for several years.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Throughout its run, You Bet Your Life’s formula re-
mained unchanged. Announcer and straight man
Groucho’s move to TV was not surprising, but the George Fenneman began, “Here he is: the one, the
magnitude of his success was. Like many of early tele- only . . . ,” prompting the studio audience to shout
vision’s “vaudeo” stars, he was a show business vet- “Groucho!” The quizmaster previewed the week’s “se-
eran with roots in vaudeville and an established cret woid,” and a wooden duck (in Groucho guise) de-
presence on national radio. However, his radio career scended with $100 whenever the word was spoken.
had been erratic. He lacked a successful show of his Male and female contestants were paired up to talk
own until program packager John Guedel brought You with Groucho, who often played matchmaker. The
Bet Your Life to ABC Radio in 1947. Guedel modeled show recruited entertaining, oddball contestants as
the show on his other popular series, People Are Funny well as celebrities. Many performed vaudeville-style
and House Party, which featured host Art Linkletter numbers, making You Bet Your Life as much a variety
interacting with audiences. The format showcased show as a talk or quiz program. After each interview,
Groucho’s talents well. He gained a large listenership Groucho posed trivia questions. Winners received
and moved to the more powerful Columbia Broadcast- modest amounts of money, while losers received a
ing System (CBS) after two seasons. Like other radio consolation prize for answering a variation of Grou-
hits, You Bet Your Life moved into television. cho’s famous query, “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?”
A pilot was made at CBS with Groucho simply The routine thrived because of Groucho’s rapport
filmed performing one of his radio episodes. A bidding with guests. He was a living encyclopedia of showbiz
war for Groucho’s services ensued (the star later wrote patter, gags, and lyrics and possessed a genuine gift for
that he chose the National Broadcasting Company witty ad libs. Yet his material was more scripted than it
[NBC] over CBS because CBS’s William Paley disappeared. A staff of writers provided teleprompted
pleased him by trying to appeal to their Jewish solidar- jokes. Working off these, Groucho maintained a palpa-
ity). You Bet Your Life remained a staple of NBC’s ble spontaneity, never meeting with the screened con-
Thursday night TV lineup for 11 seasons and played testants before the show.
on the network’s radio stations each Wednesday until While You Bet Your Life was Groucho’s greatest
1957. Television episodes were different editions of contribution to television, he was a popular TV racon-
performances aired on radio the previous evening. teur until the latter years of his life. After a short-lived
1428
Marx, Groucho
series revival on CBS (Tell It to Groucho) and appear- Soup, 1933; A Night at the Opera, 1935; A Day at
ances on British TV in the early 1960s, he hosted vari- the Races, 1937; The King and the Chorus Girl,
ety programs, did cameos, and sat in on panel shows. 1937; Room Service, 1938; At the Circus, 1939; Go
However, he found his most comfortable niche as a West, 1940; The Big Store, 1941; A Night in
talk show personality with an intellectual edge. His Casablanca, 1946; Copacabana, 1947; Mr. Music,
acerbic manner fit well with fringe late-night program- 1950; Love Happy, 1950; Double Dynamite, 1951;
ming, such as Les Crane’s controversial talk show (on A Girl in Every Port, 1952; Will Success Spoil Rock
its 1964 premiere Groucho served as a metacritic to Hunter?, 1957; The Story of Mankind, 1957; Ski-
political dialogue among William F. Buckley, John doo, 1968.
Lindsay, and Max Lerner). Of more lasting impor-
tance, Groucho served as an interim host for The Radio
Tonight Show when Jack Paar stepped down, and he You Bet Your Life, 1947–57.
introduced Johnny Carson when he debuted as host.
Groucho also developed a famous friendship with Stage
Tonight Show writers Dick Cavett and Woody Allen, Minnie’s Boys (co-author), 1970.
thereby influencing a new generation of TV and film
comedians. Publications
In the 1970s, Groucho’s celebrity was revived by a
surprisingly successful resyndication of You Bet Your Beds, 1930
Life (though later imitations of it by Buddy Hackett Many Happy Returns: An Unofficial Guide to Your
and Bill Cosby flopped). Books, films, and records by Income-Tax Problems, 1942
and about Groucho also sold well. His popularity ex- Time for Elizabeth: A Comedy in Three Acts, with
tended to both those nostalgic for a past era and those Norman Krasna, 1949
who made his antiauthority comedy style part of the Groucho and Me, 1959
younger counterculture. Memoirs of a Mangy Lover, 1963
This contradiction was appropriate for the per- The Groucho Letters, 1967
former who was simultaneously an insightful intellec- The Marx Bros. Scrapbook, with Richard J. Anobile,
tual critic and a pop icon. Groucho is attributed with a 1973
memorable put-down of television: “I find television The Groucho Phile: An Illustrated Life, 1976
very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I The Secret Word Is Groucho, with Hector Arce, 1976
go into the library and read a good book.” Yet, in true Love, Groucho: Letters from Groucho Marx to His
contrarian fashion, when promoting his own show’s Daughter Miriam, edited by Miriam Marx Allen,
premiere, he added a seldom-quoted rejoinder : “Now 1992
that I’m a part of television, or ‘TV’ as we say out here
on the Coast, I don’t mean a word of it.” Further Reading
Dan Streible
Arce, Hector, Groucho, New York: Putnam, 1979
Groucho Marx. Born Julius Henry Marx in New York Chandler, Charlotte, Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho and His
Friends, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1978
City, October 2, 1890. Married: 1) Ruth Johnson, 1922 Gehring, Wes D., Groucho and W.C. Fields: Huckster Comedi-
(divorced, 1942); children: Miriam and Arthur; 2) ans, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1994
Catherine Gorcey, 1945 (divorced, 1950); child: Groucho, London: Gollancz, 1954
Melinda; 3) Eden Hartford, 1953 (divorced, 1969). Kanfer, Stefan, editor, The Essential Groucho: Writings by, for,
With brothers Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo, formed com- and about Groucho Marx, New York: Vintage, 2000
Marx, Arthur, Son of Groucho, New York: D. McKay, 1972
edy team, the Marx Brothers, successful in film come- Marx, Arthur, My Life with Groucho: A Son’s Eye View, Lon-
dies; served as host for radio and television game show don: Robson, 1988
You Bet Your Life. Recipient: Emmy Award, 1950. Marx, Arthur, Arthur Marx’s Groucho: A Photographic Jour-
Died in Los Angeles, California, August 19, 1977. ney, Pomona, California: Phoenix Marketing Services, 2001
Marx, Arthur, and Robert Fisher, Groucho: A Life in Revue,
New York: S. French, 1988
Television Series National Broadcasting Company, Educational Television and
1950–61 You Bet Your Life (The Groucho Show) Groucho Marx, New York: NBC, 1957
1962 Tell It to Groucho Oursler, Fulton, “My Dinner with Groucho: It Came with Japes
and Tears, Everything but the Duck,” Esquire (June 1989)
Stoliar, Steve, Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s
Films House, Los Angeles, California: General Publishing Group,
The Cocoanuts, 1929; Animal Crackers, 1930; Mon- 1996
key Business, 1931; Horsefeathers, 1932; Duck Tyson, Peter, Groucho Marx, New York: Chelsea House, 1995
1429
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The

The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered on the The “workplace family,” while not new to television
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in September sitcoms (Our Miss Brooks and The Gale Storm Show
1970 and during its seven-year run became one of the were among earlier incarnations of this subgenre), was
most-acclaimed television programs ever produced. redefined in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Here were
The program represented a significant change in the characters easily defined by traditional familial quali-
situation comedy, quickly distinguishing itself from ties—Lou as the father figure, Ted as the problem
typical plot-driven storylines filled with narrative pre- child, Rhoda as the family confidante, and Mary as the
dictability and unchanging characters. As created by mother/daughter around whom the entire situation re-
the team of James Brooks and Allan Burns, The Mary volved. But the special nature of these relationships
Tyler Moore Show presented the audience with fully gave the show its depth and humor. Never static, each
realized characters who evolved and became more character changed in ways previously unseen in the
complex throughout their life on the show. Storylines genre. One of the best examples occurred when Lou
were character based, and the ensemble cast used this divorced his wife of many years. His adjustment to the
approach to develop relationships that changed over transition from married to divorced middle-aged man
time. provided rich comic moments but also allowed view-
The program starred Mary Tyler Moore, who had ers to see new depths in the character, glimpse behind
previously achieved success as Laura Petrie on The the gruff facade into Lou’s vulnerability, and grow
Dick Van Dyke Show. As Mary Richards, a single closer to him. This type of evolution occurred with all
woman in her 30s, Moore presented a character differ- the cast members, providing writers with constantly
ent from other single TV women of the time. She was shifting perspective on the characters. From those per-
not widowed or divorced or seeking a man to support spectives, new storylines could be developed, and
her. Rather, the character had just emerged from a live- these fresh approaches helped renew a genre grown
in situation with a man whom she had helped through weary with repetition and familiar techniques.
medical school. He left her on receiving his degree, Similarly, the program set the standard for a new
and she relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, deter- subgenre of situation comedy: the working-woman sit-
mined to “make it on her own.” This now common com. Beginning as a determined but uncertain inde-
concept was rarely depicted on television in the early pendent woman, Mary Richards came to represent
1970s despite some visible successes of the women’s what has since become a convention in this type of
movement. comedy. Unattached and not reliant on a man, Mary
Mary Richards found a job in the newsroom of fic- never rejected men as romantic objects or denied her
tional television station WJM, the lowest-rated station hopes to one day be married. Unlike Rhoda, however,
in its market, and there she began her life as an inde- Mary did not define her life through her search for
pendent woman. She found a “family” among her co- “Mr. Right.” Rather, she dated several men and even
workers and her neighbors. Among her at-work friends spent the night with a few of them (another new devel-
were Lou Grant (Ed Asner), the crusty news director; opment in TV sitcoms). Working-woman sitcoms
Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), the cynical news since, including Kate and Allie and Murphy Brown,
writer; Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), the supercilious an- owe a debt to Mary Richards.
chorman; and, later, Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), The program became an anchor of CBS’s Saturday
the man-hungry “Happy Homemaker.” Sharing her night schedule and, along with All in the Family,
apartment house were Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol
Harper), Mary’s best friend, and Phyllis Lindstrom Burnett Show, was part of one of the strongest nights of
(Cloris Leachman), their shallow landlady. This en- programming ever presented by a network. From
semble pushed the situation comedy genre in new di- September 1970 until its final airing in September
rections and provided the show with a fresh feel and 1977, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was usually among
look. the top 20 shows. It garnered three Emmy Awards as
1430
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Gavin MacLeod, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Betty
White, Georgia Engel, 1970–77.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Outstanding Comedy Series (in 1975, 1976, and paper editor in a serious, hour-long, issue-oriented
1977). Moore, Asner, Harper, Knight, and White all drama. MTM Productions developed a reputation, be-
won Emmys for their performances, and the show’s gun in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for creating what
writing and directing were similarly honored several became known as “quality television,” television read-
times. ily identifiable by its textured, humane, and contempo-
The show was the first from MTM Productions, the rary themes and characters.
company formed by Moore and her then husband, Traits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show have become
Grant Tinker. MTM went on to produce an impressive standard elements of many situation comedies since its
list of landmark situation comedies and dramas, in- airing. Because numerous writers and directors
cluding The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, The White worked at MTM (and on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Shadow, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, and L.A. Law. in particular) and then moved on to develop their own
The characters from The Mary Tyler Moore Show pro- productions, the program’s influence is notable in sit-
vided the focus for several successful spin-offs in the coms such as Taxi, Cheers, and Night Court.
1970s: Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant. The latter was The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also one of the
significant in that it represented the successful continu- first sitcoms to bring closure to its story. In its last
ation and transformation of a character across genre episode in 1977, the entire WJM news staff, with the
lines. In the new show, Asner played Grant as a news- exception of the very expendable Ted Baxter, was
1431
fired. Mary’s neighbors Rhoda and Phyllis had de- Sue Ann Nivens (1973–77) Betty White
parted previously for their own programs. Now the rest Marie Slaughter (1971–77) Joyce Bulifant
of her “family” was being broken up. Ironically, televi- Edie Grant (1973–74) Priscilla Morrill
sion brought them together, and now the vagaries of David Baxter (1976–77) Robbie Rist
television were separating them—in the “real” world
as well as in their own fictional context. In the final
Producers
moments, Mary, Lou, Murray, Ted, Ted’s wife Geor-
James L. Brooks, Alan Burns, Stan Daniels, Ed Wein-
gette, and Sue Ann mass together in a teary group hug
berger
and exit. Then Mary turns out the lights in the news-
room for the last time. It was a fitting conclusion to a
program that had become very comfortable and very Programming History
real in ways few other programs ever had. 168 episodes
Geoffrey Hammill CBS
September 1970–December 1971 Saturday
See also Asner, Ed; Brooks, James L.; Burns, Al-
9:30–10:00
lan; Comedy, Domestic Settings; Comedy, Work-
December 1971–September 1972 Saturday
place; Family on Television; Gender and
8:30–9:00
Television; Lou Grant; Moore, Mary Tyler; Tinker,
September 1972–October 1976 Saturday
Grant; Workplace Programs
9:00–9:30
November 1976–September 1977 Saturday
Cast 8:00–8:30
Mary Richards Mary Tyler
Moore
Lou Grant Edward Asner Further Reading
Ted Baxter Ted Knight Alley, Robert S., and Irby B. Brown, Love Is All Around: The
Murray Slaughter Gavin Making of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, New York: Delta,
MacLeod 1989
Bathrick, Serifina, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Women at
Rhoda Morgenstern (1970–74) Valerie Harper Home and at Work,” in MTM: “Quality Television,” edited
Phyllis Lindstrom (1970–75) Cloris by Jane Feuer, Paul Kerr, and Tise Vahimagi, London:
Leachman British Film Institute, 1984
Bess Lindstrom (1970–74) Lisa Gerritsen Dow, Bonnie, “Hegemony, Feminist Criticism, and The Mary
Gordon (Gordy) Howard Tyler Moore Show,” Critical Studies in Mass Communica-
tion (September 1990)
(1970–73) John Amos Rabinovitz, Lauren, “Sitcoms and Single Moms: Representa-
Georgette Franklin Baxter tions of Feminism on American TV,” Cinema Journal (Fall
(1973–77) Georgia Engel 1989)
M*A*S*H
U.S. Comedy
M*A*S*H, based on the 1970 movie of the same name never fell out of the top-20 rated programs during the
directed by Robert Altman, aired on the Columbia remainder of its run. The final episode of M*A*S*H
Broadcasting System (CBS) from 1972 to 1983 and was a two-and-a-half-hour special that attracted the
has become one of the most-celebrated television se- largest audience to ever view a single television pro-
ries in the history of the television medium. During its gram episode.
initial season, however, M*A*S*H was in danger of In many ways, the series set the standard for some
being canceled because of low ratings. The show of the best programming to appear later. The show
reached the top-ten program list the following year and used multiple plotlines in half-hour episodes, usually
1432
M*A*S*H
mander, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (McLean

Stevenson), was a genial bumbler whose energies were
often directed toward preventing Burns and Houlihan
from court-martialing Pierce and McIntyre. The camp
was actually run by Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly
(Gary Burghoff), the company clerk who could sponta-
neously finish Blake’s sentences and hear incoming
helicopters before they were audible to other human
ears. Other regulars were Corporal Max Klinger
(Jamie Farr), who, in the early seasons, usually dressed
in women’s clothing in an ongoing attempt to secure a
medical (mental) discharge, and Father Francis Mulc-
ahy (William Christopher), the kindly camp priest who
looked out for an orphanage.
M*A*S*H, Larry Linville, Loretta Swit, Alan Alda, McLean In the course of its 11 years, the series experienced
Stevenson, Wayne Rogers, William Christopher, Gary many cast changes. Trapper John McIntyre was “dis-
Burghoff, Jamie Farr, 1972–83. charged” after the 1974–75 season because of a con-
©20th Century Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection tract dispute between the producers and Rogers. He
was replaced by Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell), a
with at least one story in the comedic vein and another clean-cut family man quite different from McIntyre’s
dramatic. Some later versions of this form—for exam- lecherous doctor. Frank Burns was given a psychiatric
ple, Hooperman (American Broadcasting Company discharge in the beginning of the 1977–78 season and
[ABC], 1987–89) and The Days and Nights of Molly was replaced by Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester
Dodd (National Broadcasting Company [NBC], (David Ogden Stiers), a Boston blueblood who dis-
1987–89)—would be known as the “dramedy,” half- dained the condition of the camp and tent mates Pierce
hour programs incorporating elements of both comedy and Hunnicutt. O’Reilly’s departure at the beginning
and drama. Other comedies would forgo the more seri- of the 1979–80 season was explained by the death of
ous aspects of M*A*S*H but maintain its focus on his fictional uncle, and Klinger took over the company
character and motive, whereas some dramatic pro- clerk position.
gramming, such as St. Elsewhere and Moonlighting, Perhaps the most significant change for the group
would draw on the mixture of elements to distinguish occurred with the leave-taking of Henry Blake. His
themselves from more conventional television. exit was written into the series in tragic fashion. As his
M*A*S*H was set in South Korea, near Seoul, dur- plane was flying home over the Sea of Japan, it was
ing the Korean War. The series focused on the group of shot down and the character killed. Despite the “real-
doctors and nurses whose job was to heal the wounded ism” of this narrative development, public sentiment
who arrived at this “Mobile Army Surgical Hospital” toward the event was so negative that the producers
by helicopter, ambulance, or bus. The hospital compromised never to have another character depart the
pound was isolated from the rest of the world. One same way. Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan), a
road ran through the camp; a mountain blocked one doctor with a regular-army experience in the cavalry,
perimeter and a minefield the other. Here the wounded replaced Blake as camp commander and became both
were patched up and sent home—or back to the front. more complex and more involved with the other char-
Here, too, the loyal audience came to know and re- acters than Blake had been.
spond to an exceptional ensemble cast of characters. Although set in Korea, both the movie and the series
The original cast assumed roles created in Altman’s M*A*S*H were initially developed as critiques of the
movie. The protagonists were Dr. Benjamin Franklin Vietnam War. As that war dragged toward conclusion,
“Hawkeye” Pierce (Alan Alda) and Dr. “Trapper” John however, the series focused more on characters than
McIntyre (Wayne Rogers). Pierce and McIntyre were situations—a major development for situation comedy.
excellent surgeons who preferred to chase female Characters were given room to learn from their mis-
nurses and drink homemade gin to operating and who takes, to adapt, and change. Houlihan became less the
had little, if any, use for military discipline or author- rigid military nurse and more a friend to both her sub-
ity. As a result, they often ran afoul of two other medi- ordinates and the doctors. Hawkeye changed from a
cal officers, staunch military types, Dr. Frank Burns gin-guzzling skirt chaser to a more “enlightened” male
(Larry Linville) and senior nurse Lieutenant Margaret who cared about women and their issues, a reflection
“Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit). The camp com- of Alda himself. Radar outgrew his youthful inno-
1433
M*A*S*H
cence, and Klinger gave up his skirts and wedding true popularity of M*A*S*H can still be seen, for the
dresses to assume more authority. This focus on char- series is one of the most widely syndicated series
acter rather than character type set M*A*S*H apart throughout the world. Despite the historical setting,
from other comedies of the day, and the style of the the characters and issues in this series remain fresh,
show departed from the norm in many other ways as funny, and compelling in ways that continue to stand
well in terms of both its style and its mode of produc- as excellent television.
tion. Jeff Shires
While most other contemporary sitcoms took place
See also Alda, Alan; Gelbart, Larry; Vietnam on
indoors and were produced largely on videotape in
Television; War on Television
front of a live audience, M*A*S*H was shot entirely
on film on location in southern California. Outdoor
shooting at times presented problems. While shooting Cast
the final episode, for example, forest fires destroyed Capt. Benjamin Franklin Pierce
the set, causing a delay in filming. The series also (Hawkeye) Alan Alda
made innovative uses of the laugh track. In early sea- Capt. John McIntyre
sons, the laugh track was employed during the entire (Trapper John) (1972–75) Wayne Rogers
episode. As the series developed, the laugh track was Lt. (later Major) Margaret
removed from scenes set in the operating room. In a Houlihan (Hot Lips) Loretta Swit
few episodes, the laugh track was removed entirely, Maj. Frank Burns (1972–77) Larry Linville
another departure from sitcom conventions. Cpl. Walter O’Reilly (Radar)
The most striking technical aspect of the series is (1972–79) Gary Burghoff
found in its aggressively cinematic visual style. In- Lt. Col. Henry Blake (1972–75) McLean
stead of relying on straight cuts and short takes, Stevenson
episodes often used long shots, with people and vehi- Father John Mulcahy (pilot only) George Morgan
cles moving between the characters and the camera. Father Francis Mulcahy William
Tracking shots moved with action and changed direc- Christopher
tion when the story was “handed off” from one group Dr. Sydney Friedman Alan Arbus
of characters to another. These and other camera Cpl. Maxwell Klinger (1973–83) Jamie Farr
movements, wedded to complex editing techniques, Col. Sherman Potter (1975–83) Harry Morgan
enabled the series to explore character psychology in Capt. B. J. Hunnicutt (1975–83) Mike Farrell
powerful ways and to assert the preeminence of the en- Maj. Charles Emerson
semble over any single individual. In this way, Winchester (1977–83) David Ogden
M*A*S*H seemed to be asserting the central fact of Stiers
war, that individual human beings are caught in the Lt. Maggie Dish (1972) Karen Philipp
tangled mesh of other lives and must struggle to retain Spearchucker Jones (1972) Timothy Brown
some sense of humanity and compassion. This ap- Ho-John (1972) Patrick Adiarte
proach was grounded in Altman’s film style and en- Ugly John (1972–73) John Orchard
abled M*A*S*H to manipulate its multiple storylines Lt. Leslie Scorch (1972–73) Linda
and its mixture of comedy and drama with techniques Meiklejohn
that matched the complex, absurd tragedy of war itself. Gen. Brandon Clayton (1972–73) Herb Voland
M*A*S*H was one of the most innovative sitcoms Lt. Ginger Ballis (1972–74) Odessa
of the 1970s and 1980s. Its stylistic flair and narrative Cleveland
mix drew critical acclaim, while the solid writing and Nurse Margie Cutler (1972–73) Marcia
vitally drawn characters helped the series maintain Strassman
high ratings. The show also made stars of it perform- Nurse Louise Anderson (1973) Kelly Jean
ers—none more so than Alda, who went on to a suc- Peters
cessful career in film. The popularity of M*A*S*H was Lt. Nancy Griffin (1973) Lynette Mettey
quite evident in the 1978–79 season. CBS aired new Various Nurses (1973–77) Bobbie Mitchell
episodes during prime time on Monday and pro- Gen. Mitchell (1973–74) Robert F. Simon
grammed reruns of the series in the daytime and on Nurse Kellye (1974–83) Kellye Nakahara
Thursday late night, giving the show a remarkable Various Nurses (1974–78) Patricia Stevens
seven appearances on a single network in a five-day Various Nurses (1976–83) Judy Farrell
period. The series produced one unsuccessful spin-off, Igor (1976–83) Jeff Maxwell
After M*A*S*H, which aired from 1983 to 1984. The Nurse Bigelow (1977–79) Enid Kent
1434
Mass Communication
Sgt. Zale (1977–79) Johnny Haymer January 1978–September 1983 Monday

Various Nurses (1978–83) Jan Jordan 9:00–9:30
Various Nurses (1979–83) Gwen Farrell
Various Nurses (1979–81) Connie Izay
Further Reading
Various Nurses (1979–80) Jennifer Davis
Various Nurses (1980–83) Shari Sabo Alda, Arlene, and Alan Alda, The Last Days of M*A*S*H,
Sgt. Luther Rizzo (1981–83) G.W. Bailey Verona, New Jersey: Unicorn, 1983
Budd, Mike, and Clay Steinman, “M*A*S*H Mystified: Capi-
Roy (1981–83) Roy Goldman talization, Dematerialization, Idealization,” Cultural Cri-
Soon-Lee (1983) Rosalind Chao tique (fall 1988)
Various Nurses (1981–83) Joann Thompson Clauss, Jed, M*A*S*H: The First Five Years, 1972–1977: A
Various Nurses (1992–83) Deborah Show by Show Arrangement, Mattituck, New York: Aeonian,
Harmon 1977
Dennison, Linda T., “In the Beginning . . . .” (interview with
Larry Gelbart), Writer’s Digest (April 1995)
Freedman, Carl, “History, Fiction, Film, Television, Myth: The
Producers Ideology of M*A*S*H,” The Southern Review (winter 1990)
Larry Gelbart, Gene Reynolds, Burt Metcalf, John Heard, A., “The M*A*S*H Era,” The New Republic (April 4,
Rappaport, Allan Katz, Don Reo, Jim Mulligan, 1983)
Thad Mumford, Dan Wilcox, Dennis Koenig Kalter, Suzy, The Complete Book of M*A*S*H, New York:
Abrams, 1984
Marc, David, “The World of Alda and ‘Hawkeye,’” Television
Quarterly (fall 1988)
Programming History Reiss, David S., M*A*S*H: The Exclusive, Inside Story of TV’s
251 episodes Most Popular Show, Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs-Merrill,
CBS 1983
September 1972–September 1973 Sunday Sawyer, Corinne Holt, “‘If I Could Walk That Way, I Wouldn’t
8:00–8:30 Need the Talcum Powder’: Word-Play Humor in
M*A*S*H,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (spring
September 1973–September 1974 Saturday 1983)
8:30–9:00 Sawyer, Corinne Holt, “Kilroy Was Here—But He Stepped Out
September 1974–September 1975 Tuesday for a Minute! Absentee Characters in Popular Fiction (with
8:30–9:00 Particular Attention to M*A*S*H),” Journal of Popular Cul-
September 1975–November 1975 Friday ture (fall 1984)
Winther, Marjorie, “M*A*S*H, Malls, and Meaning: Popular
8:30–9:00 and Corporate Culture in In Country,” Lit: Literature Inter-
December 1975–January 1978 Tuesday pretation Theory (1993)
9:00–9:30
Mass Communication
The term “mass communication” is used in a variety of “Mass communication” is often used loosely to re-
ways that, despite the potential for confusion, are usu- fer to the distribution of entertainment, arts, informa-
ally clear from the context. These include (1) reference tion, and messages by television, radio, newspapers,
to the activities of the mass media as a group, (2) the magazines, movies, recorded music, the Internet, and
use of criteria of “massiveness” to distinguish among associated media. This general application is appropri-
media and their activities, and (3) the construction of ate only as designating the most common features of
questions about communication as applied to the activ- such otherwise disparate phenomena as broadcast tele-
ities of the mass media. Significantly, only the third of vision, cable, video playback, theater projection,
these uses does not take the actual process of commu- recorded song, radio talk, advertising, and the front
nication for granted. page, editorial page, sports section, and comics page of
1435
Mass Communication
the newspaper. In this usage, “mass communication” most confounding problem is encountered when deter-
refers to the activities of the media as a whole and fails mining the level of analysis. Should the concern be
to distinguish among specific media, modes of com- with a single communication event or with multiple
munication, genres of text or artifact, production or re- events but a single communication channel? Should
ception situations, or any questions concerning actual the focus be on multiple channels but a single
communication. The only analytic purpose served is to medium? Does the central question concern a moment
distinguish mass communication from interpersonal, in time or an era, a community, a nation, or the world?
small-group, and other face-to-face communication Radio provides an excellent example of the impor-
situations. tance of these choices. Before television, network ra-
Various criteria of massiveness can also be brought dio was the epitome of mass communication; it was
to bear in analyses of media and mass communication national, live, and available and listened to every-
situations. These criteria may include size and differ- where. Today it is difficult to think of radio this way
entiation of audience, anonymity, simultaneity, and the because the industry no longer works in the same man-
nature of influences among audience members and be- ner. Commercial radio stations depend on local and re-
tween the audience and the media. gional sources of advertising income. Essentially, all
Live television spectaculars of recent decades may radio stations are programmed to attract a special seg-
be the epitome of mass communication. These include ment of a local or regional audience, and even when
such serious events as the funerals of John Fitzgerald programming national entertainment materials, such as
Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., or Princess Diana popular songs, stations emphasize local events, per-
and entertainment spectaculars such as the Olympic sonalities, weather, news, and traffic in their broadcast
Games, the Super Bowl, and the Academy Awards. talk. Radio is an industry characterized by specialized
These transmissions are distributed simultaneously channels, each attracting relatively small, relatively
and regardless of individual or group differences to au- differentiated audiences. However, the average home
diences numbering in several tens or even a few hun- in the United States has five and half radios, more than
dreds of millions. Outside their own local groups, twice the number of televisions. Cumulatively, the
members of these audiences know nothing of each U.S. audience for radio is just as big, undifferentiated,
other. They have no real opportunities to influence the and anonymous as that for television, and because ra-
television representation of the events or the interpre- dio is normally live and television is not, the reception
tation of those representations by other audience mem- of radio communication is more simultaneous than
bers. that of television. Is radio today, then, a purveyor of
By contrast, the audience for most cable television mass communication? It depends on whether the con-
channels is much smaller and more differentiated from cern is with the industry as a whole or with the pro-
other audience groups. The audience for newspapers, gramming and audience of a particular station.
magazines, and movies is less simultaneous, as well as Most uses of the term “mass communication” fall
smaller and more differentiated, and holds out the po- into one of these first two categories, either to refer to
tential for a flow of local influences as people talk the activities of the mass media as a whole or to refer
about articles and recommend movies. The audience to the massiveness of certain kinds of communication.
for Internet web pages and downloadable files may be Both uses have in common that they take issues of
so thoroughly distributed in time and space that there communication for granted and instead place emphasis
is never more than one audience member at a time. Yet on size, on the massiveness of the distribution system
the audience members for streaming files of Internet and the audience. Attention is given to what are called
radio or TV may be having experiences very similar to the “mass media” because they are the institutional and
broadcast radio or TV audiences, even if there are technological systems capable of producing mass au-
fewer of them, more widely dispersed. When televi- diences for mass-distributed “communications.” Com-
sion shows prompt viewers to check their web pages, munication, then, ends up implicitly defined as merely
these programs are trying to steer the audience in a a kind of object (message, text, artifact) that is repro-
way that would reduce its unpredictability and hence duced and transported by these media. For some pur-
one aspect of its massiveness. Compared to a letter, poses, this may be exactly the right definition.
phone call, conversation, group discussion, or public However, it diminishes our ability to treat communica-
lecture, all these media produce communication im- tion as a social accomplishment, as something people
mensely more massive on every criteria. do, rather than as an object that gets moved from one
All the criteria used in defining mass communica- location to another. If communication is something
tion are potentially confused when one is engaged in a people do, then it may or may not be successful, may
specific research project or critical examination. The or may not be healthy and happy. If communication
1436
Mass Communication
means “to share,” for example, rather than “to trans- vision show is good for communication, whether an
mit,” then what, if anything, of importance is shared hour of network news would be a successful form of
when people watch a television show? communication, and whether there is a communication
Scholars of mass communication are often more in- need for noncommercial, educational children’s pro-
terested in communication as a social accomplishment gramming. As the terms of the questions shift, so, of
than they are in the media as mass-distribution sys- course, may the answers. Becoming aware of such
tems. This interest is based on an intellectual indepen- possibilities begins with being sensitive to the defini-
dence from existing habits of terminology and, most tions of such terms as “mass communication.”
important, independence from media institutions as Eric Rothenbuhler
they exist. The term “mass,” however it may be de-
See also Advertising; Americanization; Audience
fined, is then treated as a qualification on the term
Research; Cable Networks; Market; Narrowcast-
“communication,” however it may be defined. Such
ing; Political Processes and Television; Public In-
intellectual exercises, of course, can work out in a
terest, Convenience, and Necessity; Satellite;
great variety of ways, but a few examples will suffice.
United States: Cable Television
At one extreme, if “communication” is defined so
that interaction between parties is a necessary crite-
rion, as in “communication is symbolic interaction,” Further Reading
and “mass” is defined as an aggregate of noninteract- Beniger, James R., “Toward an Old New Paradigm: The Half-
ing entities, then “mass communication” is an oxy- Century Flirtation with Mass Society,” Public Opinion
moron and an impossibility. At the opposite extreme, if Quarterly (1987)
the term “mass communication” is defined as involv- Blum, Eleanor, Basic Books in the Mass Media, Urbana: Uni-
versity of Illinois Press, 1980
ing any symbolic behavior addressed “to whom it may Curran, James, and Michael Gurevitch, editors, Mass Media
concern,” then choices of clothing, furniture, and ap- and Society, London and New York: Edward Arnold,
pliance styles, body posture, gestures, and any other 1991
publicly observable activity may well count as mass Dominick, Joseph R., The Dynamics of Mass Communication,
communication. Both of these extremes may seem like 5th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996
Gitlin, Todd, Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and
mere intellectual games, but they are important pre- Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives, New York: Metropolitan
cisely because their intellectuality frees them of the Books, 2001
practical constraints under which we operate in other Hamelink, Cees J., and Olga Linne, editors, Mass Communi-
realms. The contribution of such intellectual games is cation Research: On Problems and Policies: The Art of
precisely to stimulate new thinking. Perhaps pausing Asking the Right Questions, Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex,
1994
to consider the idea that mass communication may be Jensen, Joli, Redeeming Modernity: American Media Criti-
an impossibility could help us understand some of the cism as Social Criticism, Newbury Park, California: Sage,
paradoxes and incoherencies of contemporary Ameri- 1990
can culture. Katz, Elihu, “Communication Research Since Lazersfeld,”
Consider a third example in which we use a model Public Opinion Quarterly (1987)
Lorimer, Rowland, with Paddy Scannell, Mass Communica-
of communication to evaluate industry practices. Defi- tions: A Comparative Introduction, Manchester, England:
nitions of “mass communication” that take communi- Manchester University Press, 1994
cation for granted and focus simply on the massiveness Mass Communication Review Yearbook, Newbury Park, Cali-
of the medium are always in danger of implicitly fornia: Sage, 1980–
adopting, or certainly failing to question, the assumed McQuail, Denis, Mass Communication Theory: An Introduc-
tion, London and Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1987
criteria of evaluation already used in industries. In Meyrowitz, Joshua, No Sense of Place: The Impact of Elec-
commercial television, as in any of the other commer- tronic Mass Media on Social Behavior, New York: Oxford
cial media, what is assumed is that television is a busi- University Press, 1985
ness. The conventions of the industry are to evaluate Rosengren, Karl Erik, editor, Media Effects and Beyond: Cul-
things solely in business terms. Is this television show ture, Socialization and Lifestyles, London and New York:
Routledge, 1994
good for business? Would increasing network news to Schramm, Wilber Lang, Mass Communications: A Book of
an hour be a good business decision? Would noncom- Readings, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1960
mercial, educational programming for children be a Sterling, Christopher H., Mass Communication and Electronic
successful business venture? In such an environment, Media: A Survey Bibliography, Washington, D.C.: George
it is an important intervention to point out that these in- Washington University, 1983
Turow, Joseph, Media Systems in Society: Understanding In-
dustries are communicators as well as businesses. As dustries, Strategies, and Power, New York: Longman, 1992
such, they can and should be held to communicative Turow, Joseph, Media Today: An Introduction to Mass Commu-
standards. The public has a right to ask whether a tele- nication, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999
1437
Mastermind
Mastermind
U.K. Quiz Show
Mastermind, a long-running quiz show of an unusually suitably threatening. The forbidding atmosphere of the
challenging academic character, was first screened by program, with its spotlighted victim seated in a dark-
the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1972 ened room and exposed to intellectual torture, owed
and defied all expectations to become staple peak-time much to its creator, BBC producer Bill Wright. Wright
viewing over the next 25 years. Made for next to noth- had been a prisoner of war during World War II, and
ing and generally filmed on location in a university set- his idea for the program came out of his experience of
ting, no one guessed at the outset that the program interrogation by the German Gestapo, who had ac-
would break out of the cult niche to which it seemed cused him of being a spy.
fated (give its initial late-night viewing time) and, in The presenter throughout the entire duration of the
short order, overtake even the long-established rival program was the Icelandic-born Scottish journalist
University Challenge. Magnus Magnusson, who was already well known as a
The structure of the quiz was relatively straightfor- broadcaster on a variety of cultural topics. His politely
ward, with four “contenders” (rather than “contes- sympathetic manner offered contenders some crumbs
tants”) being given two minutes to answer as many of reassurance, but once the stopwatch started, there
questions as they could about a topic of their own was nowhere to retreat from his relentless inquisition.
choosing. These specialist subjects varied from the rel- On occasion, it all proved too much, and some partici-
atively conventional (“British moths,” “English cathe- pants caved in completely, barely registering a score in
drals” or “the works of Dorothy L. Sayers”) to the the face of such pressure—acutely embarrassing, but
more esoteric (such as “old time music hall” or “the certainly making for memorable television. One luck-
Buddhist sage Niciren”). The general rule was that any less participant in 1990 ended up with a record-low
subject was admissible as long as it was of a broadly score of just 12 points. Magnusson’s catchphrases
academic nature and wide enough to provide scope for “I’ve started, so I’ll finish” (a mantra recited whenever
a torrent of exacting questions. After the specialist the buzzer ending the round sounded in the middle of a
rounds, each of the four contenders were tested for a question) and the formulaic reply “Pass” mouthed by
further two minutes in a similar fast-paced round of participants when they did not know the answer were
general knowledge questions, which seemed to get readily absorbed into everyday language.
more difficult as the round wore on. The series as a Though initially considered to be too high-brow for
whole was run on a knockout system, with highest peak-time audiences, the program escaped its late-
scorers (and highest-scoring losers) progressing to night slot through a happy accident. When a Galton
later stages of the tournament. Winners were required and Simpson comedy series called Casanova ’73 was
to choose different specialist subjects when reappear- removed from the schedule at short notice after BBC 1
ing but were allowed to return to an earlier topic if they Controller Bill Cotton Jr. and Director of Programs
managed to get as far as the grand final. The eventual Alasdair Milne found opening episodes of the latter
winner of the competition was presented with a special too offensive to be shown, Mastermind was put on in
cut-glass bowl to take home. its peak-time slot as a short-term emergency replace-
The challenge facing the contenders was vastly in- ment. The response was immediate, and the program’s
tensified by the intimidating atmosphere that charac- right to a permanent place in the peak-time schedule
terized the program. As well as having to maintain was recognized. By 1974 Mastermind was topping the
concentration in such daunting surroundings, partici- ratings alongside The Generation Game. By 1978 it
pants were required to sit in an isolated pool of light in was attracting audiences of 20 million.
an intimidating black leather chair at the total mercy of Thus established, the program was henceforth run
the quizmaster. Audiences maintained complete sion an annual basis (with the single exception of 1982,
lence as each contender faced a barrage of questions when no contest was held). Despite the lack of big
designed to reveal the depth (or lack thereof) of their cash prizes and the fearsome grilling they stood to
knowledge. Even the opening title music, a piece by face, hundreds of people auditioned for the show each
Neil Richardson titled “Approaching Menace,” was season. They came from a wide range of backgrounds,
1438
Maude
by no means all academic. Winners over the years to be screened on Discovery Channel, with Clive An-
ranged from Sir David Hunt (1977), who was a former derson inheriting the post of quizmaster.
ambassador to Brazil, to London taxi driver Fred In June 2003, Mastermind was brought back on the
Housego (1980), who capitalized on his newfound air, showing on BBC 2 and hosted by John Humphrys.
fame to appear in further quizzes and other programs, David Pickering
and train driver Christopher Hughes (1983). All win-
See also Quiz and Game Shows; University Chal-
ners automatically became members of the Master-
lenge
mind Club, which staged annual reunions and a quiz of
quizzes chaired by Magnusson himself. One excep-
tional Christmas show featured Magnusson himself in Producers
the chair, going through the ordeal he had presided Bill Wright, Roger Mackay, Peter Massey, David
over for so many years. Afterward, he freely admitted Mitchell
how demanding it was to be a contender and how
much he admired those who had been through it before Programming History
him. BBC 1
The series was finally deemed to have run out of 1972–97
steam in 1997, after 25 years, and ended after a final Hosted by Magnus Magnusson
contest filmed at St. Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. As Discovery Channel
well as all the usual spin-offs in the form of board November 2001–
games, books, and so forth, the program’s legacy may BBC 2
be detected in many subsequent shows, notably those June 2003–
in which contenders are asked seriously challenging
questions in tense, hushed surroundings.
Further Reading
In November 2001, the black leather chair was
dusted off once more for a revived version of the show Magnusson, Magnus, I’ve Started so I’ll Finish, London: Little,
Brown, 1997
Maude
Maude, the socially controversial, sometimes radical that raised social and political issues and dealt with
sitcom featuring a strong female lead character played them in a manner as yet unexplored in television sit-
by Bea Arthur, ran on the Columbia Broadcasting Sys- coms. Maude enjoyed a spot in the top-ten Nielsen rat-
tem (CBS) from 1972 to 1978. Like its predecessor All ings during its first four seasons despite being
in the Family, Maude was created by Norman Lear’s subjected to day and/or time changes in the CBS
Tandem Productions. Maude Findlay was first intro- schedule that continued throughout the entire run of
duced as Edith’s liberal, outspoken cousin from subur- the program.
ban Tucahoe, New York, on an episode of All in the Like many of Lear’s productions, Maude was a
Family in 1972 before spinning off later that year to character-centered sitcom. Maude Findlay was opin-
her own series set in upper-middle-class Tucahoe, ionated like Archie Bunker, but her politics and class
where she lived with her fourth husband, Walter Find- position were completely different. Strong willed, in-
lay, her divorced daughter Carol, and Carol’s young telligent, and articulate, the liberal progressive Maude
son Phillip. The Findlays also went through three spoke out on issues raised less openly on Lear’s highly
housekeepers during the run of the series, the first of successful All in the Family. While questions of race,
whom, Florida Evans, left in 1974 to her own spin-off, class, and gender politics reverberated throughout both
Good Times. These three shows, among others, com- series, certain specific issues, such as menopause, birth
prised a cadre of 1970s Norman Lear urban sitcoms control, and abortion, were more openly confronted on
1439
Maude
pernatural element (Bewitched and I Dream of Jean-

nie), the context was middle to upper middle class,
mostly suburban, and white. However, cultural up-
heaval in the 1960s, the political climate of the early
1970s, shifting viewer demographics, and the matura-
tion of television itself were responsible for a depar-
ture from the usual fare. By the early 1970s, a growing
portion of the viewing audience, baby boomers, were
open to new kinds of television, having come of age
during the era of the civil rights movement, Vietnam
protests, and various forms of consciousness raising.
However, the changing tastes of the audience and the
social climate of the early 1970s cannot by themselves
account for the rise of socially conscious television
during this period. The sitcom had also matured, and
producers such as Norman Lear, familiar generally
with American humor and specifically with the rules of
television sitcom, decided to make television comedy
that was more socially aware. Like All in the Family,
Maude set out to explode the dominant values of the
white middle-class domestic sitcom, with its tradi-
tional gender roles and nonwhite stereotypes, by
openly engaging in debates where various political
points of view were embodied in the sitcom characters.
Such debates were the staple of Maude throughout
its six-year run. In an early episode, Maude hires
Maude, Bea Arthur, 1972–78. Florida Evans, a black woman, to be housekeeper.
Maude goes out of her way to prove her progressive at-
titude to Florida by insisting the housekeeper act as if
Maude. In a two-part episode that ran early in the se- she is one of the family. Florida, along with Walter and
ries, the 47-year-old Maude finds out that she is preg- Carol, points out to Maude the foolishness of her ex-
nant and decides, with her husband Walter, that she treme behavior. In the end, Maude recognizes her un-
would have an abortion, which had just been made le- derlying condescension toward Florida, who, as witty
gal in New York State. Part 2 of the double episode and outspoken as Maude, retains her dignity and de-
also deals with men and birth control, as Walter con- cides to remain as the Findlay housekeeper on her own
siders getting a vasectomy. Thousands of viewers terms. The interaction between Maude and Florida in
wrote letters in protest of the episode because of the this episode was a comment on the issues and attitudes
abortion issue. In other episodes, Maude gets a face- about race that stemmed from the civil rights efforts of
lift; Walter’s business goes bankrupt, and he deals with the 1960s. Maude’s attitudes and behavior were indica-
the resulting bout with depression; in yet another pro- tive of white liberal politics during a time when race re-
gram, Walter confronts his own alcoholism. The real- lations in the United States were being reconfigured.
ism of Maude, though conforming to the constraints of Another reconfiguration was taking place within the
the genre, made it one of the first sitcoms to create a arena of women’s rights. In one of the final episodes of
televisual space where highly charged, topical issues the show, Maude is given the opportunity to run for the
and sometimes tragic contemporary situations could New York state senate, but Walter refuses to consider
be discussed. the possibility. He offers Maude an ultimatum, and af-
Maude represented a change in television sitcoms ter mulling over her decision, she decides to let Walter
during the early 1970s. Many 1960s sitcoms reflected leave. This episode, like many others, reflected a femi-
the context and values of white middle America, where nist sensibility emerging within the country and can be
gender and family roles were fixed and problems en- viewed as a platform for discussions about the chang-
countered in the program rarely reached beyond the ing roles of women and the difficulties they encoun-
confines of nuclear family relationships. Despite varia- tered as they were faced with new challenges and more
tions on that theme in terms of alternative families choices. Maude’s character agonized over the conflict
(Family Affair and My Three Sons) and an added su- between tradition and her own career aspirations.
1440
Maverick
The show’s ratings began to fall after its fourth season, Programming History
and by 1978, Bea Arthur announced that she would leave 142 episodes
the show. The end of Maude marked another shift in the CBS
domestic sitcom, away from open political debate and September 1972–September 1974 Tuesday
toward a renewal of the safer, more traditional family- 8:00–8:30
centered sitcoms of an earlier period in television history. September 1974–September 1975 Monday
Katherine Fry 9:00–9:30
See also All in the Family; Arthur, Beatrice; Gen- September 1975–September 1976 Monday
der and Television; Lear, Norman 9:30–10:00
September 1976–September 1977 Monday
9:00–9:30
Cast
September 1977–November 1977 Monday
Maude Findlay Beatrice Arthur
9:30–10:00
Walter Findlay Bill Macy
December 1977–January 1978 Monday
Carol Adrienne
9:00–9:30
Barbeau
January 1978–April 1978 Saturday
Phillip (1972–77) Brian Morrison
9:30–10:00
Phillip (1977–78) Kraig Metzinger
Dr. Arthur Harmon Conrad Bain
Vivian Cavender Harmon Rue Further Reading
McClanahan Cowan, Geoffrey, See No Evil: The Backstage Battle over Sex
Florida Evans (1972–74) Esther Rolle and Violence on Television, New York: Simon and Schuster,
Henry Evans (1973–74) John Amos 1979
Chris (1973–1974) Fred Grandy Feuer, Jane, “Genre Study and Television,” in Channels of Dis-
Mrs. Nell Naugatuck (1974–77) Hermione course: Television and Contemporary Criticism, edited by
Robert C. Allen, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Baddeley Press, 1987
Bert Beasley (1975–77) J. Pat O’Malley Hamamoto, Darrell Y., Nervous Laughter: Television Situation
Victoria Butterfield (1977–78) Marlene Comedy and Liberal Democratic Ideology, New York:
Warfield Praeger, 1989
Himmelstein, Hal, Television Myth and the American Mind,
Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1994
Producers Marc, David, Comic Visions: Television Comedy and American
Norman Lear, Rod Parker, Bob Weiskopf, Bob Culture, Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989; 2nd edition, Malden,
Schiller Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1997
Maverick
U.S. Western
A subversive western with a dark sense of humor, adventures of the Mavericks in their pursuit of money
Maverick soared to sixth place in the Nielsen ratings and the easy life.
during its second season with a 30.4 share, and it won Starting out as a straight western drama (the first
an Emmy Award for Best Western Series in 1959. Pro- three episodes, “The War of the Silver Kings,” “Point
duced by Warner Brothers (WB) and starring the then Blank,” and “According to Hoyle,” were directed by
relatively unknown James Garner as footloose frontier feature western auteur Budd Boetticher), the series
gambler Bret Maverick, soon to be joined by Jack soon developed a comedy streak after writer Marion
Kelly as Bret’s brother Bart, this hour-long series fol- Hargrove decided to liven up his script-writing work
lowed the duplicitous adventures and, more often, mis- by inserting the simple stage direction: “Maverick
1441
Maverick
their repertoire for evading difficult moments was the

collection of “Pappyisms” that corrupted their speech.
When all else failed, for example, they were likely to
quote their mentor’s excuse: “My old Pappy used to
say, ‘If you can’t fight ’em, and they won’t let you join
’em, best get out of the county.’”
Following the success of Cheyenne on the American
Broadcasting Company (ABC) from its premiere in
1955, the network asked WB’s TV division to give
them another hour-long western program for their Sun-
day evening slot. Maverick premiered on September
22, 1957, and pretty soon won over the viewers from
the powerful opposition of the Columbia Broadcasting
System’s (CBS’s) The Ed Sullivan Show and the Na-
tional Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) The Steve
Allen Show, two programs that had been Sunday night
favorites from the mid-1950s. With Garner alone star-
ring in early episodes, WB found that it was taking
eight days to film a weekly show. They decided to in-
troduce another character, Bret’s brother, in order to
keep the production on schedule. This strategy resulted
in a weekly costarring series when Jack Kelly’s Bart
was introduced in the “Hostage” episode (November
10, 1957). With separate production units now work-
ing simultaneously, WB managed to supply a steady
stream of episodes featuring either Bret or Bart on al-
ternate weeks. Occasionally, both Maverick brothers
Maverick, James Garner, 1981–82. were seen in the same episode, usually when they
teamed up to help each other out of some difficult situ-
ation or to outwit even more treacherous characters
looks at him with his beady little eyes.” Other than themselves.
scriptwriters then followed suit. Garner, in particular, The series also reveled in colorful characters as well
and Kelly joined in with the less-than-sincere spirit of as presenting wild parodies of other TV programs of
the stories, and Maverick took a unique turn away the period. During the early seasons, recurring guest
from the other, more formal and traditional WB- characters popped in and out of the plots to foil or as-
produced westerns then on the air (Lawman, Colt .45, sist the brothers: Dandy Jim Buckley (played by Efrem
Cheyenne, and Sugarfoot). Zimbalist, Jr.), Gentleman Jack Darby (Richard Long),
The series was created by producer Roy Huggins Big Mike McComb (Leo Gordon), and Bret’s regular
and developed out of a story (co-written with Howard antagonist, the artful conwoman Samantha Crawford
Browne) in which Huggins tried to see how many TV (Brewster). Among the more amusing episodes were
western rules he could get away with breaking; the “Gun-Shy” (second season), a send-up of Gunsmoke
script, ironically, was filmed as an episode of the featuring a hick character called Mort Dooley; “A Cure
“adult” Cheyenne series (“The Dark Rider”) and fea- for Johnny Rain” (third season), spoofing Jack Webb’s
tured guest star Diane Brewster as a swindler and prac- Dragnet with Garner doing a deadpan Joe Friday
ticed cheat, a role she was later to take up as a voice-over; “Hadley’s Hunters” (fourth season), which
recurring character, gambler Samantha Crawford, dur- had Bart enlist the help of Ty Hardin (Bronco), Will
ing the 1958–59 season of Maverick. “Maverick is Hutchins (Sugarfoot), Clint Walker (Cheyenne), and
Cheyenne, a conventional western, turned inside out,” John Russell and Peter Brown (Lawman)—all playing
said Huggins. “But with Maverick there was nothing their respective characters from the WB stable of west-
coincidental about the inversion.” The Maverick ern TV series (and with Edd “Kookie” Byrnes from
brothers were not heroes in the traditional western WB’s 77 Sunset Strip as a blacksmith); and “Three
sense. They were devious, cowardly cardsharps who Queens Full” (fifth season), a wicked parody of Bo-
exploited easy situations and quickly vanished when nanza in which the Subrosa Ranch was run by Joe
faced with potentially violent ones. A popular part of Wheelwright and his three sons, Moose, Henry, and
1442
Maverick
Small Paul. In addition, two other episodes (“The creator-producer Roy Huggins for the originality to
Wrecker” and “A State of Siege”) were loose adapta- steer the series clear of the trite and the ordinary and
tions of Robert Louis Stevenson stories, albeit transfor not only trying something different but also execut-
lated into the Maverick vein. ing it with a comic flair.
In 1960 actor James Garner and his WB studio Tise Vahimagi
bosses clashed when Garner took out a lawsuit against See also Garner, James; Huggins, Roy; Westerns
the studio for breach of contract arising out of his sus-
pension during the January–June writers’ strike of that
Cast
year. To justify its suspension of Garner, WB tried to
Bret Maverick (1957–60) James Garner
invoke the force majeure clause in Garner’s contract;
Bart Maverick Jack Kelly
this clause dictated that if forces beyond the control of
Samantha Crawford (1957–59) Diane Brewster
the studio (i.e., the writers’ strike) prevented it from
Cousin Beauregard Maverick
making films, the studio did not have to continue pay-
(1960–61) Roger Moore
ing actors’ salaries. It had been no secret at the time
Brent Maverick (1961) Robert Colbert
that Garner had wanted to be released from his con-
tract (“Contracts are completely one-sided affairs. If
you click, [the studio] owns you,” he stated). Finally, Producers
in December 1960, the judge decided in favor of Gar- Roy Huggins, Coles Trapnell, William L. Stuart
ner. During the course of the testimony, it was revealed
that during the strike WB had obtained—under the Programming History
table—something in the number of 100 TV scripts and 124 episodes
that at one time the studio had as many as 14 writers ABC
working under the pseudonym of “W. Hermanos” September 1957–April 1961 Sunday 7:30–8:30
(Spanish for “brothers”). September 1961–July 1962 Sunday 6:30–7:30
Garner then went on to a successful feature film ca-
reer but returned to series television in the 1970s with Further Reading
Nichols (1971–72) and the popular The Rockford Files Anderson, Christopher, Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the
(1974–80). He appeared as a guest star along with Jack Fifties, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994
Kelly in the 1978 TV movie/pilot The New Maverick, Barer, Burl, Maverick: The Making of the Movie and the Offi-
which produced the short-lived Young Maverick cial Guide to the Television Series, Boston, Massachusetts:
(1979–80) series, minus Garner; he also starred in the Tuttle, 1994
Hargrove, Marion, “This Is a Television Cowboy?” Life (Jan-
title role of Bret Maverick (1981–82), which he copro- uary 19, 1959)
duced with WB. A theatrical film version, Maverick, Heil, Douglas, “Auterism and the Television Scriptwriter,” Cre-
was produced in 1994 with Mel Gibson starring as ative Screenwriting, 2 (autumn 1995)
Bret Maverick and Garner appearing as Bret’s father; Heil, Douglas, “Marion Hargrove: On Writing for Maverick
Richard Donner directed the WB release. and The Waltons,” Creative Screenwriting, 3 (summer
1996)
As a replacement for Garner in the fourth season of Jackson, Ronald, Classic TV Westerns: A Pictorial History, Se-
the original series, WB brought on board Roger caucus, New Jersey: Carol, 1994
Moore, as cousin Beauregard, a Texas expatriate who MacDonald, J. Fred, Who Shot the Sheriff?: The Rise and Fall
had lived in England (a WB contract player, Moore of the Television Western, New York: Praeger, 1987
had been transferred from another WB western series, Marsden, Michael T., and Jack Nachbar, “The Modern Popular
Western: Radio, Television, Film, and Print,” in A Literary
The Alaskans, which had run only one season from History of the American West, Fort Worth: Texas Christian
1959). When Moore departed after just one season, an- University Press, 1987
other Maverick brother, Robert Colbert’s Brent Maver- Robertson, Ed, Maverick, Legend of the West, Los Angeles, Cal-
ick, a slight Garner/Bret look-alike, was introduced in ifornia: Pomegranate Press, 1994
the spring of 1961 to alternate adventures with Bart. Strait, Raymond, James Garner: A Biography, New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1985
Colbert stayed only until the end of that season, leav- West, Richard, Television Westerns: Major and Minor Series,
ing the final (and longest-remaining) Maverick, Jack 1946–1978, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1987
Kelly, to ride out the last Maverick season (1961–62) Woolley, Lynn, Robert W. Malsbary, and Robert G. Strange, Jr.,
alone, except for some rerun episodes from early sea- Warner Bros. Television: Every Show of the Fifties and Six-
sons. ties Episode-by-Episode, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFar-
land, 1985
The series came to an end after 124 episodes, and Yoggy, Gary A., Riding the Video Range: The Rise and Fall of
with it a small-screen western legend came to a close. the Western on Television, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFar-
Perhaps the ultimate credit for Maverick should go to land, 1995
1443
Max Headroom
Max Headroom
U.S. Science Fiction Program
Max Headroom was one of the most innovative sci- neurostim (a cheap burger pack giveaway that hypno-
ence fiction series ever produced for American televi- tizes people into irrational acts of consumption). We
sion, an ambitious attempt to build on the cyberpunk encounter blanks, a subversive underground of have-
movement in science fiction literature. The character nots who have somehow dodged incorporation into the
of Max Headroom, the series’ unlikely cybernetic pro- massive data banks kept on individual citizens.
tagonist, was originally introduced in a 1984 British At the core of this dizzying and colorful world is
television movie, produced by Peter Wagg and starring Edison Carter, an idealistic Network 24 reporter who
Canadian actor Matt Frewer. The American Broadcast- takes his portable minicam into the streets and the
ing Company (ABC) brought the series to U.S. televi- boardrooms to expose corruption and consumer ex-
sion in March 1987, refilming the original movie as a ploitation, which, in most episodes, lead him back to
pilot but recasting most of the secondary roles. The the front offices of his own network. Edison’s path is
ABC series attracted critical acclaim and a cult follow- guided by Theora Jones, his computer operator, whose
ing but lasted for only 14 episodes. The anarchic and hacker skills allow him to stay one step ahead of the
irreverent Max went on to become an advertising security systems—at least most of the time—and
spokesman for Coca-Cola and to host his own talk Bryce Lynch, the amoral boy wonder and computer
show on the Cinemax cable network. wizard. Edison is aided in his adventures by Blank
The original British telefilm appeared just one year Reg, the punked-out head of a pirate television opera-
after the publication of William Gibson’s Neuro- tion, BigTime Television. Edison’s alter ego, Max
mancer, the novel that brought public attention to the Headroom, is a cybernetic imprint of the reporter’s
cyberpunk movement and introduced the term “cy- memories and personality who comes to “life” within
berspace” into the English language. Influenced by computers, television programs, and other electronic
films such as The Road Warrior and Bladerunner, the environments. There he becomes noted for his sputter-
cyberpunks adopted a taut, intense, and pulpy writing ing speech style, his disrespect for authority, and his
style based on brisk yet detailed representations of a penchant for profound non sequiturs.
near future populated by multinational corporations, Critics admired the series’ self-reflexivity, its will-
colorful youth gangs, and computer-hacker protago- ingness to pose questions about television networks
nists. Their most important theme was the total fusion and their often unethical and cynical exploitation of
of human and machine intelligences. Writers such as the ratings game, and its parody of game shows, polit-
Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, and Pat Cadigan
developed a shared set of themes and images that were
freely adopted by Max Headroom.
Set “20 minutes in the future,” Max Headroom de-
picts a society of harsh class inequalities, where preda-
tors roam the street looking for unsuspecting citizens
who can be sold for parts to black-market “body
banks.” Max inhabits a world ruled by Zic-Zac and
other powerful corporations locked in a ruthless com-
petition for consumer dollars and television rating
points. In the opening episode, Network 22 dominates
the airwaves through its use of blipverts, which com-
press 30 seconds of commercial information into three
seconds. Blipverts can cause neural overstimulation
and (more rarely) spontaneous combustion in more se-
date viewers. Other episodes center around the high Max Headroom, Matt Frewer, 1987.
crime of zipping (interrupting a network signal) and Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1444
McDonald, Trevor
ical advertising, televangelism, news coverage, and Edwards Lee Wilkof

commercials. Influenced by Music Television (MTV), Lauren Sharon Barr
the series’ quick-paced editing and intense visual style Ms. Formby Virginia Kiser
were also viewed as innovative, creating a televisual
equivalent of the vivid and intense cyberpunk writing
Producers
style. This series’ self-conscious parody of television
Phillip DeGuere, Peter Wagg, Brian Frankish
conventions and its conception of a “society of specta-
cle” was considered emblematic of the “postmodern
condition,” making it a favorite of academic writers as Programming History
well. Their interest was only intensified by Max’s ABC
move from science fiction to advertising and to talk March 1987–May 1987 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
television, where this nonhuman celebrity (commod- August 1987–
ity) traded barbed comments with other talk October 1987 Friday 9:00–10:00
show–made celebrities, such as Doctor Ruth, Robin
Leach, Don King, and Paul Shaffer. Subsequent series,
Further Reading
such as Oliver Stone’s Wild Palms or VR, have sought
to bring aspects of cyberpunk to television, but none Berko, Lili, “Simulation and High Concept Imagery: The Case
have done it with Max Headroom’s verve, imagina- of Max Headroom,” Wide Angle: A Film Quarterly of The-
ory, Criticism, and Practice (1988)
tion, and faithfulness to core cyberpunk themes. Kerman, Judith B., “Virtual Space and Its Boundaries in Sci-
Henry Jenkins ence Fiction Film and Television: Tron, ‘Max Headroom’
and Wargames,” in The Celebration of the Fantastic: Se-
Cast lected Papers from the Tenth Anniversary International
Edison Carter/ Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, edited by Donald E.
Morse, Marshall Tymn, and Bertha Csilla, Westport, Con-
Max Headroom Matt Frewer necticut: Greenwood, 1992
Theora Jones Amanda Pays Lentz, Harris M., Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film
Ben Cheviot George Coe and Television Credits, Supplement 2, Through 1993, Jeffer-
Bryce Lynch Chris Young son, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994
Murray Jeffrey Tambor Long, Marion, “Paradise Tossed,” Omni (April 1988)
Roberts, Steve, Max Headroom: The Picture Book of the Film,
Blank Reg William Morgan Sheppard New York: Random House, 1986
Dominique Concetta Tomei Staiger, Janet, “Future Noir: Contemporary Representations of
Ashwell Hank Garrett Visionary Cities,” East-West Film Journal (December 1988)
McDonald, Trevor (1939– )

British Broadcast Journalist
Trevor McDonald is the comforting face of nighttime skin color still matters. He was born in Trinidad and
news. As Big Ben chimes ten o’clock, McDonald came to Britain in 1969 to work for the British Broad-
looks up from his news desk and, with considerable casting Corporation (BBC) World Service, joining ITN
gravitas, reads out the news headlines for Independent a few years later as its first black reporter. McDonald
Television News (ITN). Although this act is under- has quietly got on with doing his job, courting neither
taken in newsrooms across Britain, he occupies a very controversy nor fame but a settled life doing what he
particular position in the media firmament. McDonald does best. Because of his extreme visibility as, still,
not only is one of the most respected elder statesmen one of a few black media professionals who are regu-
of news broadcasting, regardless of race, but also has larly on television, he has been criticized for not using
been an abidingly positive role model for countless his privileged position more overtly to combat racism
young black Britons growing up in a society where and discrimination. However, as he argued in the Ra-
1445
McDonald, Trevor
dio Times, although he is aware of “racial undercur- Trinidad, 1959; announcer, sports commentator, and
rents in this country . . . I have been very lucky and assistant program manager; joined Trinidad Televi-
found none at all.” sion, 1962; producer for the Caribbean Service and
His most important contribution to television is World Service in London, BBC, 1969; reporter, ITN,
probably his exemplary professionalism as a black 1973–78; sports correspondent, ITN, 1978–80; diplo-
newscaster and journalist who manifests a positive matic correspondent, ITN, 1980–82; diplomatic corre-
role to younger generations, in counterpoint to many spondent and newscaster, Channel 4 News, 1982–87;
of the more stereotyped media portraits of black com- diplomatic editor, Channel 4 News, 1987–89; news-
munities in Western societies. He also offers a profes- caster, ITN’s News at 5.40, 1989–90; newscaster,
sional image to those who know nothing of black ITN’s News at Ten since 1990. Order of the British
people other than their vicarious experiences of televi- Empire, 1992; knighted 1999. Recipient: TRIC News-
sion. As evidence to his illustrious career, he was caster of the Year, 1993.
awarded TRIC’s “Newscaster of the Year” and, in
1993, Order of the British Empire. He was knighted in
1999. Although he will probably retire in 2005, Sir Television (selected)
Trevor’s enduring appeal among ITV’s news watchers 1982–89 Channel 4 News
has enabled him to sign a new contract that once again 1989–90 News at 5.40
makes him the face of ITN’s revived News at Ten bul- 1990– News at Ten
letin.
Karen Ross Publications
Trevor Mcdonald. Born in San Fernando, Trinidad, Viv Richards—A Biography, 1984
August 16, 1939. Attended schools in Trinidad. Mar- Clive Lloyd—A Biography, 1985
ried: 1) Josephine (divorced); 2) Sabrina; children: Queen and Commonwealth, 1986
Timothy, Jamie, and Joanne. Reporter, local radio, Fortunate Circumstances (autobiography), 1993
McGovern, Jimmy (1949– )

British Writer
As the creator of Cracker, the writer Jimmy McGovern train as schoolteacher. His brief teaching career (at
made one of the most influential contributions to Quarry Bank Comprehensive, the school earlier at-
British television drama in the 1990s, fundamentally tended by John Lennon) would later provide the basis
shifting the locus of the crime series from action and for the serial Hearts and Minds, about an idealistic
consequence toward psychology and motivation. Else- probationary teacher struggling to inspire his pupils
where, his work has encompassed a broad generic while battling professional demoralization and cyni-
range while retaining a powerful and distinctive voice, cism. It was while teaching that he began to submit
exploring themes of guilt, loss, and working-class plays to local theaters and radio and, through this, met
identity. Underlying these concerns is a disconcerting the producer Phil Redmond, who was setting up
sense of moral ambiguity and a readiness to challenge Brookside, the house soap opera for the new Channel
an audience’s liberal assumptions on such taboos as 4. Over the next seven years, he wrote approximately
racism, sexism, and homophobia. McGovern uses tele- 80 scripts for the series and, on leaving, had a small
vision, he admits, as “a kind of confessional” (Butler, stock of stories that he had been unable to introduce
p. 22). but that he now began to develop. The idea for a story
Born into a working-class Catholic family in Liver- about a Catholic priest surfaced in his early single
pool, the fifth of eight children, and educated at a drama, Traitors, an account of the Gunpowder Plot of
Jesuit-run grammar school, McGovern moved through 1605 focusing on the dilemma of a priest who opposes
a succession of jobs before deciding in his early 20s to the plan but, because he has heard of it through a con-
1446
McGovern, Jimmy
fession, is powerless to act on his concerns. McGovern the original dispute. Sunday commemorated the 30th
returned to this event in 2004 with Gunpowder, Trea- anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” shooting of
son and Plot, a sweeping historical account, backed by demonstrators in Northern Ireland in 1972. McGov-
a large budget and a cast led by Robert Carlyle (whose ern’s deeply emotional account, told through the lives
early career is closely linked to McGovern’s work) as of a small group of young men and women and again
King James I. The moral dilemma of Traitors was also highlighting themes of family, friendship, and loss,
at the center of Priest, originally written as a serial but contrasted tellingly with the spare, documentary style
produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation of Paul Greengrass’s Bloody Sunday, which was re-
(BBC) as a single film and given a limited theatrical leased in the same week.
release in which an inner-city priest struggled with his The chain of grief and recrimination that follows a
own homosexuality and with the knowledge, again sudden death runs through The Lakes. As McGovern
gleaned through confession, that one of his parish- himself had once done, a young Liverpudlian, Danny,
ioners is being abused by her father. arrives to work in a seemingly peaceful rural commu-
A further story idea from Brookside was to produce nity and, when the community is torn apart by the
one of the most compelling threads in McGovern’s drowning of three young girls, becomes the scapegoat
later work. In 1989, 94 soccer fans, supporters of the for the guilt and feuding that lurks beneath the surface.
Liverpool Football Club, were crushed to death and a At one level, the serial opens up to examination a par-
further 170 seriously injured on an overcrowded ter- ticular aspect of class conflict in British society; at an-
race at the Sheffield Wednesday ground at Hillsbor- other, it is concerned with one of McGovern’s most
ough. For McGovern, the significance underlying this personal themes, the guilt and emotional wreckage
tragedy lay not only in the culpability of the police and produced by addiction. He had written about drug ad-
the conduct of the subsequent enquiry but also in the diction in the early play Needle, but in The Lakes, as in
contempt displayed toward the Liverpool crowd by the Cracker, the compulsion is gambling, a habit from
tabloid press and in particular the Sun newspaper. Mc- which McGovern suffered in his early adulthood and
Govern’s storyline involving a commemorative burn- which here feeds Danny’s sense of implication in the
ing of the Sun was ruled out of Brookside, but his guilt felt at the loss of the girls and threatens his re-
anger over the event and his reflection on the class demptive relationship with a young woman from the
prejudices that it revealed would form the basis of one community.
of the most powerful episodes of Cracker, in which a McGovern writes from the depths of his own emo-
working-class young man began a campaign of mur- tional experience. In the character of Fitz from
ders to avenge the Hillsborough victims, transforming Cracker, the brilliant but deeply flawed forensic psy-
himself into the image of a shaven-headed delinquent chologist, he has created one of the most resonant fig-
as a response to the institutional stereotyping of his ures of British television drama. Fitz’s intellectual
class. Having met some of the bereaved families dur- acuity and mordant wit, his obsessiveness, and his in-
ing the making of this episode, McGovern went on to stinctive ability to winkle a confession out of his sus-
confront the impact of the event and its aftermath in pect are rooted not only in the ability to identify with
the drama documentary Hillsborough. As well as ex- the criminal mind but also in a knowledge of his own
ploring the political question of institutional responsi- guilt as gambler, drinker, chauvinist, and liar. Yet there
bility (and contributing to the campaign for a public is a political dimension to this lapsed figure, embodied
inquiry into the event), the play found its dramatic core in the idea of what McGovern has described as “post-
in the lives of three families and in the emotional fall- Hillsborough man” (Day-Lewis, p. 67), a haunting
out of grief, pain, and self-reproach that follows sud- sense of intellectual cynicism born out of the erosion
den and violent bereavement. of moral certainty in Britain during the ideologically
Although McGovern claimed to have felt restricted evacuated period of the 1980s.
by the overriding concern for factual accuracy in writ- Jeremy Ridgeman
ing drama documentary, he twice returned to the form.
See also Cracker; Hillsborough; Redmond, Phil
Dockers was an account of a lengthy but largely un-
publicized strike in 1995 by Liverpool dockworkers
against deteriorating working conditions that had re- Jimmy McGovern. Born in Liverpool, England,
sulted in hundreds of men being fired and replaced. In 1949. Educated St. Francis Xavier Grammar School,
concentrating on the effect of the political upheaval on Liverpool. Worked as laborer, bus conductor, and in-
family relationships and friendships, it drew much of surance clerk, then trained as schoolteacher; taught
its insight from McGovern’s co-authorship with a writ- three years, Liverpool. Early plays written for local
ing workshop made up of men and women involved in theater and BBC Radio, then six years as scriptwriter
1447
McGovern, Jimmy
on soap opera Brookside. After three single dramas, 1991 Gas and Candles
had major success with crime series Cracker. Several 1995 Priest
other series and single dramas or films for television 1995 Go Now
(some with theatrical release). British Academy of 1996 Hillsborough
Film and Television Arts TV Award, Best Single 1999 Dockers
Drama (1997), for Hillsborough; Edgar Allan Poe 2002 Liam
Award, Best TV Series (1995, 1997), for Cracker; 2002 Sunday
Royal Television Society Television Award, Best
Drama Serial (1994), for Cracker, and Writers’ Award
(1995) for Hearts and Minds and Go Now; Writers’ Stage Plays
Guild of Great Britain Award, Best TV Drama Series The Hunger, Taig, True Romance, City Echoes, Block
(1996), for Cracker, and Best TV Play or Film (1997), Follies
for Hillsborough.
Television Series Further Reading

1983–89 Brookside Ansorge, Peter, From Liverpool to Los Angeles: On Writing for
1990 El C.I.D., “A Proper Copper,” Theatre, Film and Television, London: Faber and Faber,
“Christmas Spirit,” “Piece of Cake” 1997
Brundson, Charlotte, “Structures of Anxiety: Recent British
1993–95 Cracker Television Crime Fiction,” in British Television: A Reader,
1995 Hearts and Minds Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000
1997 The Lakes Butler, Robert, “The Man Who Raped Sheila Grant,” Indepen-
1999 The Lakes (series 2) dent on Sunday (February 5, 1995)
2004 Gunpowder, Treason and Plot Day-Lewis, Sean, Talk of Drama: Views of the Television
Dramatist Then and Now, Luton: University of Luton
Press/John Libbey Media, 1998
Television Plays Jeffries, Stuart, “The Sinner Repents,” Guardian (August 22,
1990 Traitors 1997)
Wood, David, “Jimmy Jewel,” Broadcast (August 15, 1997)
1990 Needle
McGrath, John (1935– )

British Writer, Director
John McGrath’s career was marked by an absolute uncertainty and Royal Court grittiness. McGrath hall-
commitment to working-class politics in theater, film, marked the series with a profound compassion for his
and television. McGrath’s theatrical career spans Lon- protagonists, instituting a concern for real lives among
don’s Royal Court and the Liverpool Everyman to his the social problems that were already, however com-
own 7:84 Theatre Company (“7% of the population fortably, addressed by earlier genre offerings. The use
own 84% of the wealth”), while his film credits extend of 16-millimeter film allowed for actual locations, and
from Russell’s Billion Dollar Brain to rewrites on the shift from received pronunciation to the vernacular
FOX’s Adventures of Robin Hood. His TV career of his native Merseyside opened the way, notably in
opened with Kenneth Tynan’s formative arts program Stratford Johns’s performance as Inspector Barlow, for
Tempo, while his 1963 Granada documentary The En- subsequent generations of tough cop stories. McGrath
tertainers won critical plaudits. With Troy Kennedy took the combination of entertainment formula and so-
Martin and John Hopkins, McGrath shaped the British cial concern that distinguished much of the best of the
Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC’s) Z Cars into the BBC’s output in the 1960s to his work as producer and
breakthrough cop drama of the 1960s, fired by moral director for BBC 2 experimental dramas by, among
1448
McGrath, John
others, Johnny Speight, Edna O’Brien, and his own School, Mold, Wales; St. John’s College, Oxford
adaptation, with Ken Russell, of The Diary of a No- (Open Exhibitioner), 1955–59, Dip. Ed. Served in
body in the style of a silent comedy. Continuing to British Army (national service), 1953–55. Married:
work in theater, he eventually amassed over 40 scripts, Elizabeth MacLennan in 1962; two sons and one
one of which became a successful movie, The Bofors daughter. Worked on farm in Neston, Cheshire, 1951;
Gun, directed by Jack Gold, a chilling account of class play reader, Royal Court Theatre, London, and writer
war and military service. for the theater, 1958–61; writer and director for BBC
Appalled by bureaucracy and mismanagement in Television, 1960–65; founder and artistic director,
the arts, he resigned from the 7:84 Theatre Company, 7:84 Theatre Company, 1971–88; continued to write
which he had founded, in 1981. In 1984, he started for stage, television, and films; director, Freeway
Freeway Films, dedicated to producing programs and Films, since 1983; Channel 4 Television, London,
features for his adopted homeland in Scotland. Charac- since 1989. Judith E. Wilson Fellow, Cambridge Uni-
teristically committed to social causes, to political en- versity, 1979.
tertainment, and to the immediacy of performance
(whose demise, with the rise of videotape, he has not
Television Series
ceased to mourn), Freeway began to produce, largely
1961 Bookstand (also director)
for Channel 4, a series of programs, including Poets
1962 Z Cars (also director)
and People, in which leading poets read their work to
1963 Tempo
audiences with whom they felt particular affinities in
1964 Diary of a Young Man
housing estates and clubs. Sweetwater Memories,
(with Troy Kennedy Martin)
based on McGrath’s military service in Suez, opened a
more personal vein in his writing, expanded on in the
1986 three-part series Blood Red Roses, coproduced Television Specials (selection)
with Lorimar and subsequently cut for theatrical re- 1961 The Compartment (director)
lease. Roses follows the life of Bessie MacGuigan 1963 The Fly Sham (director)
from life in the rural hinterlands with her disabled fa- 1963 The Wedding Dress (director)
ther, through unsuccessful marriage to a Communist 1964 The Entertainers (also director)
Party activist, to trades unionism among the women 1965 The Day of Ragnarok (also director)
workers of East Kilbride. 1966 Diary of a Nobody (with Ken Russell)
The remarkable trilogy on Scottish history and En- 1972 Bouncing Boy
glish colonialism—There Is a Happy Land, Border 1977 Once upon a Union
Warfare, and John Brown’s Body—is a record of the 1978 Z Cars: The Final Episode (director)
epic productions performed at Glasgow’s Tramway 1979 The Adventures of Frank (also director)
Theatre. In 1992 McGrath provided an election broad- 1984 Sweetwater Memories
cast for the Labour Party, some of whose themes are 1986 Blood Red Roses (also director)
picked up in 1993’s The Long Roads, a picaresque ro- 1987 There Is a Happy Land
mance that anchors a dissection of contemporary
mores in the reviving romance of an elderly couple
Films
visiting their children, scattered through Thatcher’s
Billion Dollar Brain, 1967; The Bofors Gun, 1968;
Britain.
The Virgin Soldiers (with John Hopkins and Ian La
Despite major illness, McGrath completed the fea-
Frenais), 1969; The Reckoning, 1970; Blood Red
ture Mairi Mhor in 1994 and remained fiercely active
Roses, 1986 (director); The Dressmaker, 1989; Car-
in theater and film as well as television. Unlike some
rington, 1995 (producer).
of his more famous theatrical contemporaries, he re-
tained a commitment to regionalism (and to national-
ism in the case of Scotland), turning to television as Stage
the most effective way of bringing the power of drama A Man Has Two Fathers, 1958; The Invasion (with
to the widest audience. McGrath died in January 2002. Barbara Cannings), 1958; The Tent, 1958; Why the
Sean Cubitt Chicken, 1959; Tell Me Tell Me, 1960; Take It,
1960; The Seagull, 1961; Basement in Bangkok,
See also Z Cars
1963; Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun,
John Peter McGrath. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, 1966; Bakke’s Night of Fame, 1968; Comrade Ja-
England, June 1, 1935. Attended Alun Grammar cob, 1969; Random Happenings in the Hebrides,
1449
McGrath, John
1970; Sharpeville Crackers, 1970; Unruly Ele- Publications

ments, 1971; Trees in the Wind, 1971; Soft or a
Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun, 1966
Girl, 1971; The Caucasian Chalk Circle, 1972;
Random Happenings in the Hebrides, 1972
Prisoners of the War, 1972; Underneath, 1972 (also
Bakke’s Night of Fame, 1973
director); Sergeant Musgrave Dances On, 1972;
The Game’s a Bogey, 1975
Fish in the Sea, 1972; The Cheviot, the Stag, and
Little Red Hen, 1977
the Black, Black Oil, 1973 (also director); The
Fish in the Sea, 1977
Game’s a Bogey, 1974 (also director); Boom, 1974
Yobbo Nowt, 1978
(also director); Lay Off, 1975 (also director); Little
Joe’s Drum, 1979
Red Hen, 1975 (also director); Oranges and
Two Plays for the Eighties, 1981
Lemons, 1975 (also director); Yobbo Nowt, 1975
The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil, 1981
(also director); The Rat Trap, 1976 (also director);
A Good Night Out: Popular Theatre: Audience, Class
Out of Our Heads, 1976 (also director); Trembling
and Form, 1981
Giant, 1977; The Life and Times of Joe of England,
The Bone Won’t Break: On Theatre and Hope in Hard
1977 (also director); Big Square Fields, 1979; Joe’s
Times, 1990
Drum, 1979 (also director); Bitter Apples, 1979; If
You Want to Know the Time, 1979; Swings and
Roundabouts, 1980 (also director); Blood Red
Further Reading
Roses, 1980 (also director); Nightclass, 1981 (also
director); The Catch, 1981; Rejoice!, 1982; On the Ansorge, Peter, Disrupting the Spectacle, London: Pitman,
Pig’s Back (with David MacLennan), 1983; The 1975
Bigsby, C.W.E., “The Politics of Anxiety,” Modern Drama (De-
Women of the Dunes, 1983; Women in Power, 1983; cember 1981)
Six Men of Dorset, 1984; The Baby and the Bath- Craig, Sandy, editor, Dreams and Deconstructions, Ambergate,
water: The Imperial Policeman, 1984; The Alban- Derbyshire, England: Amber Lane Press, 1980
nach, 1985; Behold the Sun, 1985; All the Fun of Itzin, Catherine, Stages in the Revolution, London: Eyre
the Fair (with others), 1986; Border Warfare, 1989; Methuen, 1980
John Brown’s Body, 1990; Watching for Dolphins,
1991; The Wicked Old Man, 1992; The Silver Dar-
lings, 1994.
McKay, Jim (1921– )

U.S. Sportscaster
There are few commentators with accolades to match McKay’s first reporting job was with the Baltimore
those of Jim McKay or whose career is marked by an Evening Sun. In 1947 the Sun’s leadership invested in
equally impressive list of broadcasting “firsts.” In Baltimore’s first TV station, WMAR-TV, and McKay
1947 McKay was the first on-air television broadcaster was chosen as that station’s first on-camera personal-
seen and heard on the airwaves of Baltimore, Mary- ity. McKay did everything but run WMAR-TV—
land. Twenty-one years later, in 1968, McKay earned functioning as the station’s producer, director, writer,
distinction as the first sports commentator honored and news and sports reporter. His reputation as a hard-
with an Emmy Award. McKay built on his reputation working and skillful journalist earned him an opportu-
of excellence and went on to receive a total of 13 nity to host a New York City–based Columbia
Emmy Awards and further distinguished himself as the Broadcasting System (CBS) variety show, and McKay
first and only broadcaster to win Emmy Awards for became a strong presence in the largest media market
both sports and news broadcasting, as well as for writ- in the world. Although CBS gave McKay his broad-
ing. casting break, it was ABC Sports, under the leadership
1450
McKay, Jim
der of Merit, bestowed by the former West German

Federal Republic.
Although ABC lost the Olympics contract following
the 1988 games, the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) invited McKay to cross network lines and join
its 2002 Olympic coverage as a special correspondent.
This historic crossover marked McKay’s 12th time to
report on the Olympic Games. It is no wonder why
McKay is known as “Mr. Olympics” throughout the
television industry.
McKay is perhaps best known for his role as host for
ABC’s Wide World of Sports, which began with McKay
as its host in 1961. Now, some 35 years later, ABC’s
Wide World is the most successful and longest-running
sports program in the history of television. Through
his work with ABC’s Wide World, McKay became the
first American television sports reporter to enter the
People’s Republic of China during China’s policy of
isolationism.
McKay’s pioneering work in the field has not gone
unrecognized. His multiple Emmy Awards are a tribute
not only to his excellence but also to his versatility. In
fact, among his most impressive Emmy is one from
Jim McKay. 1988, given for his opening commentary scripts of
Courtesy of Jim McKay ABC Sports’ coverage of the 1987 Indianapolis 500,
the British Open, and the Kentucky Derby; a 1990
of Roone Arledge, that provided McKay the opportu- Award, another first, for Lifetime Achievement in
nity to flourish. During the 1950s, McKay covered Sports; and a 1992 Emmy for his sports special Ath-
events ranging from international golf and horse- letes and Addiction: It’s Not a Game.
racing events to college football. McKay and Ameri- In addition to his role on Wide World, McKay an-
can Broadcasting Company (ABC) colleague Howard chors most major horse-racing events, such as the
Cosell, gave ABC the most comprehensive sports pro- Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Bel-
gramming available on television. mont Stakes. In 1987, McKay was chosen as a member
In fact, McKay’s assignment as an Olympic com- of the Jockey Club, horse racing’s governing body.
mentator would make McKay one of the most recog- McKay and his wife, Margaret, are steadfast support-
nizable sports personalities throughout the world. His ers of Maryland’s horse-racing industry and culture.
most memorable Olympic Games were those at Mu- He is founder of the Maryland Million, a million-
nich, where his experience as a seasoned reporter was dollar horse-racing spectacular for Maryland thor-
put to the test. While preparing to take a swim on his oughbreds. They are also part owners of the Baltimore
first day off at the games, McKay received word that Orioles baseball team.
gunshots were fired in the Olympic Village. He ran to John Tedesco
the ABC studio, threw clothes on over his swimsuit, See also Arledge, Roone; Sports on Television;
and for the next 16 hours delivered to the world award- Sportscaster
winning coverage of the Black September terrorists’
attack on Israeli athletes in Munich’s Olympic Village. Jim McKay. Born James Kenneth McManus in
McKay received two Emmy Awards for his work Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., September 24,
during the 1972 games, one for his coverage of the 1921. Educated at Loyola College, Baltimore, Mary-
games and the other for his reporting on the terrorism. land, B.A. 1943. Married: Margaret Dempsey, 1948;
He was also the 1972 recipient of the George Polk Me- children: Mary Edwina and Sean Joseph. Served in
morial Award, given annually to the one journalist U.S. Navy, 1943–46. Reporter, Baltimore Evening
whose work represents the most significant and finest Sun, 1946–47; writer-producer-director, Baltimore
reporting of the year. The Munich coverage was also Sunpapers’ WMAR-TV, 1947–50; variety show host,
recognized with his receipt of the Officer’s Cross Or- sports commentator, CBS-TV, 1950–61; host, ABC
1451
McKay, Jim
Wide World of Sports, 1961; television commentator, 1958–59 This Is New York
all Olympiads, 1960–88; founder and chair, Maryland 1961– ABC’s Wide World of Sports
Million horse-racing program, from 1986. H.H.D.,
Loyala College, 1981. Recipient: 13 Emmy Awards;
Television Special
George Polk Memorial Award, 1973; Federal Republic
1992 Athletes and Addiction: It’s Not a Game
of Germany Officer’s Cross Order of Merit, 1974;
Olympic Medal, Austria, 1977; Thoroughbred Breed-
ers of Kentucky Engelhard Award, 1978, 1990; Mary- Publications
land Racing Writers Humphrey S. Finney Award, My Wide World, 1973
1985; named to Sportscasters Hall of Fame, 1987; Na- The Real McKay, 1998
tional Turf Writers Award, 1987; Peabody Award,
1989; U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, 1989; Television
Academy Hall of Fame, 1995; Medal of Olympic Or- Further Reading
der, the highest award of the International Olympic
Committee, 1998. Considine, T., The Language of Sport, New York: World Al-
manac Publications, 1982
Gunther, Marc, The House That Roone Built: The Inside Story
Television Series of ABC News, Boston: Little, Brown, 1994
Spence, Jim, Up Close and Personal: The Inside Story of Net-
1950 The Real McKay work Television Sports, New York: Atheneum, 1988
1955 Make the Connection (moderator) Sugar, Bert Randolph, “The Thrill of Victory”: The Inside Story
1957–60 The Verdict Is Yours (actor) of ABC Sports, New York: Hawthorn, 1978
McKern, Leo (1920–2002)

Australian Actor
Trained and critically acclaimed in theater, a success- validity of the jury system, and the importance of a
ful character actor in movies, Australian performer thorough defense. It was a position unabashedly in
Leo McKern made his most indelible mark in televi- support of civil liberties. In the course of each show,
sion. In the mind of many audiences, he became irrev- Rumpole typically dissected the stodgy and inefficient
ocably intertwined with the title character of Rumpole machinations of fellow barristers, judges, and the legal
of the Bailey, the irascible British barrister created by system in Britain. His resourcefulness and unortho-
author John Mortimer. Starring as the wily, over- doxy matched that of the title character in U.S. televi-
weight, jaded but dedicated defense attorney for seven sion’s Perry Mason, but with his askew bow tie and
seasons, McKern brought an intelligent, acerbic style white wig, his sidelong looks and interior monologues,
to the character that was applauded by critics, audi- Rumpole was more colorful and complicated.
ences, and creator Mortimer. The actor’s performance As the program was shown around the world
thus ascribed qualities to the character just as the char- through 1996, McKern could not escape what he
acter was inscribed on McKern’s acting persona. More called the “insatiable monster” of television, which
than once McKern vowed he would not return to the blotted out memories of earlier performances. How-
series because of the inevitable typecasting. Yet he was ever, that did not stop the Australian periodical The
always persuaded otherwise by Mortimer, who himself Bulletin from naming McKern one of Australia’s top
vowed that no one but McKern would play the role of 55 “human assets” in 1990. And, in fact, television
Horace Rumpole. did offer McKern another distinctive, if more transi-
The program, which began in 1978 in the United tory, role much earlier than Rumpole. In The Pris-
Kingdom and was soon exported to the United States oner, a British drama aired in the United Kingdom
via the Public Broadcasting Service’s (PBS’s) Mys- and the United States in the late 1960s, McKern was
tery! series, featured McKern as an attorney who pro- one of the first authority figures to repress the series’
foundly believed in a presumption of innocence, the hero.
1452
McKern, Leo
formed a TV guest appearance McKern made some

years later in the U.S. program Space: 1999, which
aired in 1975. In that episode, “The Infernal Machine,”
McKern was again part of a larger entity, this time not
the “state” but a living spacecraft. As the companion of
“Gwent,” McKern mediated with human beings (no-
tably Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, recent Mis-
sion: Impossible veterans) on a lunar station. His
character was slightly cynical, critical, bantering, and
attached to the entity he served, like the later Rumpole.
Among McKern’s decades of television experience,
these roles were notable on three levels: their connec-
tion to general recurring themes; their development of
a recognizable, familiar character function; and their
demonstration of the actor’s particular talents. For in-
stance, the “Companion” episode on Space 1999
evoked both the “Companion” episode on the original
1967 Star Trek, in which Glenn Corbet’s character was
kept alive by fusion with an alien presence, and the
Trill character of “a symbiotic fusion of two species”
on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In addition, the threat-
ening power of the state and of technology of The Pris-
oner prefigured a reliable theme of the popular 1990s
program The X-Files.
The Rumpole role is the one most connected with a
number of recurring character functions on television.
The deep commitment covered by a veneer of cyni-
Leo McKern. cism is a staple of police officers and other investiga-
Courtesy of Leo McKern tors throughout U.S. television history. The belief in
the civil liberties of the individual is the core of lawyer
programs such as Perry Mason of the 1960s and Mat-
The Prisoner, still a cult classic dissected on many
lock of the 1990s. The rumpled insider, “only by virtue
websites and Internet chat groups, was created by the
of superior competence,” was the essence of Columbo
then enormously popular actor Patrick McGoohan and
of the 1970s. The British Rumpole is a rather more
was intended as an indictment of authoritarian subju-
complex example of a U.S. television perennial.
gation of the individual. In the title role, McGoohan
However well written it might be, the Rumpole role
was kept prisoner in a mysterious village by the state,
would not have the cachet it has among fans if not for
represented most forcefully by the person in charge of
the actor. Critics cited McKern’s intelligence, energy,
the village, who was called Number 2. Engaging in a
and remarkably flexible baritone as the heart of the
battle of wills and wits with Number 6 (McGoohan),
character. McKern’s varied, multimedia career—from
Number 2 typically died at episode’s end, to be re-
movies such as the lightweight Beatles’ Help! to the
placed by a new Number 2 in the next show. McKern
epic Lawrence of Arabia to plays such as Othello—
played Number 2 in the series’ second program, “The
may not be remembered by most fans, but the depth of
Chimes of Big Ben,” and helped set the tone of serious
talent required for such diversity is critically acknowl-
banter and political conflict. His character, killed at the
edged in reviews of Rumpole of the Bailey.
end of the episode, was resurrected the next season at
Ivy Glennon
the end of the series in two episodes, “Once upon a
Time” and “Fallout,” to demonstrate a change of posi- See also Rumpole of the Bailey
tion in favor of the hero and opposed to the state. Not
completely unlike Rumpole, McKern’s Number 2 was Leo McKern. Born Reginald McKern in Sydney, Aus-
a system insider who understood principles better than tralia, March 16, 1920. Attended Sydney Technical
the rest of the establishment (if only belatedly). High School. Married: Joan Alice Southa (Jane Hol-
With its use of fantastic technology to keep Number land), 1946; children: Abigail and Harriet. Engineering
6 from escaping, The Prisoner was ostensibly a sci- apprentice, 1935–37; commercial artist, 1937–40;
ence fiction program. The science fiction motif also in- served in Australian Army Engineering Corps,
1453
McKern, Leo
1940–42; debut as actor, 1944; settled in the United 1988 The Master Builder
Kingdom, 1946; participated in tour of Germany, 1993 A Foreign Field
1947; appeared at Old Vic Theatre, London, 1949–52
and 1962–63, at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Films (selected)
Stratford-upon-Avon, 1952–54, and at the New Not- All for Mary, 1955; X—the Unknown, 1956; Time
tingham Playhouse, 1963–64; has appeared in numer- Without Pity, 1957; The Mouse That Roared, 1959;
ous films and television productions, including the Mr. Topaze, 1961; The Day the Earth Caught Fire,
popular Rumpole of the Bailey series, 1978–92. Officer 1962; Lawrence of Arabia, 1962; Hot Enough for
of the Order of Australia, 1983. Died in Bath, England, June, 1963; A Jolly Bad Fellow, 1964; King and
July 23, 2002. Country, 1964; The Amorous Adventures of Moll
Flanders, 1965; Help!, 1965; A Man for All Sea-
sons, 1966; Nobody Runs Forever, 1968; Decline
Television Series and Fall . . . of a Birdwatcher!, 1968; Ryan’s Daugh-
1955 The Adventures of Robin Hood ter, 1971; Massacre in Rome, 1973; The Adventure
(two episodes) of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother, 1976; The
1967–68 The Prisoner (three episodes) Omen, 1976; Candleshoe, 1977; Damien: Omen II,
1975 Space: 1999 (one episode) 1978; The Blue Lagoon, 1980; The French Lieu-
1978–92 Rumpole of the Bailey tenant’s Woman, 1983; Ladyhawke, 1984; The
1983 Reilly: Ace of Spies Chain, 1985; Travelling North, 1986; On Our Se-
lection, 1995; Molokai: The Story of Father
Damien, 1999.
Made-for-Television Movies
1967 Alice in Wonderland Stage (selected)
1979 The House on Garibaldi Street Toad of Toad Hall, 1954; Queen of the Rebels, 1955;
1980 Rumpole’s Return Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958; Brouhaha, 1958;
1985 Murder with Mirrors Rollo, 1959; A Man for All Seasons, 1960; The
1992 The Last Romantics Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, 1965; Volpone,
1967; The Wolf, 1973; The Housekeeper, 1982;
Number One, 1984; Boswell for the Defence, 1989,
Television Specials (selected)
1991; Hobson’s Choice, 1995.
1965 The Tea Party
1968 On the Eve of Publication
Publication
1983 King Lear
1985 Monsignor Quixote Just Resting, 1983
McLuhan, Marshall (1911–1980)

Canadian Media Theorist
Marshall McLuhan was perhaps one of the best-known very ordinary academic life. His polemic prose (a style
media theorists and critics of this era. A literary scholar frequently compared to that of James Joyce) irritated
from Canada, McLuhan became entrenched in Ameri- many and inspired some. However cryptic, McLuhan’s
can popular culture when he decided that this was the outspoken and often outrageous philosophies of the
only way to understand his students at the University of “electric media” roused a popular discourse about the
Wisconsin. Until the publication of his best-known and mass media, society, and culture. The pop culture motto
most popular works, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Mak- “The medium is the message (and the massage)” and
ing of Typographic Man (1962) and Understanding the term “global village” are pieces of what is known
Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), McLuhan led a affectionately (and otherwise) as “McLuhanism.”
1454
McLuhan, Marshall
from tribal society. In his theory, this process encom-

passes four stages.
McLuhan defines tribal society as dependent on the
harmonious balance of all senses. Tribal society was
an oral culture; members used speech (an emotionally
laden medium) to communicate. As a result, nonliter-
ate societies were passionate, involved, interdepen-
dent, and unified. The “acoustic space” that enveloped
tribal society was eroded by the invention of the pho-
netic alphabet. McLuhan credits phonetic literacy for
the dissolution of tribal society and the creation of
“Western Man.”
Literacy inspired a more detached, linear perspec-
tive; the eye replaced the ear as the dominant sensory
organ. Western Man evolved into “Gutenberg Man”
with the arrival of the printing press in the 16th cen-
tury. According to McLuhan, the printing press was re-
sponsible for such phenomena as the industrial
revolution, nationalism, and perspectivity in art. The
printing press eventually informed a “Mechanical Cul-
ture.”
The linearity and individualization characteristic of
Mechanical Culture has been usurped by electric me-
dia. This process began with the invention of the tele-
graph. McLuhan considers the electric media as
Marshall McLuhan. extensions of the entire nervous system. Television is
Photo courtesy of Nelson/Marshall McLuhan Center on Global perhaps the most significant of the electric media be-
Communications
cause of its ability to invoke multiple senses. Televi-
sion, as well as future technologies, have the ability to
“retribalize,” that is, to re-create the sensory unifica-
McLuhan was a technological determinist who tion characteristic of tribal society.
credited the electronic media with the ability to exact In perhaps his most popular work, Understanding
profound social, cultural, and political influences. In- Media: The Extensions of Man, McLuhan elaborates
stead of offering a thoughtful discourse regarding the on the sensory manipulation of the electric media. Like
positive or negative consequences of electric media, most of his writing, Understanding Media has been
McLuhan preferred instead to pontificate about its in- criticized for its indigestible content and often para-
evitable impact, which was neither good nor bad but doxical ideas. Ironically, it was this work that first cap-
simply was. McLuhan was primarily concerned that tured the minds of the American public and triggered
people acknowledge and prepare for the technological McLuhan’s metamorphosis from literary scholar into
transformation. He argued that people subscribe to a pop culture guru.
“rear-view mirror” understanding of their environ- Understanding Media contains the quintessential
ment, a mode of thinking in which they do not foresee McLuhanism, “The medium is the message.”
the arrival of a new social milieu until it is already in McLuhan explains that the content of all electric media
place. In McLuhan’s view, instead of “looking ahead,” is insignificant; it is instead the medium itself that has
society has tended to cling to the past. He wrote, “We the greatest impact on the sociocultural environment.
are always one step behind in our view of the world,” This perspective has been contested by representatives
and we do not recognize the technology that is respon- of various schools in mass communication—in partic-
sible for the shift. ular, empirical researchers have rejected McLuhan’s
McLuhan first began to grapple with the relation- grand theorizing, whereas critical cultural theorists
ship between technology and culture in The Mechani- have argued that McLuhan undermines their agenda by
cal Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man (1951). discounting the power relationships inherent in and
However, he did not elaborate on their historical ori- perpetuated by media content.
gins until the publication of The Gutenberg Galaxy, However, many judge McLuhan’s thesis to have
which traces the social evolution of modern humanity certain merit. His focus on the “televisual experience”
1455
McLuhan, Marshall
and the role of the medium within contemporary life Trinity Hall, Cambridge, B.A. 1936, M.A. 1939, Ph.D.
has inspired much popular culture research. Within 1942. Married: Corinne Keller Lewis, 1939; children:
this same framework, some theorists ponder the im- Eric, Mary Colton, Teresa, Stephanie, Elizabeth O’Sul-
pact of newer technologies, such as the Internet and livan, Michael. Instructor, University of Wisconsin,
high-definition television. Madison, 1936–37; instructor of English, St. Louis
In Understanding Media, McLuhan proposes a con- University, Missouri, 1937–44; associate professor of
troversial frame for judging media: “hot” and “cool.” English, Assumption College, Windsor, Ontario,
These categorizations are puzzling, and contemporary 1944–46; instructor, 1946–52, professor of English, St.
technology may render them obsolete. In simplest Michael’s College, University of Toronto, 1952–79;
terms, “hot” is exclusive, and “cool” is inclusive. Hot chair, Ford Foundation seminar on culture and commu-
media are highly defined; there is little information to nications, 1953–60; cofounder, Explorations magazine,
be filled in by the user. Radio is a hot medium; it re- 1954, co-editor, 1954–59, editor, 1964–79; director,
quires minimal participation. Cool media, by contrast, media studies for U.S. Office of Education and the Na-
are less defined and thus highly participatory because tional Association of Education Broadcasters,
the user must “fill in the blanks.” Television is the ulti- 1959–60; director, Toronto University’s McLuhan Cen-
mate “cool” medium because it is highly participatory. tre for Culture and Technology, 1963–66, 1969–79; ed-
This categorization is extremely problematic to those itor, Patterns of Literary Criticism series, 1965–69;
who consider television viewing a passive activity. consultant, Johnson, McCormick and Johnson, public
To illustrate this concept, McLuhan analyzed the relations, Toronto, 1966–80; Albert Schweitzer Profes-
Kennedy–Nixon debates of 1960. Those who watched sor in the Humanities, Fordham University, Bronx,
the debates on television typically judged Kennedy the New York, 1967–68; consultant, Responsive Environ-
winner; according to McLuhan, this televisual victory ments Corporation, New York, 1968–80; consultant,
was due to the fact that Kennedy exuded an objective, Vatican Pontifical Commission for Social Communica-
disinterested, “cool” persona. However, Nixon, better tions, 1973; Eugene McDermott Professor, University
suited for the “hot” medium of radio, was considered of Dallas, Texas, 1975; Pound Lecturer, 1978; fellow,
victorious by those who had listened to the debates on Royal Society of Canada, 1964. D.Litt.: University of
radio. Windsor, 1965; Assumption University, 1966; Univer-
The McLuhanism with the loudest echo in contempo- sity of Manitoba, 1967; Simon Fraser University, 1967;
rary popular culture is the concept of the “global village.” Grinnell College, 1967; St. John Fisher College, 1969;
It is a metaphor most invoked by the telecommunications University of Western Ontario, 1971; University of
industry to suggest the ability of new technologies to link Toronto, 1977; LL.D.: University of Alberta, 1971;
the world electronically. McLuhan’s once-outrageous vi- University of Toronto, 1977. Recipient: Canadian
sion of a postliterate society, one in which global con- Governor-General’s Prize, 1963; Niagara University
sciousness was shaped by technology instead of Award in culture and communications, 1967; Young
verbalization, has been partially realized by the Internet. German Artists Carl Einstein Prize, West Germany,
For McLuhan, television begins the process of retribal- 1967; Companion, Order of Canada, 1970; President’s
ization through its ability to transcend time and space, en- Award, Institute of Public Relations, Great Britain,
abling the person in New York, for example, to 1970; Assumption University Christian Culture Award,
“experience” a foreign culture across the globe. 1971; University of Detroit President’s Cabinet Award,
McLuhan contemplated the profound impact of 1972. Died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 31,
electronic technology on society. Loved or loathed, his 1980.
opinions penetrated academic, popular, and corporate
spheres. Within the context of popular culture theoriz- Films
ing, McLuhan’s commentaries will remain part of his- This Is Marshall McLuhan, 1968; Annie Hall (cameo
tory. Mass communication researchers continue to as himself), 1977.
explore the relationship between media and society. In
doing so, they delineate the significance of television Recording
in global culture and amplify the ideas McLuhan con- The Medium Is the Massage, 1967.
tributed to this discourse.
Sharon Zechowski
Publications
Marshall McLuhan. Born Herbert Marshall McLuhan The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man,
in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 21, 1911. Educated 1951
at University of Manitoba, B.A. 1933, M.A. 1934; Selected Poetry of Tennyson (editor), 1956
1456
McQueen, Trina
Explorations in Communications (editor with Edmund McLuhan, Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall Canada,
Carpenter), 1960 1996; Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1997
Crosby, Harry H., and George R. Bond, editors, The McLuhan
The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Explosion: A Casebook on Marshall McLuhan and Under-
Man, 1962 standing Media, New York: American Book Company,
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1964 1968
Voices of Literature, vols. 1–4 (editor with R.J. Curtis, James M., Culture As Polyphony: An Essay on the Na-
Schoeck), 1964–70 ture of Paradigms, Columbia: University of Missouri Press,
1978
The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects, Day, Barry, The Message of Marshall McLuhan, London: Lin-
with Quentin Fiore, 1967 tas, 1967
Through the Vanishing Point: Space in Poetry and Duffy, Dennis, Marshall McLuhan, Toronto: McClelland and
Painting, with Harley Parker, 1968 Stewart, 1969
War and Peace in the Global Village: An Inventory of Finkelstein, Sidney Walter, Sense and Nonsense of McLuhan,
New York: International Publishers, 1968
Some of the Current Spastic Situations That Could Genosko, Gary, McLuhan and Baudrillard: The Masters of Im-
Be Eliminated by More Feedforward, with Quentin plosion, London and New York: Routledge, 1999
Fiore, 1968 Gordon, W. Terrence, Marshall McLuhan: Escape into Under-
Counterblast, 1969 standing: A Biography, New York: Basic Books, 1997
The Interior Landscape: Selected Literary Criticism Gordon, W. Terrence, McLuhan for Beginners, London and
New York: Writers and Readers, 1997
of Marshall McLuhan, 1943–1962, edited by E. Kroker, Arthur, Technology and the Canadian Mind:
McNamara, 1969 Innis/McLuhan/Grant, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985
Culture Is Our Business, 1970 Levinson, Paul, Digital McLuhan: A Guide to the Information
From Cliché to Archetype, with Wilfred Watson, 1970 Millennium, New York: Routledge, 1999
Take Today: The Executive as Dropout, with Barring- Marchand, P., Marshall McLuhan: The Medium and the Mes-
senger, New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1989
ton Nevitt, 1972 Miller, Jonathan, Marshall McLuhan, London: Fontana, 1971;
The City as Classroom, with Eric McLuhan and New York: Viking, 1971
Kathy Hutchon, 1977 Rosenthal, Raymond, editor, McLuhan: Pro and Con, Funk and
Letters of Marshall McLuhan (edited by Matie Moli- Wagnalls, 1968
naro et al.), 1987 Sanderson, F., and F. Macdonald, Marshall McLuhan: The Man
and His Message, Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum, 1989
Media Research: Technology, Art, Communication Stearns, Gerald Emanuel, editor, McLuhan: Hot and Cool, New
(edited by Michael A. Moos), 1997 York: Dial Press, 1967; London: Penguin, 1968
Theall, Donald F., The Medium Is the Rear View Mirror: Under-
standing McLuhan, Montreal: McGill-Queens University
Further Reading Press, 1971
Benedetti, Paul, and Nancy DeHart, editors, Forward Through
the Rearview Mirror: Reflections on and by Marshall
McQueen, Trina (1943– )

Canadian Broadcast Journalist, News Executive
In her 27 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corpo- The following year, McQueen was made vice presi-
ration (CBC), Trina McQueen’s singularly successful dent of regional broadcasting operations, which in-
career has constituted a series of “firsts” for women. In cluded equity in portrayals across all broadcast
1991 she became vice president of English television services and foreign bureaus. This move was widely
news and current affairs and of CBC Newsworld (the regarded as a demotion as well as a backward step for
all-news cable channel), the first and only woman to the future of high-level female broadcast executives.
hold such a high-ranking position at the Canadian net- The network, however, denied that charge, and Mc-
work. Queen remained uncomplaining even after her depar-
1457
McQueen, Trina
ture. The only other female vice president, however, regional CBC stations, and employee morale. Then as
Donna Logan, who was head of English-language vice president, she also became manager of the CBC
CBC Radio, was also demoted, leaving the executive broadcast center, the new downtown facility that gath-
suite all male. McQueen had been opposed to the ered together the disparate TV and radio production
changes being initiated by the head office to move the entities that had inhabited various spaces throughout
successful flagship nightly 10:00 news The National to Toronto. In addition, she was head of English network
the all-news cable channel Newsworld. The switch finances and human resources.
also involved canceling the acclaimed in-depth nightly In 1993, when the federal government handed down
documentary news series that followed, The Journal, more budget cuts for CBC, as it had every year since
and launching Prime Time News at 9:00 P.M. CBC 1985, McQueen decamped for a job in the private sec-
brass brought in news head Tim Kotcheff from rival tor. She became vice president and general manager of
network CTV to implement the changes, which proved the newly created Discovery Channel, Canada, largely
to be disastrous. owned by Labatt Communications, Inc., the entertain-
McQueen’s quiet, soft-spoken, and tactful negotiat- ment arm of the giant beer conglomerate, which pro-
ing manner combines with a toughness attested to by duces shows on science, technology, nature, the
longtime colleagues. She has been called “something environment. and world cultures. In 1999, however,
of a Patton in Pollyanna’s clothing.” It was reported McQueen returned to CTV in the role of vice presi-
that McQueen lost a power struggle for the position of dent. She was eventually promoted to president and
senior vice president of TV services to fast-rising wun- then chief operating officer. In this capacity, she was
derkind Ivan Fecan in a management arrangement in responsible for overseeing the CTV network of 27 lo-
which their duties, previously carried out by vice pres- cal stations, seven cable channels, and three produc-
ident Denis Harvey, were split into two vice president tion companies. McQueen retired in 2002, although
jobs. McQueen oversaw a thousand people and more she continues to work and perform volunteer activities
than 200 hours of information programming per week through her company, Hutton-Belleville Inc. She is
in her position. chair of the board of the Governor-General’s Perform-
McQueen began in journalism at the entry level, ing Arts Awards. McQueen is also a professor at Car-
parlaying student jobs on newspapers to a stint with leton University. In 2003, McQueen was chosen to
the Journal (Ottawa). From there, she became the first lead the International Jury at the 24th Banff Television
female reporter for CTV’s local Toronto station, Festival.
CFTO, and cohost for CTV’s current affairs magazine Janice Kaye
show, W5. When CTV execs indicated that a woman
would not be hired as a national reporter, McQueen See also National/The Journal
quit and joined the public network, CBC, in 1967.
There she became the first female on-camera reporter Trina McQueen. Born Catherine Janitch in Canada,
for The National news. After nine years as reporter, 1943. Educated at Carleton University, Ottawa, On-
producer, and assignment editor, she became the first tario, Canada. Summer relief reporter for CBC Na-
female executive producer of The National in 1976 tional News, 1967; reporter, Journal, Ottawa;
when she was 33. reporter, CFTO-CTV, Toronto; cohost, W5 magazine
Having grown up watching The National in show, CTV; reporter, producer, and editor, The Na-
Belleville, Ontario, she has said that it was a glorious tional, from 1967, and executive producer, 1976; vice
dream job for her. She presided over a virtual revolu- president, news and current affairs and Newsworld
tion of the news, replacing the old guard with the then- cable news service, CBC, 1991, and vice president of
new faces of Hike Duffy, Peter Mansbridge, and regional broadcasting, 1992; general manager and
Knowlton Nash. She guided the new management vice president, Discovery Channel, 1993. Named
through the 1980 Quebec referendum and two federal vice president, then president and chief operating of-
elections in addition to daily news stories. She also ficer, of CTV, 1999. Retired in 2002. Member: Cana-
stood up to the chauvinists’ stereotypes of women in dian Broadcasters Hall of Fame and Canadian News
news and won respect and success. Hall of Fame. Recipient of Lifetime Achievement
McQueen returned to news, after nine years in CBC Awards from the Canadian Journalism Foundation
administration, as director of news and current affairs. and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Televi-
It was a time of huge budget cuts that decimated jobs, sion.
1458
Media Conglomerates
Media Conglomerates
The conglomeration of the media has greatly affected rationales for media and entertainment conglomera-
the structure of the television industry worldwide, but tion, and summary descriptions of key major media
especially in the United States. The U.S. television in- conglomerates.
dustry is now largely contained within large, diversi- Beginning in the mid-1980s, a spate of major merg-
fied, transnational media conglomerates that own ers have reshaped the structure of the media and enter-
interests ranging from Internet services, outdoor ad- tainment industries: News Corporation acquired 20th
vertising, magazines, and book publishing to video Century-Fox (1985); Sony bought CBS Records
games, theme parks, film, and music as well as televi- (1987) and Columbia Pictures (1989); Time merged
sion interests such as programming, broadcast stations, with Warner (1989); Universal was acquired first by
broadcast networks, cable networks, and cable opera- Matsushita (1990), then by Seagram (1996), then by
tors. In the past, from the late 1950s until the early Vivendi (2000), then by General Electric (2003); Via-
1980s, three broadcast networks dominated U.S. telecom acquired Paramount (1994); Westinghouse
vision (the National Broadcasting Company [NBC], bought CBS (1995), which was later acquired by Via-
the Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS], and the com (2000); Disney bought CapCities/ABC (1995);
American Broadcasting Company [ABC]). In the and America Online (AOL) merged with Time Warner
2000s, however, there are four major broadcast net- (2001). Three broad trends contributed to this surge of
works in the United States, including FOX, three mi- media conglomeration. First, increasing economic
nor broadcast networks (The WB, United Paramount globalization expanded foreign markets for entertain-
Network [UPN], and PAX), and over 100 cable and ment products as well as attracting capital investment
satellite networks (or programming services). How- in U.S. entertainment firms from investors in Japan,
ever, most of these networks are subsidiaries of a few Australia, Canada, France, and Germany. Second, in
large media conglomerates. NBC is a subsidiary of order to stimulate increased investment and technolog-
General Electric, CBS is owned by Viacom, the Walt ical innovation within the media and communications
Disney Company owns ABC, and FOX is part of the industries, policymakers in the United States and Eu-
News Corporation. These conglomerates also own ca- rope have dismantled many of the regulatory standards
ble and/or satellite television programming services. that had governed the media industries for the previous
For example, Disney also owns the Entertainment and half century. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, for
Sports Network (ESPN) and Disney as well as inter- example, relaxed many rules concerning cross-
ests in the Lifetime, E!, A&E, and the History Channel ownership of media and dropped limits on single-firm
cable networks; Viacom owns cable programmers Mu- ownership of multiple media outlets (ownership caps).
sic Television (MTV), Video Hits 1 (VH1), The Policymakers expected that the subsequent wave of
Nashville Network (TNN), Nickelodeon, and Show- consolidations and mergers among telephony, cable,
time; and News Corporation holdings include FX, broadcasting, and film companies would stimulate in-
FOX News, and FOX Sports as well as satellite ser- creased investment in new technologies and lower
vices British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB) and StarTV. prices for consumers. Underlying these policy changes
Thus, although programming outlets have greatly di- were expectations concerning the direction and rate of
versified, ownership has consolidated, creating a new technological change, the third broad trend affecting
form of postnetwork-era television oligopoly. Instead conglomeration. New delivery technologies, including
of three major networks gathering a 90 percent share VCRs, cable, satellite, and the networking potential of
of prime-time audiences as in the network era, today a the Internet, have opened new markets for entertain-
handful of media conglomerates utilize their affiliated ment products. Digitization, the conversion of data
broadcast and cable programming services to aggre- into computer code, has expanded as computing power
gate over 80 percent of prime-time audiences. How has increased and computing costs have decreased.
and why have media conglomerates become so domi- However, digitization is a two-edged sword for the en-
nant in the television and entertainment industries? tertainment industries. Digitization provides cost effi-
What follows is a brief overview of the broad trends ciencies because copying and transferring data is
that have contributed to conglomeration, some specific easier and more accurate, yet it is precisely that ease
1459
Media Conglomerates
and accuracy that threatens to undermine the entertain- Some conglomerates may be characterized as
ment industries’ control over intellectual property loosely conglomerated because their subsidiaries are
rights. Consequently, while technological change in unrelated fields. For example, General Electric, the
promises to open new markets for entertainment, it conglomerate that owns NBC and the entity formerly
also threatens already existing markets. Thus, firms known as Universal or Vivendi/Universal, also owns
that own interests in both “new” and “old” media tech- companies that make aircraft engines, medical sys-
nologies expect to reap the advantages of diversifica- tems, power plants, and plastics as well as financial
tion through conglomeration or, at the least, survive services companies, none of which are directly in-
the forthcoming upheavals wrought by technological volved in the television business. However, most me-
change. dia conglomerates are not loose but what Thomas
However, in addition to the overall economic, polit- Schatz calls “tightly diversified”: they have a tight fo-
ical, and technological factors affecting the media’s in- cus on media and entertainment yet are diversified
dustrial structure, the entertainment industry is itself a across fields such as film, television, music, book pub-
risky business, subject to high product failure rates and lishing, theme parks, and online services as well as be-
shifting audience tastes. Success rates in the entertaining vertically integrated into production, distribution,
ment industries are extremely low: only about 20 to 30 and exhibition. Tightly diversified conglomerates can
percent of films, roughly 10 percent of music record- cross-collateralize losses from one business with gains
ings, and approximately 5 percent of television pilots in another, cross-promote entertainment products
return a net profit. The high profit rates of a small num- across different media, and sell products on multiple
ber of entertainment products (the “hits”) must subsi- distribution platforms (film, video, broadcast, and ca-
dize the costs incurred in the production of the ble).
majority of unprofitable entertainment products. Thus, Most tightly diversified media conglomerates are
entertainment firms engage in a number of risk man- formed with at least one of the three following ratio-
agement strategies to survive these long odds, includ- nales. One rationale is to create “content synergies,”
ing overproduction and high marketing expenditures. that is, to build entertainment “franchises” that can be
A key risk management strategy is for a firm to grow repurposed into multiple products including films,
through mergers and acquisitions, the fastest way to television programs, videos, DVDs, books, comics,
gain market share and market power. Market power toys, video games, theme park rides, music sound-
through mergers can increase a firm’s ability to negoti- tracks, and so on. The Star Trek franchise, for example,
ate favorable terms with competitors, set prices, and based on a television series, expanded to include addi-
reduce competition, all of which improve a firm’s abil- tional television series (Next Generation and Enter-
ity to weather the high product failure rates of enterprise), films, books, games, and merchandise. Star
tainment. Trek’s conglomerate owner, Viacom, produces, dis-
Mergers may be characterized as either horizontal, tributes, and promotes these through its various hold-
vertical, or conglomerate. Horizontal integration is ings (Paramount, UPN, and Simon and Schuster).
when a firm acquires or merges with firms in the same Other television programs converted into franchises
business, for example, when local television stations include Mission Impossible, The Flintstones, and The
merge into a station group. Vertical integration occurs Brady Bunch, which have been resold on home video,
when a firm merges with its suppliers or buyers, or up pay-per-view cable, premium cable, and broadcast
and down the product chain of production, distribu- television. Owning and controlling a variety of content
tion, and exhibition. For example, in the 1960s, the producers and distributors enables a conglomerate to
networks (program distributors) vertically integrated capture the majority of the revenues from these multi-
upstream into program production (program suppliers) ple product extensions.
and downstream into program syndication (program A second major rationale for tight diversification is
resales), thus controlling programming at each stage of to ensure distribution for a production company or to
its product life. Conglomerate mergers occur when a ensure a supply of content for a distribution outlet. For
firm acquires a company that is neither in the same example, after losing key scheduling slots for its chil-
business nor a direct supplier or buyer, as, for example, dren’s programming on the FOX network, Disney en-
when the major newspaper publisher News Corpora- sured that its programming would continue to be
tion acquired the 20th Century-Fox film studio. The distributed on network television by acquiring Cap-
horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate merger strate- Cities/ABC. Likewise, Viacom acquired Paramount in
gies are all intended to create greater efficiencies of part to guarantee a steady supply of films for its cable
scale and scope by consolidating overhead and admin- network Showtime and then launched the broadcast
istrative costs, cutting out intermediaries, and guaran- network UPN in 1995 to ensure a distribution outlet
teeing smoother production chains. for its Paramount-produced program Star Trek. This
1460
Media Conglomerates
type of vertical integration between film studios and conglomeration strategy was to meld Time Warner’s
television distributors cut across previously existing cable operating systems (then second largest in the
ownership boundaries between film and television United States) with AOL’s top brand name in online
companies. services. By aggregating the more than 100 million
A third major rationale for tight diversification is to subscribers to AOL Time Warner’s Internet services,
secure content for new distribution technologies or to cable systems, premium cable networks, and the Time
acquire software for hardware. For example, Sony ac- magazine group (including People, Sports Illustrated,
quired Columbia Pictures and CBS Records in part to In Style, and Entertainment Weekly), the merger was
gain control of films, programs, and music for distribu- expected to create a base for launching new entertain-
tion on the consumer electronics technologies it manu- ment technology services, such as video-on-demand,
factures. In the early 1980s, Sony’s Betamax home interactive television, and broadband Internet. How-
video technology had lost the market to the competing ever, by 2003, as Time Warner’s stock price suffered
VHS technology in part because Hollywood film stu- severe declines, the merger was heavily criticized by
dios refused to license the rights to major films to Sony investors for pursuing the aim of media convergence at
for use on Betamax video. Acquiring Columbia Pic- the cost of its core businesses. In that year, “AOL” was
tures and CBS Records, now both renamed Sony, pro- dropped from the corporate name.
tects Sony’s hardware products from failing solely
because they lack the rights to film, television, and mu-
Viacom
sic content. Each of these rationales for conglomera-
tion is intended to strengthen a firm’s performance in CBS spun off Viacom in 1971 when the Federal Com-
high-risk environments; however, none can guarantee munications Commission (FCC) required the major
the ultimate outcome. networks to divest their vertically integrated program
production and syndication subsidiaries. As Viacom ex-
panded, acquiring cable networks MTV, Nickelodeon,
Time Warner
and VH1 from Warner in the mid-1980s, it was then ab-
Time Warner, at the time of this writing the largest me- sorbed by Sumner Redstone’s holding company, Na-
dia conglomerate, was created in 2001 when the online tional Amusements, in 1987. Redstone led Viacom’s
services provider AOL parlayed its highly valued stock battle for control over Paramount Communications,
into a friendly takeover of the “old media” company which succeeded, bringing Paramount Studios and Si-
Time Warner. Time Warner controls major television mon and Schuster publishers into the Viacom conglom-
interests, including one of the largest U.S. cable opera- erate. Paramount has produced numerous television
tors, Time Warner Cable. Warner Bros. Television and programs, including every Star Trek series, JAG,
its fellow subsidiaries produce programming shown on Frasier, and That’s Life; other subsidiaries, Viacom
a variety of broadcast and cable networks, including Productions and Spelling Productions, have produced
Friends, ER, Gilmore Girls, The West Wing, Every- Sabrina, Charmed, 7th Heaven, and Beverly Hills
body Loves Raymond, The Drew Carey Show, Six Feet 90210. In 1995 Viacom launched the minor broadcast
Under, and Smallville. Although Time Warner created network UPN in part to guarantee broadcast exposure
the WB broadcast network in a joint venture with Tri- for its expensive Star Trek series. Viacom also controls
bune Broadcasting in order to gain a broadcast net- premium cable networks Showtime and The Movie
work foothold, it is more dominant in cable networks. Channel and basic cable networks Black Entertainment
Home Box Office (HBO), originally a Time company, Television, Comedy Central, and Spike as well as own-
pioneered programming distribution by satellite, being an interest in the Sundance Channel. However, de-
coming one of the first and most successful nationally spite these strengths in cable programming, Viacom
distributed pay cable programmers. In 1995 Time divested its cable operating systems in 1995 because
Warner acquired the Turner networks (Turner Network the maintenance and upgrading of cable systems were
Television, Turner Broadcasting System, Turner Clas- too capital intensive. Instead, in 2000, Viacom sur-
sic Movies, and Cable News Network) to become the prised observers by acquiring a major stake in the “old
conglomerate dominant in both cable networks and ca- media” of broadcasting by buying its former parent
ble systems. The Turner, Cable News Network (CNN), company CBS and its subsidiaries, including Infinity
and HBO networks are also distributed in Asia and Eu- Broadcasting (one of the largest radio station groups)
rope. Time Warner’s other cable networks include Cin- and CBS Radio. With 34 owned-and-operated televi-
emax and the Cartoon Network. sion stations, one major and one minor broadcast net-
Time Warner is also dominant in film (Warner Bros. work, and major cable networks that are top rated in
and New Line), music (Warner Music Group), and their demographic categories, Viacom is one of the
publishing (Time/Life). However, a key element in its most dominant conglomerates in the television indus-
1461
Media Conglomerates
try. Viacom’s holdings also include theater chains in precipitate a debate on the appropriateness of owner-
Canada and Europe, Famous Music publishing, the Vi- ship caps in an era of cable and satellite television. Al-
acom Outdoor advertising group, theme parks (Great though News Corporation does not own any U.S. cable
America and Star Trek: The Experience), and the video operators and only a few cable networks (FX and FOX
retailer Blockbuster. News), it is an international presence in satellite televi-
sion, which is more prevalent than cable in Europe and
Asia. News Corporation controls the majority interest
The Walt Disney Co. in the satellite services BSkyB (Europe), StarTV
Founder Walt Disney had diversified his animation (Asia), SkyPerfecTV (Japan), Sky Latin America, and
production company into merchandising, theme parks Sky Brazil and at this writing is planning to merge
(Disneyland), and television production (The Wonder- with the largest U.S. direct broadcast service, DirecTV.
ful World of Disney) by the 1950s in part to survive the News Corporation has also invested in sports (Los An-
competition with the major Hollywood studios. This geles Dodgers), Internet services (FOX Interactive),
tightly diversified firm was almost broken apart and music (FOX Music), and one of the world’s largest
sold in the early 1980s, until an investor installed publishing companies (HarperCollins) as well as hun-
Michael Eisner as chief executive officer to revive the dreds of magazines and newspapers in the United
Disney brand. Disney has remained focused on film States, the United Kingdom, and Australia (New York
(Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, Post, The Times, The Sun, TV Guide, and The Weekly
Buena Vista, and Dimension), television production Standard).
(Walt Disney Television, Buena Vista Television, and
Network Television Production), and theme parks
Sony
(Disney World and Paris and Tokyo Disneylands). By
acquiring CapCities/ABC, Disney became a major Headquartered in Japan, Sony is barred from owning
television distributor as well, gaining a national net- any U.S. broadcast stations or networks; however, its
work plus ten owned-and-operated stations. Disney Columbia Tri Star Television subsidiary is a major pro-
has also invested in cable networks, including Disney, ducer of network and syndicated programs, including
Toon Disney, Family Channel, and SoapNet as well as Bewitched, Seinfeld, Dawson’s Creek, The King of
having interests in the ESPN networks, Lifetime, E!, Queens, Family Law, Ricki Lake, and soap operas Days
A&E, and the History Channel. Walt Disney TV Inter- of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless. Sony’s
national includes channels in Europe and Asia. Disney other media interests include its film studio (Sony, for-
also owns the ABC Radio Network, Radio Disney, and merly Columbia Pictures), theater chains, Japan Sky
ESPN Radio. Disney has interests in music (Buena Broadcasting, Sony Online Entertainment, and its ma-
Vista Music Group), book publishing (Disney and Hy- jor music group, Sony Music Entertainment, which in-
perion), and sports teams (Anaheim Angels and Ana- cludes the former CBS Records. Only a small
heim Mighty Ducks) as well as numerous Internet proportion of Sony’s revenues derive from its media
investments (Walt Disney Internet Group). holdings; Sony is primarily an electronics manufactur-
ing company (Trinitron, Walkman, and PlayStation).
Sony’s game box, PlayStation, was designed as a multi-
News Corporation media entertainment appliance for games, DVDs, CDs,
Originating as an Australian newspaper group, News and Internet access in order to present a possible alter-
Corporation, under the leadership of Rupert Murdoch, native to interactive television or PC appliances. The
has diversified aggressively. Having acquired the film principal purpose of Sony’s investments in media pro-
and television studio 20th Century-Fox in 1985, News duction and distribution is to support its consumer elec-
Corporation launched the fourth major broadcast net- tronics manufacturing interests.
work, FOX, in 1986. As the first conglomerate to inte-
grate a film studio and broadcast network, its FOX
NBC-Universal
network exploited those synergies, airing 20th
Century-Fox Television productions such as The Simp- Vivendi Universal was a French-based conglomerate
sons and The X-Files. For competing networks, 20th that was originally in the water, construction, waste
Century-Fox produced programs such as Buffy the management, and real estate business. Under the lead-
Vampire Slayer, Dharma and Greg, Judging Amy, and ership of Jean-Marie Messier, it expanded into Euro-
Roswell. News Corporation, like Viacom, pushed the pean telephony (Cegetel and SFR) and cable and film
regulatory limits on ownership caps of local television interests (Canal Plus) and by 2000 had acquired the
stations by acquiring several station groups and helped Universal holdings then owned by Seagram, a Cana-
1462
Media Events
dian beverage company. Having gained control of the outs during the 1980s. Corporate raiders discovered
Universal film studios and theme park as well as the that selling conglomerates piecemeal provided greater
single largest music company in the world, Universal returns than keeping conglomerates whole. Conse-
Music Group, Vivendi also recaptured the Universal quently, the structures of the previously mentioned me-
television production and distribution interests by dia conglomerates may undergo yet another round of
agreeing to repurchase USA Networks (including ca- restructuring if investment markets are devalued, if
ble networks USA and the Sci-Fi Channel) back from there is a long-term economic downturn, or if policy-
Barry Diller, who had bought them from Seagram. In makers decide to discourage conglomeration by en-
2003 Vivendi Universal agreed to sell the Universal forcing new regulatory standards. However, given that
film and television interests to General Electric, which conglomeration does provide advantages of scale and
has merged them with its NBC holdings (including diversification in the highly volatile business of enter-
Bravo, Telemundo, MSNBC, and CNBC). Histori- tainment, media conglomeration is likely to remain a
cally, Universal Television had been one of the largest key risk management strategy for the time to come. The
producers of television programs throughout the net- ultimate impact of media conglomeration on cultural
work era (Kojak, Magnum, P.I., and Miami Vice). Re- and democratic processes is problematic. Hence, it is
cent Universal television programs include Just Shoot essential that viewers, audiences, and consumers learn
Me and The Steve Harvey Show. By integrating Uni- more as to how and why media conglomeration occurs
versal’s massive film and television production sub- in order to more effectively engage as citizens in the
sidiaries with NBC’s broadcast and cable networks, political processes that shape the regulatory standards
General Electric joins the other fully vertically inte- affecting the structure of the media industries.
grated media conglomerates. Cynthia B. Meyers
In summary, media conglomerates are structured to
See also AOL Time Warner; Mergers and Acquisi-
take advantage of diversification as well as the effi-
tions; News Corporation, Ltd; Sony Corporation;
ciencies and synergies of integration. However, the re-
Vivendi Universal
wards of such efficiencies are sometimes outweighed
by the costs of unwieldy diversification, internal com-
petition, and debt service. Since entertainment is diffi- Further Reading
cult to produce efficiently, media conglomeration is Barnouw, Erik, et al., Conglomerates and the Media, New York:
more often a means toward market domination and ne- New Press, 1997
gotiating leverage with fellow oligopolistic competi- Compaine, Benjamin M., and Douglas Gomery, Who Owns the
tors. The largest media conglomerates account for up Media? 3rd edition, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erl-
baum Associates, 2000
to 90 percent of the U.S. markets for film, television, Croteau, David, and William Hoynes, The Business of Media,
and music, thus creating production and distribution Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press, 2001
bottlenecks that keep smaller competitors in check. Herman, Edward S., and Robert W. McChesney, The Global
Investors have cyclically valued and devalued con- Media, London: Cassell, 1997
glomeration, as can be seen in the peaking and crashing Schatz, Thomas, “The Return of the Hollywood Studio Sys-
tem,” in Conglomerates and the Media, edited by Erik
of the merger waves of the 1890s, 1920s, and 1960s. Barnouw et al., New York: New Press, 1997
For example, many of the conglomerates that were Woodhull, Nancy J., and Robert W. Snyder, eds., Media Mergers,
formed in the 1960s were broken up by leveraged buy- New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1998
Media Events
In contrast to the routine array of genres that charac- ties. In some cases, the notion is used in connection
terizes everyday television, media events have a dis- with major news events (televised wars and assassina-
ruptive quality. They have the power of interrupting tions). In other cases, the notion is used in reference to
social life by canceling all other programs. But while what Victor Turner would call “social dramas”: pro-
always characterized by live broadcasting, the term tracted crises whose escalation progressively monop-
“media events” evokes at least three different reali- olizes public attention. Thus, the O.J. Simpson trial or
1463
Media Events
Elizabeth II as the Queen arrived for the coronation ceremony, her husband is to her left, June 2,
1953.
the Anita Hill–Clarence Thomas controversy are tele- say focuses on media events of the third sort, events
vision equivalents of a genre whose most famous that are consciously integrative and deliberately con-
example—the Dreyfus affair—had immense conse- structed with a view of orchestrating a consensus.
quences for the nature of the French public sphere. Fi- They are public rituals, emotional occasions. The
nally, one may speak of media events concerning broadcast does not include the assassinations but the
expressive events: television ceremonies that typi- ensuing funerals, not social dramas but their ritualized
cally last a few hours or, at most, a few days. This es- outcomes.
1464
Media Events
Forming a relatively coherent television “genre,” passage of the great: inaugurations, funerals, and ac-
these ceremonial events share semantic features. They ceptance (or resignation) speeches. Coronations are
celebrate consensus, “history in the making,” acts of celebrations of norms, reiterations of founding myths.
will, and charismatic leaders. Formally, they disrupt They invite ceremonial audiences to manifest their
television syntax. They cancel the rule of “schedules,” loyalty to these norms and to the institutions that up-
interrupt the flows of programming, and monopolize hold them.
many (if not all) channels while they themselves are Contests stress the turning points of the democratic
broadcast “live” from remote locations. In terms of curriculum. They celebrate the very existence of a fo-
their pragmatics, they are viewed by festive communi- rum open to public debate. Whether they are regularly
ties. Audiences prepare themselves for the event, scheduled (e.g., presidential debates) or mounted in re-
gather, dress up, and display their emotions. sponse to political crises, contests are characterized by
Like all “genres” but more explicitly than most, me- their dialogic structure, by their focus on argumenta-
dia events can be considered contracts. Thus, each par- tion, and by their insistence on procedure. They point
ticular event results from negotiations among three to the necessity of interpreting and debating the norms.
major partners. First, organizers propose that a given They are celebrations of pluralism, of the diversity of
situation be given ceremonial treatment. Second, legitimate positions. Contests call for reflexivity. They
broadcasters will transmit but also restructure the invite their audiences to an attitude of deliberation.
event. Third, audiences will validate the event’s cere- Conquests are probably the most consequential of
monial ambition or denounce it as a joke. In order for a media events. They are also the rarest. They take the
media event to trigger a collective experience, each of form of political or diplomatic initiatives aiming at a
these partners must actively endorse it. No broadcast- swift change in public opinion on a given subject. Ren-
ing organization can unilaterally decide to mount a dered possible by the very stature of their protago-
ceremonial event. This decision is generally that of na- nists—Egypt’s Anwar Sadat going to Jerusalem or
tional, supranational, or religious institutions. The au- Pope John Paul II visiting Poland—conquests reacti-
thority invested in such institutions is what turns vate forgotten aspirations. They are attempts at
events that are essentially gestures into more than ges- rephrasing a society’s history, at redefining the identity
ticulations. It is what makes them media events and of its members. They call on their audiences to be
not, as Daniel Boorstin would put it, “pseudoevents.” “conquered” by the paradigm change that the ceremo-
Yet television is not utterly subservient to these in- nial actor is trying to implement, to suspend skepti-
stitutions. In the ceremonial politics of modern democ- cism. Conquests celebrate the redefinition of norms.
racies, it stands as a powerful partner whose mediation All three major ceremonial scripts address the ques-
is necessary, given the scale of audiences. Television is tion of authority and of its legitimating principle. In
also a partner whose performance is controlled by pro- the case of coronations, this principle is “traditional.”
fessional standards. As opposed to earlier “information In the case of contests, it belongs to the “rational-
ceremonies,” media events can hardly dispense with legal” order. As for conquests, they stress “charis-
the presence of journalists. They cannot be confined to matic” authority. This helps us understand the political
what Jürgen Habermas calls a “public sphere of repre- distribution of media events. Coronations are to be
sentation.” Thus, negotiations on the pertinence of an found everywhere, for there are no societies without
event, discussions on the nature of the script, and the traditions. Unless they are faked (and they often are),
option of mocking or ignoring it all distinguish demo- contests can emerge only in pluralistic societies. The
cratic ceremonies from those of regimes where orga- charismatic dynamics of conquests is always subver-
nizers control broadcasters and audiences. sive, making them hardly affordable to those societies
Beyond the generic features they all share, media that are afraid of change.
events vary in terms of (1) the institutionalization or Compared to the types of public events that were
improvisation of the ceremonial event, (2) the tempo- prevalent before the emergence of media events, the
ral orientation of the ceremony, and (3) the nature of latter introduce at least two major transformations.
the chosen script. This last point is essential, given the These transformations affect both the nature of the
organizational complexity of media events and the events and that of ceremonial participation.
multiplicity of simultaneous performance involved. Televised ceremonies are examples of events that
Coordination is facilitated by the existence of major exist but do not need to “take place.” These events
dramaturgical models or scripts. Three such scripts can have been remodeled in order not to need a territorial
be identified: coronations, contests, and conquests. inscription any longer. The scenography of former
The script of coronations is by no means exclusive public events was characterized by the actual en-
to monarchic contexts. It characterizes all the rites of counter, on a specifiable site, of ceremonial actors and
1465
Media Events
their audiences. That scenography has been replaced Benjamin, Walter, “Theses on Philosophy of History,” in his Il-
by a new mode of “publicness” inspired by cinema and luminations, edited by Hannah Arendt and translated by
Harry Zohn, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1968;
based on the potential separation (1) between actors London: Cape, 1970
(2) of actors and audiences. Benjamin, Walter, “The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Re-
A second transformation affects ceremonial partici- production,” in his Illuminations, edited by Hannah Arendt
pation. This transformation turns the effervescent and translated by Harry Zohn, New York: Harcourt Brace
crowds of mass ceremonies into domestic audiences. and World, 1968; London: Cape, 1970
Boorstin, Daniel, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo Events in
Instead of mobilizing expressive publics, the media America, New York: Harper and Row, 1964
event is celebrated by small groups. A monumental but Cardiff, D., and P. Scannell, “Broadcasting and National Unity,”
distant celebration triggers a multitude of microcele- in Impacts and Influences: Essays on Media Power in the
brations. Leading to a typically “diasporic ceremonial- Twentieth Century, edited by James Curran, Anthony Smith,
ity,” the immensity of television audiences translates and Pauline Wingate, London and New York: Methuen,
1987
collective events into intimate occasions. Chiasson, Lloyd, Jr., editor, The Press on Trial: Crimes and Tri-
Television ceremonies or media events are neces- als as Media Events, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood
sary inasmuch as they are among the few means avail- Press, 1997
able to individuals that assist and enable them to Dayan, Daniel, and E. Katz, “Television Events and Instant His-
imagine the societies in which they live. Dismissing tory,” in Television: An International History, edited by An-
thony Smith, Oxford and New York: Oxford University
them as “political spectacles” would lead to two errors: Press, 1995; 2nd edition, edited by Anthony Smith and
on the one hand, that of presupposing that the media- Richard Paterson, 1998
tion they offer is superfluous; on the other, that of be- Edelman, Murray Jacob, Constructing the Political Spectacle,
lieving that the absence of political spectacle is an Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988
ideal and a distinctive sign of modern democracies. Geertz, Clifford, “Center, Kings, and Charisma,” in Culture and
Its Creators: Essays in Honor of Edward Shils, edited by
Democracies are distinct from authoritarian or total- Joseph Ben-David and Terry Nichols Clark, Chicago: Uni-
itarian regimes but not in terms of the presence or ab- versity of Chicago Press, 1980
sence of a political ceremoniality. Democracies differ Greenberg, Bradley S., and Edwin B. Parker, editors, The
from other regimes by the nature—not the existence— Kennedy Assassination and the American Public: Social
of the ceremonies staged in their midst. Democratic Communication in Crisis, Stanford, California: Stanford
University Press, 1965
media events should therefore be differentiated from Handelman, Don, Models and Mirrors: Towards an Anthropol-
other television events that are undoubtedly endowed ogy of Public Events, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge
with a ceremonial dimension but are neither consen- University Press, 1990
sual nor contractually derived. For example, the events Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger, editors, The Invention of
of terrorism are expressive events, enacted statements, Tradition, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1983
and forms of discourse. Their reception by some of Lang, Gladys Engel, The Battle for Public Opinion: The Presi-
their audiences often involves celebration. However, dent, the Press, and the Polls During Watergate, New York:
these forms of discourse receive no validation from the Columbia University Press, 1983
institutions of the center or from those of civil society. Lang, Gladys Engel, and Kurt Lang, Politics and Television,
They differ form other ceremonial statements by not Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1968
Lukes, S., “Political Ritual and Social Integration,” Sociology
being submitted to a process of legitimation that trans- (1975)
forms them into full-size events. Violence is what dis- MacAloon, John J., editor, Rite, Festival, Spectacle, Game: Re-
tinguishes terroristic events from milder exercises in hearsals Toward a Theory of Cultural Performance,
public relations, from other types of “pseudoevents.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984
In a word, there are many repertoires of media events, Scannell, P., “Media Events: A Review Essay,” Media, Culture,
and Society (1995)
and the study of consensual, democratically inspired, Shils, E., and M. Young, “The Meaning of the Coronation,” So-
negotiated media events must be set in the context of ciological Review (1953)
other, rougher media events that are dissentious, im- Turner, Victor W., The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-
posed, and deliberately antagonistic. Structure, Chicago: Aldine Publishers, and London: Rout-
Daniel Dayan ledge and Kegan Paul, 1969
Wark, McKenzie, Virtual Geography: Living with Global Me-
dia Events, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994
Further Reading
Alexander, Jeffrey C., editor, Durkheimian Sociology: Cultural
Studies, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1988
1466
Medic
Medic
U.S. Medical Drama
Medic, U.S. television’s first doctor drama to center on Consequently, the emphasis in Medic was on por-
the skills and technology of medicine, aired at 9:00 traying physicians’ approaches to their patients accu-
P.M. on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) rately; subplots and nuances of characterization were
from mid-September 1954 through mid-November minimal. Because Moser wanted accuracy and because
1956. The half-hour drama became known for an em- the program’s first sponsor, Dow Chemical, gave the
phasis on medical realism that its creator and principal show a relatively small budget that precluded fancy
writer, James Moser, brought to the episodes. Adver- sets, he sought permission from the Los Angeles
tisements for the series asserted that it “made no com- Country Medical Association (LACMA) to film in ac-
promise with truth,” and journalistic articles about the tual hospitals and clinics. In return for their commit-
show repeated that theme. A Look magazine article in ment to open doors for the show, LACMA physicians
1954 discussed Moser’s “well-documented scripts” required that Moser and his executive producer sign a
and emphasized that “details are checked, then double- contract that gave the association control over the
checked.” TV Guide called the program “a new kind of medical accuracy of every script.
TV shocker” and added that it was “telling the story of As it turned out, Moser’s positive attitude toward
the medical profession without pulling any punches.” modern medicine meant that LACMA did not have to
Medic was not the first television series about
medicine or physicians. Both The Doctor and City
Hospital had aired, on NBC and the Columbia Broad-
casting System (CBS), respectively, during the
1952–53 television season. Medic is important be-
cause, much more than those two, it helped shape the
approach that producers and networks took to doctor
shows for the next few decades. The program was in
large part an anthology of medical cases. They were
introduced by Dr. Konrad Styner, played by Richard
Boone, who narrated the case and often participated
in it.
James Moser had picked up his interest in the details
of professions as a writer on Jack Webb’s hit Dragnet
radio series, which prided itself on straightforwardly
presenting the facts of police cases. Moser’s interest in
a TV series about medicine had been stirred through a
stint writing the Doctor Kildare radio show, through
his creation of an NBC radio pilot about medicine with
Jack Webb that did not go to series, and through
watching his best friend, an intern at Los Angeles
County Hospital, make rounds on a wide array of com-
plex problems. Moser was aware of the strong popu-
larity that medical dramas such as Dr. Kildare and
Doctor Christian had enjoyed in the movies and on ra-
dio during the 1940s. He felt, however, that those and
other previous stories about medicine had not gone
deeply enough into the actual ways modern medicine Medic, Richard Boone as Dr. Konrad Styner, 1954–56
healed. Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1467
Medic
worry about Medic’s treatment of health care’s basic Supreme Court decision that mandated integration in
setting, characters, and patterns of action. Neverthe- schools and other places, executives from southern af-
less, at a time of growing anxiety about physicians’ filiates considered the Medic episode a firebrand. They
power in the larger society, the LACMA committee told the network that they would not air the episode,
members insisted that the physician’s image in the and NBC decided to shelve it.
show fit organized medicine’s ideal image. They even Such flare-ups notwithstanding, Medic impressed
considered what a doctor drove and how he spoke (the many television producers and network officials of its
physician was almost always a man). Cars that were day for its innovative blending of documentary and
too expensive and language with slang or contractions dramatic traditions. Its legacy would be the stress on
were ruled out. This close involvement by organized clinical realism that medical series following it
medicine in the creation of doctor shows was the be- adopted. In the 1960s, doctor shows melded that em-
ginning of a relationship between organized medicine phasis on realism with a greater concern than Medic
and doctor-show producers that lasted with few excep- showed regarding the personality of the physicians, the
tions through the 1960s. predicaments of their patients, and even some social
Medic’s first episode revolved around a difficult issues. James Moser’s next show after Medic, Ben
birth in which the mother died and the child lived; an Casey, contributed strongly to this evolution in televi-
actual birth was filmed and televised. Other stories sion’s dramatic portrayal of medicine.
dealt with such subjects as manic depression and Joseph Turow
corneal transplants. Critics generally received the pro-
See also Boone, Richard; Workplace Programs
grams enthusiastically, but the series got mediocre rat-
ings against the hit I Love Lucy. Two controversies in
the second year, along with those mediocre ratings, Cast
seem to have persuaded NBC executives to cancel the Dr. Konrad Styner Richard Boone
series. The first controversy revolved around an
episode that showed a cesarean birth, incision and all. Producers
Learning about the episode before it was broadcast, Frank LaTourette, Worthington Miner
Cardinal Spellman of the New York Archdiocese ar-
gued that such subjects were not for exposure on tele-
Programming History
vision. He persuaded NBC to delete the operation,
59 episodes
much to Moser’s public anger.
NBC
The second controversy did not become public but
September 1954–November 1956 Monday
further soured the relationship between Moser and net-
9:00–9:30
work officials. It centered on a Medic episode about a
black doctor choosing between staying in the big city
where he trained or going home to practice in a small Further Reading
southern town. In an era still steaming with antiblack Turow, Joseph, Playing Doctor: Television, Storytelling, and
prejudice and crackling with tension over a recent U.S. Medical Power, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989
Medical Video
Television has been used in medicine since early in advances in technology are regularly incorporated
the medium’s history. In 1937, well before more com- into medical video. In some instances, as with the
mon uses of television were in place, an operation practice of endoscopy, video equipment first devel-
performed at Johns Hopkins University Hospital was oped for medicine later finds additional use in the tele-
shown over closed-circuit television. From that time, vision industry. The use of video in health care falls
use of television and video has grown to become an into four general categories: medical training,
integral part of the medical profession and health care telemedicine, patient care and education, and public
industries. Most hospitals have a video division, and information.
1468
Medical Video
lay viewers), and all had ceased operations by the mid-

1990s.
“Telemedicine” (or “telehealth”) refers to the use of
telecommunication systems to practice medicine and
provide health care when geographic distance sepa-
rates doctor and patient. The first documented use of
this method came in 1959 as part of a demonstration
project where closed-circuit, two-way interactive tele-
vision was used to provide mental health consultations
between the Nebraska state mental hospital and the
Nebraska Psychiatric Institute more than 100 miles
away in Omaha. In telemedicine, a nurse, nurse practi-
tioner, or physician assistant is typically present with
the patient to assist, while the physician is in another
location. For example, examination rooms specially
Surgeon performing laparoscopic surgery using laparoscopic equipped with television cameras and monitors allow
television camera. for remote diagnostics and consultations between
Courtesy of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
physicians.
During the 1970s, several U.S. programs made use
The first regular instructional use of television in of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
medicine came in 1949, when television equipment tion’s Applied Technology Satellites to improve health
was installed at the University of Kansas Medical Cen- care availability in Alaska, the Appalachian region,
ter to teach surgery. Using a mirror and a camera and the Rocky Mountain states, where access to physi-
mounted above the patient, the incision area could be cians and health care facilities was extremely limited.
viewed in detail by many more students than could These and similar strategies have been developed fur-
otherwise be accommodated and without affecting the ther with the use of satellites, fiber-optic and coaxial
sterile environment. With the introduction of videotape cables, and microwave technologies, which can con-
recording, procedures could be recorded and reviewed nect medical facilities across towns or even around the
later. This innovation allowed for notable or excep- world. Such networks have important implications for
tional cases to be archived and no longer restricted ob- developing nations, offering the possibility of access
servation to physical presence at the time of surgery. to higher-quality health care, often at a reduced cost.
Television is especially important for training in situa- As technology improves, new uses for television con-
tions where the field of operation is small, such as in tinue to be developed. In 2001, using a high-speed
dentistry or microsurgery. In these instances, television video cable connection and robotics, surgeons in New
provides a view otherwise visible only to the doctor. York City successfully removed the gallbladder of a
Beyond formal training in schools, television is also 68-year-old woman in Strasbourg, France. Although
important in the continuing education of health care the video signal traveled a round-trip distance of more
providers. By the early 1960s, broadcast stations than 14,000 kilometers, the speed of the connection
(sometimes with the signal scrambled) were being was such that the surgeon’s movements appeared on
used along with closed-circuit networks to distribute his video screen within 155 milliseconds. With the de-
programs to physicians in broad geographic areas. velopment and growth of the Internet, telemedicine is
This application has continued to take advantage of increasingly adjusting to take advantage of the oppor-
available technologies, and medical programs are pro- tunities, although television continues to play an im-
vided to health care providers through videocassettes portant role in “telehealthcare.” An added benefit of
or a variety of wired and wireless networks. The op- telemedicine is that once the video networks are estab-
portunities presented by the introduction of cable tele- lished, they can also be used for administrative aspects
vision and satellite receivers led to many attempts to of medicine, such as for teleconferences or other meet-
offer programming aimed at physicians, often spon- ings.
sored by pharmaceutical advertisers. However, such Although hardly as dramatic as long-distance
ventures as the Hospital Satellite Network, Lifetime surgery, patient care and education can also be greatly
Medical Television, American Medical Television, and improved through the use of television. For example,
Medical News Network all failed to attract a large educational videos can explain such matters as surgical
enough target audience (although those services avail- procedures before they are performed and proper
able over cable television often attracted a number of posthospital home care. Television is also used in pa-
1469
Medical Video
tient surveillance—for example, in intensive care to be shared in such areas as radiology, pathology, car-
units—so that several areas can be monitored from a diology, dermatology, dentistry, and nuclear medicine,
central nurses’ station. Video can also contribute to among others. The use of video, then, in conjunction
psychiatric examinations by allowing behavior to be with computers and as a technology in its own right
observed without intruding or introducing outside will continue to be an important part of the health care
stimuli. field.
Public information applications of television have J.C. Turner
enabled hospitals and other health care providers to
aim programs at broader communities. The same Further Reading
equipment used for education and training can also be
used in preparing materials for public outreach. Not Bashshur, R.L., P.A. Armstrong, and Z.I. Youssef, editors,
Telemedicine: Explorations in the Use of Telecommunica-
only do hospitals produce video news releases that are tions in Health Care, Springfield, Illinois: Charles C.
provided to local television outlets, but some also syn- Thomas, 1975
dicate their own “health segments” to national or re- Dan, B.B., “Information Lives; Medical Television Dies,” The
gional broadcast stations. There are even examples of Lancet, 346, no. 8985 (November 11, 1995)
hospitals that produce their own telethons to raise re- Davis, A., “Medical PACs Here at Last: Image Integration, Eco-
nomics Make It Real,” Advanced Imaging (May 1995)
search funds, often for diseases that afflict children. Edworthy, S.M., “Telemedicine in Developing Countries: May
As it has in so many other arenas, the convergence Have More Impact Than in Developed Countries,” British
of video and computers is having an impact in Medical Journal, 323 (September 8, 2001)
medicine in areas such as picture archival and commu- Hudson, H.E., Telemedicine: Some Findings from the U.S. Ex-
nication systems (PACS). Many medical technologies, perience (report prepared for Bureau for Technical Assis-
tance, Educational and Human Resources), Washington,
such as magnetic resonance and ultrasound imagers, D.C.: Agency for International Development, 1977
filmless radiology, and CT scanners, generate digital Judge, R.E., and M.T. Romano, editors, Health Science Televi-
images, and PACS then integrate the images with other sion: A Review, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Medical
clinical information so that all relevant patient data are Center, 1966
available through the computer network. The Veterans Larkin, M., “Transatlantic, Robot-Assisted Telesurgery Deemed a
Success,” The Lancet, 358, no. 9287 (September 29, 2001)
Administration Medical Centers in the United States Perednia, D.A., and A. Allen, “Telemedicine Technology and
have 22 Veterans Integrated Service Network Tele- Clinical Applications,” Journal of the American Medical As-
medicine Networks that enable images and other data sociation, 273, no. 6 (February 8, 1995)
Meet the Press

U.S. Public Affairs/Interview
Meet the Press, the longest-running television series in years later, Meet the Press became the first NBC pro-
the United States, consistently generates headlines gram to air regularly in color.
from its interviews with world-renowned guests in- Lawrence E. Spivak first debuted Meet the Press as
cluding national political leaders, foreign heads of a 1947 radio program to promote his magazine Ameri-
state or government, and Nobel Prize winners. can Mercury. After Meet the Press moved to televi-
Meet the Press premiered on television on the Na- sion, Spivak continued to serve as producer, regular
tional Broadcasting Company (NBC) on November 6, panelist, and later moderator. He retired from the series
1947. This exceptionally successful program was the in November 1975.
first to bring Washington politics into American living Meet the Press originally aired in a 30-minute, live
rooms. It also was a pioneer in color TV. In 1954 it press conference format, with a panel of newspaper
aired in color as a “test” program. Since NBC was journalists interviewing a political news maker. On
ahead in the development of color technology, that test September 20, 1992, Meet the Press expanded to a
was likely the first color telecast by any network; six one-hour interview program. According to Kathleen
1470
Meet the Press
Hall Jamieson, interview programs are successful be- quoted news program in the world. When the show
cause neither the follow-up by the reporter nor the premiered, it aired on Wednesday nights after 10 P.M.
length of the candidates’ answers is artificially con- Later, it was moved to Monday, then to Saturday. In
strained. Meet the Press’s contemporary format con- the mid-1960s, Meet the Press found its niche as a day-
sists of two or three interview segments with guests of time Sunday program. In 2002 it aired via network
national and international importance followed by a feed on Sundays from 9 to 10 A.M. The national audi-
roundtable discussion. Interviews are conducted in the ence has grown more than 40 percent, making it the
studio, on location, or via satellite. (In fact, on Septem- most-watched Sunday morning interview program in
ber 19, 1965, Meet the Press became the first network 2002.
television to broadcast a live satellite interview.) In the The 2002 executive producer of Meet the Press is
present-day version, two or three journalists join host Nancy Nathan, with Betsy Fischer serving as the
Tim Russert during the initial questioning periods and show’s senior producer. The program originates from
the roundtable discussion. Washington, D.C., but the show travels when world
Russert joined Meet the Press as moderator on De- events become major news. Sites have included the
cember 8, 1991. He came to the program with a thor- Republican and Democratic national conventions, the
ough understanding of Capitol Hill politics, having 1993 Bill Clinton–Boris Yeltsin summit in Vancouver,
previously served as counselor to New York Governor the 1990 Helsinki summit, the 1989 United States–
Mario Cuomo and as special counsel and chief of staff Soviet summit on the island of Malta, and the 1989
to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He also is economic summit of industrialized nations in Paris.
well aware of how journalists cover politics. He has Whether in Washington, D.C., or on location at an
served as senior vice president and Washington, D.C., event of political importance, the discussions aired on
bureau chief for NBC since December 1988. He also Meet the Press often generate headlines in other media
serves as a contributing anchor for MSNBC and as a outlets. Today, Meet the Press continues to engage
political analyst for the NBC Nightly News with Tom viewers in the political process.
Brokaw and for the Today show. Lori Melton McKinnon
According to a former NBC producer, “Tim has an
enormous amount of power right now to make and in- See also News, Network
fluence [government] policy on Meet the Press.” On
Meet the Press, questions are asked of political person- Further Reading
alities in hopes of moving the political process forward
or, at least, moving it along. Russert has interviewed Brown, Les, editor, The New York Times Encyclopedia of Televi-
sion, New York: Times Books, 1977
almost every major political figure of the 1990s and Brown, Les, editor, Les Brown’s Encyclopedia of Television,
the early 21st century. As of 2002, Bob Dole had been New York: Zoetrope, 1982
the most frequent guest on Meet the Press, with 56 ap- Flander, J., “NBC’s Tim Russert: The Insider,” Columbia Jour-
pearances over his career as a congressman, senator, nalism Review (1992)
Republican National Committee chair, vice presiden- Jamieson, Kathleen Hall, Dirty Politics: Deception, Distrac-
tion, and Democracy, New York: Oxford University Press,
tial candidate, and presidential nominee. Although a 1992
topic of frequent discussion on the program, Senator Pokorny, Heidi, Meet the Press (research report), New York:
Hillary Rodham Clinton has never appeared on or ac- NBC News Information, 1994
cepted an interview for Meet the Press. Pokorny, Heidi, Timothy J. Russert: Moderator, Meet the Press;
Meet the Press emerged early on as a leading pro- Senior Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief, NBC
News (research report), New York: NBC News Information,
gram for providing political accountability. In fact, 1994
President John F. Kennedy was fond of calling it the Terrace, V., editor, The Complete Encyclopedia of Television
“51st state.” Meet the Press has become the most Programs 1947–1976, New York: Barnes, 1976
1471
Melodrama
Melodrama
One of television’s most diverse program types, the “drama,” a deed, action, or play, especially tragedy. In
melodramatic genre encompasses an extensive variety tragedy, the hero is isolated from society so that he or
of aesthetic formats, settings, and character types. she may better understand his or her own and the soci-
Melodramatic formats include the series, consisting of ety’s moral weakness; but once enlightened, the hero
self-contained episodes, each with a classic dramatic cannot stave off the disaster embedded in the social
structure of conflict/complication/resolution in which structure beyond the hero’s control. In contrast, the
central and supporting characters return week after melodramatic hero is a normative character represent-
week; the serial, which features a continuing story- ing incorporation into society. Northrop Frye, in
line, carried forward from program to program (this is Anatomy of Criticism (1957), described a central
typical of soap opera, both daytime and prime time); theme in melodrama as “the triumph of moral virtue
the anthology, a nonepisodic program series constitut- over villainy, and the consequent idealizing of the
ing an omnibus of different self-contained programs, moral views assumed to be held by the audience.”
related only by subgenre, and featuring different ac- Since melodrama exists within a mass-cultural frame-
tors and characters each week (important examples in- work, it could, according to Frye, easily become “ad-
clude The Twilight Zone, a science fiction anthology, vance propaganda for the police state” if it were taken
and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a mystery anthology); seriously. Frye sidesteps this fear by positing that the
and repertory, a nonepisodic series consisting of dif- audience does not take such work seriously.
ferent programs featuring a group of actors who ap- Peter Brooks, in The Melodramatic Imagination
pear each week but in different roles (very rare on (1976), finds melodrama acting powerfully in society,
television, the repertory is best represented by The reflecting the socialization of the deeply personal.
Richard Boone Show). Settings include the hostile Brooks sees in the melodramatic aesthetic unremitting
western frontier of Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will conflict; possibly disabling, excessive enactment; and
Travel and its urban analog—the mean streets of East ultimately clarification and cure. It is, according to
Side/West Side and, more recently, Hill Street Blues; Brooks, akin to our experience of nightmare, where
the gleaming corporate office towers of Dallas and virtue is seemingly helpless in the face of menace.
L.A. Law; the quiet suburban enclaves in which Mar- “The end of the nightmare is an awakening brought
cus Welby, M.D. made house calls in the 1970s; the about by confrontation and expulsion of the villain, the
ostentatious exurban chateaus of Falcon Crest and the person in whom evil is seen to be concentrated, and a
numerous wealthy criminals outsmarted by the prole- reaffirmation of the society of ‘decent people.’”
tarian cop Columbo; and the high-pressure, teeming Melodrama demands strong justice, while tragedy,
workplace peopled by dedicated professionals such as in contrast, often includes the ambivalence of mercy in
the newspaper reporters in Lou Grant. The seemingly its code. Melodrama provides us with models of clear
endless variety of “heroic” and “villianous” character resolution for highly personalized, intensely enacted
types in television melodrama, whose weekly travails conflict. Television melodrama may be considered a
and romantic interests ground the dramaturgy, are contemporary substitute for traditional forms of social
drawn from the rich store of historical legend, the control—the rituals of organized religion and, before
front pages of today’s broadsheets and tabloids, and that, of “primitive mythologies”—that provided easily
the future projections of science fiction and science understandable models of “primal, intense, polarized
fantasy: cowboys, sheriffs, bounty hunters, outlaws, forces.” It is thus a powerfully conservative social arti-
pioneers/settlers, police, mobsters, sleuths, science fact—a public ceremonial ritual, repositioned in poli-
fiction adventurers and other epic wanderers, spies, tics and economics, drawing us into both the
corrupt entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and intrepid prescriptions and the proscriptions of mainstream cul-
journalists. tural values.
Television melodrama has its direct roots in the The hero is central to melodrama. In classical Greek
early 19th-century stage play in which romantic, sen- dramaturgy, the term applied to an individual of super-
sational plots and incidents were mixed with songs and human strength, courage, or ability who was favored
orchestral music. The word “melodrama” evolved by the gods. In antiquity, the hero was regarded as an
from the Greek “melos,” meaning song or music, and immortal intermediary between the gods and ordinary
1472
Melodrama
people—a demigod who was the offspring of a god or Within the television melodrama, these social types
goddess and a human being. Later, the heroic class operate as images or signs, constructed according to
came to include mortals of renown who were deified our society’s dominant values, reinforcing commonly
because of great and noble deeds or for firmness or held beliefs regarding the proper ordering of social re-
greatness of soul in any course of action they under- lations.
took. The hero was distinguished by extraordinary The aesthetic structure of television melodrama, as a
bravery and martial achievement. Many heroes were form of popular storytelling, is clearly linked to its dra-
boldly experimental or resourceful in their actions. maturgical predecessors. It employs rhythmic patterns
Punishment of those who violated social codes was in its scene and act progression analogous to the metri-
harsh. cal positions in the poetic line of the mnemonically
The world in which the classic hero operated was a composed classical Greek epic poetry. As in the grand
world of heightened emotional intensity—a harsh opera of the 19th century, television melodrama is or-
world in which the norm included unending tests of ganized into a series of distinct acts, each generally
both physical and moral strength and the constant signifying a change in either time or place, and linked
threat of death. The hero represented a carefully de- by orchestral transitions. Superfluous exposition is
fined value system in which good triumphed over evil eliminated. The spectator is offered a series of intense
in the end and in which the actions of the hero, with the highlights of the lives of the protagonists and antago-
assistance of the gods, produced order and stability out nists. Orchestral music introduces actions, provides a
of chaos. background for plot movement, and reinforces mo-
Heroes are “social types.” As Orrin Klapp notes in ments of heightened dramatic intensity. Television
Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing American melodrama, like grand opera, is generally constructed
Character (1962), heroes offer “roles which, though to formula. Plot dominates, initiating excitement and
informal, have become rather well conceptualized and suspense by raising for its protagonists explicit ques-
in which there is a comparatively high degree of con- tions of self-preservation and implicit questions of
sensus.” Drawn from a cultural stock of images and preservation of the existing social order.
symbols, heroes provide models people try to approxi- In 19th- and 20th-century literature, melodrama
mate. As such, Klapp argues, heroes represent “basic came to signify “democratic drama.” Critics con-
dimensions of social control in any society.” demned the form as sensational, sentimental entertain-
Reflecting the increasingly technocractic nature of ment for the masses. Rural-type melodrama—with its
contemporary American society, many “workplace” beautiful, virtuous, impoverished heroine; its pure
melodramas on television have featured what Gary hero; its despicable villain who ties the heroine to the
Edgerton (1980) has termed the “corporate hero”—a railroad tracks; and the rustic clown who aids the hero
team of specialists which acts as a unit. The corporate (wonderfully satirized in the television cartoon “Dud-
hero derives his or her identity from the group. He or ley Do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounties,” origi-
she is more a distinct “talent” than a distinct personal- nally a segment of The Bullwinkle Show)—gave way
ity. Heroism by committee emphasizes the individual’s to city melodrama focusing on the seamy underworld
need to belong to a group and to interact. The compos- and to suspenseful crime dramas, such as those of
ite corporate hero tends to reinforce the importance of Agatha Christie.
social institutions in maintaining social order. When Television melodrama has drawn freely from all
violence is employed to this end, as in police or spy these precursors both structurally and conceptually.
melodrama, it is corporatized, becoming less a per- Highly segmented plots developed in four 12-minute
sonal expression for the corporate hero than for the tra- acts, each with a climax, and a happy ending usually
ditional individual hero. Major examples of the encompassed in an epilogue in which moral lessons
corporate hero in television melodrama include Mis- are conveyed to the audience (a function assumed by
sion: Impossible, Charlie’s Angels, Hill Street Blues, the “chorus” in classical Greek drama), carried along
and L.A. Law. by background music and stress peaks of action and
Heroes could not exist on the melodramatic stage emotional involvement. Suspense and excitement are
without their dramaturgical counterparts—villains and heightened by a sense of realism created through
fools. While heroes exceed societal norms, villains, in sophisticated if formulaic visualizations (car chases
contrast, are negative models of evil to be feared, being obvious examples). Characterizations are gen-
hated, and ultimately eradicated or reformed by the ac- erally unidimensional, employing eccentric protago-
tions of the hero; villains threaten societal norms. nists and antagonists made credible by good acting.
Fools, on the other hand, are models of absurdity, to be Ideologically, the plot elements reinforce conven-
ridiculed; they fall far short of societal norms. tional morality.
1473
Melodrama
The rhythm of the commercial television melo- In the frenzied world of the daytime soap opera, ac-
drama depends on a predictable structure motivated by tors get their scripts the night before the taping, begin
the flow of the sequence of program segment, music, run-through rehearsals at 7:30 the next morning, do
and commercial. As suspense builds and the plot thick- three rehearsals before taping, and tape between 3:30
ens, viewers are carried forward at various crucial and 6:00 that afternoon. This hectic ritual is repeated
junctures by a combination of rapid visual cutting and five days a week.
an intense buildup of the orchestral background music The prime-time melodrama production process is
and ambient sound that create a smooth transition to driven by shortcuts, scattered attention, and occasional
the often frenetic, high-pitched commercials. This network interference in content, created by the fear of
rhythm produces a flow that the audience implicitly viewer response to potentially controversial material
understands and accepts as a genre convention in the that may range from questionable street language,
context of the pecuniary mechanisms that define the however dramatically appropriate, to sexual taboos
regime of commercial television. (proscriptions change over time as standards of appro-
Raymond Williams, in Television: Technology and priateness change in the wider culture). Simplicity,
Cultural Form, refers to melodramatic structuration as predictability, and safety become the norms that frame
commodified “planned flow.” By cutting down on ex- the creation and production of television melodrama.
position or establishing sequences that tend toward Planned flow, the melodrama’s highly symbolic heroic
lengthy and deliberate characterizations, the purveyors ideal, its formal conventions, and its reinforcement of
of melodrama are able to break their tales into short- the society’s dominant values at any given cultural mo-
ened, fast-paced, and often unconnected simple se- ment render the genre highly significant as a centrist
quences that make the commercial breaks feel natural cultural mechanism stressing order and stasis.
to viewers. Perhaps because it is such a staple—and stable—
The production imperatives of television-series form of television, melodrama has become a central
melodrama reinforce Williams’s concept of the com- feature of almost any other program formations in the
modification of flow. Noted producer/writers Richard medium, leading to “blurred” genres modified by
Levinson and William Link (Columbo, Mannix, and melodramatic conventions. Thus, police procedurals
Murder, She Wrote and made-for-television movies The such as NYPD Blue or Third Watch focus as often on
Execution of Private Slovik, The Storyteller, and That the private tribulations of characters as on their profes-
Certain Summer) described these production proce- sional activities, though the two types of event fre-
dures in Stay Tuned (1983). The network commits itself quently intertwine and influence each other. One of the
to a new television series in mid-April. The series pre- more notable examples of this genre blending and
mieres in early September, leaving four and a half bending was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which modifed
months’ lead time for producers to hire staff (including a comic-adventure theatrical release into a compelling
writers and directors), prepare scripts, and begin shoot- exploration of the lives of teens and young adults, pro-
ing and editing. It takes four weeks, under the best con- viding powerful and poignant moments, such as in the
ditions, to complete an episode of a melodrama; with episode in which Buffy’s mother dies.
luck, four shows will be “in the can” by the season’s The use of melodrama as a modifying factor even
premiere, with others in varying stages of development altered the concept of planned flow when cable chan-
(at any time during the process, many series episodes nels began to produce serialized programming based
will be in development simultaneously, one being on familiar genres. Home Box Office’s (HBO’s) The
edited, another shot, and another scripted). By October, Sopranos, OZ, and The Wire have been cited as among
the initial four episodes will have been aired, and the the most complex offerings in television history, each
fifth will be nearly ready. If the show is renewed at mid- of them trading on viewer knowledge of “mafia sto-
season, the producer will need as many as 22 episodes ries,” “prison stories,” or “police procedurals,” richly
for the entire season. By December, there will be but a embroidered with melodramatic overtones. Indeed, it
matter of days between the final edit and the airing of is likely that the sense of these basic story forms has
an episode, as inevitable delays shorten the turnaround now been altered by these uninterrupted, randomly
available narratives, “rewritten” in melodramatic
time. In addition to normal time problems, there are
form.
problems with staff. Levinson and Link cite the fre-
Hal Himmelstein
quent problem of having a good freelance writer in de-
mand who agrees to write for one producer’s shows as See also Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Buffy the Vam-
well as those of other producers. The writer with a track pire Slayer; Charlie’s Angels, Dallas; East Side/West
record will be juggling an outline for one show, a first Side; Gunsmoke; Have Gun, Will Travel; Hill Street
draft for another, and a “notion” for a third. Blues; L.A. Law; Lou Grant; Marcus Welby, M.D.;
1474
Mercer, David
Mission: Impossible; NYPD Blue; The Sopranos; Landy, Marcia, editor, Imitations of Life: A Reader on Film and
The Twilight Zone Television Melodrama, Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State Uni-
versity Press, 1991
Levinson, Richard, and William Link, Stay Tuned, New York:
Further Reading Ace, 1983
Lozano, Elizabeth, “The Force of Myth on Popular Narratives:
Bratton, Jacky, Jim Cook, and Christine Gledhill, editors, Melo- The Case of Melodramatic Serials,” Communication Theory
drama: Stage, Picture, Screen, London: British Film Insti- (August 1992)
tute, 1994 Newcomb, Horace, TV: The Most Popular Art, New York: An-
Brooks, Peter, The Melodramatic Imagination, New Haven, chor Press/ Doubleday, 1974
Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1976 Oglesbee, Frank W., “Doctor Who: Televized Science Fiction
Frye, Northrop, Anatomy of Criticism, Princeton, New Jersey: as Contemporary Melodrama,” Extrapolation (Summer
Princeton University Press, 1957 1989)
Himmelstein, Hal, Television Myth and the American Mind, Thorburn, David, “Television Melodrama.” In Television as a
Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1984; 2nd edition, 1994 Cultural Force, edited by Richard Adler and Douglass Cater.
Klapp, Orrin E., Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing New York: Praeger, 1976
American Character, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Pren- Williams, Raymond, Television: Technology and Cultural
tice Hall, 1962 Form, New York: Schocken, 1975
Mercer, David (1928–1980)

British Writer
David Mercer, an innovative and controversial writer challenge what Troy Kennedy-Martin called the pre-
for television, stage, and film, was a key figure in the vailing “naturalism” of television drama. In Mercer’s
development of television drama in Britain during the case, the result was a new verbal and visual freedom:
1960s and 1970s. Although he often said he got into instead of talking heads and colloquial speech patterns,
television by accident, his television plays first estab- the plays used condensed, witty, articulate dialogue
lished his reputation and offered a powerful and per- with striking, often subjective or allegorical images.
sonal exploration of the possibilities of the medium. An example of such imagery occurs at the end of The
Published soon after transmission, Mercer’s screen- Birth of a Private Man, when Colin Waring, whose pri-
plays sparked lively critical and political debates. vate life had disintegrated in the face of his political
Mercer came from a northern working-class family, uncertainties, dies at the Berlin Wall in a hail of bullets
but his interest in the arts and in politics began after from both sides.
World War II, when he was able to take advantage of This antinaturalist style was recognized as an imag-
the extension of new educational opportunities. This inative use of the medium but disturbed critics of all
experience was central to his first television play, political persuasions. Conservatives objected to Mer-
Where the Difference Begins (1961), originally written cer’s self-professed Marxist position, liberals found
for the stage but accepted for broadcast by the British the plays too explicit and lacking in subtlety, while or-
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The “difference” in thodox left-wing critics questioned the emphasis on
the title referred to the younger generation’s break with the problems of Socialism—the compromises of the
traditional socialist values. Mercer followed up with British postwar Labour governments, the revelations
two more plays, A Climate of Fear (1962) and The about Stalin’s atrocities, and the failures of Commu-
Birth of a Private Man (1963), which dealt with char- nism in Eastern Europe. The plays may be Marxist in
acters struggling to sustain a left-wing political vision their stress on the need for a political revolution, but
in the new “affluent” society. the revolutionary impulse is usually blocked and be-
Although Mercer’s early work showed the influence comes internalized as psychological breakdown. How-
of the “kitchen sink” realism that had swept through ever, the impulse also emerges in Mercer’s pleasure in
British theater, literature, and cinema in the late 1950s, breaking the rules of television drama, as he did em-
he soon joined other BBC writers and producers to phatically in A Suitable Case for Treatment (1962), a
1475
Mercer, David
broad farce in which the main character indulges in 1963 The Buried Man
“mad” visions of a retreat to the jungle away from the 1963 The Birth of a Private Man
complexities of his political and personal life. Mercer 1963 For Tea on Sunday
later wrote the screenplay for the successful film ver- 1963 A Way of Living
sion of this play, Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treat- 1965 And Did Those Feet?
ment (1966), directed by Karel Reisz. 1967 In Two Minds
The motif of “madness” in Mercer’s plays has much 1968 The Parachute
in common with the antipsychiatry philosophy of R.D. 1968 Let’s Murder Vivaldi
Laing, who claimed that schizophrenia is an essen- 1968 On the Eve of Publication
tially sane response to a mad society. Laing was ex- 1970 The Cellar and the Almond Tree
tremely influential in the 1960s, and he expressed 1970 Emma’s Time
great interest in Mercer’s work, acting as consultant on 1972 The Bankrupt
one of his most powerful television plays, In Two 1973 You and Me and Him
Minds (1967), a documentary-style drama that traces 1973 An Afternoon at the Festival
the causes of a young woman’s schizophrenia to her 1973 Barbara of the House of Grebe
oppressive family life. The play was directed by Ken 1974 The Arcata Promise
Loach, who also directed the 1971 film version Family 1974 Find Me
Life (Wednesday’s Child in the United States), based 1976 Huggy Bear
on Mercer’s screenplay. 1977 A Superstition
Mercer himself likened his plays to rituals exploring 1977 Shooting the Chandelier
the tensions and contradictions of fragmented person- 1978 The Ragazza
alities and ambiguous truths. They explore the rela- 1980 A Rod of Iron
tionships of the political and the personal in a society
that encourages conformity, inhibiting individual ex- Films
pression. He felt that television gave him greater free- 90 Degrees in the Shade (English dialogue), 1965;
dom of expression than was possible in the Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (film ver-
commercial theater or cinema, but he did continue to sion of In Two Minds), 1966; Family Life (film ver-
work in other media. His influence can be seen in the sion of In Two Minds), 1972; A Doll’s House (with
work of a younger generation of writers, such as Michael Meyer), 1973; Providence, 1978.
Trevor Griffiths, David Hare, and Stephen Poliakoff,
who have also drawn on the resources of television, Radio
theater, and film to produce a powerful body of work The Governor’s Lady, 1960; Folie a Deux, 1974.
dealing with the intersection of personal and political
pressures in contemporary Britain.
Stage
Jim Leach
The Governor’s Lady, 1960; The Buried Man, 1962;
Ride a Cock Horse, 1965; Belcher’s Luck, 1966;
David Mercer. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, En-
White Poem, 1970; Flint, 1970; After Haggerty,
gland, June 27, 1928. Educated at King’s College,
1970; Blood on the Table, 1971; Let’s Murder Vi-
Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Durham University, B.A. with
valdi, 1972; In Two Minds, 1973; Duck Song, 1974;
honors, 1953. Married twice; one daughter. Served
The Arcata Promise, 1974; Cousin Vladimir, 1978;
in Royal Navy, 1945–48. Laboratory technician,
Then and Now, 1979; No Limits to Love, 1980.
1942–45; lived in Paris, 1953–54; supply teacher,
1955–59; teacher, Barrett Street Technical College,
1959–61; television dramatist, from 1961; screen- Publications
writer, from 1965. Recipient: Writers Guild Award for “Huggy Bear” (short story), Stand (Summer 1960)
Television Play, 1962, 1967, 1968; Evening Standard “Positivist” (short story), Stand (Autumn 1960)
Award, 1965; BAFTA Award, 1966; French Film “Folie a Deux” (short story), Stand (Winter 1960)
Academy César Award, for screenplay, 1977; Emmy The Governor’s Lady (play), 1962
Award, 1980. Died August 8, 1980. “What Television Has Meant in the Development of
Drama in Britain,” with Lewis Greifer and Arthur
Television Plays Swinson, Journal of the Society of Film and Televi-
1961 Where the Difference Begins sion Arts (Autumn 1963)
1962 A Climate of Fear The Generations: A Trilogy of Plays. (includes Where
1962 A Suitable Case for Treatment the Difference Begins, A Climate of Fear, The Birth
1476
Mercer, Rick
of a Private Man), 1964; as Collected TV Plays I, Then and Now, with The Monster of Karlovy Vary,
1981 1979
“Style in Drama: Playwright’s Postscript,” Contrast Collected TV Plays 1–2 (includes Where the Differ-
(Spring 1964) ence Begins, A Climate of Fear, The Birth of a Pri-
“The Long Crawl Through Time,” in New Writers III, vate Man, A Suitable Case for Treatment, For Tea
1965 on Sunday, And Did Those Feet, The Parachute,
“An Open Letter to Harold Wilson,” Peace News Let’s Murder Vivaldi, In Two Minds), 1981
(February 1965) No Limits to Love, 1981
Three TV Comedies (includes A Suitable Case for
Treatment, For Tea on Sunday, And Did Those
Feet), 1966 Further Reading
“The Meaning of Censorship: A Discussion,” with “David Mercer on Why He Writes the Plays He Does,” The
Roger Manvell, Journal of the Society of Film and Times (London) (July 27, 1966)
Television Arts (Autumn 1966) Gordon, Giles, “Interview,” in Behind the Scenes: Theatre and
Ride a Cock Horse, 1966 Film Interviews from the Transatlantic Review, edited by
Joseph McCrindle, London: Pitman, 1971
The Parachute with Two More TV Plays: Let’s Murder Itzin, Catherine, Stages in the Revolution: Political Theatre in
Vivaldi, In Two Minds, 1967 Britain Since 1968, London: Eyre Methuen, 1980
Belcher’s Luck, 1967 Jarman, Francis, with John Noyce and Malcolm Page, The
After Haggerty, 1970 Quality of Mercer: A Bibliography of Writings by and About
Flint, 1970 the Playwright David Mercer, Brighton, United Kingdom:
Smoothie, 1974
On the Eve of Publication and Other Plays (television Jones, D.A.N., “Mercer Unmarxed,” Listener (May 14, 1970)
plays; includes The Cellar and the Almond Tree, Madden, Paul, editor, David Mercer: Where the Difference Be-
Emma’s Time), 1970 gins, London: British Film Institute, 1981
On the Eve of Publication: Scripts 8 (June 1972) McCrindle, Joseph F., editor, Behind the Scenes: Theater and
Let’s Murder Vivaldi in The Best Short Plays 1974, Film Interviews, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1971
edited by Stanley Richards, 1974 McGrath, John, “TV Drama: The Case Against Naturalism,”
The Bankrupt and Other Plays (includes You and Me Sight and Sound (Spring 1977)
and Him, An Afternoon at the Festival, Find Me), Mustafa, Khalid El Mubarek, “David Mercer,” in British Televi-
1974 sion Drama, edited by George W. Brandt, Cambridge: Cam-
Duck Song, 1974 bridge University Press, 1981
Taylor, John Russell, Second Wave British Drama for the Seven-
Huggy Bear and Other Plays (includes The Arcata ties, London: Methuen, 1971
Promise, A Superstition), 1977 Taylor, John Russell, “David Mercer and the Mixed Blessings
Cousin Vladimir, with Shooting the Chandelier, 1978 of Television,” Modern Drama (December 1981)
Mercer, Rick (1969– )

Canadian Actor, Writer, Political Satirist
Rick Mercer is one of Canada’s most respected televi- wicked send-up of the network television production
sion writers and performers, and his career has suc- industry, Mercer’s satire not only is informed by social
cessfully melded the quintessentially Canadian and political issues but also unmercifully dismantles
traditions of sketch comedy and political satire. But his them, revealing the underlying pretensions, contradic-
contribution to the social and cultural landscape of tions, and absurdities. In 2000, for example, while still
Canada goes far beyond his considerable ability to en- appearing as a regular on the Canadian Broadcasting
tertain. Whether directed toward the perceived social Corporation’s (CBC’s) news satire This Hour Has 22
and political arrogance of mainland Canada toward his Minutes, Mercer called for a national referendum to
home province of Newfoundland or contained within a decide the issue of whether ultraconservative prime-
1477
Mercer, Rick
ministerial candidate Stockwell Day should be forced “Jean Poutine” episode. At a press event held by
to change his first name to Doris. Mercer justified the then–presidential candidate George W. Bush, Mercer
position by citing Day’s own platform, which included asked the Texas Republican to comment on the support
support for staging a national referendum whenever as for his presidential run pledged by Canada’s prime
few as 3 percent of Canadians called for one. minister, Jean Poutine. Bush’s unfortunate public fail-
The roots of Mercer’s irreverent and antiestablish- ure to recall that the Canadian leader’s real name is
ment comedy lay in Newfoundland, both Mercer’s Jean Chretien was compounded only by the fact that
birthplace and home to the legendary CODCO comedy “poutine” is actually a fast-food item, popular in Que-
troupe. His early stage work found him in the same lo- bec, consisting of french fries covered in gravy and
cal theaters as several of CODCO’s founding mem- melted cheese curds. This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ cam-
bers, including Mary Walsh and Cathy Jones, with eras captured the entire episode, much to the delight of
whom Mercer would later work on the long-running the perpetually marginalized Canadian television audi-
CBC production This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Mercer ence.
broke onto the national scene in the early 1990s, writ- An hour-long “Talking to Americans” compilation
ing and performing several critically acclaimed one- special gained the highest ratings in Canadian broad-
man plays that established the foundations for his casting history for a comedy show, while a text-based
career as a “professional ranter.” version of Streeters was published in 1998. Mercer’s
Mercer’s eight years on This Hour Has 22 Minutes eight years on This Hour would also net him 12 Gem-
(named for the legendary Canadian public affairs pro- ini Awards for writing and performing as well as sev-
gram This Hour Has Seven Days), built his reputation eral Canadian Comedy Awards. He has also won
as Canada’s most indignant and incisive comic actor. regional awards in Canada for journalism and for con-
But if its 1960s predecessor was often considered contributions to the arts in Atlantic Canada.
troversial for topics and approaches to stories that ex- While Mercer has proven his mettle as a stage actor,
plored the boundaries of journalistic autonomy, This political satirist, news commentator, and news maker,
Hour Has 22 Minutes pushed the envelope even fur- in 1998 he turned his talents to writing and starring in
ther by pointedly subverting some of Canada’s most a situation comedy. Made in Canada gleefully lam-
entrenched public institutions, including broadcast poons the Canadian private television production in-
journalism itself. Mercer’s contributions were among dustry. Richard Strong, Mercer’s character, is head of
the show’s most subversive and the most popular. One production (a position earned by drugging and framing
of the Mercer trademarks was “Streeters,” two-minute his brother-in-law and boss) at “Pyramid/Prodigy Pro-
tirades shot in grainy black-and-white film on the Hal- ductions,” where unbridled office politics and sleazy
ifax, Nova Scotia, waterfront, which featured an out- corporate competition provide the backdrop for Mer-
raged Mercer venting the collective spleen of every cer’s character’s quest to destroy his enemies while
Canadian who had ever been angered by the duplicity churning out lamentably bad Canadian television for
of federal politicians or the petty tyranny of bank American syndication. Mercer has called the role a
tellers. modern-day Richard III and characteristically subverts
“Talking to Americans” would take Mercer’s angry- television convention by engaging the viewer in play-
young-man act on the road. As a regular segment on ful side commentary made directly into the camera.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes, “Talking to Americans” During the 2001–02 season, Made in Canada boasted
had Mercer traveling to major U.S. cities and recruit- cameos from a virtual “Who’s Who” of Canadian film
ing unsuspecting victims to participate in seemingly and television actors, journalists, and media industry
benign “man on the street” interviews that collected executives, all of whom seemed only too happy to be
American opinions on Canada’s geography, politics, in on the joke that the series makes of the Canadian
and culture. Topics ranged from whether Canada private TV industry.
should be forced to outlaw the polar bear slaughter in But if Mercer’s career sometimes appears as a
Toronto (though no polar bears live in this cosmopoli- quixotic campaign to use television and journalism to
tan urban center of some 2.5 million people) to expose the many flaws and ironies in Canadian politi-
whether Americans should embark on a bombing cam- cal, social, and cultural life, it is also redolent with a
paign against Bouchard (not a place but a person: Lu- seemingly sincere fondness and curiosity about the na-
cien Bouchard, the former leader of the Bloc tion’s cultural heritage and institutions. As the host of
Quebecois, the party advocating separation from It Seems Like Yesterday for Canada’s History Televi-
Canada for French-speaking Quebec). The dismal fail- sion Network, Mercer narrates half-hour retrospectives
ure of even American politicians to grasp fundamental looking at newsworthy weeks in 20th-century history,
facts about Canada emerged in the now infamous emphasizing events and matters of particular impor-
1478
Mergers and Acquisitions
tance to Canadians. In 1992 Secret Nation brought 1997 CBC New Year’s Eve Comedy Special
Mercer together with a collection of fellow Newfound- (with cast of This Hour Has
land artists, writers, and actors in a deft mystery ex- 22 Minutes)
ploring a fictional British-Canadian plot to sabotage a 1998 East Coast Music Awards
referendum, forcing Newfoundland into confederation 1999 East Coast Music Awards
with the rest of Canada in the 1940s. Mercer also rou- 2000 Gemini Awards
tinely lends his considerable talents to hosting awards 2001 Canadian Juno Awards
shows and CBC specials, appearing as a special guest 2001 “Talking to Americans”
on children’s programs and at comedy festivals.
Jody Waters
Stage
See also CODCO Show Me the Button, I’ll Push It, 1991; I’ve Killed
Before; I’ll Kill Again, 1992; A Good Place to
Rick Mercer. Born October, 17, 1969, St. John’s,
Hide, 1995
Newfoundland, Canada. Began career as a writer and
performer in local theater in St. John’s as a teenager,
later going on to work with founders of Newfound- Film
land’s famed CODCO theater troupe. First two one- 1992 Secret Nation
man shows, Show Me the Button, I’ll Push It, and I’ve 1991 Understanding Bliss
Killed Before; I’ll Kill Again became Canada-wide hits
in the early 1990s. Debuted on television in 1993 on
the news satire This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Departed in Publications
2001 to write and star in Made in Canada. Hosted the Streeters, 1998.
Canadian Juno Awards in 2001, the East Coast Music
Awards in 1998 and 1999, and the Gemini Awards in
2000. Further Reading
Coulter, Diane, “Canucks Are Full of Yuks at Yankee Blunders,”
Television Series Christian Science Monitor (June 20, 2001)
1993–2001 This Hour Has 22 Minutes Gessell, Paul, “Much More Than 22 Minutes of Fame for Mer-
(writer and performer) cer,” Ottawa Citizen (December 29, 1997)
Pevere, Geoff, “This Column Has 30 Days,” Canadian Forum
It Seems Like Yesterday (June 1998)
1998– Made in Canada (writer and performer) Pevere, Geoff, and Greg Dymond, “The Rock’s Revenge:
Codco and This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” in Mondo Canuck: A
Television Specials Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey, by Geoff Pevere and Greg
Dymond, Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall Canada, Inc.,
1996 CBC New Year’s Eve Comedy Special 1996
(with cast of This Hour Has Toth, Derrick, “Election Year a Bonus for 22 Minutes,” Vancou-
22 Minutes) ver Sun (October 16, 2000)

Mergers and acquisitions have been a constant theme World War II, when the federal government forced the
in the U.S. television business since its commercial be- National Broadcasting Company (NBC) to divest itself
ginnings. The vast majority of the dominant compa- of one of its two radio networks, Edward Nobel’s Life-
nies have been built by taking over other enterprises. savers company acquired the NBC Blue network and
For example, all four of the original television net- renamed it ABC. For nearly a decade, ABC struggled
works developed as products of mergers. No better ex- and would probably have not made a major impact in
ample can be found than the complex formation of the television had not it been acquired by another com-
American Broadcasting Company (ABC). During pany, United Paramount Theaters, in 1952. Leonard
1479
Goldenson, then head of United Paramount, took con- sional Publishing, which included Holt, Rinehart and
trol of the merged units and sold movie theaters to fi- Winston, one of the country’s leading publishers of
nance the creation of ABC Television. textbooks, and W.B. Saunders, a major publisher of
During this same early period, another television medical books. Next Tisch picked up $2 billion from
company, Dumont, was able to mount a TV network the Sony Corporation of Japan for CBS’s Music
largely because it had been acquired by Hollywood’s Group, one of the world’s dominant sellers of popular
Paramount Pictures, and even the NBC and Columbia music.
Broadcasting System (CBS) television networks, usu- ABC was the third of the Big Three to be merged
ally thought of as secure corporate entities, relied on into another company. By the early 1980s, Leonard
mergers to increase their stable of owned-and-operated Goldenson had transformed ABC into the top TV net-
television stations. As the three-network oligopoly of work, but he had passed his 80th birthday and wanted
ABC, CBS, and NBC solidified its position in the out of the day-to-day grind of running a billion-dollar
American news and entertainment contexts and in the corporation. In 1986 Capital Cities, backed by Warren
wake of specific Federal Communications Commis- Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment group,
sion (FCC) rulings on the allocation of spectrum bought ABC for $3.5 billion. Capital Cities had long
space, the television industry appeared to be estab- ranked as a top group-owner of television stations, and
lished and unchanging. Through the 1960s and 1970s, through the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the new
the “Big Three” TV networks acquired few TV proper- “CapCities,” led by chief executive officer Thomas
ties, and the only big news in the late 1960s was an “al- Murphy, moved ABC into cable television, most no-
most merger” as ITT tried and failed to take control of tably by taking control of the cable sports network
ABC. The FCC carefully investigated that proposed ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Network).
deal, and the delay caused the parties to abandon the At this same time, the cable television industry was
merger. CBS and NBC were satisfied to acquire ancil- also in the process of consolidating. Giant companies
lary entertainment units, from baseball teams to book were created through acquisitions and mergers based
publishers. on the core of the cable television operation: the local
The stability of the three major TV network empires franchise. To take advantage of economies of opera-
was shattered in the mid-1980s, a time when the televi- tion, corporations merged cable franchises under sin-
sion business was changing rapidly. Cable and home gle corporate umbrellas, creating “multiple system
video made major inroads into the landscape domi- operators.” No two corporations did this better than
nated by terrestrially based broadcasters. Longtime Time Warner and TeleCommunications, Inc. (TCI).
owners, such as William Paley of CBS, began to pon- Time Warner was formed by the merger of two com-
der retirement, and perhaps most significantly, the munications giants in 1989; its assets approached $20
FCC lowered the level of its threatened opposition to billion, and yearly revenues topped $10 billion. While
proposed deals. the colossus covered all phases of the mass media, its
In 1986 General Electric (GE) purchased the Radio heart was a vast nationwide collection of cable fran-
Corporation of America (RCA) at a price in excess of chises. However, this merger to end all mergers also
$6 billion and thus acquired NBC. GE, one of the included Warner Brothers (one of Hollywood’s major
biggest corporations in the world, immediately sold off studios, a leading home video distributor, and one of
the NBC Radio network and stations as well as RCA the world’s top six major music labels) and Time’s vast
manufacturing. GE’s stripped-down NBC then began array of publishing interests, from magazines as well
to expand into cable television, a move most strongly known as Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated to
exemplified by its acquisition of shares of the CNBC, Time-Life Books. In 1995 Time Warner acquired
Bravo, American Movie Classics (AMC), and A&E Turner Broadcasting (which had itself acquired other
cable television networks. film libraries, production companies, and cable enti-
Also in 1986, Laurence Tisch and his Loews invest- ties), making an already vast empire ever larger.
ment company took over CBS. Earlier, as Ted Turner From the outside, to challenge the Big Three net-
attempted a hostile bid for CBS, longtime CBS chief works and these vast cable corporations, came Rupert
Paley looked for a “white knight” to save his beloved Murdoch and his News Corporation Ltd. From a con-
company and in October 1985 asked Tisch to join the federation of independent stations around the United
CBS board of directors to thwart the Atlanta-based States, Murdoch fashioned the FOX television net-
broadcaster. The following year, Tisch took full control work. He began by taking over the Hollywood studio
and, to no one’s surprise, systematically began to sell 20th Century-Fox and thus obtaining a steady source
everything CBS owned in order to concentrate on tele- of programming. Next he acquired the most powerful
vision. First to go was CBS Educational and Profes- nonnetwork collection of television stations, Metrome-
1480
dia, for well in excess of $1 billion. These six over-the- dissemination of information on a global scale. In-
air television stations, plus a score more in smaller deed, the model of consolidation and merger outlined
markets that Murdoch would later acquire as legal here in the context of the United States is equally sig-
ownership maximums increased, could reach nearly nificant among a shrinking handful of European and
one-third of homes in the United States. As a capstone, Asian media conglomerates. Control of communica-
Murdoch spent well in excess of $1 billion for TV tion- and media-based corporations throughout the
Guide, the magazine that was best able to promote his world, then, is scrutinized as a form of extraordinary
new television empire. political, economic, social, and cultural power.
In 1990, with the Time Warner merger settled, Ru- The wave of mergers continued through the end of
pert Murdoch on scene as a new player, and the new the 20th century and the early 2000s. The biggest came
owners for each of the Big Three TV networks, it in January 2000, when America Online (AOL) merged
seemed it would be well into the next century before with Time Warner. This deal lasted only three years, as
the television industry in the United States would ex- AOL could never provide a synergistic thrust to the
perience another important wave of mergers. Instead, a benefit of Time Warner. In August 2003, “AOL” was
frenzy of acquisition came in 1995, far sooner than dropped from the company name.
anyone expected. That summer, Disney acquired Capi- The second-largest deal came in September 2003,
tal Cities/ABC, adding not only a famous TV network when NBC took control of Hollywood’s Universal stu-
but also a score of FM and AM radio stations and two dios. Therefore, at that point in time, all four major
dozen newspapers to the entertainment and theme park networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX) were vertically
company. Within a month, Tisch sold CBS to Westing- integrated with movie and television studios in a
house. At the time, Westinghouse stood as a major merger worth an estimated $42 billion.
manufacturer of industrial equipment in the United Mergers and acquisitions will continue in the future
States with but a single division owning and operating as corporate players try to anticipate what it means to
television and radio stations. (Later in 1995 came the operate in the new world of 500 channels and the In-
previously mentioned acquisition of Turner Broadcast- ternet. Future media mergers will most likely take one
ing by Time Warner.) of three forms.
A cornerstone event in the history of mergers and First, corporations and companies not directly in-
acquisitions in the television business had taken place. volved in the television industry will wish to enter into
Critics stood up and asserted that this takeover wave mergers with television companies or acquire them.
had created a very real threat: a few corporations con- This was exemplified by the Westinghouse takeover of
trolling television, the most important communications CBS, continuing a trend that started in the mid-1980s
medium of the late 20th century. Before 1995, analysts with GE taking over NBC. More often than not (and
had associated TV networks with one part of the busi- surely in the case with Westinghouse), the outside cor-
ness (distribution run from New York) and Hollywood porate entity acquires the television company because
with another (production of prime-time entertain- it is struggling and seeking to reinvent itself.
ment). The 1995 merger movement changed all that, Second, there will be an increase in vertical integra-
consolidating all economic functions into single cor- tion. Disney, a “software producer,” acquired ABC, a
porations. Indeed, critics argued that the television in- top distributor of video, in part to enable Disney to
dustry seemed on the verge of domination by one unit: gain a guaranteed market for its future products.
“The ABC-CBS-NBC-FOX-Disney-Westinghouse- The third merger strategy will be corporate diversifi-
News Corp Entertainment and Appliance Group.” cation. Corporate chief executive officers will seek to
A primary concern for critics of such alliances is the spread risk over as many media enterprises as possible
reduction in forms of social and cultural expression. in order to hedge bets in an ever-changing media mar-
They cite various form of vertical integration—includ- ketplace. With divisions devoted to all forms of the
ing the unification of production, distribution, and pre- mass media, the diversified corporation can survive
sentation of mediated material—as serious threats to through future recessions and ride the technological
experimentation, variation, and diversity among social wave of the future, whatever direction it may take.
and cultural groups. Profit margins, rather than the It is likely that mergers and acquisitions will always
needs and aspirations of groups and individuals, deter- be a central activity in the television business as com-
mine what is produced and exhibited. Moreover, be- panies maneuver to become the dominant player in one
cause most of the major participants in the giant, media segment. Television, whether defined by net-
newly merged media corporations also have interna- works (distributors) or Hollywood studios (producers),
tional interests, critics point to the possibility of a re- has long been comprised of small, exclusive clubs. As
duction in cultural diversity, forms of expression, and long as television remains a major industry, outsiders
1481
will attempt to buy in, current players will struggle to Flower, Joe, Prince of the Magic Kingdom: Michael Eisner and
protect what they have, and all will strive to minimize the Re-Making of Disney, New York: John Wiley, 1991
Golberg, Robert, and Gerald Jay Goldberg, Citizen Turner: The
risk. Simply put, it is cheaper to merge with and ac- Wild Rise of an American Tycoon, New York: Harcourt
quire other companies than to start new companies Brace, 1995
from scratch, a fact as true in the days of Sarnoff, Pa- Goldenson, Leonard H., Beating the Odds: The Untold Story
ley, and Goldenson as it is today. Behind the Rise of ABC: The Stars, Struggles, and Egos That
Douglas Gomery Transformed Network Television by the Man Who Made It
Happen, New York: Scribner’s, 1991
See also American Broadcasting Company; Gomery, Douglas, “A Marriage Made in Cyberspace,” Ameri-
Columbia Broadcasting System; FOX Broadcast- can Journalism Review (March 2000)
Greenwald, John, “Hands Across the Cable: The Inside Story of
ing Company; Hollywood and Television; Media How Media Titans Overcame Competitors and Egos to Cre-
Conglomerates; National Broadcasting Company; ate a $20 Billion Giant,” Time (October 2, 1995)
Time Warner; Turner Broadcasting Systems; Net- MacDonald, J. Fred, One Nation Under Television: The Rise
works: United States and Decline of Network TV, New York: Pantheon, 1990; re-
vised edition, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1994
Paley, William S., As It Happened: A Memoir, Garden City,
Further Reading New York: Doubleday, 1979
Shawcross, William, Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster of the Infor-
Adalian, Josef, “NBC Says: I believe in U,” Variety (December mation Circus, London: Chatto and Windus, 1992; as Mur-
8, 2003) doch, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993; revised edition,
Bruck, Connie, Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Crea- as Murdoch: The Making of a Media Empire, New York: Si-
tion of Time Warner, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994 mon and Schuster, 1997
Clurman, Richard M., To the End of Time: The Seduction and Smith, Sally Bedell, In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Pa-
Conquest of a Media Empire, New York: Simon and Schus- ley, The Legendary Tycoon and His Brilliant Circle, New
ter, 1992 York: Simon and Schuster, 1990
Compaine, Benjamin M., et al., Who Owns the Media? Concen- Thomas, Laurie, and Barry Litman, “Fox Broadcasting Com-
tration of Ownership in the Mass Media Industry, White pany: Why Now? An Economic Study of the Rise of the
Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1979; Fourth Broadcast ‘Network,’” Journal of Broadcasting and
3rd edition, as Who Owns the Media? Competition and Con- Electronic Media (1991)
centration in the Mass Media Industry, by Compaine and Winans, Christopher, The King of Cash: The Inside Story of
Douglas Gomery, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Laurence A. Tisch and How He Bought CBS, New York:
Associates, 2000 John Wiley, 1995
Messer, Don (1910–1973)

Canadian Musician, Television Performer
Don Messer was the star of his own music variety proof New Brunswick; along with lead singer Charlie
gram, Don Messer’s Jubilee, which ran on the Cana- Chamberlain, he developed the musical format and
dian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada’s style that he would later translate to television. In
public broadcaster, from 1958 to 1969. The program 1939, he moved to Prince Edward Island, where the
featured the “Down-East” fiddling style of Messer and band was joined by Marge Osborne. They changed the
his band as well as a medley of old-time favorite folk band’s name to the Islanders. His television career be-
songs sung by the show’s two lead singers, Marge Os- gan locally in the Maritimes in 1957. One year later,
borne and Charlie Chamberlain. During its run, it was Don Messer’s Jubilee was broadcast nationally as a
one of the most popular television programs in summer replacement for the country-and-western mu-
Canada, and in the mid-1960s it ranked second only to sic show Country Hoedown. Jubilee was an instant
Hockey Night in Canada in national ratings. success and remained consistently in the top ten
Don Messer’s Jubilee, like many early television throughout its run. The show’s popularity was so
programs, had its roots in radio. In 1934, Messer strong that its Canadian ratings in 1961 were even
formed a band, the Lumberjacks, in his native province higher than the formidable Ed Sullivan Show.
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Mexico
The show’s success, according to Messer himself, “made-in-Canada” music variety show. Many artists
lay in its sincerity and simplicity. The show’s style have had successful television careers using the for-
contrasted sharply with the more “showbiz” variety mula and sincere style that Messer pioneered. Shows
programs that were being made in Canada’s larger ur- such as The Tommy Hunter Show, a country-western
ban centers, which more often than not emulated the music program; The Irish Rovers, featuring Irish folk
more appealing U.S. programs. Jubilee offered its music; and Rita MacNeill and Friends, starring an-
Canadian viewers a “made-in-Canada” variety show. It other Maritime musician, have carved out successful
reflected what one commentator called “an echo of our programs based on Messer’s own conviction that mu-
country and people as they used to be in simpler days.” sicians wish to be judged only on their ability to make
Don Messer was shy and retiring and rarely spoke in music rather than the glitz and glamour of their pro-
front of the cameras, preferring to let the show’s an- gramming. In the mid-1980s, John Gray, composer
nouncer introduce the songs. The two lead singers ap- and songwriter of the stage play Billy Bishop Goes to
peared more ordinary and down-home than glamorous War, revived a stage play based on the television show
and glitzy. The show’s set, format, and staging were as a celebration of a Canadian cultural treasure.
simple, straightforward, and inexpensive to produce. Manon Lamontagne
Settings were often fixed, and a “book” (two flats
hinged together) was often used to provide variety. Ju- Don Messer. Born in Tweedside, New Brunswick,
bilee’s appeal was largely among Canada’s far-flung Canada, 1910. Fiddler since age of seven; formed
rural population, reaching nearly one-half of Canadian group, the New Brunswick Lumberjacks, with Charlie
farm homes, and its greatest appeal was among the Chamberlain, and made first radio appearance, 1934;
fishing population of the Maritimes. regular radio and television appearances on CBC; host,
The decision to cancel the show in 1969 in favor of maritime regional musical variety program. Died
a “younger look” brought such a storm of protest that March 26, 1973.
the CBC board of directors decreed that in the future
such popular shows were not to be canceled without
Television Series
justifiable reasons. Attempts were quickly made to re-
1958–69 Don Messer’s Jubilee (host/performer)
vive the show on Hamilton’s local television station
CHCH, but without its national time slot, Jubilee
quickly lost its magic. Don Messer passed away three Further Reading
years later on March 26, 1973. “Fiddling with the Past,” Globe and Mail (April 20, 1994)
The appeal of Don Messer’s Jubilee has survived to Sellick, L., Canada’s Don Messer, Kentville, Nova Scotia:
this day. Since the 1970s, it has come to symbolize the Kentville, 1969
Mexico
The first experimental television transmission in Mex- secured the U.S. patent under description of the Chro-
ico—from Cuernavaca to Mexico City—was arranged moscopic Adaptors for Television Equipment. In 1946
by Francisco Javier Stavoli in 1931. Stavoli purchased Gonzalez Camarena also created XE1GGC-Channel 5,
a Nipkow system from Western Television in Chicago Mexico’s first experimental television station, and
with funding from the ruling party, the Mexican Revo- started weekly transmissions to a couple of receivers,
lutionary Party, which became the current Institutional built by Gonzalez Camarena himself, installed at the
Revolutionary Party. In 1934 Guillermo Gonzalez Ca- radio stations XEW and XEQ and at the Mexican
marena built his own monochromatic camera; by 1939 League of Radio Experimentors. The first on-air pre-
Gonzalez Camarena had developed a trichromatic sys- senter was Luis M. Farias, and the group of actors and
tem, and in 1940 he obtained the first patent for color actresses performing in those transmissions were Rita
television in the world. In 1942, after Lee deForest Rey, Emma Telmo, Amparo Guerra Margain, and Car-
traveled to meet with him in order to buy the rights, he los Ortiz Sanchez. Gonzalez Camarena also built the
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Mexico
studio Gon-Cam in 1948, which was considered the Chamber of the Radiobroadcast Industry in 1941. He
best television system in the world in a survey done by was also influential in the creation of the Interamerican
Columbia College of Chicago. Radiobroadcasting Association and, with Goar Mestre
In 1949, another broadcasting pioneer, Romulo of Cuba, was considered one of the two most powerful
O’Farrill, obtained the concession for XHTV-Channel media barons in Latin America. XHGC was founded in
4, the first commercial station in Mexico, which was 1952 by Gonzalez Camarena, who was considered a
equipped with an RCA system. XHTV made the first protégé of Azcarraga and had worked as a studio engi-
remote-control transmission in July 1950 from the Au- neer in his radio stations. Telesistema Mexicano was
ditorium of the National Lottery—a program televis- born in 1954 with the integration of XEW-TV, XHGC-
ing a raffle for the subscribers of O’Farrill’s TV, and, a year later, XHTV.
newspaper, Novedades. The first televised sports Although these stations and systems operated under
event, a bullfight, was transmitted the following day. the laws requiring state ownership of the airwaves, in
In September 1950, with the firm Omega and the 1950 Mexico adopted a commercial model of financial
automobile-tire manufacturer Goodrich Euzkadi as the support. This decision came two years after, and de-
first advertisers, XHTV made the first commercial spite the conclusions of, the report issued by the Tele-
broadcast, the State of the Union Address of President vision Committee of the National Fine Arts Institute.
Miguel Aleman Valdes. The report criticized the commercial model of the
By the late 1980s, the entire telecommunications in- American television industry, favoring instead the
frastructure in Mexico consisted of 10,000 miles of public television system of the United Kingdom.
microwaves with 224 retransmitting stations and 110 The Television Committee had been formed at the re-
terminal stations, the Morelos Satellite System with quest of President Aleman and was chaired by Sal-
two satellites and 232 terrestrial links, 665 AM radio vador Novo, who was assisted by Gonzalez Camarena.
stations and 200 FM radio stations, 192 television sta- In the judgment of the committee, commercial pro-
tions, and 72 cable systems. gramming was the “simple packaging of commodities
From the time of the earliest experiments, the televi- with no other aspiration.” Later, Novo would charac-
sion system in Mexico has been regulated by article 42 terize Mexican radio as “spiritual tequila” and televi-
of the Mexican Constitution, which stipulates state sion as the “monstrous daughter of the hidden
ownership of electromagnetic waves transmitted over intercourse between radio and cinema.”
Mexican territory. This law is supplemented by article In 1973, 23 years after having committed to this
7 of the 1857 Constitution, which deals with freedom model of commercial support, Television Via Satellite,
of the press, a perspective that became more restrictive S.A. (Televisa), was created as a result of the fusion of
as article 20 of the 1917 Constitution. In 1926 the Telesistema Mexicano and Television Independiente
Calles administration produced the Law of Electrical de Mexico (TIM). TIM was the media outlet of the
Communications. And the first document that specifi- Monterrey Group, the most powerful industrial group
cally addresses the television industry, the “decree in the country, and consisted of XHTM-TV (which
which sets the norms for the installation and operation started in 1968), two more stations in the interior, and
of television broadcasting stations,” was drafted by the the additional 15 television stations of Telecadena
Aleman administration in 1950. The current Federal Mexicana, S.A. This network was founded by film
Law of Radio and Television was originally formu- producer Manuel Barbachano Ponce in 1965 and was
lated in 1960 during the Lopez Mateos administration, purchased by TIM in 1970. The fusion of Telesistema
introducing limits to advertising. This law was drasti- and TIM was preceded by strong criticisms of pro-
cally altered in 2002 by the Fox administration, com- gramming and advertising by several public officials,
plying with the proposals of private broadcasters. including President Luis Echeverria, in 1972.
Even within the structure of these regulations, tele- Emilio Azcarraga Jean became the president of
vision in Mexico has been dominated by a handful of Televisa after the death of Emilio Azcarraga Milmo in
powerful individuals and family groups. The most sig- 1997, its founding and only president, except for a
nificant of these is the Azcarraga family. Television short period in 1986 and 1987, when Miguel Aleman
station XEW began operations in 1951 under the direc- Velasco—son of the president who opted for the com-
tion of Emilio Azcarraga Vidaurreta, who already mercial model—replaced him. In addition to its domi-
owned the radio station with the same call letters, one nant role in the television industry, Televisa has
of 13 radio stations under his ownership in the north- operations in sectors as diverse as the recording indus-
ern part of the country. Azcarraga had strong links with try, soccer teams (America, the winningest team in the
the U.S. conglomerate Radio Corporation of America country’s history; Necaxa; and Real San Luis), a sports
(RCA) and had been the founding president of the stadium with a capacity for 114,000 spectators, a pub-
1484
Mexico
lishing house, newspapers, billboard advertising com- revelation of this information by Televisa (quoting
panies, Cablevision, a cable television system, film U.S. newspapers and newscasts) caused a war of accu-
studios, video stores, and direct broadcast satellite, sations between Televisa and the Salinas Pliego group,
among others. Moreover, the Televisa empire extends a war that calmed down after the intervention of the
beyond the boundaries of Mexico. Televisa’s board has secretary of the interior and President Ernesto Zedillo
a new look after the exit of the Aleman, O’Farrill, Diez himself.
Barroso, and Canedo families and the entrance new Televisa had experienced a similar conflict in 1995
names, such as Asuncion Aramburuzabala, cice chair- with Multivision, the wireless cable firm owned by the
woman; Alfonso De Angoitia, chief financial officer; Vargas family. Multivision asked for the nullification
Raul Rodriguez, chief executive officer of radio; and of several dozens of new concessions of stations given
Pablo Vazquez, chief executive officer of Innova. Be- to Televisa at the end of the Salinas administration.
sides the strategic alliance with Carlos Slim, the Televisa counterattacked by accusing Multivision of
wealthiest businessperson in Mexico, the list of for- receiving concessions for wireless cable and other ser-
eign stockholders now includes Bill Gates, who holds vices without following correct procedures. After initi-
a 7 percent share. ating mutual lawsuits, Televisa and Multivision
The first experience of Televisa outside its home reached a truce with the mediation of the secretary of
country was the creation of what is known today as the interior. The most spectacular conflict, however,
Univision, a system of Spanish-language television occurred between TV Azteca and CNI-Channel 40
operations in the United States. The move of Azcar- when the former took over the transmission facilities
raga to the United States coincided with a new strategy of Mount Ciquihuite of the latter with an armed com-
to grow internationally while diversifying in the na- mando in December 2002 because of some disagree-
tional market. The original operation started in 1960 as ments about the interpretation of a programming
Spanish International Network Sales (SIN) with sta- contract. The Fox administration waited ten days be-
tions in San Antonio and Los Angeles and three more fore reacting. A judge gave the facilities back to CNI
besides the affiliates. The link between Televisa and and imprisoned eight employees of TV Azteca after
SIN/SICC was in a hiatus for some time after a lawsuit the federal authorities appeared to be afraid of acting
focused on Azcarraga’s potential violation of U.S. reg- forcefully against TV Azteca.
ulations preventing foreign citizens from holding con- In addition to these private, commercially supported
trolling interests in U.S. media industries. Within a television systems, a smaller, public system is also in
matter of years, however, Televisa not only recovered place. The first public television station was Channel
Univision but also added Panamsat in 1985 and made 11, started in 1958 by the Instituto Politecnico Na-
substantial investments in Chile, Peru, Spain, and cional (National Polytechnical Institute). In 1972 the
Venezuela. Tele Futura was recently added to the cable Echeverria administration created Television Rural del
channel Galavision as U.S. outlets linked to Univision. Gobierno Federal, which later became Television de la
After being dominated by Televisa for 23 years, a Republica Mexicana, and purchased 72 percent of the
duopoly emerged with TV Azteca as the competitor. stock of XHDF-Channel 13 through SOMEX. It later
The quasi monopoly of Televisa in the Mexican televi- added Channels 7 and 22 and became Instituto Mexi-
sion industry was broken in 1994, when the Salinas ad- cano de Television (Imevision). Although Imevision
ministration privatized a media package that included was owned and operated by the government, it emu-
Channels 7 and 13 as well as a chain of film theaters. lated the programming of Televisa. The Salinas admin-
The winning bid was presented by Ricardo Salinas istration privatized Imevision, which became TV
Pliego, president of the electronics manufacturer Elek- Azteca, and handed XEIMT-Channel 22 to a group of
tra and the furniture chain Salinas y Rocha. Salinas scholars, artists, and intellectuals.
Pliego won the bid despite having no experience in the Although there were some cable television opera-
broadcast industry, a qualification required by rules is- tions in the northern state of Sonora by the late 1950s,
sued by the federal government. Among those who lost the industry has been dominated by Televisa through
the bid were families with a long history in the broad- Cablevision since its creation in 1970. This operation
cast industry, such as the Sernas and the Vargas fami- has had its main competitor from direct broadcast
lies. Some of these irregularities were coupled with the satellite delivery, primarily from Multivision, owned
revelation by Raul Salinas de Gortari—brother of Car- by the Vargas family. Multivision has greater market
los Salinas de Gortari and the main suspect in the as- penetration and offers more channels than its counter-
sassination of Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu—that he parts in countries such as the United States. In 1996
had engaged in financial transactions with Salinas Televisa created a joint venture with News Corpora-
Pliego shortly before and after the privatization. The tion, Rede Globo (Brazil), and TeleCommunications,
1485
Mexico
Inc. (TCI), to create a direct broadcast satellite service tional, and the political—all of which, despite the ex-
for Latin America. Multivision became part of the rival plicit differences, have a melodramatic subtext. The
operation DirecTV, along with the Cisneros Organiza- first antecedent to this strategy of subgenres was Max-
tion (Venezuela) and Television Abril (Brazil). There imiliano y Carlota (1956) and was fully initiated with
have been talks to merge both satellite services in the La Tormenta (The Storm) in 1967. Educational telen-
near future. ovelas began in 1956 with a story focused on adult ed-
Much of Televisa’s dominance in Mexican televi- ucation, Ven conmigo (Come with Me). For the new
sion comes from its role as a production and distribu- television network, TV Azteca, one of the most suc-
tion company. It provides over 12,000 hours of cessful programs among audiences and critics has
television programming each year, of which only 13 been the political telenovela Nada Personal (Nothing
percent are imports. Media scholar Florence Toussaint Personal) produced by Argos. TV Azteca suffered a big
says that the soul of Televisa resides in its program- blow when Argos signed an agreement with Televisa’s
ming. She points out that the organization offers an ap- Cablevision to launch Channel 46-Zoom TV.
parent diversity through the four channels (Channels 2, Before the privatization of TV Azteca, Channel 2,
4, 5, and 9 in Mexico City), with 118 titles in 455 with a programming based around telenovelas, had the
hours each week. Toussaint argues, however, that highest ratings in prime time at 26.8 (a 47 percent au-
among and within all these programs, a singular dis- dience share), followed by Channels 5 and 4, with a
course is being elaborated, one that propagates a deter- younger target audience, with 17.3 (30.3 percent
minate view of the world. Plurality, she suggests, is not share) and 8.7 rating (15.2 percent share), respectively.
its goal, and all the different shows in the various gen- TV Azteca, then Imevision, had a rating of 2.5 (4.3
res are, in fact, similar. This is especially true of the percent share) and 1.8 (3.1 percent share) for Channels
soap operas (telenovelas), the main programming form 13 and 7, respectively. By the summer of 2003, Tele-
of Mexican television. (The production and distribu- visa prime-time audience share amounted to 69.6 per-
tion of melodramatic telenovelas places Televisa cent, airing 85 of the 100 most popular programs. In
among the top five exporters of television program- 2002, Televisa won the ratings war in every single
ming in the world; the programs are exported not only genre and continued in 2003 to lead the reality show
to the Americas but also to countries that include Big Brother II. Even after the departure of Jacobo
China and Russia.) This particular genre can be seen to Zabludovsky after a quarter of a century of being the
prescribe the gender roles and the aspirations that the most widely recognized journalist and media personal-
social classes should have. Bourgeois values and sym- ity, Televisa’s newscast, now led by Joaquin Lopez
bols are the ideal, the goal, and the measure of failure Doriga, doubles the ratings of TV Azteca.
or success. These historical developments and the complex
Different critical perspectives move away from this structures of the Mexican television system have been
analysis, which assumes a passive audience. The alter- the subject of considerable critical analysis. Most ex-
native points of view, influenced by British and Amer- aminations of the Mexican television industry adopt a
ican cultural studies and the works of Jesus liberal pluralist approach. They claim that the relation
Martin-Barbero, Nestor Garcia Canclini, Jorge Gonza- between the authorities and the television monopoly
lez, Guillermo Orozco, and Rossana Reguillo, point has been fruitful for both parties, especially for the lat-
out specificities of Latin American popular culture ter. They also stress that in this relation, the interests of
found in the form. Telenovelas, for example, were the masses have been overlooked. Few critics have
modeled after radionovelas, the primary of example of taken the simple view that the government and broad-
which, El Derecho de Nacer (The Right to Be Born), casting have identical objectives, but most do argue
was broadcast at the beginning of the television era in that the different administrations have been tolerant
the 1950s. Although the first telenovela in its current and weak, allowing the monopoly greater benefits than
format was Senda Prohibida (Forbidden Road), other its contributions to Mexican society. These analyses
forms of television drama appeared as early as 1951, focus on several central themes. They cite ownership
starting with the detective program Un muerto en su of media industries and management of news and in-
tumba (A Dead Man in His Tomb). The first serial formation, criticizing the historical quasi-monopoly
drama was Los Angeles de la Calle (Street Angels), and the progovernment bias of Televisa’s newscasts.
which ran from 1952 to 1955. TV Azteca proved to be even more biased than its
Telenovelas expanded to prime time and included competitor with the coverage of the 2000 presidential
male viewers as part of the target audience in 1981 campaign. Both networks did it again the following
with Colorina. Besides the melodrama, there are other year, when they failed to cover the Zapatista “Tour”
subgenres in the telenovela—the historical, the educa- and spectacular entrance to Mexico City. The two
1486
Miami Vice
firms became strange bedfellows by organizing a Further Reading

“peace concert” a few days before the Zapatista ar- Hernández, O., and E. McAnany, “Cultural Industries in the
rival. Free Trade Age: A Look at Mexican Television,” in Frag-
The Mexican system of broadcasting has developed ments of a Golden Age: The Politics of Culture in Mexico
out of the shifting balance between the state, private Since 1940, edited by G. Joseph, A. Rubenstein, and E.
investors, and outside interests, originating in the Zolov, Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press,
2001
postrevolutionary period (1920–40) when foreign cap- Rodriguez, A., “Control Mechanisms of National News Mak-
ital and entrepreneurs alike were looking for new in- ing,” in Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction,
vestment opportunities. Whether the situation remains edited by J. Downing, A. Mohammadi, and A. Sreberny-
the same—whether the same groups remain in control Mohammadi. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1990; 2nd
of media industries in Mexico in the face of new tech- edition, 1995
Sinclair, J., Latin American Television: A Global View, Oxford:
nological developments—remains to be seen. Oxford University Press, 1999
Eduardo Barrera
See also Telenovela
Miami Vice
U.S. Police Drama
Miami Vice earned its nickname of “MTV cops” tropical environment, two detectives in the vice de-
through its liberal use of popular rock songs and a pul- partment combated drug traffickers, broke up prostitu-
sating, synthesized music track created by Jan Ham- tion and gambling rings, solved vice-related murders,
mer. Segments of the program closely resembled and cruised the city’s underground in expensive auto-
music videos, as quickly edited images, without dia- mobiles.
logue, were often accompanied by contemporary hits Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas played the
such as Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with program’s protagonists, James “Sonny” Crockett and
It?” As with music-oriented films such as Flashdance Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, respectively. They were sup-
(1983) and Footloose (1984), Miami Vice was a pro- ported by Edward James Olmos as their tough, taciturn
gram that could not have existed before Music Televi- lieutenant and Michael Talbott, John Diehl, Saundra
sion (MTV) began popularizing the music video in Santiago, and Olivia Brown as their colleagues on the
1981. squad. The program’s narratives circulated among
Originally aired from 1984 to 1989, Miami Vice in- these characters, but Crockett was at its center, and
corporated both current music and musicians (e.g., Johnson received the lion’s share of the press about
Phil Collins, Ted Nugent, Glenn Frey, and Sheena Eas- Miami Vice.
ton), dressed its undercover police officers in stylish Miami Vice was less about the solving of mysteries
fashions, and imbued every frame with an aura of then it was a contemporary morality play. Indeed,
moral decay. It succeeded in making previous police Crockett and Tubbs were often inept detectives—mis-
programs, such as Dragnet, look stodgy and old- takenly arresting the wrong person for a crime. Instead
fashioned. of Columbo-like problem solving, the program stresses
In Miami Vice, the city of Miami, Florida, was virtu- the detectives’ ethical dilemmas. Each week, these
ally a character in its own right. Each week’s episode temptable men were situated in a world of temptations.
began with a catalog of Miami iconography: sunbaked They were conversant in the language of the under-
beach houses, Cuban-American festivals, women in world, skilled in its practices, and prepared to use both
bikinis, and postmodern, pastel-colored cityscapes. for their own ends. It would not take much for them to
Executive producer Michael Mann insisted that signif- cross the thin line between their actions and those of
icant portions of the program be shot in Miami, which the drug lords and gangsters. One such ethical
helped give Miami Vice its distinctive look. In this dilemma frequently posed on the show was the issue of
1487
Miami Vice
sion!’” Miami Vice was one of the most visually styl-

ized programs of the 1980s, and it drew its stylistic in-
spiration from the cinema’s film noir. It incorporated
unconventional camera angles, high-contrast lighting,
stark black-and-white sets, and striking deep focus to
generate unusually dynamic, imbalanced, noir compo-
sitions that could have been lifted from Double Indem-
nity (1944) or Touch of Evil (1958). Miami Vice looked
quite unlike anything else on television at the time.
Miami Vice (along with Hill Street Blues and
Cagney and Lacey) was one of the groundbreaking po-
lice programs of the 1980s. Its influence can be
tracked in the moral ambiguity of NYPD Blue, the vi-
sual experimentation of Homicide: Life on the Street,
and the flawed police inspector Don Johnson plays in
Nash Bridges. Moreover, Miami Vice’s incorporation
of music video components has become a standard
component of youth-oriented television and cinema.
Jeremy G. Butler
See also Police Programs
Cast
Detective James “Sonny”
Crockett Don Johnson
Detective Ricardo Tubbs Philip Michael Thomas
Lieutenant Martin Castillo Edward James Olmos
Detective Gina Navarro
Miami Vice, Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, 1984. Calabrese Saundra Santiago
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Detective Trudy Joplin Olivia Brown
Detective Stan Switek Michael Talbott
vigilante justice. Were the detectives pursuing the evil- Detective Larry Zito
doers out of commitment to law and order or to exact (1984–87) John Diehl
personal revenge? Often it was very hard to distinguish Izzy Moreno Martin Ferrero
the lawbreakers from the law enforcers. Indeed, one Caitlin Davies (1987–88) Sheena Easton
Miami Vice season ended with Crockett actually be-
coming a bona fide gangster—his ties to law enforce-
Producers
ment neatly severed by a case of amnesia.
Michael Mann, Anthony Yerkovich, Mel Swope
The Miami Vice world’s moral ambiguity linked it to
the hard-boiled detective stories of Raymond Chandler
and Dashiell Hammett and characters such as Sam Programming History
Spade and Philip Marlowe as well as the film noir 108 episodes; 3 2-hour episodes
genre of the theatrical cinema. Television, with its de- NBC
mand for a repeatable narrative format, could not September 1984 Sunday 9:00–11:00
match the arch fatalism of these antecedents (a protag- September 1984–
onist could not die at the end of a episode, as they often May 1986 Friday 10:00–11:00
do in hard-boiled fiction), but Miami Vice adapted the June 1986–March 1988 Friday 9:00–10:00
cynical tone and world-weary attitude of hard-boiled April 1988–January 1989 Friday 10:00–11:00
fiction to 1980s television. Moreover, one of the most February 1989–May 1989 Friday 9:00–10:00
striking aspects of Miami Vice was its visual style, June 1989–July 1989 Wednesday 10:00–11:00
which borrowed heavily from the film noir.
As Film Comment critic Richard T. Jameson has Further Reading
commented, “It’s hard to forbear saying, every five Butler, Jeremy G., “Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir,”
minutes or so, ‘I can’t believe this was shot for televi- Journal of Popular Film and Television (Fall 1985)
1488
Microwave
Grodal, Torben Kragh, “Potency of Melancholia: Miami Vice Rutsky, R.L., “Visible Sins, Vicarious Pleasures: Style and Vice
and the Postmodern Fading of Symbolic Action,” The Dol- in Miami Vice,” SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary
phin (1989) Criticism (1988)
Inciardi, James A., and Juliet L. Dee, “From the Keystone Cops Schwichtenberg, Cathy, “Sensual Surfaces and Stylistic Excess:
to Miami Vice: Images of Policing in American Popular Cul- The Pleasure and Politics of Miami Vice,” Journal of Com-
ture,” Journal of Popular Culture (Fall 1987) munication Inquiry (Fall 1986)
King, Scott Benjamin, “Sonny’s Virtues: The Gender Negotia- Seewi, Nurit, Miami Vice: Cashing In on Contemporary Cul-
tions of Miami Vice,” Screen (Autumn 1990) ture? Towards an Analysis of a U.S. Television Series Broad-
Ross, Andrew, “Masculinity and Miami Vice: Selling In,” Ox- cast in the Federal Republic of Germany, Heidelberg:
ford Literary Review (1986) Winter, 1990
Microwave
Microwave technology has been used extensively by gramming. Microwave mobile units (vans with mi-
the broadcast and cable television industries as well as crowave transmitters attached) have also been used in
in other telecommunications applications since the television news reporting since the late 1950s.
early 1950s. Today, microwaves are employed by Microwave technology was critical to the develop-
telecommunications industries in the form of both ter- ment of the community antenna television (CATV)
restrial relays and satellite communications. industry. Before microwave technology became avail-
Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radia- able in the early 1950s, local CATV systems were lim-
tion, with frequencies ranging from several hundred ited in channel selection to those stations that could be
megahertz to several hundred gigahertz and wave- received over the air via tall “master” antennas. In
lengths ranging from approximately 1 to 20 centime- such situations, a CATV system could flourish only
ters. Because of their high frequencies, microwaves within 100 to 150 miles of the nearest broadcast televi-
have the advantage of being able to carry more infor- sion markets. Microwave relays, however, made it
mation than ordinary radio waves and are capable of possible for CATV systems to operate many hundreds
being beamed directly from one point to another. In of miles from television stations. The new technology
addition to their telecommunications applications thus was a boon to remote communities, especially in
(which include telephony and computer networking as the western United States, which could not have had
well as television), microwaves are used in cooking, television otherwise.
police radar, and certain military applications. Microwave also introduced the possibility for
Microwave is a “line-of-sight” technology (i.e., be- CATV operators to select which broadcast signals they
cause a microwave transmission cannot penetrate the would carry, sometimes allowing them to bypass
Earth’s surface, it will not extend beyond the horizon); closer signals in order to provide their customers with
therefore, long-distance terrestrial transmission of more desirable programming—perhaps from well-
messages is accomplished via a series of relay points funded stations in large cities. For this reason, it was
known as “hops.” Each hop consists of a tower (often microwave technology above all that prompted the
atop a mountain) with one antenna (typically a earliest efforts by the Federal Communications Com-
parabolic antenna) for receiving and another for re- mission (FCC) to regulate CATV. By the late 1950s,
transmitting. Hops typically are spaced at 25-mile in- some concern had been voiced by broadcasters as to
tervals. the legality of the retransmission—and, in effect,
Prior to the widespread use of communications sale—of their signals by CATV systems and CATV-
satellites in television industries, terrestrial microwave serving microwave outfits. The most notable of these
relays frequently were used to deliver programming complaints resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court case
from broadcast networks to their affiliates or to deliver Carter Mountain Transmission Co. v. FCC (1962). In
special-event programming, such as sports, to local 1965 and 1966, respectively, the FCC issued two bod-
stations. Beginning in the 1950s, terrestrial microwave ies of regulation to govern the rapidly growing CATV
relays were employed to supplement expensive tele- industry. Both of these focused primarily on the legali-
phone land lines for long-distance transmission of pro- ties of microwave-delivered CATV programming.
1489
Microwave
The rules did very little, however, to curtail the also been enlisted for nontelevision applications, such
growth of CATV (more widely known as “cable televi- as computer networking and the relaying of long-
sion” by the late 1960s), and microwave continued to distance telephone messages. Some companies that be-
play a key role. Throughout the United States, the sig- gan as terrestrial microwave outfits have also
nals of several independent television stations, some of diversified into satellite program delivery.
which have become cable “superstations,” were deliv- Megan Mullen
ered to cable systems by microwave. In addition, in
See also Cable Television: United States; Distant
late 1972 and early 1973, Home Box Office (HBO) be-
Signal; Low Power Television; Translators
gan serving customers in the Northeast via two exist-
ing microwave relay networks.
Historically, then, terrestrial microwave technology Further Reading
accomplished many of the television programming CATV Operator’s Handbook, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylva-
tasks for which communication satellites are used to- nia: TAB Books, 1973
day. Terrestrial relays still exist and serve many impor- Cheung, Steven, and Frederic H. Levien, Microwaves Made
tant functions for television. In recent years, they have Simple, Dedham, Massachusetts: Artech, 1985
Midwest Video Case

In the 1979 case of FCC v. Midwest Video Corp., the Although the Communications Act did not explic-
U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Communica- itly grant cable television jurisdiction to the FCC, the
tions Commission (FCC) did not have the statutory au- Supreme Court had previously held in 1968 that FCC
thority to regulate public access to cable television. regulations that are “reasonably ancillary to the effec-
The legal decision, known more simply as the Mid- tive performance of the Commission’s various respon-
west Video Case, marks the first time the Supreme sibilities for the regulation of television broadcasting”
Court refused to extend the FCC’s regulatory power to fell within the commission’s mandate. In that case,
the cable industry. In May 1976, the FCC used its rule- United States v. Southwestern Cable Co., the Court up-
making authority to regulate the public’s access to ca- held FCC rules that required cable systems to retrans-
ble television “air” time and production facilities. mit the signals of local broadcast stations and seek
Under the rules, cable television systems with 3,500 or prior FCC approval before making certain program-
more subscribers were required to upgrade to at least ming decisions. Similarly, in a 1972 case known as
20 channels by 1986 and set aside up to four of those United States v. Midwest Video Corp., the nation’s
channels exclusively for low-cost access by commu- highest court upheld FCC rules that required cable sys-
nity, educational, local governmental, and leased- tems with 3,500 or more subscribers to create original
access users. Cable operators would have had to make programming and provide studio facilities for the pro-
channel time and studios available on a first-come, duction and dissemination of local cable programs.
first-served basis to virtually anyone who applied and Arguing specifically that the intent of the 1976 pub-
without discretion or control over programming con- lic access rules was no different than the programming
tent. rules at issue in the 1972 Midwest Video Case, the
At an FCC hearing and, later, before the District of FCC maintained that controlling public access to cable
Columbia Court of Appeals, Midwest Video and other was just a logical extension of its broadcasting author-
cable systems objected to the FCC’s regulatory inter- ity. The Supreme Court, however, disagreed. Although
vention into their operations, arguing, among other the Court suggested that the public access rules might
claims, that the commission’s cable access rules were violate cable operators’ First Amendment rights to free
beyond the scope of the agency’s jurisdiction as set speech and Fifth Amendment protections against the
forth in the Communications Act of 1934. Citing more “taking” of property without due process of law, the
than a decade of favorable legal precedent, the FCC re- justices declined to make a broad constitutional ruling.
jected the cable industry’s position as an overly narrow Instead, the Court distinguished the public access rules
interpretation of the commission’s jurisdiction. from the FCC’s previous cable rules by declaring the
1490
Miller, J.P. (James Pinckney)
public access rules to be in violation of section 3(h) of See also Cable Television: United States; Distant
the Communications Act of 1934, which limits the Signal; Federal Communications Commission
FCC’s authority to regulate “common carriers.”
Unlike broadcasters, common carriers are commu-
Further Reading
nication systems that permit indiscriminate and unlim-
ited public access. Although the FCC has authority to Garay, Ronald, Cable Television: A Reference Guide to Infor-
regulate common carriers such as telephone networks mation, New York: Greenwood, 1988
Ginsburg, Douglas H., Michael H. Botein, and Mark D. Direc-
and citizens band (CB) radio, it is expressly prohibited tor, Regulation of the Electronic Mass Media: Law and Pol-
from subjecting broadcasters to common-carrier rules icy for Radio, Television, Cable, and the New Video
under section 3(h). Because the Court ruled that public Technologies, St. Paul, Minnesota: West, 1991
control of local cable access would have, in effect, Streeter, T., “The Cable Fable Revisited: Discourse, Policy, and
turned cable systems into common carriers, Midwest the Making of Cable Television,” Critical Studies in Mass
Communication (1987)
Video and the cable industry prevailed, at least as a United States v. Midwest Video Corp., 406 U.S. 649, 1972 (Mid-
matter of federal law. In the wake of the Midwest west Video Case I)
Video Case’s narrow ruling, state and local authorities United States v. Midwest Video Corp., 440 U.S. 689, 1979 (Mid-
were still free to pass ordinances mandating set-asides west Video Case II)
for public access channels as a precondition for the
granting or renewal of a cable franchise in a specific
community.
Michael M. Epstein
Miller, J.P. (James Pinckney) (1919–2001)

U.S. Television Writer
J.P. Miller began writing for television during that time to compromise, perhaps even spoiled by his early taste
in the 1950s when a playwright fortunate enough to of freedom under the guidance of producer Fred Coe.
see his work performed on a live network drama liter- After his initial burst of success on television and an
ally could become an overnight sensation. For Miller, inevitable courtship by the movie industry, he returned
that night was October 2, 1958, when the Columbia to New Jersey, where he spent 40 years working out of
Broadcasting System (CBS) broadcast a live produc- his home, satisfied to write intermittently for movies,
tion of his play “The Days of Wine and Roses” during television, and the stage while devoting much of his
its prestigious drama series Playhouse 90. By the fol- energy to his own novels. Unlike most writers able to
lowing morning, the newspapers already had heralded sustain long careers in television, Miller never wrote
his ascension to the elite ranks of television play- for episodic television series or aspired to become a
wrights, ensuring that his name would be forever producer. He was a playwright who wrote individual
linked with those of Paddy Chayefsky, Reginald Rose, television plays—not series episodes—and this craft,
Rod Serling, Horton Foote, Gore Vidal, and Tad honed in the live dramas of the 1950s, did not translate
Mosel. An Emmy nomination followed, along with a easily to the conditions of the television industry after
lucrative offer from Hollywood for the film rights and 1960. Still, Miller returned repeatedly to television,
an opportunity to write the film adaptation, which where he earned three more Emmy nominations and
eventually became a 1962 movie directed by Blake received the Emmy Award in 1969 for his CBS Play-
Edwards and starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. house teleplay “The People Next Door.” From the be-
If J.P. Miller’s name is not recalled as quickly as that ginning of his career to the end, Miller specialized in
of other television playwrights of his era, it is because scripts that were stark and somber, melancholy re-
he was never as prolific as his colleagues or as eager to minders that America is often a land of opportunities
carve out a place in the television and movie indus- lost. It is a unique and unlikely vision for a writer who
tries. He was ambivalent about the business, unwilling survived nearly four decades in television.
1491
her suitcase and discovers that it is held together by

rope. Miller delivered the script to Yale classmate Bob
Costello, who had become one of Coe’s assistant pro-
ducers. Coe immediately purchased the script, assign-
ing it to his star director, Arthur Penn, and casting the
stage actress Mildred Dunnock.
Miller’s first notable success came with the play
“The Rabbit Trap,” the story of a long-suffering engi-
neer at a construction firm who stands up to his bully-
ing boss and quits the job in order to spend more time
with his son. This austere critique of corporate Amer-
ica caught the attention of the movie studios, which
were on the lookout for New York talent, and Miller
was brought to Hollywood to write the adaptation, an
experience that he soon came to regret when he dis-
covered how powerless he was to affect the outcome
of the film. Writers in the movie industry enjoyed nei-
J.P. Miller. ther the autonomy nor the influence they were ac-
Photo courtesy of Sophie Miller Solarino
corded under Fred Coe’s benevolent patronage.
While Miller toiled as a screenwriter in Hollywood,
After World War II (during which he served as a fortunes faded for the live television drama. Westerns
lieutenant, earning a Purple Heart), Miller enrolled in and private-detective series filmed in Hollywood
the Yale drama school, which he attended for only a climbed the ratings, and retailers for companies such
year before moving back to Houston. While in Hous- as Goodyear and Philco began to pressure the corpo-
ton, Miller divorced his first wife and then remarried, rate headquarters to sponsor programs more cheerful
failed as a salesman of furnaces and real estate, and than the bleak dramas that had become Fred Coe’s
never strayed far from his dream of a career as a writer. trademark. With ratings slipping, Philco pulled its
Soon he moved his young family back to New York, sponsorship from Television Playhouse in 1955, and
where they lived in a small apartment in Queens. By Fred Coe eventually left the National Broadcasting
day, Miller sold refrigeration for air conditioners; by Company (NBC) and landed at CBS, where he became
night, he wrote plays that no one would read. Around one of the producers for Playhouse 90, the last remain-
this time, however, a friend who was a television re- ing prestige drama on television. It was in this capacity
pairman brought Miller a used television set that was that Coe lured Miller back to television, and the result
missing its cabinet. was “The Days of Wine and Roses,” a pinnacle of live
Miller discovered the quality of writing on Philco- television drama and very nearly the swan song for the
Goodyear Television Playhouse, which was an expres- genre.
sion of the taste of its producer, Fred Coe, who also With prime-time television utterly dominated by
had studied at the Yale drama school. By commission- filmed series and the live television drama all but for-
ing original plays from writers such as Chayefsky, gotten by 1960, Miller turned to screenwriting once
Mosel, and Foote, Coe nurtured a dramatic form influ- again, writing The Young Savages (1961) for director
enced by the breakthrough work of Arthur Miller and John Frankenheimer, adapting his own The Days of
Tennessee Williams but suited to the scale of early Wine and Roses (1962), and working with director
television: intimate family dramas set in ethnic urban Fred Zinneman on Behold a Pale Horse (1964). From
neighborhoods or forgotten communities in the rural this Hollywood sojourn, Miller saved enough money
South in which traditional cultures collide with the to purchase a measure of independence. He married
forces of modernity. Miller watched and made notes for the third time (to the woman with whom he would
for his first television play. live for the rest of his life), bought a farmhouse in New
“A Game of Hide and Seek,” Miller’s first television Jersey, and began work on his first novel, The Race for
play, told of two southern sisters who had grown apart Home (1968), a Depression-era tale that takes place in
since the day years earlier when the younger sister had a thinly disguised version of the Gulf coast town where
married an apparently wealthy stranger and moved he was raised. He returned to television in the late
away. When the prodigal sister returns home, aban- 1960s, when CBS asked Fred Coe to resurrect the an-
doned and penniless, she hides her misfortune from the thology drama format in CBS Playhouse, an ambi-
older sister, who is blind, until the older sister touches tious, short-lived series of plays written for television.
1492
Miller wrote “The People Next Door” as an unac- Special,” “The Catamaran,” “The
knowledged companion piece to The Days of Wine and Rabbit Trap,” “The Pardon-Me Boy”)
Roses. In this version, a suburban couple (Lloyd 1955 Producer’s Showcase
Bridges and Kim Hunter) struggle to understand their (teleplay: “Yellow Jack”)
drug-addicted teenage daughter (Deborah Winters). 1956 Playwright’s ’56 (teleplay: “The
Miller received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writ- Undiscovered Country”)
ing Achievement in Drama and later wrote the feature 1958 Kraft Mystery Theatre (teleplay:
film adaptation. “A Boy Called Ciske”)
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Miller charted his 1958–59 Playhouse 90 (teleplays: “The Days of
own course, alternating between writing novels and Wine and Roses,” “The Dingaling
movies and miniseries for television. As he channeled Girl”
his energies into fiction (eventually writing three more 1968 CBS Playhouse (teleplay: “The People
novels), he stopped writing original material for televi- Next Door”)
sion and became a specialist in “true-life” movies and
miniseries, including an Emmy-nominated script for
Made-for-Television Movies (writer)
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976) and Helter
1972 Your Money or Your Wife
Skelter (1976), an adaptation of Vincent Bugliosi’s
1976 The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
book about the Charles Manson case (which was the
1980 Gauguin the Savage
top-rated miniseries of the season). His final work for
television, the Emmy-nominated 1989 miniseries I
Know My First Name Is Steven, written with Cynthia Miniseries (writer)
Whitcomb, was based on the real-life abduction of a 1976 Helter Skelter
young boy who spent seven years living with his cap- 1989 I Know My First Name Is Steven (with
tor before finally escaping and being reunited with his Cynthia Whitcomb)
family.
Christopher Anderson
Feature Films (writer)
1959 The Rabbit Trap
J.P. Miller. Born in San Antonio, Texas, December 18, 1961 The Young Savages
1919. Son of Rolland James and Rose Jetta (Smith) 1962 The Days of Wine and Roses
Miller. Married: 1) Ayers Elizabeth Fite, May 16, 1942 1964 Behold a Pale Horse
(divorced, 1947); children: James Pinckney Jr.; 2) 1970 The People Next Door
Juanita Marie Currie, November 29, 1948 (divorced,
1962); children: John R., Montgomery A.; 3) Julianne
Renee Nicolaus, November 20, 1965; children: Lia Novels
Marie, Anthony Milo, Sophie Jetta. Education: Rice 1968 The Race for Home
Institute (now Rice University), B.A. in modern lan- 1973 Liv
guages, 1941; studied drama at Yale University, 1984 The Skook
1946–47, and at American Theatre Wing, 1951–53. 1995 Surviving Joy
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1941–46; served in Pa-
cific theater; became lieutenant; received Presidential
Unit Citation and Purple Heart. Worked as playwright Awards
for live television dramas, 1954–59; as freelance Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in drama,
screenwriter, playwright, novelist, 1959–2001. Mem- Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1969, for
berships: Dramatists Guild, PEN, Academy of Motion teleplay The People Next Door; Mystery Writers of
Picture Arts and Sciences, Authors Guild, Authors America Awards, 1974, for television movie, Your
League of America, Writers Guild of America—West. Money or Your Wife, and Edgar Allan Poe Award,
Died in Stockton, New Jersey, November 1, 2001. 1977, for television miniseries adaptation of the
book Helter Skelter; Emmy Award nomination for
best writing of a single dramatic program, 1959, for
Television Series (writer) “The Days of Wine and Roses,” Playhouse 90;
1954 Man Against Crime (wrote one episode) Emmy Award nomination for outstanding writing in
1954–55 Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse a special program, 1976, for The Lindbergh Kid-
(teleplays: “A Game of Hide and napping Case; Emmy Award nomination (with
Seek,” “Old Tasselfoot,” “Somebody Cynthia Whitcomb) for outstanding writing in a
1493
miniseries or special, 1989, for I Know My First Kisseloff, Jeff, The Box: An Oral History of Television,
Name Is Steven. 1920–61, New York: Viking, 1995
Krampner, John, The Man in the Shadows: Fred Coe and the
Golden Age of Television, New Brunswick, New Jersey:
Further Reading Rutgers University Press, 1997
Gould, Lewis L., editor, Watching Television Come of Age: The

New York Times Reviews by Jack Gould, Austin: University
of Texas Press, 2002
Milton Berle Show, The

U.S. Comedy-Variety Show
During his multifaceted rise as a performer, Milton time, engineered in part as a publicity ploy; Walter
Berle first appeared on television in a 1929 experimen- Winchell labeled him “The Thief of Bad Gags.” Berle
tal broadcast in Chicago when he emceed a closed- debuted on radio in 1934, and during the 1940s he
circuit telecast before 129 people. In the hosted several shows, including the comedy-variety
commercial-TV era, he appeared in 1947 on DuMont
station WABD (in Wanamaker’s New York City de-
partment store) as an auctioneer to raise money for the
Heart Fund. In the following year, he would come to
television in a far more prominent manner and through
the new medium rise to the status of a national icon.
He would become known as “Mr. Television,” the first
star the medium could call its own. Skyrocketing to
national prominence in the late 1940s, he was also the
first TV personality to suffer overexposure and
burnout.
Berle began his professional career at age five,
working in motion pictures at Biograph Studios in Fort
Lee, New Jersey. He appeared as the child on Marie
Dressler’s lap in Charlie Chaplin’s Tillie’s Punctured
Romance (1914), was tossed from a train by Pearl
White in The Perils of Pauline (1914), and appeared in
some 50 films with stars such as Douglas Fairbanks,
Mabel Normand, and Marion Davies. Berle’s first
stage role was in 1920, in Shubert’s Atlantic City, New
Jersey, revival of Floradora, which eventually moved
to Broadway. Soon after, a vaudeville sketch with Jack
Duffy launched Berle’s career as a comedian. Signed
as a replacement for Jack Haley at the Palace, Berle
was a smash hit and was held over ten weeks. He then
headlined in top nightclubs and theaters across the
country, returning to Broadway in 1932 to star in Earl
Carroll’s Vanities, the first of several musical shows in
which he appeared.
Berle’s reputation for stealing material from other The Milton Berle Show.
comedians was already part of his persona by this Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1494
show Texaco Star Theater. He remained on radio (in- with spurring the sale of TV sets in the United States,
cluding the radio version of Texaco) until the 1948–49 especially to working-class homes. When he first went
season, and he was also very successful as a writer of on the air, less than 500,000 sets had been sold nation-
Tin Pan Alley fare. His many songs include “Sam, You wide; when he left The Milton Berle Show in 1956, af-
Made the Pants Too Long.” ter nearly 500 live shows, that number had increased to
On June 8, 1948, Berle reprised his role from radio, nearly 30 million. Berle was signed to an unprece-
serving as host for the premiere episode of the TV ver- dented $6 million, 30-year exclusive contract with the
sion of The Texaco Star Theater. However, the show as National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1951, guar-
yet had no set format and rotated several emcees dur- anteed $200,000 per year in addition to the salaries
ing the summer of 1948. Originally signed to a four- from his sponsors. Renegotiated in 1966, his annual
week contract, Berle was finally named permanent payments were reduced to $120,000, but Berle could
host for the season premiere that fall. He and the show work on other networks.
were an immediate smash, with ratings as high as 80 After his Tuesday night run ended in 1956, Berle
the first season. Ad-libbing at the end of a 1949 hosted three subsequent series and made many appear-
episode, Berle called himself “Uncle Miltie,” endear- ances on other comedy and variety shows. He received
ing himself to kids and creating a permanent moniker. numerous tributes as a television pioneer. In dramatic
The show received a 1949 Emmy for Best Kinescope roles, he received an Emmy nomination for “Doyle
Show (the Television Academy was then a West Coast Against the House,” an episode of The Dick Powell
entity in the era before coast-to-coast linkup), and Show (1961), and was notable in his role as a blind
Berle won as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personal- survivor of an airplane crash in the first American
ity. For the next eight years, the nation seemingly shut Broadcasting Company (ABC) movie of the week,
down on Tuesday evenings during Berle’s time slot. Seven in Darkness (1969). He guest starred on many
The name of the program changed in 1953 to the television series, including The Big Valley, and when
Buick-Berle Show, becoming known from 1954 as The he was 87 years old, he was nominated for an Emmy
Milton Berle Show. Award for his guest role as a former vaudeville star af-
These shows were pitched at an aggressive, flicted with Alzheimer’s disease on the FOX drama
anything-for-a-laugh level, which perfectly suited Beverly Hills 90210. Doyen of the famous comedians’
Berle’s comic style and profile. This approach also fraternity, the Friars Club, Berle also sporadically ap-
tended to make his programs very visual. Slapstick rou- peared on stage through the 1990s. However, it is the
tines, outrageous costumes (Berle often appeared in early Berle shows that remain the expression of Mr.
drag), and various ludicrous skits became trademarks Television, the expression of a medium that had not yet
of his television humor. Audiences across the United set its boundaries in such rigid fashion. In those earlier
States wanted to see what Berle would do next, and he moments, huge numbers of Americans could settle
quite obviously thrived on this anticipation. From his themselves before the screen, welcome their outra-
malaprop greetings (e.g., “Hello, ladies and germs”) to geous “Uncle” into the living room, leave him behind
the frenetic, relentless pacing of his jokes and rejoin- for a week, and know that he would return once again
ders and even in his reputation for stealing and recy- when asked.
cling material, Berle presented himself as one part Mark Williams
buffoon and one part consummate, professional enter-
See also Berle, Milton
tainer, a kind of veteran of the Borscht Belt trenches.
However, even within his shows’ sanctioned exhibi-
tionism, some of Berle’s behavior could cross the line Regular Performers
from affability to effrontery. At its worst, the underly- Milton Berle
ing tone of the Berle programs could appear to be one Fatso Marco (1948–52)
of contempt should the audience not respond approv- Ruth Gilbert (1952–55)
ingly. In some cases, the program exhibited a surprising Bobby Sherwood (1952–53)
degree of self-consciousness about TV itself; Texaco’s Arnold Stang (1953–55)
original commercial spokesman, Sid Stone, would Jack Collins (1953–55)
sometimes hawk his products until driven from the Milton Frome (1953–55)
stage by a cop. However, the uneven balance of excess Irving Benson (1966–67)
and decorum proved wildly successful.
Featuring such broad and noisy comedy but also Orchestras
multiple guest stars and (for the time) lavish variety- Alan Roth (1948–55)
show production values, Berle’s shows are credited Victor Young (1955–56)
1495
Billy May (1958–59) October 1958–May 1959 Wednesday

Mitchell Ayres (1966–67) 9:00–9:30
ABC
September 1966–January 1967 Friday 9:00–10:00
Producers
Ed Cashman, Milton Berle, Edward Sobol, Arthur
Knorp, Ford Henry, William O. Harbach, Nick Further Reading
Vanoff, Bill Dana Berle, Milton, with Haskel Frankel, Milton Berle: An Autobiog-
raphy, New York: Delacorte, 1974
“Milton Berle: Television’s Whirling Dervish,” Newsweek
Programming History (May 16, 1949)
NBC Sylvester, Robert, “The Strange Career of Milton Berle,” Satur-
June 1948–June 1956 Tuesday 8:00–9:00 day Evening Post (March 19, 1949)
Minder
British Crime Comedy/Drama
A long-running and perennially popular comedy- nis Waterman would be right for the character of the
drama series focusing on the exploits of a wheeler- minder, Terry McCann.
dealer and his long-suffering bodyguard and Waterman, however, had his reservations and was
right-hand man, Minder was the brainchild of veteran worried about immediately following The Sweeney
TV scriptwriter Leon Griffiths. Griffiths, who had been with another London-based crime series, but after
active in television since the 1950s, also wrote for the reading the treatment and the initial scripts, he was
cinema, including the screenplays for the hard-hitting persuaded by the difference and the humor of the
crime dramas The Grissom Gang and The Squeeze. It piece. The true potential of the project was fully real-
was one of his film scripts, also called Minder, that ized, however, only with the casting of George Cole as
gave rise to the series. Griffiths’s screenplay was a hu- Terry McCann’s employer, Arthur Daley. Cole had
morless and tough gangland story that his agent felt been active in film and television for many years and
would be difficult to sell in Britain, so Griffiths shelved
the project.
Later, however, that same agent suggested that two
of the characters from the script—a wily, small-time
London crook and his uneducated but streetwise
“minder” (East London slang for “bodyguard”)—
would work well for a television series. Griffiths wrote
a treatment for a series featuring the two characters
and took the idea to Euston Films (a division of
Thames Television), a group he knew was looking for
a follow-up to their successful, tough, London-based
police series The Sweeney. (“Sweeney” was also Lon-
don slang, actually cockney rhyming slang, “Sweeney
Todd: Flying Squad,” a special quick-response unit of
the Metropolitan Police.) At Euston, script consultant
Linda Agran and producers Verity Lambert, Lloyd
Shirley, and George Taylor quickly decided that the se-
ries had all the ingredients they were looking for—and Minder.
there was a general consensus that Sweeney star Den- Courtesy of © Fremantle Media Enterprises
1496
Minder
in his early days had specialized in playing “spivs” Arfur’s collar” (arrest him), but Terry is the only one
(shady characters specializing in black marketeering who actually goes to prison.
and other illegal activities). He had become a re- Later in the show’s run, reacting to the positive
spected actor over the years, with a wide repertoire, feedback from the public, the show shifted slightly but
but the character of Arthur Daley was like one of his noticeably more toward humor. Scripts tapped the
earlier spiv incarnations grown up. comedic potential of Arthur Daley, and his schemes
Although the production may have initially been became wilder and more outrageous, while the regular
perceived as a vehicle for Waterman, the casting of policemen who dogged him became more caricatured
Cole and the rapport between them ensured that the se- and less threatening. Recurring characters in the series
ries became more balanced. Cole fitted the roguish included Patrick Malahide as the long-suffering Detec-
persona perfectly, and, as the series progressed, with tive Sergeant Chisholm and Glynn Edwards as Dave
generous support from Waterman, he turned Arthur the barman at Arthur’s private drinking club, the
Daley into a TV icon. Winchester.
Originally, the series was to have been located in the Finally, in 1991, Dennis Waterman had had enough
East End of London, but it was found to be more con- of Minder and left to head a new series. He was re-
venient to shoot in South London. The location placed by Gary Webster as Arthur’s nephew Ray. Ray
changed, but the patois remained that of the cockney- was a different character from Terry, well educated and
influenced East End. Arthur was always known as well dressed. But he could handle himself well in a
“Arfur” because of the cockney habit of pronouncing fight and was perfectly suited to the role of assistant
“th” as “f,” and much of the flavor of the series came and bodyguard to his uncle. Initially, he was in awe of
from the colorful slang, some traditional and some in- Arthur, and Daley took full advantage of this. Soon
vented. Although some cockney rhyming slang was Ray saw the light and became much more difficult to
widely known throughout Britain, Minder (along with manipulate. Arthur, however, rose to the challenge and
other shows set in the area, such as the British Broad- still seemed to get his own way. Webster’s involve-
casting Corporation’s [BBC’s] Only Fools and ment gave the series a new lease of life, and the scripts
Horses) introduced many lesser-known examples to for his episodes seemed as sharp and as witty as when
the population as a whole. Soon every Minder afi- the program had first begun.
cionado knew that “getting a Ruby down your Greg- Through the run of the series, jokey episode titles
ory” meant going out for an Indian meal (popular were used, usually a pun on a film or other TV series
1950s singing star Ruby Murray providing a rhyme for (“The Beer Hunter,” “On the Autofront,” and “Guess
“curry”; “Gregory Peck” rhyming with “neck”) and Who’s Coming to Pinner,” an area to the north of Lon-
that “trouble on the dog” meant your spouse was call- don).
ing (“trouble and strife”: “wife”; “dog and bone”: Minder was yet another example of a television pro-
“phone”). As the series went from strength to strength gram bringing forth a character that seemed bigger
and the character of Arthur Daley captured the imagi- than the show. The name “Arthur Daley” is used in
nation of a generation, East London slang became Britain as an example of a wheeler-dealer in the same
trendy, and cod cockneys (or mockneys) could be way that Archie Bunker’s name came to be synony-
found throughout the country. mous with bigotry in the United States. Daley may be
The early episodes of Minder have the emphasis a villain, but he is very much perceived as a hero,
firmly on drama, although there is humor in the dia- someone getting away with foiling the system. In the
logue and from the character of Arthur Daley, who show’s rare satirical moments, Daley would align him-
seems to haunt the fringes of the plot while Terry Mc- self with Margaret Thatcher, seeing himself as the
Cann gets involved at the sharp end. Daley is devious, prime example of the help-yourself society that
cowardly, and exploitative, as opposed to McCann’s Thatcher advocated, a man of the 1980s.
straightforwardness, courage, and loyalty. Most plots Dick Fiddy
hinge round a problem, created by Daley’s greed, that
See also Cole, George; Lambert, Verity; Water-
is solved by McCann. But McCann almost always suf-
man, Dennis
fers in some way: losing a girlfriend, being involved in
a fight, or not getting paid. Daley usually thrives, man-
aging somehow to emerge from the scrape with body Cast
unscathed and bank account intact or, more often than Arthur Daley George Cole
not, somewhat inflated. Brushes with the law are com- Terry McCann Dennis
monplace, as are confrontations with “nastier” vil- Waterman
lains. The local police are endlessly trying to “feel Dave Glynn Edwards
1497
Minder
Des George Layton January 1982–April 1982 13 episodes

Det. Sgt. Chisholm Patrick Malahide January 1984–March 1984 11 episodes
Sgt. Rycott Peter Chi September 1984–December 1984 10 episodes
Maurice Anthony September 1985–October 1985 6 episodes
Valentine December 1985 Christmas
Det. Insp. Melsip Michael special
Troughton December 1988 Christmas
Ray Daley Gary Webster special
Det. Sgt. Morley Nicholas Day January 1989–February 1989 6 episodes
DC Park Stephen September 1991– November 1991 12 episodes
Tompkinson December 1991 Christmas
special
Producers January 1993–April 1993 13 episodes
Verity Lambert, Johnny Goodman, Lloyd Shirley,
George Taylor, Ian Toynton Further Reading
Armstrong, John, “Obituary: Leon Griffiths,” The Independent
Programming History (February 13, 1994)
96 60-minute episodes; 1 120-minute special; 1 90- Bradbury, Malcolm, “Requiem for an Old Rogue,” Daily Mail
minute special (October 9, 1993)
Buss, Robin, “Minder,” Times Educational Supplement
ITV (November 8, 1991)
October 1979–January 1980 11 episodes Truss, Lynne, “Television Workhorses Finally Put Out to
September 1980–December 1980 13 episodes Grass,” The Times (March 10, 1994)
Miner, Worthington (1900–1982)

U.S. Producer, Director
Worthington Miner had an outstanding career in both It was not until the regular television schedule re-
the theater and television; he also worked for a brief turned in 1948 that Miner developed his first major
period as a producer of feature films. At the age of 39, success, The Toast of the Town, emceed by Ed Sulli-
Miner abandoned his successful career as a theater di- van. This program, later under the title The Ed Sullivan
rector to enter the fledgling television industry, becom- Show, went on to run for 23 seasons. It was followed
ing general director of television at the Columbia closely by the much-acclaimed Studio One, which
Broadcasting System (CBS) on August 28, 1939. His Miner produced and often wrote and directed as well.
work in television has been recognized by his contem- He also produced The Goldbergs and the award-
poraries and followers as crucial in creating the foun- winning children’s program Mr. I. Magination, both
dations of modern television. well-known examples from the “Golden Age” of tele-
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vision.
allowed limited commercial-television broadcasting to It has been said by insiders that the real “Mr. Televi-
begin in July 1941 despite the outbreak of war and le- sion” was not Milton Berle (as he was called in the
gal battles over technical issues that had delayed the 1950s) but Miner. This judgment stems primarily from
introduction of television in the United States. For the Miner’s development of the basic techniques used in
first ten weeks, Miner produced and directed the entire television. In addition to being a major creative force
15-hour weekly schedule at CBS and eight to ten hours as a writer, producer, and director, Miner is credited
a week thereafter until the war forced live television with establishing many crew positions and assigning
off the air in late 1942. production responsibilities to those positions, which
1498
Miniseries
are still in use today. Working in an untried medium Worthington Miner. Born in Buffalo, New York,
and drawing on his technical and operational experi- November 13, 1900. Educated at Kent School in Con-
ence in the theater, Miner developed new staging prac- necticut; Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut,
tices and created camera techniques that exploited the 1922; Cambridge University, 1922–24. Married:
limited technical and financial resources available to Frances Fuller; children: Peter, Margaret, and Mary
television during its earliest stages of growth. Elizabeth. Served in U.S. Army with the 16th Field
In contrast to his famed counterpart, producer Fred Artillery, 4th Division, during World War I; served in
Coe at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), army in occupied Germany, 1918–19. Faculty mem-
who developed a stable of television writers, Miner ber, Department of English, Yale University, 1924;
concentrated on the technical and aesthetic problems acted in stage plays, 1925; assistant to producers of
of mounting and broadcasting a production, particu- Broadway plays, 1925–29; directed plays, 1929–39;
larly from a directorial point of view. In the process, he writer and director, RKO Radio Pictures, 1933–34;
discovered what became known as “Miner’s Laws,” program development department, CBS, 1939–42;
which were adopted by directors throughout the televi- manager, CBS television department, 1942–52;
sion industry. He fostered the directing talents of such worked for NBC, from 1952; left NBC to become a
luminaries as Franklin Schaffner, George Roy Hill, freelance producer; worked in motion pictures. Died
Sidney Lumet, and Arthur Penn, all of whom went on in New York City, December 11, 1982.
to fame in television and other media.
In 1952, as a result of a contract dispute, Miner left
CBS for NBC. His hopes for achievements there were Further Reading
dashed with the firing of creative head Pat Weaver;
Miner languished under NBC’s employ. Despite pro- Hawes, William, The American Television Drama: The Experi-
mental Years, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,
ducing two series, Medic and Frontier, and a few stun- 1986
ning successes with the drama anthology Play of the Kindem, Gorham, editor, The Live Television Generation of
Week (most notably Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Hollywood Film Directors: Interviews with Seven Directors,
Cometh), Miner left television in 1959. He was disap- Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994
pointed with the direction the medium had taken. Miner, Worthington, Worthington Miner: Interviewed by
Franklin J. Schaffner, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow
Miner’s achievements in television cannot be over- Press, 1985
estimated. He did not change the face of television; he Skutch, Ira, Ira Skutch: I Remember Television: A Memoir,
created it. No one in his time had an equal grasp of Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1989
both the creative and the technical dimensions of the Stempel, Tom, Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American
television medium. Many, if not all, of his ideas re- Television Writing, New York: Continuum, 1992
Sturcken, Frank, Live Television: The Golden Age of
main in use today, warranting the statement that Miner 1946–1958 in New York, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFar-
was a true television pioneer. land, 1990
Kevin Dowler Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein:
Directors and Directions in Television, New York: Dutton,
See also Anthology Drama; The Ed Sullivan Show; 1979
The Goldbergs; “Golden Age” of Television; Medic; Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Sur-
Schaffner, Franklin vivors, New York: Delacorte Press, 1976
Miniseries
A miniseries is a narrative drama designed to be broad- material presented in the genre is in fact produced in
cast in a limited number of episodes. If the distinction serial form. There are, of course, exceptions. Boys
is maintained between “series” (describing a group of from the Blackstuff (1982), for example, consisted of
self-contained episodes) and “serial” (a group of inter- five narratively independent but interlocking episodes
connected episodes), the term “miniseries” is an ac- that culminate in a final resolution. The miniseries may
knowledged misnomer, for the majority of broadcast also be seen as an extended telefilm divided into
1499
Miniseries
episodes. David Shipman provides a useful analysis of in January 1977. Americans who did not watch the
this approach and its central question, “When is a program felt excluded from the dominant topic of con-
movie not a movie?” in his discussion of The Far versation and from one of the major cultural interven-
Pavilions. tions of the era.
Whatever the overall approach, the miniseries, at its It is significant that miniseries are generally part of
best, offers a unique televisual experience, often deal- late-evening, prime-time viewing, the space made
ing with harrowing and difficult material structured available for the privileged viewing of “irregular” ma-
into an often transformative narrative. The time lapse terial, whether it be contemporary feature films, mini-
between episodes allows occasion for the audience to series, or other forms. This scheduling is important
assimilate, discuss, and come to terms with the diffi- because the high production costs of miniseries can be
culties of the narrative. The extended narrative time of- recovered only through exposure to the largest, most
fered by serialization makes possible the in-depth lucrative, and most attentive audiences and because
exploration of characters, their motivations and devel- the material dealt with is often either of difficult and
opment, and the analysis of situations and events. potentially upsetting or of a sexually explicit nature
However, the conclusive narrative resolution of the se- not deemed suitable for children.
ries also allows for evaluation and reflection. Miniseries are usually high capital investment ven-
The actual number of episodes differentiating a tures. It is interesting to note here that in the United
miniseries from a “regular” series or serial is a matter States, the ABC network’s introduction of the minise-
of dispute. Leslie Halliwell and Philip Purser argue in ries in 1976 coincided with the arrival of programmer
Halliwell’s Television Companion that miniseries tend Fred Silverman from the Columbia Broadcasting Sys-
to appear in four to six episodes of various lengths. In tem (CBS) and was part of his strategy to revive ailing
contrast, Stuart Cunningham defines the miniseries as audience figures. Similarly, in the United Kingdom,
“a limited-run program of more than two [install- Granada’s investment in Prime Suspect coincided with
ments] and less than the thirteen-part season or half- the franchise bids in British commercial broadcasting.
season block associated with serial or series The miniseries is almost invariably based on the
programming.” From a British perspective, the major- work of an established writer, whether this is a classic
ity of home-produced drama would, in the postderegu- literary source (the British Broadcasting Corporation’s
lation era, now fit into Cunningham’s definition. Very [BBC’s] 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and
few drama productions, apart from continuous serials Prejudice), a popular blockbuster, (Shirley Conran’s
(soap operas), extend beyond seven episodes. Lace [1985]), or the work of a renowned television
The term “miniseries” covers a broad generic range writer (Lynda La Plante’s Prime Suspect [1991]). Insti-
of subjects and styles of narration that seem to differ tutionally, the author’s name is seen as a valuable in-
from one national broadcast culture to another. Aus- vestment that is often sought in an attempt to guarantee
tralia produces a large number of historical minise- a prestige audience in the “desirable social categories.”
ries—for example, Bodyline (1984) and Cowra For the audience, the author’s name provides a set of
Breakout (1985)—that dramatically document aspects expectations of potential pleasures and an indication of
of Australian history. The United States has produced production quality. The writer’s name, then, is an im-
both historical miniseries, such as Holocaust (1978), portant part of the packaging of the series. Given the
and serializations of “blockbuster” novels, such as The condensed period of broadcasting associated with the
Thorn Birds (1983). Britain tends toward literary clas- miniseries format, it is important to attract viewers at
sics (Pride and Prejudice [1995]) and serializations of the first opportunity, for, unlike a continuous serial or
“blockbusters” (The Dwelling Place [1994]). seasonal series, the miniseries cannot accrue an audi-
Francis Wheen suggests that the form developed in ence over an extended period. Authorial identity thus
the United States in response to the success of the im- distinguishes the miniseries from the unattributed flow
ported The Forsyte Saga (1967), which was an expen- of soap operas, crime series, and situation comedies.
sive adaptation of John Galsworthy’s historical epic Charlotte Brunsdon, discussing the literary sources
novel. The success of this serialization demonstrated of television fictions, argues that “British culture hav-
that finite stories were popular and that they could pro- ing a predominantly literary bias, middlebrow litera-
vide a boost to weekly viewing figures while imparting ture legitimates the ‘vulgar’ medium of television
on the network/channel a reputation for exciting pro- (whereas high literature might offend as being too
gramming. The potential of the miniseries was signifi- good for TV). Adaptations gain prestige for their liter-
cantly promoted, Wheen suggests, by Roots, which ariness.” Although one should recognize that produc-
built up an exclusive culture over its eight consecutive ers and broadcasting institutions do intentionally
nights on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) exploit the prestige lent by literary sources, it is diffi-
1500
Miniseries
cult to support the term “middlebrow,” which is central episode. However, miniseries have also provided some
to Brunsdon’s statement, in relation to the miniseries. of the most derided programming, as evidenced in
The authors of miniseries range from the Whitbread Richard Corliss’s commentary on Princess Daisy
Prize winner Jeanette Winterson (Oranges Are Not the (1983): “Not even trash can guarantee the happy end-
Only Fruit, 1990) to Jackie Collins (Hollywood Wives, ing, and, alas, it happened to Jane Doe: Princess Daisy
1985), neither of which seem to fit the “middlebrow” proved a small-screen bust.” Conversely, miniseries
category. have often been among the most critically acclaimed
One clear link between these two adaptations, how- of television offerings. The Singing Detective “was in-
ever, is their implied autobiographical character. In- spiring,” according to Joost Hunniger, “because it
deed, the representation of actual lives and experiences showed us the dynamic possibilities of television
is central to a range of miniseries. The approach taken drama.”
may be autobiographical, as in Dennis Potter’s The Margaret Montgomerie
Singing Detective (1986). It may be biographical, as in
Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table (1991), depict- See also Amerika; Boys from the Blackstuff; Boys of
ing the early life experiences of Janet Frame, or in St. Vincent; Brideshead Revisited; Day After;
Central Television’s Kennedy (1983), focusing on the Forsyte Saga; Holocaust; I, Claudius; Jewel in the
life and impact of the U.S. president on the 20th an- Crown; Pennies from Heaven; Rich Man, Poor
niversary of his death. Or the approach may present Man; Singing Detective; Six Wives of Henry VIII;
dramatizations enacting significant moments in his- The Thornbirds; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; Upstairs,
tory, as in the Australian miniseries Vietnam (1987), Downstairs; Women of Brewster Place
depicting the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees
from the Vietnamese and Australian perspectives, or in
Alan Bleasdale’s Boys from the Blackstuff (1982), ex- Further Reading
ploring the experience of working-class life in Brandt, George W., editor, British Television Drama in the
recession-hit Liverpool. 1980s, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993
This relation to “real life” seemed to be one of the Cantor, Muriel, and Suzanne Pingree, The Soap Opera, Beverly
Hills, California: Sage, 1983
strengths and appeals of the miniseries until the 1990s, Cunningham, Stuart, “Textual Innovation in the Australian His-
when the format became increasingly used for the torical Mini-Series,” in Australian Television: Programs,
crime genre. In Britain, this shift in representation is Pleasures, and Politics, edited by John Tulloch and Graeme
evident in Prime Suspect. The first miniseries (1991) Turner, Sydney and Boston: Allen and Unwin, 1989
was written by La Plante and based on the experiences Eaton, Mary, “A Fair Cop? Viewing the Effects of Canteen Cul-
ture in Prime Suspect and Between the Lines,” in Crime and
of a senior woman police officer (DCI Jackie Malton the Media: The Post-Modern Spectacle, edited by David
of the London Metropolitan Police Force). However, Kidd-Hewitt and Richard Osborne, London and East Haven,
the following Prime Suspect miniseries developed as Connecticut: Pluto Press, 1995
generic sequels rather than dramatizations of actual Farber, Stephen, “Making Book on TV,” Film Comment
events. Subsequently, miniseries have been publicized (November–December 1982)
Halliwell, Leslie, and Peter Purser, Halliwell’s Television Com-
in terms of the popular actors who play the lead roles, panion, London: Paladin, 1987
the crimes portrayed, and the originality of the content Kozloff, Sarah, “Narrative Theory and Television,” in Channels
of their stories. In Deep (BBC, 2002) features under- of Discourse Re-Assembled, edited by Robert C. Allen,
cover police officers played by Nick Berry and Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992
Stephen Tompkinson. Outside the Rules focused on the Lewallen, Avis, “Lace: Pornography for Women?,” in The Fe-
male Gaze: Women as Viewers of Popular Culture, edited by
work of a psychiatrist in a high-security hospital, Margaret Marshment and Larraine Gamman, London:
played by Daniela Nardini. Women’s Press, 1988
Since 1976, when the U.S. television network ABC Shipman, David, “The Far Pavilions,” Films and Filming (Jan-
broadcast a 12-hour serialized adaptation of Irwin uary 1984)
Shaw’s Rich Man, Poor Man, miniseries have consti- Tulloch, John, Television Drama: Agency, Audience and Myth,
London: Routledge, 1990
tuted some of the most popular programs in television Wheen, Francis, Television, London: Century, 1985
history. ABC’s broadcast of Alex Haley’s Roots drew Williams, Raymond, Television, Technology, and Cultural
an audience of 80 million Americans for the final Form, London: Fontana, 1974
1501
Minow, Newton
Minow, Newton (1926– )

U.S. Attorney, Media Regulator
Newton Minow is one of the most controversial figures two years in office, it was estimated that, other than the
ever to chair the Federal Communications Commis- president, Minow generated more column inches of
sion (FCC). Appointed in 1961 by President John F. news coverage than any other federal official.
Kennedy, Minow served only two years, but during In part, Minow’s criticisms of television were linked
that time he stimulated more public debate over televi- to broader anxieties about consumerism, child rearing,
sion programming than any other chair in the history and suburban living. Many social critics during this
of the commission. period worried that middle-class Americans had “gone
Trained at Northwestern University Law School, soft” and lost their connection to public life. In an in-
Minow’s public career began with his involvement in augural address that focused exclusively on foreign
the administration of Illinois Governor Adlai Steven- policy, President Kennedy implored Americans to re-
son during the 1950s. At a very young age, Minow be- vive their commitment to the urgent struggle for free-
came a leading figure both on the governor’s staff and dom around the globe. Shortly thereafter, Minow
in his presidential campaigns of 1952 and 1956. framed his critique of television along similar lines, ar-
Through the latter efforts, Minow became acquainted guing that the medium had become a form of escapism
with members of the Kennedy circle and in 1960
worked for the Kennedy presidential bid, becoming
close friends with the president’s brother, Robert
Kennedy. Reportedly, the two men frequently talked at
length about the increasing importance of television in
the lives of their children. It therefore came as little
surprise that after the election, Minow eagerly pursued
the position of FCC chair. Some observers neverthe-
less considered the appointment unusual, given his
lack of experience with the media industry and with
communication law.
Appointed chair at the age of 34, Minow lost little
time mapping out his agenda for television reform. In
his first public speech at a national convention of
broadcasting executives, Minow challenged industry
leaders to “sit down in front of your television set
when your station goes on the air and stay there with-
out a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss
sheet, or rating book to distract you—and keep your
eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can
assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland.”
Sharply critical of excessive violence, frivolity, and
commercialism, Minow’s remarks sparked a national
debate over the future of television. Although similar
criticisms about television and popular culture had cir-
culated widely during the late 1950s, Minow became
the first chair of the FCC to specifically challenge the
content of television programming and to urge signifi-
cant reform. His characterization of the medium as a
“vast wasteland” quickly became ubiquitous, espe- Newton Minow.
cially in newsprint headlines and cartoons. During his Photo courtesy of Newton Minow/Lisa Berg
1502
Minow, Newton
that threatened the nation’s ability to meet the chal- Shortly after the passage of these key pieces of leg-
lenge of global Communism. Moreover, he worried islation, Minow resigned from the FCC and returned to
about the increasing export of Hollywood program- a lucrative private law practice, later becoming a part-
ming overseas and the impact it would have on percep- ner in one of the most powerful communications law
tions of the United States among citizens of other firms in the United States, Sidley and Austin. He re-
countries. In the months following the speech, Minow mains an influential figure both in the media industry
advocated the diversification of programming with and in policy circles, and in 2001 he helped launch a
particular emphasis on educational and informational campaign to get the federal government to fund the
fare. Confronted by powerful opposition among indus- digitization of collections possessed by public and
try executives, he nevertheless continued to chide net- nonprofit institutions, making those resources avail-
work programmers in speeches, interviews, and public able for free to the public via the Internet.
appearances. Michael Curtin
Although the Minow FCC never drafted specific
programming guidelines, some argued that Minow See also All Channel Legislation; Communications
employed a form of “regulation by raised eyebrow” Satellite Corporation; Federal Communications
that helped stimulate the production of programs fa- Commission; Quiz and Game Shows; Quiz Show
vored by the FCC. Indeed, during the early 1960s, net- Scandals; Networks: United States
work news grew from adolescence to maturity, and
many credit Minow for helping foster its growth. He Newton (Norman) Minow. Born in Milwaukee, Wis-
especially was seen as a champion network documen- consin, January 17, 1926. Northwestern University,
tary, a genre of programming that placed particular B.S. 1949; J.D. 1950. Married: Josephine Baskin,
emphasis on educating the public about cold war is- 1949; children: Nell, Martha, and Mary. Served in U.S.
sues. Many critics nevertheless contend that, beyond Army, 1944–46. Admitted to Wisconsin Bar, 1950;
news, little changed in prime-time television during Illinois Bar, 1950; worked with firm of Mayer, Brown
the Minow years, and some have suggested that, over- and Platt, Chicago, 1950–51 and 1953–55; law clerk to
all, the Minow FCC enjoyed few tangible policy ac- Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, 1951–52; administrative
complishments. assistant to Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson,
While that may have been true in the short run, the 1952–53, special assistant to Stevenson in U.S. presi-
FCC chair played a leading role in the passage of two dential campaigns, 1952, 1956; partner, Stevenson,
pieces of legislation that would have important long- Rifkind and Wirtz, Chicago, New York City, and
term effects. The first was the All Channel Receiver Washington, D.C., 1955–61; chair, Federal Communi-
Act of 1962, which required that all television sets cations Commission, 1961–63; executive vice presi-
sold in the United States be capable of picking up dent, general counsel, and director, Encyclopaedia
UHF (ultrahigh frequency) stations in addition to the Britannica, Chicago, 1963–65; partner, Sidley and
VHF (very high frequency) stations that then domi- Austin, Chicago, 1965–91; of counsel, from 1991;
nated the medium. By the end of the 1960s, this law board of governors, Public Broadcasting Service,
significantly increased the number of television sta- 1973–80, chair of the board, 1978–80; past chair,
tions and allowed the American Broadcasting Com- Chicago Educational TV, now honorary chair; chair,
pany (ABC) network to achieve national coverage, publications review board, Arthur Andersen and Com-
making it truly competitive with the National Broad- pany, 1974–83; chair of the board of overseers, Jewish
casting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broad- Theological Seminary, 1974–77; cochair, presidential
casting System (CBS). debates, League of Women Voters, 1976, 1980; profes-
Second, Minow crafted the passage of legislation sor of communications policy and law, Annenberg
that ushered in the era of satellite communications. Program, Northwestern University, from 1987. Board
Under his leadership, various factions within the elec- of directors: Foote, Cone and Belding Communica-
tronics and communications industries agreed to a pie- tions Inc.; Tribune Company; Sara Lee Corporation;
sharing arrangement that resulted in the organization AON Corporation; Manpower, Inc. Trustee: Notre
of the Communications Satellite Corporation (Comsat) Dame University, 1964–77, from 1983; Mayo Founda-
and ultimately the International Telecommunications tion, 1973–81. Trustee, past chair of board, Rand Cor-
Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT). Created with an poration; chair, board of trustees, Carnegie Corp. of
eye toward attaining a strategic advantage over the So- New York; Chicago Orchestral Association, 1975–87,
viet Union, these U.S.-controlled organizations domi- life trustee from 1987; Northwestern University,
nated the arena of satellite communications throughout 1975–87, life trustee, from 1987. Honorary degrees:
the 1960s and much of the 1970s. LL.D., University of Wisconsin, and Brandeis Univer-
1503
Minow, Newton
sity, 1963; LL.D., Northwestern University, 1965; How Vast the Wasteland Now, 1991
LL.D., Columbia College, 1972; LL.D., Governors Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television,
State University, 1984; LL.D., DePaul University, and the First Amendment, with Craig L. LaMay,
1989; LL.D., RAND Graduate School, 1993. Member: 1995
Fellow, American Bar Foundation; American Acad- “A Digital Gift to the Nation,” with Lawrence K.
emy of Arts and Sciences; American Bar Association; Grossman, Carnegie Reporter (Fall 2001)
Illinois Bar Association; Chicago Bar Association. Re-
cipient: Peabody Award, 1961; Northwestern Univer-
sity Alumni Association Medal, 1978; Ralph Lowell Further Reading
Award, 1982. Baughman, James, Television’s Guardians: The FCC and the
Politics of Programming, 1958–1967, Knoxville: University
of Tennessee Press, 1985
Publications Curtin, Michael, “Beyond the Vast Wasteland,” Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media (Spring 1993)
Equal Time: The Private Broadcasters and the Public Curtin, Michael, Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Docu-
Interest, 1964 mentary and Cold War Politics, New Brunswick, New Jer-
sey: Rutgers University Press, 1995
Presidential Television, with John Bartlow Martin and Watson, Mary Ann, The Expanding Vista: American Television
Lee M. Mitchell, 1973 in the Kennedy Years, New York: Oxford University Press,
For Great Debates, 1987 1990
Mirren, Helen (1945– )

British Actor
Helen Mirren is probably best known to American As with many such classically trained British actors,
television audiences as Detective Chief Inspector Jane her breathtaking acting range and frequent appear-
Tennison, the complicated and obsessive homicide and ances in every dramatic media made stardom elusive.
vice detective of Prime Suspect. However, Mirren, Prime Suspect, first aired on British television in 1991,
who began her acting career playing Cleopatra and finally made this 25-year acting veteran an important
Lady Macbeth in Royal Shakespeare Company pro- international star. When it was broadcast on the Amer-
ductions of the 1960s and 1970s, has appeared in more ican PBS series Mystery! in 1992, it became that
than 30 productions for British, Australian, and Amer- show’s highest-rated program, won an Emmy, and
ican television. These have included film or taped ver- made Mirren, according to some television journalists
sions of Royal Shakespeare productions, original and executives, PBS’s “pin-up woman” of the decade.
television plays, and dramatic adaptations of literary Four Prime Suspect series have followed.
classics (e.g., the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Critical consensus attributes the success of the tele-
[BBC’s] serialization of Balzac’s Cousin Bette, which vision series to the collaboration of Mirren and writer
eventually appeared in the United States on the Public Lynda La Plante, who created Jane Tennison as a com-
Broadcasting Service’s [PBS’s] Masterpiece Theater) posite of several female police detectives she inter-
produced by Granada, Thames, and other companies viewed. La Plante did not want to compromise their
for the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 in Britain and such integrity by making Tennison’s character too “soft,” so
American television series as Twilight Zone (the 1980s she considered casting critical to the success of her vi-
version) and The Hidden Room (Lifetime cable pro- sion of the character and these professional women. La
duction). Plante found that Mirren had the kind of presence and
The stage training that Mirren received in her teens “great weight” the writer believed crucial to the charac-
and 20s encouraged her to embrace diverse roles and ter: “[Mirren’s] not physically heavy, but she has a
risky projects on stage, television, and screen (includ- strength inside her that is unusual . . . . There’s a stillness
ing a couple of notorious X-rated European art films). to her, a great tension and intelligence in her face.”
1504
Mirren, Helen
author Lynda La Plante. Mirren had responded

strongly to rumors that she was not being considered
for the film role because she was “too old” to attract a
wide audience (Meryl Streep allegedly refused the role
because Mirren was so closely associated with it), but
it is unclear to what extent the casting controversy had
to do with the feature film industry’s decision to with-
draw from the project. This much is clear: although
American and British television made strides in the
1980s and 1990s in depicting strong, complex women
in law enforcement, for many viewers and critics Mir-
ren’s performance finally enabled “a real contempo-
rary woman [to break] through the skin of television’s
complacency.”
Mary Desjardins
Helen Mirren. See also La Plante, Lynda; Prime Suspect
Photo courtesy of Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren. Born Helen Mironoff in London, En-
gland, July 26, 1945. Married Taylor Hackford, 1997.
Mirren has claimed that she likes Tennison because
Established reputation as stage actress as Cleopatra
she is “unlikable.” The complexity of Mirren’s perfor-
with the National Youth Theatre, 1965; subsequently
mance resides in how she conveys this unlikability
appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
while still making us sympathetic to Tennison’s ideals
and in Africa with Peter Brook’s International Centre
and vulnerability. The character is clearly discrimi-
of Theatre Research, from 1972; returned to RSC,
nated against because of her gender, and she knows it,
1974; has also appeared in numerous films and won
but her own behavior, especially in personal relation-
acclaim as a television performer, notably in the series
ships, is not beyond reproach. The tension that La
Prime Suspect, 1991– . Recipient: three British Acad-
Plante admires in Mirren’s face also permeates the stiff
emy of Film and Television Arts Awards; Cannes Film
posture Mirren adopts for the character, the quick pace
Festival Best Actress Award, 1984; Emmy Award,
of her walk, the intense drags she takes on a cigarette,
1999; Screen Actors Guild Award, 2002.
and the determination of her gum chewing. Tennison,
that unlikable yet sympathetic character, is given life
in Mirren’s world-weary eyes, which do not betray Television Series and Miniseries
emotion to her colleagues, except when she lashes out 1971 Cousin Bette
in often justifiable anger. In private, however, the eyes 1979 The Serpent Son
express the losses suffered by a successful woman in a 1991– Prime Suspect
masculine public sphere. 1997 Painted Lady
Throughout the 1990s, Mirren continued to play 2002 Georgetown
strong, even eccentric characters on British and Amer-
ican television. Losing Chase (1996) is the story of a
woman whose nervous breakdown becomes a way to
1974 Coffin for the Bride
opt out of a life as wife and mother. She learns to re-
1987 Cause Célèbre
spond to others again when she falls in love with an-
1996 Losing Chase
other woman. In the British miniseries The Painted
1999 The Passion of Ayn Rand
Lady (later aired in the United States on PBS’s Master-
2002 Door to Door
piece Theater), Mirren played a faded rock star turned
2003 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
sleuth. The decade ended with her Emmy Award–win-
2004 Pride
ning performance as cult novelist and radical individu-
alist Ayn Rand in Showtime’s Passion of Ayn Rand
(1999). Yet Mirren continues to be identified with Jane Television Specials
Tennison of Prime Suspect. For a time, Universal was 1968 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
working with Britain’s Granada Productions on a the- 1974 The Changeling
atrical feature, but Paramount had rights to the prop- 1975 The Apple Cart
erty in 1999, when it allowed them to lapse back to 1976 The Collection
1505
Mirren, Helen
1978 As You Like It Stage (selection)

1979 The Quiz Kid Antony and Cleopatra, 1965; Troilus and Cressida,
1979 Blue Remembered Hills 1968; Much Ado About Nothing, 1968; Richard
1981 Mrs. Reinhard III, 1970; Hamlet, 1970; Two Gentlemen of
Verona, 1970; Miss Julie, 1971; The Conference of
Films Birds, 1972; Macbeth, 1974; Teeth ’n’ Smiles,
Herostratus, 1967; Age of Consent, 1970; Savage 1974; The Bed Before Yesterday, 1976; Henry VI,
Messiah, 1972; O Lucky Man, 1973; Caligula, Parts 1, 2, and 3, 1977; Measure for Measure,
1979; SOS Titanic, 1979; Hussy, 1979; The 1979; The Duchess of Malfi, 1980; The Faith
Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, 1980; The Long Healer, 1981; Antony and Cleopatra, 1983; The
Good Friday, 1980; Excalibur, 1981; Cal, 1984; Roaring Girl, 1983; Extremities, 1984; Two Way
2010, 1984; White Nights, 1985; The Mosquito Mirror, 1988; Sex Please, We’re Italian, 1991; A
Coast, 1986; Heavenly Pursuits, 1987; People of Month in the Country, 1994; Antony and Cleopa-
the Forest (narrator), 1988; The Cook, the Thief, tra, 1998; Orpheus Descending, 2000; Dance of
His Wife, and Her Lover, 1989; When the Whales Death, 2001.
Came, 1989; The Comfort of Strangers, 1990; The
Gift, 1990; Bethune: The Making of a Hero, 1989;
Further Reading
Where Angels Fear to Tread, 1991; The Madness of
King George, 1994; The Hawk, 1994; Some Ansen, David, “The Prime of Helen Mirren,” Newsweek (May
Mother’s Son, 1996; Critical Care, 1997; The 16, 1994)
Lambert, Pam, “A Good Woman Detective Is Hard to Find,”
Prince of Egypt (voice), 1998; Teaching Mrs. Tin- New York Times (January 19, 1992)
gle, 1999; Greenfingers, 2000; Happy Birthday Wieder, Judy, “Chasing Rainbows,” The Advocate (July 23,
(also director), 2000; The Pledge, 2001; Gosford 1996)
Park, 2001; No Such Thing, 2001; Last Orders, Wolcott, James, “Columbo in Furs,” The New Yorker (January
2001; Calendar Girls, 2003; The Clearing, 2004; 25, 1993)
Raising Helen, 2004.
Miss Marple
British Mystery Program
Miss Marple, the spinster detective who is one of the irregular series of 12 Miss Marple mysteries. The el-
most famous characters created by English crime derly, deceptively delicate Joan Hickson starred in
writer Agatha Christie, has been portrayed by a num- each of these as the amateur detective from the bucolic
ber of actresses in films and on television. In the cin- village of St. Mary Mead.
ema, Margaret Rutherford portrayed a rumbustious By conventional critical judgment, Agatha
Miss Marple in the 1960s, and Angela Lansbury con- Christie’s stories are often flawed. The plots can hinge
tributed a performance in The Mirror Crack’d before on contrived and dated gimmicks: in “A Murder Is
moving on to a similar role in the U.S. television series Announced,” it is supposedly a shock that a character
Murder, She Wrote. In Britain, however, certainly the called Pip, for whom everyone is searching, is a
most famous Miss Marple has been Joan Hickson, who woman, Philippa. The stories often end with an
starred in a dozen television mysteries over the course abruptly descending deus ex machina, as the heroine
of a decade. makes huge intuitive leaps, based on no clues (“4:50
Between 1984 (“The Body in the Library”) and from Paddington”) or on clues that only she knows
1992 (“The Mirror Crack’d”), the British Broadcasting and that have been kept from the audience (the char-
Corporation (BBC), in association with the U.S. A&E acters’ marriages in “The Body in the Library”). De-
network and Australia’s Seven network, produced an spite this, the television programs have attractive
1506
Miss Marple
As a celebration of English culture, “heritage” also

demands that the program be as faithful as possible to
their source material. Thus, the BBC’s Miss Marple
does not chase the villains herself as Margaret Ruther-
ford does in her films, nor are the titles of the books al-
tered to make them more sensational, as has occurred
in other productions (the novel After the Funeral had
been made into the 1963 film Murder at the Gallop, for
example).
Another “heritage” aspect of the program is the
morality that structures and underlies the mysteries.
Miss Marple is the model of decorum, not only just
and good but also polite and correct. And although
Miss Marple herself claims that “in English
villages. . . . You turn over a stone, you have no idea
what will crawl out,” there is in fact very little of a sor-
did underside in these narratives. There may be mur-
ders, but the motives are rarely squalid: mostly greed,
sometimes true love. There are dance hostesses but no
prostitutes; there is blackmail, but it is never about
anything really shameful. Indeed, these murders are
themselves peculiarly decorous, always meticulously
planned, and rarely messy.
In addition to these “heritage” aspects, Hickson’s
performance is another of the particularly attractive as-
pects of the series. Her frail physical appearance con-
trasts both with her intensely blue eyes and with the
way she dominates the scenes in which she appears.
Joan Hickson (1906–98) as Jane Marple in The Mirror Her apparent scattiness, staring absentmindedly over
Crack’d, TV, 1992. people’s shoulders as they talk to her, is delightful. It is
believable both that people would ignore her, thinking
her to be just “a little old lady,” and simultaneously
that she is very much in control of the situation.
elements that kept them popular over the years of their Miss Marple offers a female-oriented version of de-
production. tective mythology. Not only does the program present
The BBC’s Miss Marple is a good example of a “her- a range of roles for older women (unusual enough in
itage” production, with all the pleasures that implies. television drama), but it also celebrates a nontradi-
The term “heritage television” sums up a certain atti- tional approach to investigation. In several of the sto-
tude toward the past that developed in Britain during ries, the traditional strong-arm techniques of police
the 1980s, when a mixture of a new Victorianism in investigation advance the plot only very slightly. Miss
moral standards and an increasingly frenetic late- Marple takes over; her investigative methods involve
capitalistic commodification led to two tendencies. The no violence, threats, or intimidation. Rather, gossip
first was an attraction to a particularly sanitized version forms the most powerful of her tools. The very term
of England’s past. The second capitalized on the first “gossip” is a way of denigrating forms of speech that
with various moves toward rendering that past easily have typically been taken up by women. In these sto-
consumable—in television programs, films, bedsheets, ries, gossip moves the narrative forward. In “4:50
jams and preserves, and so on. The BBC’s Miss Marple from Paddington,” for example, Miss Marple knows
stories are prime examples of “heritage” production. that the family needs a housekeeper; she says,
They are set mostly in a rural past. English architecture “They’re always needing a housekeeper. The father is
is featured, and country mansion houses proliferate. As particularly difficult to get on with.” This enables
is typical for BBC programs, the “production values” Miss Marple to send her own agent into the house-
are impeccable, and the programs look beautiful—cos- hold. It is gossip that unfailingly allows her to solve
tumes, houses and decor, cars, hairstyles, and makeup the mysteries. The character’s standard technique is to
could all be described as “sumptuous.” equate the circumstances of the mystery with repre-
1507
Miss Marple
sentative archetypes she has encountered in the course Programming History

of her village life. Such a comparison of types pro- 12 irregularly produced and scheduled episodes
vides her with an infallible guide to people’s charac- BBC
ters, actions, and intentions. Episodes and first dates of broadcast:
In another departure from more typical detective “The Body in the Library” December 26, 27,
narratives, at the denouements, Miss Marple is never 28, 1984
involved in any physical chase or fight. Although she “The Moving Finger” February 21, 22,
solves the mystery (through observation, a few polite 1985
questions, and a bit of knitting), Miss Marple has very “A Murder Is Announced” February 28 and
little physical impact on the progress of the narrative. March 1, 2, 1985
She is often peripheral rather than central. In some sto- “A Pocketful of Rye” March 7, 8, 1985
ries, female aides act as her physical stand-ins: but at “The Murder at the Vicarage” December 25, 1986
the denouement of the stories, when television narra- “Sleeping Murder” January 11 and 18,
tive convention demands some crisis and excitement, 1987
Miss Marple herself is little involved. Although she “At Bertram’s Hotel” January 25 and
may engineer a denouement, as in “4:50 from February 2, 1987
Paddington,” she is not involved in the chase that fol- “Nemesis” February 8 and 15,
lows. Rather, it is policemen and good male characters 1987
who become involved in car chases and leap through “4:50 from Paddington” December 25, 1987
glass windows. “Caribbean Mystery” December 25, 1989
The particular pleasures of this very British televi- “They Do It with Mirrors” December 29, 1991
sion production ensures its appeal even when new pro- “The Mirror Crack’d” December 27, 1992
grams are no longer being produced, and its wide
circulation, through syndication on several continents, Further Reading
attests to its continuing popularity. Conroy, Sarah, “The Spinster’s New Yarns,” Washington Post
Alan McKee (December 10, 1987)
Dunne, Colin, “I’ll Miss Her Awfully, Says the Actress She
Made a TV Star,” Mail on Sunday (December 27, 1992)
Cast Terry, Clifford, “Cast Carries PBS Whodunit,” Chicago Tribune
Miss Marple Joan Hickson (January 1, 1987)
Mission: Impossible
U.S. Espionage/Adventure Series
Bob Johnson’s taped words commissioning the Impos- sons). Movie versions starring Tom Cruise were re-
sible Mission Force (IMF) with another assignment leased in 1996 and 2000. The original executive pro-
became synonymous with the techno-sophistry of Mis- ducer for the TV series, Bruce Geller, wanted to
sion: Impossible, “This tape will self-destruct in five deploy “the Everyman-superman” in a “homage to
seconds.” They were as often cited as the title itself team work and good old Yankee ingenuity.” The leader
and the opening visual and aural motifs: a match strik- of the force was expected to choose a team to deal with
ing into flame and Lalo Schifrin’s dynamic theme mu- each given task, usually comprised of a technical ex-
sic. pert, a strongman, a female model, and a man of dis-
The program ran for 168 episodes between 1966 and guise. Major actors at different moments in the series
1973 on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), re- included Peter Graves (head of the IMF after the first
turning for another 35 episodes on the American season and through the revived series), Barbara Bain
Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1988 and (model), Greg Morris (technical expert), Peter Lupus
1990 (shot in Australia for financial and location rea- (muscle bound), and Martin Landau (disguise artist).
1508
Mission: Impossible
is not a concern at early stages of writing: use real names

if it’s easier.
The force would accept its assignment and devise a

means to carry out the task in an extremely complex
way. Some aspect of the plan would go awry, but the
team would improvise and survive.
The IMF was a U.S. espionage group, private sector
but public spirited, that “assisted” Third World coun-
tries, opposed domestic organized crime, and acted as
a spy for the government. Because its enemies were
great and powerful, the force required intricacy and se-
crecy (“covertness”). At the very time that the famous
words were being intoned in each disembodied, taped
assignment (“Should you . . . be caught or killed, the
secretary will disavow any knowledge of your ac-
tions”), real-life U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense
Arthur Sylvester was supporting covert operations.
The program’s considerable overseas sales (69 coun-
tries and 15 dubbed versions by its third season) were
said to have given many viewers around the world an
exaggerated impression of the abilities of the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA).
David Buxton describes Mission as an exemplar of
the 1960s British/American “pop series.” These
paeans to the fun of the commodity—to the modernity
of design, fashion, and knowingness—leavened the
performance of quite serious service to the nation.
They had an ideological minimalism, open to a range
of interpretations anchored only in the need to preserve
Mission: Impossible, Greg Morris, Peter Graves, Martin Lan- everyday “Americanness,” in the most general sense
dau, Barbara Bain, Peter Lupus, 1966–73. of the term. The opening tape’s “promise” of official
Courtesy of the Everett Collection disavowal in the event of failure established en-
trepreneurial initiative as a basis for action and gave an
By the time the program first began, TV producers alibi for minimizing additional references to politics.
were under intense pressure to include black characters Instead, episodes could be devoted to a scientifically
in positive roles. Mission was held up in the TV Guide managed, technical private sphere. The IMF repre-
of the 1960s as a paragon of virtue for its representa- sented an efficient allocation of resources because of
tion of African Americans, with the character of Bar- its anonymously weightless and depersonalized divi-
ney Collier hailed as one of television’s “New Negro sion of labor and an effective tool of covert activity as
figures.” However, Mission: Impossible did not avoid a consequence of its distance from the official civilities
criticism for making its token African American a of diplomacy. This effect was achieved stylistically
“backdoor” technical expert, one-dimensional and through a visual quality normally associated with the
emotionless. cinema: numerous changes in diegetic space, lighting
The instructions to writers of the first series read: that could either trope film noir or action-adventure,
rapid cutting, and few lengthy reaction shots.
The tape message contains the problem. An enemy or The first Mission was valorized by many critics for
criminal plot is in existence; the IMF must counter it. its plots. It was unusual for American television drama
The situation must be of enough importance and diffi- to have episodes with overlapping and complex story-
culty that only the IMF could do it. The villains (as here
lines at the expense of characterization. Following
and later portrayed) are so black, and so clever that the
intricate means used to defeat them are necessary. Very
each program’s twists became a talisman for the
commonly, but not inevitably, the mission is to retrieve a cognoscenti. The inversion of heroism, whereby
valuable item or man, and/or to discredit (eliminate) the treachery, theft, kidnapping, and destruction were
villain or villains . . . avoid names of actual countries as qualities of “good” characters, made the series seem
well as mythical Balkan kingdoms by being vague. This both intellectually and politically subversive. Once
1509
Mission: Impossible
new people were introduced in a segment, they imme- polity distinctiveness, illustrating the IMF’s efforts to
diately underwent bewildering transformations that assist elements “behind the Wall” that favor a new po-
problematized previous information about their psy- litical and economic openness. In his remark to a rav-
ches, politics, and conduct. Geller’s fantasy was that aged Ilse Bruck in act 3, Graves’s patriarchal
performers be just that: figures performing humanness, condescension is as much geopolitical as gendered:
infinitely plastic, and ready to be redisposed in a mo- “You’re a very brave girl, Ilse. But we’re still in East
ment. The series lasted much longer than its many spy- Berlin and you’ll have to call on all your reserves to
theme counterparts on network television through the help us get back to the West.” Indeed she would.
1960s, perhaps as a consequence of this decentered, Toby Miller
subjectless approach.
See also Action Adventure Programs; Spy Pro-
Each episode of the original Mission cost $225,000,
grams
for which CBS paid $170,000. Geller was shooting
nearly 50,000 feet of film per screen hour, more than
twice the average, and spent 30 percent longer than the Cast (1966–1973)
norm doing so. Special-effects and writing costs also Daniel Briggs (1966–67) Steven Hill
went far beyond studio policy, in part to make for the James Phelps (1967–73) Peter Graves
feature film look that was a key factor in the program’s Cinnamon Carter (1966–69) Barbara Bain
success. Geller instilled a knowing self-reflexivity into Rollin Hand (1966–69) Martin Landau
the series. He became renowned for the remark that Barney Collier Greg Morris
“nothing is new except in how it’s done.” Willie Armitage Peter Lupus
A 150-day strike in 1988 by members of the Writers Paris (1969–71) Leonard Nimoy
Guild of America over creative and residual rights pay- Doug (1970–71) Sam Elliot
ments cast Hollywood’s attention toward remakes and Dana Lambert (1970–71) Lesley Ann
toward Australia, where the $5,000 (Australian) cost Warren
of a TV script compared favorably to the U.S. figure of Lisa Casey (1971–73) Lynda Day
$21,000 (Australian). Paramount decided to proceed George
with plans to bring back Mission, a reprise that it had Mimi Davis (1972–73) Barbara
attempted intermittently over almost a decade. Four Anderson
old scripts were recycled, and new ones were written
after the industrial action had concluded. Mission of- Producer
fered a built-in “baby-boomer” audience and the op- Bruce Geller
portunity to avoid California unions. This attitude
produced a very formulaic remake. Programming History
Consider the IMF’s efforts to smuggle dissidents out 171 episodes
of Eastern Europe (“The Wall”). Posing as a Texan im- CBS
presario keen to hire a chess player and a magician, September 1966–January 1967 Saturday
Graves is accused by a KGB officer of making “capi- 9:00–10:00
talist offers.” He replies good naturedly that, “business January 1967–September 1967 Saturday
is business the world over.” And so it is, when his team 8:30–9:30
is able to grant U.S. citizenship as it pleases while sup- September 1967–September 1970 Sunday
posedly remaining independent of affiliation to any 10:00–11:00
particular state. The IMF (ironically sharing an September 1970–September 1971 Saturday
acronym with a key tool of First World economic 7:30–8:30
power, the International Monetary Fund) establishes a September 1971–December 1972 Saturday
sphere of the “other” that is harsh and repressive com- 10:00–11:00
pared to the IMF’s own goodness and light. These December 1972–May 1973 Saturday
spheres represent state socialism and capitalism, re- 10:00–11:00
spectively, as captured by a close-up of the East Ger-
man Colonel Barty’s highly polished boot grinding a Cast (1988–1990)
little girl’s lost doll into the mud as he arrests her de- Jim Phelps Peter Graves
fecting family. The shooting script calls for Graves to Nicholas Black Thaao Penghis
have a “broad American smile” to contrast him with a Max Harte Antony
“slow, unfriendly” East German. The cut from un- Hamilton
pleasantness at the Berlin Wall to Jim playing golf Grant Collier Phil Morris
fully achieves the establishment of a lifestyle and Casey Randall (1988–89) Terry Markwell
1510
Monkees, The
Shannon Reed (1989–90) Jane Badler Further Reading

The Voice on the Disk Bob Johnson Beatie, Bruce A., “The Myth of the Hero: From Mission: Im-
possible to Magdalenian Caves,” in The Hero in Transition,
Producers edited by Ray B. Browne and Marshall W. Fishwick, Bowl-
Michael Fisher, Walter Brough ing Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press,
1983
Buxton, David, From The Avengers to Miami Vice: Form and
Programming History Ideology in Television Series, Manchester, United Kingdom:
ABC Manchester University Press, 1990
October 1988–January 1989 Sunday Lewis, Richard Warren, “Is This Mission Possible? The IM
8:00–9:00 Force Struggles to Overcome Cast Changes, Power Plays,
January 1989–July 1989 Saturday Hollywood Intrigue,” TV Guide (1969)
Miller, Toby, “Mission: Impossible and the New International
8:00–9:00 Division of Labour,” Metro-Media and Education Magazine
August 1989 Thursday (autumn 1990)
9:00–10:00 Miller, Toby, “Mission Impossible: How Do You Turn In-
September 1989–December 1989 Thursday dooroopilly into Africa?,” in Queensland Images in Film
8:00–9:00 and Television, edited by Jonathan Dawson and Bruce Mol-
loy, St. Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland Press,
January 1990–February 1990 Saturday 1990
8:00–9:00 White, Patrick J., The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier,
May 1990–June 1990 Saturday New York: Avon, 1991
8:00–9:00
Mr. Bean. See Atkinson, Rowan
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. See Rogers, Fred McFeely
Monkees, The
U.S. Musical Situation Comedy
The Monkees, a situation comedy about a struggling casting System (CBS) from 1969 to 1973 and on Mu-
rock-and-roll band of the same name, originally aired sic Television (MTV), Nick at Nite, and other cable
on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) from and syndicated venues since the 1980s.
1966 to 1968. During its 58-episode run, the program Inspired by the success of the two Beatles films di-
was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Pro- rected by Richard Lester, the show was aimed at 1960s
gram in 1967. The show’s popularity has continued, American youth culture. Considerable controversy
with reruns being broadcast on the Columbia Broad- surrounded the show because the band, four young
1511
Monkees, The
the actors did not play their own musical instru-

ments—on the recordings or in the series. The contro-
versy rising from this “revelation” was further
exacerbated when the actors embarked on a concert
tour. Despite these issues, the Monkees became teen
idols, sold millions of records, and were heavily mer-
chandised.
The show was innovative in both form and content,
violating the conventions of realist television.
Episodes were characterized by self-reflexive tech-
niques such as distorted focus, direct address of the
camera, the incorporation of outtakes and screen tests,
fast and slow-motion effects, and continuity errors. In
all, however, the television version of “psychedelic”
cinema was tamed for the domestic medium, and the
boys generally engaged in wholesome, if quirky, fun.
“Monkee Mania” experienced a renewal in the
1980s, when the program was rerun on MTV. The pop-
ularity of the show with contemporary youth audi-
ences has led to reissue of recordings; fan conventions,
magazines, and websites; and several concert tours by
three of the original members (Dolenz, Jones, and
Tork).
Frances Gateward
See also Music on Television
The Monkees, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith,

Davy Jones, 1966–68. Cast (as themselves)
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Davy Jones
Mike Nesmith
men who “portrayed themselves,” was “manufac- Peter Tork
tured” by Raybert Productions. In 1965 an advertise- Mickey Dolenz
ment appeared in Daily Variety, a major U.S. trade
publication for the film and television industry, re-
questing responses from “4 insane boys aged 17–21.” Producers
More than 400 individuals replied. Robert Rafelson, Ward Sylvester
Though Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, two of the
young men selected for the program, had some previ-
ous musical experience, the other two, Davy Jones and Programming History
Mickey Dolenz, had none. Several recordings, closely 58 episodes
tied to the series, were released and became commer- NBC
cial successes. Then it also became widely known that September 1966–August 1968 Monday 7:30–8:00
1512
Monkhouse, Bob
Monkhouse, Bob (1928–2003)

British Comedian
Bob Monkhouse was one of British television’s most excellence. He hosted numerous game shows, includ-
prolific performers, indelibly etched on the minds of ing Family Fortunes, $64,000 Question, Bob’s Full
the public as the smooth, wise-cracking host of count- House, Bob Says Opportunity Knocks, and Wipe Out.
less game shows. Initially a stand-up comic, However, while thoroughly professional and able to
Monkhouse’s early years were spent writing gags for put contestants at their ease, Monkhouse had a reputa-
himself and other performers. He made a number of tion for being smarmy and often played on this aspect
guest appearances on TV shows before he and then of his persona.
writing partner Denis Goodwin finally landed their In 1993 Monkhouse diversified into straight drama
own television series in 1953 with Fast and Loose, a with a role in Yorkshire Television’s All or Nothing at
comedy sketch show. With the arrival of Britain’s All, which also starred comedian Hugh Laurie. It was a
commercial channel in 1955, Monkhouse was able to proficient performance. In 2000 he lent his voice to the
diversify. He and coproducer Jonathan Routh fooled lead character in the animated series Aaagh! It’s the
members of the public with various scams in the Mr. Hell Show. A darkly comic cartoon, this program
British version of Candid Camera.
Always a fan of the great silent comedians,
Monkhouse paid tribute to some of the men who had
inspired him in 1966 with Mad Movies. He also con-
tinued a punishing schedule of nightclub appearances,
before becoming a host of ATV’s Sunday night variety
show, The London Palladium Show, in 1967.
However, it was not until late 1967 that Monkhouse
became associated with ATV’s The Golden Shot, the
series that made him a truly household name. Initially
presented by Canadian Jackie Rae, this game show
featured members of the audience who, to win prizes,
guided, via the telephone, a blindfolded marksman to
fire a crossbow into a target. In later stages of the
game, the audience members were firing the cross-
bows themselves. From the start, Monkhouse was de-
termined that he should be the presenter, and he even
went to the expense of having a telerecording made of
the episode in which he made a guest appearance so
that Lew Grade, head of ATV, could see how
Monkhouse could rescue what was then a fading show.
Monkhouse also instigated the show’s catchphrase,
used when asking the studio hand to load the bolt:
“Bernie, the bolt.”
Monkhouse did indeed rescue the program, not only
enlivening it with his wise-cracking comedy but also
changing the format, simplifying it, and making it
more visually appealing and exciting. Thus began a ca-
reer as a host of game and quiz shows. In 1975 ATV
adapted the American program Hollywood Squares,
which was hosted by Monkhouse as Celebrity Squares. Bob Monkhouse.
Once again, he was the fast-talking, ad-libbing host par Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1513
Monkhouse, Bob
has aired in the United States and Canada as well as in 1978–81 I’m Bob, He’s Dickie!
the United Kingdom. 1979 Bonkers
Throughout his television career, Monkhouse con- 1979–83 Family Fortunes
tinued his stand-up comedy act in nightclubs across 1983–86 Bob Monkhouse Tonight
England, and in recent years he had something of a re- 1984–90 Bob’s Full House
naissance and made a comeback as a TV comic, hav- 1987–89 Bob Says Opportunity Knocks
ing been “rediscovered” by a younger generation of 1990–93 The $64,000 Question
comics along with the likes of Ken Dodd and the late 1991 Bob’s Your Uncle
Frankie Howerd. He is probably deserving of “cult” 1993 All or Nothing at All
status. The culmination of his return to comic form 1994 An Audience with Bob Monkhouse
was the 1995–96 series Bob Monkhouse on the Spot, 1995–96 Bob Monkhouse on the Spot
scheduled late Saturday evening on the mainstream 1996– The National Lottery Live
British Broadcasting Corporation network BBC 1 and 1997 What a Performance!
billed as a version of his cabaret act. This was a 1998– Wipe Out
raunchier and racier Monkhouse than the TV public 2000 Aaagh! It’s the Mr. Hell Show
was used to seeing, and because the programs were (voice of Mr. Hell)
recorded close to transmission, they were filled with
topical gags. Television Specials (selected)
Monkhouse’s television career spanned half a cen- 1956 The Bob Monkhouse Show
tury, and he generally received top billing in his TV 1957 Beat Up the Town
ventures. Monkhouse passed away on December 29, 1957 Cyril’s Saga (writer only)
2003. 1958 The Bob Monkhouse Show
Pamela Rostron 1966 Mad Movies
1967 Bug
Bob Monkhouse. Born in Beckenham, Kent, England, 1969 Friends in High Places
June 1, 1928. Attended Dulwich College. Married: 1) 1972 The Bob Monkhouse Comedy Hour
Elizabeth, 1949 (divorced, 1972); children: Abigail, 1972 The Bob Monkhouse Disturbance
Gary, and Simon; 2) Jacqueline, 1973. Trained as a 1973 The Bob Monkhouse Offensive
cartoon film animator with Gaumont British; started 1973 The Bob Monkhouse Breakdown
performing as comedian while member of the Royal 1994 An Audience with Bob Monkhouse
Air Force, 1947–49; formed successful writing part- 1998 Bob Monkhouse on Campus
nership with Denis Goodwin; became BBC’s first con-
tract comedian, performing on the Work Wonders radio Films
show, 1949; starred in own radio show, 1949–83; Secret People, 1951; All in Good Fun, 1956; Carry on
starred in first television series, 1953; built up reputa- Sergeant, 1958; Dentist in the Chair, 1960; Dentist
tion as major cabaret attraction worldwide; host and on the Job, 1961; She’ll Have to Go, 1962; A Week-
guest performer on many BBC and ITV programs. Of- end with Lulu, 1962; Thunderbirds Are Go, 1966;
ficer of the Order of the British Empire, 1993. Recipi- Up the Junction, 1967; The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom,
ent: Top Comedian in Cabaret, 1981, 1987; 1968; Simon Simon, 1970; Out of Order, 1983.
After-Dinner Speaker of the Year, 1989. Died Decem-
ber 29, 2003. Radio (selected)
Work Wonders, 1949; Hello Playmates (also co-
Television Series (selected)
writer), 1954; Punchline; Bob Hope’s 80th Anniver-
1954–55 Fast and Loose
sary; Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Hammerstein; Mostly
1956 Do You Trust Your Wife?
Monkhouse; In the Psychiatrist’s Chair.
1957 Bury Your Hatchet
1957–58 Early to Braden (writer only)
Stage (selected)
1958–63 The Bob Monkhouse Hour
Start Time with Bob; Aladdin; Boy from Syracuse;
1960–67 Candid Camera
Come Blow Your Horn.
1964 The Big Noise
1967 The London Palladium Show
Publications
1967–71,
1974–75 The Golden Shot Just a Few Words: The Complete Speakers’ Hand-
1975–79, book, 1988, revised edition, 1998
1993–94 Celebrity Squares Crying with Laughter (autobiography), 1993
1514
Monty Python’s Flying Circus

British Sketch Comedy/Farce/Parody/Satire Series
Monty Python’s Flying Circus first appeared on the tory of Britain. The cross-pollination of talent during
British Broadcasting Corporation’s BBC 1 on October these days eventually brought the future Pythons to-
5, 1969. It was a new type of program for the national gether. They approached the BBC with a program idea,
channel, and its appearance at the end of the decade and it was accepted, not without some trepidation by
seemed fitting. The show was created by six young the network. When Gilliam was brought into the group
men (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, to provide animation, Monty Python was formed.
Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) whose ideas The programs reflect the influence of several British
of comedy and television were clearly nontraditional. radio programs from the 1950s—most notably The
Monty Python’s style—free form, nonlinear, deeply Goon Show, which featured, among others, Peter Sell-
sarcastic, satirical, and anarchic—seemed somehow to ers. The energy and disregard for rules that hallmarked
reflect the times. It mocked all conventions that pro- The Goon Show are clearly evident in the Python TV
ceeded it, particularly the conventions of television. show. In turn, Monty Python’s Flying Circus has exer-
The last episode aired on the BBC on December 5, cised its own influence on such television programs as
1974, after the production of 45 installments. The first Saturday Night Live, SCTV, Kids in the Hall, and The
39 were titled Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The final Young Ones. The essential disrespect for authority that
six episodes, all created without Cleese, who had tired links each of these programs can ultimately be traced
of the show, were called Monty Python. In addition, through the Pythons back to The Goon Show.
the team produced two shows for German television, The content of Monty Python’s Flying Circus was
each running 50 minutes. The second of these two designed to be disconcerting to viewers who expected
shows, which consisted mostly of new material, was to see typical television fare. This was obvious from
shown in England on BBC 2 in 1973. The Pythons ex- the very first episode. The opening “discussion” fea-
panded into other media as the result of their TV suc- tured a farmer who believes his sheep are birds and
cess. They created four Python movies (And Now for that they nest in trees. This bit was followed by a con-
Something Completely Different, Monty Python and versation between two Frenchmen who consider the
the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and commercial potential of flying sheep. Just as viewers
Monty Python’s Meaning of Life), several audio thought they were beginning to understand the flow of
recordings, and several books relating to the programs the show, it cut to a shot of a man behind a news desk
and films. In England and North America, the group announcing, “And now for something completely dif-
also performed several live stage shows comprised of ferent,” and the scene shifted to a totally unrelated
various sketches and songs from the television pro- topic. The thread might return to a previous sketch, but
gram. more often there was no closure, only more frag-
Of the cast, all but Gilliam were Englishmen who mented scenes. Interspersed throughout were Gilliam’s
developed their interest in comedy while students at animations, often stop-action collages in which skulls
university (Palin and Jones at Oxford; Chapman, opened to reveal dancing women or various body parts
Cleese, and Idle at Cambridge). Gilliam was an Amer- were severed. The macabre and disorienting were ba-
ican from California via Minnesota. Although he did sic elements of the show.
appear on camera occasionally, Gilliam’s primary con- Opening title sequences were not always found at the
tribution to the TV shows was his eclectic animation, beginning of the program, frequently appearing instead
which usually served, in various ways, to link the midway through the show or even later. In one install-
sketches. ment, there were no opening titles. Another element of
Each of the British members of the troupe had previ- the opening sequence was the “It’s” man, a scruffy old
ous television and stage experience as writers and per- sort who would be seen running, eventually reaching
formers. Their pre-Python credits included the satirical the camera. As he breathlessly croaks, “It’s . . . ,” the
That Was the Week That Was, The Frost Report (with scene would shift dramatically. The theme music
David Frost, a regular target of the group’s arrows), Do (Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March”) was chosen because,
Not Adjust Your Set, and The Complete and Utter His- among other reasons, it was free from copyright fees.
1515
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Michael
Palin (in front), 1969–74 TV Series.
Several of the sketches from the series became fa- the program. The American Broadcasting Company
vorites of fans but not necessarily of the performers. (ABC) purchased the rights to the six-episode fourth
“The Ministry of Silly Walks” virtually became year of Monty Python, but when the show was aired,
Cleese’s signature, much to his displeasure, and “The the episodes had been censored and edited to fit the re-
Dead Parrot Sketch” had to be repeated any time strictions of American commercial TV. The group went
Cleese and Palin appeared together. The group’s por- to court to prevent further cuts, but ABC was able to air
trayal of middle-aged women (known as Pepperpots the second show with only a minor disclaimer. As a re-
among the group) was a popular recurring theme as sult of the case, the Pythons gained ownership of the
well. “Mr. Nudge,” “The Spanish Inquisition,” “The copyright outside Great Britain.
Upper-Class Twit of the Year,” “The Lumberjack Individual members of the group have gone on to
Song,” and “Scott of the Antarctic” are among the bits acclaim in film and television. As writers, producers,
that have remained fan favorites. directors, and performers, all carry with them residual
Monty Python’s Flying Circus began appearing in the elements of Monty Python. Graham Chapman died in
United States on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) 1989.
stations in 1974. Its popularity grew, and it quickly be- Geoffrey Hammill
came a cult favorite. Several commercial stations, hav-
ing noticed it on the public stations, also began to air See also Cleese, John; Palin, Michael
1516
Moonlighting
Cast Further Reading

Graham Chapman “And Now for Something Completely Different . . . ,” The
John Cleese Economist (October 20, 1990)
Terry Gilliam Clifford, Andrew, “Caught in the Act,” New Statesman and So-
Eric Idle ciety (September 29, 1989)
Terry Jones Hewison, Robert, Monty Python: The Case Against Irreverence,
Scurrility, Profanity, Vilification, and Licentious Abuse, New
Michael Palin York: Grove, 1981
Johnson, Kim, The First 20 Years of Monty Python, New York:
Producer St. Martin’s Press, 1989
Johnson, Kim, Life (Before and) After Monty Python: The Solo
John Howard Davies Flights of the Flying Circus, New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1993
Programming History McCall, Douglas L., Monty Python: A Chronological Listing
45 30-minute episodes of the Troupe’s Creative Output, and Articles and Re-
BBC views About Them, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland,
October 1969–January 1970 1991
Perry, George C., Life of Python, Boston: Little, Brown,
September 1970–December 1970 1983
October 1972–January 1973 Schmidt, William E., “Still Zany, Python and Cult Turn 25,”
October 1974–December 1974 New York Times (September 18, 1994)
Moonlighting
U.S. Detective Comedy/Drama
Moonlighting, an hour-long episodic series that aired attired, snobbish Maddie lasted for two seasons. After
on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from this point, complications on and off the set led to a
1985 to 1989, signaled the emergence of “dramedy” as plotline in which Maddie juggled relationships with
a television genre. After the series finished its first sea- David and another suitor, briefly married a third man,
son in a ratings tie for 20th place, it rose to 9th place in had the marriage annulled, and suffered a miscarriage.
1986–87 and tied for 12th place the following season The series’ importance lies not so much in its convo-
(in which only 14 new episodes were made). The inno- luted plots as in its unique and sustained fusion of ele-
vative qualities of the program were noted by its nom- ments characteristically associated with two distinct
ination, for the first time in the 50-year history of the genres into the emergent genre of dramedy. On the one
Directors Guild of America, for both Best Drama and hand, Moonlighting clearly exhibits the semantic fea-
Best Comedy. tures of television drama: serious subject matter deal-
Produced by Glen Gordon Caron, Moonlighting fea- ing with incidents of sufficient magnitude that it
tured high-fashion model Maddie Hayes (played by arouses pity and fear; rounded, complex central char-
real-life former high-fashion model Cybill Shepherd) acters who are neither thoroughly admirable nor despi-
and fast-talking private eye David Addison (played by cable; textured lighting—both the hard “tele-noir” and
then-unknown Bruce Willis). The series’ story began diffused lighting accompanied by soft camera focus;
after Maddie’s business manager embezzled most of multiple exterior and interior settings; and single-
her fortune, leaving her with her house and the Blue camera shooting on film. On the other hand, the series
Moon Detective Agency, designed by the wily accoun- combines the “serious” elements with the syntactic
tant as nothing more than a tax write-off and consisting features of television comedy. These comedic features
of detective David Addison and secretary Agnes include a four-part narrative structure (consisting of
Dipesto (played by Allyce Beasley). The romantic ten- the situation, complication, confusion, and resolution);
sion between David, a smart, slovenly, party animal the metatextual practices of verbal self-reflexivity, mu-
and womanizer, and the beautiful, haute couture– sical self-reflexivity, and intertextuality; repetition
1517
Moonlighting
and invite them to question and appreciate the artistic

possibilities and limitations of generic forms. Moon-
lighting’s use of these metatextual practices signifies
its recognition of the traditions that have shaped it as
well as its self-conscious comments on its departure
from those traditions; thus, the series displays charac-
teristics typically attributed to works regarded as
highly artistic.
The series’ artistry in fusing the genre features of
drama and comedy in such a way that it was both pop-
ular and critically acclaimed paved the way for such
other innovative “dramedic” ventures as Frank’s
Place, Northern Exposure, Sports Night, and Ally
McBeal. Moonlighting also led a number of critics to
declare that, with Moonlighting, American television
had finally come of age as an art form.
Leah R. Vande Berg
See also Detective Programs; Dramedy
Moonlighting, Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd, 1985–89.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Cast
Maddie Hayes Cybill Shepherd
(i.e., the doubling, tripling, and compounding of the David Addison Bruce Willis
same action or incident until the repetition itself be- Agnes Dipesto Alice Beasley
comes humorous); witty repartee; hyperbolic coinci- Herbert Viola (1986–89) Curtis Armstrong
dence; and a governing benevolent moral principle Virginia Hayes (1987–88) Eva Marie Saint
within which the violent, confused, often ironic dra- Alex Hayes (1987–88) Robert Webber
mas of good and evil and seriousness and silliness MacGilicuddy (1988–89) Jack Blessing
were played out.
A full appreciation of the sophistication of Moon- Producers
lighting involves a level of cultural literacy (both pop- Glenn Gordon Caron, Jay Daniel
ular and classic) rarely required by prime-time
television series, which was one reason the series drew Programming History
accolades from critics early on. Titles of Moonlighting 65 episodes
episodes intertextually referenced the narrative ABC
premises as well as titles, authors, and even visual March 1985 Sunday
techniques of films, novels, dramas, poems, and plays 9:00–11:00
from the 16th century through the present (e.g., “It’s a March 1985–April 1985 Tuesday
Wonderful Job,” “The Dream Sequence Always Rings 10:00–11:00
Twice,” “Atlas Belched,” “Brother, Can You Spare a April 1985–September 1988 Tuesday
Blonde,” “Twas the Episode Before Christmas,” and 9:00–10:00
“The Lady in the Iron Mask”). Another episode titled December 1988–February 1989 Tuesday
“Atomic Shakespeare” provided a feminist version of 9:00–10:00
“The Taming of the Shrew,” performed, except for the April 1989–May 1989 Sunday 8:00–9:00
bookend scenes, entirely in iambic pentameter. Addi-
tionally, in many episodes, protagonists Maddie and Further Reading
David break the theatrical “fourth wall” convention Caldwell, John Thornton, “Masquerade,” in his Televisuality:
with self-reflexive references to themselves as actors Style, Crisis, and Authority in American Television, New
in a television program or to the commercial nature of Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1995
the television medium. Such metatextual practices are Finnerman, G.P., “Moonlighting: Here’s Looking at You Kid,”
techniques of defamiliarization that, according to cer- American Cinematographer (April 1989)
Joyrich, Lynne, “Tube Tied: Reproductive Politics and Moon-
tain formalist critical theories, epitomize the experi- lighting,” in Modernity and Mass Culture, edited by James
ence and purpose of art; they jar viewers out of the Naremore and Patrick Brantlinger, Bloomington: Indiana
complacent, narcotic-like pleasure of familiar forms University Press, 1991
1518
Moonves, Leslie R.
Radner, Hilary, “Quality Television and Feminine Narcissism: gent Generic Hybrid,” Communication Studies, 40 (1989)
The Shrew and the Covergirl,” Genders, 8 (1991) Williams, J.P., “The Mystique of Moonlighting: ‘When You
Sunila, J., “Focus: More Wordplay, I Pray,” Emmy (April/May Care Enough to Watch the Very Best,’” Journal of Popular
1987) Film and Television, 16 (1988)
Vande Berg, Leah R., “Dramedy: Moonlighting as an Emer-
Moonves, Leslie R. (1949– )

U.S. Media Executive, President and CEO of CBS Television
Leslie R. Moonves, as president and chief executive Race into a nightly prime-time lineup dominated by
officer of Viacom’s CBS entertainment division, stalwarts such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Touched
changed programming for U.S. network television by an Angel, and 60 Minutes. This mix has kept CBS
during the 1990s. Moonves found that alternative tele- ahead in the ratings race in the face of challenges by
vision shows, when mixed into a traditional schedule ABC’s fad game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
of situation comedies and dramas, could succeed FOX’s younger focus, and NBC’s aging lineup of
against the emergence of burgeoning competing me- quality programming. Where other broadcast program-
dia. mers attempted to deal with lost audiences and adver-
Moonves has made a career of creating successful tising dollars by finding fast fixes or by staying loyal to
programming for broadcast television. Often, network old programming concepts, Moonves succeeded by
executives in the 1990s ascended to their leadership trailblazing with new show concepts, pretesting most
positions after climbing a ladder of successive jobs show episodes with audience focus groups before
inside one company. For many of Moonves’s con- those episodes aired, and closely managing staff, in-
temporaries, such as Robert Iger of the American cluding personally evaluating contestants before cast-
Broadcasting Company (ABC), the path to upper man- ing completed for CBS’s unscripted adventure
agement included earlier jobs at one network in pro- programs.
gram development, show scheduling, daytime Moonves had initially chosen acting as a career
programming, or production administration. Moonves, path. He attended Bucknell University. As a senior, he
however, worked at studios that produced series for became interested in acting. In 1971, after graduating
network airing. The Columbia Broadcasting System with a degree in Spanish, he moved to New York City
(CBS) recruited him to become its entertainment pres- and studied with Sanford Meisner at New York’s
ident when Moonves presided over Warner Brothers Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. When
television division. At the time, Warner Brothers was a Moonves’s acting career was not immediately success-
chief supplier for ABC, CBS, and the National Broad- ful, he moved to Los Angeles, where he won roles in
casting Company (NBC), with more than 20 programs television programs such as Gemini Man, Cannon, and
on prime-time schedules. The Six Million Dollar Man.
Moonves began his tenure at CBS at a time when Eventually, he became a development executive
new media technologies had caused the erosion of with Gregory Harrison’s Catalina Productions. The
broadcasters’ audience shares. After Congress passed company operated the Coast Playhouse and later pro-
the Cable Communications Act of 1984 and videocas- duced movies for television. In 1981 Moonves and
sette recorders became standard household appliances, Catalina produced a stage version of “The Hasty
marketplace competition forced television program- Heart.” The production moved to the Los Angeles Mu-
mers to accept smaller audiences. To lead CBS, sic Center’s Ahmanson Theatre. That year, the play
Moonves had to create a new identity, find a younger won several Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Awards,
audience, and yet still entertain a mass audience that including Best Production of the Year. Showtime
would seek out CBS for news, sports, entertainment, filmed and cablecast the play.
and children’s programming. Through his friendship with Warren Littlefield,
Moonves’s reinvention of CBS blended unscripted Moonves changed his emphasis to television produc-
reality programs such as Survivor and The Amazing tion and became a development executive at Saul Ilson
1519
Moonves, Leslie R.
Productions. Moonves served as vice president for de- television production unit with CBS, placing it under
velopment before moving to 20th Century-Fox Televi- Moonves’s command. In December 2001, Viacom
sion as vice president of movies and miniseries. Next, placed a second television network under Moonves’s
Moonves joined Lorimar as executive vice president control. After the Federal Communications Commis-
for creative affairs and was promoted to president of sion changed its dual ownership rules in April 2001,
television production. In 1988 Lorimar merged with the company had the right to operate Paramount’s TV
Warner Brothers Studios. While at Lorimar, Moonves network, the United Paramount Network (UPN),
was responsible for the development and production of alongside CBS. Moonves now oversees UPN as well.
the shows, overseeing Dallas and Knots Landing while Moonves serves on the board of directors of Via-
developing dramas such as the critically acclaimed but com, Americans for the Arts National Policy Board,
viewer-ignored I’ll Fly Away and Max Headroom and the Los Angeles Free Clinic, and the board of gover-
the sitcom Full House. nors of the annual Banff Television Festival. He is a
Moonves left the presidency at Warner Brothers member of President Clinton’s Advisory Committee
Television for the entertainment president position at on the Arts, the board of directors of the Los Angeles
CBS in July 1995. He was promoted to his current post Free Clinic, and both the executive committee and
in April 1998. board of governors of the Academy of Television Arts
While keeping his network ahead, Moonves has and Sciences. He serves on the board of trustees of the
found time to devote to television’s future. In Novem- Entertainment Industries Council, the Motion Picture
ber 1999, the National Association for the Advance- Association of America’s Executive Committee on
ment of Colored People (NAACP) reported that Television Violence, and the board of governors of the
television characters do not emulate national racial and UCLA Center for Communications Policy. He is a
ethnic diversity. Moonves represented CBS at those trustee of the National Council for Families and Tele-
hearings and testified that he recognized the problem vision and is past president of the Hollywood Radio
and would work to correct it. In February 2000, and Television Society.
Moonves signed a contract with the NAACP, promis- Joan Giglione
ing to create a greater numbers of realistic roles for
African Americans and to expand the roles of African See also Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
Americans at CBS. That year, CBS went forward with
the medical drama City of Angels, with a predomi- Leslie R. Moonves. Born October 6, 1949. Attended
nantly African-American cast and production team. Bucknell University, B.A. Spanish, 1971. Married:
CBS aired 23 episodes of the hospital series before its Nancy, 1979; children: Adam, Sara, and Michael.
cancellation. Named vice president, Lorimar Productions, 1985.
President Clinton appointed Moonves cochair of the Named head of creative affairs, Lorimar Television,
Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obliga- 1988. Promoted to president, 1989. Named president
tions of Digital Television Broadcasters (also known of Warner Brothers Television, 1993. Appointed to
as the Public Interest Council). The committee was de- presidency of CBS Entertainment and executive vice
signed to study and make recommendations on the presidency, CBS/Broadcast Group, 1995. Named Pres-
public interest responsibilities accompanying broad- ident and chief executive officer of CBS Television,
casters’ receipt of digital television licenses. The com- 1998. Recipient: Bucknell University’s Achievement
mittee completed its recommendations in 1998 and in Chosen Profession Award, 2002; International Ra-
advised broadcasters to meet digital public interest ob- dio and Television Society Award for Significant
ligations by voluntarily airing nightly, five-minute can- Achievement, 1999; Los Angeles Sports & Entertain-
didate discourses beginning a month prior to every ment Commission 2nd Annual Award of Excellence,
election. 2001; Bucknell’s Academy of Artistic Achievement
When Viacom merged with CBS, Moonves’s influ- Award, 1995; Casting Society of America Career
ence grew, as he was promoted to chief executive offi- Achievement Award and Caucus for Producers, Writ-
cer. Next, Viacom merged its Paramount Studios ers and Directors Executive of the Year Award, 1993.
1520
Moore, Garry
Moore, Garry (1915–1993)

U.S. Television Personality
Garry Moore, genial host of numerous successful net- Moore’s daytime program format was flexible but
work television programs throughout the 1950s and generally included humorous skits, singing, mono-
1960s, played a major role in making the medium ac- logues, and studio-audience interaction. Regular per-
ceptable to American viewers during its early decades. formers were featured along with special guests.
During his long broadcast career, Moore appeared reg- Supporting Moore with the various program segments
ularly during prime-time hours as well as other time were singers Denise Lor and Ken Carson and an-
periods; like Arthur Godfrey, he hosted prominent day- nouncer and sidekick Durward Kirby. Comedians Don
time and weekly evening shows, which contributed to Adams, George Gobel, Don Knotts, and Jonathan
his immense popularity. His programs were frequently Winters made their earliest television appearances on
among the top-ten prime-time programs. As a come- Moore’s show, contributing to the entertaining tone
dian, Moore combined genial humor with a pleasant and boosting their individual careers. The Garry
personality and a relaxed style that made him a fa- Moore Show remained on the air until mid-1958, when
vorite with audiences. Moore voluntarily relinquished his hosting duties ow-
Moore originally worked as a network radio come- ing to the exhausting work schedule. By the 1958 fall
dian and writer known by his real name, Thomas season, Moore returned to CBS, hosting a weekly
Garrison Morfit. Because Morfit was difficult to pro- evening program, again called The Garry Moore Show.
nounce, an on-air contest to select a stage name was
conducted. Beginning in 1940, he became known to
the listening audience as Garry Moore.
In 1949 CBS Radio originated The Garry Moore
Show, a daily one-hour variety program produced in
Hollywood. Network programmers recognized a suc-
cessful radio personality in Moore, and given the need
for programming talent on its young television net-
work, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) pro-
vided the opportunity for Moore to host a variety
television show in New York. When The Garry Moore
Show was introduced on CBS Television in 1950,
Moore established a distinctive on-air identity with his
crew-cut hair and bow tie–wearing image. His physi-
cal appearance enhanced his casual demeanor and
easygoing conversational style, which became familiar
to home viewers.
Moore’s initial telecasts followed a somewhat
checkerboard scheduling pattern. Beginning as a 30-
minute evening series, live Monday through Friday,
The Garry Moore Show made its television debut in
June 1950. By August, the program changed to one
night per week and expanded to an hour in length. For
its fall 1950 lineup, CBS scheduled Moore weekday af-
ternoons, a move that lasted eight years. By 1951 The
Garry Moore Show reportedly was the second-largest
revenue source for CBS, and for a time the network
could not accommodate all the potential sponsors The Garry Moore Evening Show, Garry Moore, 1951.
awaiting the opportunity to advertise on the program. Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1521
Moore, Garry
The hour-long evening series followed a format See also I’ve Got A Secret; Talk Shows
similar to Moore’s daytime variety program. During its
six-year run, The Garry Moore Show introduced come- Garry Moore. Born Thomas Garrison Morfit in Balti-
dian Carol Burnett, who later starred in her own suc- more, Maryland, January 31, 1915. Married: 1)
cessful CBS show during the 1960s and 1970s. Other Eleanor Borum Little, 1939 (died, 1974); children:
comedic and musical talents regularly appearing on John Mason Morfit and Thomas Garrison Morfit; 2)
the Moore nighttime variety show included Durward Mary Elizabeth De Chant, 1975. Writer and actor, ra-
Kirby, Marion Lorne, and Dorothy Loudon. Allen dio station WBAL, Baltimore, 1935–38; news an-
Funt’s “Candid Camera” became a regular segment on nouncer and sports commentator, radio station KWK,
the program. Another popular weekly feature was a St. Louis, Missouri, 1939; star and writer, NBC Blue
lengthy nostalgia segment known as “That Wonderful Network’s Club Matinee, 1939–43; New York emcee,
Year.” Given the grueling work required to produce the NBC’s Everything Goes, 1942; costar and writer,
show, Moore decided to discontinue the program in Jimmy Durante–Garry Moore Show, 1943–48; host,
1964. He reappeared in 1966 as host of yet another NBC’s Take It or Leave It, 1948–50; star, CBS radio
weekly Garry Moore Show variety series, but after five show Garry Moore Show, 1949–50; star, CBS-TV’s
months of competition with Bonanza, CBS canceled Garry Moore Show, 1950–58, 1958–64, 1966–67;
the show because of poor ratings. moderator, I’ve Got a Secret, 1952–64; substitute host,
In addition to hosting several variety shows, Garry Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, 1953; host, syndicated
Moore moderated two television panel quiz programs, television quiz show To Tell the Truth, 1969–77. Mem-
I’ve Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth. He began a 12- ber: National Academy of Television Arts and Sci-
year reign as moderator of Goodson-Todman Produc- ences. Died on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina,
tions’ I’ve Got a Secret in 1952. This popular CBS November 28, 1993.
prime-time program featured celebrity panelists who
tried to guess the secret of ordinary and celebrity con- Television Series
testants. Panel members appearing through the years 1950–58, 1958–64, 1966–67 The Garry Moore
included Bill Cullen, Jayne Meadows, Henry Morgan, Show
Faye Emerson, and Betsy Palmer. I’ve Got a Secret was 1952–64 I’ve Got a Secret
among the A.C. Nielsen top-20 television programs for 1969–77 To Tell the Truth
seven years. It remained one of the most popular panel
programs ever on television. Goodson-Todman sold
I’ve Got a Secret to CBS and Moore in 1959, and he Radio
continued to moderate the show until 1964. Club Matinee, 1939–43; Jimmy Durante–Garry
To Tell the Truth, also from Goodson-Todman, was Moore Show, 1943–48; Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,
moderated for a decade by Bud Collyer before it was 1946 Take It or Leave It, 1948–50; The Garry
taken over by Moore when the program went into syn- Moore Show, 1949–50.
dication in 1969. Another half-hour celebrity panel
show, the object of To Tell the Truth was to determine Further Reading
which of three contestants was telling the truth. Regu-
Blumenthal, Norman, The TV Game Show Book, New York:
lar panelists included Orson Bean, Bill Cullen, Kitty Pyramid, 1975
Carlisle, and Peggy Cass. Moore left the program and DeLong, Thomas A., Quiz Craze: America’s Infatuation with
television for good in 1977, when he developed throat Game Shows, New York: Praeger, 1991
cancer. The wit, charm, and personality, so much a part Fabe, Maxine, TV Game Shows, Garden City, New York: Dou-
of Moore, influenced numerous television hosts both bleday, 1979
Graham, Jefferson, Come on Down!!!: The Game Show Book,
during and following his long career. He died from New York: Abbeville, 1988
emphysema in 1993 at age 78. Schwartz, David, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock, The Ency-
Dennis Harp clopedia of TV Game Shows, New York: Zoetrope, 1987
1522
Moore, Mary Tyler
Moore, Mary Tyler (1936– )

U.S. Actor
Mary Tyler Moore’s most enduring contributions to On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Moore played
television are in two classic sitcoms, The Dick Van Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman “mak-
Dyke Show (1961–66) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show ing it on her own” in 1970s Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(1970–77), although she has appeared in the medium in MTM first pitched her character to CBS as a young di-
a variety of roles both before and after these series. Her vorcée, but CBS executives believed that her role as
first on-camera television work was as a dancer, and it Laura Petrie was so firmly etched in the public mind
was as “Happy Hotpoint,” a singing and dancing fairy, that viewers would think that she had divorced Dick
that she first caught the public eye. Her first regular se- Van Dyke (and that the American public would not
ries role as Sam, the receptionist on Richard Diamond, find a divorced woman likable), so Richards was
Private Detective, was notable primarily because it fea- rewritten as a woman who had moved to the big city
tured only her dancer’s legs and voice. after ending a long affair. Richards lands a job working
As Laura Petrie, the beautiful, talented, and not-so- in the news department of fictional WJM-TV, where
typical suburban housewife married to comedy writer Moore’s all-American spunk plays off against the gruff
Rob (Dick Van Dyke) on The Dick Van Dyke Show, boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), world-weary writer Mur-
Moore earned critical praise (and Emmy Awards) as ray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and pompous anchor-
she laid the foundation for the wholesome but spunky man Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). In early seasons, her
identity that would mark her television career. Though
she lacked their experience in television comedy,
Moore was no mere “straight woman” to comedians
Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Morey Amsterdam, and Rose
Marie; she managed to stake out her own comic iden-
tity as a lovely and competent housewife who was fre-
quently thrown a curve by her husband’s unusual
friends and career. Thanks to the show’s explorations
of the Petries’ courtship (they met while he was in the
military and she a USO dancer), Moore was able to
display on the show her talents as both dancer and
singer as well as comedic actor. While The Dick Van
Dyke Show stopped production in 1966, it appeared in
reruns on the Columbia Broadcasting System’s
(CBS’s) daytime lineup until 1969, keeping Moore’s
perky persona in the public eye as she sought film roles
and stage work for the remainder of the decade.
On the basis of Moore’s popularity in The Dick Van
Dyke Show, CBS offered her a 13-episode contract to
develop her own series starting in 1970. Moore and her
then-husband Grant Tinker, a production executive at
20th Century-Fox at the time, used the opportunity to
set up their own production company, MTM Enter-
prises, to produce the show. Following the success of
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, MTM went on to pro-
duce a number of the most successful and critically
praised series of the 1970s and 1980s, with Moore’s
contributions limited mainly to input on her own Mary Tyler Moore.
show(s) and the use of her initials. Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1523
Moore, Mary Tyler
all-male work environment is counterbalanced by a See also The Dick Van Dyke Show; Gender and
primarily female home life, where again her character Television; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Tinker,
contrasts with her ditzy landlady Phyllis Lindstrom Grant
(Cloris Leachman) and her New York–born neighbor
and best friend, Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper). Mary Tyler Moore. Born in Brooklyn, New York, De-
Both the show and Moore were lauded for their realis- cember 29, 1936. Married: 1) Richard Meeker, 1955
tic portrayal of “new” women in the 1970s whose lives (divorced, 1962), child: Richard (deceased); 2) Grant
centered on work rather than family and for whom Tinker, 1963 (divorced, 1981); 3) Robert Levine,
men were colleagues rather than just potential mates. 1983. Began television career as “Happy Hotpoint,”
While Mary Richards’s apologetic manner may have dancing performer in appliance commercials, 1955;
undermined some of the messages of the women’s costarred in The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1961–66; televi-
movement, she also put a friendly face on the poten- sion guest appearances, 1960s and 1970s; cofounder,
tially threatening tenets of feminism, naturalizing with Tinker, of MTM Enterprises; starred in The Mary
some of the decade’s changes in the way women were Tyler Moore Show, 1970–77. Recipient: numerous
perceived both at home and at work. Emmy Awards; Golden Globe Award; named to Acad-
After The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its seven- emy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame,
year, award-winning run, Moore appeared in several 1987.
short-running series, including her attempt to revive
the musical variety show Mary (1978), which is best Television Series
remembered for a supporting cast that included the 1959 Richard Diamond, Private Detective
then-unknown David Letterman, Michael Keaton, and 1961–66 The Dick Van Dyke Show
Swoosie Kurtz. Moore’s later stage, feature film, and 1970–77 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
made-for-television movie efforts have represented 1978 Mary
successful efforts to break with the perky Laura 1979 The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
Petrie/Mary Richards persona. In the Academy 1985–86 Mary
Award–winning Ordinary People (1980), for example, 1988 Annie McGuire
Moore’s performance contrasts the publicly lovable 1995 New York News
suburban housewife—a Laura Petrie–type facade—
with her character’s private inability to love and nur-
ture her grief-stricken family; in Flirting with Disaster Made-for-Television Movies
(1996), she steals scenes as Ben Stiller’s vain adoptive 1979 Run a Crooked Mile
mother. Moore won a special Tony Award for her per- 1984 Heartsounds
formance as a quadriplegic who wanted to end her ex- 1985 Finnegan Begin Again
istence in Whose Life Is It, Anyway? And on television, 1988 Gore Vidal’s Lincoln
she has played everything from a breast cancer sur- 1990 Thanksgiving Day
vivor in First, You Cry to the troubled Mary Todd Lin- 1990 The Last Best Year
coln in Gore Vidal’s Lincoln to a villainous orphanage 1993 Stolen Babies
director in Stolen Babies. Still, Mary Richards contin- 1995 Stolen Memories: Secrets from the
ues to define Moore. In 2001 she and Valerie Harper Rose Garden
renewed their on-screen friendship in Mary and 1997 Payback
Rhoda, a made-for-television movie featuring their 2001 Mary and Rhoda (also producer)
Mary Tyler Moore Show characters. Originally pitched 2001 Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange
as a new series, Moore, Harper, and the American Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes
Broadcasting Company (ABC) opted out of a long- 2002 Miss Lettie and Me
term commitment despite the show’s high ratings. An- 2003 The Gin Game
other sign of Mary Richards’s enduring appeal came in 2003 Blessings
2001, when the city of Minneapolis and the cable net-
work TV Land unveiled a bronze statue of “Richards” Television Specials
tossing her famous beret into the air, as Moore did on 1969 Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman,
the opening credits of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In Mary Tyler Moore
recent years, Moore has devoted much of her attention 1974 We the Women (host and narrator)
to work for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Founda- 1976 Mary’s Incredible Dream
tion, the American Diabetes Association, and various 1978 CBS: On the Air (cohost)
animal rights organizations. 1978 How to Survive the 70s and Maybe
Susan McLeland Even Bump into Happiness (host)
1524
Moore, Roger
1991 Funny Women of Television Tulsa, 1997; Reno Finds Her Mom, 1997; Labor
1991 The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Pains, 2000; Cheaters, 2001.
The 20th Anniversary Show
1998 Three Cats from Miami and Other Publication
Pet Practitioners
1998 CBS: The First Fifty Years After All, 1995
Further Reading
Films
X-15, 1961; Thoroughly Modern Millie, 1967; What’s Alley, Robert, and Irby B. Brown, Love Is All Around: The Mak-
So Bad About Feeling Good?, 1968; Don’t Just ing of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, New York: Delta, 1989
Bonderoff, Jason, Mary Tyler Moore: A Biography, New York:
Stand There!, 1968; Change of Habit, 1970; Ordi- St. Martin’s Press, 1986
nary People, 1980; Six Weeks, 1982; Just Between Hingley, Audrey T., “Mary Tyler Moore: After All,” Saturday
Friends, 1986; Flirting with Disaster, 1996; Keys to Evening Post (November–December 1995)
Moore, Roger (1927– )

British Actor
Roger Moore settled into acting by 1948, appearing in had left the series. After one season on Maverick,
small roles on British television, radio, and repertory Moore left the series, which folded a year later.
theater. In 1953 Moore went to Hollywood, where he Moore returned to feature films. He made three
secured an MGM contract, appearing in minor roles in more features for Warners, including a western, Gold
four features over the next two years. He moved to for Seven Sinners (1961), a western vehicle for Clint
Warner Brothers and appeared in several features, in- Walker, the former star of Cheyenne, which was partly
cluding The Sins of Rachel Cade. In 1958 Moore reshot in Italy. Moore stayed two years in Italy, where he
turned to England for a year to star in the television made two Italian films.
series, Ivanhoe, a coproduction between Screen Gems After nearly ten years in film and television, Moore
of America and Sydney Box. The series was part of a was cast in the role of the Saint in the eponymous tele-
historical cycle in British television in the late 1950s, vision series in 1961. The role perfectly fit his persona
and the Ivanhoe series was an admirable effort in the of a sophisticated Englishman with more than a mod-
genre. The series was loosely based on the chivalric icum of intelligence, cunning, and toughness. While
exploits of Ivanhoe during the time of Prince John with
the hero drawn from the novel by Sir Walter Scott. As
the figure of the title, Moore was suitably dashing, an
energetic defender of the weak and the poor and a no-
bleman to boot.
Back in Hollywood with Warners in 1959, Moore
was given a starring role in the television series The
Alaskans. Moore played Silky Harris, an adventurer,
and already the suave sophistication that became a
later trademark was in evidence. The series was a vari-
ation on the one-hour western series that Warners had
been successfully churning out for several years, but
The Alaskans lasted only one season.
Moore was then cast in the western series Maverick
(1960). Cousin Beau, played by Moore, was sophisti-
cated and upper class but, unfortunately, lacked the Roger Moore.
comic touch of the original star, James Garner, who Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1525
Moore, Roger
some appearances in earlier U.S. television anthology See also Maverick

drama series, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, had
Moore playing such a figure, nothing in his previous Roger Moore. Born in London, England, October 14,
starring roles had capitalized on this side of Moore’s 1927. Attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Lon-
screen personality. The Saint expanded considerably don. Married: 1) Doorn van Steyn (divorced, 1953); 2)
on the type over seven years, through 114 filmed hours Dorothy Squires, 1953 (divorced, 1969); 3) Luisa Mat-
as well as two telefeatures. The series was produced in tioli; children: Geoffrey, Christian, and Deborah. Film
Britain by ITC/ATV and was based on the novels by cartoonist and model from the age of 16, before train-
Leslie Charteris. The Saint was a kind of modern ing as an actor; made film debut, 1945; after National
Robin Hood who used wealth, cunning, and sophisti- Service, worked as film actor; made television debut in
cation to help bring to justice criminals that the law Ivanhoe, 1958–59; television performer and star, from
had been unable to catch. The Saint taught Moore his 1960s; subsequently concentrated on film career, no-
trade and made him a large income. He became owner tably in seven films as James Bond. Recipient: Golden
of a textile mill, a director of the Faberge perfume op- Globe World Film Favorite Award, 1980.
eration, and co-owner of a film production company,
Barmoore, which produced later episodes of The Saint. Television Series
The series also gave him a chance to try his hand at di- 1958–59 Ivanhoe
recting. All together, he directed eight hour-long 1959–60 The Alaskans
episodes of The Saint and two hour-long episodes of 1957–62 Maverick
his next television series, The Persuaders. 1962–69 The Saint
This latter series was a kind of spin-off to The Saint 1971–72 The Persuaders
as far as Moore’s role was concerned. However, he no 2002 Alias (guest appearance)
longer played solo, being teamed with fading screen
idol Tony Curtis. The Persuaders was produced by a
company of Sir Lew Grade and ran for 24 hour-long
1977 Sherlock Holmes in New York
episodes in the 1971–72 season. The attempt to enlist
1992 The Man Who Wouldn’t Die
audience loyalties on both sides of the Atlantic was ob-
vious enough; nevertheless, the series had sufficient
action and adventure, usually in exotic locales, to keep Films
audiences happy and make the series popular. But it Caesar and Cleopatra, 1945; The Last Time I Saw
did little to advance Moore’s career after the achieve- Paris, 1954; Interrupted Melody, 1955; The King’s
ment of The Saint. The real break came in 1973, when Thief, 1955; Diane, 1955; The Miracle, 1959; The
Moore was cast as the second James Bond. Chosen Sins of Rachel Cade, 1961; Gold of the Seven
over actor Michael Caine, Moore’s casting as Bond Saints, 1961; Rape of the Sabines, 1961; No Man’s
was in line with the screen persona that had been elab- Land, 1961; Crossplot, 1969; The Man Who
orated over 15 years in television. Moreover, the work Haunted Himself, 1970; Live and Let Die, 1973;
in television had given Moore a fame and popularity The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974; Gold, 1974;
beyond anything Caine could muster from his film That Lucky Touch, 1975; Shout at the Devil, 1976;
work in the previous ten years. Street People, 1976; The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977;
The Bond role meant that Moore was now an interna- The Wild Geese, 1978; Escape from Athena, 1979;
tional star who no longer needed to play in television, Moonraker, 1979; North Sea Hijack, 1980; Sunday
but the general pattern of his career is a familiar and in- Lovers, 1980; The Sea Wolves, 1980; Cannonball
structive one regarding the younger medium. Moore de- Run, 1981; For Your Eyes Only, 1982; The Naked
cided on an acting career just as television was Face, 1983; Octopussy, 1983; A View to a Kill,
displacing feature films as the most popular form of 1985; Bed and Breakfast, 1989; Bullseye!, 1989;
screen entertainment. Television taught him his trade as Fire, Ice and Dynamite, 1990; The Quest, 1995;
an actor, allowing him the opportunity over several se- Spice World, 1997; Boat Trip, 2002, Victor, 2003.
ries to elaborate a screen personality that would later
stand him in good stead. After a long television appren- Publication
ticeship, he finally graduated to big-budget feature
James Bond Diary, 1973.
films, where he has worked ever since. The other signif-
icant feature of his career is the paradox that this British
star was in fact a product of the international television Further Reading
and film industries, if not the American industry. Owen, Gareth, and Oliver Bayan, Roger Moore: His Films and
Albert Moran Career, London: Robert Hale Ltd, 2002.
1526
Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise

British Comedy Act
Morecambe and Wise, a comic duo who developed stars appeared on stage, introduced their guests (who
their act in variety shows in provincial theaters, be- often appeared with them in short comic sketches),
came the popular stars of a long-running series that ended the show with a song-and-dance number, and
had a major influence on the development of British then returned for a curtain call. The jokes were usually
television comedy. Born Eric Bartholomew and Ernest old or dependent on excruciating puns and double en-
Wiseman, they adopted their stage names when they tendres. Their impact came from the contrast between
first teamed up in 1941, making their debut as a double the apparent weakness of the material and the valiant
act at the Liverpool Empire. They were both 15 and efforts of the comedians to make it funny. The show
had already gained experience working separately on provided the pleasures of familiarity amid the rapid so-
the music-hall circuit. Eric took his new name from the cial and cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s; how-
Lancashire seaside town where he was born, and, since ever, the familiar was always somehow skewed
Ernie came from Yorkshire, their northern working- because of the performers’ evident desire to succeed in
class origins remained a clear but unobtrusive part of the contemporary world.
their appeal. The comic personae of Morecambe and Wise also
After a break for national service, the act was recon- reflected this tension between the familiar and the
stituted in 1947 and went through a number of changes modern. Their appearance was mined for recurring
before developing the format that made them stars.
They started out by imitating comic routines from the
films of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, with fake
American accents and Eric in the role of the straight
man. It was not until they reversed their roles that their
ability to create characters out of the traditional roles
of comedian and straight man began to bring them
recognition.
A few radio engagements preceded their first at-
tempt to break into the emerging television field. Their
first television series, called Running Wild, was broad-
cast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in
1954 but was a short-lived failure. The Morecambe
and Wise Show first appeared on ATV in 1961 and
transferred to BBC 2 in 1968. Scripts were written by
Sid Green and Dick Hills, who often appeared in small
parts in the sketches. The series was briefly interrupted
when Eric suffered a heart attack in 1969 but returned
to renewed acclaim, with Eddie Braben as the new
scriptwriter.
Their success led to several invitations to appear at
Royal Command Performances, and they also made a
number of guest appearances in the United States on
The Ed Sullivan Show. Their three feature films, The
Intelligence Men (1965), That Riviera Touch (1966),
and The Magnificent Two (1967), were often funny but
failed to achieve either the inspiration or the popular
success of the television series. Morecambe & Wise, Eric Morecambe (w/glasses), Ernie Wise,
The originality of their show stemmed ironically 1967.
from its refusal to deny its theatrical origins. The two Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1527
Morecambe and Wise
jokes about Eric’s horn-rimmed spectacles and Ernie’s Play What I Wrote, written by and starring Sean Foley
alleged wig and “short fat hairy legs.” Gestures and and Hamish McColl and directed by Kenneth Branagh,
catchphrases were also repeated, as when Eric ex- opened in London’s West End in September 2001. It
pressed aggression by placing the flat of his hand un- opened at the Lyceum Theatre in New York in March
der Ernie’s chin and challenging him to “get out of 2003.
that.” Yet their relationship offered an unfamiliar twist Jim Leach
on the conventional double act. Predictably, Ernie was
the one with aspirations, in his case a desire to become
Cast
a serious writer, while Eric was slow on the uptake,
John Bartholomew
constantly exasperating his partner through his failure
Ernest Wisemen
to understand or his refusal to take things seriously.
However, Eric was also quite cunning and clearly had
the ultimate authority, slyly deflating all pretensions.
Programming History
Although there had been many double acts in the
ITV (1961–68)
British music-hall tradition, they have been a rarity in
BBC (1968–78)
British television, with only Peter Cook and Dudley
ITV (1978–84)
Moore achieving a success at all comparable to More-
cambe and Wise in a show, Not Only but Also . . . ,
clearly indebted to their predecessors. The blend of Further Reading
stand-up comedy and sketches in The Morecambe and McCann, Graham, Morecamb and Wise, London: Fourth Estate
Wise Show was probably influenced by the American Classic House, 1999
Burns and Allen Show, which relied more heavily on Midwinter, Eric, Make ’Em Laugh: Famous Comedians and
situation comedy and may have in turn influenced the Their Worlds, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1979
zanier and more fragmented comedy of Rowan and Morecambe, Eric, and Ernie Wise, Eric and Ernie: The Autobi-
ography of Morecambe and Wise, London: W.H. Allen, 1972
Martin’s Laugh-In. Tynan, Kenneth, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping, Lon-
Eric died in 1984 and Ernie in 1999, but the pair don: Cape, 1975; New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
continue to be fondly remembered. A tribute show, The 1975
Morning Television Programs

Morning shows are informal and relaxed, some com- of shows ranging from cartoons to religion. The only
plete with living room sets, sofas, and coffee tables. exception to this type of programming is the Cable
Regular hosts are present in most shows as the famil- News Network (CNN), which hosts a news show titled
iar, foundational, conversational link to the audience. Live at Daybreak. It probably can be regarded as a ma-
But the programs also sometimes include guest news jor competitor, as it provides abbreviated national and
anchors and sports and weatherpersons from affiliate world news segments.
stations, making that link to the audience even more News stories from the previous day are often fol-
intimate. Whatever the combination of hosts (usually lowed the next morning with related but less formal
three), they interact with light and cheerful banter. stories and celebrity interviews and discussion. When
Within the past decade, the hosts of morning shows national disasters occur—hurricanes, earthquakes,
have remained fairly consistent with a balance of male plane crashes—the whole show may be dominated by
and female anchors. Good Morning America is hosted news coverage of those events. Sometimes the morn-
at present by Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer; The ing anchors and crew go on location in order to fea-
Early Show by Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, Julie ture a particular city or event. On such occasions,
Chen, and Rene Syler, and Today by Katie Couric and organizers, political leaders, dignitaries, and VIPs are
Matt Lauer. The FOX Network does not seem to be a interviewed on site. National weather reports are in-
major competitor in this field. Most cable networks are terspersed with sponsored announcements, birthday
unaffected by the morning time slot and run a variety wishes, and other less formal moments, and the pro-
1528
Today (The Today Show), Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, Willard Scott, Bryant Gumbel, Gene Shalit,
1997.
grams are formatted in such a way that local station can be shut out by means of a mechanized cyclorama.
breaks can be accommodated with ease. These breaks This “fish bowl concept” was an aspect of the early
are important because they allow affiliates to provide years of Today, when Dave Garroway and the chim-
local news, sports, and weather and to insert local panzee J. Fred Muggs were featured. On occasion, the
commercials. hosts move outside to where people are standing on the
Morning shows are constructed in a style best sidewalk, interviewing a few selected visitors. The
termed as “modular programming”: short, uncon- second approach to audience involvement includes a
nected segments are presented with no relationship be- captive audience within the studio, similar to conven-
tween them. Modules rarely exceed four minutes, and tional talk shows. Inside the studio, the audience can
most are shorter. This program design is based on probe controlled much more easily, and consequently
grammer and producer perceptions of viewer activi- their behavior is more predictable and subdued.
ties—preoccupied with preparations for the day and The first network “early day” shows followed the
unable to devote much time or attention to any one patterns of successful radio programming and were not
segment of the program. in the morning at all. In 1948 the National Broadcast-
In recent years, morning shows have returned to one ing Company (NBC) scheduled Tex and Jinx, one of
of their earliest strategies and have begun to include the popular morning radio talking couples, at the net-
live audiences in their format. Two approaches to audi- work’s then-earliest hour of 1:00 P.M., and the
ence participation have been introduced. The first en- Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) showed, half an
ables people in the street to look into the studio from hour later, Missus Goes A-Shopping, a game show with
the outside. At times, these spectators can be distract- popular radio host John Reed King. In the fall of 1948,
ing, raising signs and waving arms, presumably to at- Dumont, the weakest network, actually dared, before
tract attention from viewers “back home.” But they noon, a miscellany of variety and informational shows
1529
Today Show, 1952–present, Barbara Walters, Hugh Downs, Joe Garagiola, late 1960s–early 1970s.
that survived until 1950 and were then forgotten. sion might have been the early Today show, with Dave
These earliest shows, however, also provided a chance Garroway standing in a window doing a show that no
for technical experiment. In August 1951, CBS offered one had ever seen before, something that wasn’t bor-
at 10:30 A.M., an hour when hardly anyone would be rowed from radio or the stage or motion pictures or
watching, their own married couple, Mike Wallace and newspapers.”
Buff Cobb, in Two Sleepy People, the first regularly Today was one of the creations of NBC executive
scheduled network color show (the video portion of Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, who had carefully considered
the signal could not be received by conventional black- the needs of various special audiences and devised the
and-white sets). responses that became Your Show of Shows, the prime-
In 1952 the efforts to produce a successful morning time variety show; Tonight, for the “sophisticated”
show finally began to work. On January 7, Arthur God- late-night viewer; and Today, to address a range of
frey began simulcasting his popular radio show Arthur viewers from those preparing to leave for work to the
Godfrey Time, which proved just as popular on televi- “homemaker” readying children for school and her
sion, where it lasted until 1959. A week later (and also own daily activities. In March 1954, Home with Arlene
a week late), the greatest morning experiment began. Francis began broadcasting—Weaver’s more special-
Today began producing three hours a day (only two ized solution for the late-morning audience. Although
were broadcast in each time zone). When writer- influential on the design of succeeding daytime maga-
producer Larry Gelbart attempted in an interview to zine shows, Home itself lasted only until 1957. In later
define what “real television” was, he said “real televi- decades, however, suggesting that Weaver’s strategies
1530
were appropriate, shows similar to Home abounded in failed Morning Program, but CBS News returned in
late-morning times. They were often surrounded by November 1987 with its final and continuing response
popular game shows such as Strike It Rich, The Price to date: a full two-hour CBS This Morning. ABC did
Is Right, Concentration, and the early years of Jeop- not begin its first serious challenge to Today until
ardy! In the 1960s and 1970s, reruns of evening shows 1975, first with the short-lived A.M. America and then
were popular in late morning, and in recent decades, the still-continuing Good Morning, America, which
syndicated confrontation shows, such as those hosted became identified with its host, David Hartman, from
by Jerry Springer and Geraldo Rivera, have flourished. 1976 to 1985 and has since had a succession of hosts.
The occasional variety show, such as David Letter- Over the past four and a half decades, then, there
man’s 1980 program, or even the rare soap opera, such have been continuous attempts and strategies for “bal-
as The Guiding Light, have also been programmed as ancing” the early morning newsmagazine formula.
morning offerings. Garroway delivered entertainment, John Chancellor
But it is the history of Today and the responses to it presented serious news, and Hugh Downs and Barbara
by other networks that has anchored the history of the Walters became a chatting couple. CBS focused on
morning genre. During its first year, Today had neither the newsroom, while ABC, with David Hartman,
great audience nor critical success, although it moved toward the living room. But many of the forms
achieved frequent mention in the news because of its stayed constant: for example, the five-minute break
window onto Rockefeller Center and its efforts to infor local news, the cheery weatherperson, and the oc-
terview former President Harry Truman on his early casional visit to other locales. There was also a grad-
morning New York walks. In its second year, the chim- ual expansion of the format into the 6:00 A.M. to 7:00
panzee J. Fred Muggs joined the cast, and viewership, A.M. hour.
especially among families and children, began to in- In the 1990s, as the number of available channels
crease. vastly increased, an expanding variety of specialized
In 1954 the American Broadcasting Company choices in the morning made NBC’s Today, ABC’s
(ABC) entered the morning competition for a short Good Morning, America, and CBS This Morning ap-
time with a simulcast of its long-term popular radio pear to be venerable institutions that have withstood
show, Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club, which failed on the test of time. However, cable television news and
TV after a year. In direct competition with Today, CBS talk shows, which take advantage of low production
began a remarkable morning variety show. The Morn- costs and flexibility, may become even stronger com-
ing Show, as it was called, had as its successive hosts petitors for the network morning programs in the fu-
for the three years it was on the air: Walter Cronkite, ture. If this is the case, the attempts will most likely
Jack Paar, Johnny Carson for a time as guest host, John follow patterns established by continuous trials in the
Henry Faulk (until he was blacklisted), Dick Van network arena, trials that have resulted in some of the
Dyke, and Will Rogers Jr. Illustrating the wide range most familiar and regularized moments “brought to
of viewers it sought to attract, the show’s regulars in- us” by television.
cluded Charles Collingwood, the Baird puppets, In the early 2000s, a variety of morning shows com-
singers Merv Griffin and Edie Adams, and, as a writer, peted with the traditional programs. Three major com-
Barbara Walters. The show challenged Today with ev- petitors were American Morning on CNN, with
ery strategy applicable to the variety-talk formulas— Soledad O’Brien and Bill Hemmer; Fox and Friends,
then finally gave up. In 1955 CBS substituted Captain with anchors E.D. Hill and Brian Kilmeade; and
Kangaroo for the second hour of The Morning Show. MSNBC’s Imus in the Morning. Of these three new of-
For over 25 years, the Captain remained in place, ap- ferings, Fox and Friends is by far the most popular,
pealing to younger audiences but using many of To- based on audience shares. It is estimated that Fox and
day’s segmented structure by programming regular Friends has 1.2 million viewers, American Morning
visits by guests such as Dr. Joyce Brothers and Bill 753,000, and Imus in the Morning 364,000.
Cosby. Competition from cable and the Internet and shrink-
By the 1960s, it had become apparent that competi- ing evening revenues have led the major networks to
tion for the broadest possible morning audience would value the morning program slot more highly than ever.
have to use a mix very similar to that created by The morning is regarded as an extremely lucrative
Weaver for Today. Beginning in 1963 with a 25-minute time slot (Today cleared $100 million in profits last
show hosted by Mike Wallace, the CBS news division year). Many of the morning television program studios
attempted to experiment with a response that was “not have received expensive face-lifts, complete with giant
quite the same as” Today. In 1987 the CBS entertain- Astrovision screens, bright lights, and custom-made
ment division briefly intruded on this process with the windows offering excellent background views.
1531
In October 2002, Today earned a rating of 4.6, Good Graham, Tim, “Objectivity and Morning TV News,” The World
Morning America had a household rating of 3.4 and & I (June 1999)
“Invisible Donna Reappears on Morning Shows: CBS Host
The Early Show had a rating of 2.1. Praises Political Ascent of ‘Unapologetic Liberal,’” Media
Richard Worringham and Rodney A. Buxton Research Center-Campaign 2000 Media Reality Check
(August 14, 2000), http://secure.media research.org/
See also Couric, Katie; Talk Shows Campaign2000/mrc/2000814pm.html
Johnson, Peter, “Fox Wakes Up Morning TV (Fox & Friends),”
Further Reading USA Today (August 18, 2003)
“Before and After: How the War on Terrorism Has Changed The
News Agenda, Network Television, June to October 2001,”
Project for Excellence in Journalism
Motion Picture Association of America

Based in Washington, D.C., the Motion Picture Asso- a set of moralistic restrictions governing the content of
ciation of America (MPAA) has long served as the for- motion pictures. Hays retired in 1945 and never had to
mal political representative for the major Hollywood deal with issues concerning television.
studios. These studios (including Time Warner’s Hays’s successor was a former head of the U.S.
Warner Brothers, Viacom’s Paramount, Rupert Mur- Chamber of Commerce, Eric Johnston. It was John-
doch’s 20th Century-Fox, Sony’s Columbia, Sea- ston who, beginning in the 1950s, first had to grapple
gram’s Universal, and the Disney conglomerate) create with television, opposing the minimalist trade restric-
and market the majority of television’s fictional fare, tions then being proposed by nations worldwide, re-
from comedies and dramas in prime time to the talk strictions that would work against his Hollywood
and game shows that fill rest of the day. In the MPAA, corporate clients. Johnston preached free-trade poli-
they join together to work on common concerns. To cies that would enable Hollywood to move its filmed
the public, this objective is most clearly manifest in the and video products into every country around the
MPAA’s movie ratings; for the television business, the globe. In so doing, he became a leading advocate for
MPAA grapples with thousands of proposed and actual the establishment of the European Common Market,
regulations by foreign and domestic governments. which would create a single body of trade officials to
Headed since 1966 by former White House staff deal with rather than a different set in each country.
member Jack Valenti, the MPAA lobbies the Federal Johnston died in August 1963. Ralph Hetzel served
Communications Commission and the U.S. Congress. as interim head until 1966, when the moguls of the
Through the U.S. Department of State and the Office Hollywood studios persuaded White House assistant
of the U.S. Trade Representative, the association ar- and Texan Jack Valenti to take the job. Since then,
gues for free trade of television programs around the Valenti has had to deal with the coming of cable televi-
world. sion and the rise of home video. He has had to adjust to
The MPAA was formed by major Hollywood com- Japanese purchases of the Columbia and Universal
panies in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and studios and to the opening of the former Soviet Union,
Distributors Association (MPPDA). Both before and eastern Europe, and China as vast new television and
after the name change to the Motion Picture Associa- movie markets. Despite all these changes and many
tion of America, the main activity of the association others, his Hollywood employers have grown ever
has been political, and the companies have always more powerful and the MPAA ever more influential in
hired well-connected Washington insiders to represent the television industry.
their interests in the capital. From his Washington, D.C., office a couple of
The first head was President Warren G. Harding’s blocks from the White House, Valenti exercises this
brilliant campaign manager, Will H. Hays. In his day, power most visibly by inviting Washington power bro-
Hays became famous for the MPPDA production code, kers to his lush headquarters. There, stars greet sena-
1532
Motion Picture Association of America
tors, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, and largest remaining potential market for television in the
government regulators. Glitter in workaholic Washing- world.
ton has been always in short supply, and the MPAA has In September 2001, Valenti turned 80 years old.
always been its leading provider in the nation’s capital. During the previous decade, his energy never dimin-
Valenti asks nothing on these occasions; they serve to ished as he dealt successfully with various issues. He
keep open the lines of communication on Capitol Hill, directed the commission that developed parental guid-
into the White House, and through embassies based in ance ratings for television and oversaw legislation re-
Washington. quiring the V-chip (which allows users to block access
Valenti has long functioned as the capital’s highest- to programming on the basis of its rating) to be placed
paid and most effective lobbyist. Throughout the in all new television sets sold in the United States. The
1980s, for example, he consistently beat back moves to accomplishment of such crucial tasks relied on
overturn regulations giving the Hollywood production Valenti’s proven success as a negotiator and were un-
community complete control over the rerun market for dertaken to satisfy—or appease—various critics of
former hit network television shows. These “Financial television, including powerful congressional figures.
Interest and Syndication” (Fin-Syn) rules had been put He continued to press for opening markets for televi-
in place by President Richard M. Nixon as his revenge sion around the world and was particularly successful
against the television networks. Under the Fin-Syn in China.
rules, networks could share only minimally in profits The Hollywood-based corporate members of the
from television’s secondary markets. Valenti made MPAA under Hays, Johnston, and Valenti have long
sure the rules were retained and enforced far longer enjoyed considerable political power at home and
than anyone expected and therefore created millions of abroad, as the MPAA has effectively leveraged the
dollars in additional profits for his Hollywood studio prestige of the film and television business to extract
clients. favors and win influence. Following in this hallowed
If necessary, Valenti took his case directly to the tradition will present a sizable challenge for Valenti’s
president of the United States. When officials working eventual successor.
in the administration of President Ronald Reagan pro- Douglas Gomery
posed the elimination of the Fin-Syn rules, Valenti See also Financial Interest and Syndication Rules
asked Universal Studio’s head Lew Wasserman to pay
a visit to the president. Before becoming head of Uni-
versal, Wasserman had been Reagan’s Hollywood tal- Further Reading
ent agent. Valenti and Wasserman convinced the Ayscough, Suzan, “Clash Of Cultures: Canadians vs. MPAA,”
president, who long railed against unnecessary govern- Variety (August 19, 1991)
mental regulations, to retain the Fin-Syn rules and to Bromley, Carl, “The House That Jack Built,” The Nation (April
3, 2000)
reverse orders issued by his underlings. Corliss, Richard, “Berating Ratings,” Film Comment (Septem-
Valenti and the MPAA have also long battled against ber–October 1990)
any rules that restricted Hollywood’s TV exports. The Gray, Timothy, “Ratings Still Rankle After All These Years,”
protracted international negotiations that led to a new Variety (January 10, 1994)
General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) Jessell, Harry A., “Valenti Stumps Against European Quotas,”
Broadcasting (November 12, 1990)
treaty, for example, were held up so that Valenti could McClintock, Pamela, “At 80, Valenti Rates an R for Resilient,”
remove television from the negotiating table and block Variety (July 16–22, 2001)
a French proposal for quotas restricting television im- Valenti, Jack, “Ownership Concentration in Cable Held Threat
ports. It was Valenti who stood beside U.S. Trade Rep- to Programming Diversity,” Television-Radio Age (Septem-
resentative Mickey Kantor at a February 1995 news ber 15,1986)
Wharton, Dennis, “MPAA Blasts Free-Trade Agreement,” Vari-
conference when a new U.S.–China trade accord was ety (September 14, 1992)
announced. This historic agreement protected televi- Williams, Michael, “Deep Thaw in Beaune: U.S., French Bury
sion shows from rampant piracy in China, then the GATT Hatchet,” Variety (November 6, 1995)
1533
The Movie Network
The Movie Network

Canadian Pay-TV Channel
The Movie Network (TMN) is eastern Canada’s 1992–93. This amount dropped dramatically to $1.4
English-language pay-TV motion picture channel. Part million by 2000–01. In 1993 TMN was showing 30
of Astral Media, TMN is supported entirely through percent Canadian content in prime time and 25 percent
subscriber fees, as collected by local cable operators. It otherwise. While TMN remains primarily a carrier of
operates 24 hours a day and specializes in unedited and popular U.S. films, it has become a key source of sales
uninterrupted movies. Home Box Office (HBO) and for Canadian film and television producers. TMN’s
Cinemax are the principal models for TMN, though, as Foundation to Underwrite New Drama for Pay-TV
with all Canadian broadcasting services, TMN must
comply with Canadian Radio-television and Telecom-
munications Commission (CRTC)–imposed licensing
criteria, which include Canadian-content quotas.
TMN first received its license in 1982 after consid-
erable public and governmental debate. Similar ser-
vices in the United States had been successful, but the
CRTC and others expressed concern about the impact
pay-movie channels would have on Canadian culture.
Was the market substantial enough for the proposed
services to survive? Or would they become yet another
vehicle for the importation of inexpensive U.S. film
and made-for-cable products? Despite the recent rapid
expansion of specialty channels and the parallel rise of
multiple feature film services through cable and satel-
lite delivery, both concerns were initially borne out.
In 1982 the CRTC awarded licenses to a number of
pay-TV channels. C Channel, the service devoted to
Canadian culture, lasted only five months and col-
lapsed with insufficient viewer support to cover its
costs. Star Channel, serving the Atlantic region, went
bankrupt shortly thereafter. When the smoke had
cleared, only First Choice (to be renamed The Movie
Network in 1993), SuperChannel, and Super Ecran
(which served the French-language market) were left.
TMN operates east of the Manitoba/Ontario border,
while SuperChannel operates in the west, thus giving
them de facto regional monopolies.
As expected, the remaining movie channels began
to ask for reduced Canadian-content requirements, ar-
guing that programming “control” was necessary to
their survival. The CRTC complied, and starting in
1986, the channels were required only to show 20 per-
cent Canadian programming overall; their expendi-
tures on Canadian content were reduced from 45 to 20
percent of subscriber revenue. TMN’s financial sup-
port for Canadian production was almost $7.5 million The Movie Network is a trademark of Astral Broadcasting
(Canadian) in 1988–89 and just under $10 million in Group Inc.
1534
Movie Professionals and Television
(FUND) competition awards interest-free loans for Choice Canada Pay Per View and Moviepix, which
scripts at various stages of development. specializes in films from decades past. Astral sees the
In 1992 TMN became the first network in North common ownership of these pay-TV channels as a way
America to offer “multiplexing.” Through digital to ensure that they complement one another in the rel-
video compression technology, TMN subscribers re- atively small Canadian market. Critics, however, see
ceive an additional three channels (TMN2, TMN3, and this as a concentration of media venues that has con-
TMN4) at no extra cost. These channels show what is tributed to the creation of a tiny powerful media elite
essentially a reorganized broadcast schedule based on in Canada.
that of the main TMN. Multiplexing intends to provide Charles Acland
additional choice and convenience to the subscribing
customer by multiplying the number of showings of a
film and the number of start times. Further Reading
Through their common parent company, Astral Me- Ellis, David, Split Screen: Home Entertainment and the New
dia, TMN operates in conjunction with Viewer’s Technologies, Toronto: Lorimer, 1992

A 1944 editorial in the industry magazine Televiser and Playhouse 90 (1956–61). Critics contended that
questioned whether a motion picture director could ap- the immediacy of television brought forth a special re-
proach a new medium such as television without “cyn- lationship between the spectator and the play. The pro-
icism.” The article warned that film people have been ductions were orchestrated by a generation of young
overtly critical of television production without any directors with some training in theater and film who
appreciation of the technique and aesthetics of the wedded the character studies of writers such as Paddy
small screen. The tension between film and television Chayefsky and Rod Serling to the inward method-
has been a constant for more than 50 years, but both art trained acting styles of Paul Newman, Kim Hunter,
forms have been enriched by the often-contentious di- James Dean, and many other disciples of Konstantin
alogue. Stanislavski. When Marty received the Academy
In the early years of television’s history, motion pic- Award in 1955, it was the first time a script that origi-
ture executives were acutely aware of the economic nated on television (Goodyear Playhouse, 1953) was
threat posed by an entertainment medium in the home adapted by the large screen; in both instances, the part-
and drew up strategies to challenge this incursion by nership of Chayefsky and director Delbert Mann
the broadcast industry. Paramount first considered brought the material to life. Television talent was now
owning a chain of television stations and then tested a welcome with open arms in Hollywood, and such TV-
system of pay television, 20th Century-Fox and originated productions as The Miracle Worker and
Warner Brothers collaborated on plans to develop the- Days of Wine and Roses became award-winning films.
ater television in the early 1950s, and in 1949 The most prominent of the television directors jour-
Columbia, under the leadership of Ralph Cohn, a for- neyed to film, bringing the same psychological realism
mer B-movie producer, organized Screen Gems to pro- to the large screen. Among the key directors (with their
duce television commercials. Moguls tried to make signature movies in parentheses) whose work defined
moviegoing a spectacular experience, exploiting wide- the new maturity of 1960s Hollywood were John
screen and stereophonic technologies. But it was the Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate [1962]
“eager and imaginative minds” of television who and Seven Days in May [1964]), George Roy Hill (The
would create a dramatic form and then have a major World of Henry Orient [1964] and Butch Cassidy and
impact on the motion pictures. the Sundance Kid [1969]), Sidney Lumet (Long Day’s
Television first defined its identity with the produc- Journey into Night [1962] and The Pawnbroker
tion of live dramas on such anthology series as Studio [1964]), Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird
One (1948–58), Kraft Television Theatre (1947–58), [1962] and Baby, the Rain Must Fall [1965]), Arthur
1535
Penn (The Miracle Worker [1962], which he also di-

rected on television, Bonnie and Clyde [1967]), and
Franklin Schaffner (The Best Man [1964] and Patton
[1970]). These directors, once again melding text and
performance as they had on television but with a larger
budget, constituted the first wave of new talent that re-
juvenated American cinema after the studio system
had broken down.
As live television received critical legitimacy on the
East Coast, independent companies on the West Coast,
including Jerry Fairbanks Productions, the Hal Roach
Studios, and Ziv Television Programs, produced films
for television, reels that could be cycled from one local
station to another in the earliest version of “syndicated”
TV. These budget-conscious producers often employed
forgotten Hollywood veterans to give luster to their
equivalent of the B movie. Jerry Fairbanks, a freelance
cameraman and producer of an Academy Award–
winning short, hired an established Hollywood name,
Edmund Lowe (the suave silent film star of What Price
Glory), for his Dumont series Front Page Detective
(1951–53). Hal Roach Jr., a former Laurel and Hardy
director, asked Charles Barton, the Universal director
of Abbott and Costello comedies, to oversee the trans-
lation of the radio program Amos ’n’ Andy to a visual
medium (1951–53). For television’s biggest hit of the
1950s, I Love Lucy (1951–61), producers Desi Arnaz Alfred Hitchcock.
and Jess Oppenheimer requested Fritz Lang’s cine- Courtesy of the Everett Collection
matographer, Karl Freund, to devise a technique for
filming with three cameras before a live audience.
Film studios and guilds took immediate notice of the all time, Alfred Hitchcock, hosted an anthology series
employment possibilities of television. Members of for ten years, beginning in 1955. Hitchcock’s agent,
the Directors Guild of America received their name in Lew Wasserman, who would later run Universal, mas-
the title for the 1955 series Screen Directors Play- terminded Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which featured
house. Many Hollywood legends, including John Ford, the droll introduction by the “Master of Suspense” and
Leo McCarey, and George Stevens, made half-hour then a macabre tale, evocative of the director’s dark
dramas for the Playhouse. The newly appointed presi- spirit. Hitchcock directed 18 episodes for Presents and
dent of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), two programs for other series. Working three days with
Leonard Goldenson (formerly head of the United an efficient supporting team, Hitchcock was able to ex-
Paramount Theaters), and executives at Warner Broth- plore his familiar themes of duplicity and murder, and
ers determined how to financially recycle popular film he employed most of his TV crew to produce his cin-
genres each week on television and employed unsung ema masterpiece, Psycho (1960).
directors to oversee production. Richard Bare, who Dramatic series, produced by Hollywood studios,
had directed such forgettable movies as Smart Flaxy afforded young talent the means to helm their own pro-
Martin (1949) and Girls Don’t Talk (1958), was in part ductions and, occasionally, develop personal themes.
responsible for the resurgence of the western on televi- Robert Altman directed a variety of genres for televi-
sion with the success of his Cheyenne (1955–63). By sion, including westerns (Bonanza), detective stories
the mid-1950s, more than 40 percent of Hollywood’s (Hawaiian Eye), and war stories (Combat). Later, in
directors, actors, editors, and cameramen worked on the 1970s, he would subvert the formulaic rules he
television projects. Even cult directors, such as Ida learned in those three genres in the films McCabe and
Lupino, Phil Karlson, and Jacques Tourneur, brought Mrs. Miller (1971), The Long Goodbye (1973), and
their offbeat sensibilities to television. M*A*S*H (1970), respectively. Other well-known di-
Television became genuinely respectable for the rectors also learned generic conventions that would
film industry when the most recognizable director of come in handy in their film careers. Sam Peckinpah di-
1536
have shuttled back and forth between movies and tele-

vision and have delivered their most personal work on
the small screen, including Buzz Kulik (Brian’s Song
[1971]), John Korty (The Autobiography of Miss Jane
Pitman [1974]), Joseph Sargent (Amber Waves
[1980]), and especially Lamont Johnson (That Certain
Summer [1972], The Execution of Private Slovik
[1974], and Off the Minnesota Strip [1980]).
The man most responsible for adult comedy on tele-
vision, Norman Lear, had left television in the late
1950s to become a film director. His film work—in-
cluding Come Blow Your Horn (1963), The Night They
Raided Minsky’s (1968), and Cold Turkey (1971)—
never matched his satirical temperament, which found
its perfect outlet in the situation comedy All in the
Family (1971–83). Lear did not return to film, but two
influential comedy producers, James Brooks and
Garry Marshall, have found creative success in both
media. The same mixture of drama and comedy that
Brooks brought to The Mary Tyler Moore Show
(1970–77) was evident in his films Starting Over
(1979), Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News
(1987), and As Good As It Gets (1997). Marshall’s
fondness for mismatched pairs, exemplified by Felix
Steven Spielberg, directing Joan Crawford. and Oscar in The Odd Couple (1970–75) and Ritchie
Copyright by Universal City Studios, Inc. Courtesy of MCA and the Fonz in Happy Days (1974–84), has also been
Publishing Rights, a Division of MCA Inc. apparent in such films of his as Nothing in Common
(1986) and Pretty Woman (1990). Lear and Marshall
rected episodes of Route 66, Have Gun—Will Travel, also mentored other directorial careers. Their comic
Gunsmoke, and The Westerner, which he also created. rhythms have also been brought to the screen by their
Blake Edwards created the pilots for Richard Diamond leading actors, Rob Reiner of All in the Family, Ron
and Peter Gunn, which he later brought to the large Howard of Happy Days, and Penny Marshall of La-
screen. Michael Ritchie’s quirky adventures for Run verne and Shirley.
for Your Life and The Outsider laid a groundwork for Feature film directors have had a presence in other
the films The Candidate (1972) and Smile (1975). TV genres. Several of television’s most exemplary
In the mid-1960s, the studios worked with the net- musical programs were crafted by directors who after-
works to develop movies made especially for televi- ward rarely ventured into that genre again. Jack
sion. The first proposed television movie, The Killers, Smight, known for his mystery films Harper (1966)
was directed by Don Siegel and starred Ronald Reagan and No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), directed two of the
and Angie Dickinson, but it was deemed too violent definitive jazz programs, the smoky The Sound of Jazz
for television and was released theatrically in 1964. with Billie Holiday and the very cool The Sound of
Two network executives, Barry Diller and Michael Miles Davis. Norman Jewison, who began his career in
Eisner, refined the scope and concerns of the television British and Canadian television, directed Judy Gar-
movie and later became two of the most powerful land’s only duet with Barbra Streisand. Fred De Cor-
moguls in Hollywood. Directors were able to impart a dova, who earlier had directed Bedtime for Bonzo
distinctive vision on the TV movie, which often (1951) with Ronald Reagan and then TV series for
yielded assignments to the large screen. Steven Spiel- George Burns and Jack Benny, produced for 20 years
berg, who had directed episodes of Columbo and the most popular talk show of all time, The Tonight
Owen Marshall, received acclaim for the visual audac- Show Starring Johnny Carson.
ity of his made-for-television movie Duel (1971). As live television affected Hollywood in the 1950s,
Michael Mann, after stints as a writer on Police Story so too did Music Television (MTV) in the 1980s. The
and Vega$, first attracted notice as writer and director music video disrupted the linear narrative and put a
of the TV prison drama The Jericho Mile (1979), primacy on the visual, making the video creator a new
which led to his 1983 feature Thief. Many directors hero in Hollywood. British director Julien Temple
1537
journeyed from videos for Culture Club and the

Rolling Stones to his first feature, Absolute Beginners
(1986). David Fincher used Fritz Lang’s film Metropo-
lis as the source of inspiration for his Madonna’s video
“Express Yourself” and later reworked the noir genre
in his textured Seven (1995). Videos have borne the es-
tablished director’s imprint as well, including John
Landis and Martin Scorcese’s extended narratives for
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Bad”; John Sayles
and Brian De Palma’s different deconstructions of the
Bruce Springsteen phenomenon, as working-class hero
and lumbering icon, respectively; and Spike Lee’s en-
ergetic “Hip Hop Hooray” video for Naughty by Na-
ture. Spike Jonze transferred the offbeat, surreal
sensibility of his videos for Weezer and Fatboy Slim to
his feature film directorial debut, Being John
Malkovich (1999). Quick cuts and eye-grabbing visu-
als have also been the domain of the TV commercials,
and three graduates of British advertising—Ridley
Scott, Alan Parker, and Adrian Lyne—have invigo-
rated the look of popular film.
In 1984 Michael Mann returned to television and
brought the MTV synthesis of image and music to se-
ries television in his stylishly innovative Miami Vice.
During the rest of the 1980s, a niche was reserved for
“designer television,” usually series originated by film
auteurs. Spielberg produced his own series, Amazing
Stories (1985–87), and enlisted Scorcese, Robert Ze-
David Lynch.
meckis, and Paul Bartel to contribute supernatural Courtesy of the Everett Collection
tales. Altman also returned, this time to cable televi-
sion, and satirized American politics with Garry
Trudeau in Tanner ’88 (1988), a project that was con- was successful with his 1996 urban thriller Primal
ceived in video to match the look of network news. Fear, no doubt leading the way for other directors of
Network executives also went to cult directors for such visually compelling series as E.R. and NYPD
ideas to entice a mainstream audience beginning to Blue to try their hand at film directing. In a career of
turn to cable. Sayles, a leader in the independent film generic surprises, Quentin Tarrantino—who audi-
movement, created Shannon’s Deal (1990–91), a series tioned Pulp Fiction star John Travolta by playing with
focusing on an imperfect lawyer who dropped out of him the board game of Travolta’s sitcom Welcome
corporate practice. The avant-garde David Lynch of Back, Kotter—directed the 1994 season finale of the
Blue Velvet (1986) fame unleashed some of the most mainstream medical melodrama E.R.
surreal and unsettling images ever seen on network Many foreign directors have used television to ex-
television in his video noir Twin Peaks (1990–91); a plore alternative forms of storytelling. Ingmar
decade later, Lynch reconfigured one of his rejected Bergman of Sweden has been interested in television’s
television pilots into an award-winning film, the ability to weave a narrative over time, and in one of his
dreamscape Mulholland Drive (2001). Some of the most celebrated works, Scenes from a Marriage
traveling went the other way, as quality TV producers (1974), he chronicles the emotional upheavals of an
sought to make it among cineastes. Edward Zwick, ostensibly perfect union over six episodes. Rainer
who brought suburban angst to prime time with Werner Fassibinder created two works that also uti-
thirtysomething (1987–91), My So-Called Life (1994– lized television’s expansive narrative: a Marxist soap
95), and Once and Again (1999–2002), directed sev- opera, Eight Hours Are Not a Day (1972), and his 15-
eral epic adventures for the big screen—including hour epic of the Weimar years, Berlin Alexanderplatz
Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994), and Courage (1980), based on Alfred Doblin’s novel. One of the fa-
Under Fire (1996). Gregory Hoblit, who was the di- thers of the new wave, Jean Luc-Godard, has created a
rectorial eye behind many Steven Bochco productions, series of meditative essays on the history of cinema for
1538
French television. Roberto Rossellini, one of the pio- Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000) were shot on digital
neers of Italian neorealism, used television to create a video and transferred to film for theatrical projection.
series of stylized historical portraits from Socrates to Director John Frankenheimer, who mastered live tele-
Louis XIV. Ken Russell produced a series of wildly ex- vision in the 1950s and feature film during the 1960s
pressionistic dramatized biographies on such artists as through the 1980s, triumphed again through the 1990s
Elgar, Isadora Duncan, and Delius for the British and the first years of the 21st century, this time as cre-
Broadcasting Corporation that served as a template for ator of successful made-for-cable movies, including
his even more flamboyant films, including The Music Against the Wall (1994), Andersonville (1996), and
Lovers (1970) and Lisztomania (1975). Before becom- dramatic portraits of George Wallace (George Wallace
ing an internationally recognized director, Kryzsztof [1997]) and Lyndon Johnson (Path to War [2002]). His
Kieslowski received his training in Polish television; career proved that both film and television, whatever
in the late 1980s, he returned to his mentoring medium the reigning technology, offer unique opportunities for
to explore dramatically the contemporary relevance of creative expression.
the Ten Commandments in a multipart series, Deca- Ron Simon
logue (1988), now considered one of his masterworks.
Many screenwriters have found the more permissive See also Anthology Drama; Brooks, James L;
atmosphere of television since the 1990s conducive for Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Chayefsky, Paddy;
character development and narrative complexity. After Frankenheimer, John; “Golden Age” of Television;
his gimmicky idea of a “Valley girl” superhero re- Johnson, Lamont; Kureshei, Hanif; Lear, Norman;
ceived only a lukewarm reception in the film version Mann, Delbert; Marshall, Garry; Reagan, Ronald;
of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Joss Whedon Rose, Reginald; Serling, Rod; Schaffner, Franklin;
adapted the story to become an exploration of evil and Twin Peaks; Warner Brothers Presents
female empowerment in a television series with the
same name (1997–2003). Aaron Sorkin forsook his ca- Further Reading
reer as a screenwriter of such quality films as A Few
Anderson, Christopher, Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the
Good Men (1992) and The American President (1995) Fifties, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994
to produce weekly television, most notably his study Balio, Tino, editor, Hollywood in the Age of Television, Boston:
of the intricacies of the U.S. presidency in the iconic Unwin Hyman, 1990
series The West Wing (1999– ). Having received an Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics,
Academy Award for his screenplay of American Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990
Frankenheimer, John, and Charles Champlin, John Franken-
Beauty (1999), Alan Ball decided to continue his dis- heimer: A Conversation with Charles Champlin, Burbank,
section of middle-class dysfunction as creator and ex- California: Riverwood, 1995
ecutive producer of the HBO drama Six Feet Under Hilmes, Michele, Hollywood and Broadcasting, Champaign:
(2001– ). University of Illinois Press, 1990
For more than two decades, the lines between televi- Lafferty, William, “Television Film and Hollywood: The Begin-
nings,” in Columbia Pictures Television: The Studio and the
sion and film have been blurred structurally and aes- Creative Process, New York: Museum of Broadcasting,
thetically. Most film studios now own some type of 1987
television network, and talent flows freely between the Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
two media. Barry Levinson extended the tapestry of Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
his cinematic Baltimore, Maryland, trilogy (Diner TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Lit-
tle, Brown, 1992
[1982], Tin Men [1987], and Avalon [1990]) to televi- McCarty, John, and Brian Kelleher, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
sion with the equally visual Homicide: Life on the New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985
Street (1993–99), also set in Baltimore. No longer is McGilligan, Patrick, Robert Altman Jumping off the Cliff, New
film the arena for spectacle and television the home of York: St. Martin’s Press, 1984
the close-up. In fact, films screens have been shrinking Thompson, Robert J., Television’s Second Golden Age, New
York: Continuum, 1996
in the multiplexes, and the television monitor domi- Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein:
nates a home’s entertainment room. Such films as Directors and Directions in Television, New York: Dutton,
Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration (1998) and 1979
1539
Movies on Television
The most popular programming form in U.S. televi- broadcast in less populous cities. But with color televi-
sion has been the presentation of motion pictures. Dur- sion becoming a more dominant presence, the three
ing the latter third of the 20th century, most people TV networks wished to book newer, Technicolor Hol-
viewed films not in theaters but on television, whether lywood feature films. The network with the most in-
on broadcast television, cable television, or home vested in color, the National Broadcasting Company
video. Beginning with The Late Show in the mid- (NBC), thus premiered, at the beginning of the
1950s and Saturday Night at the Movies during the 1961–62 TV season, the first prime-time series of re-
early 1960s, the screening of feature films gradually cent films as Saturday Night at the Movies. Ratings
became one of television’s dominant programming were high, and the other two major networks, the
forms. Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and the Ameri-
Movie presentation on broadcast TV actually began can Broadcasting Company (ABC), seeing how poorly
in the late 1940s, when British companies rented films their shows fared against Saturday Night at the
to new TV stations. Minor Hollywood studios (in par- Movies, quickly moved to set up their own “Nights at
ticular Monogram and Republic) joined in this the Movies.” Early in 1962, ABC, then a distant third
process, delivering approximately 4,000 titles to tele- in the ratings, moved to first with a midseason replace-
vision stations before the end of 1950. Most of the ment, Sunday Night at the Movies. CBS, the longtime
films were genre works such as westerns or B-grade ratings leader in network television, did not join in the
fare. The repeated showings of these low-budget offer- trend until September 1965.
ings served to remind movie fans of the extraordinary Soon thereafter, television screenings of recent Hol-
number of treasures resting comfortably in the vaults lywood movies became standard practice. In 1968
of the major Hollywood studios: MGM, RKO, nearly 40 percent of all television sets in use at the
Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, and Warner Brothers. time tuned in to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (theatri-
The dominant Hollywood studios finally agreed to cal release date, 1963). Recent feature films regularly
tender their vast libraries of film titles to television be- attracted blockbuster television ratings, and when
cause eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes, owner of Gone with the Wind was shown in two parts in early
RKO, had run his studio into the ground. By late in November 1976, half the nation’s television-owning
1953, it was clear Hughes had to do something to sal- homes tuned in.
vage RKO, and so few industry observers were sur- By the early 1970s, American viewers could choose
prised in 1954 when he agreed to sell RKO’s older from ten separate “movie night” programs each week.
films to the General Tire and Rubber Company to be It soon became clear that there was an imbalance be-
presented on its independent New York television sta- tween the many scheduled movies showings on net-
tion. By 1955 the popularity of Million Dollar Movie work television and the relatively small amount of new
made it clear that film fans would abandon theaters to product being aired. Hollywood knew this, and the stu-
curl up and watch a reshowing of their past cinematic dios began to charge higher and higher prices for TV
favorites. screenings. For the widely viewed September 1966
Thereafter, throughout the mid-1950s, all the major telecast of The Bridge over the River Kwai, the Ford
Hollywood companies released their pre-1948 titles to Motor Company paid nearly $2 million to be the sole
television. For the first time in the 60-year history of sponsor.
film, a national audience was able to watch, at their Network executives found a solution: make movies
leisure, a broad cross section of the best and worst of aimed for a television premiere. The networks began
Hollywood “talkies.” Silent films were only occasion- making made-for-television movies in October 1964,
ally presented, usually in the form of compilations of when NBC aired See How They Run, starring John
the comedies of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Forsythe. However, the historical turn came in 1966,
By the mid-1960s, innumerable “Early Shows,” when NBC contracted with MCA’s Universal studios to
“Late Shows,” and “Late, Late Shows” dotted TV create a regular series of “world premiere” movies made
schedules. For example, by one count, more than 100 for television. The initial entry of this continuing effort
classic black-and-white films aired each week on New was Fame Is the Name of the Game, inauspiciously pre-
York City television stations, with fewer movies being sented on a Saturday night in November 1966.
1540
The Winds of War.

Photo courtesy of Dan Curtis Productions, Inc.
By the early 1970s, made-for-television motion pic- sion and finished as the fifth-highest series of the year.
tures had become a mainstay of network program- TV movies also began to earn praise for the upstart
ming. Profits proved substantial. A typical movie made ABC; for Brian’s Song, the network earned five Em-
for television cost $750,000, far less than what Holly- mys, a prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, and
wood was demanding for rental of its recent block- citations from the National Association for the Ad-
busters. The ratings were phenomenal. Few expected vancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the
that millions would tune in for Brian’s Song (1971), American Cancer Society.
Women in Chains (1972), The Waltons’ Thanksgiving Made-for-television movies made it possible to deal
Story (1973), or A Case of Rape (1974), but such fare with topical or controversial material not deemed ap-
regularly outdrew what were considered the biggest propriate for regularly scheduled network series. Cele-
films of the era: West Side Story (1961; 1972 premiere brated actors and actresses who did not wish to work in
on network television), Goldfinger (1964; 1972 pre- series television would agree to be featured in minise-
miere on network television), and The Graduate ries. Running over several nights, miniseries such as
(1967; 1973 premiere on network television). Holocaust (1978), Shogun (1980), The Thorn Birds
ABC led the way in made-for-television movies. (1983), Fresno (1986), and Lonesome Dove (1989)
The ABC Movie of the Week had premiered in the fall drew large audiences during key rating-measurement
of 1969, placed on the schedule by the young execu- periods. In 1983 ABC presented Winds of War on six
tive Barry Diller, then head of prime-time program- successive February evenings for a total of 18 hours at
ming at ABC, later a founder of the FOX television a cost of production of nearly $40 million. This mini-
network. During the 1971–72 television season, the se- series required more than 200 days to shoot from a
ries was composed entirely of movies made for televi- script of nearly 1,000 pages. Winds of War, starring
1541
and more of the time reserved for network “Nights at

the Movies.”
There was change on the local level as well. The
number of independent television stations doubled in
the 1980s, and all used movies to help fill their sched-
ules. Independents developed movie libraries by con-
tracting with Hollywood studios for five-year rentals
and aired acquired titles as many times as possible dur-
ing that period. Researchers told executives of inde-
pendent stations that movies tended to draw a
larger-than-average share of valued female watchers,
in particular those from the 18- to 34-year-old and 18-
to 49-year-old age-groups so prized by advertisers.
By the 1990s, in an average week, a film fan could
choose among hundreds of titles scheduled on TV. Re-
liance on television for the presentation of motion pic-
tures extracted a high price in terms of viewing
conditions. The dimensions of a standard television
image are constructed on a four-by-three ratio, while
the standard image for motion pictures made after
1953 is much wider. To accommodate the larger image
on TV, the wide-screen film is cut off at the sides.
Panning-and-scanning companies reedit the wide-
screen film so that the action shifts to the center of the
frame, but the fan misses any subtlety at the edges.
Of course, films need not be panned and scanned.
Something for Joey, Marc Singer, Jeff Lynas, 1977. One could reduce the image for television until all of it
Courtesy of the Everett Collection fits; in practice, this technique of letterboxing fills the
empty space above and below with a black matte. Dur-
Robert Mitchum and Ali McGraw, more than returned ing the 1980s, there was a great deal of lip service paid
its sizable investment in this key sweeps month by to letterboxing, but movie watchers en masse in the
capturing half the total viewing audience and selling United States did not seem to care for it. Fans seemed
out all its advertising spots at $300,000 per minute. to prefer that the TV frame be filled, with the primary
Six years earlier, ABC’s miniseries Roots had aired action in the center of the screen. In the early 2000s,
for eight consecutive nights in January 1977. An esti- the increasingly pervasive adoption of wide-screen
mated 130 million households tuned in to at least one television technology and the popularity of wide-
episode, with approximately 80 million Americans screen TVs addressed this problem.
watching the final episode of this docudrama, breaking However, the biggest complaint from the average
the TV ratings record set just a year earlier by Gone television viewer of motion pictures has long con-
with the Wind. Thus, Roots created for network televi- cerned the interruption of the movie by advertise-
sion an event that was the equal of any blockbuster ments. To fit the formulaic slots of television, a station
theatrical film. or network shows but 90 minutes of film for a two-
However, even as Roots was setting records, the TV hour slot. Stories of how television companies cut
marketplace was changing. In the late 1970s and early films to fit the program length are legendary. It is said
1980s, pay TV, particularly in the form of Time’s that Fred Silverman, when he was a lowly film editor
Home Box Office (HBO), drew millions to its uncut at WGN-TV in Chicago, solved the problem of fitting
screenings of films, free of advertisement breaks. Later in the 96-minute Jailhouse Rock in a 90-minute slot by
in the 1980s, home video spread to the vast majority of cutting all of Elvis Presley’s musical numbers. Indeed,
homes in the United States, allowing film fans to the key attraction of pay TV and then home video was
watch their favorites—uncut, uninterrupted, and the elimination of interruptions for advertising.
whenever they liked. Theatrical features began to have Just when experts declared that, in an age of pay TV
so much exposure on pay TV and home video that they and home video, blockbuster movies shown on net-
ceased to be as valuable on network evening show- work television could not draw an audience, NBC of-
cases, and made-for-television films came to fill more fered Jurassic Park. The box office hit, widely
1542
Moyers, Bill
available on home video for less than $15, was shown whether VHS-format videocassettes and DVD will ex-
on Sunday, May 7, 1995, at the beginning of a key ist side by side in most households or whether DVD
sweeps month. Advertisers paid $650,000 for each 30- will replace VHS as the preferred means to play
second advertising slot, and more than one in four telemovies on television, the popularity and ease of home
vision households in the United States tuned in. movie viewing will surely remain a common aspect of
In the early 2000s, broadcast networks and cable the uses of television.
channels continued to present feature films and made- Douglas Gomery
for-television movies. Indeed, the latter represented a
See also American Movie Classics; Cable Net-
common strategy for cable channels in their moves to
works: Channel Four; FilmFour/Film on Four;
create original programming that could replace mate-
Home Box Office (HBO); Miniseries; Movie Net-
rial previously aired on network television or produced
works; Movie Professionals and Television; Pro-
for other venues. The music channel Video Hits 1
gramming; Showtime Network
(VH1) produced feature-length films based on per-
former biographies, whereas the sports channel Enter-
tainment and Sports Network (ESPN) made movies Further Reading
about athletes and coaches. The Court Channel pro- Chambers, Everett, Producing TV Movies, New York: Prentice
duced dramatic representations of legal battles. A&E Hall, 1986
produced mysteries based on Nero Wolfe novels. Edgerton, Gary, “High Concept, Small Screen,” Journal of Pop-
Turner Network Television (TNT) produced westerns ular Film and Television (fall 1991)
and thrillers. At the same time, HBO, Showtime, and Forkan, James P., “For Independents, Movies Remain Prime-
Time Priority,” Television-Radio Age (December 26,
Cinemax continued to produce original movies as reg- 1988)
ular additions to their schedules of previously run the- Marill, Alvin H., Movies Made for Television: The Telefeature
atrical features. and the Mini-Series, 1964–1979, Westport, Connecticut: Ar-
Meanwhile, a new technology for watching films on lington House, 1980
TV, the digital video disc (DVD), grew in popularity, Rapping, Elayne, The Movie of the Week: Private Stories/Public
Events, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1992
with one in four U.S. households owning a DVD Tobenkin, David, “Movies Still Rolling in Syndication: New
player in 2001 and various distributors phasing out Packages Belie Rumor of Genre’s Failing Health,” Broad-
their VHS stocks altogether. While it is too early to tell casting & Cable (January 23, 1995)
Moyers, Bill
U.S. Broadcast Journalist
For more than 30 years, Bill Moyers has established a vision’s most incisive investigative documentaries.
brand of excellence in broadcast journalism. Moyers is Each was delivered in the elegantly written and decep-
one of the chief inheritors of the Edward R. Murrow tra- tively soft-spoken narrations that came, Moyers has
dition of “deep-think” journalism. He worked alter- said, out of the storytelling traditions of his east Texas
nately on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and upbringing. Whereas Murrow had taken on Joseph Mc-
the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the 1970s and Carthy on See It Now and the agribusiness industry in
early 1980s and has since appeared almost exclusively his famous Harvest of Shame documentary, Moyers ex-
on PBS, and throughout this career his achievements amined the failings of constitutional democracy in his
have been principally in the areas of investigative docu- 1974 Essay on Watergate and exposed governmental il-
mentary and long-form conversations with some of the legalities and cover-up during the Iran Contra scandal.
world’s leading thinkers. Moyers, who had been a print He has looked at issues of race, class and gender; ana-
journalist, an ordained Baptist minister, a press secretary lyzed the power that media images hold for a nation of
to President Lyndon Johnson, and a newspaper pub- “consumers,” not citizens; and explored virtually every
lisher before coming to television in 1970, gained public aspect of American political, economic, and social life
and private-foundation support to produce some of tele- in his documentaries.
1543
Moyers, Bill
1992). Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth was on

the New York Times best-seller list for more than a year
and sold 750,000 copies within the first four years of
its publication.
Moyers’s television work has been as prolific as his
publishing record. In all, he produced more than 600
hours of programming (filmed and videotaped conver-
sations and documentaries) between 1971 and 1989,
which comes out to 33 hours of programming a year,
or the equivalent of more than half an hour of pro-
gramming a week for 18 years. Moyers broadcast an-
other 125 programs between 1989 and 1992, working
with a series of producers—27 of them on the first two
World of Ideas series alone. He formed his own com-
pany, Public Affairs Television, in 1986 and began to
distribute his own shows.
By the early 1990s, Moyers had established himself
as a significant figure of television talk, his power and
influence providing him access to corridors of power
and policy. In January 1992, he was invited for a rare
overnight visit with president-elect Bill Clinton to dis-
cuss the nation’s problems before the Clinton inaugu-
ral. A survey of the video holdings of a single large
state university at the end of the 1990s showed almost
100 holdings bearing Moyers’s name. By this time, he
had also received 67 prizes and awards in recognition
of his work.
Working closely with his wife, Judith Davidson, as
Bill Moyers. creative collaborator and president of the Public Af-
Photo courtesy of Bill Moyers and Lawrence Ivy fairs Television production company, Moyers has con-
tinued his prolific output into the 21st century. In
January 2002, he began hosting a new weekly PBS se-
Equally influential were Moyers’s World of Ideas
ries, Now with Bill Moyers, which covers stories from
series. Again, Murrow had paved the way in his
angles and with the kind of perspectives and depth that
transatlantic conversations with political leaders,
viewers have come to expect from this veteran writer,
thinkers, and artists on his Small World program in the
publisher, and broadcast journalist.
late 1950s, but Moyers used his own gentle, probing
Over his long career, Moyers has become one of the
style to talk to a remarkable range of articulate intel-
few broadcast journalists who might be said to ap-
lectuals on his two foundation-supported interview se-
proach the stature of Murrow. If Murrow founded
ries on PBS. In discussions that ranged from an hour
broadcast journalism, then Moyers has significantly
to, in the case of mythology scholar Joseph Campbell,
extended its traditions.
six hours on the air, Moyers brought to television what
Bernard M. Timberg
he called the “conversation of democracy.” He spoke
with such social critics as Noam Chomsky and Cornel See also Documentary; Murrow, William R.
West; writers such as Nigerian novelist Chinua
Achebe, Mexican poet and novelist Carlos Fuentes, Bill Moyers. Born in Hugo, Oklahoma, U.S.A., June
and American novelist Toni Morrison; and social ana- 5, 1934. Educated at North Texas State College; Uni-
lysts including philosopher Mortimer Adler and Uni- versity of Texas at Austin, B.A. in journalism, 1956;
versity of Chicago sociologist William Julius Wilson. University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 1956–57; South-
Moyers engaged voices and ideas that had been sel- western Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth,
dom if ever heard on television, and, in many in- Texas, B.D., 1959. Married: Judith Suzanne Davidson,
stances, the transcribed versions of his series became 1954; children: William Cope, Alice Suzanne, and
best-selling books as well (The Power of Myth, 1988; John Davidson. Personal assistant to Senator Lyndon
The Secret Government, 1988; A World of Ideas, 1989; Johnson, 1960–61; associate director of public affairs,
A World of Ideas II, 1990, Healing and the Mind, 1961–62, and deputy director, 1963, Peace Corps; spe-
1544
MSNBC
cial assistant to President Johnson, 1963–67, press sec- 1990 Amazing Grace
retary, 1965–67; publisher, Newsday, 1967–70; pro- 1991 Spirit and Nature with Bill Moyers
ducer and editor, Bill Moyers’ Journal, PBS, 1971–76, 1993 Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers
1978–81; anchor, USA: People and Politics, 1976; 1995 The Language of Life with Bill Moyers
chief correspondent, CBS Reports, 1976–78; senior 2000 On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying
news analyst, CBS News, 1981–86; executive editor, 2002 Now with Bill Moyers
Public Affairs Programming Inc., since 1986. Hon-
orary doctorate, American Film Institute. Recipient:
more than 30 Emmy Awards; Ralph Lowell medal for Publications
contribution to public television; Peabody Awards, Listening to America, 1971
1976, 1980, 1985–86, 1988–90, 1999; DuPont Report from Philadelphia, 1987
Columbia Silver Baton Award, 1979, 1986, 1988; The Secret Government, 1988
Gold Baton Award, 1991; George Polk Awards, 1981, The Power of Myth, 1988
1986; Humanitas Award, 1978, 1986, 1995. A World of Ideas, 1989
A World of Ideas II, 1990
Television Series (selected) Healing and the Mind, 1992
1971–76, The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets, 1995
1977–81 Bill Moyers’ Journal Genesis: A Living Conversation, 1996
1971–72 This Week Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers, 1997
1976–78 CBS Reports Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their
1982 Creativity with Bill Moyers Craft (editor), 1999
1983 Our Times with Bill Moyers
1984 American Parade
(renamed Crossroads) Further Reading
1984 A Walk Through the 20th Century with Burns, Ken, “‘Moyers: A Second Look’: More Than Meets the
Bill Moyers Eye,” New York Times (May 14, 1989)
1987 Moyers: In Search of the Constitution “Dialogue on Film: Bill Moyers,” American Film (June 1990)
Timberg, Bernard, and Robert Erler, Television Talk: A History
1988 Bill Moyers’ World of Ideas of the Talk Show, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002
1988 The Power of Myth (with Joseph Zurawik, David, “The Following Myth Is Made Possible by a
Campbell) Grant from Bill Moyers,” Esquire (October 1989)
MSNBC
Cable News Service
MSNBC is a 24-hour, advertising-supported cable and been described as “confused” because of an unsettling
online news service. Envisioned as a fully integrated churn of program offerings and is an also-ran in its
cable television and Internet-based interactive product, competition for viewers with Cable News Network
MSNBC is a joint venture between Microsoft and the (CNN) and the FOX News Channel (FNC).
National Broadcasting Company (NBC). While the Announced with much fanfare in December 1995,
slower-than-expected convergence of television and the partnership’s financial arrangement called for Mi-
computing has made MSNBC’s promise of a unified crosoft to pay $220 million for 50 percent of NBC’s
service difficult to fulfill, MSNBC’s entry helped invig- America’s Talking cable network that was converted to
orate the 24-hour cable news category and advanced MSNBC, plus $250 million for the network’s annual
the development of interactive news. MSNBC.com has costs. Well funded and armed with NBC’s news-
become the number one news and information website gathering and Microsoft’s technology resources,
in the United States. The MSNBC cable network has MSNBC launched on July 15, 1996.
1545
MSNBC
MSNBC online’s challenges included attracting In- NBC’s Dateline shows, and Time and Again, hosted by
ternet users to the site and initiating untested inter- Jane Pauley, was created around repackaged NBC pro-
active video technology to a mass audience. The gramming and old news footage. In addition, John
website’s rollout, supported by cross promotion on Mi- Hockenberry joined MSNBC from the American
crosoft’s websites and NBC’s television outlets, has Broadcasting Company (ABC) to host Edgewise on
been highly successful. MSNBC.com was named the weekends.
number one general news site on the Web by Internet By August 1997, MSNBC was reaching 38 million
ratings service PC Meter just eight months after its in- cable households, and viewership was growing, in part
troduction. It has held that distinction in Jupiter Media because of the death on August 31 of Diana, Princess
Metrix’s Internet ratings for many months since, in- of Wales. Nielsen Media Research reported that third-
cluding all of 1999 and 2000. quarter 1997 prime-time ratings for MSNBC averaged
MSNBC.com’s leadership position is built on tech- 99,000 households compared with 24,000 and 766,000
nological and content advantages. The site began with for FNC and CNN, respectively.
text, graphics, and audio programming. A relaunch in Under growing pressure to build its audience,
August 1997 improved navigability and added techni- MSNBC continued molding its program lineup in its
cal capabilities that enabled streaming video news, second year by pulling the critically acclaimed show
which has grown in importance as work and more re- The Site and recruiting Keith Olbermann of the Enter-
cently home environments have upgraded to broad- tainment and Sports Network’s (ESPN’s) Sports Cen-
band Internet access. Alliances with the websites of ter and Charles Grodin to host their own shows. The
dozens of local television and print media, plus re- network also went “tabloid” with extended coverage
spected national outlets such as Newsweek and the and discussion of sensational stories such as the death
Washington Post, have increased the depth and breadth of JonBenet Ramsey and the sexual activities of broad-
of the site’s content. Highly successful at attracting an caster Marv Albert.
audience, MSNBC.com’s financial future is less clear Cable system carriage continued apace, and after
amid the severe post–September 11, 2001, downturn in two years MSNBC was reaching 42 million house-
the online advertising market. holds. Competition for viewers among the cable news
MSNBC cable launched in a respectable 22.5 mil- networks was intensifying, and by January 1999, amid
lion cable television homes with support from outdoor the Monica Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton’s
and print advertising, plus cross-platform promotion impeachment trial, rival FNC’s prime-time household
on the NBC broadcast network and Microsoft web- viewership surpassed MSNBC’s. MSNBC was already
sites. MSNBC’s acceptance by cable system operators reworking its schedule to offset FNC’s fast-growing
was an early concern, but carriage of the fledgling net- audience. Keith Olbermann’s Big Show was canceled.
work grew steadily as agreements were sealed with John McLaughlin of The McLaughlin Group and
major cable system operators such as TeleCommunica- Oliver North were recruited to host McLaughlin Spe-
tions, Inc. (now AT&T Broadband) and Time Warner cial Report and Equal Time, respectively.
Cable. In April 1999, MSNBC turned to Mullen Advertis-
Programming the network with content cable news ing, based in Wenham, Massachusetts, for aid in at-
viewers find compelling has proved to be more diffi- tracting 25- to 44-year-old viewers. Nevertheless, at its
cult. Hoping to attract younger, Generation X viewers, three-year anniversary, MSNBC’s viewership re-
the network’s initial strategy was to feature well- mained a concern to be addressed by yet more pro-
known NBC News talent on a hip, Starbucks-style set, gramming changes. A prime-time magazine-type
complete with brick wall and open metalwork. Day- tabloid series, Special Edition, debuted with a segment
time news coverage was anchored by John Gibson, profiling serial killers. Headlines & Legends with Matt
Jodi Applegate, and John Seigenthaler. Prime-time Lauer, a biography show, was introduced in an attempt
programming centered on three shows, The News with to build prime-time appointment viewing.
Brian Williams; The Site, a youth-oriented new media By January 2000, 52 million cable households could
and technology program; and InterNight, a talk show watch MSNBC, and, as hoped, the network was at-
alternatively hosted by Katie Couric, Bob Costas, Tom tracting youthful viewers with an average age of 50
Brokaw, and others. This schedule was supplemented years old compared with 58 for CNN and 56 for FNC.
by repeats of current shows and repurposed content Apparently, attracting a younger audience did little to
from NBC News. address MSNBC’s audience shortfall. October 2000’s
To fill out its schedule in its first year, a deal was audience ratings showed that MSNBC still trailed its
made to simulcast Don Imus’s syndicated radio show competitors in prime-time and total day average audi-
weekday mornings. The network began recycling ence.
1546
MTV
The 2000 presidential election and its aftermath Keyes Is Making Sense. On the other end of the politi-
benefited all three cable news networks. Viewership cal spectrum, in April 2002, MSNBC signed a contract
was up, and advertising was easier to sell, even with with former talk show mainstay Phil Donahue to host a
the weakening U.S. economy. MSNBC turned prof- prime-time current events program. Donahue had its
itable late in 2000, but its second-quarter 2001 prime- debut in July 2002, but it was canceled after six
time viewership averaged just 247,000 homes. FNC months on the air, having consistently placed low in
averaged 436,000 households and CNN 483,000. the ratings.
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Now available in over 74 million households,
Pentagon and World Trade Center fixated the nation MSNBC’s average prime-time audience is less than
and drove viewership higher. News of anthrax scares half of FNC’s and CNN’s. MSNBC also trails distantly
and the search for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in viewership within the coveted 25-to-54 age-group.
helped retain viewers, but to keep them without a con- FNC has distinguished itself as a commentator-driven,
stant stream of breaking news, the cable news services viewpoint network, while CNN has long been a
turned to established personalities. CNN lured Paula reporter-driven news-gathering service. Despite years
Zahn from FNC to anchor news. Geraldo Rivera of programming adjustments, MSNBC continues to
joined FNC as a war correspondent. MSNBC’s entry struggle with no clear editorial direction.
in this competition was relative unknown Ashleigh Randy Jacobs
Banfield, who attracted notice while covering the 2000
presidential election and earned recognition for her See also Cable News Network (CNN); FOX Broad-
September 11 coverage when she kept reporting at the casting Company
north tower of the World Trade Center as it collapsed.
Unseasoned, irreverent, and fashionable, Banfield was Further Reading
given her own prime-time show, A Region in Conflict,
that has taken her to Afghanistan and the Middle East. Gunther, Marc, “CNN Envy,” Fortune (July 8, 1996)
Kurtz, Howard, “On MSNBC, Sleaze to Please?,” Washington
For all of 2001, MSNBC reached on average a mere Post (October 10, 1997)
382,000 prime-time homes versus CNN’s 816,000 and McClellan, Steve, “MSNBC Has Leg Up in News Race,”
FNC’s 675,000. FNC’s ability to attract viewers fur- Broadcasting & Cable (April 29, 1996)
ther surprised its competitors when it beat CNN in to- Moss, Linda, “Fox Outduels MSNBC over Impeachment,”
tal day and prime-time ratings for January 2002. Ever Multichannel News (February 8, 1999)
Rutenberg, Jim, “At MSNBC, a Young Anchor for Younger
in search of a programming solution to its viewership Viewers,” New York Times (October 29, 2001)
quandary, MSNBC hired Alan Keyes, former conser- Tedesco, Richard “Audio, Video Boosting ’Net News,” Broad-
vative presidential candidate and author, to host Alan casting & Cable (August 25, 1997)
MTV
U.S. Cable Network
MTV (Music Television) is the oldest and most influ- MTV became a major presence in the cable-TV indus-
ential U.S. cable network specializing in music-related try and the American cultural landscape.
programming. It was launched on August 1, 1981, with One of the earliest and greatest cable success stories,
the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,” spo- MTV was established by Warner Amex Satellite Enter-
ken by John Lack, one of the creators of MTV. This in- tainment Company (WASEC) after extensive market-
troduction was immediately followed by a music video ing research. The key to MTV’s viability, at least
for the song “Video Killed the Radio Star,” by the initially, was the availability of low-cost programming
Buggles. The song title proved somewhat prophetic, as in the form of music videos. Originally, these were pro-
MTV greatly transformed the nature of music-industry vided free by record companies, which thought of them
stardom over the next several years. At the same time, as advertising for their records and performers.
1547
MTV
MTV presented one video after another in a constant music, and heavy metal. To some extent, these genres
“flow” that contrasted with the discrete individual pro- were segregated into their own program slots (Yo!
grams found on other television networks. Clips were MTV Raps, Club MTV, and Headbangers’ Ball, respec-
repeated from time to time according to a light, tively). At the same time, the move toward discrete
medium, or heavy “rotation” schedule. In this respect, programs increasingly became a move away from mu-
MTV was like top-40 radio (it even had video jockeys, sic video. In the process, MTV became more like a
or VJs, similar to radio disk jockeys). Moreover, it full-service network, offering news, sports, sitcoms,
soon became apparent that MTV could “break” a documentaries, cartoons, game shows, and other tradi-
recording act, just as radio had done for decades. tional TV fare. Often these programs were also musi-
The visual portion of a video usually consists of live cal in some sense (Beavis and Butt-Head), but
concert footage or, more commonly, lip synching and sometimes they were not (reruns of Speed Racer).
pantomimed instrument playing by the recording We might now identify a fourth phase in MTV’s his-
artist(s). Dancing is also very common. In many cases, tory, dating from the late 1990s, when MTV itself be-
there is also a dramatic or narrative concept, some- came a sort of “flagship” network among a stable of
times grounded in the song lyrics. The “acting” in a branded subsidiaries. Even before this, much of the
concept video is usually done by the musician(s), al- musical content displaced from MTV, especially soft
though in some cases (e.g., “Crazy” and “Cryin’” by rock and other “adult” music, had landed on Video
Aerosmith), the video cuts away from the band to ac- Hits 1 (VH1), a second video channel owned by parent
tors who act out a drama inspired by the lyrics. The company MTV Networks (which, in turn, is a sub-
combination of elliptical storylines, record-as- sidiary of Viacom). Launched in 1985, VH1 quickly
soundtrack, lip synching, and direct address to the acquired a reputation as “video valium” for yuppies.
camera seemed so novel in the early 1980s that music For several years, the channel had an indistinct image
video was often referred to as a new art form. The con- and languished in the shadow of MTV, but makeovers
tent of the new art was sometimes bold (and controver- in 1989 and (especially) 1994 raised the younger net-
sial) in its treatment of sex, violence, and other work’s profile. By 1994, VH1 was playing slightly
sensitive topics. harder music and “breaking” recording artists, such as
Many of the earliest MTV videos came from Great Melissa Etheridge. Meanwhile, MTV continued to
Britain, where the tradition of making promo clips was play innovative videos on programs such as Amp and
fairly well developed. One of the earliest indications of 120 Minutes, but these programs aired at odd hours.
MTV’s commercial importance was the success of the Nonmusical programs such as The Real World, which
British band Duran Duran in the U.S. market. This debuted in 1992 and gave birth to the “reality” genre,
band had great visual appeal and made interesting sometimes seemed to threaten MTV’s identity as a mu-
videos but was not receiving radio airplay in the sic network.
United States as of 1981. In markets where MTV was By about 1998, MTV was again emphasizing music,
available, the network’s airing of Duran Duran’s but its most popular program, Total Request Live, or
videos made the band immediately popular. Ulti- TRL, treated videos as raw material to be talked over
mately, MTV proved to be immensely important to the and covered up by all manner of graphics and inserts.
careers of numerous artists, including Madonna, By this time, sister network VH1 was also relying more
Michael Jackson, Prince, Peter Gabriel, U2, N’Sync, on traditionally packaged programs, such as Behind the
and Britney Spears as well as Duran Duran. Music and Pop Up Video (which, along with Beavis
Andrew Goodwin identifies three phases in the his- and Butt-Head, paved the way for TRL-style “vandal-
tory of MTV. The real ascendance of the network be- izing” of video clips). Flow and format, the original
gan in 1983 with phase 2, the so-called second launch, ideas behind MTV (and VH1), had by now become
when MTV became available in Manhattan and Los secondary components, at best, in the programming
Angeles. Phase 3 began in 1986, following Viacom’s philosophy of both networks. These changes were per-
purchase of MTV from Warner Amex and the depar- haps best exemplified on MTV in the surprise 2002 hit
ture of Robert Pittman as the network’s president and The Osbournes, a program that seemed to meld multi-
chief executive officer. Pittman had been largely re- ple aspects of the channel’s history. Focused on the
sponsible for leading MTV down the programming “family life” of notorious rocker Ozzy Osbourne, his
path of flow and narrowcasting. By 1986, however, wife, and two of their children, the series combined a
MTV’s ratings were in decline as a result of a too- fascination with music and musicians, the “inside
narrow musical palette. views” developed with The Real World, and the (per-
Throughout its so-called third phase, MTV diversi- haps unintended) blankness of Beavis and Butt-Head.
fied its musical offerings, most notably into rap, dance Following an initial run and tough negotiations with
1548
MuchMusic
the family, the series was renewed for two more sea- pean service in 1994. In 2001 an international satellite
sons and by then had led to copycat programming on directory listed more than 20 MTV channels worldwide,
other networks. along with 7 VH1 services and 3 MTV2 channels.
With home satellite reception and digital cable on Both economically and aesthetically, MTV has
the rise, MTV launched M2 (also called MTV2) in wrought major changes in the entertainment industries.
1996. The new channel was very similar to what MTV By combining music with television in a new way,
had originally been. It played music videos in a contin- MTV has charted a path for both industries (and
uous flow, with only occasional interruptions for video movies as well) into a future of postmodern synergy.
jockey patter, promos, and the like. In the early 2000s, Gary Burns
MTV Networks exploited the original flow idea even
further by launching VH1 Classic Rock (which spe- See also Beavis and Butt-Head; Music on Televi-
cialized in 1980s videos) and MTVX (which played sion; Pittman, Robert
mostly hard rock videos). Despite their forays into
nonmusical programming, MTV and VH1 are by far Further Reading
the most important outlets for music-video program-
ming in the United States. They have achieved almost Banks, Jack, Monopoly Television: MTV’s Quest to Control the
Music, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1996
a monopoly status, one that has caught the attention of Denisoff, R. Serge, Inside MTV, New Brunswick, New Jersey:
scholars (especially Jack Banks), record companies, Rutgers University Press, 1988
and the government. Many competing music-video Goodwin, Andrew, Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music
programs and networks have fallen by the wayside or Television and Popular Culture. Minneapolis: University of
have been absorbed by Viacom. Most recently, Viacom Minnesota Press, 1992
Hoye, Jacob, editor, MTV Uncensored, New York: Pocket
bought its last remaining major U.S. competitors in Books, 2001
music-video programming: Country Music Television Kaplan, E. Ann, Rocking Around the Clock: Music Television,
(CMT) and The Nashville Network (TNN, subse- Postmodernism, and Consumer Culture, New York:
quently renamed The National Network) in 1997 and Methuen 1987
Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2000. Lewis, Lisa A., Gender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Differ-
ence, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press,
Music video and MTV are major ingredients of tele- 1990
vision programming internationally. MTV Europe, Reiss, Steven, and Neil Feineman, Thirty Frames per Second:
launched in 1987, was followed by an Asian service in The Visionary Art of the Music Video, New York: Harry N.
1991 and MTV Latino in 1993. VH1 established a Euro- Abrams, 2000
MuchMusic
Canadian Music Television Programming Service
MuchMusic, a 24-hour Canadian music television sta- ues to be video clips of artists or music videos received
tion and satellite-to-cable programming service, was from record companies free of charge. A French sister
launched nationally in September 1984. In a satellite- station, MusiquePlus, was established in 1986, primar-
to-cable structure that relied for its success on the mas- ily for the Quebec market.
sive penetration of cable coverage of urban Canada, Stylistically, MuchMusic bears the marks of its cre-
MuchMusic was part of the Canadian Radio-television ative origin. The station’s managing team was con-
and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)–regu- nected to the syndicated New Music program (1978– )
lated introduction of specialty services on cable two developed and sold by Citytv of Toronto. The execu-
years after the introduction of pay television to tive producer of the New Music program and the orig-
Canada. Similar to its U.S. counterpart Music Televi- inal owner and manager of Citytv in Toronto was
sion (MTV), MuchMusic was instrumental in setting Moses Znaimer. Along with John Martin, Znaimer de-
the national agenda of Canadian popular music tastes. signed the “live” emphasis of the set of MuchMusic
The predominant format of the station was and contin- that has made MuchMusic so distinctively different
1549
MuchMusic
from both MTV and most of the rest of Canadian tele- garde, alternative visuals and music. In a more prime-
vision. The set of MuchMusic is the actual video para- time evening slot, a shorter segment, Combat du Clip,
phernalia of a television station and is inherently was programmed; here a returning favorite video clip
“studioless.” Between their introductions of new faced a challenger clip.
videos, the video jockeys, or VJs, negotiate themselves MuchMusic’s license requirements have posed
around the various machines, lights, and screens to questions about what kinds of programming are in-
chat with the technicians and producers. Indeed, be- cluded under the definition of music. In the mid-1980s,
cause of this exposure, technicians have even moved MuchMusic was not allowed to show movies, even
into before-the-camera roles. The intention behind this those with a musical theme or premise. It was likewise
design is to structure an environment that resonates questionable whether television programs such as The
with the youthfulness and exuberance of popular mu- Partridge Family or The Monkees could be shown on
sic itself. The set, which often moves with portable the station. In recent years, there has been a relaxation
cameras to exterior locations, produces a sense of im- of what constitutes music programming, and this shift
mediacy and spontaneity that, through its weekly has allowed MuchMusic a freer hand in organizing a
reach, has captured the sought-after demographic of schedule that maintains its key marketing demograph-
youths and young adults in Canada. ics of youth and young adult. Regulatory requirements
MuchMusic is owned and operated by CHUM Lim- have demanded, however, that a greater range of musi-
ited of Toronto, and the name itself is a play on the cal material be part of the national music television
corporate name. CHUM operates the only private ra- station. Hence, MuchMusic programmed the country
dio network in Canada and has successfully owned and music half-hour Outlaws and Heroes. The CRTC has
operated a number of music-oriented radio stations. likewise continued to maintain that the station must
CHUM also is the owner of Citytv (purchased in 1981 stick close to its license mandate: its top-rated program
from Znaimer), a Toronto based free-to-air UHF (ultra- of 1993, the cartoon series Ren and Stimpy, did not
high frequency) station that has been distributed by ca- meet a minimum musical-content rule and was ordered
ble to most of southern Ontario, the most heavily removed. With the advent of new digital channels,
populated region of Canada. Its background in music these regulations have been in constant flux, and
broadcasting allowed CHUM to successfully win the MuchMusic continues to expand its presence through
license of the first and only English-language music multichanneling its content.
television station in Canada. The facilities of Citytv in From its inception, MuchMusic has also provided
Toronto served as the first home for MuchMusic. a percentage of its revenues (currently 5 percent of its
Self-titled “the nation’s music station,” MuchMusic gross revenues) for the production of Canadian inde-
gradually moved to a format that allowed it to target pendent music videos. The production company
and promote itself like other television services. Origi- Videofact Foundation produces clips for emerging
nally a flow service that resembled radio in its seam- popular music groups in both English and French and
less quality, MuchMusic relied on its mixed rotation of spent $6 million to produce 820 videos in its first ten
video clips and the personalities of the VJs to maintain years. The production of Canadian sources allows
the audience. Later, however, the station began making MuchMusic easily to surpass its 10 percent
identifiable programs that would at least allow it to Canadian-content quota established in consultation
garner the free publicity of listings in TV program with the CRTC. This connection to a national popular
guides and to sell portions of time for specific advertis- culture is differently constructed than that produced
ers. It still maintains eight hours of programming, by public broadcasters such as the Canadian Broad-
which is taped and repeated three times to fill the 24- casting Corporation (CBC). MuchMusic’s stance is
hour schedule. In the 1980s, these programming thus more outward than inward looking. It has ac-
blocks included the Pepsi Powerhour and the singly tively sought out other markets for its program pack-
sponsored Coca-Cola Countdown. The “spotlight” age. Currently, it is available to more than 4 million
feature also transformed the mix of rotations of current cable subscribers through various services in the
music into a half-hour retrospective on an individual United States. It has a reach that includes both the
artist’s or group’s career. To coordinate with a slightly United Kingdom and parts of Latin America. The sta-
different demographic of daytime listeners, MuchMu- tion has been negotiating for inclusion on direct
sic programmed a show called MushMusic, which broadcast satellite services for greater coverage of a
showcased softer and more romantic ballads. Other complete North America. The station format/concept
programs also coordinated with and competed with the has been sold to New Zealand, and MuchMusic has
rest of television. A late-night weekend program called showcased well in Europe, often outdrawing its more
City Limits attempted to showcase the more avant- established rival, MTV.
1550
Munroe, Carmen
MuchMusic has continued to brand its success with Further Reading

its national youth audience, and it has exported that Flint, Joe, “MuchMusic Confirms Rainbow Coalition,” Variety
strategy internationally with equal financial rewards. (May 24, 1994)
Contained under the Much brand are specialty and dig- Marshall, David, “Videomusic: The Converging Interests of
ital channels that cater to specific musical tastes. Thus, Promotional Culture,” in Watching All the Music, edited by
relatively new stations, such as MuchmoreMusic, and Gareth Sansom, Montreal: McGill University Press, 1987
Pawlett, Steve, “Ten Years of MuchMusic,” Cablecaster
digital channels, such MuchLoud and MuchVibe, con- (September 1994)
tinue to extend the MuchMusic niche of television fo- Turbide, Diane, “The Show Moves On: MuchMusic and TSN
cused on music and youth across Canada. Bid for New Viewers,” Maclean’s (September 4, 1989)
P. David Marshall
See also Citytv; Music on Television; Znaimer,
Moses
Munroe, Carmen
British Actor
Carmen Munroe is one of Britain’s leading black ac- she has demonstrated her acting range in numerous
tresses. Born in Guyana (then British Guiana), she other appearances, with roles in a mixture of populist
went to Britain in 1951 and gained early acting experi- dramas and situation comedies, as well as impressive
ence with the West Indian Students’ Drama Group. single dramas. They include Doctor Who (1967), In
Munroe made her professional stage debut in 1962 and the Beautiful Caribbean (1972), Ted (1972), Shake-
later played major roles in London’s West End theater, speare’s Country (1973), General Hospital (1974),
including Jean Genet’s The Blacks (1970). When she The Fosters (1976), A Black Christmas (1977) with
played Orinthia, the king’s mistress, in George Norman Beaton, Mixed Blessings (1978), A Hole in
Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart (1970), she said it was Babylon (1979), Rumpole of the Bailey (1983), and
the first time she had been cast in a leading role not The Hope and the Glory (1984).
written for a black actress. Since the 1970s, Munroe In 1989 Munroe was in Desmond’s, one of Channel
has played an important part in the development of 4’s most successful situation comedy programs.
black theater in Britain, scoring a personal triumph in Costarring Norman Beaton as the proprietor of a bar-
1987 as the overzealous pastor of a Harlem “store- bershop in south London, Desmond’s has been one of
front” church in James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner. In the few British television series to feature an almost
1993, she won a best actress award from Time Out entirely black cast. For five years, this appealing series
magazine for Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind. won critical acclaim and awards for its humorous ex-
In 1965 Munroe made an early television appear- ploration of the conflict between the views of young
ance in Fable. In this controversial British Broadcast- British-born blacks and the values of the older genera-
ing Corporation (BBC) drama, writer John Hopkins tion who grew up in the Caribbean.
reversed apartheid and located it in Britain so that In between her appearances in Desmond’s, Munroe
black people ran the country and whites were sub- took part in Ebony People (1989), sharing her experi-
jected to enforced population-movement and pass ences of the acting world with a studio audience, and
laws. However, this innovative and highly charged Black and White in Colour (1992), a documentary
play did not have the reception anticipated from audi- tracing the history of black people in British television.
ences. Viewers were put off, while critics thought the In 1992, Munroe gave an outstanding performance as
play heavy-handed and moralistic. Essie Robeson in a BBC play called A Song at Twi-
In 1967 Munroe was featured in an episode of Rain- light. This emotional drama, shown in the anthology
bow City, one of the first British television series to in- series Encounters, explored an imaginary meeting in
clude a black actor in a leading role. Since that time, 1958 between British socialist radical Aneurin Bevan
1551
Munroe, Carmen
and the black American singer and militant activist 1992 A Song at Twilight
Paul Robeson. Another recent role for Munroe was in 1993 Great Moments in Aviation
the two-part drama The Final Passage (1996), a story
of blacks emigrating from the Caribbean to Britain in Television Documentary
the late 1950s. 1992 Black and White in Colour
Stephen Bourne
See also Beaton, Norman; Black and White in Films
Color; Desmond’s Naked Evil, 1966; All Neat in Black Stockings, 1968;
The Chain, 1985; Shades of Fear, 1993.
Carmen Munroe. Born in Guyana (then British
Guiana); immigrated to Britain, 1951. Trained with Radio (selected)
West Indian Students’ Drama Group. Worked in televi- Obeah, 1989.
sion, since 1959; stage debut, Period of Adjustment,
1962; has appeared or starred in numerous television
Stage (selected)
series; cofounder, Talawa Theatre Company, 1985. Re-
Period of Adjustment, 1962; There’ll Be Some
cipient: Time Out award, 1993.
Changes Made, 1970; The Blacks, 1970; The Apple
Cart, 1970, Trouble in Mind; El Dorado; A Raisin
Television Series (selected) in the Sun; The Amen Corner, 1987; Alas, Poor
1971 You’re Only Young Twice Fred (director); Remembrance (director); The
1971 Ace of Wands Odyssey, 2001.
1974 General Hospital
1974 Play School Further Reading
1976–77 The Fosters
Bourne, Stephen, Black in the British Frame: Black People in
1989–95 Desmond’s British Film and Television 1896–1996, London and Wash-
1996 The Final Passage ington, D.C.: Cassell, 1996; second edition, as Black in the
British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and
Television, London: Continuum, 2001
Television Plays Pines, Jim, editor, Black and White in Colour: Black People in
1965 Fable British Television Since 1936, London: British Film Insti-
1977 A Black Christmas tute, 1992
Muppet Show, The

U.S. Syndicated Comedy/Variety Program
From its first broadcast in 1976 to its 1981 finale, The proved that Henson’s innovative puppets could appeal
Muppet Show was groundbreaking television. A syndi- equally to children and adults. Its setting, Muppet The-
cated variety show starring a troupe of puppets, it be- ater, allowed onstage sketches and songs as well as
came more popular than anyone but its creator, Jim backstage antics. Except for Kermit the Frog, a
Henson, could have imagined. During its five seasons Sesame Street favorite, The Muppet Show featured an
of inspired insanity, it was broadcast in more than 100 entirely new cast of Muppets: Fozzie Bear, the lovably
countries. inept comic and Kermit’s second banana; Miss Piggy,
The wonderful children’s show Sesame Street, also a glamorous, Rubenesque starlet and Kermit’s would-
starring Henson’s Muppets, had been broadcast since be love interest; Gonzo the Great, a buzzardlike crea-
late 1969. For Henson, its success was a mixed bless- ture with a chicken fetish; Rowlf, the imperturbable
ing, as network executives began to see the Muppets piano-playing dog; Statler and Waldorf, two geriatric
strictly as children’s entertainment. The Muppet Show hecklers; The Electric Mayhem, the ultracool house
1552
Muppet Show, The
The Muppet Show, Gonzo, Kermit the Frog, Scooter, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Camilla, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Rowlff, Dr. Bunsen,
Statler & Waldorf, Beaker, 1976–81.
1553
Muppet Show, The
band; and Scooter, hired as Kermit’s gofer because his reads like a “Who’s Who” of late 1970s performers,
uncle owned the theater. The show also featured count- most notably Roger Moore, John Cleese, Harry Bela-
less other Muppets, from a 12-inch rat named Rizzo to fonte, Dizzy Gillespie, Lynn Redgrave, Diana Ross,
a seven-foot monster named Sweetums. Alice Cooper, Julie Andrews, George Burns, Joel
But Kermit was undeniably the glue that held these Grey, Steve Martin, Ruth Buzzi, and both Candice and
lunatics together. As producer/host of Muppet Theater, Edgar Bergen.
Kermit had the considerable task of keeping guests and The Muppets’ TV history starts long before Sesame
Muppets happy, fending off Miss Piggy’s advances, Street. From 1955 to 1961, Henson’s Sam and Friends,
bolstering Fozzie’s confidence after another joke fell a five-minute live show, aired twice nightly on WRC-
flat, and tolerating Gonzo’s bizarre stunts. As per- TV in Washington, D.C. Sam and Friends afforded
formed by Henson, Kermit was the lone sane creature Kermit’s debut; it also featured several Muppets that
in the asylum, the viewers’ bridge to world of The did not make the cut for The Muppet Show. In 1961,
Muppet Show, a small, green Everyman (Everyfrog) the Muppets began making regular guest appearances
just trying to do his job in the midst of gleeful crazi- on the National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) To-
ness. day. The following year, Rowlf made his debut in a Pu-
The partnership between Henson and Frank Oz pro- rina dog food commercial; in 1963, the affable canine
duced such puppet pairs as Miss Piggy and Kermit, began regular appearances on The Jimmy Dean Show.
Sesame Street’s Ernie and Bert, and Kermit and Fozzie The Muppets also made regular appearances on The
Bear. The two also teamed up for the Swedish Chef, a Ed Sullivan Show from 1966 to 1971. In 1975, the year
Muppet with Henson’s voice and Oz’s hands, with hi- Henson formed an agreement with Lord Lew Grade to
larious results. Oz’s nasal boom was a perfect counter- produce 24 episodes of The Muppet Show, Henson also
point to Henson’s gentle voice, and the two performers created an entirely new set of Muppets that were fea-
complemented each other well. Other Muppet Show tured on Saturday Night Live in its first season.
puppeteers included Richard Hunt (Sweetums, During The Muppet Show’s heyday in 1979, The
Scooter, Statler, and Beaker), Dave Goelz (Gonzo and Muppet Movie was released in the United States, be-
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew), Jerry Nelson (Floyd Pepper ginning the Muppets’ transition from TV to film. Sev-
and Lew Zealand), and Steve Whitmire (Rizzo the eral movies featured The Muppet Show cast, including
Rat). The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhat-
Both backstage and onstage, lunacy ruled at Muppet tan, The Muppets’ Christmas Carol, and The Muppets’
Theater. Memorable sketches included pig Vikings pil- Treasure Island. Henson also produced several other
laging towns while singing the Village People’s “In the TV shows featuring the Muppets after The Muppet
Navy,” one creature devouring another while singing Show ended: Fraggle Rock, focusing on an under-
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and the great ballet ground community of fun-loving Fraggles, hardwork-
dancer Rudolf Nureyev in a pas de deux with a human- ing Doozers, and odious Gorgs; The Storyteller, which
size lady pig. aired only in England; Muppet Babies, a children’s
Often, the guest stars were the perfect catalyst for cartoon featuring baby versions of The Muppet Show’s
Muppet nuttiness. The frequently starstruck Miss cast; and several other short-lived productions.
Piggy swooned at guest Christopher Reeve’s every On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died suddenly after a
move; in another episode, she locked Kermit in a trunk short illness. He was 54 years old. The Jim Henson
because guest Linda Ronstadt showed too much inter- Company continues to produce Muppet-related pro-
est in the little green host. Guest Gene Kelly thought jects for film, television, and the stage. Frank Oz has
he had been invited just to watch the show; he stayed enjoyed a notable career as a film director, while Ker-
backstage chatting with the rats until Kermit finally mit, Miss Piggy, and other Muppet characters regularly
convinced him to perform “Singin’ in the Rain” on a appear on talk shows and other television programs as
near-perfect replica of the film’s street set. Victor well as in films.
Borge and Rowlf the Dog played a piano duet. Diva Julie Prince
Beverly Sills gave Gonzo a lesson in the fine art of bal-
See also Henson, Jim; Sesame Workshop
ancing a spoon on one’s nose.
During the first season, writes Christopher Finch in
his book Jim Henson: The Works, guest stars were Puppeteers
mostly personal friends of Henson or his manager, Jim Henson
Bernie Brillstein. But by the third season, popular per- Frank Oz
formers were practically lining up to appear with the Richard Hunt
beloved puppets. The Muppet Show’s guest roster Dave Goelz
1554
Murder, She Wrote
Jerry Nelson Pops (Nelson) (1980–81)

Erin Ozker (1976–77) Lew Zealand (Nelson) (1980–81)
Louise Gold (1979–81) Janice (Hunt)
Kathryn Muller (1980–81) Rizzo the Rat (Whitmire) (1980–81)
Steve Whitmire (1980–81)
Musical Director
Muppet Characters Jack Parnell
Kermit the Frog (Henson)
Miss Piggy (Oz) Producers
Zoot (Goelz) Jim Henson, Jon Stone, Jack Burns
Fozzie Bear (Oz)
Gonzo (Goelz)
Sweetums (Hunt) Programming History
Sam the Eagle (Oz) 120 30-minute episodes
The Swedish Chef (Henson and Oz) Syndicated
Dr. Teeth (Henson) and the Electric Mayhem 1976–1981
Floyd (Nelson)
Animal (Oz) Further Reading
Capt. Link Heartthrob (Henson) Finch, Christopher, Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The
Dr. Strangepork (Nelson) Muppet Show, New York: Knopf, 1981
Wayne and Wanda (1976–77) Finch, Christopher, Jim Henson: The Works: The Art, the
Rowlf (Henson) Magic, the Imagination, New York: Random House, 1993
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (Goelz) Henson, Jim, The Sesame Street Dictionary: Featuring Jim
Henson’s Sesame Street Muppets, New York: Random
Statler and Waldorf (Hunt and Henson) House, 1980
Scooter (Hunt) “Jim Henson: Miss Piggy Went to Market and $150 Million
Beauregard (Goelz) (1980–81) Came Home” (interview), American Film (November 1989)
Murder, She Wrote

U.S. Mystery
Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury as ama- expensive for it to produce. It frequently placed first
teur sleuth and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher, has among the network’s lineup in the Nielsen ratings and
been the only significant dramatic series on American was a champion in its time slot, 8:00 P.M. Sundays. It
television to feature an older woman in the sole lead- finished in the Nielsen top ten during most of its run.
ing role. Lansbury, who has received Oscar nomina- The series’ final episode, “Death by Demographics,”
tions and Tony Awards over her long film and stage served as an oblique comment on the network’s deci-
career, started the series at age 58 and is now probably sion to shift the program from its comfortable time slot
most widely recognized for her television character. to Thursday evenings, when it was forced to do battle
Creators Richard Levinson, William Link, and Peter against the runaway “must-see” TV hit, Friends.
S. Fischer brought with them a combined résumé from The series narrative remained fairly stable. Wid-
Columbo, Mannix, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and owed Jessica Fletcher, a retired high school English
Ellery Queen. In Murder, She Wrote, they created a teacher, became a best-selling mystery author after her
classical mystery program set in the fictional seaside nephew, Grady, sent a manuscript to a book publisher.
village of Cabot Cove, Maine. The program quickly She quickly became world famous and affluent, but
became one of the Columbia Broadcasting System’s she maintains the rambling, old house that she and her
(CBS’s) most successful offerings and among the most longtime husband, Frank, shared in Cabot Cove. Jes-
1555
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote’s formula is true mystery: Jessica

encounters several people displaying animosity toward
a mean person. An innocent person, often a friend or
relative of Jessica’s, publicly threatens or criticizes the
bully. The audience sees the bully murdered, but the
killer’s identity is hidden. The authorities accuse Jes-
sica’s ally, based on circumstantial evidence. Jessica
notices—and the camera lingers on—details that seem
inconsequential but later prove central to the solution.
She investigates, uncovering various means, motives,
and opportunities and eliminating suspects. A few min-
utes before the program ends, she suddenly realizes the
last piece of the puzzle and announces that she knows
who the killer is. She confronts the killer privately, in a
group, or with authorities observing off camera. Al-
most always, the killer confesses, and Jessica presents
the person to the police. A final scene often shows Jes-
sica sharing a good-natured exchange with someone,
often the wrongly accused friend.
Coincidences abound. Nephew Grady (Michael
Horton) is arrested for murder on several occasions,
and Jessica always proves him innocent. In fact, each
of the many times Jessica’s family members or old,
“dear friends” is introduced, one becomes involved in
a murder. Tiny Cabot Cove is the site of about 50 of the
more than 250 murders Jessica solves. Rarely is a sus-
Murder She Wrote, Angela Lansbury, 1984–96. pect been shown in touch with a lawyer; Jessica al-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection ways happens to be on the scene when a murder has
just taken place and makes time in her schedule to
solve the crime. She usually happens upon the body
herself. The police never get it right. Her friend is al-
sica remains close to old friends in the village, includ- most always innocent. Jessica is always present when
ing Dr. Seth Haslett, played by character actor William crucial evidence comes to light.
Windom. A few cast changes occurred; most signifi- Despite the formulaic nature of the program, the no-
cantly, Tom Bosley, who portrayed bumbling Sheriff tion that violent death can invade even the quiet world
Amos Tupper, left after four seasons to pursue his own of Jessica Fletcher connects it to old meanings of
mystery series. Familiar former television stars and the mystery genre. The world, as the profession of the
unknown character actors appeared as guests on the mystery writer demonstrates, is not a safe place. The
program. wisdom and acute mental capacity of this older woman
In the earlier seasons, a matronly Jessica frequently are weapons in an ongoing struggle for order.
bicycled across town, boiled lobsters, planned fishing On the professional rather than the fictional level,
trips on a friend’s trawler, or dropped in at the beauty Lansbury’s involvement with the series changed over
parlor. She wore conservative pantsuits and spoke with time. In the 1989–90 season, CBS persuaded her to stay
an occasional New England influence. Her signature with the show after she announced plans to leave. The
was her ancient manual typewriter, and the opening network cut demands on her time, and Lansbury made
credits showed her tapping merrily away on one of her only brief appearances in several episodes. She ad-
mystery novels. Gradually, the character evolved. The dressed the viewer directly to introduce the even-
manual typewriter eventually shared time in the opening’s mystery, involving, for example, her sleuthing
ing sequence with Jessica’s personal computer (which, “friends,” Harry McGraw or Dennis Stanton. And she
itself, was involved in two mysteries). Jessica added a often returned at the end of the hour, explaining how
second residence, a Manhattan apartment, and the the mystery was solved. In the following 1992 season,
character became more glamorous in appearance, co- however, Lansbury was back in force assuming the role
inciding with Lansbury’s own personal makeover in of executive producer. Her sons and brother were also
the 1988–89 season. involved in the production.
1556
Murder, She Wrote
However, Murder, She Wrote skewed toward older See also Lansbury, Angela
audiences, especially older women, and advertisers
will pay much more to attract younger viewers. In the
Cast
1994–95 season, the show charged lower advertising
Jessica Beatrice Fletcher Angela Lansbury
rates than competitors, such as Lois and Clark, appear-
Sheriff Amos Tupper
ing in the same time slot on the rival American Broad-
(1984–88) Tom Bosley
casting Company (ABC). Lois and Clark attracted
Grady Fletcher (1985–90) Michael Horton
fewer viewers but was watched by more young view-
Dr. Seth Hazlitt (1985–96) William Windom
ers, hence the higher advertising rate.
Mayor Sam Booth (1986–96) Richard Paul
At a time when less traditional programs, such as
Sheriff Mort Metzger
the quirky, more serial Northern Exposure and the off-
(1989–96) Ron Masak
beat Seinfeld, were attracting favorable critical notices,
Dennis Stanton (1990–91) Keith Michell
Murder, She Wrote did not. It attracted instead large
Robert Butler (1990–91) James Sloyan
numbers of viewers with its combination of a highly
Lt. Perry Catalano (1990–91) Ken Swofford
ritualistic formula and its progressive treatment of a
Rhoda (1990–91) Hallie Todd
60-plus heroine played by a popular star. Jessica
Dr. Raymond Auerbach
Fletcher is, significantly, an amateur, unlike James
(1991–96) Alan Oppenheimer
Rockford or Thomas Magnum. However, although un-
failingly well behaved, she displays a worldliness
about modern life, and she has a career that contributes Producers
to her vitality. These elements distinguish her from Peter S. Fischer, Anthony J. Magro, J. Michael
Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple character, to whom she Straczynski, Peter Lansbury, Angela Lansbury
has often been compared.
Since her involvement in Murder, She Wrote, Lans-
Programming History
bury, the actor, has spoken out on occasion against the
261 episodes
tendency for network television to propagate a “mas-
CBS
culine mystique” and unfairly favor programs oriented
September 1984–May 1991 Sunday 8:00–9:00
toward younger audiences. (In its Sunday time slots,
June 1991–July 1991 Sunday 9:00–10:00
Murder, She Wrote followed another long-running suc-
July 1991–May 1996 Sunday 8:00–9:00
cessful program on CBS, 60 Minutes, which has also
collected large numbers of older viewers.) Because
portrayals of older people on American television have Further Reading
traditionally infrequent and unflattering (in such silly
Allman, Kevin, “Auntie Angela” (interview), The Advocate
roles as Fred Sanford of Sanford and Son, Designing (September 22, 1992)
Women’s dotty Bernice, and some of the women of The Riggs, Karen, Mature Audiences: Television in the Lives of El-
Golden Girls), Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher is espe- ders, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University
cially significant. She has demonstrated that compe- Press, 1998
tent, glamorous older women can draw large Smith, Wallace E., “‘Cabot Cove,’ California: TV Intrigue on
Mendocino Coast,” American West (December 1988)
prime-time audiences. As a result, Murder, She Wrote Waters, Harry F., “A New Golden Age: The Over-55 Set Flexes
was one of CBS’s most valued programs. Its Wrinkles on Prime Time,” Newsweek (November 18,
Karen E. Riggs 1985)
1557
Murdoch, Rupert K.
Murdoch, Rupert K.
U.S./Australian Media Executive
Rupert K. Murdoch is the controlling shareholder and saw the situation as a rare opportunity to purchase a
chief executive of News Corporation, Ltd. (News group of choice television stations in the largest U.S.
Corp), one of the largest and most powerful media markets, thereby ensuring a distribution vehicle for his
companies in the world. In this position, Murdoch has new studio’s programs. The combined moves allowed
become perhaps the world’s leading media mogul. His Murdoch to initiate the most serious effort to establish
bold style, unconventional and visionary approach, a fourth broadcast television network since the demise
and willingness to aggressively assume great risks of Dumont in the mid-1950s and culminated in the es-
have made him a figure both admired and disdained tablishment of the FOX Broadcasting Company.
throughout the world. His company owns properties Despite his career’s many successes, Murdoch’s
on four continents that produce and distribute products empire nearly collapsed in 1990. Unfavorable condi-
in television; films; book, newspaper, and magazine tions in the financial markets, combined with deep
publishing; and online data services. losses by some of News Corp’s start-up operations,
Murdoch began his rise to the status of media baron such as British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), and the
in a relatively modest way. He inherited his father’s company’s extremely heavy short-term debt load (the
newspaper holdings in 1952, which, after estate taxes, result of many costly acquisitions, such as TV Guide,
consisted of two small Australian papers, the Adelaide which News Corp purchased in 1988 from Walter An-
News and Sunday Mail. Murdoch was quickly able to nenberg’s Triangle Publications) brought the company
reverse the unprofitable states of these newspapers, to the brink of financial ruin. While Murdoch was able
and he used the new profits to acquire other media to renegotiate the terms of his agreements, which
properties, thereby exhibiting the fundamental growth avoided the disaster, News Corp’s financial problems
strategy that would come to characterize his career. By
the late 1960s, Murdoch expanded his newspaper and
magazine empire to include British newspaper hold-
ings, first acquiring London’s The News of the World in
1968 and soon thereafter The Sun. It was the transfor-
mation of The Sun into a sensationalized tabloid
(which, most notoriously, included a regular “Page
Three” feature of photos of topless women) that sealed
Murdoch’s reputation as a media owner who was will-
ing to pander to his audience’s worst instincts in ex-
change for commercial acceptance, a label that has
dogged Murdoch throughout his career. However, it
must be noted that such fears have sometimes proven
to be unfounded, as was the case following Murdoch’s
1981 purchase of the revered London Times, which
largely retained the stoic editorial character for which
it was well known.
In the 1970s, Murdoch entered the U.S. media mar-
ket by purchasing newspapers and magazines, and he
also started the supermarket tabloid The Star. How-
ever, it was not until the mid-1980s that Murdoch be-
gan to make his mark on American television. His
purchase of Metromedia’s independent television sta-
tions from John Kluge in 1985 came on the heels of his Rupert K. Murdoch.
acquisition of the 20th Century-Fox studio. Murdoch Photo courtesy of Rupert Murdoch
1558
Murdoch, Rupert K.
temporarily placed Murdoch in the unusual position of Australian-based News Corp was the legal owner,
being unable to aggressively expand his holdings. In which would be in violation of the rules. The National
fact, he was forced to shed some nonessential assets, Broadcasting Company (NBC) joined the NAACP in
including most of his U.S. magazine titles. It was only asking the FCC to pursue the investigation but eventu-
a relatively short time, however, before the company’s ally withdrew from the complaint after gaining access
financial picture improved significantly and Murdoch for their programming on Murdoch’s Star-TV service
was able to once again resume his familiar patterns of in Asia. However, the NAACP continued to pursue the
acquisition, as he did when he purchased a controlling issue.
interest in Asia’s Star-TV direct broadcast satellite ser- Murdoch’s media empire continued to grow and
vice in 1993. flourish as the new century approached. News Corp
As perhaps befits a man with such a great level of expanded its holdings of sports-related properties,
power and influence, Murdoch has often found himself most notably adding the Los Angeles Dodgers Major
at the center of political firestorms. He became widely League Baseball franchise (along with its valuable real
scorned by labor organizations and pro-labor politi- estate holdings) in 1998, and it also obtained full con-
cians around the world because of his hard-line tactics trol over Liberty Media’s regional cable sports chan-
in battling the British newspaper workers’ unions in nels in 1999, which added to FOX Sports’ dominant
the mid-1980s. His 1985 purchase of the Metromedia presence in the sports television field. Murdoch also
television stations required him to become an Ameri- positioned his company for the future by merging TV
can citizen to comply with Federal Communications Guide with Gemstar International Group in 2000,
Commission (FCC) restrictions on foreign ownership which effectively put News Corp at the very center of
of U.S. television stations; many felt he received inor- the burgeoning field of interactive television services.
dinately preferential treatment by the Reagan adminis- With the purchase of a major share of the Italian pay-
tration in expediting the citizenship process. His FOX cable service Telepiu from beleaguered French con-
television network was able to avoid complying with glomerate Vivendi in the summer of 2002, Murdoch
the FCC’s “Financial Interest and Syndication” (Fin- expanded his European holdings as well as his stake in
Syn) rules—first by airing fewer hours of program- pay-television services that could carry FOX produc-
ming than were stipulated in the legal definition of a tions. A rare failed effort occurred earlier that year
“network” and later by receiving a temporary FCC when Murdoch attempted to merge his satellite opera-
waiver of the rules—an action the other three broad- tions with direct-to-home provider DirecTV. He lost
cast networks vigorously opposed. In addition, Mur- out to rival Charles Ergen, owner of the other major
doch was the specific target of a 1988 effort by Senator satellite provider, EchoStar.
Edward Kennedy (at the time a frequent target of Mur- Murdoch also spent these years preparing for the ul-
doch’s Boston Herald newspaper) to revoke another timate succession of his children to News Corp leader-
FCC ruling, one that waived cross-ownership restric- ship posts. His sons, Lachlan and James, were
tions that would have prevented Murdoch from own- groomed for high-level positions within the organiza-
ing both newspapers and television stations in New tion, as was his daughter, Elisabeth, who left News
York and Boston. The end result of Kennedy’s efforts Corp in 2000 to start her own independent production
was that Murdoch eventually sold the New York Post company. Younger son James has been in charge of
(he later would receive a new waiver that allowed him News Corp’s new media efforts and, at the time of this
to reacquire the struggling paper in 1993) and put writing, is chief executive at Star TV, the group’s
Boston’s WFXT-TV into an independent trust. Asian satellite broadcaster. Lachlan, who is most often
A mid-1990s political storm held the potential to be considered to be his father’s heir apparent, has led the
the most costly that had ever surrounded Murdoch. company’s print and publishing operations in Australia
Nearly ten years after he had become a U.S. citizen and New York and was named deputy chief operating
and after many millions of dollars had been invested in officer of News Corporation, Ltd, in 2000.
the FOX network and its owned-and-operated stations, Rupert Murdoch has been one of the most success-
questions arose related to Murdoch’s avoidance of the ful international entrepreneurs of his time and a light-
FCC’s restrictions on foreign ownership of television ning rod for controversy in many parts of the world.
stations. The National Association for the Advance- While other global media companies, such as AOL
ment of Colored People (NAACP), which was seeking Time Warner and Bertelsmann AG, possess power and
to block the purchase of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, influence comparable to that of News Corp, Murdoch
television station by FOX, asked the FCC to investi- often appears to stand alone among the ranks of mod-
gate whether it was Murdoch who owned the FOX sta- ern media moguls. This is because, unlike those other
tions, as he and News Corp claimed, or whether companies, News Corp is clearly identified as a corpo-
1559
Murdoch, Rupert K.
rate arm that is strongly controlled by a single individ- 1988; acquired Triangle Publications, including TV
ual. It is therefore fair to say that his absolute control Guide, 1988; founded Sky satellite television network,
over News Corp, with its holdings of some of the 1989; Sky absorbed rival British Satellite Broadcast-
world’s most pervasive and influential media proper- ing to become British Sky Broadcasting, 1990; bought
ties, makes Murdoch perhaps the single most powerful controlling interest in Asia’s Star-TV, 1993. Director,
media magnate ever. News International plc, since 1969; chief executive,
David Gunzerath since 1979, and chair, since 1991, News Corporation
Ltd; chair and chief executive, 20th Century-Fox,
See also Annenberg, Walter; Australia; Australian
since 1992.
Production Companies; Berlusconi, Silvio; Bertels-
mann AG; British Sky Broadcasting; Cable Net-
Further Reading
works; Diller, Barry; FOX Broadcasting
Company; News Coroporation, Ltd; Star-TV; Belfield, Richard, Christopher Hird, and Sharon Kelly, Mur-
Time Warner; United States: Cable doch: The Decline of an Empire, London: MacDonald, 1991
Block, Alex Ben, Outfoxed, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990
Brooks, Richard, “Murdoch: A Press Baron Re-Born,” Toronto
Rupert K(eith) Murdoch. Born in Melbourne, Victo- Star (September 12, 1993)
ria, Australia, March 11, 1931. Attended Oxford Uni- Consoli, John, “Fox Buys the Henhouse,” Mediaweek (March
versity, England. Married: 1) Anna Maria Torv, 1967 23, 1998)
(divorced, 1999); children: Prudence, Elisabeth, Lach- Consoli, John, “Murdoch: Give Me Liberty!” Mediaweek (April
5, 1999)
lan, James; 2) Wendi Deng, 1999; child: Grace. Spent Cromie, Ali, “Inside Story: Murdoch’s Succession,” The
two years in London as subeditor with the Daily Ex- Guardian (October 29, 1994)
press, 1950–52; inherited father’s newspaper holdings, Farhi, Paul, “Murdoch, All Business: The Media Mogul Keeps
1952, and returned to Australia to run The Adelaide Making Bets amid Strains in His Global Empire,” Washing-
News and Sunday Mail; acquired more Australian ton Post (February 12, 1995)
Kiernan, Thomas, Citizen Murdoch, New York: Dodd Mead,
newspapers and expanded to England in 1968, buying 1985
The News of the World and The Sun; purchased San la Franco, Robert, “Rupert’s on a Roll,” Forbes (July 6, 1998)
Antonio Express–News, 1973, and the New York Post, Leapman, Michael, Arrogant Aussie: The Rupert Murdoch
1976; his News International organization subse- Story, Secaucus, New Jersey: Little Stuart, 1985
quently bought the New York Magazine, The Star, the Melvern, Linda, The End of the Street, London: Methuen, 1986
Mermigas, Diane, “News Corp.: The Next Generation” (inter-
London Times, the Sunday Times, the Boston Herald, view), Electronic Media (January 22, 2001)
the Chicago Sun-Times, television stations, book pub- Rohm, Wendy Goldman, The Murdoch Mission: The Digital
lishing companies, and airline, oil, and gas concerns; Transformation of a Media Empire, New York: John Wiley,
purchased 20th Century-Fox and independent U.S. 2002
television stations from Metromedia, 1985, and estab- Shawcross, William, Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster of the Infor-
mation Circus, London: Chatto and Windus, 1992; as Mur-
lished FOX Broadcasting Network; took U.S. citizen- doch, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993; revised edition,
ship, 1985; sold New York Post to conform with as Murdoch: The Making of a Media Empire, New York: Si-
Federal Communications Commission regulations, mon and Schuster, 1997
Murphy Brown
Since its premier in 1988, Murphy Brown appeared in pany (ABC). The show focused on life behind the
the same 9:00–9:30 P.M. slot on the Columbia Broad- scenes at the fictional television series FYI (For Your
casting System’s (CBS’s) Monday night schedule, Information). FYI was represented as a tough, talk-
serving as something of an anchor in that network’s oriented investigative news program, perhaps a little
perennial battle against the male-oriented Monday like another CBS mainstay, 60 Minutes. From its be-
Night Football on the American Broadcasting Com- ginnings, Murphy Brown established itself as one of
1560
Murphy Brown
character developments and revelations built on the

fact that the show’s pilot introduced Murphy as she re-
turned to the FYI set after drying out at the Betty Ford
Clinic. The central character, the star of FYI, was pre-
sented from the very beginning as a recovering alco-
holic, vulnerable and flawed. All her foibles and
eccentricities were presented in this context, adding
richness and depth to the portrayal.
Indeed, throughout the show’s run, all the characters
and their relationships developed beyond what is typi-
cal for a sitcom. The original ensemble included Corky
Sherwood (Faith Ford), a Louisiana girl and former
Miss America who took a few journalism classes in
college but was hired mainly for her looks; Frank
Fontana (Joe Regalbuto), ace investigative reporter
and irrepressible skirt chaser with a mortal fear of
commitment; Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough), the rigid,
serious, eminently competent anchorman; Miles Sil-
verberg (Grant Shaud), a new Harvard graduate, pro-
ducing FYI was his first “real” job; Eldin Bernecky
(Robert Pastorelli), a house painter who worked con-
tinually on Murphy’s townhouse until her son, Avery,
was born, at which time he became Avery’s nanny; and
Phil (Pat Corley), the all-knowing owner of Phil’s Bar,
hangout for the FYI team.
Murphy Brown. As a running gag, Murphy also had a parade of sec-
Photo courtesy of CBS Worldwide, Inc. retaries, most of whom were inept and lasted only one
episode. A few examples: a young African-American
television’s premier ensemble comedies, exploring life man who spoke only in hip-hop slang, a crash-test
among the reporters, producers, staff, and friends of dummy, a bickering married couple, and a mental pa-
FYI. However, there is no question that, as the title im- tient. Naturally, whenever Murphy found a good secre-
plies, this ensemble was built around its central char- tary, he or she left by the end of the episode.
acter. Initially, some characters were two-dimensional.
As played by Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown was Miles existed only to run around acting tense and to
one of the most original, distinctive female characters annoy Murphy, a 40-year-old woman with a 25-year-
on television. Smart, determined, and difficult, she did old boss. In the pilot, Murphy tells him, “I just can’t
not suffer fools gladly. Her ambition and stubbornness help thinking about the fact that while I was getting
frequently got her into trouble, and she often acted a maced at the Democratic Convention in 1968, you
little foolishly herself. were wondering if you’d ever meet Adam West.”
But what set Murphy apart from so many other fe- Corky was a stereotypical southern beauty queen,
male sitcom characters was that when she got into a more interested in appearances than in reporting.
ridiculous mess, it was not because she was a woman. However, as the series progressed, Miles became a
It was because she was Murphy. She was a crack re- competent producer and manager. He grew to be
porter yet managed to get herself banned from the fully capable of holding his own against Murphy,
White House during both the George H.W. Bush and who still tended to underestimate him. And Corky,
the Bill Clinton administrations. When a corrupt judge too, became more a friend than an annoyance to
fell silent during an interview, Murphy finished Murphy. A failed marriage tarnished the southern
grilling him—even though he was dead. belle’s fairy-tale life, making Corky more human
Although Murphy acted tough, Bergen showed and giving her more in common with Murphy. Mur-
viewers the character’s vulnerable side as well. phy’s feminism and ambition also began to rub off
Wracked with guilt after the judge’s death, Murphy on the younger woman.
toned down her interviewing style (for a while). And Beneath the facade of the serious anchorman, Jim
she was genuinely hurt when she did not get an invita- Dial was a warm, caring person, more liberal than he
tion to George H.W. Bush’s inaugural ball. All these seemed. In a first-season flashback, we see Murphy’s
1561
Murphy Brown
1977 FYI audition; she is dressed like “Annie Hall” Corky: When I want Murphy to leave me alone,
and sports a wildly curly mane. Network executives I just let her think she’s getting her way.
want to hire a more “professional” woman, but Jim McGovern: But she is getting her way!
convinces them to hire Murphy. Frank, the skirt Corky: Right. But I don’t care, as long as she
chaser, never chased Murphy or Corky. Frank and leaves me alone!
Murphy were a TV rarity: a man and a woman who are
In the 1994 season, veteran comedian Garry Mar-
close friends, with no sexual tension.
shall joined the cast as Stan Lansing, head of the net-
Murphy Brown’s plots often parodied actual news
work. The following year Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee
events. In the second-season episode “The Memo That
Herman) appeared as Lansing’s fawning (and schem-
Got Away,” a high school journalist hacks into FYI’s
ing) nephew. Lily Tomlin became a regular on the se-
computer system and finds an uncomplimentary memo
ries in the ninth season, playing FYI’s new executive
Murphy has written about her co-workers. A similar,
producer. The presence of new cast members added a
real-life incident occurred when a memo written by
fresh energy to the other characters and the stories,
Today anchor Bryant Gumbel was leaked. In a
helping to ensure that Murphy Brown would continue
seventh-season episode, Murphy Brown lampoons the
to have its way with comedy and social commentary.
O.J. Simpson trial circus with a story about an astro-
Other characters (Miles, Eldin, and Phil), however, de-
naut accused of murdering his brother.
parted the program before its tenth and final season in
Real-life events came head to head with Murphy
1997–98. That season focused on Murphy’s struggle
Brown in the summer of 1992, when Vice President
with breast cancer and concluded with her recovery
Dan Quayle criticized unwed mothers as violating
and the FYI cast deciding to leave the air.
“family values.” To support his argument, he pointed
Julie Prince
to the entertainment industry as site of flawed morals.
As a specific example, he singled out the fictitious
Murphy, who had given birth to son Avery, out of wed- Cast
lock, in the 1991–92 season finale. Producer Diane En- Murphy Brown Candice Bergen
glish responded to Quayle with her own analysis of the Jim Dial Charles Kimbrough
social and cultural conditions, and the exchanges esca- Frank Fontana Joe Regalbuto
lated into a national event, a topic for much discussion Corky Sherwood Faith Ford
in the news and on the late-night television talk shows. Miles Silverberg (1988–95) Grant Shaud
In the fall 1992 season premier, the series presented an Phil (1988–96) Pat Corley
episode devoted to the controversy. In “I Say Potatoe, Eldin Bernecky (1988–94) Robert Pastorelli
You Say Potato” (a reference to the vice president’s Carl Wishnitski (1988–93) Ritch Brinkley
much-publicized misspelling), Murphy takes Quayle John, the stage manager John Hostetter
to task, introducing several hardworking, one-parent Gene Kinsella (1988–92) Alan Oppenheimer
families on FYI. Peter Hunt (1993– ) Scott Bakula
In 1993 the character of Peter Hunt was added to the Avery Brown (1994– ) Dyllan Christopher
cast. Appearing in occasional episodes, Hunt was Stan Lansing (1994– ) Garry Marshall
played by Scott Bakula and became Murphy’s new Miller Redfield (1995– ) Christopher Rich
love interest. In the seventh season, two additional Andrew J. Lansing, III Paul Reubens
characters were added: Miller Redfield (Christopher
Rich), an idiot anchorman on another network show,
and McGovern (Paula Korologos), a former Music Producers
Television (MTV) personality hired to bring “youth Diane English, Joel Shukovsky, Gary Dontzig, Steven
appeal” to FYI. Miller was stereotypically handsome Peterman
and stupid and was often played against Peter Hunt’s
“real” journalistic style. McGovern had more poten- Programming History
tial; the writers resisted the “slacker” stereotype usu- 247 episodes
ally pinned on her generation and instead made her a CBS
miniature Murphy, with one exception—she was polit- November 1988–May 1998 Monday 9:00–9:30
ically conservative. This fact never failed to annoy
Murphy who, in one episode, cut McGovern’s report to
less than a minute because she (Murphy) did not like Further Reading
its political slant. McGovern complained to Corky, Alley, Robert S., and Irby B. Brown, Murphy Brown: Anatomy
who offered this advice: of a Sitcom, New York: Dell, 1990
1562
Murphy, Thomas S.
Benzel, Jan, “Murphy’s Choices,” New York Times (May 31, Diane English Sees Her Creation as Sensitive ‘Real Per-
1992) son,’” Advertising Age (September 21, 1992)
Kolbert, Elizabeth, “Flap over Murphy Brown: Art Is Bigger “Team of English and Shukovsky Make Murphy Work,” Broad-
Than Life,” New York Times (September 23, 1992) casting (March 5, 1990)
Mandese, Joe, “Advertisers Vote for Murphy Brown,” Advertis- “An Unmarried Woman and a Political Fight,” U.S. News and
ing Age (September 7, 1992) World Report (June 1, 1992)
Mandese, Joe, “Murphy Brown Flap ‘Irresponsible’: Producer Zoglin, Richard, “Sitcom Politics,” Time (September 21, 1992)
Murphy, Thomas S.
U.S. Media Executive
Thomas S. Murphy was chair and chief executive offi- For the next two decades, Murphy led Capital Cities
cer of Capital Cities/ABC until 1996, when Disney during a time of fantastic growth. In 1985 Capital
bought the company and Murphy retired. Murphy built Cities became the minnow that swallowed the whale
Capital Cities/ABC into a multi-billion-dollar interna- when it announced that it was merging with the highly
tional media conglomerate. In addition to leading Cap- visible American Broadcasting Company (ABC). This
ital Cities from its days as a small television holding was the largest merger to date of media companies.
company to its position as a media empire, Murphy Capital Cities/ABC reclaimed this record about ten
distinguished himself as a responsible corporate citi- years later when it merged with the Disney Company.
zen by emphasizing public service. Murphy will be remembered not only for his busi-
After service in the U.S. Navy, a Harvard M.B.A., ness acumen and ability to expand Capital Cities but
and five years at Kenyon and Eckhardt and at Lever
Brothers, Murphy began his broadcasting career with a
little help from his father’s friends. The legendary
broadcaster Lowell Thomas, Thomas’s business man-
ager Frank Smith, and a few other investors started
Hudson Valley Broadcasting. They needed a station
manager and turned to their friend’s ambitious son. In
1954, at the age of 29, Murphy assumed duties as the
first employee and station manager at WROW-TV in
Albany, New York. This station and its sister radio sta-
tion, WROW-AM, were the Hudson Valley Broadcast-
ing Company. After nearly three years of red ink, the
station saw a profit. As the company evolved into Cap-
ital Cities and eventually into Capital Cities/ABC, it
consistently made money. One share of the company
in 1957 cost $5.75; in 1996, that investment would be
worth more than $12,000.
In 1960 chair Frank Smith moved Murphy to New
York City as executive vice president of Capital Cities.
In 1964 Murphy was named president. With Smith’s
death in 1966, Murphy became chair and chief executive
officer. Three cornerstones of Murphy’s management
philosophy were fiscal responsibility, decentralized local
responsibility, and social responsibility. Additionally, he
always tried to hire people smarter than himself. Murphy
attributed much of his success to what he learned from Thomas S. Murphy.
Smith. Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1563
Murphy, Thomas S.
also for his firm belief in the importance of public ser- Thomas S. Murphy. Born in Brooklyn, New York,
vice. In 1961 the company received national attention U.S.A., May 31, 1925. Cornell University, B.S. 1945;
and a Peabody Award for its nonprofit, exclusive tele- Harvard University, M.B.A. 1949. Married. Served in
vision coverage of Israel’s trial of the Nazi war crimi- U.S. Navy. Executive positions with Kenyon and Eck-
nal Adolf Eichmann. Murphy continued that level of hardt, 1949–51; with Lever Brothers Company,
dedication to public service throughout the early years 1951–54; with Capital Cities Communications, Inc.,
of the company and into the era of Capital Cities/ABC. New York City, from 1954, executive vice president
The company played a significant role in public ser- 1961–64, president, 1964–72, chief executive officer,
vice campaigns for “Stop Sexual Harassment,” PLUS 1966–90, chair, from 1966; initiated acquisition of Tri-
Literacy, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, and angle Broadcasting, 1971; initiated merger with ABC
others. The company also practiced significant internal to form Capital Cities/ABC, 1986. Board member: The
and external public service with its own Substance Walt Disney Company, Columbia/HCA Healthcare
Abuse Assistance Program, Corporate Diversity in Corp., Doubleclick Inc., and Smith Barney’s Interna-
Management skills bank, Management Initiatives Pro- tional Advisory Board.
gram to expand minority representation in editorial
management, Broadcast Management Training Pro-
Further Reading
gram for women and minorities, the Advanced Man-
agement Training Program for Women, the Women’s Forbes, Malcolm S., “Mighty CEOs Who Are Also All-Round
Advisory Committee, the Capital Cities/ABC Founda- Nice Guys Are Rare,” Forbes (December 11, 1989)
Hawver, W., Capital Cities/ABC, the Early Years: 1954–1986,
tion, and the Volunteer Initiatives Program, serving as How the Minnow Came to Swallow the Whale, Radnor,
a clearinghouse for volunteerism. In retirement, Mur- Pennsylvania: Chilton, 1994
phy has pursued his public service interests as a trustee Landler, Mark, “Creators of the Big Deal, Capital Cities’ Tan-
of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, the Lymphoma dem Team,” New York Times (August 1, 1995)
Research Foundation of America, New York Univer- West, Don, “Broadcaster’s Broadcaster” (interview), Broad-
casting & Cable (November 13, 1995)
sity, and the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club and
as a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard
College. In 1998 he was elected board chair of Save
the Children.
Guy E. Lometti
Murrow, Edward R.
Edward R. Murrow is the most distinguished and tradition” of courage, integrity, social responsibility,
renowned figure in the history of American broadcast and journalistic excellence, emblematic of the highest
journalism. He was a seminal force in the creation and ideals of both broadcast news and the television indus-
development of electronic news gathering as both a try in general.
craft and a profession. Murrow’s career began at the David Halberstam has observed in The Powers That
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1935 and Be that Murrow was “one of those rare legendary fig-
spanned the infancy of news and public affairs pro- ures who was as good as his myth.” Murrow was ap-
gramming on radio through the ascendancy of televi- parently driven by the democratic precepts of modern
sion in the 1950s, as it eventually became the nation’s liberalism and the more embracing Weltanschauung of
most popular news medium. In 1961 Murrow left CBS the American Protestant tradition. In Alexander
to become director of the U.S. Information Agency for Kendrick’s Prime-Time: The Life of Edward R. Mur-
the new Kennedy administration. By that time, his row, for example, Murrow’s brother, Dewey, describes
peers were already referring to a “Murrow legend and the intense religious and moral tutelage of his mother
1564
Murrow, Edward R.
background. Murrow’s persona was thus established,

embodying the political traditions of the Western
democracies and offering the public a heroic model on
which to focus their energies.
Murrow, of course, was only one of many heroes to
emerge from World War II, but he became the eminent
symbol for broadcasting. The creation of the Murrow
legacy and tradition speaks both to the sterling talent
of the man himself and to the enormous growth and
power of radio during the war years. Murrow hired a
generation of electronic journalists at CBS, such as
Eric Sevareid, Charles Collingwood, and Howard K.
Smith, among many others, for whom he set the exam-
ple as their charismatic leader. As late as 1977, more
than a decade after Murrow’s death, Dan Rather wrote
in his autobiography The Camera Never Blinks that “it
was astonishing how often his [Murrow] name and
work came up. To somebody outside CBS it is proba-
bly hard to believe. Time and again I heard someone
say, ‘Ed wouldn’t have done it that way.’”
Murrow’s initial foray into television was as the on-
camera host of the seminal news and public affairs
program See It Now (1951–57). This series was an
adaptation of radio’s popular Hear It Now, which was
also coproduced by Murrow and Fred W. Friendly.
See It Now premiered in a half-hour format on
November 18, 1951, opening with Murrow’s charac-
teristic restraint and directness: “This is an old team
trying to learn a new trade.” By April 20, 1952, See It
Edward R. Murrow.
Now had been moved to prime time, where it stayed
Courtesy of the Everett Collection until July 1955, typically averaging around 3 million
viewers. After that point, See It Now was expanded to
an hour but telecast more irregularly on a special-
and father: “they branded us with their own con- events basis.
sciences.” Murrow’s imagination and the long-term ef- Through the course of its run, See It Now was
fects of his early home life impelled him to integrate awarded four Emmys for Best News or Public Service
his parents’ ethical guidelines into his own personality Program. Many of its broadcasts were duly considered
to such an extensive degree that Murrow became the breakthroughs for the medium. For example, “This is
virtual fulfillment of his industry’s public service aspi- Korea . . . Christmas 1952” was produced on location
rations. “to try to portray the face of the war and the faces of
Murrow’s rich, full, and expressive voice first came the men who are fighting it.” Murrow’s most-
to the attention of the U.S. listening public in his many celebrated piece was his March 9, 1954, telecast, in
rooftop radio broadcasts during the Battle of Britain in which he engaged Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in a
1939. In words evocative of the original founding fa- program “told mainly in [McCarthy’s] own words and
thers of the United States, Murrow frequently used the pictures.” In the aftermath of this episode, the descrip-
airwaves to revivify and popularize many democratic tions of Edward R. Murrow and his tradition quickly
ideals—such as free speech, citizen participation, the began to transcend the more secular cast that appeared
pursuit of truth, and the sanctification of individual lib- in response to his championing of democratic action
erties and rights—that resulted from a broader liberal and principles in Britain during World War II. In his re-
discourse in England, France, and the United States. view of the now legendary McCarthy program, for in-
Resurrecting these values and virtues for a mass audi- stance, New York Times TV critic Jack Gould reflected
ence of true believers during the London Blitz was an ongoing canonization process when he wrote that
high drama—the opposing threat of totalitarianism, “last week may be remembered as the week that broad-
made real by Nazi bombs, was ever present in the casting recaptured its soul.”
1565
Murrow, Edward R.
Murrow also produced lighter, less controversial apparent irony between Edward R. Murrow’s life and
fare for television. His most popular success was his the way that he is subsequently remembered today: the
hosting of Person to Person, from 1953 to 1961, where industry that finally had no place for him now holds
he chatted informally with a wide array of celebrities Murrow up as their model citizen, the “patron saint of
every Friday during prime time. Murrow remained American broadcasting.”
with this program through the 1958–59 season, “visit- Gary R. Edgerton
ing” in their homes such people as Harry Truman,
See also Army-McCarthy Hearings; Columbia
Marilyn Monroe, and John Steinbeck. Murrow, in fact,
Broadcasting System; Cronkite, Walter; Documen-
won an Emmy for the Most Outstanding Personality in
tary; Friendly, Fred W.; News, Network; Paley,
all of television after Person to Person’s inaugural sea-
William S.; Person to Person; See It Now; Sevareid,
son. He received four other individual Emmys for Best
Eric; Smith, Howard K.; Talk Shows
News Commentator or Analyst as well, with the last
coming in 1958, the year he excoriated the broadcast-
Edward R. Murrow. Born Egbert Roscoe Murrow in
ing industry in a speech before the Radio and Televi-
Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.A., April 25, 1908.
sion News Directors Association (RTNDA) for being
Attended Stanford University and the University of
“fat, comfortable, and complacent” and television for
Washington; graduated from Washington State Col-
“being used to detract, delude, amuse, and insulate us.”
lege, 1930. Married: Janet Huntington Brewster, 1934;
The tragedy of Murrow’s rapid enervation at CBS
one son. Served as assistant director, Institute of Inter-
after this latest tumult was implicit in his apparent
national Education, 1932–35; began career with CBS
need to ascribe higher motives to his own profession.
as director of talks and education, 1935; director,
Murrow had long reveled in his role as broadcasting’s
CBS’s European Bureau in London, 1937; during
Jeremiah. His urgent and inspirational style of presen-
World War II, hired and trained distinguished corps of
tation fit the life-and-death psychological milieu of a
war correspondents, including Eric Sevareid, Howard
world war, as it was later appropriate for the McCarthy
K. Smith, Charles Collingwood, and Richard C. Hot-
crisis. By 1958, however, the viewing public and the
telet; vice president and director of public affairs,
television industry were less inclined to accept yet an-
CBS, 1946; resigned to return to radio broadcasting,
other of his ethical lambastes, especially since his
1947; narrated and produced Hear It Now radio series,
RTNDA speech was directed at them and their short-
1950–51; brought series to television as See It Now,
comings. As the business of TV grew astronomically
1952–58; began Person to Person television program,
during the 1950s, Murrow’s priorities fell progres-
1953; moderated and produced Small World television
sively out of step. His vision of television as “the
series, featuring discussions among world figures,
world’s greatest classroom” increasingly appeared
1958–60; appointed by President John F. Kennedy to
more and more like a quaint vestige of a bygone era,
head U.S. Information Agency in 1961, and remained
especially to his bosses and a younger generation at the
in post until 1964. Recipient: nine Emmy Awards.
network.
Died in New York, April 27, 1965.
There is still a small plaque in the lobby of CBS
headquarters in New York City that bears the image of
Murrow and the inscription, “He set standards of ex- Television Series
cellence that remain unsurpassed.” During his 25-year 1952–57 See It Now (host)
career, Murrow made more than 5,000 broadcasts; and 1953–61 Person to Person (host)
more than anyone else, he invented the traditions of 1958–60 Small World (moderator and producer)
television news. Murrow and his team essentially cre-
ated the prototype of the TV documentary with See It
Now and later extended the technological reach of Radio
electronic news gathering in Small World (1958–59), Hear It Now (host and coproducer), 1950–51.
which employed simultaneous hookups around the
globe to facilitate unrehearsed discussion among sev-
Publications
eral international opinion leaders. Most of Murrow’s
See It Now associates were reassembled to produce So This Is London, 1941
CBS Reports in 1961, although Murrow was only an In Search of Light: The Broadcasts of Edward R.
infrequent participant in this new series. Over the Murrow, 1938–1961, edited with Edward Bliss Jr.,
years, he had simply provoked too many trying situa- 1967
tions for CBS, and the network’s hierarchy made a “Call It Courage: Act on Your Knowledge” (tran-
conscious decision to reduce his profile. There is an script), Vital Speeches (November 15, 1993)
1566
Music Licensing
Further Reading Lichello, Robert, Edward R. Murrow, Broadcaster of Courage,

Charlottesville, New York: SamHar Press, 1971
Edgerton, Gary, “The Murrow Legend as Metaphor: The Cre- Persico, Joseph E., Edward R. Murrow: An American Original,
ation, Appropriation, and Usefulness of Edward R. Mur- New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988
row’s Life Story,” Journal of American Culture (Spring Persico, Joseph E., “The Broadcaster and the Demagogue,”
1992) Television Quarterly (spring 1989)
Edward R. Murrow Papers, 1927–1965: A Guide to the Micro- Smith, Robert, Edward R. Murrow: The War Years, Kalamazoo,
film Edition, Sanford, North Carolina: Microfilming Corp. Michigan: New Issues Press, 1978
of America, 1982 Sperber, A.M., Murrow: His Life and Times, New York: Fre-
Halberstam, David, The Powers That Be, New York: Knopf, undlich, 1986
1979 Wald, Malvin, “Shootout at the Beverly Hills Corral: Edward R.
Kendrick, Alexander, Prime-Time: The Life of Edward R. Mur- Murrow Versus Hollywood,” Journal of Popular Film and
row, Boston: Little, Brown, 1969 Television (fall 1991)
Music Licensing
Music licensing is the process through which televi- ASCAP, the oldest of the three, was born of a 1913
sion outlets and producers acquire permission to use restaurant meeting of composer Victor Herbert and
copyrighted music in their programming and produc- eight publisher and composer associates who sought
tions. A music copyright actually consists of a bundle some mechanism to ensure that they would be paid for
of ownership rights. The four principal parts of this the public performance of their work. ASCAP began
bundle are (1) the publication right, authority to copy licensing broadcast stations to play the music of its
or publish the musical work; (2) the mechanical member composers and publishers in 1923, when it
(recording) right, authority to make audio copies of signed a one-year $500 license with AT&T’s WEAF
the work; (3) the synchronization right, authority to (New York). Perceiving themselves to be at ASCAP’s
synchronize recordings of the work with film or video; mercy when it came to the use of music in their pro-
and (4) the performance right, authority to perform the gramming, broadcasters formed the National Associa-
work publicly. Two additional facets of music copy- tion of Broadcasters (NAB) to negotiate with ASCAP
right are (5) grand dramatic rights, which involve the on behalf of the entire radio industry. (The NAB sub-
use of the composition in a dramatic performance such
as a stage play, an opera, or a video representation of
the “story” of a song, and (6) the master-use license
(dubbing right), which pertains to the re-recording of a
particular artist’s rendition of the music. The first five
of these rights emanate from the original composer and
publisher of the work. The master-use license is held
by the record company that released the particular
artist’s interpretation of the composition.
While all six of these elements may come into play in
the production of a film or video project, it is the perfor-
mance right that is of overwhelming importance in the
public transmission of television programming. In the
United States (and elsewhere through agreements with
reciprocal agencies), three licensing organizations ad-
minister performance rights for virtually all musical
compositions still under copyright. These three organiza-
tions are the American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated
(BMI), and the much smaller SESAC (formerly, the So-
ciety of European Stage Authors and Composers). Courtesy of ASCAP
1567
Music Licensing
that organization receives are much lower, and stations

deal with it separately.
Since 1950, the broadcast television networks have
secured their own blanket licenses for the music in the
programming and commercials they distribute to their
affiliates. Even if they are network affiliates, stations
still have needed their own blanket licenses to cover
the music included in the syndicated series, local pro-
grams, and nonnetwork commercials they air. Since
1970, broadcasters have fought a number of legal bat-
tles in an attempt to reduce overlapping license cover-
age and bring greater flexibility and economy to the
performance-rights clearance process. In 1970 the
Courtesy of BMI Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) initiated an an-
titrust suit against ASCAP and BMI in order to secure
the option of a “per use” alternative to the blanket li-
cense. However, in 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court reaf-
sequently became U.S. commercial broadcasting’s ma- firmed the dismissal of the case. Four years later,
jor trade association and lobbying agency.) television stations lost a similar skirmish over “per
BMI was created by the broadcast industry in 1940 program” rates that tended to make this option far
in reaction to what stations perceived to be a large and more costly than the blanket license.
unjustified increase in ASCAP’s licensing rates. Until Nevertheless, new licensing alternatives began to
BMI could build its own catalog, many stations that emerge. Following a series of legal maneuvers,
had refused to renew their ASCAP licenses could play ASCAP/BMI and television broadcasters began, in
nothing but tunes by Stephen Foster and other vintage 1987, to negotiate a more economically realistic per-
music no longer under copyright. BMI soon signed af- program license option. Six years and several judicial
filiation agreements with Latin American, country, proceedings later, the parties had substantially agreed
western, “race music” (black), and later rock-and-roll to a feasible per-program license structure. This paved
composers—musical genres that ASCAP had largely the way for stations more actively to purchase or lease
ignored. their own music libraries for use in local productions
SESAC was founded in 1931 by music publishing and commercials—thus greatly shortening the list of
executive Paul Heinecke, with a catalog consisting pri- programs for which they would have to pay an ASCAP
marily of European concert and operatic music. or BMI fee. At the same time, major program syndica-
SESAC later dropped its full name in favor of the tors such as King World began selling stations the
acronym and expanded its scope to encompass concert rights to the music contained in their series for a small
band, gospel, religious, and country music, opening a additional fee. Such “source cleared” deals are ex-
major office in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964. SESAC pected to become more and more common as stations
is the only one of the three performance-rights organi- seek to further reduce their ASCAP and BMI per-
zations also to administer the mechanical and synchro- program payments. Meanwhile, in a 1992 cable televi-
nization rights on behalf of its member composers and sion decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the right of
publishers. cable networks to obtain the same blanket “through to
Virtually from its inception, radio performance- the viewer” license that had been available to the
rights licensing was accommodated via a “blanket li- broadcast networks since 1950. This greatly lessened
cense.” Stations paid the rights agency an annual fee the performance-rights liability of cable system opera-
based on either gross receipts (ASCAP and BMI) or tors. As a result of negotiations between the National
market size, power, and hours of operation (SESAC). Cable Television Association Music License Commit-
This license allowed the stations to play as much of the tee and the three performance-rights holders, local ca-
licensing organization’s music as they wished. This ble systems can now obtain blanket licenses to cover
same business arrangement subsequently was ex- music used on local-origination channels as well as in
tended to the new medium of television. As in radio, locally inserted commercials and promotional an-
television-station rate negotiations with ASCAP and nouncements.
BMI are handled by an all-industry committee sup- Local broadcast station blanket rates for ASCAP are
ported by voluntary station contributions. Because far determined through negotiations with the broadcast-
less SESAC music is played on television, the dollars ers’ Television Music License Committee. An
1568
Music on Television
industry-wide flat fee is set in these negotiations. This Further Reading

fee is divided among all defined television markets ac- Berk, Lee Eliot, Legal Protection for the Creative Musician,
cording to market size. The market fee, in turn, is Berkeley, California: Berklee Press Publications, 1970
spread among stations in that market on the basis of “Broadcasters to Press Fight to Send Out Copyright Music,”
the household ratings achieved by each. Annual adjust- New York Times (April 26, 1923)
ments are made on the basis of changes in the con- Emma, Thomas, “Music Clearance,” Video Systems (September
1993)
sumer price index and number of stations in each area. Foisie, Geoffrey, “ASCAP Decision Music to TV Stations,”
BMI and SESAC fees follow a similar pattern and, es- Broadcasting & Cable (March 8, 1993)
sentially, are indexed to the ASCAP-negotiated figure. Foisie, Geoffrey, “Making Sense of Music Licensing,” Broad-
An additional simmering controversy involves mu- casting & Cable (March 29, 1993)
sicians and some recording companies. These interests Goldblatt, Cristina, The Songwriter’s Handbook, Hollywood,
California: American Song Festival, 1974
sporadically have lobbied Congress to enact legisla-
Granville, Elizabeth, “TV Music Licensing in Wake of ‘Buf-
tion that would require an additional performance- falo,’” Broadcasting (May 20, 1985)
rights fee to be paid to the performers of a piece of “Profile: Alice Heinecke Prager,” Broadcasting (September 11,
music. The television industry counters that perform- 1972)
ers already have been compensated through existing Shemel, Sidney, and M. William Krasilovsky, The Business of
rights mechanisms and have handsomely profited from Music, New York: Billboard Publishing, 1964
Tobenkin, David, “King World Negotiates Own Music Rights,”
the exposure with which television has provided them. Broadcasting & Cable (May 30, 1994)
Peter B. Orlik Zimmerman, Barbara, “The Music Business Targets Corpora-
See also Music on Television tions,” Video Systems (May 1991)
Music on Television
The antecedents for music’s presence in television afterthought during television’s early years. In 1948
may be found in film and radio. Most television music only 17 stations were on the air. Programming was
(like film music) is nondiegetic: it is heard by viewers produced largely on a local basis, and talent and mate-
and listeners but not on-screen performers. This ubiq- rial often were in short supply. Labor unions also
uitous “background” music is added after shooting has played a significant role in determining how music was
been completed and is used to create moods, fill used on television in the late 1940s. Under the leader-
spaces, provide rhythm, and link the production to ship of James Petrillo, the American Federation of
other cultural texts. Television music also draws on the Musicians (AFM) instigated freezes on all music
tradition of radio, which initially presented in featured recording in 1942 and 1948, and the AFM banned
performances and variety shows, then later through “live” music on television until the spring of 1948. The
disc jockey selections and chart shows. Musicians who union also ordered that all programs with featured or
appear on television sometimes play live but more of- background music must be broadcast “live” before
ten mime performance (or “lip-synch”) to their sound they were syndicated via kinescopes, and these ki-
recordings either in the studio or on music videos. nescopes were banned from airing on any station not
Therefore, music on or in television encompasses a affiliated with the originating station. This arrange-
wide range of practices. Though television has become ment favored networks over independent stations and
increasingly music driven on a global basis, the partic- allowed the powerful AFM to strengthen its control of
ular distribution of styles, techniques, and discourses the music industry. The union also prohibited its mem-
about music and television has depended on the insti- bers from recording for television films until 1950,
tutional histories and cultural contexts of both televi- when the AFM negotiated a system of royalty pay-
sion and music in different localities. ments from television producers to musicians (al-
In the United States, variety shows based in the though no such royalty system existed in the film
vaudeville tradition dominated the first two decades of industry). Television music also was hampered by dis-
television because of their broad appeal and low pro- agreements between program producers and music
duction costs. Yet music frequently was considered an publishers. Producers sought a broadened general li-
1569
Music on Television
cense fee for music use rather than a special license, ances on network variety shows, particularly CBS’s
while the major music publishing concern, the Ameri- Toast of the Town. NBC musical specials in 1951
can Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers showcased the works of Richard Rogers and Irving
(ASCAP), demanded three times the rate it received Berlin, and NBC continued to air lavish musical pre-
for film music. sentations throughout the decade.
The networks were concerned with “cultural up- Music was an integral part of amateur talent shows,
lift” during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and they which ran on all three networks through the 1950s. The
viewed “high culture” as a way to add cultural legiti- most successful of these, Ted Mack’s Original Ama-
macy to the new medium. The National Broadcasting teur Hour, was adapted from radio’s Major Bowes’
Company (NBC) had telecast a Metropolitan Opera Original Amateur Hour. Dumont began telecasting the
presentation of “Pagliacci” on March 10, 1940, and series in 1948, and it aired on various networks until
all three networks featured classical music and opera 1970. Music also was featured in the context of game
on a semiregular basis. NBC aired three telecasts of shows. Celebrities rated records on KNXT’s Juke Box
the NBC Orchestra in 1948, and the American Broad- Jury, which was carried by ABC in 1953 and later syn-
casting Company (ABC) telecast an adaptation of dicated. Other musical game shows included ABC’s So
“Othello” on November 29 of that year. The NBC You Want to Lead a Band and NBC’s Musical Chairs,
Opera Theater began regular telecasts in 1950 with which aired in 1954 and 1955, respectively, as well as
four programs and continued to air opera specials Name That Tune, which ran on NBC and later CBS
through 1950s and early 1960s. The network also from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly revived in syndica-
aired an experimental color broadcast of “Carmen” tion in the mid-1970s.
on October 31, 1953. Producers faced a number of Singers often hosted summer replacement shows in
problems with adapting opera to television. The NBC the early 1950s. In 1950 Kate Smith and Sammy Kaye
presentations were sung in English and frequently hosted replacement shows on NBC while CBS coun-
condensed into one-hour programs, arousing the ire tered with several summer series hosted by Perry
of some critics. Early televised operas also were crit- Como, Vaughn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra. ABC con-
icized for incessant camera panning and close-ups. A figured much of its prime-time schedule around mu-
reviewer for Musical America described a December sic, particularly after Lawrence Welk joined the
1952 closed-circuit telecast of “Carmen” by New network in July 1955. Welk, who began telecasting his
York’s Metropolitan Opera to 27 cities: “The relent- performances in June 1949, remains perhaps the most
lessness of the camera in exposing corpulence and popular musical performer in television history. By
other less attractive physical features of some of the featuring performers such as Welk, Guy Lombardo,
performers aroused hilarity among the more unso- Paul Whiteman, Fred Waring, and Perry Como, net-
phisticated viewers, of whom there were, perforce, works targeted older audiences (at the time,
very many.” “teenagers” as a demographic group were of little use
The networks also showcased classical music in to network advertisers).
specials and limited-run series throughout the early Television producers in the late 1940s and early
1950s. In 1951 ABC’s Chicago affiliate (WENR-TV) 1950s relied on older popular songs, or “standards,”
became the first station to regularly televise an orches- and avoided songs without proven audience appeal. In
tra, and NBC aired Meet the Masters, a classical music addition, ASCAP’s outright hostility to television led
series, that spring. The network continued to air occa- producers to use songs licensed by Broadcast Music
sional telecasts of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and Association (BMI), many of which were older and in
the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) countered the public domain. Exposing new music largely was
with specials featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra. The relegated to independent stations. This pattern paral-
classical music series “Voice of Firestone” had origi- leled postwar developments in the recording industry
nated in 1928 on radio; in June 1954, it jumped to tele- in which small, independent labels distributed new
vision on ABC. Other network programs presented a genres, such as rhythm and blues and country music.
grab bag of “high culture.” CBS’s Omnibus debuted in Independent television stations were particularly
1952 with support from the Ford Foundation. Al- strong on the West Coast because weak network links,
though it won numerous awards, the program moved and remote-band broadcasts provided inexpensive
to ABC and NBC because of poor ratings. Omnibus filler for broadcast schedules. KTLA-TV in Los Ange-
was canceled in 1959, and the Ford Foundation’s expe- les featured five orchestra shows each week in the
rience with the program led them to provide the seed early 1950s, including Spade Cooley’s hugely popular
money for American public television. Classical music western program, while KLAC-TV countered with the
and opera performers also made occasional appear- Hometown Jamboree hillbilly program. KLAC also
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Music on Television
challenged the color barrier by presenting a black NBC was the most adventurous network in music
singer, Hadda Brooks, regularly in 1949. programming through the 1950s, particularly through
“Video deejay” programming provided another eco- Steve Allen’s efforts to present pop, jazz, and classical
nomical means of filling airtime. Al Jarvis had created artists on The Tonight Show. Allen also hosted an NBC
the radio deejay program at Los Angeles’s KWAB-AM special, All-Star Jazz, in December 1957. Like Allen,
in the early 1930s, and in the winter of 1950 Jarvis be- Ed Sullivan featured a number of black acts on his Talk
gan daily broadcasts of records, interviews, horse- of the Town variety show in the 1950s. Although most
racing results, and “daily religious periods” at KLAC. acts were comics and dancers, musical performers in-
NBC began airing Wayne Howell’s deejay show na- cluded W.C. Handy, Billy Eckstine, Lena Horne, and
tionally on Saturday afternoons, and by the end of T-Bone Walker. On April 1, 1949, ABC affiliate
1950 video deejays were firmly established in New WENR in Chicago began airing Happy Pappy, a jazz-
York, Chicago, and Los Angeles as well as secondary oriented revue that featured an all-black cast, and three
markets such as San Francisco, Miami, Louisville, years later an ABC special with Billy Daniels was the
Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cleveland (where pioneer- first network television program to feature a black en-
ing rock-and-roll deejay Alan Freed held forth late at tertainer as star. Nat “King” Cole became the first
night on WXEZ-TV). Video deejay programs com- black to host a regular network series (on NBC from
bined lip-synch performances, dancers, games, 1956 to 1957). The program failed to attract a national
sketches, stunts, and film shorts. Between 1941 and sponsor and was boycotted by several stations in the
1947, the Mills Novelty Company produced more than North and South. As a result, blacks were relegated
2,000 promotional jazz and ballad films, or largely to guest shots on variety shows. No black per-
“soundies,” for coin-operated machines, and many of former would host a network variety series until
these shorts resurfaced on video deejay shows. Sammy Davis Jr. in 1966.
“Soundies” also were frequently screened between Rhythm and blues and rock and roll originally were
programs to fill airtime, as were the 754 “visual objects of ridicule on TV, as exemplified by Sid Cae-
records” that Louis Snader produced in his Hollywood sar’s “Three Haircuts” parody skit on Your Show of
studios between 1950 and 1952. Screen Gems and Shows, but programmers began paying closer attention
United Artists produced similar films with a unique to the burgeoning teenage market in 1956. Ed Sullivan
twist: silent films were paired with phonograph presented a rhythm-and-blues special in November
records, which allowed the clips to be recycled with 1955 that featured LaVern Baker, Bo Diddley, and the
different songs. Five Keys and hosted by radio deejay “Dr. Jive.” At-
By 1956 local video deejay programs were telecast tempts at providing a regular network showcase for
regularly in nearly 50 markets. These programs were rhythm and blues failed because of resistance from
the only significant television programming produced southern affiliates as well as pressure from ASCAP,
for teenagers and, along with “Top 40” radio, were in- which refused to license rhythm-and-blues titles for
strumental in the rising success of rock and roll. The blatantly racist reasons.
most notable video deejay program debuted on Programmers embraced country music more readily.
Philadelphia’s WFIL-TV as Bandstand in September “Hillbilly,” as it was more commonly known, gained its
1952. Dick Clark replaced Bob Horn as host in July initial video exposure with shows hosted by regional
1956, and the following year American Bandstand was performers in the Midwest, including Earnie Lee at
picked up for national distribution by ABC. The pro- WLW in Cincinnati (1947), Pee Wee King at WAVE in
gram aired from 3:00 to 4:30 P.M. Monday through Fri- Louisville (1948), and Lulu Belle at WNBQ in Chicago
day afternoons, and Dick Clark had begun to parlay (1949). By 1956, almost 100 live local country-western
American Bandstand’s success into a television em- shows aired on more than 80 stations in 30 states. Eddy
pire. More than 100 local imitators of Bandstand were Arnold, the “Tennessee Plowboy,” was tapped as a
on the air by March 1958, and TV had become second summer replacement for Perry Como in 1952, and his
only to radio as a means of promoting music. In 1950 program was syndicated through the 1950s. Other net-
standards outnumbered popular tunes on television by work efforts included Red Foley’s Ozark Jubilee
four to one, and popular songs on television were al- (ABC, 1955–61) and the Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
ready well established on records and radio. Four years (NBC, ABC, 1955–65), and CBS ran a country music
later, the ratio of hits to standards was 50/50. “Let Me program hosted by Jimmy Dean against Today. Never-
Go, Lover” was recorded by several artists after its ini- theless, these programs were largely pop oriented in
tial success on CBS’s Studio One, and the “Ballad of terms of song selection and guest stars.
Davey Crockett” from Walt Disney’s ABC-TV series Singing personalities increasingly replaced comedi-
established TV’s importance in making hits. ans as program hosts in the waning years of the 1950s.
1571
Music on Television
By the fall of 1957, recording stars headlined more tuning out by viewers. The CBS series The Seven
than 20 TV shows. Perry Como and Dinah Shore Lively Arts, a short-lived series of plays and music,
hosted popular series for NBC, and ABC aired efforts was canceled in 1958, and The Voice of Firestone was
by Frank Sinatra, Guy Mitchell, Pat Boone, and Julius dropped as a regularly scheduled program in 1959 (it
La Rosa. Many of these shows suffered poor ratings continued as a series of specials until 1962). More suc-
and were supplanted by westerns in 1958, but the successful were CBS’s Young People’s Concerts, which
cess of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella special began airing infrequently in the late 1950s and contin-
on CBS triggered a spate of musical fairy tales on net- ued until the early 1970s. Leonard Bernstein hosted
works in the waning years of the decade. Yet television the concerts, and each telecast was devoted to a single
was decried for unimaginative audio throughout the theme; two such concerts were “The Sound of the
1950s. Many productions employed dated music li- Hall” in 1962 and “What Is a Melody” the following
braries, and dramatic shows often paid little attention year. The CBS Camera Three arts series ran Sunday
to musical scoring (one exception was Richard mornings from 1956 to 1979, and NBC’s Bell Tele-
Rodger’s acclaimed score for the documentary series phone Hour presented music “for all tastes” on a
Victory at Sea, which NBC aired in late 1952 and early semiregular basis from 1959 to 1968.
1953). Another noted production was the Rodgers and Jazz enjoyed greater exposure during the waning
Hammerstein Cavalcade sponsored by General Foods, years of the 1950s. CBS aired Stan Kenton’s Music ’55
which aired simultaneously on all four networks on as a summer replacement series, and the success of the
March 28, 1954. NBC special All-Star Jazz in December 1957 led to a
On January 26, 1956, Elvis Presley made his na- jazz boomlet the following year. NBC ran a 13-part se-
tional television debut on the Dorsey Brothers’ CBS ries hosted by Gilbert Seldes, The Subject Is Jazz, ABC
Stage Show and quickly followed with appearances on aired Stars of Jazz as a summer replacement, and CBS
the Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan shows. telecast four hour-long excepts from Newport Jazz
The squeals that Presley elicited from teenagers were Festival in July 1958. Still, most jazz programming
matched by loathing from parents and critics. Review- consisted of standards, swing, and Dixieland. One ex-
ing a September 1956 performance on The Ed Sullivan ception was the widely acclaimed Jazz Scene USA
Show, a critic for the New York Times noted disapprov- (1962), produced by Steve Allen and syndicated by
ingly that Presley “injected movements of the tongue New York’s WOR-TV. Television shows increasingly
and indulged in wordless singing that were singularly featured jazz background music, particularly tough-
distasteful.” Nevertheless, rock and roll would remain guy detective and adventure series such as Peter Gunn
a fixture on local and national television, and ABC’s and Ellery Queen (NBC), 77 Sunset Strip (ABC), and
Rock ’n’ Roll Show was the first prime-time network Perry Mason and Route 66 (CBS). Although several of
special devoted to rock music. The program aired May these themes charted on the “Billboard Hot-100,”
4 and 11, 1957, and was hosted by Alan Freed. In addi- much of the music for establishing moods and provid-
tion to specials and variety shows, rock became inte- ing bridges was imported from Europe. However, mu-
grated into situation comedies. Ozzie and Harriet sicians and producers began to soften their adversarial
provided a showcase for young Ricky Nelson, who stances in 1963 following James Petrillo’s dethroning
racked up several hits beginning in 1957. The fate of as head of the American Federation of Musicians. In
Your Hit Parade symbolized Tin Pan Alley’s eclipse October 1963, all network producers (with the inexpli-
by rock and roll. The program originated as the Lucky cable exception of the Mr. Ed production team) agreed
Strike Hit Parade on radio in 1935 and retained its to use live music in telefilms.
popularity after moving to television. As rock and roll The early 1960s continued to see a shift away from
began to dominate popular music, Your Hit Parade musical variety shows. By 1961, only Perry Como, Ed
moved from NBC to CBS in 1958 and went off the air Sullivan, Gary Moore, and Dinah Shore remained on
on April 24, 1959. An attempt to revive the program in network schedules, and both classical and pop music
the early 1970s was unsuccessful. were relegated largely to specials. One notable excep-
The late 1950s also were marked by a decline in tion to this rule was Sing Along with Mitch, in which
“high culture” musical programming. A 1957 arrange- viewers were invited to participate by reading lyrics
ment between Ed Sullivan and Metropolitan Opera led off the screen. Mitch Miller, record company executive
to a brief series of capsule opera performances on Sul- and archenemy of rock and roll, hosted the program,
livan’s variety show. Met impresario Rudolf Bing which aired on NBC from 1961 to 1964. Country mu-
scotched the deal when Sullivan proposed to divide the sic continued to figure prominently on television
opera presentations into two smaller sections, with a throughout the 1960s. Jimmy Dean hosted a weekly
ventriloquist act sandwiched in between, to reduce variety show on ABC from 1963 to 1966, and by 1963
1572
Music on Television
more than 130 stations carried local or syndicated ences. In one particularly memorable broadcast, the
country music programs. Among the most popular headlining Rolling Stones paid homage to their influ-
were Porter Wagoner (whose eye-popping sequined ences by sitting at the feet of the great bluesman Howl-
suits rivaled any Liberace creation for sartorial ex- ing Wolf as he performed “Little Red Rooster.” The
cess), the Wilburn Brothers, and the bluegrass team of extent of the racial crossover in music was indicated
Flatt and Scruggs. The latter duo had been performing by the fact that Billboard dropped its rhythm-and-
on television since 1953 but broke out nationally blues chart in 1964. Efforts at integration were slower
through exposure on The Beverly Hillbillies and the in other areas, however; the Chicago branch of the
subsequent success of their single “The Ballad of Jed AFM remained segregated until January 1966. Televi-
Clampett.” These programs were joined in 1965 by sion finally caught up with the civil rights movement
syndicated efforts from Ernest Tubb and Wanda Jack- in the mid-1960s. By 1968 a growing number of black
son. In what surely must have been a surreal viewing performers were showcased in network programs,
experience, Richard Nixon performed a piano duet such as an NBC special featuring the Supremes and the
with Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith on the latter’s Four Tops.
Charlotte, North Carolina–based show. By 1970 al- Teen dance shows enjoyed a resurgence in 1965.
most three-quarters of the stations in the United States Some of the most notable syndicated efforts were
featured some form of rural music. hosted by Lloyd Thaxton, Casey Kasem (Shebang,
The folk music boom of the early 1960s was repre- which originated from KTLA in Los Angeles), Sam
sented by ABC’s Hootenanny (1963), the first regu- Riddle (Hollywood A Go Go), Gene Weed (Shivaree),
larly scheduled folk music program on network and Jerry “The Geater with the Heater” Blavat’s The
television. Featuring well-scrubbed folk music in the Discophonic Scene. The ubiquitous Dick Clark also
style of the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary, started a weekday teen show, Where the Action Is, on
the series was embroiled in controversy from the out- ABC. In addition to records and dancing, these shows
set when Pete Seeger and the Weavers were banned often featured filmed performances as well as short
from the show for refusing to sign a government loy- “concept” musical films triggered by the success of the
alty oath. Hootenanny was dropped from ABC’s Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. Mainstream pop music
schedule in the fall of 1964. American Bandstand had remained the province of variety shows and specials
switched from daily to weekend-only broadcasts a throughout the 1960s. Barbra Streisand and Frank
year earlier, part because of fallout from the payola Sinatra aired acclaimed specials in the mid-1960s, and
scandal. Dick Clark had come under congressional in- ABC presented an adventurous special, Anatomy of
vestigation during the payola hearings in the late 1950s Pop, in February 1966, which featured artists as varied
and early 1960s. Although Clark was never indicted, as Duke Ellington, Bill Monroe, and the Temptations.
ABC insisted that Clark divest himself of music pub- Another ABC special, 1967’s Songmakers, followed
lishing and record distribution interests. Local Band- the creative process from composition to recording
stand imitators were down significantly from their with artists such as the songwriting team of Burt
peak in 1958, and the music’s lack of presence on tele- Bacharach and Hal David and the Paul Butterfield
vision reflected a general malaise in rock and roll. Blues Band. The big three networks virtually aban-
This changed on February 9, 1964, when the Beatles doned classical music to the fledgling NET public net-
were featured on The Ed Sullivan Show. In what ar- work by the late 1960s, although CBS aired a special
guably is the most influential musical performance on Igor Stravinsky in 1966.
ever presented on television, the Beatles were seen in Perhaps the greatest rock special in television his-
an estimated 73 million homes. The British Invasion tory, the T.A.M.I. Show, was produced by Steve Binder
was not universally welcomed, however; when the (who later produced Elvis’s comeback special and
Rolling Stones appeared on Hollywood Palace, host Pee-wee’s Playhouse) for ABC in late 1964. Shot on
Dean Martin openly disparaged their performance and video and later transferred to film for theatrical release,
snarled that they “oughta get haircuts.” ABC’s Shindig the T.A.M.I. Show featured Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley,
premiered in September 1964 with the Rolling Stones, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, and
the Byrds and the Kinks, and subsequent programs an electrifying performance by James Brown. The pro-
featured a host of English and American “beat groups” gram also captured an interracial musical mix conspic-
surrounded by a cast of writhing dancers. NBC an- uously absent from later rock documentaries, such as
swered with Hullabaloo from January 1965 to August Monterey Pop and Woodstock. Other noteworthy rock
1966. specials included a 1965 performance by the Beatles at
Until it folded in January 1966, Shindig also helped New York’s Shea Stadium (aired by ABC in January
black such as Sam Cooke cross over to white audi- 1967) and Elvis Presley’s legendary comeback perfor-
1573
Music on Television
mance on NBC in December 1968. The globalization creasingly outré nature of rock music acts on televi-
of television was marked by the June 25, 1967, live sion, country music’s video popularity continued un-
telecast of Our World. Transmitted by satellite to 34 abated in the late 1960s. Johnny Cash was featured in
countries and aired in the United States on NET, the an ABC summer replacement program in 1969, and his
program included a performance by classical pianist guests included the reclusive Bob Dylan. A more en-
Van Cliburn and climaxed with the Beatles warbling during success was CBS’s Hee Haw, which presented
“All You Need Is Love.” a hick version of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In begin-
Television also entered the kid-vid rock market ning in June 1969. After CBS cleaned its house of
when Beatle cartoons premiered on ABC in September “older-oriented” shows, the program continued in syn-
1965. The most successful cartoon group were the dication until the late 1980s.
Archies (an assemblage of anonymous studio musi- The 1970s began with the New Seekers foreshad-
cians), who scored a massive hit with “Sugar Sugar” in owing the increasing melding of music, television, ad-
1969 and cloned a dozen copies in the late 1960s and vertising, and the global imaginaries of Live Aid and
early 1970s, such as Josie and the Pussycats, the Buga- Music Television (MTV) with “I’d Like to Teach the
loos, the Groovie Goolies (described by critic Lester World to Sing.” The song was a worldwide hit after
Bangs as “Munsters dipped in monosodium gluta- airing as a Coca-Cola commercial. Looking backward,
mate”), the Cattanooga Cats, and the Banana Splits. ABC introduced The Partridge Family with veteran
Equally contrived, though in human form, were the stage and Hollywood musical star Shirley Jones and
Monkees. Former Brill Building pop impresario Don her son David Cassidy. The half-hour comedy grafted
Kirshner recruited four actors to star in a series mod- the wacky Monkees formula onto the story of the real-
eled on “A Hard Day’s Night,” and The Monkees pre- life Cowsills to successfully target the teen market.
miered on NBC in September 1966. The “band” Jones played the single mom of a large musical family
racked up several hits of carefully groomed material with a lovable but inept manager placed in various
but shocked their followers in Teenland the following quirky situations. Musical numbers were performed in
year when they admitted they did not play their own rehearsal and in a wrap-up concert setting as the de-
instruments. The series was canceled in 1968. ABC’s nouement of each episode. The series launched Cas-
The Music Scene ran for 17 episodes beginning in Oc- sidy, the oldest of the Partridge progeny, as a teen idol.
tober 1969 and featured comic sketches interspersed The most traditional outlet for music on the networks
with performances by artists ranging from James in the early 1970s was a host of variety shows: The
Brown to Buck Owens. Johnny Cash Show, Glen Campbell’s Goodtime Hour,
The Smothers Brothers also presented some of the This Is Tom Jones, and The Carol Burnett Show fea-
more daring “underground” acts of the late 1960s. tured musical guests lip-synching to their latest hits
(The Who’s Peter Townshend was nearly deafened by and sometimes engaging in banal patter with the host.
an exploding drum set during one memorable appear- However, reflecting the increasing dominance of mar-
ance, and the Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick made a ket segmentation, ratings for most musical variety
controversial appearance in black face.) Other variety shows were plummeting by the mid-1970s. Even so,
shows hosted by Ed Sullivan and Jonathan Winters
presented a variety of alternative acts, each more hir-
sute and glowering than its predecessors. Sullivan did
draw the line at lyrics, however. In a 1967 appearance,
with much on-screen eye rolling from Mick Jagger, the
Rolling Stones changed the lyrics of their latest hit to
“Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” Other performers
were less accommodating. After surveying the set be-
fore taping an appearance on The Tom Jones Show,
Janis Joplin stormed offstage, complaining, “My pub-
lic don’t want to see me in front of no fucking plastic
rain drops.” Late-night talk shows such as The Tonight
Show and The Dick Cavett Show also featured some
rock stars (Joplin was a particular favorite on the lat-
ter). The syndicated Playboy After Dark also presented
a variety of “alternative” artists; in a 1969 taping, the
Grateful Dead dosed the unwitting production staff The Music Scene, James Brown, 1969–70.
with LSD. Despite (and, in part, because of) the in- Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1574
Music on Television
In a different musical vein, the Great Performances

series debuted on the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) in 1974. Produced at WNET in New York, this
paved the way for the broadcast of classical music con-
certs and opera on the Bravo cable network since
1980. Country music found a live showcase in Austin
City Limits, first broadcast through Austin’s PBS sta-
tion KLRN TV in 1976. The show reflected a return to
the roots of country music, away from the saccharine
Nashville sound of the period. In its earlier days, musi-
cal acts such as the Outlaws—Willie Nelson, Waylon
Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson—performed on a
stage in front of a small and intimate studio audience.
The format remains essentially the same today. Live
music has also had a highly visible spot on NBC’s Sat-
urday Night Live since 1975. A guest star performed
one or two live numbers between the program’s many
skits, and musical choices were often a little more left
field than was customary on the networks. On one par-
ticular occasion in 1977, Elvis Costello and the Attrac-
tions, who had replaced the Sex Pistols at the last
minute, launched into their antifascist classic “Less
than Zero,” then abruptly stopped. Elvis told the band
that he had changed his mind, and they then tore into
The Johnny Cash Show, Johnny Cash, 1969–71. “Radio Radio,” running over time and giving producer
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Lorne Michaels a few nervous palpitations (shades of
Jimi Hendrix’s legendary appearance on Lulu’s British
pop duo Captain and Tennille and the Jacksons both Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] variety show nine
entered the variety market in 1976 with their own net- years earlier). Sinead O’Connor’s appearance on the
work shows. show in 1994, when she ripped up a photograph of
While lip synching remained a common practice, Pope John Paul II after a rendition of Bob Marley’s
the influence of rock’s ideology of authenticity made “War,” had a similar effect in this prime television
the presentation of live music more important, and the showcase for musicians.
success of theatrical films of musical events increased Black musical acts found a space for lip-synched
the demand for “live” rock shows. In 1973 three net- performances of soul, funk, and disco hits on Soul
work shows featuring live music were introduced. Train. The creation of Don Cornelius, the show was
NBC’s Midnight Special presented 90 minutes of a live started in Chicago in 1970 but moved to Hollywood
concert recorded on a studio soundstage. The show and national syndication in 1971. Soul Train featured
tended to favor more mainstream commercial artists, performers such as Ike and Tina Turner and Al Green,
David Bowie, Marianne Faithfull, and Van Morrison but the real stars were the creative and innovative
being the limit of its adventurousness. Midnight Spe- dancers, who were mainly African-American teens. In
cial was hosted by veteran DJ Wolfman Jack and by many ways, Soul Train was a return to the old formula
Helen Reddy from 1975 to 1977. ABC’s In Concert of the teen dance show, except for one major differ-
combined old film clips by such groups as the Rolling ence: it was black. The show was vital in the popular-
Stones, with footage from concert venues. Produced ization of funk and disco music. By 1975 the disco
by Don Kirshner and then taken over by executive pro- boom was well established, and everyone was trying to
ducer Dick Clark, the show simulated the bill at the get on the bandwagon. Syndicated shows such as
Fillmore Auditorium at which three bands each played Disco America, Disco Mania, and Disco 76 came and
a short live. Many of these concerts were shot at the went as fast as the latest disco hit. Even James Brown
Academy of Music in New York. Kirshner also pre- deserted funk for disco with the short-lived syndicated
sented the syndicated Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. program Future Shock. Some journalists and critics
Again, this featured clips of concert halls around the feared the end of that discotheque culture was killing
country interspersed with promotional clips. White live music. But if anything, the real challenge to live
rock acts dominated the program. performance on television came from music video.
1575
Music on Television
The late 1970s and 1980s saw the video boom that critics called the “second British invasion;” these per-
has changed the face of music on television. By 1975 formers already had videos ready to air, unlike many
many artists had made promotional film clips for their U.S. bands, which accounted for MTV’s early An-
single releases. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Rod glophilia. By 1982 record companies confidently
Stewart’s “Hot Legs,” and several promotional clips claimed that MTV increased sales of their top artists
by Swedish quartet Abba had helped their songs be- by 20 percent.
come hits in the Euro-American market. In 1975 Man- As MTV became available through cable providers
hattan cable TV began showing video clips on a through the country, the music it aired also changed,
program titled Nightclubbing. Rock performers were and programming began to reflect the tastes of a
experimenting with the visual form. New Wave group largely white national audience demographic. Heavy
Devo released The Men Who Make the Music in 1979. metal became the dominant music on the channel.
This anthology was the first long-form video released Other cable networks incorporated some of the same
in the United States. By 1979 America’s Top Ten strategies as MTV. In June 1983, NBC debuted Friday
played video clips. The Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Night Videos in the old Midnight Special slot. WTBS
Mondays” was one of the first to make a mark, remem- began broadcasting the similar Night Tracks in June
bered for the accompanying visuals as much as for its 1983, and Ted Turner launched the ultimately unsuc-
sound recording. The more traditional chart show, cessful Cable Music Channel in 1984. MTV weathered
Solid Gold, debuted in syndication in 1980 and com- an antitrust suit from the competing Discovery Net-
bined a professional cast of dancers with lip-synched work. In 1984 it signed exclusive deals with six major
performances by various chart-topping pop artists. record labels for the broadcast of their artists’ videos.
The rise of music video is inextricably tied to the as- The first American Video Awards took place in 1984,
cent of cable television. In 1980 the USA network de- testifying to the emergence of a new cultural form.
buted Night Flight, which ran both videos and old Meanwhile, more traditional musical fare was on offer
movies. The emphasis was on New Wave videos since in NBC’s Fame, which began in 1982 and was based on
at this time these artists were more innovative with the Alan Parker’s 1980 film. The program was set in a
nascent form. Another cable network, Home Box Of- school of performing arts in New York, with a multira-
fice (HBO), began simulcasting rock concerts, while cial cast of talented musicians and dancers who would
Showtime and the Playboy channel allotted some time energetically perform numbers in rehearsal, in class,
for music videos. Also in 1980, ex-Monkee and Liquid and at school concerts. The show celebrated traditional
Paper tycoon Mike Nesmith’s Pacific Arts Company showbiz values in a familiar format. It was essentially
packaged clips into a half-hour show called Popclips, The Partridge Family with angst, Shirley Jones re-
which was sold to Warner Cable and shown on Nick- placed by choreographer and teacher Debbie Allen as
elodeon. The Nashville Network (TNN) and Country guiding hand and maternal motivator.
Music Television Network, from 1983, also aired mu- MTV’s impact on network television and the place
sic videos. The former maintained some shows that fit of music in television could be more directly seen in the
the variety format of older country programming. NBC police/crime series Miami Vice (1984–87), which
But during the 1980s and 1990s, the musical stage
on television was defined by MTV. Owned by Warner-
Amex, MTV began broadcasting in August 1981,
prophetically with the Buggles hit, “Video Killed the
Radio Star.” Robert Pittman, vice president of pro-
gramming, remarked, “We’re now seeing the TV be-
come a component of the stereo system. It’s ridiculous
to think that you have two forms of entertainment—
your stereo and your TV—which have nothing to do
with one another. What we’re doing is marrying those
two forms so that they can work together in unison.
We’re the first channel on cable to pioneer this.” MTV
provided a 24-hour service of videos introduced by
quirky “veejays.” It was a kind of radio for the eyes,
mixing different kinds of musical genres in a continu-
ous flow. Many of the early videos were by British Olivia Newton-John, “Let’s Get Physical” video, circa
“new pop” groups, such as Duran Duran, ABC, Cul- 1981–82.
ture Club, and the Human League, who formed what Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1576
Music on Television
had the working title of MTV Cops. The show’s creator, global imaginary (and market) for popular music cul-
Michael Mann, later claimed that “the intention of Mi- ture. In 1987 MTV started MTV-Europe, and the net-
ami Vice was to achieve the organic interaction of mu- work’s rapid movement into further areas of global
sic and content.” Sometimes an entire episode would be market continued apace. Live Aid was followed by the
written around a song, such as Glen Frey’s “Smuggler’s 1988 worldwide transmission of an antiapartheid con-
Blues.” Frey and other rock musicians would often cert in London to celebrate the birthday of Nelson
make cameo appearances as characters in the show. Mandela. However, in the United States, this mam-
Record companies were obliging with copyrighted ma- moth rock spectacle did not meet the success of Live
terial after the success of the pilot and its use of Phil Aid, with charges that FOX had delayed the broadcast
Collins’s hit “In the Air Tonight” as the detective part- signal and censored “political” comments made during
nership of Crockett and Tubbs drove to a climactic the event.
shoot-out through the rain-sodden Miami streets. Since the early 1980s, critics charged MTV with
The visual style of the show owed a great deal to racism because of its dearth of black music videos. In
MTV. Film and television narratives incorporated mu- its early days, the network featured African-American
sic with the camera angles, lighting, rapid cutting, and VJ J.J. Johnson and later black British VJ “Down-
polished production values of music videos. Television town” Julie Brown. However, apart from some big
advertising also became increasingly sensitive to mu- names, such as Michael Jackson and Prince, few black
sic video aesthetics. In 1984 Michael Jackson ap- acts were found on the video playlist. This changed
peared in a Pepsi-Cola commercial shot like a music somewhat in 1989 with the introduction of Yo! MTV
video for one of his songs. Madonna’s brief—and Raps, a show hosted by hip-hop pioneer Fab Five
eventually banned—Pepsi commercial in 1989 used Freddy. Yo! MTV Raps joined other specialist music
her song “Like a Prayer.” programs, such as Headbanger’s Ball (heavy metal)
In the mid- and late 1980s, MTV became less id- and 120 Minutes (“alternative” rock), on the network’s
iosyncratic in its juxtapositions of different kinds of schedule. Also in 1989, MTV introduced Remote Con-
music, moving toward block programming and the de- trol, a game show that tested viewers’ knowledge of
velopment of shows that fit certain musical genres. television trivia. In the 1990s, the breadth of shows on
MTV’s programming began to look more like a tradi- the network reveals that MTV is now concerned more
tional television schedule. In January 1985, parent with the integrated elements of contemporary youth
company Warner-Amex introduced Video Hits 1 popular culture presented in a more traditional televi-
(VH1), whose programming aimed for the pocketbook sual format than with music videos per se. A fashion
of older baby boomers. VH1 began with a video of show (House of Style), a vérité-style documentary cum
Marvin Gaye singing that old chestnut, “The Star soap opera (and harbinger of “reality TV”) (The Real
Spangled Banner.” In 1986 MTV also indicated its World), and even a dating game were staples of the
move toward a more traditional television strategy as it network’s programming. The Choose or Lose and
began showing old episodes of The Monkees. Rock the Vote programs contributed to higher voter
These developments reflected the segmentation of registration among young citizens during the 1992
marketing and targeting of very specific groups of con-
sumers through different channels and shows. This
also coincided with Warner-Amex selling its control-
ling interest in MTV Networks to Viacom Interna-
tional in August 1985. The change in leadership
initially brought a more conservative music policy.
With criticism of the representation of sex and vio-
lence in music videos, there was a brief move away
from heavy metal as the central genre. However, the
strength of metal in middle America led to its return
shortly thereafter.
The biggest triumph of the mid-1980s for MTV and
for the music industry in general was the broadcast of
the Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia and London in
July 1985. The event, designed to raise money for
Ethiopian famine relief, proved popular music’s so-
ciopolitical value and, like the Beatles’ worldwide
broadcast of “All You Need Is Love,” projected a Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1577
Music on Television
Though it looks increasingly like other television

stations in its programming structure, MTV gives ev-
erything from fashion to politics to family crises a mu-
sical bent. In this respect, it has “musicalized”
television to an unforeseeable extent. Its stylistic
repercussions can be found in everything from news
programming and station promos to religious broad-
casting and drama series, such as Ally McBeal. MTV
also blurred the distinction between music, program-
ming, and advertising. Alongside such regional and
transnational music television networks such as Chan-
nel [V], in the 1990s MTV has helped to develop
“youth” markets in Europe, Latin America, and Asia
for goods other than music. Arguments continue to
rage as to whether such globalization under the wing
of music television results in Americanization or “glo-
calization.”
With media industries increasingly integrated
through technology and business strategies, television
music provides cross-marketing opportunities for a va-
riety of sectors. This “convergence” has had aesthetic
as well as industrial consequences. Video games are
now an important part of music marketing, and feature
film directors often gain their training in music video.
The sounds of certain music genres, such as hip-hop
and techno, incorporate a channel-surfing television
aesthetic as they cite and directly sample television
texts in a variety of ways. Television arguably now
Luciano Pavarotti in The Three Tenors.
shapes popular music culture as much as the sound
Kraig Geiger/ Everett Collection recordings themselves.
Tom McCourt and Nabeel Zuberi
presidential election campaign. In all these television See also American Bandstand; Clark, Dick; Coun-
formats, music is important as an extra level of com- try Music Television; MTV; MuchMusic; Soul
mentary (often ironic) on the visual and documen- Train
tary/news material.
With the exception of Total Request Live, music Further Reading
videos are now largely relegated to MTV2 (which is
carried by far fewer cable systems), while MTV con- Goodwin, Andrew, Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music
Television and Popular Culture, Minneapolis: University of
tinues to focus on “reality” series such as The Os- Minnesota Press, 1993
bournes and game shows. MTV’s sister channel, VH1, Malone, Bill, Country Music U.S.A., Austin: University of
continues to feature videos, but when its ratings began Texas Press, 1985
to founder, VH1 began airing leering “specials,” such Mundy, John, Popular Music on Screen: From Hollywood Mu-
as one focusing on pornography in rock music, as well sical to Music Video, Manchester, United Kingdom: Man-
chester University Press, 1999
as Behind the Music, which presented lurid tales of Popular Music, 21, no. 3 (2002)
rock star excess in a suitably tabloid fashion. A more Redd, Lawrence, Rock Is Rhythm and Blues: The Impact of
family-friendly approach to music was featured in a Mass Media, East Lansing: Michigan State University Press,
resurgence of amateur shows such as American Idol, 1974
whose contestants provided fodder for the star-making Tosches, Nick, Country: The Biggest Music in America, New
York: Dell, 1977
machinery as they sought to outdo each other with Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker, Rock of Ages: The
melismatic vocal contortions. Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll, New York: Summit,
1986
1578
My Little Margie
Must-Carry Rules
U.S. Cable Regulation
Must-carry rules, which mandate that cable companies signals, where stations within the service area dupli-
carry various local and public television stations cated programming (e.g., two stations within a 50-mile
within a cable provider’s service area, have a long and radius carrying the same network or two college public
dramatic history since their inception in 1972. De- broadcasting stations both carrying the Public Broad-
signed originally to ensure that local television stations casting Service [PBS]). More confusion resulted
did not lose market share with increased competition when, in October 1994, the FCC gave stations a choice
from cable networks competing for a limited number of being carried under the must-carry rules or under a
of cable channels, must-carry rules have, over time, new regulation requiring cable companies to obtain re-
been ruled unconstitutional and gone through numer- transmission consent before carrying a broadcast sig-
ous changes. nal. The retransmission consent ruling gave desirable
When first passed in 1972, the must-carry rules re- local stations increased power to negotiate the terms of
quired that cable companies provide channels for all carriage the cable company would provide, including
local broadcasters within a 60-mile (later changed to channel preference.
50-mile) radius of the cable company’s service area. In Must-carry rules were still in effect on passage of
the mid-1980s, various cable companies, including su- the 1996 Telecommunications Act—and still being
perstation WTBS owner Turner Broadcasting, brought challenged by cable companies. None of the must-
suit against the Federal Communications Commission carry rules affects cable retransmission of FM radio
(FCC), claiming that the rules were unconstitutional. signals.
In 1985 and 1987, the U.S. Court of Appeals found Michael B. Kassel
that must-carry rules did, indeed, violate the First See also Cable Television: United States; Distant
Amendment. From then until 1992, stations were only Signal; Federal Communications Commission
required to carry public television signals and provide
subscribers with an option for an A/B switch to allow
access to local broadcast signals. This change bode Further Reading
particularly ill for small UHF (ultrahigh frequency) Bittner, John R., Law and Regulation of Electronic Media, New
stations, whose cable carriers could replace them with York: Prentice Hall, 1994
stronger, more desirable superstations. Eastman, Susan Tyler, Sydney W. Head, and Lewis Klein,
Broadcast/Cable Programming Strategies and Practices,
The 1992 Communications Act, while still requiring Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1981; 3rd edition, 1989
carriage of local commercial and public stations, al- Hilliard, Robert L., and Michael C. Keith, The Broadcast Cen-
lowed cable companies to drop redundant carriage of tury, Boston: Focal, 1992
My Little Margie
The wacky women who dominated 1950s television spired a grand assortment of imitations on the small
comedy did not begin with Lucille Ball (Gracie Allen screen. Soon after Lucy’s TV debut, such programs as
and Imogene Coca pre-dated her TV debut), but the I Married Joan with Joan Davis, Life with Elizabeth
phenomenal success of Ball in I Love Lucy surely in- with Betty White, and My Friend Irma with Marie
1579
My Little Margie
popular, landing consistently in the top five, that it was

renewed for fall and ran for three seasons.
The title My Little Margie can certainly be taken in
such a way as to be demeaning to women: “my” indi-
cating the possession of someone as if she were a
thing, and “little,” a somewhat inaccurate and conde-
scending term for a 21-year-old woman. Nevertheless,
it has been noted that the premise of My Little Margie
was in other ways rather progressive. First, Margie
was a single woman at a time when most women on
television were conventionally married. Second, the
Albrights were slightly different from the “normal”
nuclear families then being depicted on TV. The wid-
owed father and his daughter were frequently involved
in stories designed around the two taking on and ex-
ploring roles not their own, duties and responsibilities
that conventionally would have been handled by the
now absent mother. Additionally, Margie, though “of
marrying age,” was seldom depicted as eager to walk
down the aisle. Although she had a steady boyfriend in
neighbor Freddie Wilson, few sparks ever flew be-
tween them. Margie was always too busy for her own
romance, usually preoccupied with launching schemes
to keep gold diggers away from her single dad.
Margie’s self-chosen single status and irrepressible in-
My Little Margie, Charles Farrell, Gale Storm, 1952–55. dividuality made her, in some respects, one of TV’s
Courtesy of the Everett Collection prefeminism feminists. Week after week, despite what
her father and other men around her wanted or ex-
pected her to do, Margie did her own thing, engaging
in outrageous acts and everyday rebellions, as Gloria
Wilson premiered, all centered around the doings of Steinem would later refer to them.
various “wacky wives” with staid, even dull, hus- Yet despite the presence of such advanced notions,
bands. Drawing on similar conventions was one of the in practice Margie rarely chose to develop them. Pro-
most successful sitcoms of the 1950s, My Little duced by the Hal Roach Studios, the series had access
Margie. to all the studio’s haunted-house sets and breakaway
My Little Margie presented 21-year-old Margie Al- props and frequently fell back on the Roach’s stock
bright, who lived with her widowed father, Vernon, in and trade—slapstick. The program got most of its
a New York City penthouse. Mr. Albright worked as an mileage from Storm’s enchanting charm, her wardrobe
executive for the investment counseling firm Honey- (provided by Junior House of Milwaukee, almost al-
well and Todd and was perpetually in fear of losing ways with a fetching, matching hat), and her fre-
“the big account” because of Margie’s meddling. quently performed trademark “Margie gurgle,” a
Rounding out the cast were Freddie, Margie’s rolling of the throat it seemed only Storm could pro-
“boyfriend”; elderly neighbor Mrs. Odetts; Roberta duce.
Townsend, Vern’s lady friend; George Honeywell, My Little Margie had absolutely no critical support.
president of Honeywell and Todd; and Charlie, the From its premier, every newspaper dismissed the show
black elevator operator (depicted as a sad African- as silly. Yet it had enough fan devotion to secure a
American stereotype, typical of TV at that time). highly rated run, making it one of the first shows to
The program starred Gale Storm (31 years old when survive on audience support alone. Moreover, it was
she began in the role), a former film actress noted for the only television program to reverse the usual media
her roles in westerns playing opposite Roy Rogers. history and make the jump from the small screen to the
Vernon was played by Charles Farrell, formerly a audio airwaves; an original radio version (also starring
highly successful leading man in silent films. The pro- Storm and Farrell) aired for two years. The TV series’
gram premiered in 1952 as a last-minute summer re- popularity is also attested to by the fact that Margie
placement for I Love Lucy, but it proved to be so was one of the most widely syndicated programs of the
1580
My Three Sons
1950s and 1960s. It even proved popular enough to air Programming History
on Saturday mornings, perhaps acquainting a new and 126 episodes
loyal audience of children with Margie’s near- CBS
cartoonish antics. June 1952–September 1952 Monday 9:00–9:30
Cary O’Dell January 1953–July 1953 Thursday 10:00–
10:30
NBC
Cast
October 1952–November 1952 Saturday 7:30–8:00
Margie Albright Gale Storm
September 1953–August 1955 Wednesday
Vernon Albright Charles Farrell
8:30–9:00
Roberta Townsend Hillary Brooke
Freddie Wilson Don Hayden
George Honeywell Clarence Kolb Further Reading
Mrs. Odetts Gertrude Hoffman Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Harry and Walter’s
Charlie Willie Best Favorite Shows: A Fact-Filled Opinionated Guide to the
Best and Worst on TV, New York: Prentice Hall, 1989
Mitz, Rich, The Great TV Sitcom Book, New York: Perigee,
Producer 1983
Hal Roach, Jr. Storm, Gale, I Ain’t Down Yet, New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1981
My Three Sons
U.S. Domestic Comedy
Created by Don Fedderson and Leave It to Beaver stockpile at least half a season’s scripts before the sea-
alumnus George Tibbles, My Three Sons was one of son ever began so that MacMurray’s role could be shot
television’s longest-running and most influential do- during his limited workdays. The repercussions of this
mestic comedies. The program was conceived origi- schedule were enormous. Guest stars often had to re-
nally as a television vehicle for Fred MacMurray (who turn nine months later to finish filming an episode,
owned 50 percent of the program) when Fedderson MacMurray’s costars had their hair cut weekly so as to
was approached by Chevrolet to develop a program avoid any continuity discrepancies (MacMurray wore
that was “representative of America.” During its 12- a toupee), and any unforeseen event (a sudden growth
year run, the program averaged a respectable but not spurt or a guest star’s death) could cause catastrophe.
spectacular 22.2 rating and a 35 percent share and un- Oftentimes, the producers were forced to film Mac-
derwent enormous narrative and character changes. Murray in scriptless episodes and then construct a
The show is most significant for its development of a script around his very generalized monologues. Fre-
star-friendly shooting schedule and for its redefinition quently, to avoid complication, the writers simply
of the composition of the television family. placed his character “out of town,” so that there are an
Before he agreed to his contract, Fred MacMurray inordinate number of episodes in which Steve Douglas
queried veteran television performer Robert Young communicates to his family only by telephone. Despite
about Young’s workload. On Young’s complaint about the hardship on writers, directors, and costars, the
television’s time-consuming schedule, MacMurray in- MacMurray method was adapted by a number of film
sisted on a unique shooting plan that was to be copied stars (such as Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda) as a
by other top actors and christened “the MacMurray conditional requirement for their work in a television
method.” This so-called writer’s nightmare stipulated series.
that all of MacMurray’s scenes were to be shot in 65 The program’s narrative concept has proven equally
nonconsecutive days. All other actors had to complete influential. Until 1960, most family comedies were
their fill-in shots while MacMurray was on vacation. centered on strictly nuclear groupings—mom, dad,
Practically speaking, this meant that the series had to and biological children. While an occasional program
1581
My Three Sons
My Three Sons, William Frawley, Fred MacMurray, Tim Considine, Don Grady, Stanley Livingston,
1960–72.
1582
My Three Sons
such as Bachelor Father or The Bob Cummings Show Demarest for the program’s remaining seven years.
might focus on the comedic exploits of an unmarried Next, an argument with Don Fedderson over Tim Con-
adult raising a niece or nephew, most programs, from I sidine’s desire to direct resulted in the actor’s depar-
Love Lucy to Father Knows Best, depicted the humor- ture from the program. As eldest son Mike was written
ous tribulations of two-parent households and their bi- out of the series with a fictionalized “move to Califor-
ological offspring. nia,” the producers chose a new third son, Ernie, as a
My Three Sons initiated what was to become a pop- replacement. With no regard for narrative plausibility,
ular trend in television—that of the widowed parent the producers created a three-part episode in which
raising a family. While initial director Peter Tewksbury Chip’s best friend Ernie loses his parents in a car crash,
called the premise a truly depressing one, producers suddenly becomes two years younger, and is adopted
Tibbles and Fedderson chose to ignore the potential for by Steve as the youngest member of the Douglas fam-
pathos and flung themselves wholeheartedly into the ily.
comedic consequences of a male-only household. Two years later, the program experienced its third
Ironically (some might even say with more than a incarnation when the Douglas family moved from the
touch of misogyny), the bulk of the program’s first five fictional Bryant Park to southern California. Here,
years did not focus on the stereotypical male ineptitude Robbie was to romance and wed Katie, and Steve was
for all household chores but instead continually rein- to end his long-term widowhood by marrying Barbara
forced the notion that males were, in fact, far domesti- and adopting her small daughter. For the program’s re-
cally superior to the “hysterical” female guest stars. maining years, the narrative focused on blended fami-
During the course of its 12-year run, My Three Sons lies, Chip’s romantic escapades and eventual
functioned, in essence, as three successive programs elopement, and Robbie’s triplets, where the premise of
with different casts, writers, and directors. For its first three sons promised to continue indefinitely.
five seasons, the program was shot in black and white The series’ influence was demonstrated by the quick
and aired on the American Broadcasting Company succession of single-parent households that were to
(ABC). These episodes focus on Steve Douglas (Mac- dominate television’s comedy schedule for the next
Murray), aerospace consultant, who, along with his decade. Family Affair, The Courtship of Eddie’s Fa-
father-in-law, Bub O’Casey (William Frawley), has ther, Flipper, and Nanny and the Professor all featured
struggled to raise Steve’s three motherless sons: 18- eligible bachelors burdened with raising their own (or
year-old Mike, 14-year-old Robbie, and seven-year- a relative’s offspring) with the help of an adept elderly
old Chip. The show was directed and produced by man or desirable young woman. All these series
Father Knows Best alumnus Peter Tewksbury. The first worked to erase the necessity of the maternal, as the
year of the program is by far the series’ darkest, deal- family operated in an emotionally secure and
ing explicitly with how a family survives and even supremely healthy environment without benefit of the
thrives in the event of maternal loss. In its second sea- long since dead mother. While there were occasional
son, George Tibbles took over, moving the program widow-with-children programs (The Ghost and Mrs.
more toward situation comedy and inserting multiple Muir and Julia), these women were not granted the
slapstick-type episodes into the mix. From the third same versatility of their male counterparts and were
season onward, Ed Hartmann’s role as producer re- forced to turn to strong male figures (dead ship cap-
directed the program yet again, this time to a heavily tains and doctors, respectively) for continual guidance.
moralistic but lighthearted look at generational and While the 1980s witnessed a regeneration of televi-
gender conflicts. In addition, Hartmann’s long- sion’s nuclear family, the legacy of My Three Sons
standing friendship with members of the Asian com- dominated, and for every Cosby there was a Full
munity contributed to an unusual number of episodes House, My Two Dads, or Brothers. By the 1990s, one
dealing with the Chinese and Japanese friends of the would be hard pressed to find any family show that
Douglas family, granting television visibility and re- was not about a single-parent family, a family with
spect to a previously neglected minority group. adopted children, or a blended arrangement of two dis-
When ABC refused to finance the series’ switch to tinct families—all configurations that owe their gene-
color production, the program moved to the Columbia sis in some way to My Three Sons.
Broadcasting System (CBS), losing two cast members Nina C. Leibman
in an unrelated series of events. First, in the midst of See also Family on Television
the 1964–65 season, terminally ill William Frawley’s
$300,000 insurance policy was canceled, and Don Cast
Fedderson was forced to replace the character of Bub Steve Douglas Fred MacMurray
O’Casey with Uncle Charley, a role played by William Mike Douglas (1960–65) Tim Considine
1583
My Three Sons
Robbie Douglas (1960–71) Don Grady Producers

Chip Douglas Stanley Don Fedderson, Edmund Hartmann, Fred Henry,
Livingston George Tibbles
Michael Francis
“Bub” O’Casey (1960–65) William Frawley
Programming History
Uncle Charley O’Casey
369 episodes
(1965–72) William
ABC
Demarest
September 1960–September 1963 Thursday
Jean Pearson (1960–61) Cynthia Pepper
9:00–9:30
Mr. Henry Pearson (1960–61) Robert P. Lieb
September 1963–September 1965 Thursday
Mrs. Florence Pearson (1960–61) Florence
8:30–9:00
MacMichael
CBS
Hank Ferguson (1961–63) Peter Brooks
September 1965–August 1967 Thursday
Sudsy Pfeiffer (1961–63) Ricky Allen
8:30–9:00
Mrs. Pfeiffer (1961–63) Olive Dunbar
September 1967–September 1971 Saturday
Mr. Pfeiffer (1961–63) Olan Soule
8:30–9:00
Sally Ann Morrison Douglas
September 1971–December 1971 Monday
(1963–65) Meredith
10:00–10:30
MacRae
January 1972–August 1972 Thursday
Ernie Thompson Douglas
8:30–9:00
(1963–72) Barry Livingston
Katie Miller Douglas (1967–72) Tina Cole
Dave Welch (1965–67) John Howard Further Reading
Dodie Harper Douglas (1969–72) Dawn Lyn Hamamoto, Darrell Y., Nervous Laughter: Television Situation
Barbara Harper Douglas Comedy and Liberal Democratic Ideology, New York:
(1969–72) Beverly Garland Praeger, 1989
Steve Douglas, Jr. (1970–72) Joseph Todd Javna, John, The Best of TV Sitcoms: Burns and Allen to The
Charley Douglas (1970–72) Michael Todd Cosby Show, The Munsters to Mary Tyler Moore, New York:
Harmony Books, 1988
Robbie Douglas II (1970–72) Daniel Todd Jones, Gerard, Honey, I’m Home!: Sitcoms, Selling the Ameri-
Fergus McBain Douglas can Dream, New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1992
(1971–72) Fred MacMurray Leibman, Nina C., Living Room Lectures: The Fifties Family in
Terri Dowling (1971–72) Anne Francis Film and Television, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995
Polly Williams Douglas
(1970–72) Ronne Troup
1584
N
Naked City
U.S. Police Drama
Naked City, which had two incarnations between 1958 tained a significant presence as the site of variety
and 1963, was one of American television’s most inno- shows, a few live anthologies, and the quiz programs,
vative police shows, and one of its most important and no other telefilm dramas were being produced there at
influential drama series. More character anthology the time.
than police procedural, the series blended the urban Naked City’s first season on ABC presented 39 taut,
policier a la Dragnet with the urban pathos of the Stu- noirish half-hours (31 scripted by Silliphant) that
dio One school of television drama, offering a mix of mixed character drama, suspense, and action. The
action-adventure and Actors’ Studio, car chases and characters for the series’ two regular detectives were
character studies, shoot-outs and sociology, all filmed carried over from the feature film: Lt. Dan Muldoon
with arresting starkness on the streets of New York. (John McIntire), the seasoned veteran, and his idealis-
The series was inspired by the 1948 “semidocumen- tic young subordinate, Detective Jim Halloran (James
tary” feature The Naked City (which borrowed its title Franciscus). When creative differences arose between
from the photographic collection by urban documen- McIntire and Leonard at midseason, Muldoon was
tarist/crime photographer Weegee). Independent pro- written out of the series via a fiery car crash and re-
ducer Herbert Leonard (The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin, placed as the 65th Precinct’s father-figure by crusty Lt.
Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, Circus Boy) devel- Mike Parker (Horace MacMahon). The show’s signa-
oped the idea as a half-hour series for Screen Gems, ture was its narrator, who introduced each episode with
hiring writer Stirling Silliphant for the pilot script. the assurance that the series was not filmed in a studio,
Leonard outlined his plan for the series to Variety in but “in the streets and buildings of New York itself,”
1958 as an attempt to tell anthology-style stories and returned 30 minutes later to intone the series’ fa-
within the framework of a continuing-character show. mous tag-line (also borrowed from the feature): “There
It was to be “a human interest series about New York,” are 8 million stories in the Naked City. This has been
the producer declared, “told through the eyes of two one of them.”
law enforcement officers.” Leonard’s agenda for the Despite an Emmy nomination for Best Drama,
series’ setting was equally unique: it would be shot Naked City’s downbeat dramatics did not generate ad-
completely on location in New York, duplicating the equate ratings, and it was canceled. Unlike other failed
trendsetting realism of its feature-film progenitor. This shows, however, Naked City was not forgotten. In the
was an ambitious, if not radical, move at that moment fall of 1959, one of the show’s former sponsors urged
in television history, for although New York still re- producer Leonard to mount Naked City for the follow-
1585
Naked City
of guest stars, from well-known Hollywood perform-

ers such as Claude Rains and Lee J. Cobb, and charac-
ter players like Eli Wallach, Maureen Stapleton, and
Walter Matthau, to such up-and-coming talents as Dia-
hann Carroll and Dustin Hoffman. A 1962 Time profile
called the series’ array of stars “the best evidence that
Naked City is not just another cop show.” Its stories
provided even stronger evidence. Naked City’s struc-
ture placed less emphasis on investigation and police
work than did police-procedurals in the Dragnet
mold—and less emphasis on the detectives them-
selves. As Todd Gitlin has put it, on Naked City “the
regular cops faded into the background while the fore-
ground belonged to each week’s new character in the
grip of the city.”
With its stories generally emphasizing the points-of-
view of the criminals, victims, or persons-in-crisis,
Naked City exhibited a more complicated and ambigu-
ous vision of morality and justice than traditional
policiers, where good and bad were clear-cut. Most of
Naked City, Horace McMahon, Paul Burke, Harry Bellaver, the characters encountered by Flint and Arcaro were
1958–63. simply people with problems, who stumbled up
Courtesy of the Everett Collection against the law by accident or ill fortune; when the oc-
casional hit man, bank robber, or jewel thief was en-
countered, they too were humanized, their motives and
ing season in hour-long form. The sponsor’s interest psyches probed. However, sociopaths and career
led ABC to finance the pilot, and in fall 1960 Leonard crooks were far outnumbered by more mundane
was at the helm of two hour-long prime-time drama se- denizens of the naked city, thrust into crisis by circum-
ries (the other being Route 66 at CBS). stance: an innocent ex-con accused of murder; a disfig-
New York itself remained the show’s most distinc- ured youth living in the shadows of the tenements; a
tive star, and extensive location shooting remained its Puerto Rican immigrant worn down by poverty and
trademark. Horace MacMahon returned as Lt. Parker, unemployment; a lonely city bureaucrat overcome by
but with a different compassionate young colleague, suicidal despair; a junior executive who kills over a
Detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke), who was partnered parking space; a sightless boy on an odyssey through
with good-natured Sgt. Frank Arcaro (Harry Bellaver) the streets of Manhattan. Eight million stories—or at
and engaged to aspiring actress Libby Kingston least 138 as dramatized in this series—rooted in the so-
(Nancy Malone). Silliphant wrote the pilot and stayed ciology and psychology of human pain.
on as executive story consultant, but he wrote fewer Naked City revised the traditional cop-show com-
scripts due to his heavy involvement with Route 66. mitment to crime and punishment. Unlike their prime-
Leonard brought in anthology veteran Howard Rod- time counterparts Joe Friday and Eliot Ness,
man as story editor and frequent scriptwriter and was Detectives Flint and Arcaro did not toil in the grim
able to attract other writers with a penchant for social pursuit of “facts” with which to solve cases and incar-
drama, including anthology alumni such as Ernest Ki- cerate criminals. Rather, they pondered human puz-
noy and Mel Goldberg, Hollywood blacklistees such zles, bore witness to suffering, and meditated on the
as Arnold Manoff (writing as “Joel Carpenter”), Ben absurdities of urban existence. With compassion more
Maddow, and Abram Ginnes—and such budding TV typical of TV doctors than TV detectives, they brought
auteurs as Gene Roddenberry. justice to the innocent, helped lost souls fit back into
With a company of serious writers and more time society, and agonized over broken lives they could not
for story and character development, Naked City’s an- fix. Indeed, as critic David Boroff put it in an essay on
thology flavor became even more pronounced. Stories “TV’s Problem Play,” the detectives of Naked City
became more character-driven, with a more central fo- were “as much social workers as cops.”
cus on transient characters (that is, “guest stars”), and Whereas every episode of Dragnet ended with the
more extended psychological exploration. This dimen- record of a trial (and usually a conviction), Naked City
sion of the show was informed by a distinctive roster was seldom able to resolve its stories quite so easily.
1586
Naked City
The series offered narrative closure, but no easy an- Lieutenant Mike Parker
swers; it did not pretend to solve social problems, nor (1959–63) Horace McMahon
did it mute, defuse, or mask them. Although some Detective Adam Flint
episodes ended with guarded hope, straightforward (1960–63) Paul Burke
happy endings were rare; resolutions were just as Libby (1960–63) Nancy Malone
likely to be framed in melancholy bemusement or utter
despair. Naked City’s “solution” was to admit that
there are no solutions—at least none that could be ar- Producers
ticulated in the context of its own dramatic agenda. Herbert B. Leonard, Charles Russell
“One of its strengths,” wrote Boroff in 1966, “was that
it said nothing which is neatly paraphraseable. It was,
in truth, Chekhovian in its rueful gaze at people in the Programming History
clutch of disaster. Naked City was, in essence, a com- 138 episodes
passionate—not a savage—eye. ‘This I have seen,’ it ABC
said.” September 1958–September
Naked City was one of ABC’s most prestigious 1959 Tuesday 9:30–10:00
shows during the early 1960s, nominated for the “Out- October 1960–September
standing Achievement in Drama” Emmy award every 1963 Wednesday 10:00–11:00
season it was on the air, and winning several Emmys
for editing and cinematography. The series was can-
celed at the end of the 1962–63 season, but its influ- Further Reading
ence was already clear. In its day, it paved the way for Boroff, David, “Television and the Problem Play,” in TV as Art,
the serious, urban dramas that followed, such as The edited by Patrick D. Hazard, Champaign, Illinois: National
Defenders, and East Side, West Side, and it sparked a Council of Teachers of English, 1966
modest renaissance in New York telefilm production in “Case History of a TV Producer,” Variety (October 14, 1959)
“The City in the Raw,” Newsweek (December 5, 1960)
the early 1960s. At a larger level, it experimented with Collins, Max Alan, and John Javna, The Best of Crime and De-
the formal definition of the series, demonstrated that tective TV, New York: Harmony, 1988
complex drama could be done within the series format, Gehman, Richard, “Crime and Punishment on the Sidewalks of
and expanded the aesthetic horizons of the police New York” (part 1), TV Guide (June 3, 1961)
show. Echoing Weegee’s photographic studies, which Gehman, Richard, “Crime and Punishment on the Sidewalks of
New York” (part 2), TV Guide (June 10, 1961)
captured the faces of New York in the glare of a cam- Gelman, Morris J., “New York, New York,” Television (Decem-
era flash, television’s Naked City offered narrative por- ber 1962)
traits, exposed through the equally revealing light of Gitlin, Todd, Inside Prime Time, New York: Pantheon, 1985; re-
the writer’s imagination. Ultimately, both versions of vised edition, 1994
Naked City are less about society or a city than people, “Have Camera, Will Travel,” Variety (October 12, 1960)
Johnson, B., “Naked City,” TV Guide (May 16, 1959)
which is why the portraits are often disturbing, and al- Marc, David, “Eight Million Stories (Give or Take a Mil),” The
ways fascinating. Village Voice (October 15, 1985)
Mark Alvey Museum of Broadcasting, Columbia Pictures Television: The
Studio and the Creative Process, New York: Museum of
See also Leonard, Herbert; Police Programs; Sil- Broadcasting, 1987 (exhibition catalog)
liphant, Sterling “Naked City Gets New ABC-TV Lease, This Time as a Full-
Hour Entry,” Variety (October 28, 1959)
“Naked City More Like a Naked Nightmare (Now It Can Be
Cast Told),” Variety (June 12, 1963)
Detective Lieutenant Dan “Naked Truth,” Newsweek (March 4, 1963)
Muldoon (1958–59) John McIntire “On the Streets,” Time (September 7, 1962)
Detective Lieutenant Jim Rosen, George, “Heavy N.Y. Shooting Schedule,” Variety
Halloran (1958–59) James Franciscus (March 9, 1960)
Rowan, Arthur, “We Travel Light and We Travel Fast,” Ameri-
Janet Halloran (1958–59) Suzanne Storrs can Cinematographer (August 1959)
Patrolman/Sergeant Frank “We Can Make ’Em Just as Cheap or Cheaper in N.Y.: Herb
Arcaro Harry Bellaver Leonard,” Variety (February 26, 1958)
1587
Naked Civil Servant, The
Naked Civil Servant, The

British Drama
The Naked Civil Servant, adapted from the autobiogra- raconteur, aphorist, and wit, and with nobleness and
phy of the same title, was a British television biopic of gentility of manner, Crisp was the quintessential ec-
the life and times of the English homosexual Quentin centric English gentleman. As such, he lived in a room
Crisp. Transmitted for the first time on December 17, in London’s Chelsea which had, notoriously, never
1975, it broke new ground in its candid and defiant de- been cleaned. In the autobiography he was commis-
piction of homosexuality on British television and shot sioned to write in 1968 he stated that “after the first
Crisp himself to overnight notoriety and celebrity. Not four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.”
merely of interest for its positive treatment of what After the book’s publication and modest sales, Crisp
was then a controversial subject, The Naked Civil Ser- attracted some attention and held a one-man stage-
vant was compelling television, funny, warm, and show. Around the same time, the dramatist Philip
moving, and earned John Hurt, as Crisp, a much de- Mackie began to try unsuccessfully to interest produc-
served BAFTA award for Best Actor. ers in making a film based on Crisp’s book; he would
Central to The Naked Civil Servant’s critical success continue to be unsuccessful for four years. Also turned
and enduring popular (though perhaps cult) appeal is down by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
the irreverent wit, flamboyant charm, and tough- the project was finally given the go-ahead by Thames
minded individualism of Crisp himself. Born Dennis Television, one of the franchised program companies
Pratt on Christmas Day 1908 to very ordinary, middle- that made up part of the Independent Television (ITV)
class parents living in a suburb of London, Crisp went Network in Britain.
on to cut a larger-than-life figure who openly flouted Under the direction of Jack Gold, with Mackie’s
society’s rules in his everyday behavior and demeanor. screenplay, the television production of The Naked
In hair dyed with henna, and in lipstick and mascara, Civil Servant took an idiosyncratic approach to its un-
he risked assault on the streets of London daily to conventional subject matter. Despite the gloom of Ed-
openly flaunt his effeminacy. At times he experienced wardian England into which Crisp was born and the
violence, and though taken before the courts for solic- austerity of the post-war years, and despite the perpet-
iting, he was never convicted. ual menace of violence, the tone of the production is
Associating with London’s more Bohemian set, he upbeat. Boasting a jaunty score by Carl Davis, and in-
passed from job to job, including designing book cov- terspersed with ironic intertitles, the episodic narrative
ers and teaching tap-dancing (even though he was still is propelled by an all-knowing and wry voice-over by
learning himself). He was also a prostitute for six John Hurt playing Crisp. In one memorable scene, a
months, but claimed he did this because he was look- gang of working-class “roughs” run amok after a
ing for love rather than for the money. Exempted from young Crisp calls their leader a closet “queer” to his
military service during World War II due to his homo- face. The subsequent intertitle and epiphanic voice-
sexuality, he took a job at an art-school as a nude over notes in mock surprise: “Some roughs are really
model, becoming a “naked civil servant.” queer, and some queers are really rough.”
As a model he could simply be himself, and it was Yet despite the humor, the episodic quality of the
being himself that characterized both his homosexual- narrative also provides it with a degree of pathos. Time
ity and his life more generally. He never openly cam- passes in great leaps, but Crisp remains central in his
paigned for gay rights, and was later to be much staunch yet lonely defiance against life’s vicissitudes. It
criticized by activists for his individualistic stance, as is this quality that seems to give Crisp’s quest for self-
well as for perpetuating a homosexual stereotype of determination a heroic edge. Although cautioned in
campness, rather than showing solidarity with a wider some quarters against the dangers of playing a gay
gay movement. In his own view, he just wanted to be role—still considered risky to a career at that time—
accepted for the individual that he was. John Hurt, a leading British actor, stated that it was the
His defiance in the face of establishment and social sense that Crisp was a hero that helped him decide to
prejudice was marked by mock incredulity, gritty pas- take the role.
siveness, and perhaps even pacifism. As an individual, Interestingly, it may have been a combination of hu-
1588
Name of the Game, The
mor, individualism and heroism that made The Naked 21, 1999, on the eve of a sold-out British tour of his
Civil Servant, and its potentially controversial subject one-man show, and he was remembered with much af-
matter, more palatable to a mainstream television audi- fection in obituaries.
ence. The Independent Broadcasting Authority—at Rob Turnock
that time Britain’s commercial television industry reg-
ulator, which awarded television franchises—was so
Cast (selected)
concerned about a possible public backlash against the
Quentin Crisp John Hurt
program that it commissioned a special survey among
Art student Patricia Hodge
a representative sample of the national audience on the
Mr. Pole Stanley Lebor
morning after its first transmission. Ratings indicated
Thumbnails Colin Higgins
that The Naked Civil Servant was viewed in about 3.5
million homes, and from its survey sample surmised
that 85 percent of the audience did not find the material Producer
shocking, while almost half felt they understood and Barry Hanson
sympathized with Crisp’s difficulties.
What viewers may have responded to positively is
Programming History
perhaps not the program’s depiction of homosexuality
ITV December 17, 1975
per se. It is an often-cited cliché that the British always
Channel 4 September 11, 1986
like to support the “underdog.” In this sense, viewer em-
ITV August 3, 1989
pathy might lie with Crisp both as an entertaining En-
BBC2 November 16, 1991
glish eccentric, on the one hand, and on the other, as an
“everyman” figure who faces up to life’s trials and tribu-
lations with a certain British stoicism, “stiff-upper-lip” Further Reading
determination, and a self-deprecating sense of humor. “Audience Reactions to The Naked Civil Servant,” Independent
Crisp introduced the first transmission of The Naked Broadcasting 8 (June 1976)
Civil Servant in person, and was subsequently pro- Crisp, Quentin, The Naked Civil Servant, London: Jonathan
pelled further into the limelight in Britain and abroad; Cape, 1968
he was essentially famous for being infamous. He Howes, Keith, Broadcasting It: An Encyclopedia of Homosexu-
ality on Film, Radio and Television in the UK, London: Cas-
moved to New York in 1980 and wrote various books sell, 1993
and articles, and appeared in numerous television pro- Waugh, Thomas, “Films by Gays for Gays,” Jump Cut 16
grams and documentaries. Crisp died on November (November 1977)

U.S. Adventure/Mystery Series
The Name of the Game occupies a unique place in the Steven Bochco, Marvin Chomsky, Leo Penn, and
history of prime-time television in the United States. Steven Spielberg.
Notable for the ambitious scope and social relevance The two-hour pilot film for the series, Fame Is the
of its stories, and for its innovative 90-minute anthol- Name of the Game, was broadcast in 1966 as the first
ogy format, the series was perhaps most influential in World Premiere Movie, a weekly series of made-for-
its lavish production values, which aimed to recreate television films produced by Universal Studios for
the audiovisual complexity of the movies. In 1969, TV NBC. The series itself, which premiered in 1968, re-
Guide reported that the show’s budget of $400,000 per tained the fluid, quick-cutting visual texture of the pi-
episode made The Name of the Game the most expen- lot and added a pulsating jazz theme by Dave Grusin.
sive television program in history. The series also Tony Franciosa, star of the pilot film, returned to the
functioned as a kind of apprentice field for writers and series as Jeff Dillon, ace reporter for People Magazine,
directors who later achieved great success, including in a rotation every third week with Gene Barry and
1589
Milland, Gene Raymond, Mickey Rooney, and Barry

Sullivan.
One of the first television programs to deal directly
with the increasing social and political turbulence of
the late 1960s, The Name of the Game regularly con-
fronted such topics as the counterculture, racial con-
flict, the sexual revolution, political corruption, and
environmental pollution. Its ideology was a muddled if
revealing strain of Hollywood liberalism, and its rotat-
ing heroes, especially Gene Barry’s elegant corporate
aristocrat, were enlightened professionals who used
the power of their media conglomerate to right injus-
tice and defend the powerless. If many episodes ended
on a reformist note of muted affirmation for an Amer-
ica shown to be flawed but resilient and ultimately fix-
able, individual scenes and performances often
dramatized social evils, injustice, and moral and polit-
ical corruption with a vividness and truthfulness rare in
television during this period.
As it continued, the series became more imaginative
and unpredictable, experimenting at times with unusual
and challenging formats. “Little Bear Died Running”
(first broadcast November 6, 1970), written by Edward
J. Lakso, uses a complex strategy of multiple flashbacks
to reconstruct the murder of a Native American by a “le-
gal” posse, in the process powerfully exposing the racist
attitudes of an apparently enlightened white culture.
The Name of the Game, 1968–71, Gene Barry, Robert Stack, “Appointment in Palermo” (February 26, 1971), di-
Anthony Franciosa. rected by Ben Gazzara, is a zany, affectionate parody of
the godfather genre, its comedy notably sharpened by a
clever use of actors familiar to us from straight gangster
films: Gabriel Dell, Harry Guardino, John Marley and
Robert Stack. Barry played a Henry Luce-type media Joe De Santis. In “Los Angeles 2017” (January 15,
mogul, Glenn Howard, chief executive officer of 1971), Glenn Howard falls into a nightmare of ecologi-
Howard Publications, while Stack—in a role intended cal disaster, in which a vestigial American population
to recall his performance as Eliot Ness, the crime- survives beneath the polluted surface of the Earth in
fighting hero of The Untouchables—played Dan Far- USA, Inc., a regimented society run by a corporate elite.
rell, a retired FBI agent, now a writer and editor for This notable episode was directed by Steven Spielberg
Crime Magazine. Providing continuity, Susan St. from a thoughtful screenplay by Philip Wylie.
James appeared in every episode as Peggy Maxwell, Even in its less imaginative and intellectually ambi-
who remained a research assistant and aide-de-camp to tious episodes, The Name of the Game held to consis-
the male stars through the run of the series despite her tently high standards of production and acting. Both in
Ph.D. in archaeology and her knowledge of five lan- its formal excellence and in the intermittent but gen-
guages. uine seriousness of its subject matter, the show brought
Because each episode was essentially a self- a new maturity to U.S. television and deserves recog-
contained film, the series offered a rich venue for per- nition as an enabling precursor of the strongest prime-
formers and served as something of a refuge for movie time programming of the 1970s and 1980s.
actors drawn to television by the breakdown of the David Thorburn
Hollywood studios and the disappearance of the B-
See also Detective Programs; Movies on Television
movie. Movie actors who appeared in the series in-
cluded Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, Charles Boyer,
Joseph Cotten, Broderick Crawford, Yvonne DeCarlo, Cast
Jose Ferrer, Farley Granger, John Ireland, Van John- Glenn Howard Gene Barry
son, Janet Leigh, Ida Lupino, Kevin McCarthy, Ray Dan Farrell Robert Stack
1590
Narrowcasting
Jeff Dillon Tony Franciosa Programming History

Peggy Maxwell Susan St. James NBC
Joe Sample Ben Murphy September 1968–September 1971 Friday 8:30–10:00
Andy Hill Cliff Potter
Ross Craig Mark Miller Further Reading
Gianakos, Larry James, Television Drama Series Programming:
A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1959–1975, Metuchen, New
Producers Jersey: Scarecrow, 1978
Richard Irving, Richard Levinson, William Link, Perry, Jeb H., Universal Television: The Studio and Its Pro-
Leslie Stevens, George Eckstein, Dean Hargrove grams, 1950–1980, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow, 1983
Narrowcasting
In the earlier days of American television, the three gear their programming to the general mass audience.
major networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC) dominated But increasingly, they, too, are engaged in forms of nar-
programming, and each sought to obtain the widest au- rowcasting by segmenting similar programs that appeal
dience possible. They avoided programming content to specific groups into adjacent time slots. For example,
that might appeal only to a small segment of the mass a network might target young viewers by programming
population and succeeded in their goal by between back-to-back futuristic space programs on one night,
them reaching nearly 90 percent of the television- while on a different night, feature an ensemble of pro-
viewing audience on a regular basis. grams oriented toward ethnic minorities. This strategy
The networks maintained their stronghold until allows the networks to reach the overall mass audience
competition emerged through the addition of many in- cumulatively rather than simultaneously.
dependent stations, the proliferation of cable channels, In the United States, then, narrowcasting is driven
and the popularity of videocassettes. These competi- by economic necessity and competition. In public ser-
tors provided television audiences with many more vice systems around the world, where broadcasting is
viewing options. Consequently, the large numbers pre- supported by license fee, by tax, or by direct govern-
viously achieved through mass-oriented programming ment support, there has never been the same need for
dwindled, and “narrowcasting” took hold. each program to reach the largest possible audience.
With narrowcasting the programmer or producer as- As a consequence, programming for special groups—
sumes that only a limited number of people or a spe- e.g. children, the elderly, ethnic or religious groups—
cific demographic group will be interested in the has been standard practice. Ironically, the same
subject matter of a program. In many ways, this is the technologies that bring competition to commercial
essence of cable television’s programming strategy. broadcasters in the United States cause similar difficul-
Following the format or characteristics of specialized ties for public service broadcasters. In those systems
magazines, a cable television program or channel may new, commercially supported programming delivered
emphasize one subject or a few closely related sub- by satellite and cable often draws audiences away from
jects. For example, among U.S. cable channels, popu- public-service offerings. Government officials and
lar music television is presented on MTV (Music elected officers become reluctant to provide scarce
Television), VH1 (Video Hits One), and TNN (The public funds to broadcasters whose audiences are be-
Nashville Network); CNN (Cable News Network) of- coming smaller, forcing public service programmers to
fers 24-hour news coverage; ESPN (Entertainment reach for larger audiences with different types of pro-
Sports Network) boasts an all-sports format; and C- gram content. While multiple program sources—ca-
SPAN covers the U.S. Congress. Other cable channels ble, home video—make it unlikely that these systems
feature programming such as shopping, comedy, will move toward “mass audience programming” on
science-fiction, or programs aimed at specific ethnic or the U.S. model, it is the case that the face of broadcast-
gender groups highly prized by specific advertisers. ing is changing in these contexts.
For the most part, the major networks continue to Kimberly B. Massey
1591
Narrowcasting
See also Cable Networks; Demographics; Markets; Reitman, Judith, “Narrowcasting Opens Up: Cable is Expand-
Mass Communication ing its Programming to Win Bigger Numbers in the Ratings
Game,” Marketing and Media Decisions (February 1986)
Vane, Edwin T., and Lynn S. Gross, Programming for TV, Ra-
Further Reading dio, and Cable, Boston: Focal Press, 1994
Waterman, David, “‘Narrowcasting’ and ‘Broadcasting’ on
Naficy, Hamid, “Narrowcasting and Nationality: Middle East- Nonbroadcast Media: A Program Choice Model,” Communi-
ern Television in Los Angeles,” Afterimage (February 1993) cation Research (February 1993)
Nash, Knowlton (1927– )

Canadian Broadcast Journalist
One of the most recognizable personalities in Cana- In April 1988, after ten years as anchor, Nash retired
dian television, Knowlton Nash inhabits a truly unique from The National. Benefiting from his unmatched
space in news and public affairs broadcasting. Nash wealth of experience in Canadian television journal-
began his career in journalism at an early age, working ism, Nash has taken on a number of projects since his
in the late 1940s as a copy editor for the wire service so-called retirement. He has periodically anchored the
British United Press. In three short years, Nash worked Friday and Saturday broadcasts of The National, as
in Toronto, Halifax, and later Vancouver, where he as- well as the Sunday evening news program Sunday Re-
sumed the position of writer and bureau chief for the port. Furthermore, Nash anchors both the CBC educa-
wire service. Soon thereafter, Nash and his young fam- tional series News in Review and the highly acclaimed
ily moved to Washington, D.C. where, after a few weekly documentary series Witness. On top of his du-
years working for the International Federation of Agri- ties in the field of electronic broadcasting and journal-
cultural Producers, he began writing regular copy for ism, Nash has written a number of books, some quite
the Windsor Star, Financial Post, and Vancouver Sun. controversial, on the history of both private and
By 1958 Nash had become a regular correspondent public-sector broadcasting in Canada.
for the Washington bureau of the Canadian Broadcast- Greg Elmer
ing Corporation (CBC), where in years to come he
would interview key heads of state, including a succes- See also Canadian Programming in English; Na-
sion of U.S. presidents. For Canadians, Nash became a tional, The/The Journal
familiar face abroad during the heady days of the
Cuban missile crisis, the war in Vietnam, and the as- Knowlton Nash. Born in Toronto, Ontario, November
sassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. Nash’s in- 18, 1927. Educated at University of Toronto. Married:
ternational reports in many respects symbolized the 1) Sylvia (died, 1980); 2) Lorraine Thomson, 1982;
growth and reach of the CBC’s news departments child: Anne. Began career as newspaper reporter for
around the globe. Globe and Mail, Toronto, until 1947; manager, news
In the early 1970s Nash accepted an appointment by bureaus for British United Press News Service,
the CBC to be head of news and information program- 1947–51; worked for International Federation of Agri-
ming. For many Canadians, Nash is best recognized cultural Producers, Washington, D.C., director of infor-
and most respected for his work as anchor for the mation and representative at United Nations, 1951–61;
CBC’s evening news program The National. In 1978 freelance journalist, 1961–64; correspondent, CBC,
Nash played a pivotal role in transforming The Na- Washington, D.C., 1964–68; director of information
tional into a ratings success for Canada’s public broad- programming, CBC Radio and Television, Toronto, and
caster. Four years later, Nash and The National director of television news and current affairs, 1968–78;
solidified its place in the nation’s daily routine when— chief correspondent and anchor, The National,
against all traditions—it moved to the 10:00 P.M. time 1978–88; senior correspondent and anchor, News in Re-
slot and added an additional half-hour news analysis view, since 1988; host, Witness, since 1992. Recipient:
segment entitled The Journal. Order of Canada, 1988; John Drainie Award, 1995.
1592
Nat “King” Cole Show, The
Television Series
1960–64 Inquiry (expert on American views)
1966–67 This Week (host)
1976–78 CTV National News
1978–88 The National (newsreader)
1988– News in Review
1992– Witness
Publications
History on the Run: The Trenchcoat Memoirs of a
Foreign Correspondent, 1984
Times to Remember, 1986
Prime Time at Ten: Behind the Camera Battles of
Canadian TV Journalism, 1987
Kennedy and Diefenbaker: Fear and Loathing across
the Undefended Border, 1990
Visions of Canada, 1991
Knowlton Nash’s The Microphone Wars, 1994
Cue the Elephant!: Backstage Tales at the CBC, 1997
Trivia Pursuit: How Show Business Values are Cor-
rupting the News, 1999
The Swashbucklers: The Story of Canada’s Battling
Broadcasters, 2001
Further Reading
“Nash Tells All in Knowlton Nash’s The Microphone Wars,”
Calgary Herald (November 24, 1994)
Knowlton Nash. “Nash to Get Media Prize: John Drainie Award,” Vancouver Sun
Photo courtesy of Knowlton Nash (February 10, 1995)

U.S. Musical Variety
The Nat “King” Cole Show premiered on NBC as a 15- 1944. By the mid-1950s he was a solo act—a top
minute weekly musical variety show in November nightclub performer with several million-selling
1956. Cole, an international star as a jazz pianist and records, including “Nature Boy,” “Mona Lisa,” and
uniquely gifted vocalist, became the first major black “Too Young.” A frequent guest on variety programs
performer to host a network variety series. It was a such as those hosted by Perry Como, Milton Berle, Ed
bruising experience for him, however, and an episode Sullivan, Dinah Shore, Jackie Gleason, and Red Skel-
in television history that illuminates the state of race ton, Cole was in the mainstream of American show
relations in the United States at the dawn of the mod- business. His performances delighted audiences, and
ern civil rights movement. he seemed to be a natural for his own TV show, which
Cole’s first hit record, “Straighten Up and Fly he very much wanted.
Right,” was recorded with his Nat “King” Cole Trio in Although he had experienced virulent racism in his
1593
gram, claimed that a “Negro” couldn’t sell lipstick for

them. Cole was angered by the comment. “What do
they think we use?” he asked. “Chalk? Congo paint?”
“And what about a corporation like the telephone com-
pany?” Cole wondered. “A man sees a Negro on a tele-
vision show. What’s he going to do—call up the
telephone company and tell them to take out the
phone?” Occasionally, the show was purchased by Ar-
rid deodorant and Rise shaving cream, but it was most
often sustained by NBC without sponsorship.
Despite the musical excellence of the program,
which featured orchestra leader Nelson Riddle when
the show was broadcast from Hollywood and Gordon
Jenkins on weeks it originated from New York, The
Nat “King” Cole Show suffered from anemic Nielsen
ratings. Nonetheless, NBC decided to experiment. The
network revamped the show in the summer of 1957 by
expanding it to 30 minutes and increasing the produc-
tion budget. Cole’s many friends and admirers in the
music industry joined him in a determined effort to
keep the series alive. Performers who could command
enormous fees—including Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee,
Mel Torme, Pearl Bailey, Mahalia Jackson, Sammy
Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, and Harry Belafonte—ap-
peared on The Nat “King” Cole Show for the minimum
wage allowed by the union.
The Nat "King" Cole Show.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Ratings improved, but still no sponsors were inter-
ested in a permanent relationship with the series. Some
advertisers purchased airtime in particular markets.
life and career, Cole was reluctant to take on the role of For instance, in San Francisco, Italian Swiss Colony
a crusader. He was criticized by some for regularly wine was an underwriter. In New York the sponsor was
performing in segregated-audience venues in the Rheingold beer; in Los Angeles, Gallo wine and Col-
South, for instance. His bid for a TV show, however, gate toothpaste; and in Houston, Coca-Cola.
brought with it a sense of mission. “It could be a turn- This arrangement, however, was not as lucrative to
ing point,” he realized, “so that Negroes may be fea- the network as single national sponsorship. So, when
tured regularly on television.” Yet, Cole understood, the Singer Sewing Machine Company wanted to un-
“If I try to make a big thing out of being the first and derwrite an adult western called The Californians,
stir up a lot of talk, it might work adversely.” NBC turned over the time slot held by The Nat “King”
Cole originally signed a contract with CBS in 1956, Cole Show. The network offered to move Cole’s pro-
but the promise of his own program never materialized gram to a less-expensive and less-desirable place in the
on that network. Later in the year, NBC reached an schedule, Saturdays at 7:00 P.M., but Cole declined the
agreement with Cole’s manager and agency, which downgrade.
packaged The Nat “King” Cole Show. The first broad- In the inevitable postmortem on the show, Cole
cast, on November 5, 1956, aired without commercial praised NBC for its efforts. “The network supported
sponsorship. NBC agreed to foot the bill for the pro- this show from the beginning,” he said. “From Mr.
gram with the hope that advertisers would soon be at- Sarnoff on down, they tried to sell it to agencies. They
tracted to the series. Cole felt confident a national could have dropped it after the first 13 weeks.” The star
sponsor would emerge, but his optimism was misplaced the blame squarely on the advertising industry.
placed. “Madison Avenue,” Cole said, “is afraid of the dark.”
Advertising agencies were unable to convince na- In an Ebony magazine article entitled “Why I Quit
tional clients to buy time on The Nat “King” Cole My TV Show,” Cole expressed his frustration:
Show. Advertisers were fearful that white Southern au-
diences would boycott their products. A representative For 13 months I was the Jackie Robinson of television. I
of Max Factor cosmetics, a logical sponsor for the pro- was the pioneer, the test case, the Negro first . . . . On my
1594
Nation, Terry
show rode the hopes and tears and dreams of millions of Regular Performers
people . . . . Once a week for 64 consecutive weeks I Nat “King” Cole
went to bat for these people. I sacrificed and drove my- The Boataneers (1953)
self. I plowed part of my salary back into the show. I The Herman McCoy Singers
turned down $500,000 in dates in order to be on the
The Randy Van Horne Singers (1957)
scene. I did everything I could to make the show a suc-
The Jerry Graft Singers (1957)
cess. And what happened? After a trailblazing year that
shattered all the old bugaboos about Negroes on TV, I The Cheerleaders (1957)
found myself standing there with the bat on my shoul- Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra
der. The men who dictate what Americans see and hear
didn’t want to play ball.
Producer
Singer and actress Eartha Kitt, one of the program’s Bob Henry
guest stars, reflected many years later on the puzzling
lack of success of The Nat “King” Cole Show. “At that
Programming History
time I think it was dangerous,” she said, referring to
NBC
Cole’s sophisticated image in an era when the only
November 1956–June 1957 Monday 7:30–7:45
blacks appearing on television regularly were those on
July 1957–September 1957 Tuesday 10:00–10:30
Amos ’n’ Andy and Beulah and Jack Benny’s manser-
September 1957–December
vant, Rochester. Nat “King” Cole’s elegance and inter-
1957 Tuesday 7:30–8:00
action with white performers as equals stood in stark
contrast. “I think it was too early,” Kitt said, “to show
ourselves off as intelligent people.” Further Reading
Mary Ann Watson Cole, Nat “King” (as told to Lerone Bennett, Jr.), “Why I Quit
See also Racism, Ethnicity, and Television My TV Show,” Ebony (February 1958)
Gourse, Leslie, Unforgettable: The Life and Mystique of Nat
King Cole, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991
MacDonald, J. Fred, Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in
Television since 1948, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983; 2nd edi-
tion, 1992
Nation, Terry (1930–1997)

British Writer
Terry Nation was one of the most consistent writers of material for Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd, Tony Han-
British genre television, having had a lasting impact on cock, and an array of other comic stars. In all, he wrote
the development of science fiction and action- more than 200 radio comedy scripts before trying his
adventure programs. Nation’s contributions to such se- hand on television in the early 1960s.
ries as The Saint, Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven, The Some of his first work was for ITV’s Out of This
Avengers, and MacGyver built him an international fan World, a science fiction anthology series in 1962. The
following. Although most of his television credits were following year Nation was asked to write one of the
for hour-long dramas, Nation got his start in comedy. first storylines for Doctor Who, then making its debut
At the age of 25, he made his debut as a stage come- at the BBC. Nation’s most important contribution to
dian, receiving a poor response. If his performance Doctor Who were the Daleks, the most popular (and
skills were found lacking, his original material won an heavily merchandized) villains in the series’ history.
admirer in comedian Spike Milligan, who commis- Citing a childhood spent (in Wales) during World War
sioned him to write scripts for the zany British comedy II, Nation remarked that he modeled the impersonal
series The Goon Show. Nation soon was developing and unstoppable Daleks after the Nazis, seeing them
1595
Nation, Terry
as embodying “the unhearing, unthinking, blanked- Near the end of his career, Nation shifted his focus
out face of authority that will destroy you because it onto American television, where he was a producer
wants to destroy you.” Nation continued to influence and writer for the first two seasons of MacGyver, an
the development of the Daleks across a succession of original and imaginative series dealing with a former
storylines and through two feature-film spin-offs of special forces agent who solves crimes and battles evil
the series, writing many of the Dalek scripts himself through the use of resourceful engineering and tinker-
while serving as technical adviser on the others. He ing tricks. MacGyver seemed to fit comfortably within
was subsequently responsible for the introduction of the tradition of British action-adventure protagonists
Davros, the wheelchair-bound mad scientist who cre- whom Nation helped to shape and develop. Nation
ated the Daleks to serve his schemes for intergalactic died of emphysema in March 1997.
domination. Most of the best-known writers of British television
Building on his success at Doctor Who, Terry Na- are recognized for their original dramas and social re-
tion created two original science fiction series: The alism, but Nation’s reputation came from his intelli-
Survivors, a post-nuclear apocalypse story, and gent contributions to genre entertainment.
Blake’s Seven, a popular series about a group of free- Henry Jenkins
dom fighters struggling against a totalitarian multi-
See also Doctor Who
planetary regime. Blake’s Seven, which he initially
proposed as a science fiction version of The Dirty
Terry Nation. Born in Cardiff, Wales, August 8, 1930.
Dozen, remains a cult favorite to the present day, pop-
Screenwriter for British and American television; cre-
ular for its focus on character conflicts within the Lib-
ator of the Daleks, which helped popularize Doctor
erator crew, its bleak vision of the future and of the
Who, 1963; created The Survivors, 1975; created
prospects of overcoming political repression, its
Blake’s Seven, 1978, writing the entire first season and
strongly defined female characters, and the intelli-
six later episodes, 1978–81; author. Died in Los Ange-
gence of its dialogue. The series sought an adult fol-
les, California, March 9, 1997
lowing that contrasted sharply with the Doctor Who
audience, which the BBC persisted in seeing as pri-
marily composed of children. Nation wrote all 13 of Television Series (selected)
the first season episodes of Blake’s Seven and contin- 1961–69 The Avengers
ued to contribute regularly throughout its second sea- 1962–69 The Saint
son, before being displaced as story editor by Chris 1963–89 Doctor Who
Boucher, who pushed the series in an even darker and 1964–65, 1968–69 The Saint
more pessimistic direction. 1969–71 Champions
Nation’s contributions to the detective genre are al- 1971–72 The Persuaders
most as significant as his influence on British science 1975–77 The Survivors
fiction. For a while, it seemed that Nation wrote for or 1978–81 Blake’s Seven
was responsible for many of ITV’s most popular ad- 1985–92 MacGyver
venture series. He wrote more than a dozen episodes of
The Saint, the series starring Roger Moore as globe- Made-for-Television Movies
trotting master thief/detective Simon Templar. The 1974 Color Him Dead
Saint enjoyed international success and was one of the 1986 A Masterpiece of Murder
few British imports to snag a prime-time slot on U.S.
television. Nation served as script editor and writer for
The Baron, another ITV series about a jewel thief that Film
built on The Saint’s success. He was script editor for The House in Nightmare Park (1973; also producer).
the final season of The Avengers, shaping the contro-
versial transition from popular Emma Peel (Diana Radio
Rigg) to the less-beloved Tara King (Linda Thorson). The Goon Show
He was script editor and associate producer for The
Persuaders, another successful action-adventure series
Publications
about two daredevil playboys who become “instru-
ments of justice” under duress. He also contributed Rebecca’s World: Journey to the Forbidden Planet,
regularly to ITV’s superhero series Champions. 1975
1596
National, The/The Journal
Survivors, 1976 Further Reading

The Official Doctor Who and the Daleks Book, with Haining, Peter, Doctor Who, the Key to Time: A Year-by-Year
John Peel, 1988 Record, London: W.H. Allen, 1984
Tulloch, John, and Manuel Alvarado, Doctor Who: The Unfold-
ing Text, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983

Canadian News Broadcasts
Since the 1950s the titles The National News and The short- and long-form documentaries and double-ender
National have been used by the Canadian Broadcast- interviews with politicians, experts, and commenta-
ing Corporation (CBC) for its English-language nators. It quickly became the key outlet for political and
tional newscasts. In 1982 CBC management made a social debate in the Anglo-Canadian media. The spe-
bold decision to create a new, hour-long 10:00 P.M. na- cific format varied from night to night, sometimes fo-
tional news and current-affairs bloc. A new program, cusing on several stories and issues, sometimes
The Journal, provided a nightly current affairs com- providing in-depth coverage of single issues, or serv-
ponent to the regular news report. By the 1980s, well ing as the site of national policy debates between the
over 80 percent of Canadian television households major federal political parties.
were cabled, and through their cable systems Cana- While the 10:00 P.M. news and current affairs bloc
dian viewers had direct access to simultaneous trans- remained successful throughout the 1980s, there were
mission of the prime-time schedules of the U.S. recurrent tensions within the CBC over questions of
networks. The CBC’s decision to move The National news judgment and resource allocation between the
newscast from 11:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M., along with the two separate production teams responsible for the
creation of The Journal, was controversial in that it programs. In 1992 Ivan Fecan, the CBC program-
was seen as both an unnecessary disruption of ming executive, introduced a new prime-time sched-
decades-old Canadian viewing habits, and a risky ule to the network, re-creating The National and The
counterprogramming strategy in the face of the suc- Journal as the Prime-Time News, anchored by Peter
cess of U.S. prime-time dramatic series in the Anglo- Mansbridge. He also moved the news and current af-
Canadian market. fairs hour to 9:00 P.M. as part of a reprogramming of
Nevertheless, the new bloc was introduced in Jan- CBC prime time into a 7:00–9:00 P.M. “family” bloc
uary 1982, with veteran CBC journalist Knowlton and 10:00–12:00 P.M. “adult” bloc. The production of
Nash as newsreader for the 22-minute The National, the new Prime-Time News was reorganized into a sin-
followed by The Journal, cohosted by Barbara Frum gle production unit, both to overcome previous orga-
and Mary Lou Finlay. Within a very short time, how- nizational antagonisms, and to address budget
ever, the new bloc received positive critical attention constraints in a period of increasing austerity at the
and the counterprogramming strategy seemed success- CBC. The move to 9:00 P.M. proved much less suc-
ful. The programs saw a substantial improvement in cessful in ratings, and the initial reformatting of news
ratings over the old 11:00 P.M. newscast. and current affairs within one program proved more
While The National continued to be produced by difficult than had been anticipated. By 1995 the
the same staff within CBC news, The Journal was de- scheduling of CBC prime time into “family” and
veloped by a new unit with CBC Current Affairs, un- “adult” blocs was abandoned, and the news and cur-
der the direction of Executive Producer Mark rent affairs hour was returned to 10:00 P.M. and re-
Starowicz. Formally, The Journal innovated within named The National, including the current affairs
Canadian current affairs television in its mixing of coverage under the title of The National Magazine.
1597
The National.
Photo courtesy of National Archives of Canada/CBC Collection
The return to 10:00 P.M. once again proved successful Further Reading
as a counterprogramming strategy for prime-time Lockhead, Richard, editor, Beyond the Printed Word: The Evo-
competition from U.S. networks. lution of Canada’s Broadcast Heritage, Kingston, Ontario:
Martin Allor Quarry, 1991
Nash, Knowlton, Microphone Wars: A History of Triumph and
Betrayal, Toronto: McClelland and Stuart, 1994
1598
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

U.S. Industry Professional Association
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sci- presidency of the organization in 1976, the Hollywood
ences (NATAS) is a New York-based organization with chapter left NATAS and created a separate organiza-
19 regional chapters or affiliates in many of the larger tion: the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, or
television markets. The organization is best known for ATAS.
its Emmy awards, which are bestowed on both pro- ATAS sued for exclusive rights to bestow the Emmy
grams and individuals in a variety of categories. The on the grounds that the Los Angeles group had actually
“Emmy” is a variation of “Immy,” a nickname for the given the award several years before NATAS was
light-sensitive Image Orthicon tube that was the heart formed. Litigation by both organizations ended with a
of television cameras during the 1950s and 1960s. The compromise: ATAS would retain the Emmy rights for
award is a statuette of a winged woman holding an prime-time entertainment programming; NATAS
electron in her outstretched hands. would continue to award Emmys for news and docu-
NATAS was organized in 1957 as an outgrowth of mentary, sports, daytime, and public-service program-
rivalry between two separate television academies that ming, and also for achievements in television
had been established several years earlier. One was engineering.
based in Los Angeles, the other in New York. The Initially, NATAS was weakened by the departure of
move to unite the two academies into a single “na- the Los Angeles group. But during the following two
tional” television academy was led by TV variety- decades, NATAS has been strengthened by growing
show host Ed Sullivan, who was elected its first interest in daytime programs (talk shows and soap op-
president. The rival New York and Hollywood eras). Each spring, the organization presents a “Day-
academies became “founding chapters” of NATAS and time at Nighttime” awards ceremony, broadcast during
additional chapters were later established in other prime time, and showcasing TV’s soap-opera stars.
cities. The presentation is staged at Radio City Music Hall,
The first nationally televised Emmy Awards origi- Madison Square Garden, or a similar New York loca-
nated from both New York and Los Angeles in 1955, tion. Separate ceremonies for each of the categories of
actually predating the merger of the two academies. sports, news, public service, and technology are sched-
These bi-coastal presentations continued through 1971 uled on different dates, and sometimes telecast over
and mirrored the glamour of the rapidly expanding cable channels.
television industry to the point where the Emmy cere- NATAS has also been strengthened by growth in
monies were second only to the Motion Picture Acad- both the number and size of regional chapters located
emy Awards in terms of audience interest and in many of the major television markets. The nineteen
recognition. After 1971, separate award ceremonies chapters are: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland,
for prime-time entertainment programs originated Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati (Ohio Valley), Denver,
from Los Angeles, while New York remained home for Detroit, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix,
the news and documentary awards. San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, South Florida, St.
During the 1970s, relations between the Hollywood Louis, Texas, and Washington, D.C. (A local Los
and New York chapters remained tense. Los Angeles Angeles-area chapter is affiliated with ATAS.)
producers of prime-time programs expressed resent- Each chapter is chartered by the national organiza-
ment that their programs were being judged by mem- tion but operates independently in terms of its pro-
bers in New York and the smaller market chapters grams and finances. All 19 chapters conduct Emmy
since they did not consider these individuals to be their awards presentations to honor television professionals
peers. They also resented their minority status on a in their respective markets and in adjacent markets that
Board of Trustees dominated by the New York and do not have their own chapters. For example, Philadel-
smaller market chapters. After John Cannon of New phia is officially called the Mid Atlantic Chapter and
York defeated Robert Lewine of Hollywood for the includes Pittsburgh, Scranton, Harrisburg, and several
1599
other markets in Pennsylvania. Texas, the newest Television Arts and Sciences, and the original Emmy
chapter at this writing, includes Houston, Dallas–Fort statuette remains intact.
Worth, San Antonio, and sixteen smaller markets. It Relationships between the two academies (NATAS
was organized with the assumption that two or more and ATAS) remain cool, for the most part. Not surpris-
separate chapters might eventually emerge from what ingly, most of the controversy relates to the awarding
is now called the Lone Star Chapter. of Emmys. For example, ATAS wanted to award an
At both the national and local levels, considerable Emmy for the best commercial; NATAS did not. Con-
emphasis is placed on the peer judging of all entries. versely, NATAS has proposed a separate Emmys
The national awards are evaluated by judging panels of awards ceremony for Spanish-language programming,
individuals working within the respective categories. which ATAS opposes.
At the local level, chapters exchange tapes to ensure In addition to the Emmy awards, NATAS publishes
that judging is performed by qualified professionals in Television Quarterly, a scholarly journal dealing with
other markets. The local Emmy statuette is a smaller the historical development and critical analysis of tele-
replica of the national Emmy statuettes awarded by vision programs and the television industry. Three ma-
NATAS and ATAS for national programming. jor scholarships, currently $40,000 each, are awarded
Governance of the national organization is the re- by the national organization to high school seniors
sponsibility of a Board of Trustees with individual who intend to major in communications in college and
trustees selected by the chapters. Chapter representa- pursue a career in television. Also, each of the 19 chap-
tion is proportional, with one trustee allocated for ev- ters has its own scholarship program. In 2002, NATAS
ery 300 members. Each chapter, in turn, is governed by began National Student Television, a program created
a Broad of Governors elected by the membership. to recognize excellence and award special student Em-
John Cannon led NATAS for 25 years, until his mys to television programs produced by high schools
death in 2001. After a national search, Peter O. Price, a throughout the United States.
former newspaper publisher and cable television exec- NATAS maintains a national office at 70 West 57th
utive, was named president by the Board of Trustees in Street, New York, NY 10019 and a website at www.
2002. emmyonline.org. Each of the 19 chapters has offices in
Under Price, the organization adapted a shorter their respective cities and all chapters are linked to the
name, National Television Academy or NTA, which it national website. The organization and its chapters
uses in many of its activities. A redesigned Emmy has have 13,000 individual members.
also been introduced on letterhead and in many public Norman Felsenthal
relations and promotional announcements. However,
the full legal name remains the National Academy of See also Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
National Asian American Telecommunications

Association
U.S. Industry Professional Association
According to the organization’s website, the mission States, has been bringing award-winning programs by
of the National Asian American Telecommunications and about Asian Pacific Americans to the public
Association (NAATA) is “to present stories that con- through such venues as national and local television
vey the richness and diversity of the Asian Pacific broadcasting, film and video screenings, and educa-
American experience to the broadest audience possi- tional distribution services.
ble.” Since its founding in 1980, the NAATA, based in Through its programming, exhibition, and distribu-
San Francisco and considered the preeminent Asian- tion of works by Asian Pacific Americans, as well as
American media arts organizations in the United its advocacy and coalition-building efforts, the
1600
National Asian American Telecommunications Association
NAATA actively serves as both a resource and a pro- United States as well as from Canada and other na-
moter for minority communities. Essentially, it coordi- tions, this festival is a collection of vastly diverse film
nates many different realms related to contemporary and video programs as well as installations and panel
visual culture—the production of films, videos, and discussions. For too long, many “cultures, faces, and
new media works; critical writing and scholarship; dis- stories have remained ‘in the closet’ or simply invisi-
tribution and television broadcasting; community and ble,” as the 1995 festival catalog states. Therefore, the
educational outreach; and even legislation and lobby- purpose of the festival is to acknowledge the world-
ing. In short, it serves as a center of information and wide industry of film and video, which includes and
human resources. represents many works from the Asian diaspora.
The NAATA was founded as a conscious and con- “Films submitted to the Asian American film festival
certed effort on the part of filmmakers and producers reflect the heterogeneous and hybrid cultures of Asian
in the San Francisco area to address the problem of a American experience,” writes Nerissa S. Balce in her
lack of equal access to public television and radio. analysis of the 2001 festival. These works “speak to
With the guidance and commitment of two older orga- the collective experience of ‘Asian/Americans’: as
nizations, Visual Communications in Los Angeles and people of color, as immigrants, as youth, as queers, as
Asian CineVision in New York, both of which suburbanites, as rural or urban folk, as undocumented
emerged out of the movements toward racial and so- workers, as professionals or the working class” (see
cial justice in the 1960s, the NAATA was born out of a Balce).
three-day conference. The NAATA’s film, video, and audio distribution
The Association works primarily in three program- service has amalgamated a collection of film and video
ming areas: television broadcast, exhibition (namely, by and about Asian Pacific Americans that serve to
the annual San Francisco International Asian Ameri- challenge the construction and meaning of “Asian
can Film Festival), and nonbroadcast distribution American.” The intent is to challenge and hopefully
(more specifically, through their NAATA Distribution change mainstream perceptions of Asian Pacific Amer-
Catalog). Through this effort, the organization seeks to ican identities. Moreover, this service strives not only
support and nurture Asian Pacific American media to foster awareness but also to facilitate discussion,
artists in order to proffer a more accurate representa- sensitivity, and understanding of cultures that are not
tion of their communities to the public. Typically, rep- one’s own. The uses of such a collection include cor-
resentations of Asian Americans in American porate diversity training, high school and university
television and film, supporters of the group contend, education, and social and political activism. Through
have led to many false perceptions of this population. the association’s website (www.naatanet.org), individ-
In the 1995 catalog for the San Francisco Interna- uals and institutions can order from more than 200
tional Asian American Film Festival, Stephen Gong Asian Pacific American films and videos. The online
(film-history scholar and manager of the Pacific Film catalog is skillfully organized by topics including me-
Archive) argues that the struggles in the career of Ses- dia; land/environment; labor; personal stories; health,
sue Hayakawa (1889–1973, a star of many silent films mental health, and AIDS; sexuality; multiracial/ethnic
but perhaps best-known for his role as Colonel Saito in heritage; youth; art and performance; and U.S. colo-
The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957) remain emblem- nialism. The collection is also indexed by title and by
atic of the price Asian-American actors pay in order to ethnicity, and there is a separate index of titles for
get some screen time. Referring to the stereotypes of school-age audiences. In the NAATA’s effort to share
Asian Americans, Gong asks: “Do the commercial the work of Asian Pacific Americans and open up dis-
constraints that have apparently governed mass media cussion on various issues, the distribution service is a
from its earliest days still make it a given that public helpful and much-needed resource.
expectations must be fulfilled before artistic vision can The NAATA offers members monthly electronic
be exercised?” The NAATA attempts to respond to this news bulletins that announce events such as screenings
question by presenting—and more importantly, inte- and festivals, and it publishes on its website extensive
grating—alternative and self-proclaimed representa- information about the NAATA’s Media Fund, which
tions by “marginal” peoples into the mainstream media since 1990 has used funds from the Corporation for
culture. Public Broadcasting to sponsor more than 150 Asian
The San Francisco International Asian American Pacific American film and video projects, many of
Film Festival is the NAATA’s most dramatic effort to which have aired locally or nationally on public broad-
provide the public with self-determined images and casting stations. The website also keeps readers up-
stories about Asian and Asian-American experiences. dated on past, current, and upcoming Asian Pacific
Soliciting new and innovative work from within the American programming on television; presents infor-
1601
National Asian American Telecommunications Association
mation for educators; and provides a forum for indi- See also Racism, Ethnicity, and Television
viduals to make announcements, list job openings, of-
fer assistance, and otherwise participate in the Asian
Further Reading
American arts community.
The significance of the NAATA within the media in- Asian American Network (Autumn/Winter 1994)
dustry is that it sets up a series of connections: it links Asian American Network (Spring 1995)
Balce, Nerissa S., Millennial Narratives: Notes on Viewing
sponsors to media artists, to distributors, and to larger Asian American Cinema, 2001, San Francisco: National
mainstream venues, all in an attempt to correct the Asian American Telecommunications Association, 2001
misrepresentation and misperception of minority peo- (available at www.naatanet.org)
ples and histories. The NAATA is both an artistic and a Leong, Russell, editor, Moving the Image: Independent Asian
political organization, currently working to ensure that Pacific American Media Arts, Los Angeles: UCLA Asian
American Studies Center and Visual Communications,
the voices and experiences of people who are often un- Southern California Asian American Studies Central,
heard and unknown are made more public and better 1991
understood.
Lahn S. Kim
National Association of Broadcasters

U.S. Industry Trade Association
For nearly eight decades, the National Association of The NAB’s initial goals were to overcome the AS-
Broadcasters (NAB) has represented the interests of CAP demands for royalties while at the same time
most American radio and television stations and net- seeking basic legislation that most radio station opera-
works to Washington policymakers and the public at tors realized was needed to expand business. Despite
large. Fiercely protective of broadcasters’ First early lobbying efforts, the radio broadcasters lost ini-
Amendment rights, the NAB has waxed and waned tial battles and agreed to a schedule of payments to
over the years in its political effectiveness, becoming ASCAP, in part because so many other issues were im-
by the early 21st century one of the most important pinging on the stations. Facing continuing pressure for
trade associations and lobbying groups in the nation’s ever-higher ASCAP music royalties, the NAB finally
capital. decided to found its own music license agency and cre-
ated Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) in 1939–40.
While Congress finally passed a new radio law in
Origins
1927 (the NAB had strongly urged such action), at-
Perhaps fittingly for a commercial business associa- tempts to limit commercial time, to control program
tion, the NAB developed as the result of a financial content, to reserve some channels for educational use,
dispute. The American Society of Composers, Authors and other issues continually cropped up, requiring an
and Publishers (ASCAP) threatened in mid-1922 to industry-wide response, for which the NAB naturally
sue radio stations using ASCAP music (virtually all took up the coordinating role. As public demand for
were) if they did not pay royalties. The stations argued information on the industry increased, so too did
they received no income (true at the time) with which NAB publicity and publication efforts—especially in
to pay such royalties. A half a dozen of them met in a 1933, when colleges and university teams across the
Chicago hotel room to map out a strategy of what to country debated whether the U.S. should adopt the
do, and from that came the April 1923 organizational features of the British system of public-service broad-
meeting of what became the NAB. Those present casting, a notion the NAB opposed. The association
agreed to hire a director and create a New York office. lobbied hard and successfully to resist major policy
1602
changes when the Communications Act of 1934 was

considered and passed.
Expansion and New Services

As the radio industry grew, so did the NAB. The asso-
ciation’s relationship with key government regulators
deteriorated for many years in the 1940s and 1950s.
Driven in part by strong personalities on both sides,
this was unfortunate, as the FCC was developing poli- Courtesy of NAB
cies for the new FM radio and television services, and
a more cooperative relationship might have eased the
entry of both. Initially cool to FM radio, for example,
the NAB later supported the service in a variety of ify both almost annually. Although compliance with
ways. NAB was strongly behind the expansion of the NAB codes was always voluntary, many NAB
commercial television from the medium’s inception, member stations adhered to them, largely for promo-
although it fought a losing battle against educational tional purposes. When suit was brought against the
channel reservations. codes (for raising the cost of radio and television ad-
From 1951 to 1957, the association took the some- vertising because of their suggested limits on the
what clumsy name the National Association of Radio amount of time stations could sell for advertising),
and Television Broadcasters (NARTB) to make they were dropped in 1982, after a federal district
clearer the importance of the newer medium. Over the court found the limitations unconstitutional. Today
years, the NAB has often absorbed more specialized the NAB touts a “Statement of Principles” concern-
organizations, including several that have focused on ing only program content.
FM radio. At the same time, it has also spawned many
more specific organizations, including the Radio Ad-
vertising Bureau (RAB), Television Bureau of Adver- The Modern NAB
tising (TvB), and the Television Information Office Members of the association (stations and networks) set
(TIO). NAB policies through a board of directors. The board
The NAB’s annual convention was regularly held is composed of radio and television broadcasters
each spring in Chicago (Washington, D.C., in presi- elected by fellow members. This “joint board” is sub-
dential inauguration years), attracting hundreds, and divided into a radio and a television board. NAB em-
later several thousand, broadcasters. Keynote speakers ploys an extensive committee structure to draw on the
often made news, as new FCC Chairman Newton Mi- specialized knowledge of its members and make rec-
now did in 1961 with his speech describing television ommendations to the board. The association publishes
programming as a “vast wasteland.” The ever-larger a variety of industry reference books and a host of
technical exhibit helped to showcase expanding tech- newsletters, many now on-line, representing the broad
nological options such as the introduction of color tele- interests of its station members. These include Desti-
vision technology in the mid-1950s, the arrival of nation Digital TV, RadioWeek, TV Today, Radio
videotape (the star of the 1956 convention), and satel- TechCheck, TV TechCheck, and NAB World, among
lite delivery and reception equipment in the 1970s and others.
1980s. By the early 1970s, the convention shifted to Daily operations of the NAB are overseen by a full-
Dallas, Atlanta, and finally Las Vegas to obtain suffi- time president. Since 1982, Eddie Fritts, a former sta-
cient exhibit and hotel space. tion owner from Mississippi, has served in that role
The NAB produced its first “Code of Ethics” in (longer than any prior NAB leader). With more than
1929, in an attempt to preempt the imposition of gov- 100 full-time employees housed in its own building in
ernment program or advertising guidelines. A decade downtown Washington, D.C., and an annual budget
later, again attempting to avoid federal regulation, the approaching $50 million, the NAB has in recent years
NAB issued a more focused “Radio Code” offering gained a reputation as one of the strongest and most ef-
programming guidelines and suggested limits on fective lobbies in the nation’s capital. Part of this
commercial time. NAB added a parallel code of tele- strength comes from the clout inherent in member sta-
vision good practice in 1952, and continued to mod- tions, which provide air time for political candidates
1603
and will readily call congressmen to press their views. creasingly, the concerns and interests of radio and tele-
TARPAC, the industry’s political action committee, is vision broadcasters, as well as those of smaller stations
operated by the NAB, as is the NAB Educational and large group owners, are diverging, making com-
Foundation, which is designed to foster research into mon agreement within one lobbying organization
the benefits of broadcasting. problematic. At the same time, the NAB is criticized
The annual four-day NAB convention and technical for being short-sighted in its lobbying efforts. The as-
exhibit was, by the early 2000s, attracting more than sociation has to fight the conception of many in gov-
115,000 attendees to Las Vegas each spring. The in- ernment that NAB is on the defensive, protecting
dustry gathering, increasingly international in tone in single-channel broadcasters in a world increasingly
recent years, devotes considerable exhibition space to dominated by multi-channel competitors.
path-breaking technologies such as digital or high- Christopher H. Sterling
definition television in the early 1990s, and multime-
dia and Internet technology in the late 1990s and early
2000s. In between conventions, the NAB plays an ac- Publications
tive role in technical standard setting, such as the long Broadcast Engineering Conference: Proceedings (an-
process of developing digital high-definition television nual)
and digital audio broadcasting. Broadcasting and Government (annual)
The NAB faces growing problems, however, in try- Broadcasting in the United States, 1933
ing to maintain its role as “the broadcaster’s voice be- NAB Engineering Handbook, 1935, 1960, 1975, 1985,
fore Congress, federal agencies and the Courts,” and as 1992, 1999
an umbrella organization representing the viewpoints NAB Guide to Broadcast Law and Regulations, 1977,
of all broadcasters. It has often taken no position on an 1984, 1998.
issue when its members have been divided on the mat- Television Financial Report (annual)
ter at hand. The problem became especially clear
when, in 1999–2000, CBS, Fox and NBC withdrew
their network and owned-and-operated stations from
Further Reading
membership in disagreement over the NAB’s position,
due to the Association’s opposition to a lessening of Albiniak, Paige, “On a Roll: NAB’s Eddie Fritts Expects to
regulations concerning multiple ownership of televi- Keep on Winning and Prove the Critics Wrong,” Broadcast-
ing & Cable (April 8, 2002)
sion stations (which those networks supported). Of all Mackey, David R., “The Development of the National Associa-
the national broadcast networks, only ABC remained tion of Broadcasters,” Journal of Broadcasting 1/4 (Fall
by mid-2002, which presented a setback to the NAB’s 1957)
usual united-front approach to industry concerns. In-
National Association of Television Program

Executives
U.S.-based Industry Trade Association
The National Association of Television Program Exec- Since then, NATPE has developed the largest domestic
utives (NATPE) began in May 1963 as an organization syndication trade show in the United States, and one of
designed to increase the amount of local programming the top three international trade shows. Originally
on television stations, and to help program directors dubbed the National Association of Program Directors,
improve their positions within their respective stations. the organization later changed its name to NATPE, and
1604
National Association of Television Program Executives
finally NATPE International. NATPE’s primary func- While the international and new media sectors of
tion in the television business stems from its annual NATPE have been growing, the domestic contingent
convention, held in late January, which continues the seems to find the convention increasingly unnecessary
association’s founding missions: providing a space to due to consolidation in television station ownership
buy and sell syndicated programming, and educating and the syndication business. Historically, NATPE was
programmers about the industry. the primary site where representatives from hundreds
Social, regulatory, and industry changes led to the of television stations around the country went to pur-
formation of NATPE, and more recent changes in chase programming from the dozens of syndication
those areas threaten the future of the organization. The companies that attended. With the removal of most
various broadcast reform movements of the 1960s rebroadcasting ownership regulations in the Telecommu-
sulted in broadcasters’ increased accountability to their nications Act of 1996, however, group owners have
local constituents. Programming executives were typi- bought up more and more local stations and consoli-
cally charged with producing or acquiring program- dated program buying in a single corporate office,
ming to fit these local needs, and NATPE provided a which can take advantage of bulk-pricing discounts.
venue where syndicators and programmers could trade Concurrently, the syndication industry has shrunk to
such programming. Nevertheless, founding member less than a dozen large companies, some of which are
Lew Klein remembers that program directors had little now part of larger conglomerates that also own televi-
influence in most television stations at the time, and so sion stations. Since the mid-1990s, the major Holly-
a secondary role of NATPE was to educate program di- wood studios have threatened to abandon NATPE,
rectors about the industry, and advocate for their pro- claiming they make few significant sales there.
fessional development. The FCC’s 1970 Prime-Time The tensions that currently face NATPE were starkly
Access Rule contributed significantly to NATPE’s apparent at the 2002 convention. Due to the economic
growth, as it spurred the creation of a variety of popu- fallout from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
lar, first-run syndicated series. About the same time, and the subsequent fall in the advertising market, many
the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) con- of the major distributors abandoned rental of their usual
vention, which had served as the main venue for syndi- booths on the sales floor for much cheaper hospitality
cation trade, moved program suppliers far away from suites at nearby hotels, where a pared-down number of
the main convention floor, prompting many of them to sales representatives met with a handful of important
abandon the NAB for the more syndicator-friendly clients. However, the international wings of these same
NATPE convention. distribution companies were out on the sales floor in
In the 1970s, NATPE’s membership grew tremen- force. Their presence reflected the continued relevance
dously, from 306 participants in 1970 to 1,891 in 1976. of NATPE for international distribution, which contin-
Today, membership includes more than 4,000 media ues to expand due to the growth in international distri-
companies. Beginning in 1985, the conference moved bution outlets and increased competition among
to a semi-permanent home in New Orleans, but began distributors selling to international buyers.
in 2001 to alternate between New Orleans and Las Ve- The future of NATPE today is uncertain. While the
gas for the convenience of the growing number of syn- convention will continue for the foreseeable future to
dicators and buyers based on the West Coast. In have relevance for international syndication, a number
addition, NATPE has expanded its membership in two of changes have been proposed to try and make the con-
key growth areas: new media and international sales. vention more relevant for domestic syndication. One
New media first became an important sector for possible future direction is to split the convention into
NATPE in 2000, when Internet companies sought out three: one convention, in early April, would include dis-
content for their websites and traditional broadcasters tributors and advertisers; a second, held in November,
and distributors looked for ways to expand their busi- would include television stations and distributors; while
nesses into on-line media. Meanwhile, international a third, held in January, would cater to international
sales have been an important part of NATPE’s strategy syndication. Whatever the future direction of the orga-
since the late 1980s. In 1993, the association appointed nization, NATPE owes its existence to an industry and
as its president and CEO Bruce Johansen, a well- regulatory era that has now passed, and its continuation
known international executive with a mandate to in- depends upon its ability to become relevant to the pres-
crease NATPE’s presence as an international trade ent era of consolidation and globalization.
show. Today, NATPE is one of three premier interna- Tim Havens
tional television conferences, along with MIP-TV and
MIPCOMM. See also National Association of Broadcasters
1605
National Association of Television Program Executives
Further Reading Freeman, Mike, “NATPE At 30: Charting Syndication’s Rising

Star,” Broadcasting & Cable (January 25, 1993)
Brennan, Steve, “NATPE Moving with the Times,” Hollywood Mahamdi, Yahia, “Television, Globalization, and Cultural
Reporter (January 24, 2000) Hegemony: the Evolution and Structure of International
Corvo, Phil, “The ‘International’ in NATPE,” Broadcasting & Television,” Ph.D. dissertation, Austin: University of Texas,
Cable (January 21, 1992) 1992
Dempsey, John, “Blurbsters mull breakaway from NATPE,” Va-
riety (February 11, 2002)
National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

U.S. Network
When General Electric (GE) purchased the National Cheers, and L.A. Law in the 1980s, and Seinfeld,
Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1985, many ob- Friends, and E.R. in the 1990s, NBC has the highest
servers of the media industries were dubious. General advertising rates of any broadcast network and has
Electric was a vast conglomerate based in Fairfield, long been the most profitable, generating profits of
Connecticut, a manufacturer of medical equipment, $700–800 million from its prime-time schedule in the
power turbines, airplane engines, and appliances that 2002–03 season. NBC’s dominance extends to virtu-
had diversified into such businesses as the financing of ally every part of the schedule, where its self-produced
commercial and consumer loans. Little in GE’s recent entertainment and news programs have led the ratings
history foretold success in programming a television during much of the past decade: The Today Show and
network. NBC’s newly appointed chairman, Robert Meet The Press in the mornings, NBC Nightly News
Wright, had risen through the ranks at GE, learning the among evening newscasts, and The Tonight Show with
ropes in the plastics division and, later, in the GE Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Satur-
Credit Corporation. He had spent a short time in the day Night Live in the late-night slot. Over the same pe-
cable industry, but had come of age in the corporate riod, NBC has been responsible for many of
culture of GE, famed for its disciplined management television’s most acclaimed series, easily overshadow-
and ruthless devotion to the bottom line of corporate ing the other broadcast networks with a mounting pile
earnings. Insiders at NBC questioned whether this out- of Emmy nominations for E.R., The West Wing, Law
sider, a quintessential corporate manager, had any idea and Order, Homicide: Life on the Streets, Frasier, Se-
how to run a television network—particularly one that infeld, and Will & Grace.
was already at the top of the business, having just Due to the strength of its network programming,
swept the prime-time ratings race—or whether this NBC’s fourteen owned-and-operated television sta-
company could make the transition from light bulbs to tions contribute another $1 billion in annual advertis-
light comedy. ing revenue. Still, the audience for over-the-air
By the early 21st century, much has changed in the broadcasting continues to shrink in the United States
television business, but Robert Wright is still chair- as audiences are dispersed among cable channels and
man, and NBC has been the dominant network in the competing forms of home entertainment. Like other
United States for much of the past two decades, a media companies, NBC has diversified well beyond its
model of stability in an otherwise turbulent business. original base in broadcasting in order to reach these
NBC has consistently led all networks in attracting the elusive viewers. NBC now controls several cable
18- to 49-year-old adults most coveted by advertis- channels, including CNBC, a business news network
ers—winning this demographic in seven of the eight available in 175 million households worldwide;
years from 1995 to 2003—and has helped to reorient MSNBC, a 24-hour news network owned jointly with
the entire broadcasting industry toward the pursuit of Microsoft; and Bravo, a network targeted at upscale
this segment of the audience. Led by a Thursday night viewers. In order to reach the growing Latino audience
lineup that has launched such hits as The Cosby Show, in the U.S., NBC purchased Telemundo, the second-
1606
largest U.S. Spanish-language broadcast network, in

April 2002. With international markets as important as
the domestic market to GE’s bottom line, NBC pro-
gramming now reaches viewers in one hundred coun-
tries on six continents. All told, NBC Television and
Cable operations generate annual revenues of $7.1 bil-
lion (still only five percent of GE’s annual sales) and
operating profits of $1.7 billion.
In September 2003, GE announced its most ambi-
tious expansion for NBC, a plan to acquire Vivendi
Universal Entertainment in a deal valued at $14 bil-
lion. The purchase would give GE control of Universal
movie studio, the USA Network and other cable chan-
nels, a television production unit responsible for the
Courtesy of NBC
network’s lucrative Law and Order franchise, and
Vivendi’s interest in the Universal Studios theme
parks. By integrating additional cable networks and a
major studio with its broadcast network, NBC Univer- RCA’s dominance of the U.S. broadcasting industry
sal (as the new company will be known) will compete led to government scrutiny in the late 1930s when the
with the other fully integrated media conglomerates FCC began to investigate the legitimacy of networks
owning broadcast networks: Viacom (CBS and UPN), that linked together hundreds of local stations, or
The Walt Disney Co. (ABC), News Corporation (Fox), “chain broadcasting” as it was then called. The result
and Time Warner (WB). was the 1941 publication of the FCC’s Report on
Throughout its history, the fortunes of the National Chain Broadcasting, which assailed the network’s con-
Broadcasting Company have been closely tied to those trol of a majority of high-powered stations and called
of a parent company. Unlike CBS and ABC, which be- for the divorcement of NBC’s two networks. RCA
gan as independent programming enterprises, NBC challenged the decision in court, but failed to overturn
came into existence as the subsidiary of an electronics the FCC’s findings. In 1943 RCA sold its Blue network
manufacturer, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), to Edward J. Noble, and this network eventually be-
which saw programming as a form of marketing, an came ABC.
enticement for consumers to purchase radio and televi- After World War II, RCA moved quickly to consoli-
sion receivers for the home. The power and influence date its influence over the television industry. While
of a national network aided RCA as it lobbied to see its CBS tried to stall efforts to establish technological
technology adopted as the industry standard, particu- standards in order to promote its own color-TV tech-
larly during the early years of television and in the bat- nology, RCA pressed for the development of television
tle over color television. according to the existing NTSC technical standards es-
RCA, which had begun as a mere sales agent for the tablished in 1941. The FCC agreed with RCA, though
other companies in the combine, emerged in the 1930s the two networks continued to battle over standards for
as a radio manufacturer with two networks (NBC-Red color television until the RCA system was finally se-
and NBC-Blue), a powerful lineup of clear channel lected in 1953. Throughout this period, network televi-
stations, and a roster of stars unequaled in the radio in- sion played a secondary role at RCA. In the early
dustry. From this position of power, RCA research 1950s NBC accounted for only one-quarter of RCA’s
labs, under the direction of Vladimir Zworykin, set the corporate profits. NBC’s most important role for its
standard for research into the nascent technology of parent was in helping to extend the general appeal of
television. NBC began experimental broadcasts from television as the market for television sets boomed.
New York’s Empire State building as early as 1932. By Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, NBC generally
1935, the company was spending millions of dollars finished in second place in the ratings behind CBS.
annually to fund television research. Profits from the NBC’s prime-time schedule relied heavily on two gen-
lucrative NBC radio networks were routinely chan- res: drama, including several of the most acclaimed
neled into television research. In 1939, NBC became anthology drama series of the 1950s (such as
the first network in the United States to introduce reg- Philco/Goodyear Playhouse, Kraft Television The-
ular television broadcasts with its inaugural telecast of ater), and comedy/variety, featuring such stars as Mil-
the opening-day ceremonies at the New York World’s ton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Sid Caesar and Imogene
Fair. Coca, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, and
1607
Perry Como. In spite of its dependence on these famil- spectability by continuing the commitment to quality
iar genres, NBC was also responsible for several pro- programming that had marked his tenure at MTM. He
gramming innovations. and programming chief Brandon Tartikoff patiently
Several key innovations are credited to Sylvester nurtured such acclaimed series as Hill Street Blues,
“Pat” Weaver, who served as the network’s chief pro- Cheers, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties, and Miami Vice.
grammer from 1949 to 1953 and as president from The turning point for NBC came in 1984, when Tar-
1953 to 1955. Weaver is credited with introducing the tikoff convinced comedian Bill Cosby to return to se-
“magazine concept” of television advertising, in which ries television with The Cosby Show. Network profits
advertisers no longer sponsored an entire series, but under Tinker and Tartikoff climbed from $48 million
paid to have their ads placed within a program, as ads in 1981 to $333 million in 1985.
appear in a magazine. Previously, networks had func- By the mid-1980s, NBC generated 43 percent of
tioned as conduits for programs produced by sponsors; RCA’s $570 million in annual earnings—a hugely dis-
Weaver’s move shifted the balance of power toward proportionate share of the profits for a single division
the networks, which were able to exert more control of a conglomerate. In the merger-mania that swept the
over their programming and schedules. Weaver ex- corporate world in the 1980s, RCA became a ripe tar-
panded the network schedule into the “fringe” time pe- get for takeover, particularly given the potential value
riods of early morning and late night by introducing of the company when broken into its various compo-
Today and Tonight. He also championed “event” pro- nents. General Electric purchased RCA, and with it
gramming that broke the routines of regularly sched- NBC, in 1985 for $6.3 billion. When Tinker stepped
uled series with expensive, one-shot broadcasts, which down in 1986, GE chairman Jack Welch named Robert
he called “spectaculars.” Broadcast live, the Broadway E. Wright as network chairman. NBC dominated the
production of Peter Pan drew a record audience of 65 ratings until the late 1980s, when its ratings suddenly
million viewers in 1955. collapsed, as viewers deserted aging hits like The
Former ABC president Robert Kintner took over Golden Girls and L.A. Law. Just one show, Cheers, re-
programming at NBC in 1956 and served as network mained in the Nielsen top ten by 1991, and NBC fell
president from 1958 to 1965. Kintner supervised the into third place for the first time in over a decade. Net-
expansion of NBC news, the shift to color broadcast- work profits plunged from $603 million in 1989 to
ing (completed in 1965), and the network’s diversifica- $204 million in 1992.
tion beyond television programming. Programming The network suffered one public relations debacle
under Kintner followed the network’s traditional re- after another during this period. The CNBC cable
liance on dramas and comedy/variety. NBC formed a channel, which NBC had launched as a joint venture
strong alliance with the production company MCA- with cable operator Cablevision, lost $60 million in its
Universal, whose drama series came to dominate the first two years, forcing Cablevision to withdraw from
network’s schedule well into the 1970s. the partnership. Wright’s appointment of newspaper
During the late 1970s, after decades spent battling executive Michael Gartner to head NBC News ended
CBS in the ratings, NBC watched as ABC, with a in a highly publicized scandal over a fraudulent news
sitcom-laden schedule, took command of the ratings report on the prime-time news magazine, Dateline. At-
race, leaving NBC in a distant third place. To halt its tempts to name a successor to the retiring Johnny Car-
steep decline, NBC recruited Fred Silverman, the man son as host of The Tonight Show turned into a public
who had engineered ABC’s rapid rise. Silverman’s brouhaha as network executives wavered between Jay
tenure as president of NBC lasted from 1978 to 1981 Leno and David Letterman. Leno eventually ended up
and is probably the lowest point in the history of the in Carson’s seat, while Letterman fled to CBS.
network. Instead of turning around NBC’s fortunes, Nevertheless, GE held onto NBC, and Robert
Silverman presided over an era of ratings that declined Wright remained in charge, gradually bringing stabil-
still further, desertions by the network’s affiliate sta- ity to the network and returning it to prominence start-
tions, and programs that were often mediocre (BJ and ing in 1993. Wright hired Republican public relations
the Bear) and occasionally disastrous (Supertrain). guru Roger Ailes to turn around CNBC, and his suc-
Mired in third place at the depths of its fortunes in cess was almost immediate; CNBC reported an operat-
1981, NBC recruited Grant Tinker to become NBC ing profit of $50 million in 1995. Wright placed
chairman. A cofounder of MTM Enterprises, Tinker Andrew Lack in charge of NBC News, and Lack led
had presided over the spectacular rise of the indepen- The Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and The Today
dent production company that had produced The Mary Show (overhauled by producer Jeff Zucker) into first
Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant, and Hill Street Blues. place. Expanded to three hours, The Today Show be-
Tinker led NBC on a three-year journey back to re- came an NBC cash cow, generating advertising rev-
1608
enue of $450 million a year. Wright convinced veteran (Law and Order: SVU and Law and Order: Criminal
producer Don Ohlmeyer to join the entertainment divi- Intent) and there is talk of a fourth version to follow.
sion, where he and entertainment president Warren Lit- Since former Today Show producer Jeff Zucker be-
tlefield returned NBC to the top of the prime-time came entertainment president in 2001, he has not
ratings by 1995, with solid hits in Seinfeld, E.R., launched a hit series, but has kept NBC on top with
Frasier, Friends, and Law and Order. Littlefield passed programming gimmicks, such as “super-sized”
the torch to Scott Sassa in 1998, and NBC added The episodes of NBC’s Thursday night sitcoms, which add
West Wing and Will & Grace to its roster of critical and extra minutes in order to keep viewers from turning to
popular success. a competitor’s program. He also plans to include short
Robert Wright and GE management have adapted to films during the commercial breaks in order to keep
some of the conventions of the television industry, but viewers, particularly TiVo-empowered viewers,
NBC’s accomplishment over the past 10 years is also watching the commercials.
due to the application of GE’s rigorous management The cost of holding together a prime-time schedule
strategies to television, where NBC executives dissect has increased dramatically over the past several years,
audience demographics and measure the advertising and NBC has been forced to spend lavishly in order to
potential of each show developed for the network keep in place its most successful series. As it is more
schedule. This has led to NBC’s intense focus on the difficult than ever to turn a scripted series into a hit,
18- to 49-year-old adult demographic, which rarely producers of existing series find themselves with con-
wavers across its prime-time schedule. It is the rare siderable bargaining leverage. When E.R. came up for
NBC series, for instance, that centers on families with renewal in 2000, NBC paid Warner Brothers Televi-
children—the sorts of series that appear regularly on sion a record $13 million per episode. In order to lure
CBS and ABC, attracting viewers too young or too old Friends back for a final season in 2003–04, NBC paid
for NBC’s desired demographic. This also has led Warner Brothers $10 million per episode and reduced
NBC to squeeze every dime out of its Thursday night its order to just eighteen episodes. In spite of sagging
“Must-See TV” schedule, which has become the most ratings, the Emmy-winning The West Wing was re-
profitable night of television as the movie studios newed for $6 million per episode.
spend heavily on TV advertising for the Friday launch While broadcast networks have only a single rev-
of their blockbusters. enue source—advertising sales—cable networks earn
These management strategies also have led NBC to money from advertising and from charging transmis-
question the economic value of certain types of pro- sion fees to cable and satellite delivery systems, which
gramming, such as major-league sports, that were con- are passed along to viewers as higher service rates. For
sidered a network staple just a few years ago. In an the most successful networks, such as Disney’s ESPN,
initially surprising move, NBC eliminated costly, these transmission fees can be raised by as much as 20
money-losing sports properties that once defined the percent annually. By combining broadcast and cable
power and prestige of a national network, choosing not networks, a company like NBC increases its bargain-
to renew its contracts with the National Football ing leverage over cable and satellite systems when ne-
League, Major League Baseball, and the National Bas- gotiating transmission fees and over advertisers when
ketball Association. negotiating advertising rates across a range of net-
The competition in prime time has increased over works that can provide access to different sorts of
the past several years, as the audience has continued to viewers. In addition, a diversified portfolio of broad-
shrink, the advertising market has flattened, program- cast and cable networks allows a company like NBC to
ming costs have risen, new program formats have been reconstitute much of the audience lost by the tradi-
introduced, and new networks compete for viewers. tional broadcast networks over the past two decades.
There are now six broadcast networks and dozens of Although the audience for the broadcast networks con-
cable channels competing for the attention of viewers. tinues to shrink, the five companies that control the
Under these conditions it is increasingly difficult to broadcast networks still reach more than 80 percent of
launch a new series, and NBC has not had a breakout viewers in prime time, when counting the ratings for
hit since Will & Grace debuted in 1998. With the ex- their combined broadcast and cable networks. This ex-
ception of Fear Factor, NBC has not matched the suc- plains why half of the top 50 cable networks have
cess of other networks in developing non-scripted changed hands since 1990 and why most are now con-
series. Therefore, its programmers have been forced to trolled by the five companies that already own broad-
squeeze every ratings point out of the existing hits. cast networks.
Under Scott Sassa, NBC introduced two spin-offs of Cable networks also allow companies to spread op-
Law and Order, an enduring hit that debuted in 1990 erating costs and extend their global reach. NBC has
1609
achieved greater efficiency and reach for CNBC by ex- order to avoid being held hostage in negotiations with
panding CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia Pacific (both producers—or at least to share in the syndication prof-
of which are jointly owned with Dow Jones, the pub- its of series that achieve success on the network. NBC
lisher of the Wall Street Journal) through a range of lo- now owns the Law and Order franchise, which reduces
calized services using the resources of partners in many of the headaches involved in negotiating its re-
Japan, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sweden, and newal (though it creates new concerns about potential
several other countries. The 24-hour news network conflicts of interest) and cuts the network in on its syn-
MSNBC uses the resources of NBC News to provide dication revenues. The real value of the deal for NBC
programming for both cable and Internet. Cable net- lies in the expansion of its cable holdings through
works also lend themselves to the establishment of Vivendi’s three established cable networks. Over the
brand identities and to cross-promotional opportunities, last half-decade it has often seemed like an episode of
as networks like ESPN, MTV, and Nickelodeon have Law and Order was always on the air, with originals
proven for NBC’s competitors. After taking complete and repeats on NBC or syndicated reruns on A&E,
ownership of the Bravo cable network in December TNT, and USA at virtually any hour of the day. With
2002 by purchasing Cablevision’s 50 percent stake for NBC’s newly acquired library of Law and Order
$1.25 billion, NBC spent one-quarter of Bravo’s annual episodes, and a growing portfolio of cable channels, it
marketing budget to launch a signature program, Queer is not sheer fantasy to imagine that we have moved one
Eye for the Straight Guy. With its splashy summer 2003 step closer to the day when there will be a cable net-
debut, Queer Eye pointed the way toward a future of work that consists of nothing but Law and Order, all
corporate synergy at NBC. It is relatively inexpensive day, every day.
to produce and loaded with product placements that Christopher Anderson
cannot be ignored by viewers with TiVo. NBC pro-
See also Bravo; Cosby Show, The; Cheers; Friends;
moted it heavily throughout the network schedule—its
Kintner, Robert E.; L.A. Law; Law and Order;
cast appeared on the Today and Tonight shows—and
MSNBC; Saturday Night Live; Seinfeld; Tartikoff,
has aired episodes in prime time on NBC. Regular
Brandon; Telemundo; Tinker, Grant; Tonight
episodes on Bravo have drawn as many as 3 million
Show, The; Weaver, Sylvester (Pat); Wright,
viewers—small by network standards, but the largest in
Robert C.; Zworykin, Vladimir
Bravo’s 22-year history. In this intensive marketing
campaign, one can glimpse the future of corporate syn-
ergy and the strategy for transforming a program and a Further Reading
cable network into a marketable brand. Auletta, Ken, Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost
NBC’s acquisition of Vivendi’s Universal properties Their Way, New York: Random House, 1991
follows as a logical step in the network’s expansion Barnouw, Erik, A History of Broadcasting in the United States,
and should be viewed as a response to two trends: the New York: Oxford University Press, 1968
Carter, Bill, “Law and Order, A Hot Franchise, Seeks a Rich
rising cost of programming, and the value of cable net- Deal Early From NBC,” New York Times (June 2, 2003)
works. With the support of new GE chairman Jeff Im- Gunther, Marc, “Jeff Zucker Faces Life Without Friends,” For-
melt, Robert Wright pursued the Universal assets when tune (May 12, 2003)
they became available after Vivendi CEO Jean-Marie Hirschberg, Lynn, “The Stunt Man,” New York Times Magazine
Messier drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy. (September 16, 2001)
Leonard, Devin, “The Unlikely Mogul,” Fortune (September
The movie studio and theme parks may not play a sig- 29, 2003)
nificant role in NBC’s long-term plans (and there is MacDonald, J. Fred, One Nation Under Television, New York:
speculation that NBC will sell the theme parks in the Pantheon, 1990
near future), but they are the cost of acquiring Tinker, Grant, with Bud Rukeyser, Tinker in Television: From
Vivendi’s other assets: the television production opera- General Sarnoff to General Electric, New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1994
tion, a library consisting of over 5,000 movies and Weaver, Sylvester L. (“Pat”), The Best Seat in the House: The
34,000 hours of television, and the cable channels Golden Years of Radio and Television, New York: Knopf,
USA, Sci-Fi, and Trio. NBC wants its own studio in 1994
1610
National Cable and Telecommunications Association
National Cable and Telecommunications

Association
U.S. Industry Trade Association
The National Cable and Telecommunications Associa- one-way video provider to a competitive supplier of ad-
tion (NCTA) is the major trade organization for the vanced, two-way services.”
U.S. cable television industry, mediating the profes- Today, the NCTA is headquartered in Washington,
sional activities of cable system operators, program D.C. It represents cable systems serving over 80 per-
services (networks), and equipment manufacturers. cent of U.S. cable subscribers, as well as cable pro-
From its inception, the NCTA has served the dual func- gram services (networks), hardware suppliers, and
tion of promoting the growth of the cable industry and other services related to the industry. The organization
dealing with the regulatory challenges that have kept is divided into departments including: Administration
that growth in check. The organization’s publications and Finance; Association Affairs; Government Rela-
and regular meetings have kept members apprised of tions; Industry Affairs; Legal; Programming and Mar-
new technologies and programming innovations, and keting; Public Affairs; Research and Policy Analysis;
its legal staff has played a key role in the many execu- and Science and Technology.
tive, legislative, and judicial decisions affecting the ca- The NCTA hosts an annual industry-wide trade
ble industry over the years. show and produces a number of reports and periodi-
The NCTA first was organized as the National Com- cals. It also maintains an extensive website featuring
munity Television Council on September 18, 1951, up-to date cable statistics, addresses, and listings
when a small group of community antenna television (www.ncta.com). From 1979 until 1997 the NCTA rec-
(CATV) operators met at a hotel in Pottsville, Pennsyl- ognized outstanding programming for cable television
vania. They gathered in response to concern over the through the National Academy of Cable Programming,
Internal Revenue Service’s attempts to impose an 8 which presented the Cable Ace Awards. After that date
percent excise tax on their operations. These business- the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences began to
men quickly became aware of other common interests, recognize cable programming within the Emmy com-
leading to a series of organizational meetings during petition. The NCTA currently presents the Vanguard
September and October 1951 and January 1952. On Awards for personal achievement in a number of cate-
January 28, 1952, the organization’s name officially gories, including Distinguished Vanguard Awards for
was changed to National Community Television Asso-
ciation.
The NCTA’s growth kept pace with the rapidly ex-
panding CATV industry. Within its first year, close to
40 CATV systems joined the organization. Membership
then grew into the hundreds by the end of the 1950s and
the thousands by the end of the 1960s. In 1968 the term
“community antenna television” gave way to the term
“cable,” reflecting the industry’s expanded categories
of service, including local news, weather information,
and channels of pay television. Accordingly, the NCTA
changed its official name to National Cable Television
Association. It subsequently changed its name again, in
May 2001, to National Cable and Telecommunications
Association in order, according to an April 30, 2001,
press release, to reflect “cable’s transformation from a Courtesy of the NCTA
1611
National Cable and Telecommunications Association
Leadership, Young Leadership, Programmers, Associ- has focused efforts on defense of cable modem deliv-
ates and Affiliates, Science and Technology, Cable ery of high-speed Internet service.
Operations and Management, Government and Com- Megan Mullen
munity Relations, and Marketing.
See also Association of Independent Television Sta-
The Association also sponsors Cable in the Class-
tions; Cable Networks; United States: Cable
room, a free service that provides copyright cleared
material to schoolrooms. According the NCTA web-
site, the service reaches 81,000 public and private Further Reading
schools, providing materials to 78 percent of K–12 stu-
Hazlett, Thomas W., “Wired: The Loaded Politics of Cable TV,”
dents in the United States. New Republic (May 29, 1989)
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the McAvoy, Kim, “NCTA’s Decker Anstrom: Working around
NCTA has been involved with numerous decisions and ‘Profound Disagreements’ with FCC,” Broadcasting and
controversies surrounding the 1996 Telecommunica- Cable (May 8, 1995)
tions Act. More generally, the growing presence of the Phillips, Mary Alice Mayer, CATV: A History of Community An-
tenna Television, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern Univer-
Internet and other broadband technologies have con- sity Press, 1972
fronted the cable industry with increasing competition Victor, Kirk, “Shifting Sands,” National Journal (November 20,
from Direct Broadcast Satellite, and the association 1993)
National Educational Television Center

The National Educational Television (NET) Center works. First, he moved NET headquarters from Ann
played the dominant role in building the structure on Arbor, Michigan, to New York City, where it could be
which the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) associated more closely with its commercial counter-
rests. Funded primarily by Ford Foundation grants, parts. Next, he declared his organization to be the
NET was established in 1952 to assist in the creation “Fourth Network,” and attempted to develop program
and maintenance of an educational television service strategies aimed at making this claim a reality. No
complementary to the entertainment-centered services longer relying primarily on material produced by affil-
available through commercial stations. NET initially iated stations, NET officials now sought high-quality
was designed to function simply as an “exchange cen- programming obtained from a variety of sources, in-
ter,” most of whose programming would be produced cluding the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
at the grassroots level by member stations. This strat- and other international television organizations.
egy failed to attract a substantial audience because pro- In 1964 the Ford Foundation decided to substan-
gramming produced by the affiliates tended to be tially increase their support of NET through a $6 mil-
overly academic and of poor quality. lion yearly grant. They believed that only a
By 1958, NET’s programming had acquired a well- well-financed, centralized program service would
deserved reputation as dull, plodding, and pedantic. bring national attention to noncommercial television
NET officials recognized that if it were to survive and and expand audiences for each local station. The terms
move beyond its “university of the air” status, NET of the grant allowed NET to produce and distribute a
needed strong leadership and a new program philoso- five-hour, weekly package divided into the broad cate-
phy. They hired the station manager of WQED- gories of cultural and public affairs programming. The
Pittsburgh, John F. White, to take over the presidency freedom provided by this funding generated a period
of NET. An extremely ambitious proponent of the edu- of creative risk-taking between 1964 and 1968. Their
cational television movement, White believed that the cultural programming included adult drama such as
system would grow and thrive only if NET provided NET Playhouse as well as children’s shows like Mister
strong national leadership. Consequently, White saw Rogers’ Neighborhood. But it was through public af-
his task as that of transforming NET into a centralized fairs programming that NET hoped to emphasize its
network comparable to the three commercial net- unique status as the “alternative network.” Cognizant
1612
National Educational Television Center
that the intense ratings war between the three commer- curb NET’s controversial role in the system and create
cial networks had led to a decline in public affairs pro- a new image for public television, particularly since
gramming, NET strove to gain a reputation for filling NET documentaries inflamed the Nixon administra-
the vacuum left in this area after 1963. NET producers tion and imperiled funding. In order to neutralize NET,
and directors including Alvin Perlmutter, Jack Willis, the CPB and the Ford Foundation threatened to cut
and Morton Silverstein began to film hard-hitting doc- NET’s program grants unless NET merged with New
umentaries rarely found on commercial television. Of- York’s public television outlet, WNDT. Lacking allies,
fered under the series title NET Journal, such NET acquiesced to the proposed alliance in late 1970
programs as The Poor Pay More; Black Like Me; Ap- and its role as a network was lost. The final result was
palachia: Rich Land, Poor People; and Inside North WNET-Channel 13.
Vietnam explored controversial issues and often took The legacy that NET left behind included the devel-
editorial stands. Although NET Journal received posi- opment of a national system of public television sta-
tive responses from media critics, many of NET’s affil- tions and a history of innovative programming. As a
iates, particularly those in the South, grew to resent testament to this legacy, two children’s shows that
what they perceived as its “East Coast liberalism.” made their debut on NET, Sesame Street and Mister
Despite the fact that John White and his staff be- Rogers’ Neighborhood, continue to air as PBS icons
lieved that NET had been making progress in increas- (the production of original episodes of Mister Rogers’
ing the national audience for noncommercial Neighborhood ceased in 2001 with the retirement of
television, the Ford Foundation did not share this con- Fred Rogers, but reruns of the program are still broad-
viction and began to reevaluate their level of commit- cast on PBS; Sesame Street is still making new shows).
ment. Between 1953 and 1966, the foundation had Carolyn N. Brooks
invested over $130 million in NET, its affiliated sta-
See also Children’s Television Workshop; Educa-
tions, and related endeavors. In spite of this substantial
tional Television
contribution, there was a constant need for additional
funding. As Ford looked for ways to withdraw its sup-
port, educational broadcasters began to look to the Further Reading
government for financial assistance. Government in- Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele-
volvement in this issue led to the passage of the Public vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 1975; 2nd re-
Broadcasting Act of 1967, the subsequent creation of vised edition, 1990
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and Blakely, Robert J., To Serve the Public Interest: Educational
the eventual demise of NET. Broadcasting in the United States, Syracuse, New York:
Syracuse University Press, 1979
Having been at the center of the educational televi- Brooks, Carolyn N., “Documentary Programming and the
sion movement for 15 years, NET believed it would Emergence of the National Educational Television Center as
continue as the distributor of the national network a Network, 1958–1972,” Ph.D. dissertation, Madison: Uni-
schedule. The CPB initially supported NET’s role by versity of Wisconsin, 1994
allowing NET to serve as the “public television net- Brown, Les, Television: The Business behind the Box, New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971
work” between 1967 and 1969. But in 1969 the CPB Gibson, George H., Public Broadcasting: The Role of the Fed-
announced its decision to create an entirely new entity, eral Government, 1912–1976, New York: Praeger, 1977
the Public Broadcasting Service, to take over network Koenig, Allen E., and Ruane B. Hill, editors, The Farther Vi-
operations. The CPB’s decision lay not only in its sion: Educational Television Today, Madison: University of
awareness that NET had alienated a majority of the af- Wisconsin Press, 1967
Macy, John W., Jr., To Irrigate a Wasteland, Berkeley: Univer-
filiated stations, but also in the corporation’s belief that sity of California Press, 1974
a hopeless conflict of interest would have resulted if Pepper, Robert M., The Formation of the Public Broadcasting
NET continued to serve as a principal production cen- Service, New York: Arno, 1979
ter while at the same time exercising control over pro- Powell, John Walker, Channels of Learning: The Story of Edu-
gram distribution. With the creation of PBS in 1969, cational Television, Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press,
1962
NET’s position became tenuous. NET continued to Stone, David M., Nixon and the Politics of Public Television,
produce and schedule programming, now aired on New York: Garland, 1985
PBS, including the well-received BBC productions, Watson, Mary Ann, The Expanding Vista: American Television
The Forsyte Saga and Civilization. But NET’s refusal in the Kennedy Years, New York: Oxford University Press,
to end its commitment to the production of hard-hitting 1990
Wood, Donald Neal, “The First Decade of the ‘Fourth Net-
controversial documentaries such as Who Invited US? work’: An Historical, Descriptive Analysis of the National
and Banks and the Poor led to public clashes between Educational Television and Radio Center,” Ph.D. disserta-
NET and PBS over program content. PBS wanted to tion, University of Michigan, 1963
1613
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
National Telecommunications and Information

Administration
U.S. Policy Office
The National Telecommunication and Information Conceived as a planning and policy-generating body
Administration (NTIA), an agency within the U.S. De- within the Department of Commerce, the NTIA main-
partment of Commerce, was established in 1978. In tains its advisory agency status, even though it is capa-
the years preceding the NTIA’s inception, the execu- ble of mustering strong political support for its
tive branch had established an Office of Telecommuni- positions. Its approximately 250 employees investigate
cation Policy (headed by Clay T. Whitehead) in order core issue areas that include structuring telecommunica-
to spearhead administration communication policy in tions services within a competitive framework, encour-
certain areas, notably cable television. The NTIA suc- aging innovation, and identifying policy adjustments
ceeded this unit and combined the responsibilities and necessary to move efficiently toward a digital era. Some
mission of the president’s Office of Telecommunica- of its reports and position statements have addressed
tion Policy (OTP) and the Department of Commerce’s topics such as using spectrum efficiently, smoothing the
Office of Telecommunications. Its main responsibili- transition to Third Generation (3G) advanced mobile
ties include managing the federal portion of the elec- phone services, promoting e-commerce, advocating
tromagnetic spectrum and advising and coordinating public interest considerations in broadcasting’s transi-
various agencies within the executive branch on tion to digital signals, and identifying Internet standards.
telecommunications and information policy matters. It The NTIA’s reports and investigations have yielded
is the principal adviser to the president on communi- information and positions important to some congres-
cation policy and also operates a research and engi- sional action and to some administration policies re-
neering Institute for Telecommunication Sciences in garding communication industries. In the 1990s, for
Colorado. example, the NTIA took a lead role in gathering data
An organization like the NTIA seemed necessary to and publishing four analyses of the status of the “digi-
some policy makers in the late 1970s insofar as the tal divide” in the United States. The “digital divide”
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was refers to numerous forms of unequal access to a range
(and remains) increasingly burdened by the day-to-day of Internet service. The most simple “divide” is the gap
matters of spectrum management and regulating the between those who have computers and those who do
telephone, other common carrier, television, and cable not. Even those who have computers, however, do not
industries. The commission was hindered by these rou- always have access to Internet service providers. And
tine tasks from developing long-range policies that even among those who have both, a more sophisticated
could effectively plan for the increasing range of com- version of the “digital divide” concept refers to user
munication technologies. Moreover, at the same time, skills, educational opportunities, and class differ-
the Nixon and Ford administrations were highly criti- ences.” These reports focused a great deal of attention
cal of the media and desired a more powerful, direct on the role of computers and the Internet in American
hand in their regulation. The Office of Telecommuni- society. The NTIA has maintained a Public Telecom-
cations Policy was created in 1970 to satisfy President munications Facilities Program, which helps public
Richard Nixon’s concern in this regard, and under broadcasting services cover capital costs associated
Whitehead the OTP quickly took on duties formerly with endeavors such as upgrading to digital broadcast-
assumed to be the FCC’s jurisdiction. For example, the ing. In the 1990s the NTIA also initiated a Technology
FCC’s 1972 cable rules were largely worked out by Opportunities Program (formerly called the Telecom-
Whitehead’s office through a consensus agreement munications and Information Infrastructure Assistance
crafted among the broadcasting, cable, and program Program, or TIIAP), to assist community-based pro-
production industry representatives. Under President grams that sought to use advanced telecommunica-
Jimmy Carter, the OTP’s functions were transferred to tions capabilities for local education and development.
the NTIA. Sharon Strover
1614
Nature of Things, The
See also Geller, Henry
Further Reading
Note: Additional information about the National Telecom-
munications and Information Administration, including various
reports on the Digital Divide, are available at the NTIA website:
www.ntia.doc.gov/reports.html
National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA Telecom 2000: Chart-
ing the Course for a New Century, (NTIA Special Publica-
tion 88–21), Washington, D.C.: NTIA, October 1988
National Telecommunications and Information Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce, The NTIA Infrastructure Re-
port: Telecommunications in the Age of Information, (NTIA
Special Publication 91–26), Washington, D.C.: NTIA, Octo-
ber 1991
Stoil, M., “The Executive Branch and International Telecom-
munications Policy: The Case of WARC ’79,” in Communi-
cations Policy and the Political Process, edited by J.
Havick, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983
Courtesy of NTIA
Nature Programs. See Wildlife and Nature Programs

Canadian Science Program
One of the longest-running television shows in Cana- The first producer of the show was Norman Caton,
dian history, The Nature of Things has aired continu- and the first hosts were Patterson Ivey and his col-
ously since November 6, 1960. An hour-long general league Donald Hume of the University of Toronto.
science program, the show began as a half-hour se- Ivey had cohosted a series in 1959 called Two for
ries—an attempt, as the first press release phrased it, Physics, and CBC hoped that the time was ripe for a
“to put weekly science shows back on North American new science series. The series produced shows on the
television schedules.” It billed itself as “unique on this causes of schizophrenia, a review of space technology,
continent. On every other television network, the sci- a study on how the brain works, and a study of the con-
entist will have stepped aside for the comedian, the trolled isolation of human beings. In keeping with the
gunfighter, or the private-eye.” The multi-award- then-lofty aspirations of the CBC, the show was
winning show has been broadcast in more than 80 named after a poem by the Roman philosopher Lu-
countries, including the United States, where it has cretius, “De Rerum Natura” (The Nature of Things).
aired on the Discovery Channel and PBS. Since 1979, David Suzuki has been the host of The
1615
The Nature of Things.

Photo courtesy of CBC Television
Nature of Things. As a biologist and geneticist, he has tribe of Malaysia, farmers’ use of pesticides, the use of
been very conscious of the nature of evolution and animals in research, forensic science, air crashes, the
growth. An ardent and vocal environmental conserva- James Bay hydro-electric project, endangered species,
tionist, Suzuki is a social activist for environmental lasers, global warming, children’s toys, the pharma-
causes. In the beginning, he appeared an awkward and ceutical industry, and the reintroduction of Peregrine
stilted host, but over the years his manner has relaxed falcons to the wild. Many individual shows have been
and his delivery improved to the point that the show is produced under the subject headings of endangered
practically synonymous with the former fruit-fly ge- species, dimensions of the mind, aspects and diseases
neticist. In fact, its official title is now The Nature of of the human body, the global economy, and interna-
Things with David Suzuki, and the host is recognized tional issues. The Nature of Things repeatedly investi-
throughout Canada. gates controversial topics long before they become
Some of the topics that the show has explored over popular in the general press: in 1972 it did a show on
the years are the disintegration of books in libraries, acupuncture and in 1969 one on the dangers of pollu-
the logging of old-growth forests, euthanasia, drugs in tion. One show was accused of bias by the forest in-
sports, chaos theory, the history of rubber, the Penan dustry and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
1616
NBC Mystery Movie, The
pulled its commercials from the CBC. Another on the changed with the times, often being the first to explore
global economy and its effect on the environment was new subject areas, but the fact that it has been so suc-
also criticized by some groups as being unbalanced. cessful can also be attributed to the ability of its mak-
The Nature of Things, however, has never been ers to make science understandable, interesting, and
charged with shirking the tough issues. entertaining for audiences who vary widely in age,
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of The Na- class, race, and cultural background.
ture of Things in 1990, Suzuki wrote in The Toronto Janice Kaye
Star that in the gimmicky world of television-land,
where only the new is exciting, “the longevity of a TV Hosts/Presenters
series is just like the persistence of a plant or animal Lister Sinclair
species—it reflects the survival of the fittest.” In its Patterson Ivey
first 30 years, the program had only three executive Donald Hume
producers—John Livingston, James (Jim) Murray, and John Livingston
Nancy Archibald. As of 2002, the executive producer David Suzuki
was Michael Adler.
In 1971 Suzuki hosted Suzuki on Science, another
CBC science show. Suzuki has also been heard for Producers
many years on CBC Radio, serving as host of Quirks David Walker, John Livingston, James Murray, Nancy
and Quarks from 1974 to 1979 and hosting or con- Archibald, Norm Caton, Lister Sinclair, Michael
tributing to many other programs. In 1979 Science Adler
Magazine, which Suzuki had hosted since 1974, and
The Nature of Things were combined into a one-hour Programming History
show, with Murray again acting as executive producer. CBC
Suzuki was an assistant professor at the University of 1960–80 Half-hour weekly
Alberta (Edmonton) and a full professor at the Univer- 1980– One-hour weekly
sity of British Columbia (Vancouver) before retiring
from academia in 2001. In 1977 he was named to the
Order of Canada, the country’s highest honor. Further Reading
Ratings for The Nature of Things dropped somewhat Stewart, Sandy, Here’s Looking at Us: A Personal History of
in 1990, but CBC retained the show. The show has Television in Canada, Toronto: CBC Enterprises, 1986
NBC. See National Broadcasting Company

U.S. Police/Detective Drama
The NBC Mystery Movie aired on the network from 1968 umbrella series, The Name of the Game (which
1971 until 1977 and consisted of several recurring pro- ran each of its different segments under the same title).
grams. Its use of a rotation of different shows under an In 1969 NBC launched The Bold Ones (which in-
umbrella title was an NBC innovation during this era. cluded The New Doctors, The Lawyers, The Protec-
Mystery Movie followed on the heels of the network’s tors, and, in 1970, The Senator), and in 1970 the
1617
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) homicide

lieutenant.
The new Wednesday night series was an immediate
success for NBC, finishing at number 14 in the Nielsen
ratings for the 1971–72 season. In addition, Columbo
was nominated for eight Emmy Awards (including all
three nominations for dramatic series writing), win-
ning in four categories. For the next season, NBC at-
tempted to parlay the Mystery Movie’s success in two
ways. First, it moved the original Mystery Movie
lineup of Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan and Wife
to the highly competitive Sunday night schedule and,
as a fourth installment to this rotation, added Hec
Ramsey, starring Richard Boone as a turn-of-the-
century western crime fighter. Also, NBC initiated a
completely new slate of similar shows and moved
these into the Wednesday time period formerly occu-
pied by the original Mystery Movie lineup. Thus,
NBC’s 1972 fall schedule contained the original Mys-
tery Movie shows, now called The NBC Sunday Mys-
tery Movie, plus a completely new set of programs,
titled The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie.
NBC continued to achieve commercial and critical
success with its Sunday Mystery Movie series. The um-
brella program finished tied as the fifth-highest-rated
series of the 1972–73 season, and Columbo garnered
four more Emmy nominations to go along with acting
nominations for McMillan and Wife’s Susan St. James
and Nancy Walker. But the Wednesday Mystery Movie
lineup never was able to realize a similar degree of suc-
NBC Mystery Movie: McCloud, Dennis Weaver. cess. The new Wednesday series included Banacek,
Courtesy of the Everett Collection starring George Peppard as a sleuth who made his
living by collecting insurance company rewards for
solving crimes and insurance scams (Banacek’s Polish-
network presented the Four in One collection of Night American heritage was also a featured element of the
Gallery, San Francisco International Airport, The Psy- program); Cool Million, a segment that featured James
chiatrist, and McCloud. But the idea behind Mystery Farentino as a high-priced private investigator and for-
Movie and similar “wheel format” series had much mer CIA agent; and Madigan, starring Richard Wid-
deeper roots than these NBC versions and can be mark as a New York police detective. While the shows’
traced back at least to ABC’s Warner Brothers Pre- concepts may have sounded similar to those of the orig-
sents, which debuted in 1955. inal Mystery Movie segments, they lacked the novelty
The original incarnation of The NBC Mystery and unique characterizations of the originals, and
Movie consisted of three rotating series. McCloud, NBC’s attempt to clone its Mystery Movie format in
starring Dennis Weaver as a modern-day western mar- such a way that it could fill a second block in its prime-
shal transplanted from New Mexico to the streets of time schedule was ultimately unsuccessful. The
New York City, was a holdover from NBC’s earlier “knock-off” Wednesday lineup was retooled several
Four in One lineup. McMillan and Wife starred Rock times over its two seasons on the air. Madigan and Ba-
Hudson and Susan St. James as San Francisco Police nacek were retained for the 1973 fall season, joined in
Commissioner Stewart McMillan and his wife, Sally. the rotation by Tenafly, which featured African-
And the most successful Mystery Movie segment of American actor James McEachin as a Los Angeles P.I.
all, Columbo, featured Peter Falk reprising his role (the series title was suspiciously similar to the 1972
from the highly rated 1968 NBC made-for-television “blaxploitation” hit film, Superfly), The Snoop Sisters,
movie, Prescription: Murder, as a seemingly slow- which brought Helen Hayes to prime-time television as
witted yet keenly perceptive and doggedly tenacious half of a mystery-writing/crime-solving team of elderly
1618
sisters, and Faraday and Company, starring veteran 1973–74 Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo,
film and television actor Dan Dailey. But after seeing McCloud, McMillan and Wife,
no better results in its second year, the NBC Wednesday Hec Ramsey
Mystery Movie was dropped for the 1974 fall season. Wednesday Mystery Movie: Madigan,
NBC was not the only network unable to clone the Tenafly, Faraday and Company, The
Mystery Movie formula successfully. Both ABC, with Snoop Sisters (January 1972, series
its 1972 The Men series, and CBS, with its 1973 Tues- scheduled on Tuesday as NBC Tuesday
day Night CBS Movie (which rotated made-for-TV Mystery Movie)
movies with the series Shaft, featuring Richard 1974–75 Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo,
Roundtree reprising the title role from the film of the McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Amy
same name, and Hawkins, starring the legendary Prentiss
Jimmy Stewart as a small-town attorney), failed in 1975–76 Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo,
similar short-lived attempts. But while its imitators McCloud, McMillan and Wife, McCoy
struggled, the three original Mystery Movie entries re- 1976–77 Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo,
mained strong into the mid-1970s. Over these years, McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Quincy,
NBC continued to try to find a fourth element that M.E. (through December 1976), La
could be added to the Columbo/McCloud/McMillan nigan’s Rabbi (from January 1977)
and Wife mix, trying out such shows as Amy Prentiss,
McCoy, and Lanigan’s Rabbi. Finally, in the fall of Producers
1976, Quincy, M.E., starring Jack Klugman as a Los Various
Angeles medical examiner, joined the rotation. In early
1977 it was spun off as a regular weekly series and Programming History
would go on to have a successful seven-year run on the NBC
network. September 1971–January
By the end of the 1976–77 season, The Sunday Mys- 1974 Wednesday 8:30–10:00
tery Movie had reached the end of its run and was re- September 1972–September
placed on the NBC schedule by The Big Event. But 1974 Sunday 8:30–10:00
The NBC Mystery Movie had left a legacy that would January 1974–September
not soon be forgotten, and the series served as an inspi- 1974 Tuesday 8:30–10:00
ration for a future television trend: the recurring made- September 1974–September
for-television movie, featuring regular characters and 1975 Sunday 8:30–10:30
routine plotlines, which would appear only a limited September 1975–September
number of times each season. Ironically, one of the 1976 Sunday 9:00–11:00
most popular of such recurring programs would be October 1975–April 1977 Sunday various times
Mystery Movie’s own Columbo, which was revived in May 1977–September 1977 Sunday 8:00–9:30
the late 1980s by ABC and would go on to garner once
again high ratings and still more Emmy Awards for its Further Reading
new network.
David Gunzerath Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to
Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946–Present, New York:
See also Action/Adventure Programs; Columbo; Ballantine, 1985
Detective Programs; Police Programs Goldberg, Lee, Television Series Revivals, Jefferson, North Car-
olina: McFarland, 1993
Levinson, Richard, and William Link, Stay Tuned: An Inside
Series Presented As Part of The NBC Mystery Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television, New York: St.
Movie Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
1971–72 [Wednesday] Mystery Movie: Columbo, Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
McCloud, McMillan and Wife TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Lit-
1972–73 Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo, tle, Brown, 1992
McCloud, McMillan and Wife, Martindale, David, Television Detective Shows of the 1970s,
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1991
Hec Ramsey O’Neil, Thomas, The Emmys: Star Wars, Showdowns, and
Wednesday Mystery Movie: Madigan, the Supreme Test of TV’s Best, New York: Penguin Books,
Cool Million, Banacek 1992
1619
NBC Reports
NBC Reports
U.S. Documentary
Although not as renowned as ABC CloseUp, CBS Re- the Nixon-administration Federal Communications
ports, or NBC White Paper, NBC Reports offered in- Commission, in response to a complaint from the con-
depth investigations in the prestige documentary servative media watchdog group Accuracy in Media
tradition for nearly two decades and is extensively wo- that the report was one-sided and thus violated the
ven into the history of documentaries and news- Fairness Doctrine. The Supreme Court refused to hear
magazines on American network television. the case and in 1976 let stand a lower court ruling in
Introduced in 1972 as a regularly scheduled series, this favor of NBC that the program had achieved reason-
collection of investigative reports was designed to able balance.
probe and expose issues of the day. The series is no- A number of distinguished producers worked on
table as much for its personnel as for its occasionally NBC Reports, among them Pam Hill, who did her final
controversial content. NBC Reports was also instru- work on the series before moving to ABC to produce
mental in the shift by network news divisions from a ABC CloseUp; the prolific Robert (Shad) Northshield,
long-form documentary commitment to “infotain- who went to CBS News in 1977 and developed the
ment” news hours, and eventually the stream of stylish peerless CBS Sunday Morning; Lucy Jarvis, who pro-
network newsmagazines that proliferated in the 1990s. duced NBC documentaries on international and do-
NBC Reports initially shared a time slot with the mestic affairs, then left the network in 1976 to become
newsmagazine First Tuesday and an acclaimed historian independent producer; Fred Freed, one of televi-
cal documentary series America, which was produced sion’s outstanding documentarians; and Robert
by the BBC and Time-Life Films. (America moved to Rogers. Rogers, an award-winning news writer, was a
PBS for the 1974–75 season.) This scheduling tech- protégé of the documentarian Ted Yates, who was
nique became common after 1968 when the networks killed in Jerusalem in 1967 while covering the Six-Day
began experimenting with newsmagazines. News divi- War. Rogers continued to produce documentaries and
sions wanted a program format that expanded cover- newsmagazines and later became manager of the NBC
age of the day’s headlines but did not warrant the White Paper series.
in-depth analysis of a documentary. The news- NBC Reports was later called NBC Report on Amer-
magazines were intended to complement the docu- ica, an irregularly scheduled documentary series that
mentary and the evening newscasts. Network focused on lifestyle and domestic social issues. In
executives were also searching for ways to fill pro- 1987 the series aired two sensationalistic documen-
gramming hours and looked to their news divisions as taries anchored by correspondent Connie Chung: Life
a source. One solution was to allocate a time slot to the in the Fat Lane, a program on overeating and weight
news division, which would fill the period with a com- control, and Scared Sexless, which examined Ameri-
bination of newsmagazine and documentary programs, can social mores after the occurrence of AIDS and the
such as NBC Reports. decline of the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
The series arrived after an era of protest against the These programs, produced by Sid Feders, featured
media that accompanied network television’s coverage stylish treatments, including computer graphics, popu-
of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in lar music, quick pacing, and a minimum of informa-
Chicago and the anti-media sentiment that emanated tion. They also showcased a celebrity news anchor,
from the administration of President Nixon. In this Connie Chung, and popular entertainers, such as Alan
hostile climate, the very first documentary offered by Alda, Marcus Allen, Nell Carter, Dom Deluise, Jane
NBC Reports provoked strong reactions. Pensions: Fonda, Goldie Hawn, Tommy Lasorda, Danny Sulli-
The Broken Promise, which aired September 12, 1972, van, and Oprah Winfrey.
exposed inadequacies in national pension funds that Although these programs shared characteristics with
resulted in severe losses for veteran workers. The re- traditional documentaries—in that they incrementally
port won a Peabody Award and praise from the Ameri- developed a thesis on a pressing social issue—the de-
can Bar Association. But it was also investigated by cision to team celebrity news reporters with entertain-
1620
NBC White Paper
ment idols and to evoke an aesthetic look that resem- Programming History
bled prime-time entertainment fare was highly suc- NBC
cessful in attracting large audiences and widespread September 1972–September
publicity. Other networks also experimented with this 1973 (irregular thereafter) Tuesday 10:00–11:00
documentary technique, but these NBC Report on
America broadcasts led the field in 1987 and demon-
Further Reading
strated to network management that news divisions
could produce profitable programs. By the 1990s the Einstein, Daniel, Special Edition: A Guide to Network Televi-
formula evolved into a rush of prime-time news- sion Documentary Series and Special News Reports,
1955–1979, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow, 1987
magazines that showcased glamorous correspondents Friendly, Fred, The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and the First
and popular topics on all the major commercial net- Amendment, New York: Random House, 1975
works. Mascaro, Tom, “Documentaries Go Stylish,” Electronic Media
Tom Mascaro (February 1, 1988)
Mascaro, Tom, “Lowering the Voice of Reason: The Decline of
See also Documentary Network Television Documentaries in the Reagan Years,”
Ph.D. dissertation, Wayne State University, 1995
Yellin, David, Special: Fred Freed and the Television Docu-
mentary, New York: Macmillan, 1973
NBC-Universal. See Universal
NBC White Paper

U.S. News Documentary
Beginning with its premiere in 1960, the long-form News and face CBS head-on. Kintner recruited Gitlin
documentary series NBC White Paper won praise for to develop a prestige series, and NBC White Paper de-
using the television medium to foster journalistic ex- buted on November 29, 1960.
cellence and an understanding of world affairs. By the Network competition invigorated documentaries.
1980s, the program’s approach was criticized by some Within a two-week period in 1960, NBC aired The U-
who felt these comprehensive reports chased away 2 Affair, about government deception regarding a spy
viewers and stifled newer documentary forms. This ac- mission over the Soviet Union; CBS broadcast the leg-
claimed series, though, is remembered as one of the endary Harvest of Shame, which depicted the squalid
prestigious symbols of network news that helped fuel a lives of American migrant workers; and ABC offered
fierce rivalry between CBS and NBC in the 1960s. Yanki, No!, which depicted anti-American sentiment in
NBC White Paper was spawned, in part, by the need Central America and Cuba.
of the networks to heal the damage inflicted by the Unlike CBS Reports in its early years, NBC White
quiz show scandal. CBS initiated CBS Reports to Paper never had a regular time slot and appeared only
showcase quality nonfiction reporting. Irv Gitlin, a a few times each year. Many of its reports, however,
prominent producer for CBS, hoped to head the new were powerful treatments, beginning with the original
series but lost out to Fred Friendly. At NBC, President broadcast. The U-2 Affair chronicled the flight and
Robert Kintner sought to bolster the reputation of NBC downing of a secret U.S. spy plane over the Soviet
1621
NBC White Paper
Union, along with denials and subsequent admissions of executive producer and focused the series on do-
by U.S. officials that such espionage took place. The mestic issues, as with the three-part Ordeal of the
pilot, Francis Gary Powers, survived the crash. The American City, which aired in the 1968–69 season.
Soviets distributed film of Powers and the remains of In 1980, White Paper broadcast If Japan Can . . .
his airplane and forced President Eisenhower to admit Why Can’t We?, which explored how that country re-
the deception. covered from World War II to achieve world-class in-
Chet Huntley, NBC’s answer to Edward R. Murrow, dustrial status. NBC was inundated with requests for
was the correspondent for many of the White Paper re- transcripts and copies of the program, which was
ports. Al Wasserman, formerly of CBS, assisted Gitlin studied by major corporations and universities. How-
as producer-director. The team was often joined by ever, interest began to wane in the White Paper ap-
Fred Freed, Edwin Newman, Frank McGee, Robert proach. In a Los Angeles Times interview in 1991,
Northshield, and others. David Fanning, executive producer for the PBS docu-
Although rival CBS enjoyed a more prominent rep- mentary series Frontline said, “One of the reasons the
utation in the documentary field, the White Paper se- documentary declined is that the networks didn’t al-
ries kept pace in both foreign and domestic affairs low the form to grow and be innovative. They didn’t
coverage and demonstrated an equal willingness to sense that people might want something beyond the
probe controversies. Erik Barnouw recounts how Sit- traditional ‘White Paper’ approach of throwing a net
In made NBC filmmaker Robert Young a hero in the over an important subject and telling us about our
black community and led to another report from north- troubles.”
ern Angola in West Africa. Angola was a colony of Tom Mascaro
Portugal, which was attempting to quell a native upris-
See also Documentary; Freed, Fred; Huntley, Chet
ing. Foreign newsmen were barred from observing the
rebellion, but Young persuaded NBC to allow him to
go with black camera man Charles Dorkins to the Producers
Congo. Armed with letters of reference from promi- Irving Gitlin, Fred Freed
nent African Americans, Young and Dorkins trekked
through 300 miles of jungle and shot footage for the
1961 documentary Angola: Journey to a War. Programming History
The reporters also retrieved fragments of a napalm NBC
bomb and shot film of English-language instructions 1960–80 various times
inscribed on the shrapnel. To prevent Soviet use of the
report against U.S. interests, Gitlin excised the bomb Further Reading
segment from the final program. The report succeeded,
however, in balancing the Portuguese version of events Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele-
vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 1975; 2nd re-
with graphic depictions of native suffering. vised edition, 1990
With The Battle of Newburgh, White Paper em- Bleum, A. William, Documentary in American Television, New
ployed powerful interview techniques to push the York: Hastings House, 1965
envelope of the editorial function within the documen- Carroll, Raymond Lee, “Factual Television in America: An
tary form, on a par with CBS’s Harvest of Shame. A Analysis of Network Television Documentary Programs,
1948–1975,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin-
welfare-reform plan by the city manager of Newburgh, Madison, 1978
New York, intensified debate between liberals who Einstein, Daniel, Special Edition: A Guide to Network Televi-
supported children and the underprivileged, and con- sion Documentary Series and Special News Reports,
servatives who decried taxation for “social purposes.” 1955–1979, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press,
An extensive White Paper investigation discredited 1987
Frank, Reuven, Out of Thin Air, New York: Simon and Schuster,
Newburgh’s claims about welfare fraud. Although the 1991
report illustrated both sides of the argument, a dra- Hall, Jane, “Television; The Long, Hard Look: A Producer’s
matic interview with one needy family had a devastat- Passion for ‘Rattling Good Stories’ Helps Frontline Win
ing effect. In a conclusion that straddled editorializing Awards—and Preserve a Dying Genre,” Los Angeles Times
and reportage, narrator Huntley rebuked the charge (October 13, 1991)
Mascaro, Tom, “Documentaries Go Stylish,” Electronic Media
that Newburgh was riddled with cheats. (February 1, 1988)
Irv Gitlin died in 1967, a year in which there were Yellin, David, Special: Fred Freed and the Television Docu-
no White Paper reports. Fred Freed assumed the role mentary, New York: Macmillan, 1973
1622
Neighbours
Neighbours
Australian Soap Opera
“Get back to Ramsay Street” was the 1995 promo- self in the domestic—in the family and the home,
tional line used by the Ten Network, home of Neigh- friends and acquaintances, and the immediate social
bours since late 1985. The marketing strategy sought contexts in which they are located. The mundane na-
to reorient both the program itself and the audiences ture of the domestic storylines extends to the geo-
who have followed it through uncertain beginnings, graphical reach of the show. Erinsborough is a fictional
extraordinary local and international success, and con- suburb, which constructs the family homes as its hub
tinuing quiet domestic popularity. The message was and the local shops, hotel, surgery, and school as the
clear and reflected a key element in the program’s en- domain of its characters. While it has been known to
during popularity: a decade after it began, after attract- send its characters overseas, Neighbours has also be-
ing millions of viewers around the world, Neighbours come notorious for sending its popular players off into
is home. the far reaches of Brisbane or the Gold Coast (indeed,
Neighbours is almost without doubt the Australian it seems that “overseas” is a place from which it is eas-
program with the highest international profile since the ier to retrieve its characters than from the depths of
1980s. Well over 2,000 episodes into production, it Queensland). In keeping with the show’s philosophy
still commands worldwide audiences of more than 50 of “the everyday,” it is the impact that the characters’
million and has helped transform its production com- interactions with such places produces on other char-
pany, the Grundy Organisation, into one of the world’s acters that is important to the narrative.
most successful television production groups. Initially based around three families, the Robinsons,
The program’s success, both in Australia and over- the Ramsays, and the Clarkes, with other local resi-
seas, has always been attributable to a mix of textual dents thrown in for romance and a touch of conflict,
and industry factors. This success lies both in its quali- the narrative structures of the program were suffi-
ties as a well-developed and well-executed Australian ciently loose to allow for a considerable turnover of
soap opera and in the ways it has been scheduled both characters. In this respect, while the idea of the series
in Australia and in the United Kingdom. The premise is simple, the specifics of the houses in Ramsay Street
for the show is the daily interactions of the people liv- and the families that inhabit them necessarily change
ing in a middle-class street in a suburb of Melbourne. and adapt. The element of continuity lies in the central
It is simple in design, yet allows for any number of institutions of the house and home and supporting in-
narrative possibilities. Significantly, it is the limiting of stitutions like small business and public education, and
these possibilities to the realms of the ordinary, the un- in the performance of small-scale romance and
exceptional, and non-melodramatic that has ensured tragedy.
Neighbours’ success for so long. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the
Stephen Crofts’s detailed analysis of program form show is its foundations in the “neighborliness” of (al-
and content identifies several key aspects that support beit select segments of) the local community. This
these general speculations. These include Neighbours’ means that the households and the living and working
focus on the everyday, the domestic, and the suburban; arrangements of the residents of Ramsay Street take
its portrayal of women as doers; its reliance on teen precedence over the establishment of any strict bound-
sex appeal and unrebellious youth; its “feel-good” aries that mark out the “family” and the roles of family
characters and wholesome neighborliness. Social ten- members. Intergenerational conflict abounds and,
sion and values conflicts are always resolved, dis- while resolution is almost unfailingly the order of the
solved, or repressed, and the overall ideological tone is day, the show provides an interesting mix of the nu-
of depoliticized middle-class citizenship. clear and the non-nuclear family. In its current form,
Ramsay Street and its suburb of Erinsborough have there is not one complete nuclear family unit—a sig-
provided a pool of characters drawn from the ranks of nificant reflection on the boundaries for the explo-
home owners and small-business people, school kids, ration of the “social” within the program’s narrative
and pensioners. Textually, the program firmly roots it- framework.
1623
Neighbours
Neighbours.
Photo courtesy of Grundy Television Pty Ltd.
These characteristics intertwine with the TV- Donovan. This in turn led the program into the period
industry features of the program’s success. When the of its phenomenal success in the United Kingdom.
Seven Network axed the show in the second half of Clearly, the amiable middle-class “struggles” of the
1985—one of the monumental mistakes of Australian Ramsay Street residents make for a markedly different
network programming—Grundy’s managing director, narrative to those of the EastEnders or the residents of
Ian Holmes, offered it to the Ten Network. Ten was Coronation Street. Neighbours was the first television
able to revive the show with new, sexier characters, program in Britain to be screened twice daily and
and shining, enviable domestic sets. The focus on fam- across all five weekdays by the BBC, which had been
ily and community life continued, this time with a little commanded into greater economic accountability by
more glamour and in a later time slot—shifting the the Thatcher government of the 1980s. This strategy,
program from 5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., Monday to Friday. followed soon after by another Australian soap opera
When the show again ran into trouble in 1986, the new export, Home and Away, was to transform the nature of
network embarked on a massive selling campaign the program as its cast became international stars: in
aimed at reviving flagging Sydney ratings. It worked: Australia the already popular Minogue and Donovan,
ratings in Australia soared along with the developing as well as Craig McLachlan and Guy Pierce, were con-
relationship of its stars, Kylie Minogue and Jason structed as cultural exports, with the pop-music careers
1624
Neighbours
of the first two building a star status unknown by Aus- Cast

tralian television actors. Morally unproblematic, the Max Ramsay (1985–86) Francis Bell
program fit well into a conservative U.K. government Maria Ramsay (1985) Dasha Blahova
agenda that sought a new degree of competitiveness Julie Robinson (1985) Vikki Blanche
from the BBC at the same time that it valorized con- Rosemary Daniels (1985–97) Joy Chambers
servative themes. The BBC found that this product Danny Ramsay (1985–86) David Clencie
provided a counterpoint to other television drama such Jim Robinson (1985–93) Alan Dale
as EastEnders and Coronation Street—and it did so at Eileen Clarke (1985–88) Myra De Groot
far less expense. A week’s worth of Neighbours could Paul Robinson (1985–93) Stefan Dennis
be acquired for around £27,000, compared to £40,000 Lucy Robinson (1985–87) Kylie Flinker
per half-hour episode of EastEnders. Helen Daniels (1985–97) Anne Haddy
While Neighbours was winning U.K. audiences of Des Clarke (1985–90) Paul Keane
20 million by the end of 1988 and consistently chal- Terri Inglis (1985–86) Maxine Klibingaitus
lenging the two home-grown soaps for the position of Barbara Hill (1985) Louise Le Nay
highest-rating drama on British television, it was also Shane Mitchell (1985–88) Peter O’Brien
criticized for its bland representation of life in a sunny, Scott Robinson (1985–86) Darius Perkins
relatively trouble-free, seemingly egalitarian Aus- Daphne Clarke (1985–88) Elaine Smith
tralian suburb. EastEnders, particularly, was attracting Nikki Dennison (1986–87) Charlene Fenn
commendation for the range of its social and ethnic Madge Mitchell (1986–92,
representation, and, while Neighbours had always had 1996–2001) Anne Charleston
its share of strong female characters, it casually over- Scott Robinson (1986–89) Jason Donovan
looked multiculturalism (a phenomenon fundamental Zoe Davis (1986–87) Alexandra Fowler
to both Australian and British society), as well as other Vicki Gibbons (1986) Charmaine Gorman
important social subjects such as unemployment. With Nell Mangel (1986–89) Vivian Gray
the U.K.’s growing list of Australian film and televi- Jane Harris (1986–89) Annie Jones
sion imports, Australian television became the target Henry Ramsay (1986–90) Craig McLachlan
of arguments addressing issues of British cultural Charlene Mitchell (1986–88) Kylie Minogue
maintenance. And while some of these criticisms may Clive Gibbons (1986–87,
be well-deserved, Neighbours, along with Home and 1989) Geoff Paine
Away, was in turn important to an Australian film and Mike Young (1986–90) Guy Pearce
television industry that was itself accustomed to being Sally Wells (1987–88) Rowena Mohr
seen as an import culture dominated by American and Rob Lewis (1987–88) Ernie Bourne
British products. Neighbours was the leader in a new Dan Ramsay (1987–88) Syd Conabere
wave of audiovisual export successes from the 1980s Edna Ramsay (1987–88) Jessica Noad
onward that has invigorated and redirected the local in- Tom Ramsay (1987–88,
dustry. 1991) Gary Files
Finally, the program remains a popular domestic Harold Bishop (1987–91,
soap opera. Neighbours fits well with the Ten Network 1996– ) Ian Smith
broadcasting ethos based around the appeal of a global Tony Romeo (1987–88) Nick Carrafa
“youth culture.” Ten has worked at building a sizeable Sue Parker (1987–88) Kate Gorman
teen demographic based strictly on ratings, and its suc- Reverend Sampson (1987–
cess in this respect has contributed to a turn-around in 89) Howard Bell
the network’s profits—Ten’s level of returns to expen- Lucy Robinson (1987–90) Sascha Close
diture exceeds that of its long-term rival, the Seven Dr. Beverly Marshall (1987–
Network. With another cast of sexier young stars, in- 89) Lisa Armytage
cluding Blair McDonough (the runner-up in the Ten Gail Robinson (1987–89) Fiona Corke
Network’s version of Big Brother), and well-chosen Katie Landers (1987–89) Sally Jensen
older, more experienced actors, Neighbours continues Hilary Robinson (1987–90) Anne Scott Pendlebury
as Australia’s longest-running soap and one of its most Jamie Clarke (1987–90) S.J. Dey
successful television exports. Emma Gordon (1987–91) Tamsin West
Stuart D. Cunningham Todd Landers (1987–92) Kristian Schmid
Lou Carpenter (1988,
See also Australian Programming; Coronation 1992– ) Tom Oliver
Street; EastEnders; Grundy, Reg; Soap Opera Malcolm Clarke (1988–89) Noel Trevarthen
1625
Neighbours
Bronwyn Davies (1988–90) Rachel Friend Mark Gottlieb (1993–96) Bruce Samazan
Toby Mangel (1988–90) F. Greentree-Keane Darren Stark (1993) Scott Major
Sharon Davies (1988–90) Jessica Muschamp Wayne Duncan (1993–94) Jonathan Sammy-Lee
Nick Page (1988–90) Mark Stevens Lauren Carpenter (1993–94) Sarah Vandenbergh
Joe Mangel (1988–91) Mark Little Annalise Hartman (1993–
Melanie Pearson (1988–91) Lucinda Cowden 96) Kimberley Davies
Sky Bishop (1989–91) Miranda Fryer Cheryl Stark (1993–96) Caroline Gillmer
Kerry Bishop (1989–90) Linda Hartley Dr. Karl Kennedy (1994– ) Alan Fletcher
Beverley Marshall (1989– Billy Kennedy (1994–2000) Jesse Spencer
90) Shaunna O’Grady Libby Kennedy (1994– ) Kym Valentine
Melissa Jarrett (1989–91) Jade Amenta Susan Kennedy (1994– ) Jackie Woodburne
Matt Williams (1989–91) Ashley Paske Malcolm Kennedy (1994–
Jenny Owens (1989) Danielle Carter 97) Benjamin McNair
Edith Chubb (1989) Irene Inescort Jesse O’Connor (1994) James Ryan
Kevin Harvey (1989) Simon Westaway Aaron O’Connor (1994) Greg Stone
Ken Naylor (1990) Peter Tabour Sam Kratz (1994–96) Richard Grieve
Josh Anderson (1990–91) Jeremy Angerson Marlene Kratz (1994–97) Moya O’Sullivan
Gemma Ramsay (1990–91) Beth Buchanan Jen Handley (1994–95) Alyce Platt
Adam Willis (1990–91) Ian Williams Luke Handley (1994–96) Bernard Curry
Cody Willis (1990–92) Amelia Frid Brett Stark (1994–96) Brett Blewitt
Doug Willis (1990–94) Terence Donovan Danni Stark (1994–96) Eliza Szonert
Pam Willis (1990–96) Sue Jones Luke Foster (1994) Murray Bartlett
Caroline Alessi (199–93) Gillian Blakeney Sassy Patterson-Smythe
Christina Alessi (1990–93) Gayle Blakeney (1994) Defah Dattner
Dorothy Burke (1990–93) Maggie Dence Louise Carpenter (1994) Jiordan Anna Tolli
Toby Mangel (1990–93) Ben Geurens Kris Hyde (1994) John Higginson
Brad Willis (1991–93) Scott Michaelson Len Mangel (1994) John Lee
Gaby Willis (1991–94) Rachel Blakely Katarina Torrelli (1994) Josephine Mitchell
Faye Hudson (1991–92) Lorraine Bayly Andrew “Macca” MacKenzie
Andrew Robinson (1991– (1994) John Morris
92) Shannon Holmes Sally Pritchard (1994) Brenda Webb
Lucy Robinson III (1991– Serendipity Gottlieb (1994–
95) Melissa Bell 95) Raelee Hill
Arthur Bright (1991–92) Barry Hill Cody Willis (1994–96) Peta Brady
Glen Donnelly (1991–92) Richard Huggett “Stonefish” Rebecchi (1994–
Brenda Riley (1991–92) Genevieve Lemon 96) Anthony Engelman
Guy Carpenter (1991–92) Andrew Williams Kev Duve (1994–98) Brad Wade
Phoebe Bright (1991–93) Simone Robertson Leanne “Packo” Packington
Beth Brennan (1991–93, (1994, 1995) Verity McIntyre
1994) Natalie Imbruglia Colin Taylor (1995) Frank Bren
Marco Alessi (1992) Felice Arena Reuben White (1995) James Condon
Benito Alessi (1992–93) George Spartels Lance Wilkinson (1995–
Cameron Hudson (1992–93) Ben Mitchell 2001) Andrew Bibby
Cathy Alessi (1992–93) Elspeth Ballantyne Luke Bowers (1995–97) Jamie Field
Stephen Gottlieb (1992–93) Lauchie Daddo Patrick Kratz (1995) Shane Porteous
Julie Martin (1992–94) Julie Mullins Angie Rebecchi (1995–96) Lesley Baker
Rick Alessi (1992–95) Dan Falzon Melissa Drenth (1995–96) Aimee Robertson
Philip Martin (1992–99) Ian Rawlings Joanna Hartman (1995–97) Emma Harrison
Hannah Martin (1992–99) Rebecca Ritters Rupert Sprod (1995–97) Tobi Webster
Debbie Martin (1992–97) Marnie Reece- Zoe Tan (1995–98) Jeuliette Hannafie
Wilmore Andrew Watson (1996) Christopher Uhlman
Michael Martin (1992–98) Troy Beckwith Ruth Wilkinson (1996–99) Ailsa Piper
Troy Duncan (1993) Damian Walshe- Anne Wilkinson (1996–
Howling 2000) Brooke Satchwell
1626
Neighbours
Sarah Beaumont (1996–99) Nicola Charles Rachel Bailey (2000) Carolyn Bock
Jarrod “Toadfish” Rebecchi Merridy Jackson (2000) Suzy Cato
(1996– ) Ryan Moloney Connie O’Rourke (2000) Val Jellay
Steve George (1996) Alex Dimitriades Carrie Clark (2000) Vanessa Rossini
Georgia Brown (1996) Petra Jared Daniel Fitzgerald (2000) Brett Tucker
Catherine O’Brien (1996– Brendan Bell (2000) Blair Venn
97) Radha Mitchell Mick Scully (2000) Andy Anderson
Darren Stark (1996–98) Todd MacDonald Dorothy “Allana” Truman
Ben Atkins (1997–98) Brett Cousins (2000–01) Josephine Clark
Caitlin Atkins (1997–98) Emily Milburn Larry “Woody” Woodhouse
Paul McClain (1997–2001) Jansen Spencer (2000–01) Andrew Curry
Amy Greenwood (1997– Jessica Fielding (2001– ) Elisha Gazdowicz
2000) Jacinta Stapleton Matthew Hancock (2001– ) Stephen Hunt
Cassandra (1997–2000) Elizabeth Shingleton Evan Hancock (2001– ) Nicholas Opolski
Geoff Burke (1997–98) Andrew McKaige Maggie Hancock (2001– ) Sally Cooper
Lisa Elliot (1997) Kate Straub Leo Hancock (2001– ) Anthony Hammer
Rowan Kendrick (1997) Paul Zebrowski Emily Hancock (2001– ) Isabella Oldham
Joel Samuels (1998–2002) Daniel MacPherson Stewart Parker (2001– ) Blair McDonough
Lily Madigan (1998) Alethea McGrath Veronica Anderson (2001– ) Monika Isabella
Karen Oldman (1998–99) Pia Miranda Karwan
Pippa Layton (1998–2000) Natalie Shostak Summer Hoyland (2002– ) Marisa Siketa
Drew Kirk (1998– ) Dan Paris
Hilary Grand (1998) Olivia Hamnett
Programming History
Mike Healy (1998) Andrew Blackman
Seven Network
Mickey Dalton (1998) Trent Fowler
March 1985–November
Kenny Hyland (1998) Jonathan Dutton
1985 Weeknights 6:00–6:30
Wayne “Tad” Reeves
Ten Network
(1999– ) Jonathan Dutton
November 1985–March
Rose Kirk (1999, 2000) Diana Greentree
1992 Weeknights 7:00–7:30
Ron Kirk (1999, 2000) John Orcsik
March 1992– Weeknights 6:30–7:00
Geri Hallett (1999) Isabella Dunwill
Maurie Ryan (1999) Neil Fletcher
Teabag Teasdale (1999) Nathan Phillips Producers
Teresa Bell (1999–2001) Krista Vendy The Grundy Organisation
Joe Scully (1999– ) Shane Connor
Lyn Scully (1999– ) Janet Andrewartha
Further Reading
Stephanie Scully (1999– ) Carla Bonner
Felicity Scully (1999– ) Holly Valance Crofts, Stephen, “Global Neighbours?” in To Be Continued . . . :
Michelle Scully (1999– ) Kate Keltie Soap Operas around the World, edited by Robert C. Allen,
London and New York: Routledge, 1995
Damien Smith (1999– Cunningham, Stuart, and Elizabeth Jacka, Australian Television
2000) John Ridley and International Mediascapes, Melbourne, Cambridge, and
Dione Bliss (2000– ) Madeleine West New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996
Cecile Bliss (2000) Molly McCaffrey Cunningham, Stuart, and Toby Miller, Contemporary Aus-
Patsy Edis (2000) Anne Moloney tralian Television, Sydney: University of New South Wales
Press, 1994
Simone King (2000– ) Denise Briskin Kingsley, Hilary, Soap Box: The Australian Guide to Television
Bianca Nugent (2000– ) Jane Harber Soap Operas, South Melbourne: Sun Books, 1989
Darcy Tyler (2000– ) Foster (Mark) Raffety Moran, Albert, Moran’s Guide to Australian TV Series, North
Bernie Samuels (2000– ) Sean Scully Ryde, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin, 1993
1627
Nelson, Ozzie, and Harriet Nelson
Nelson, Ozzie (1907–1975), and

Harriet Nelson (1914–1994)
U.S. Actors
During a period that was to last 20 years, the Nelson Nelson’s business skills were unparalleled (he had
family—Ozzie, his wife Harriet Hilliard, and their two attended law school at Rutgers University), and he ne-
sons, David and Ricky—were regarded as the preemi- gotiated with ABC for the first “noncancellable ten-
nent icon of the ideal nuclear family. From his band- year contract,” which guaranteed a basic salary for ten
leading days of the mid-1930s through his reign, a years whether the Nelsons worked or not. The family
generation later, as the bumbling patriarch of televi- was thus virtually immune from sponsor or network
sion’s best-known family, Ozzie Nelson was able to interference (one of the reasons, certainly, that Ozzie
conflate, reduce, and transform the professional activi- and Harriet would be the only television couple al-
ties of his family’s personal reality into a fictional do- lowed a double bed until 1969’s The Brady Bunch).
mestic banality. While in the middle of this contractual period, ABC
Best known for their long-running television series, expressed interest in a television program. As a test,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the Nelson fam- they had the family star in a movie titled Here Come
ily began their successful togetherness with the mar- the Nelsons for Universal Studios. The film, costarring
riage of saxophone-playing Ozzie to his “girl-singer” Rock Hudson and featuring Ozzie as an advertising ex-
Harriet in the 1930s. Ozzie’s deliberate hesitancy and ecutive, was a huge success, and in 1952 the television
self-deprecating humor were the perfect foil for the program began filming at General Service Studios. In-
sweet and sassy Harriet, who interrupted her songs terestingly, for the next two years, the radio and televi-
with sarcastic banter. During the 1940s, Ozzie, Harriet, sion programs continued concurrently, with Nelson
and their band were regulars on Red Skelton’s radio insisting on completely different scripts for the televi-
show, and in 1944 when Red was drafted into the sion show.
army, they took over his time slot. For Skelton, the Produced under the banner “Stage Five Produc-
Nelsons stuck to their big-band routines with occa- tions,” which included Ozzie, his brother Don, Bill
sional married-couple skits providing nonmusical Davenport, and Ben Gershman, The Adventures of
breaks, but when Ozzie conceived the pilot for his own Ozzie and Harriet was the result of the uncompromis-
program he decided to venture more into the realm of ing standards and efforts of perfectionist Ozzie Nelson.
domestic comedy, writing a script based on his own He was involved in every one of the program’s 435
family life. episodes as head writer, script supervisor, producer, and
The radio program initially revolved around the tri- editor. And, if he did not direct an episode, his son
als and tribulations of bandleader Ozzie and his family. David did. Story meetings were weekly, all-night af-
There were many references to Ozzie’s rehearsals, fairs (with an 11:00 P.M. break for ice cream) and took
road tours, and other musical endeavors, and the com- place at the Nelson home in the Hollywood Hills, with
edy sketches were balanced with full-length musical the production staff and auxiliary writers Jay Sommers,
numbers. By 1946, however, these musical interludes Dick Bensfield, and Perry Grant attending.
were eliminated in favor of a more representational A stickler for quality, Ozzie was adamant that his
narrative. Until 1949 the roles of their two sons were program look different from the inferior kinescope
played by child actors, but a guest appearance by Bing products dominating the television schedule, and he
Crosby and his sons convinced Ozzie that he should al- hired Academy Award winner William C. Mellor to
low the 13-year-old David and 9-year-old Ricky to shoot the program in the finest 35 mm film stock. With
play themselves. The boys, especially “the irrepress- preliminary editing complete, Nelson would then rent
ible Ricky,” were an enormous success and lent further a Los Angeles theater and screen two or three episodes
potency to the verisimilitude of the purely fictional back-to-back for audiences in order to gauge the place-
narratives. ment and intensity of the laugh-track cues.
1628
One of the reasons for the program’s tremendous

following was that audiences actually believed that the
Nelsons were truly playing themselves, a myth the
Nelson family helped perpetuate. The exterior of the
television house was modeled on the real-life Nelson
home, and Ozzie incorporated many real-life events,
neighbors, family members, and hobbies into the pro-
gram. Thus, when David took up motorcycles, or when
the boys were interested in the trapeze, these would
become the focus for a weekly episode. David’s mar-
riage to June Blair and Ricky’s to Kris Harmon oc-
curred off-screen, but the new season joyfully
“introduced” the “newest members of the Nelson fam-
ily,” to the television viewer.
The most significant example of this blending of fact
and fiction resulted from Ricky’s interest in rock and
roll music. Spurred on by a girlfriend’s crush on Elvis
Presley, Ricky bragged that he too was about to cut a
record, and then quickly enlisted his father to make this
boast a reality. In April 1957, the 16-year-old Ricky re-
leased a cover version of Fats Domino’s big hit “I’m
Walkin.” As was his habit, Ozzie integrated this latest
preoccupation of his son into a television episode, and
“Ricky the Drummer” aired concurrently with the
record’s release. One million records sold in the first
week, and for the next six years, Ricky Nelson was to The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ricky Nelson, Harriet
dominate the pop charts with such hits as “Hello, Mary Nelson, David Nelson, Ozzie Nelson, 1952–66.
Lou,” “Travelin’ Man,” and “Fools Rush In,” all of Courtesy of the Everett Collection
which benefited from weekly exposure on the televi-
sion series. With simultaneous promotion in music-
trade papers, a new song would “debut” at the end of a mainly in commercials and low-budget features. Their
completely unrelated episode, tacked on as a pseudo- parents, too, seemed unable to capture the magic of the
concert with Ricky singing to a mob of squealing, earlier years. A boarding-house sitcom, Ozzie’s Girls,
head-bopping extras. Ricky’s impact on the rock world was canceled during its first season, and the couple
was crucial, and his eventual induction into the Rock semiretired, making the talk show circuit and living to-
and Roll Hall of Fame legitimized his talented contri- gether in Laguna Beach until Ozzie’s death in 1975.
butions. More important than his actual music, perhaps, From the outset, The Adventures of Ozzie and Har-
was the fact that in giving their blessing to Ricky’s ca- riet had a nostalgic feel, resembling Ozzie’s 1920s
reer, Ozzie and Harriet demonstrated to millions of youth in New Jersey more than 1950s Los Angeles.
timid, middle-class Americans that rock and roll was The picket-fenced neighborhoods and the corner drug-
not a satanic threat, but a viable musical alternative. In store and malt shop that were featured weekly in this
an unprecedented response to the thousands of irate let- slow-paced half-hour infiltrated American culture at a
ters he had received, Ozzie scripted 1956’s “Ozzie the time of social unease and quiescent distress. In reality,
Treasurer,” in which Harriet extols the tension- most 1950s fathers were working ten-hour days and
releasing benefits of “rhythm and blues music.” commuting long distances to isolated suburbs. For the
Both Nelson boys attempted film careers and found Nelsons, however, Ozzie was always home, neighbors
moderate success in some big-budget 1950s films— still chatted over the back fence, and downtown was a
David in Peyton Place, and Ricky in Rio Bravo. By the brisk walk away. The Nelsons presented an America
time of the program’s end in 1966, however, the Nel- that never was, but always wished for, and through
son sons were hard-pressed to find a large popular fol- their confusion of reality and fantasy worked to con-
lowing. Ricky ventured into country music where he coct an image of American life that is, to this day, mis-
had sporadic success until his 1985 death in a plane takenly claimed not only as ideal, but as authentic.
crash, and David moved into production, working Nina C. Leibman
1629
See also Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The; “The Men in My Life” (with Stanley Gordon), Look
Comedy, Domestic Settings; Family on Television (November 11, 1958)
Harriet Nelson (Harriet Hilliard). Born Peggy Lou

Ozzie Nelson (Oswald George Nelson). Born in Jer-
Snyder in Des Moines, Iowa, July 18, 1914. Attended
sey City, New Jersey, March 20, 1907. Graduated from
St. Agnes Academy. Married: Ozzie Nelson, 1935;
Rutgers University, 1927, law degree 1930. Married:
children: David Ozzie and Eric Hilliard. Beauty queen
Harriet Hilliard, 1935; children: David Ozzie and Eric
hired as vocalist for Ozzie Nelson’s Orchestra, 1932;
Hilliard. Formed a successful orchestra, 1930; several
recording artist for Brunswick, Vocalian, Victor, and
guest appearances with wife Harriet on Red Skelton’s
Blue Bird; as Harriet Hilliard, was a leading lady in
radio program in early 1940s; radio series The Adven-
film from 1936; various radio appearances on Red
tures of Ozzie and Harriet, 1944–54; starred in ABC-
Skelton’s radio program in the 1940s, costarred with
Television’s popular The Adventures of Ozzie and
husband Ozzie in radio series The Adventures of Ozzie
Harriet 1952–66, also produced, wrote, and directed
and Harriet, 1944–54; star of television version of The
the series; occasional director of episodes for televi-
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, 1952–66. Recipient:
sion series such as Adam 12. Recipient: National Fam-
National Family Week Radio citation by the Interna-
ily Week Radio citation by the International Council
tional Council on Christian Family Life, 1947; Radio
on Christian Family Life, 1947; TV-Radio Mirror
and TV Women of Southern California Genii Award,
Reader’s Poll Best Husband-Wife Team in TV, seven
1960; Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year; TV-
consecutive years. Died in San Fernando Valley, Cali-
Radio Mirror Reader’s Poll Best Husband-Wife Team
fornia, June 3, 1975.
in TV, seven consecutive years. Died in Laguna Beach,
California, October 2, 1994.
Television Series (star, producer, head writer, and
director)
Television Series
1952–66 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
1952–66 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
1973 Ozzie’s Girls
1973 Ozzie’s Girls
Films
Sweetheart of the Campus, 1941; Hi Good Lookin’,
1976 Smash-up on Interstate 5
1944; People are Funny, 1945; Here Come the Nel-
sons, 1952; Love and Kisses (also writer, producer,
Films and director), 1965.
Follow the Fleet, 1936; She’s My Everything, 1936;
Sweetheart of the Campus, 1941; Canal Zone,
Radio
1942; Falcon Strikes Back, 1943; Here Come the
Joe Penner’s radio show, 1933; Red Skelton’s radio
Nelsons, 1952.
show, 1940s; The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,
1944–52.
Radio
Joe Penner’s radio show, 1933; Red Skelton’s radio
Publications
show, 1940s; The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,
1944–52. “The Greatest Guy in the World,” Coronet (July 1949)
Ozzie, 1973
Stage
The Impossible Years; State Fair.
Further Reading
“The Full Nelson,” Time (February 16, 1948)
Publications Holmes, John R., “The Wizardry of Ozzie: Breaking Character
in Early Television,” Journal of Popular Culture (Fall
“My Heart Belongs to My Three Men” (with 1989)
Cameron Shipp), Woman’s Home Companion (June “Mourning in Sitcomville,” New York Times (October 5,
1953) 1994)
1630
Netherlands, The
Netherlands, The
At first glance, the historical evolution of the broad- start with experimental television broadcasts for a few
casting system in the Netherlands—from a public ser- hundred viewers in the surroundings of the Philips
vice broadcasting monopoly to a liberalized dual headquarters in Eindhoven. From the start, govern-
system of public service and commercial broadcast- ment opted for a public-service approach to broadcast-
ing—seems in keeping with general developments in ing. This is why in 1951, the existing broadcasting
Western European broadcasting. However, its embed- associations were granted TV broadcasting licenses
dedness in Dutch society has equally shaped its spe- under the authority of an umbrella organization, the
cific evolution and contemporary look. National Television Foundation (NTS). But the popu-
It is impossible to explain the unique structure of lation was slow to adopt television in the 1950s be-
Dutch audiovisual media without the concept of “pil- cause of the high price of television sets in relation to
larization.” This sociocultural phenomenon describes average incomes at that time, the restricted reach and
how, from the end of the 19th century on, different re- airtime of the broadcasts, and the strong religious
ligious and ideological groups in Dutch society (Ro- views suggesting television was harmful (van der
man Catholics, protestants, socialists, conservatives, Haak and van Snippenburg).
liberals) divided society as a whole in segregated mi- In 1964 a commercial “pirate” station, Radio/TV
crocosms or “pillars.” Their networks of organizations North Sea (REM), began broadcasting from an off-
encompassed political parties, trade unions, education, shore oil rig in international waters, but was quickly
and leisure activities. It comes as no surprise, then, that shut down by the government. That same year a sec-
these “pillars” were highly interested in the emerging ond television channel, Nederland 2, was launched.
mass media. This resulted in a system of “pillarized The political pressure to open up the broadcasting sys-
pluralism” whereby the public service broadcasting is tem to commercial interests and new public license
not in the hands of the state, but overseen by non-profit holders increased in 1965, causing the fall of a
associations controlled by religious and ideological Christian-democrat and liberal coalition. The succeed-
currents in society. Although a process of cultural “de- ing government soon came up with a white paper on
pillarization” has been ongoing since the 1960s, with a the transformation of the broadcasting system into an
weakening of the societal importance of religious and “open system.”
ideological beliefs, it took much longer for the broad- These plans resulted in the 1967 Broadcasting Act,
casting structures to adapt to this change, and even to- the first specific broadcasting legislation in the Nether-
day part of their power remains intact. The irony is that lands since radio’s emergence, and a compromise be-
television, although initially confirming pillarization tween commercial and public interests. The Act
(van der Haak and van Snippenburg), actually contrib- confirmed the existing structure and the ban on com-
uted to this development since everybody watched ev- mercial television, but accepted the introduction of
erything available, and not only the program of the new players and advertising. Airtime quota and funds
relevant “pillar” (De Goede). were allocated according to the status (A, B, or C) of
Dutch television is commonly associated with Hil- the broadcasting association. The five existing associa-
versum, a city near Amsterdam and since radio days tions immediately received A-status (with 450,000
the country’s media center. It is in Hilversum that the members or more), subscribers to the program guide of
various radio broadcasting associations were estab- each association also counting as members. The
lished in the 1920s: the protestant “Dutch Christian Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS) was es-
Radio Association” (NVRV), the Roman Catholic tablished to play a coordinating role, provide studios
“Catholic Radio Association” (KRO), the social- and technical facilities, and produce a joint program of
democrat “Association of Workers Radio Enthusiasts” news, weather, and sports. The Foundation for Broad-
(VARA), the progressive protestant “Modern Protes- casting Advertising (STER) was to divide most of the
tant Radio” (VPRO) and the neutral “General Associa- advertising profits among the associations. The exist-
tion of Radio Broadcasting” (AVRO). ing license fee was thus complemented with advertis-
The Dutch electronics manufacturer Philips (today a ing revenues. The Television and Radio Broadcasting
multinational concern) received permission in 1948 to Corporation (TROS)—in fact a renewed REM—
1631
Netherlands, The
joined the system that same year. The protestant funda- for this commercial escapade, had to withdraw from
mentalist “Evangelical Broadcasting Corporation” the partnership, and RTL changed into RTL4. The sta-
(EO) followed in 1970, as did Veronica Broadcasting tion quickly attracted about a quarter of the Dutch tele-
Corporation (VOO or Veronica), a former offshore pi- vision audience, becoming market leader within a
rate radio station, in 1975. year. The 1980s boom in programming hours created a
The new “open system” stimulated competition need for cheap material with a huge popular appeal,
among associations, thus giving television broadcast- which was largely filled with U.S. soaps and other se-
ing a pseudo-commercial character (De Goede). With ries. Dallas and Falcon Crest, for instance, were
two new players, TROS and Veronica, lacking clear broadcast with great popular success (and the cultural
identification with a social or cultural group, the asso- protest of intellectuals). Only in the 1990s would the
ciations all promoted themselves in a quest for larger production of immensely popular domestic soap op-
audiences. In combination with a significant schedule eras reverse the U.S. dominance.
enlargement, many felt that the competition was low- The last decade of the century was undoubtedly the
ering production and programming standards, a phe- most dynamic era in terms of new stations, mergers,
nomenon labeled “Trossification” for the TROS and policy reforms. As a result, a new Media Act has
channel, which was the first to introduce this light en- been permanently “under construction” (van Reenen).
tertainment strategy. More and more talk shows, sit- At the same time, the development of European Union
coms and other foreign—especially American—series media regulations gradually reduced the scope of do-
brought a change of diet for an audience used to a pub- mestic policy to an “exercise in modesty” (De Goede,
lic broadcasting mix of “information, education and 1999). The 1990s started with the government com-
entertainment” (Manschot, 1993). missioning a report from consulting firm, McKinsey &
The public system came under growing outside Co., on measures designed to assist public broadcast-
threat from foreign cable stations and other developing to counter commercial television. This 1990 report
ments in the 1980s. A 1983 Christian right-wing coali- was to become the basis for several years of television
tion white paper on the future of the mass media policy. Broadcasting associations were given a fixed
developed into the 1988 Media Act, a second mile- space on one of the channels in order to make the three
stone in Dutch broadcasting policy. Commercial channels equally attractive to audiences and advertis-
broadcasting remained forbidden. The supervision of ers. The NOS retained its task of broadcasting news,
compliance with the Media Act was delegated to a Me- sports, and national events. But the newly founded
dia Authority. And the NOS split off its facilities into Netherlands Program Corporation (NPS) became re-
the private Dutch Broadcast Production Company sponsible for cultural issues, and minorities and young
(NOB). Broadcasting associations no longer were people’s programs. A cabinet of social democrats and
forced to use NOB facilities, which stimulated the liberals continued the move to liberalization in 1994.
growth of an independent audiovisual production sec- This led to a new organizational structure for the pub-
tor. To broaden the airtime, a third channel, Nederland lic system with an independent board of directors in
3, was launched in April 1988. charge. Since then the broadcasting organizations have
The overall intentions of the Media Act (keeping the been represented on a supervisory board charged with
system of pluralism in place, keeping commercial the main policy lines. And after more than 20 years, a
broadcasting out) was clearly out of step with Euro- new broadcasting association, Bart’s News Network
pean media developments (van der Haak and van Snip- (BNN) aimed at young people, entered the public sys-
penburg) The paradigm shift from public service tem in 1998.
broadcasting monopolies to a deregulated commercial It was in the arena of commercial broadcasting,
broadcasting environment swept across Western Eu- however, that most thorough changes took place. RTL
rope in the 1980s. But in the Netherlands, policy was Launched a second station, RTL 5, in 1992, heavily re-
again behind actual developments. In October 1989, lying on American series. Veronica left the public sys-
RTL Veronica began broadcasting via Astra satellites tem in 1995 to form the Holland Media Group (HMG)
from its base in Luxembourg using a “U-turn strategy.” with RTL. In 2000 Veronica left HMG and in 2003 is
Although presenting programs in Dutch produced in seeking a re-entry in the television market with other
the Netherlands and clearly aimed at a Dutch audience, partners. HMG has approximately a 40 percent market
it was recognized as a foreign station because it was share. The Arcade Group, a Dutch record company, en-
partly owned by the Luxembourg-based CLT (as well tered commercial television in 1995 with The Music
as by the Dutch station Veronica), and therefore admit- Factory (TMF) a very popular Dutch version of MTV
ted on Dutch cable. Veronica was severely punished (and since 2000 owned by MTV), and TV10. TV10
1632
Netherlands, The
changed its name with consecutive ownership of about 30 television stations, both public and com-
changes, to Fox 8 (FOX), and to V8 (SBS) in 2001. A mercial, domestic, foreign, and international, through
new channel, SBS6, began in 1995, part of the one of the densest cable networks in Europe. Soccer
Swedish-American Scandinavian Broadcasting Sys- and other sports programs have become by far the
tem (SBS) Group together with De Telegraaf, Nether- most popular program category, recently joined by
lands largest newspaper. This channel mainly reality TV shows.
broadcast reality TV, eroticism, and feature films. They In the 50 years of its existence, the Dutch broadcast-
launched a second channel, Net5, in 1999, directed at ing system has seen its boundaries between govern-
viewers from public broadcasting. Finally, pay-TV, ex- ment, business, and non-profit associations shifted
isting since 1984 as Filmnet and Canal Plus, currently considerably, the two former gaining in influence, the
owned by Vivendi, has not seemed to catch on. This is latter losing power (De Goede, 1999). This resulted in
not surprisingly considering the huge array of televi- a highly diversified dual landscape of public and com-
sion choices already available. mercial broadcasters, with a clear shift toward com-
Since the arrival of the commercial broadcasting mercialization, internationalization, and concentration,
companies, the public broadcasting organizations have although the government strongly supports the public
seen their market share shrink by half, to stabilize at broadcasting system.
around 40 per cent in 1997. But the market of indepen- The coming years of Dutch broadcasting will see
dent production companies has flourished, the most fa- digitization and Internet applications, currently in an
mous case being Endemol. The 1993 merger of Joop experimental phase. The introduction of thematic TV
van den Ende and John de Mol Productions, both pro- channels such as a news channel and a children’s chan-
ducing game shows, soaps, talk shows, reality TV, and nel are under consideration. Looking to future devel-
drama, formed one of the largest audiovisual compa- opments in technology, several public and private
nies in Europe. Van den Ende’s soap format Goede Ti- organizations have joined forces in the consortium
jden, Slechte Tijden (GTST) (Good Times, Bad Times) Digitenne, with a view to providing digital terrestrial
was one of the first domestically produced daily soaps television services.
in Europe in 1990. It soon became a key program of Philippe Meers
RTL4, and remains very popular. Endemol has diversi-
See also Big Brother; Public Service Broadcasting
fied its output with highly successful and internation-
ally distributed “emotion-TV” formats such as All You
Need is Love and the by now legendary Big Brother. Further Reading
The final episode of Big Brother broke all the Dutch
Beckers, W., “Audience Research in the Netherlands,” Commu-
ratings records, with 3.5 million viewers (in a popula- nications: The European Journal of Communication Re-
tion of about 16 million). Endemol, a transnational search 21/3 (1996)
producer with subsidiaries in more than 15 European De Goede, Peter, Omroepbeleid met en tegen de tijd: interacties
countries, turned the Netherlands into a prominent en instituties in het Nederlandse Omroepbestel 1919–1999
television format exporter. Telefónica, the Spanish [Broadcasting Policy in and Out of Time: Interactions and
Institutions in the Dutch Broadcasting System, 1919–1999],
telecom giant, acquired Endemol in 2000. Amsterdam: Cramwinckel, 1999 (with summary in English)
The public sector replied to the commercial compe- Noam, Eli, Television in Europe, New York and Oxford: Oxford
tition with yet another reform in 2000, focusing on University Press, 1991
channel branding, creating diverse and clear channel van der Haak, Kees, and Leo van Snippenburg, “The Nether-
profiles. Ned 1 is to be the in-depth channel inspired lands,” in Western Broadcasting at the Dawn of the 21st
Century, edited by Leen d’Haenens and Frieda Saeys, Berlin
by family values, Ned 2 the most accessible channel, and New York: Mouton De Gruyter, 2001
most likely to pinch viewers from commercial chan- van Reenen, Ben, “The Radio and Television System in the
nels, and Ned 3 also an in-depth channel, but guided Netherlands,” in Radio and Television Systems in Europe,
by culturally progressive values and tastes. The NOS edited by Christiane Matzen, Strasbourg: European Audiovi-
became the only licensee, with the associations re- sual Observatory, 2000
Wijfjes, Huub, editor, Omroep in Nederland: vijfenzeventig jaar
duced to participants in the license. The license fee medium en maatschappij 1919–1994 [Broadcasting in The
was replaced by a small income-tax rise. Netherlands: 75 Years of Medium and Society 1919–1994],
Today, viewers in the Netherlands have a wide range Zwolle: Waanders, 1994
1633
Networks: United States

Networks are organizations that produce or acquire the way. The law mandated that radio broadcasting sta-
rights to programs, distribute these on systems of inter- tions be allotted in a manner that equitably served the
connection, and secure uniform scheduled broadcasts various states and localities, but withheld actual station
on a dispersed group of local outlets. In commercial ownership of broadcast channels, in favor of renew-
broadcasting, “networking” was recognized at an early able licenses for limited periods. It also prohibited the
date as the clearest path to profitability, because the licensing of a person or entity that had been convicted
costs of program production were—and are—fixed, of unfair competition or monopolization. These pre-
and revenue turned on securing the maximum degree cepts carried over with the Communications Act of
of efficient distribution and exposure to mass audi- 1934, and shaped the relationship among stations, net-
ences. works and the government throughout the emergence
In the United States, the number of broadcast net- of television.
works existing at a particular time, and the prospects At the eve of American entry into World War II, the
for entry by new networks, have always been the com- Federal Communications Commission (FCC), acting
bined result of the current state of technology, in ten- under its powers to investigate and regulate stations,
sion with an extensive role for government regulation. concluded a probe of “chain broadcasting” and an-
Television broadcasting, tentatively begun prior to the nounced a series of prohibited practices in radio. These
American entry to World War II in 1941, was sus- included contracts that permitted networks to com-
pended for the duration of the war, and did not resume mand and resell advertising time for their own ac-
until the first wave of station activations in 1946 count, or to option time. The rulings also prohibited
through 1948. By then, the dynamics of technology the specific ownership of dual networks by a single en-
and regulation established for radio broadcasting al- tity, NBC being the singular example. The Supreme
ready had shaped the possibilities for television net- Court’s decision upholding these actions in 1943
works. prompted the divestiture of NBC Blue, acquired that
Beginning in 1920, radio entrepreneurs in the year by Lifesaver magnate Edward J. Noble, and be-
United States had developed an array of informational came part of the group American Broadcasting Com-
and entertainment fare, originated in live performances panies, Inc. (National Broadcasting Co. v. U.S., 319
at local stations, and increasingly at network studios in U.S. 190, 1943).
New York City, from which feeds to stations could be After 1945, as Americans turned to peace-time pur-
disseminated in real time over telephone lines. Com- suits, including the development of television, com-
mercials, like other copy, were read and performed mercial radio already was settled into a pattern, with
live. Strong local stations prospered in this system, but program fare dominated by two or, generously, per-
the highest return was enjoyed by two major networks, haps three networks, each of them fortified against
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and the Na- hard times by the ownership of a handful of highly-
tional Broadcasting Company (NBC) unit of a premier profitable local stations in the largest trading areas.
radio equipment manufacturer, Radio Corporation of The critical determinant of the number of networks
America (RCA). RCA operated dual networks, the that could be supported was—as it is today—the num-
Red and Blue. In radio, as was to be the case in televi- ber of local outlets that could be assured for network
sion, industry leadership was exercised by a charis- audience, by ownership or by contract.
matic executive and founder, Robert Sarnoff at NBC, By 1945 the FCC preliminarily had allotted some 19
William S. Paley at CBS, Allen B. DuMont, and a few VHF Channels, numbered 1 through 19, for television
others. broadcasting. Almost immediately Channels 14
The first comprehensive U.S. radio law, the Radio through 19 were reallocated to the military, and Chan-
Act of 1927, did not confer on government any ex- nel 1 was put aside for two-way radio. By the end of
press power to regulate networks directly, but empow- 1946, seven stations were broadcasting (all on Chan-
ered it to regulate stations engaged in “chain nels 2 through 6), and approximately 5,000 household
broadcasting.” This served to consolidate industry receivers were in use. From that point, and even in the
control by the network organizations already under- absence of detailed technical standards to guard
1634
against mutual interference, applications for new sta- In the complex fight over regulation DuMont Labo-
tions poured in. The FCC imposed a freeze on new ap- ratories had advocated a plan with a minimum of four
plications on September 30, 1948. Virtually all VHF frequencies allotted to each of the 140 largest
pre-freeze filers actually built broadcasting facilities, trading areas. Rebuffed at the FCC, DuMont never
so that by the time the freeze was lifted on 13 April achieved more than 10 primary or full schedule net-
1952, some 107 VHF stations had been activated in 63 work affiliates. As the few UHF operators incurred
markets, and receivers in use had grown to 15.5 mil- mounting losses, DuMont folded its network in 1955.
lion. Denver led the list of many important markets These by-products of the freeze and subsequent FCC
that had no television at all. During the freeze, NBC decision to grandfather incumbent stations and inter-
moved aggressively to apply for and activate stations mix VHF and UHF channels have led to harsh criti-
in the top markets. CBS got a late start, and proceeded cism of the FCC’s decisions.
to acquire its first stations by purchase. ABC and a Throughout this period, ABC was barely operating,
fourth network, DuMont Laboratories, participated ac- and Noble stated that he had never declared a dividend
tively in the FCC proceedings, but were unable or un- nor taken a salary through 1952. In 1953, however,
willing to initiate major station investment, pending ABC received FCC approval to merge with United
resolution of the knotty regulatory issues. Paramount Theaters. The chain had been spun off from
The framework adopted by the FCC in 1952 allotted Paramount Pictures Corporation, under court decree
television channels to specific communities through- that followed the Supreme Court’s antitrust decision of
out the United States, roughly in proportion to market 1948, upholding divestment of theatrical production
size. VHF Channels 2 through 13 and UHF channels from exhibition. The significance of government in-
14 to 83 were utilized, but as of 1952, virtually all TV volvement could not be more clear, with ABC’s very
sets were capable of VHF reception only. The first existence jeopardized by one government action, and
UHF set-top converter was introduced in March 1952. resolved favorably by another. ABC used its Holly-
The decision also sacrificed efficiency, and reduced the wood connections adroitly, teaming with a studio to
potential number of stations, by grandfathering the ex- co-venture a break-through program, to that date the
isting 107 outlets, helter-skelter wherever they had most expensively produced in history: Disneyland.
started. Practically speaking, the FCC’s allocations Collectively the networks could have only as many
provided only enough VHF outlets to provide two- affiliates as there were stations on the air. Commercial
channel service to about 90 percent of the population, VHF stations grew from 233 in 1954 to 458 in 1962.
and third-channel service to substantially less. NBC Commercial UHF stations stood at 121 in 1954, and
and CBS, each emerging with five powerful owned- struggled against the lack of UHF receivers. Many
and-operated stations, and program offerings spun off UHFs went dark and returned their licenses for cancel-
from their popular radio fare, quickly expanded affilia- lation, and by 1962 their numbers had shrunk to 83. In
tions. total, the commercial station universe as it grew
The Emmy Awards, first presented on January 25, roughly from 350 to 550 was adequate to support ap-
1949, were an accurate barometer of network emer- proximately two-and-a-half national networks. Local
gence. A local station, KTLA in Los Angeles, domi- stations, in the enviable position of having multiple
nated the awards for year 1948, with the most popular suitors, frequently left ABC with no local outlet.
program (Pantomime Quiz Time), most outstanding Congress enacted a law in 1962 mandating that all re-
personality (Shirley Dinsdale and her puppet, Judy ceivers be capable of UHF tuning, but it was only by
Splinters), and the station award. By the second year, the mid-1970s that local stations were plentiful enough
with KTLA still prominent, NBC cracked the line-up, for ABC to achieve full comparability.
jointly with its New York flagship KNBH, winning As the networks consolidated their control of station
best kinescope show (Texaco Star Theater) and per- time during the 1950s, a broad shift occurred in their
sonality (Milton Berle). A network spot for Lucky relationship with the sponsor, enhancing their control
Strike cigarettes won best commercial. In the third pre- even further. In the early part of the decade, shows typ-
sentation, for 1950, Alan Young and Gertrude Berg ically were produced by the sponsor live, or contracted
were best actor and actress, for CBS jointly with Los for by the sponsor and delivered to the network on ex-
Angeles independent KTTV, and their co-produced pensive film or kinescope. Production was centered in
Alan Young Show was recognized for best variety New York. With the introduction by Ampex of quadru-
show. Outstanding personality was NBC/KNBH’s plex videotape recording in 1956, it became possible
Groucho Marx. By the end of the FCC’s freeze these for programs to be produced and recorded anywhere,
networks had unqualified leadership of program origi- and the new orders for entertainment fare shifted to the
nation. concentration of expertise in Hollywood studios. In-
1635
creasingly, the network replaced the sponsor in devel- a regime of anti-cable regulation was firmly in place
opment, acquisition, and revision to final program- and for ten years it served to retard competition and
ming form. From the 1950s can be charted the preserve the networks’ position. A newer technological
realization of core concepts in prime-time program- device again led to significant change in this arrange-
ming, including the ensemble situation comedy, cop ment.
shows, westerns, and regularly scheduled newscasts. Domestic communications satellites were autho-
This period often is referred to as the Golden Age of rized in 1972, and by 1975 RCA and Western Union
television in the United States, perhaps precisely be- had space satellites launched and working. In 1975
cause of its experimental flavor. But while major mar- RCA sold time on its Satcom I for Home Box Office,
ket stations achieved immediate and impressive the first program service designed to bypass conven-
profitability, networking was still a gamble, the pro- tional delivery channels, and offer a unified program
gram performance remained uneven, and in 1961 lineup directly to cable systems and thus to the
critic-for-a-day Newton N. Minow described the total- home—in the true sense, a network. The following
ity as a “vast wasteland.” year, uncertainties surrounding the re-sale of broadcast
The true golden age of three-network hegemony programs to cable were resolved, with passage of a
probably dates from 1963, when each network inaugu- new Copyright Act requiring broadcasters to license to
rated a half-hour prime-time newscast, and network cablers under certain conditions, at below-market rates
television drew the entire nation together in grief after to be established through a bureaucratic process.
the assassination of President Kennedy. From 1963 un- The opportunity presented by the resolution of the
til the late 1970s, the networks created a refracted ver- two knottiest issues—distribution and rights—was
sion, shared by all, of the significant events of the day. first recognized by Ted Turner, not a cabler but a
This cohesion intensified with expanding use of color broadcaster, operator of WTCG in Atlanta (later,
transmissions and color set sales during the 1960s. WTBS), an independent UHF on Channel 17. By
One nation resonated with the networks’ triune voice, 1978, the FCC had been having second thoughts about
in a manner unparalleled in the past, and likely never the heavy hand it had placed on cable development.
again to be seen in the future. ABC, gradually shoring Turner approached the agency with a plan to offer
up its group of strong affiliates, and hiring a visionary Channel 17 to a common carrier he created for the pur-
programmer in Fred Silverman, finally used coverage pose, Southern Satellite Systems. In turn, Southern
of the Summer Olympics as the basis for its first full- would deliver the station by satellite to cable head-
season ratings victory in 1976–77. The “third net- ends, charging five cents per household per month. Be-
work’s” potential had been clear for years, but several cause embedded in FCC common carrier regulation
attempts to acquire ABC during the 1960s were re- was the idea of nondiscriminatory rates, for large and
buffed, and an attempted buyout by IT&T foundered in small customers (or cable systems) alike, Southern
1968, after criticisms were vetted during two years of needed a waiver to charge by the number of local sub-
FCC proceedings. scribers. Astonishingly, the FCC said yes. The debut of
The membership quota for this elite club of three Channel 17 as the first “super station” in 1980 assured,
networks, however, was eventually dismantled by a year by year, that the three-network share of the pro-
technology developing quietly during these same gram universe would continue to shrivel inexorably.
years—cable television. The FCC’s original frame- By 1981 the FCC also was in process of a cable
work of 1952 did not assure three-network or any net- “deregulation,” abandoning its 10-year folly of at-
work service, to all households, and was particularly tempting to re-bottle the genie of cable program origi-
deficient where terrain obstacles degraded reception nation. The networks, barred by FCC rules from
over the air. Community antenna television (CATV) owning cable systems, began to invest in new cable
was a local self-help response, tying hilltop repeaters program services side-by-side with cable companies,
to wires into the home. Because cablers did not utilize Turner, and others.
the broadcast spectrum, the government was uncertain With President Ronald Reagan taking office in
of its jurisdiction until a Supreme Court decision came 1981, the deregulatory thrust continued. The former
down in favor of a broad authority to regulate, U.S. v actor, when he thought about such matters, was willing
Southwestern Cable Co., 392 U.S. 157 (1968). There- to favor Hollywood studios in their primordial battles
after broadcasters, well aware of the potential competi- with the television networks, and to endorse the expan-
tion, leaned on the FCC to retard cable, specifically by sion of channels for program delivery. A cable televi-
forbidding the importation of distant signals that were sion bill, passed in 1984, pre-empted local rate
not available in the local market over-the-air. By 1970, regulation, and so gave the cable industry working
1636
capital to continue its strides as program creator and successful, but in no position to refurbish from work-
distributor. ing capital for the intensified program battles ahead.
These strides were being matched with the opening RCA and its NBC network were sold to General Elec-
of a wholly new channel into the home. Sony had in- tric in 1985 for $6.3 billion. General Electric had been
troduced a practical, consumer videotape player- instrumental in creating RCA in the 1920s before
recorder, the Beta VCR, in 1976, at a suggested retail David Sarnoff’s tenure in charge, and now closed the
price of $1,295. Recording time per tape was one hour. circle in an era more receptive to combinations.
Sony’s Japanese rival, Matsushita, which markets un- CBS entered this period smarting from a lengthy
der the name Panasonic, followed shortly with an in- battle with General William C. Westmoreland over the
compatible format that eventually became standard, CBS Reports documentary, The Uncounted Enemy: A
called VHS. Hollywood studios, led by Universal Pic- Vietnam Deception. The advocacy group, Accuracy in
tures and Disney, promptly brought a challenge in Fed- Media, Senator Jesse Helms, and Ted Turner were
eral Court, claiming that the device inherently was each, in 1985, separately talking up plans to acquire
useful only for stealing copyrighted material. The is- the network. CBS beat back these efforts with a $1 bil-
sue oscillated in court until 1984, when the U.S. lion stock repurchase, but was left with more debt, lit-
Supreme Court ruled that home taping for home use tle working capital, and a reduced stock valuation. The
was not an infringement of copyright (Sony Corp. v. board and the aging founder, Paley, passed effective
Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 [1984], control of the stock to Loews Corporation and its pro-
called the “Betamax case”). From that date, sales of prietor, Laurence Tisch. Soon the news division, suc-
home recorders and the rental of tapes exploded. The cessors of Edward R. Murrow, was pruned by 230
studios have come to enjoy greater revenue from cas- people. In 1987 CBS dropped to third place in the sea-
sette sales and rentals than from theatrical exhibition, son ratings for the first time.
and must look back in wonder at their temporary in- Ever since the sputtering start for UHF in the first
sanity when the player-recorders first were sighted in two decades of television, FCC commissioners had
North America. But for the networks, this technology spoken longingly of the desire, first to assure three-
presents long-term problems. The rating services have network service, and next to realize somehow the
assumed so far that programs can be credited as dream of a fourth network. By the time the fourth net-
viewed if they are recorded, but it may become appar- work arrived, family viewing had fractured into
ent in time that the facts of actual audience behavior discrete-person viewing, multi-set households were
are otherwise. In the United States (unlike some other common, and broadcast networks had to contend with
countries, such as Britain), VCRs in their most typical cable networks, premium cable, home video, even
use occupy the household’s attention for non-network computer games.
fare such as movies, just coming off their initial the- Nevertheless, the fabled fourth network did come in
atrical run. 1990, when Rupert Murdoch, an Australian publisher,
As cable and cassettes continued to splinter the mar- naturalized as a U.S. citizen to make him eligible for
ket, Reagan’s FCC abolished many of the rules and the deal, acquired the strong major-market grouping of
policies that had stood in the background of television Metro Media stations, and placed them under the same
broadcasting also. In 1984, the rule restricting each roof with the 20th Century-FOX studio. Murdoch es-
television network to the ownership of a maximum chewed ABC’s original 1950s approach—program-
five VHF stations, and seven VHF plus UHF, was re- ming mostly cannon fodder against its rivals on a full
placed with a quota of up to twelve VHF so long as the seven nights—instead making a staged entry with two
station grouping did not exceed 25 percent of all TV nights, then three and four. The FOX network finally
households. While this liberalization was still at the attained a full-time run, and in less than five years
discussion stage at the FCC, Thomas S. Murphy, chair- from launch, FOX could first be seen actually winning
man of the Capital Cities station group, approached a prime-time slot here and there. In 1994 FOX pur-
ABC about a merger. Once the rule was finalized, Cap- chased rights to the National Football Conference
ital Cities in 1986 announced the acquisition of the (NFC), building from sports, and luring affiliates in
much larger network, for $3.5 billion, with financing NFC territories, moves taken from the ancient game
from Warren E. Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. plan on which ABC’s strategy had previously been
By 1986, RCA was a diminished echo of the indus- built.
trial giant of the post-war years. Its equipment markets The rise of FOX placed new pressure on FCC rules
had been overtaken by Japanese manufacturers. Its intended to adjust the playing field between program
television network remained competitive and highly suppliers and the networks. These rules imposed a
1637
quota on network self-produced fare, by forbidding the sion through the WB network, HBO, Turner Classic
networks to own rights for secondary distribution of Movies and TNT, CNN and CNN Headline News,
the programs they originated (called the Fin-Syn Warner Brothers Television, and other program origi-
Rules), and by keeping an hour of prime time out of nators, and major footprints in online services, books
the hands of networks, reserved for local stations to and magazines, to mention only the highlights.
program, usually by purchase from syndicators (the Since the advent of U.S. television in 1941, there
Prime-Time Access Rule). Because Fox combined a never has been a regulatory change—permitting com-
network with a studio, it sought and obtained waivers, binations not previously allowed—that did not trigger
and soon the rules were repealed for all networks. moves by the affected parties to the full, lawful outer
By 1994, the liberalization of ground rules embold- limits. In 2003 the FCC voted to liberalize most of its
ened three more Hollywood studios to try their hand at remaining restrictions on media ownership, including
networking directly. Warner Brothers launched a net- the phase out of “cross-ownership” restrictions in
work in its own name, and Universal, which had more than one category of mass media, and an increase
grown to eminence as a prime source for NBC, teamed in the maximum audience that could be served by
with Paramount, proud source of the inexhaustible network-owned stations, from 35 percent to 45 per-
Star Trek franchise, to form UPN (United Paramount cent, or higher if the stations broadcast in UHF. But
Network). this time the implications appeared obvious to a broad
In 1995, Capital Cities/ABC agreed to be acquired cross-section of the public, from the National Rifle As-
by Walt Disney Studios for $19 billion in cash and sociation to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. The
stock. The Disney combination with Capital Cities was proposals created a negative reaction in public com-
the opening round of a new level of consolidation ment and meetings when proposed, and then a storm of
among few great communications trusts equipped to objections when adopted 3–2 by a sharply divided
provide multiple channels of information, entertain- FCC. Both houses of Congress appeared poised to roll
ment, and merchandizing in coordinated fashion back some or all, unless dissuaded by the Bush admin-
throughout the world. istration.
In 1999 Viacom and CBS (acquired earlier by a If the latest regulations go into effect they will
strong group owner, Westinghouse) merged, in the prompt a new wave of consolidations. For all the heat
largest such conglomeration at that time, valued at $50 they have generated, they are but the capstone of a 20-
billion. From the Viacom side, the merged entity in- year bi-partisan trend. Another FCC action at the end
cluded Paramount, Blockbuster Video, television sta- of 2003 may turn out to have even greater significance.
tions, publishing, and other media. Westinghouse/CBS News Corporation, the owner of FOX, was permitted
brought to the table its television group, but also from to acquire the ownership of DirecTV, which had a di-
Infinity a major radio group and outdoor advertising. rect satellite feed to eleven million homes, and was the
This combination was possible only because the new second largest pay-TV provider (after cable TV giant
Telecommunications Act of 1996 abolished the numer- Comcast). No “vertical” combination of program and
ical limit on television stations in common ownership, distribution assets quite like this has been seen at any
and provided a liberalized cap of 35 percent of national time since the motion picture combinations were bro-
audience for any one station owner. The Viacom/CBS ken up in the 1950s. In blessing this merger, the FCC
merger also came in the immediate aftermath of an noted that the new company planned by the end of
FCC action repealing the “dual network” ban that had 2004 to put local TV stations on the satellite—known
divested NBC Blue in 1941. Bill Clinton’s arrival in as local-into-local, for the 100 largest markets.
1993 gradually shifted the partisan striping of the FCC By 2002, 67 percent of households had cable televi-
Commissioners. But the bedrock principles in Wash- sion, providing at least potential competition for satel-
ington, D.C., did not change much: receptivity to mar- lites. Eighty-five percent of homes subscribed to a
ket forces and competition in theory, and receptivity to multi-channel video service, so that as few as 15 per-
large media players getting their wish lists in practice. cent of homes were served by over-the-air broadcast
That power was drifting away from the “club” of only. The slow emergence of digital television will
three—now four—was evident in the rise of Time increase options—eventually—by enabling multi-
Warner, or AOL Time Warner, as it was dubbed at the casting of several feeds on a station’s video channel.
$183 billion merger in 2000. Without ownership of any Internet streaming gradually will become more practi-
one of the “major” networks, Time Warner, with all the cal, in step with broadband deployment.
growing pains accompanying the initial years, was and Unbound from terrestrial broadcasting, and even
remains the most highly capitalized media organiza- from the idea of a single channel, what will a network
tion in the world. It has a pervasive impact on televi- look like? The answer is already seen on satellite and
1638
cable today. The CNN franchise, a Ted Turner legacy Book: Four Decades of Network Programming from Sign-on
acquired by Time Warner, now is seen on cable as to Sign-off. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984
Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Watching TV: Four
CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Decades of American Television, New York: McGraw Hill,
Headline News, CNN fn, and CNN Interactive. CNN 1982
Radio is a cable service. All of these can supply news Cooper, R.B., Jr., “The Infamous Television Allocation Freeze
briefs to other channels in the corporate family and can of 1948,” Community Antenna Television Journal (March
be re-purposed in books, magazines, and elsewhere. 1975)
Inglis, Andrew F., Behind the Tube: A History of Broadcasting
The logical basis for networking in mass media will Technology and Business, Boston: Focal, 1990
endure. Production costs are fixed, so the advantage is Kiernan, Thomas, Citizen Murdoch, New York: Dodd Mead,
with those who can achieve the greatest exposure. Ex- 1986
orbitant capital costs in satellite, cable, and high-end MacDonald, J. Fred, One Nation under Television, New York:
digital origination are unlikely to vanish. But the new Pantheon, 1990
Metz, Robert, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, Chicago:
demand for customization and niche programming Playboy, 1975
points in a very different direction. The large network McChesney, Robert W., Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Com-
organizations may have no inherent advantage in munication Politics in Dubious Times, New York: New
reaching a local, specialist, or individualized audience. Press, 2000
That provides a possible opening for nimble, adaptive, Owen, Bruce M., The Internet Challenge to Television, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1999
and small services to endure and even thrive, embrac- Paul, Michael, and James Robert Parish, The Emmy Awards: A
ing new technologies as they emerge. In the absence of Pictorial History, New York: Crown, 1970
any governmental brake on consolidation, that would Sloan Commission on Cable Communications, On the Cable:
have to be the hope, at least, for any society that de- The Television of Abundance, New York: McGraw-Hill,
pends for its survival on the free flow of information to 1971
Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes From the Sur-
its citizens. vivors, New York: Delacourte Press, 1976
Michael Couzens
See also American Broadcasting Company; Government Studies
Columbia Broadcasting System; FOX Broadcast- Federal Communications Commission, Report on Chain Broad-
ing Company; National Broadcasting Company; casting, Commission order no. 37, docket no. 5060, Wash-
UPN Television Network; WB Network ington, D.C.: The Commission May 1941
Federal Communications Commission, Second Interim Report
of the Office of Network Study: Television Network Program
Further Reading Procurement, Part 1, Washington, D.C.: The Commission,
Auletta, Ken, Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost 1965
Their Way, New York: Random House, 1991 Federal Communications Commission, Network Inquiry Spe-
Bagdikian, Ben H., The Media Monopoly, Boston, Massachu- cial Staff, New Television Networks: Entry, Jurisdiction,
setts: Beacon, 1992; 6th edition, 2000 Ownership and Regulation, volume 1: Final Report; volume
Barnouw, Erik, The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting 2: Background Reports, Washington, D.C.: The Commis-
in the United States, vol. 3, New York: Oxford University sion, October, 1980
Press, 1970 U.S. House of Representatives (85th Congress, 2nd Session),
Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele- Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Network
vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 1975; revised Broadcasting [the “Barrow Report”], House Report no.
edition, 1990 1297, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
Bedell, Sally, Up the Tube: Prime Time TV in the Silverman 1958
Years, New York: Viking, 1981 U.S. House of Representatives (88th Congress, 1st Session),
Block, Alex Ben, Outfoxed: Marvin Davis, Barry Diller, Rupert Television Network Program Procurement, House Report
Murdoch, Joan Rivers, and the Inside Story of America’s no. 281, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Of-
Fourth Television Network, New York: St. Martin’s Press, fice, 1963
1990 U.S. House of Representatives (97th Congress, 1st Session),
Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Telecommunications
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 in Transition: The Status of Competition in the Telecommu-
Brown, Les. Televi$ion: The Business behind the Box, New nications Industry, majority report, Committee Print 97-
York: Harcourt Brace, 1971 V, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, The TV Schedule 1981
1639
New Zealand
Neuseeland
As observers have noted, there is considerable irony in of broadcasting time to fill made imported programs
the fact that New Zealand, the first nation to legislate even more attractive to cost-conscious executives.
for state control of radio waves with the Wireless They were ten to twenty times cheaper than domestic
Telegraphy Act of 1903, should have created what the productions, filling the screen for two days for the
reforming Minister of Broadcasting, Richard Prebble, price of one hour of home-produced material. By the
claimed was “the most open communications market mid-1980s, imports were providing the majority of
in the world” 86 years later. The development of tele- programs but taking only 4 percent of the television di-
vision has been at the centre of this movement from vision’s total expenditure. When a UNESCO study
strong state direction to a competitive marketplace. calculated local content on television in 1983, Great
In 1935, the first Labour administration set up the Britain logged 85 percent, Australia 50 percent, and
National Broadcasting Service as a government de- New Zealand 25 percent—including sports, game
partment to bring the emerging medium under public shows, news, and current affairs—strong evidence that
control. The following year, 22 private radio stations in a market of only three million people, financial logic
were nationalized to create a state monopoly. worked powerfully against public television’s ability
A government inquiry into the prospects for televi- to reflect the full diversity of national life.
sion was appointed in the 1940s but did not report un- Despite the rebuff to the private sector lobby in 1972,
til 1957. It advocated a public monopoly, and a full a limited form of competition was introduced in 1974
service was eventually launched in 1960. Its take-off when NZBC’s two channels became separate operating
coincided with a major change in the overall organiza- companies and entered into vigorous competition for
tion of broadcasting when, in 1961, the old National viewers and advertising. This pushed programming to-
Broadcasting System became the New Zealand Broad- ward a more populist, entertainment-oriented style.
casting Corporation (NZBC), an institution closer to Television viewing increased appreciably.
the BBC model. This fueled renewed pressure from private compa-
Because of the country’s relatively small popula- nies wishing to enter the increasingly lucrative market
tion, it was clear that the license fee would not gener- for television advertising. In 1976, the newly elected
ate sufficient income to cover the costs of the new (conservative) National Government responded posi-
service, and so advertising was allowed from the out- tively with a Broadcasting Act that set up a quasi-
set as a supplementary source of income. Conse- judicial Broadcasting Tribunal, with the power to
quently, although the NZBC looked to the BBC as a license new stations by issuing broadcasting warrants.
model, it never enjoyed the same relative indepen- However, it took rather longer to break the public
dence from commercial pressures, or from political monopoly than many early enthusiasts had anticipated.
overlordship, as its British counterpart. The private consortium that later became the country’s
As a national monopoly it was expected to reflect first terrestrial commercial service, TV3, lodged an ap-
and foster national culture and national identity. How- plication for a warrant in 1984. It obtained a favorable
ever, its ability to do this was severely limited by fi- decision in August 1987 but a judicial review in their
nancial constraints. The start-up costs of the new favor was not handed down until September 1988. The
television service were substantial. Constructing a channel finally went on air in November 1989. It en-
transmitter system across a huge, topographically diffi- tered a depressed economy encumbered with debts ac-
cult land area was particularly expensive. Compara- crued from the protracted tribunal process and went
tively little funding was therefore available for original into receivership after only six months. It had also un-
program production, and scheduling relied heavily on derestimated the public channels’ ability to fight their
imported material, particularly from Britain. By the corner.
late 1960s, NZBC was the largest purchaser of BBC In addition to establishing the tribunal, the 1976 Act
programs in the world. had also replaced the old Broadcasting Service with
In 1972, the organization successfully fought off a the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand
bid to introduce a competitive commercial service, and (BCNZ), a publicly owned institution with two major
itself launched a second channel. Having more hours operating divisions: radio, and Television New
1640
New Zealand
Zealand (TVNZ). The two television channels were company in December 1988 in preparation for in-
brought back under unified control and run as comple- creased competition, responded aggressively in an ef-
mentary services. The government also addressed the fort to cut costs and increase revenues. Staffing
organization’s mounting deficit produced by the costs numbers were cut and employees moved to limited-
of launching the second channel and converting from term individual contracts. Much of the programming
black-and-white transmissions to color. In 1977, they formerly made in-house was contracted out to inde-
agreed to retire the debt on the condition that future dependent producers. Internal subsidiaries looked for
velopments were funded from revenues. To underline outside clients. And the organization moved to spread
the point the license fee was frozen. By 1993 it stood at its interests beyond its traditional business of mass-
NZ$110, by which point, if it had been index-linked to market national broadcasting. It acquired a 35 percent
inflation since 1975, it would have been NZ$280. stake in Sky, formed a partnership with Clear Commu-
Faced with a capped income from the license fee, nications, the second force in the emerging telecom-
TVNZ set out to attract more advertising revenue, suc- munications market, and entered the burgeoning
cessfully increasing its overall share of the advertising overseas broadcasting market with a 29.5 percent stake
market from 21 percent to 30 percent in the ten years in Asia Business News.
from 1977. By 1987 advertising accounted for 80 per- It also retained its dominant position in the national
cent of its total revenues, helping it to record a return television market. By October 1990, TVNZ’s two
on equity of close to 20 percent. channels still commanded an 80 percent share of the
This more commercially minded attitude ran television audience, as against TV3’s 17.3 percent and
counter to the recommendations of the Royal Commis- Sky’s 1.5 percent. Its share of television advertising
sion on Broadcasting that had sat between 1984 and however showed a steeper decline, dropping from 100
1985. It had advocated a strong public-service system percent in 1984, before the advent of competition, to
with limits on advertising levels and a local program 70 percent ten years later. At the same time, TVNZ lost
quota. But even as it reported, it sounded like an echo its monopoly control over the license income.
from the past. The 1989 Broadcasting Act transferred responsibil-
As a division within a public corporation, TVNZ was ity for collecting and distributing the public broadcast-
free to retain any earnings and reinvest them. The trea- ing fee to a new body, the Broadcasting Commission,
sury, however, favored returning them to the public with a particular responsibility for funding local pro-
purse for general use. Its 1984 briefing to the incoming duction. It later adopted the title New Zealand on Air
government floated the idea of converting commer- (NZOA). Although anyone could bid for funds, TVNZ
cially viable public operations into state-owned trading held on to its dominant position with 76 percent of
enterprises (SOEs), which would function as private- NZOA’s 1992 production budget going to programs
sector businesses and return a dividend to the govern- made by or for its two channels. A substantial portion
ment. The process began in 1986. Nine new SOEs in of this figure was spent on the medical soap opera
various sectors, including telecommunications, were Shortland Street, NZOA’s major prime-time vehicle
established, and at the end of 1988 the principle was ex- for representing a changing national culture.
tended to radio and television broadcasting. Although the introduction of competition has signif-
However, TVNZ’s capacity to increase its revenues icantly increased the number of television services
was affected by a radical shift in the terms of competi- available within New Zealand, there is heated debate
tion in the television marketplace initiated by two key as to whether it has extended the range of program-
pieces of legislation passed in 1989. In response to ming on offer.
widespread concern about the costs and delays of the tri- Critics of the reforms point to the cultural costs of
bunal process for granting new licenses, the government the minimal restrictions on commercial operators, the
introduced the Radio Communications Act. This allo- intensified competition for ratings points, and the shift
cated radio frequencies by tender, the winning bidder toward transnational ownership with the removal of all
becoming the frequency “manager” for a 20-year term restrictions on foreign holdings in television in 1991.
with freedom to pass the license on to another party. The They point to the absence of any quota to protect local
first auction of national and regional UHF frequencies in programming, to NZOA’s inability to compel stations
1990 opened the market to several new services. They to show the programs it has funded in favorable slots,
included Sky Network, the country’s first pay-TV ser- and to the marked increase in advertising time, which
vice, rebroadcasting satellite sports, news, and film ser- gives more space to commercial speech and less to
vices; a regional service based in Canterbury in the other voices. Although the figures are contested, one
South Island; and a racing channel, Action TV. government report suggested that between 1988 and
TVNZ, which had become a separate operating 1991, advertising on the two TVNZ channels in-
1641
New Zealand
creased from an average of 9–10 minutes per hour to Blythe, Martin, Naming the Other Images of the Maori in New
15 minutes. Zealand Film and Television, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scare-
crow Press, 1994
This eclipse of public-service ideals by commercial Cross, Iain, The Unlikely Bureaucrat: My Years in Broadcast-
imperatives is, critics argue, part of a pattern of change ing, Wellington: Allen and Unwin, 1988
that has produced plurality without diversity. Whether Dennis, Jonathan, and Jan Bieringa, editors, Film in Aotearoa-
this pattern will be broken or reinforced by current New Zealand, Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1992
moves towards multimedia convergence and interac- Harris, Mike, “Kiwis Cotton to Comedies,” Variety (15 June
1992)
tivity remains a central question. Hawke, G.R., editor, Access to the Airwaves: Issues in Public
Graham Murdock Sector Broadcasting, Wellington: Victoria University Press,
1990
Further Reading Smith, Paul, and Don Groves, “New Zeal for Kiwi Film, Tube,”
Variety (10 October 1994)
Bell, Avril, “‘An Endangered Species’: Local Programming in Spoonley, Paul, and Walter Hirsh, editors, Between the Lines:
the New Zealand Television Market,” Media, Culture and Racism and the New Zealand Media, Auckland: Heinemann,
Society (April 1995) 1990
Newhart, Bob (1929– )

U.S. Comedian, Actor
Bob Newhart is one of a few television performers to guard reporting King Kong’s climb up the Empire
have starred in two highly successful series. His subtle, State Building, Abraham Lincoln’s publicist coaching
ironic humor and deadpan delivery served him well as him on the Gettysburg address, and Sir Walter
the star of The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s and Raleigh’s boss hearing about the discovery of tobacco
Newhart in the 1980s. In both programs he had the op- (“You stick it between your lips . . . you set fire to it?”).
portunity to display his greatest strength as an actor: Many of these routines were played out as telephone
his ability to be a great reactor. While the characters he conversations, of which the audience heard only
portrayed were a bit quirky, those surrounding him Newhart’s side; often he ended the conversation with
were so much more bizarre that Newhart seemed an is- an indignant “Same to you, fella!”
land of sanity as he responded to their zaniness. This Newhart was one of several cerebral comedians who
calm, controlled style also allowed him to take on found favor in the early 1960s, but he always seemed
some risky subjects (death, for instance) without of- more accessible than the others, like the kind of guy peo-
fending his audience. As Newhart once told an inter- ple would invite into their living rooms. Soon, that is
viewer, this style “has allowed me to say outrageous where he was. On the strength of his first album, he was
things with the facade of someone who didn’t look like invited to perform on the Emmy Awards telecast in
they would be saying outrageous things.” 1960. His appearance went over so well that NBC gave
Newhart became a television star in a rather round- him his first TV series, a comedy/variety program called,
about fashion. In the late 1950s, following college, like his 1970s sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show. It was
army service, and a few short-term jobs, he appeared critically acclaimed and won an Emmy as Best Comedy
to have settled into an accounting career, but his hobby Series of the 1961–62 season, but it was canceled after
was performing comedy routines on radio. Some of his that season due to low ratings. (Newhart’s subsequent hit
demonstration tapes so impressed Warner Brothers’ series were occasionally nominated for Emmys, but they
recording division that Warner signed him to record a never won. Newhart himself was twice nominated for
comedy album, even though he had never performed Best Actor in a Comedy Series, for Newhart, but lost
on the concert stage. His first album, The Button-Down both years to Michael J. Fox in Family Ties.)
Mind of Bob Newhart, was a major hit in 1960. His hu- Throughout the 1960s, Newhart performed with
mor was intelligent and original; some of his now- great success in nightclubs and on records, and with
classic routines involved an inexperienced security less success in films, but he remained familiar to tele-
1642
Newhart, Bob
vision audiences through frequent guest appearances

on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and other
variety programs. When Newhart returned to series
television in 1972, he won both critical and popular ac-
claim as Chicago psychologist Dr. Bob Hartley in The
Bob Newhart Show. The show was one of the best of
the ensemble comedies, many of them produced by the
MTM company, that became so popular in the 1970s.
Its humor was sophisticated, but with a twist: it could
laugh at Bob’s fixation on death after he nearly fell
down an elevator shaft, and it dealt sympathetically
with controversial subjects, such as the homosexuality
of one of Bob’s patients. Unlike programs produced by
the Norman Lear organizations, however, The Bob
Newhart Show was not primarily concerned with so-
cial issues, but with human foibles. It was exception-
ally well written and had well-drawn supporting
characters played by talented actors. Each cast mem-
ber had an opportunity to shine, but Newhart was the
calm center of it all, reacting dryly to strange charac-
ters and events, and patiently trying to explain various
situations to people who were not interested in his ex-
planations. The program also incorporated some of
Newhart’s most successful stand-up gimmicks, such as
his one-sided telephone conversations.
After six seasons, The Bob Newhart Show went off Bob Newhart.
the air voluntarily. Four years later, its star was back Courtesy of the Everett Collection
with a new series, Newhart, in which he played Dick
Loudon, a New York writer of “how-to” books who
producers, Rob Long and Dan Staley of Cheers, had im-
decides to open an inn in Vermont. The premise, in
pressive pedigrees, but the show never took hold with
some ways, was not all that different than that of the
audiences and lasted less than one season. In 2003, Bob
earlier series. Bob Hartley had to be understanding of
Newhart had a guest-star role on three episodes of ER,
all his patients, no matter how difficult they were; Dick
as an architect who is going blind due to macular degen-
Loudon had to be nice to all his guests, despite any
eration, and commits suicide. It is one of the few dra-
pains they caused him. The show had excellent writing
matic roles Newhart has played in his career.
and a strong supporting cast, and again Newhart’s
Trudy Ring
deadpan, ironic presence was at the center of a uni-
verse of eccentric, in some cases truly weird, people. See also Bob Newhart Show, The; Newhart; Mary
In the 1990s Newhart again performed primarily in Tyler Moore Show, The; Tinker, Grant
clubs and concerts, but he gave series television two
more tries. In 1992 he starred in Bob, playing cartoonist Bob Newhart. Born George Robert Newhart in Oak
Bob McKay. The show had a brief run, was revamped, Park, Illinois, September 29, 1929. Educated at Loyola
and had another brief run. Newhart, however, needed University, Chicago, B.Sc., 1952. Married: Virginia
stronger supporting characters than this series provided. Quinn, 1963; children: Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and
In 1997 he was teamed with a formidable costar, Judd Courtney. Served in U.S. Army, 1952–54. Accountant,
Hirsh (Taxi), in a sitcom titled George and Leo. Newhart U.S. Gypsum Company, 1955; copywriter, Fred Niles
played George, a staid, mild-mannered bookstore owner Films Company, 1958; rose to popularity with phono-
on Martha’s Vineyard whose life is thrown into chaos graph recordings of comedy routines, many of which
when Leo, the father of his son’s fiancée and a petty featured Newhart in one-sided telephone conversa-
crook from Las Vegas, moves in with him. Although tions with prominent persons; numerous television
few people realized it, Newhart continued in this series guest appearances as stand-up comedian throughout
the tradition of using part of his name in the title of the 1960s; starred in two long-running series, The Bob
series, because George is his given first name. The leads Newhart Show and Newhart. Recipient: Emmy Award,
in George and Leo were certainly proven talents and the 1962; Peabody Award, 1962; Sword of Loyola Award,
1643
Newhart, Bob
1975; inducted into the Academy of Television Arts Films

and Sciences Hall of Fame, 1993. Hell Is for Heroes, 1962; Hot Millions, 1968; On a
Clear Day You Can See Forever, 1970; Catch-22,
1970; Cold Turkey, 1971; The Rescuers (voice),
Television Series
1977; Little Miss Marker, 1980; First Family, 1980;
1961–62 The Bob Newhart Show
The Rescuers Down Under (voice), 1990; In and
1964 The Entertainers
Out, 1997; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The
1972–78 The Bob Newhart Show
Movie (1998); Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and
1982–90 Newhart
Blonde (2003); Elf (2003).
1992–93 Bob
1997–98 George and Leo
Further Reading
Made-for-Television Movies Mayerly, Judine, “The Most Inconspicuous Hit on Television: A
Case Study of Newhart,” Journal of Popular Film and Tele-
1974 Thursday’s Game vision (Fall 1989)
1980 Marathon Sorenson, Jeff, Bob Newhart, New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1991 The Entertainers 1988
Newman, Sydney (1917–1997)

British Programming Executive and Producer
Sydney Newman has been seen as the most significant BBC, and ABC was a regional company given the
agent in the development of British television drama. franchise for supplying weekend programming in the
He presided over the transformation of television North and Midlands. Even before Newman’s arrival as
drama from a dependence on theatrical material and head of Drama at ABC, the company had acquired a
forms to a significant art form in its own right. How- reputation for some of the best ITV drama. Its Arm-
ever, this achievement does not belong to Newman chair Theatre anthology was transmitted every Sunday
alone; his skill could be located in a successful ability evening, inheriting a large audience from the highly
to exploit the best of already favorable circumstances popular variety show Sunday Night at The London
with an incorrigible enthusiasm and clarity of vision. Palladium, which preceded it in the schedule.
Born in Toronto in 1917, Newman trained initially Newman took over from Dennis Vance as drama
as a commercial artist, before joining the National head in April 1958. Like Rudolph Cartier at the BBC,
Film Board of Canada as film editor, director, and ex- Newman arrived in Britain unimpressed with the state
ecutive producer. While with the board, he made of television drama. He also arrived during a sea
award-winning documentary films and worked with change in ITV’s fortunes; after two years of loss, the
John Grierson. He subsequently spent a year as a new commercial ITV network companies were just be-
working observer for NBC Television in New York, ginning to make substantial profits, and by 1958 televi-
before becoming supervisor of Drama at the Canadian sion audiences for their programs reached over 70
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It was there, work- percent. At the same time, the renaissance of British
ing on General Motors Theatre, that he developed the theater was well underway. As Newman admitted to
policy of working with contemporary dramatists who the Daily Express on January 5, 1963:
attempted to confront current issues in their work. I came to Britain at a crucial time in 1958 when the
In 1958 he moved to Britain to work for ABC Tele- seeds of Look Back in Anger were beginning to flower. I
vision Ltd., one of the commercial companies that am proud that I played some part in the recognition that
made up the ITV network. In 1955, commercial televi- the working man was a fit subject for drama, and not just
sion broke the broadcasting monopoly held by the a comic foil in middle-class manners.
1644
Newman, Sydney
Inspired by his experience in drama at the CBC, and raling in and between the sets and actors, until their
unimpressed by the BBC’s continuing policy of “mop- movement itself becomes the significant performance.
ping up” old theater scripts (according to Newman), he This new spectrum of theme and style can be seen in
immediately set about organizing a policy of produc- other plays such as “The Trouble with Our Ivy”
ing plays written for the medium, plays that would re- (1961), “A Night Out” (Harold Pinter, 1959), and “No
flect and project the experience and concerns of a new Trams to Lime Street” (Alun Owen, 1958).
working-class audience. As Newman put it in a 1979 Newman’s real insight—and the real difference be-
interview, “I said we should have an original play pol- tween his work and that of the BBC of the late
icy with plays that were going to be about the very 1950s—was his estimation of the television audience
people who owned TV sets—which is really a as discerning, intelligent, and capable of handling new
working-class audience.” and innovative subject matter. As a producer, he saw
This explicitly populist “theater of the people” himself as a “creative midwife” bringing together the
quickly became characterized by the press as “kitchen best technical and creative skill.
sink” drama—an unfair appraisal considering the wide In fact, Newman’s organizational abilities were to
variety of plays and genres that Newman’s Armchair find a home at the BBC. In another well-timed move,
Theatre produced. What the programs did have in Newman began work as the head of the BBC Drama
common was their ambition to capture contemporary Group in January 1963. At this point, the BBC under
trends and popular experience, and reflect these back director-general Hugh Greene was beginning a period
to the television audience. To this end, Newman dis- of modernization and liberalization. Newman, in a less
covered and nurtured new writers, some of whom were hands-on, more executive capacity, reorganized the
to become the best of their generation, including Clive drama department and oversaw the production of the
Exton, Alun Owen, and Harold Pinter. controversial Wednesday Play drama anthology. Here
Newman encouraged the transformation of the tele- Newman was able to draw upon a creative team of
vision landscape not only in terms of subject matter writers including Dennis Potter, John Hopkins, Neil
but also in terms of style. If the content of British tele- Dunn, and David Mercer, and directors such as Don
vision drama consisted of bourgeois theater and its Taylor, Ken Loach, and Gareth Davies. He left the
limited concerns, then—according to Newman—the BBC in 1967 and returned to Canada, where he
shooting style was also limited, constrained by a static worked again for the National Film Board and the Na-
respect for theatrical performance conventions. New- tional Film Finance Corporation.
man collected a group of young directors from North In retrospect, Newman’s conscious characterization
America, such as Philip Saville, Ted Kotcheff, and of BBC drama output as static and middlebrow is un-
Charles Jarrott, as well as poaching directors from the fair. His counterpart at the BBC during the late 1950s,
BBC. With these directors—in particular, Saville and Michael Barry, also attracted new young original writ-
Kotcheff—he encouraged stylistic as well as thematic ers (including Paul Scott and John Mortimer) and hired
changes, insisting on a new, self-conscious, mobile young directors such as John Jacobs and Don Taylor.
camera style for the drama productions. As Kotcheff However, it was the newness and innovation that New-
recalled: “We wanted to push against the limitations of man encouraged in his drama output that is most sig-
the medium, the way it was presently covered—to ap- nificant: his concentration on the potential of
proach the freedom of film, and not to enslave it to the television as television, for a mass, not a middle-brow,
theatrical tradition in which we found it when we ar- audience.
rived here.” Jason J. Jacobs
The combination of fresh contemporary material
See also Avengers, The; Garnett, Tony; Loach, Ken;
and the freedom Newman gave to his directors (and set
Wednesday Play
designers) to innovate with that material opened up the
potential of television drama for all to see. Newman Sydney Cecil Newman. Born in Toronto, Ontario, April
was never far behind them, often photographed on the 1, 1917. Attended Ogden Public School, Toronto; Cen-
studio set writing notes, his white-suited swagger sug- tral Technical School, Toronto. Married: Margaret Eliza-
gesting a blazing showbiz evangelist. Contrast the beth McRae, 1944 (died, 1981); three daughters. Moved
early dramas of Reith’s BBC and their “photographed to Hollywood, 1938; worked as painter, stage, industrial
stage plays,” respectfully static and distant, with New- and interior designer; still and cinema photographer,
man’s Armchair Theatre drama productions: such 1935–41; joined National Film Board of Canada under
plays as “Afternoon of a Nymph” (1961) have an inge- John Grierson, as splicer-boy, 1941; editor and director,
nious mobility, with multiple cameras performing a Armed Forces training films and war information shorts,
frantic ballet, prodding their lenses into the action, spi- 1942; produced more than 300 documentaries; executive
1645
Newman, Sydney
producer for all Canadian government cinema films, 1954 Ford Theater (supervisor and producer)
1947–52; assigned to NBC in New York by Canadian 1954 On Camera (supervisor and producer)
government to study U.S. television techniques, 1958–62 Armchair Theatre (supervisor and
1949–50; director for outside broadcasts, features, and producer)
documentaries, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1960 Police Surgeon (creator)
1953; drama supervisor and producer, General Motors 1960–61 Pathfinders
Theatre, 1954; supervisor and producer of Armchair 1961–69 The Avengers (creator)
Theatre, ABC-TV, U.K., 1958–62; head of drama, BBC 1961–69 Doctor Who (creator)
Television, 1963–67; commissioned and produced first 1964–70 The Wednesday Play (creator)
television plays of Arthur Hailey, Harold Pinter, and oth- 1966 Adam Adamant Lives! (creator)
ers; special adviser, Broadcast Programmes branch, 1967 The Forsyte Saga (creator)
Canadian Radio and Television Commission, Ottawa,
1970; Canadian Government film commissioner and Television Specials (selected; producer)
chair, National Film Board of Canada, 1970–75; trustee, 1960 O My Lena
National Arts Center, Ottawa, 1970–75; board member, 1962 Dumb Martian
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Film De- 1963 Stephen D.
velopment Corporation; director, Canadian Broadcasting 1965 The Rise and Fall of the City of
Corporation, 1972–75; special adviser on film to Cana- Mahagonny
dian government, 1975–77; chief creative consultant, 1965 Tea Party
Canadian Film Development Corporation, 1978–84; 1989 Britten’s The Little Sweep
president, Sydney Newman Enterprises, 1981; producer,
Associated British Pictures; worked as creative consul-
tant to film and television producers. Officer of the Order Stage (producer)
of Canada, 1981; Knight of Mark Twain (USA). Fellow: Flight into Danger; Course for Collision
Society of Film and Television Arts, 1958; Royal Society
of Arts, 1967; Royal Television Society, 1991. Recipient: Publication
Ohio State Award for Religious Drama, 1956; Liberty Days of Vision, 1990
Award for Best Drama Series, 1957; Desmond Davis
Award, 1967; Society of Film and Television Arts Presi-
dent’s Award, 1969; Writers Guild of Great Britain Zeta Further Reading
Award, 1970; Canadian Pictures Pioneer Award, 1973; The Armchair Theatre: How to Write, Design, Direct, Act and
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Enjoy Television Plays, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
Recognition Award; Venice Award; Canada Award. Died 1959
Barry, M., From the Palace to the Grove, London: Royal Tele-
in Toronto, October 30, 1997. vision Society, 1992
Shubik, I., Play for Today: The Evolution of Television Drama,
London: Davis-Poynter, 1975
Television Series Taylor, D., Days of Vision, London: Methuen, 1990
1954 General Motors Theatre (supervisor Taylor, J.R., editor, Anatomy of a Television Play, London: Wei-
and producer) denfeld and Nicolson, 1962
News Corporation, Ltd.

News Corporation, Ltd. (News Corp), is one of the newspapers in the early 1950s into a global media con-
world’s largest media companies. It holds interests in glomerate.
broadcast, satellite, and cable television, film, newspa- News Corp’s television properties in the United
pers, magazines, book publishers, and online services, States include the FOX television network, 20th
across four continents. News Corp is headed by its pri- Century-FOX production studios, numerous owned-
mary shareholder, Rupert K. Murdoch, who built the and-operated FOX television stations, national cable
company from an initial base of two small Australian networks including FX and FOX News Channel, and a
1646
string of regional FOX Sports Channels. In addition, tional Football League (NFL) Monday Night Football
News Corp owns a controlling interest in the United television package. Although unsuccessful in the latter
Kingdom’s direct broadcast satellite television service, effort, FOX was later successful with its record-setting
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB); Europe’s Sky bid for the NFL’s National Conference games, wrest-
Channel television programming service; and Asia’s ing the package from longtime rights holder CBS prior
direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service, Star Televi- to the 1994 NFL season. FOX used the opportunity
sion. created by its acquisition of this NFL package to woo
However, it is impossible to isolate any one form of new affiliates to the network, which led to the most
media as News Corp’s core business, because its dramatic realignment of network affiliates in U.S. tele-
growth has been fueled by the idea of creating syner- vision history. FOX’s agreement with New World
gies among the company’s different components. The Communications, announced in May 1994, repre-
resulting economies of scale make the value of the sented the largest single affiliate switch ever, but it was
company’s whole greater than that of the sum of its considered controversial because many saw the agree-
parts. A good example of this strategy in action was the ment—in which FOX paid New World $500 million
combination of News Corp’s purchases in the mid- and 12 New World stations changed their affiliations to
1980s of the 20th Century-FOX studios and Metrome- the FOX network—as a vehicle by which FOX was
dia’s large-market U.S. television stations. The able to circumvent Federal Communications Commis-
combination of production facilities and distribution sion (FCC) limitations on the number of stations a sin-
outlets led directly to the creation of the FOX televi- gle company is permitted to own.
sion network. Another News Corp property that exemplified the
The FOX network remains News Corp’s most company’s strategic approach to collecting assets was
prominent presence in American television. It TV Guide, the best-selling weekly magazine in the
launched in October 1986, with the premiere of The United States. News Corp purchased TV Guide, along
Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, and began its regular with Seventeen magazine and The Daily Racing Form,
schedule of prime-time programming in early 1987. in 1988 from Walter Annenberg for a reported price of
While some of its first shows, such as Rivers’s, were more than $3 billion. It was News Corp’s largest single
critical and commercial disappointments, FOX was purchase to that time and represented another instance
slowly able to gain audience share and expand its proof the company’s willingness to pay a premium price
gram schedule. FOX ultimately carved out a solid for a unique media property that fits into a synergistic
niche as the fourth broadcast network by targeting the global scheme. While many questioned why News
18- to 34-year-old audience and attracting these view- Corp would pay such a price for a mature asset that
ers through programs that were often offbeat and had seen its circulation decline by about a third since
sometimes audacious. The Simpsons, Married . . . With its peak in the late 1970s, TV Guide’s merger in 2000
Children, and COPS were among FOX’s most promi- with the Gemstar family of interactive video products
nent early hits and exemplify the unconventional na- placed News Corp at the forefront of the emerging in-
ture of FOX network programming. Indeed, FOX’s teractive program guide (IPG) market, which promises
COPS and America’s Most Wanted were largely re- to exploit fully and build upon TV Guide’s tangible as-
sponsible for the wide proliferation of a new television sets, as well as its unparalleled brand equity in the
genre known as “reality television.” Programming on television-program-listings marketplace.
the channel continued to evolve, to produce and re- News Corp’s involvement with DBS service in Eu-
spond to new audiences. Beverly Hills 90210 and Mel- rope put the company at great financial risk, but it ap-
rose Place, “teen” and “young adult” programming pears to have been a wise long-term investment. News
from producer Aaron Spelling, found a substantial Corp initially launched a DBS service called Sky Tele-
group of loyal viewers, and major hit The X-Files be- vision in 1989, which competed in the United King-
came one of television’s most popular and widely dis- dom with another DBS service, British Satellite
cussed programs. Broadcasting (BSB). In 1990 BSB became bankrupt,
In addition to its regular programs, FOX also made and Britain’s Conservative government, who regarded
its presence felt in the U.S. television market through a Rupert Murdoch as a crucial ally, allowed Sky to over-
series of bold strategic maneuvers aimed at acquiring ride concerns about the creation of a satellite broad-
special programming and new affiliate stations. As casting monopoly and buy BSB’s assets; the two
early as 1987, FOX paid a record license fee to telecast satellite broadcasters merged to become the News
the Emmy Awards (the television industry’s awards Corp entity BSkyB. The start-up costs associated with
program), which previously had rotated among the this venture put great strain on News Corp’s financial
“Big Three” networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). The stability, and the losses it encountered in BSkyB’s
network also attempted to obtain the rights to the Na- early days, combined with the overwhelming short-
1647
term debt load News Corp had accumulated from its countries of the world puts News Corp in a central po-
years of aggressive acquisitions, nearly forced the sition among a handful of corporate behemoths that
company into financial ruin in 1990. However, News could dominate the global media landscape for many
Corp was able to negotiate with its creditors for more years to come.
favorable debt terms and thereby averted disaster. The David Gunzerath
emergence of BSkyB in the early 1990s as an ex-
See also Murdoch, Rupert
tremely profitable venture (built, like FOX, on the ac-
quisition of rights to televise sporting events), along
with the growing success of FOX in the United States, Further Reading
helped News Corp back to financial health in a rela- Block, Alex Ben, Outfoxed, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990
tively short time. Cohen, Roger, “Rupert Murdoch’s Biggest Gamble,” New York
In the latter half of the 1990s, News Corp expanded Times (October 21, 1990)
on its strategy of producing its own content for its dis- Consoli, John, “Fox Buys the Henhouse,” Mediaweek (March
tribution channels by aggressively pursuing the acqui- 23, 1998)
Fabrikant, Geraldine, “News Corp. Posts Profit in Contrast to
sition of selected landmark professional sports ’91 Loss,” New York Times (August 27, 1992)
properties. Its takeover bid for the Manchester United Fabrikant, Geraldine, “Investors Are Attracted by the News
soccer franchise was ultimately blocked by the British Corporation’s Big Picture,” New York Times (September 3,
government, which cited the unfair advantage that 1993)
News Corp’s BSkyB would have in negotiating for the Farhi, Paul, “Murdoch, All Business: The Media Mogul Keeps
Making Bets amid Strains in His Global Empire,” Washing-
television rights to the team’s games; however, News ton Post (February 12, 1995)
Corp did successfully purchase the Los Angeles Feder, Barney, “Murdoch’s Time of Reckoning,” New York
Dodgers Major League Baseball team in 1998. The Times (December 20, 1990)
Dodgers’ purchase clearly exemplified News Corp’s Gaskell, John, and Sally Malcolm-Smith, “The World Accord-
strategy of owning sports franchises whose popularity ing to Murdoch: Empire without Frontiers,” Sunday Tele-
graph (September 5, 1993)
extends beyond national borders to other areas of the Kaplan, Karen, and Sallie Hofmeister, “Gemstar-TV Guide
world where News Corp also owns satellite television Merger Plan Raises Fear of Monopoly in Interactive TV,”
distribution services, such as Star TV in Asia and Sky Los Angeles Times (June 26, 2000)
Latin America. Shawcross, William, Rupert Murdoch: Ringmaster of the Infor-
Today, News Corp stands among the foremost me- mation Circus, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992
Thomas, Laurie, and Barry Litman, “Fox Broadcasting Com-
dia companies in the world and continues to be aggres- pany, Why Now?: An Economic Study of the Rise of the
sive in its pursuit of new media and communications Fourth Broadcast ‘Network,’” Journal of Broadcasting and
properties. Its wide range of media holdings in many Electronic Media (1991)
News in the United States, Local and Regional

Local television news in the United States struggles to formulaic approach and irresponsible antics, local and
maintain credibility even as it is increasingly used as a regional TV news has grown steadily since the 1950s,
revenue center and promotional tool by an ever- and has, with the national cable news networks, con-
shrinking group of media owners. For broadcasters tributed to a sharp decline in network news audiences.
and cable companies, local and regional newscasts re- This entry focuses on news in the United States,
main the site for occasionally fulfilling the oft- though many countries have similarly complementary
forgotten obligation of public service, earning, to some local and national systems of TV news. Most larger
degree, accolades and audience loyalty. But as the site British cities, for example, have both a commercial
of intense local competition and substantial advertis- and public local newscast, though these are far smaller
ing revenue, journalism and public service often take operations than their U.S. counterparts. In Germany,
second place to ratings-grabbing gimmickry and cor- the dominant TV news providers are regional. Inten-
porate cross-promotion. Despite taking knocks for its sive promotion of local television journalism and local
1648
news celebrities seems to be a purely U.S. phenome- News could be more visual, immediate, and exciting.
non, however. The ability to produce more news—through the expan-
Although the earliest experiments with television in sion of local resources and a plethora of national and
the 1930s included simple newscasts, and the first sta- international sources—led stations to add newscasts.
tions licensed provided local news, most local VHF Those with existing newscasts expanded their opera-
television stations began creating their own newscasts tions. With the rapid growth of cable television in the
as soon as they went on the air in the 1950s or 1960s. 1980s and 1990s, many cable operators established
Doing so provided evidence of community involve- newscasts of their own, often in towns and cities not
ment and an identity amid otherwise indistinguishable well served by broadcasters.
fare. UHF stations neither had the budgets nor the au- With, at the very least, an early- and late-evening
dience ratings to do so. Early local newscasts were newscast to be filled each day, news directors devel-
brief and non-visual, for videotape technology, debut- oped new strategies, and looser standards of journal-
ing in 1956, was too cumbersome to leave the studio ism, to fill the time and attract viewers. By the 1990s,
and live remotes were all but impossible for their cost many stations added morning and midday programs,
and complexity. producing six hours or more of news daily. Newscasts
Some stations purchased newsfilm from newsreel increasingly presented crime or minor tragedy (the
companies. 16-millimeter film, while an excellent fires and accidents which are inexpensive to cover and
newsgathering medium, was costly and required at never in short supply) as news, and made stories
least three and a half hours to be processed, edited, and shorter and snappier, especially those that were not
set up for the process of playing it back into a news- easily illustrated. Reports on City Hall or problems in
cast. By the 1970s, as more and more viewers pur- the schools offered little visual excitement and so took
chased color television sets, color film replaced black a back seat to sensational but unimportant news. Local
and white. Visual coverage of national news increased news watchdog Rocky Mountain Media Watch ob-
as the networks trusted their affiliates to cover impor- served that between 1994 and 1999, “violent topics
tant stories and send them to New York for the network consistently comprise 40 to 50 percent of all the air-
newscasts. But until the 1980s, quality television news time devoted to news” despite the fact that U.S. crimes
remained the near exclusive domain of the networks, rates were dropping.
and particularly of CBS. Local stations could not From the mid-1970s to the present, newscasts have
match the look or experience of the networks and been fierce battlegrounds for viewer loyalty. Stations
rarely profited from news. earn a substantial portion of their revenue from their
Between the mid-1970s and early 1980s came a lo- newscasts, and aggressively promote their news. Pop-
cal news explosion, attributable to a synergy of tech- ular syndicated entertainment programming leading
nology and economics. Sony introduced the 3/4” video into newscasts is used to deliver viewers to a station’s
cassette recorder, a portable machine capable of news product, and a popular newscast, in turn, boosts
recording 20 minutes on each cassette. With it came ratings for an entire evening’s programming. Stations
simple and reliable editing equipment permitting the peddle newscasts and newscasters with billboards and
rapid assembly of stories from the field. Ikegami and other advertising. But when programming and promo-
RCA produced shoulder-borne television cameras to tional strategies fail, stations turn from the expertise of
be used with the field recorders. Electronic News their own managers to high paid consultants with a
Gathering (ENG) was born, and by 1975, 65 percent of track record of ratings increases and a supposedly sci-
local stations in the United States were using ENG entific approach.
equipment, though many continued to use film into the The best known consultants are Frank Magid and Al
1980s. The earliest ENG equipment was expensive Primo, but there have been countless imitators. For
and was adopted slowly by all but the wealthiest sta- tens of thousands of dollars their firms conduct viewer
tions. Field camera and recorder were later combined surveys and focus groups. The results—a vague indi-
into the most popular news-gathering tool of the 1980s cation of what a few viewers think they like—are used
and 1990s, the Sony Betacam. Stations experimented to rebuild newscasts from the ground up. Newscasts
with many new tape technologies in the 1990s, with are made “marketable.” The typical gimmicks offered
many stations opting for smaller and cheaper formats by consultants or newly hired news directors included
like Sony’s Hi-8 or, later, Pansonic’s DV. new or redesigned sets and changes in on-air “talent.”
ENG made more pre-produced material and story Consultants maintain vast nationwide videotape files
“packages” possible, allowing for more news and of news talent, and records of their respective ratings,
greater advertising revenue. With the technological to help clients find the perfect personalities.
revolution came broader conceptions of local news. Finally, a new format is usually adopted. The most
1649
grating of these, known as “happy talk” (usually under and aesthetics of tabloid newsmagazine shows with a
the “Eyewitness News” designation), in which dual colloquial reporting style in the hope of attracting a
anchors bantered with one another about innocuous young audience, and desperate efforts to capture the
matters, has mercifully died away in most markets. youth market—traditionally the least interested in TV
Other common formats, some still in evidence, include news—continue. Other stations copied the national ca-
“Action News,” with quick young reporters and barely ble news companies, offering several stories at the
edited video of the day’s highly visual carnage, or same time through the use of an irritating and uninfor-
“News Center,” emphasizing reporting and relevance mative “crawl” of words at the bottom of the screen.
to viewers. As stations acquired adequate technology But encouragingly, some stations took a new ap-
to produce live news coverage in the late 1980s, “live- proach, eschewing crime and tragedy except where
ness” was invariably made the newscast’s raison substantial numbers of viewers are affected, avoiding
d’être. This often puts reporters in ridiculous situa- gimmicks, and focusing on explaining social and polit-
tions, filing live reports from dark, long-deserted loca- ical issues. Some replicated the community-service fo-
tions, without the depth and quality a pre-produced cused “public journalism” model taking hold at many
report would provide. newspapers. Stations going this route—as did
Despite these variations in theme, local news in the Chicago’s WBBM for a short time in 2000—remain
U.S. has maintained an astounding consistency of for- rare, because those that have done so gained awards
mat from its earliest days. Newscasts are divided into and praise, but few rating points.
four or more segments, separated by commercials Quality journalism is not entirely absent in televi-
(which are, after all, the reason the newscast is there). sion news, but rarely does it come before economic
Actual news, broadly defined, comes in the first two considerations. As shown by McManus (1994), active
segments, often including a superficial recap of world discovery of news, especially that which society’s
and national events when local news is sparse. News is powerful prefer hidden, is costly, giving rise to the
delivered by one or two anchors (usually an older Cau- common allegation that TV news legitimates the status
casian male and younger Caucasian female, with lim- quo. Such journalism requires the allocation of station
ited ethnic diversity in some urban markets), and resources and personnel over long periods to produce a
contains a mix of readers (with an anchor delivering single story.
the story), voice-overs (with anchors narrating over Excellence in television news does exist, and is rec-
videotape), packages (pre-produced stories by re- ognized in annual awards by the Associated Press and
porters), and live reports. One stylistic element has numerous industry organizations. In rare, but remark-
changed in fifty years of local TV news: the average able, instances local television news goes on the air
length of soundbites—the time newsmakers are given full time to report on local disasters or major events, or
to explain ideas to viewers—has dropped from an ex- invests in investigations that bring about needed
cess of twenty seconds down to seven seconds. changes in public policy. When local TV journalists re-
The third and fourth segments are usually sports and sist sensationalism and premature reporting such cov-
weather (with the one of greatest local interest coming erage can provide a vital public service beyond the
first). In smaller cities, much is made of local school means of other media.
sports to lure the parents of schoolchildren to tune in (a Television news operations are fairly autonomous
sought-after demographic for advertisers). Hour-long departments within broadcast or cable companies. The
news formats and 24-hour regional formats have more senior manager of the news department is the news di-
segments, but add little in variety apart from extra fea- rector, and may be assisted by one or more executive
ture stories, and increasingly (aping CNN and its ilk) producers. These individuals are responsible for con-
lengthy “news analysis” discussions between anchors trolling the general look and feel of their newscast
and hired pundits. while satisfying the demands of their corporate superi-
Local television’s most urgent task is to persuade ors. The successful construction of each newscast is
audiences of its own relevance to their lives. To ensure the responsibility of a producer, who in the smallest
its very survival, it attempts to demonstrate that it pro- markets may double as anchor or news director. The
vides something more or different than national news- producer must ensure that every element of the pro-
casts and other TV fare. But localism alone is no duction is ready at airtime, and deal with problems or
guarantee of relevance, so local news often resorts to changes while the newscast is on the air. In large news
exaggeration. Routine storms are presented as threats departments this involves the coordination of dozens
to life and limb, errant teenagers as deadly gangs. Pop- of reporters, videographers, writers, feature producers,
ulist or consumer advocacy stories often pose as news. tape editors, graphic artists, and other specialized staff.
During the 1990s, some stations merged the content They work with the on-air talent to develop the lineup
1650
(story order) of the newscast and write portions of the events, and dramatically extended the newsgathering
show not provided by reporters or news writers. Con- reach of stations. Local TV news was thereby de-
trol of day to day newsgathering operations is the do- localized. An entrepreneur, Stanley Hubbard, is cred-
main of the assignment editor who has the unenviable ited with beginning the SNG revolution. Domestic
task of ensuring that everything of importance is cov- satellites launched in the early 1980s had the new ca-
ered. As the center of incoming information and the pability of handling signals at a higher, more efficient,
dispatcher of a station’s news coverage resources, the frequency band than before—the Ku band. Hubbard
assignment editor has considerable power to determine began Conus Communications to provide access to
“the news.” these satellites for a “cooperative” group of local sta-
The technical production of a newscast is accom- tions. The stations would be able to reserve satellite
plished by a staff independent of the news department. time cheaply in five minute increments to “uplink” a
Studio production is supervised by a studio director (or story from the field to their studio and to the rest of the
newscast director), who works closely with the pro- stations in the cooperative. Stations began to purchase
ducers and talent to ensure that each production is sophisticated Satellite News Vehicles (SNV) to trans-
flawless. A well-directed newscast is one that calls no mit localized reports from the scene of major stories
attention to its complex technical elements. In larger anywhere. Not coincidentally, Hubbard also sold
markets the studio director coordinates a large produc- SNVs. The networks established plans to help affili-
tion team, but in some small markets may perform a ated stations with the cost of purchasing SNVs (at
remarkable solo ballet of switching, mixing audio, around $300,000 each) in order to create their own co-
timing, and myriad other tasks. Even the largest news operatives of live sources and to ensure that they alone
operations, though, are slashing their production staff would receive any important story from a network-
through the installation of robotic studio cameras and funded SNV. The latest news vehicles have both satel-
other automation. lite and microwave transmission capabilities and, due
Local television news is highly dependent on new to digital technology, are smaller, lighter, and cheaper.
technologies, regional news even more so. But while Stations may receive stories from one or more satel-
some basic production equipment, like digital cameras lite cooperatives they belong to, their own network (if
and non-linear editing, provide higher quality at lower an affiliate), a national cable news service like CNN or
cost than ever before, other important technologies re- MSNBC, Reuters or Associated Press, other special-
quire massive investment beyond the reach of smaller ized services, public relations firms, and their own
news departments. The next major development after news gathering resources. Helicopter news coverage
the field recorder was the rapid increase in the use of also became common in the 1990s.
microwave systems to transmit live or taped stories The proliferation of sources and the ability to send
from remote locations (also called ENG). Now, all but and receive stories instantly and inexpensively within
the smallest stations operate microwave-equipped ve- virtually unlimited geographic areas gave rise to re-
hicles. gional news, which has emerged in several forms. An
By the late 1980s, most news departments were us- early example of regional television news was an
ing computers to write and archive scripts, at the very agreement between seven SNG-equipped Florida sta-
least. Many had begun to use integrated news productions to share resources and personnel, presenting an
tion software designed to simplify writing TV news image of seamless statewide coverage to their audi-
scripts, arrange them for a newscast, and deliver them ences. In 1986, News 12 Long Island was started by
to teleprompters for the news anchors to read. Televi- Cablevision and other investors. Using a mix of ENG
sion journalists now make extensive use of computer- and SNG, the cable news channel presents 24-hour
ized information retrieval services and databases, and news coverage, often live, of the vast Long Island area,
many television stations have established their own which had previously been underserved by the New
expansive websites to provide updates of stories, spe- York stations.
cial services like highly localized weather forecasts, Many other local and regional 24-hour cable news
and to encourage viewer feedback. Increasingly, sta- operations have since been created, including some
tion websites are being called upon to turn a profit as carried by different cable operators spread over a large
well, and so most feature extensive advertising and area, such as New England Cable News and some
cross-promotion, but little news. large city cable operators, most notably Time Warner
From the late 1980s, Satellite News Gathering in New York, have also established twenty-four-hour
(SNG) became the technology to most change the in- news stations.
dustry. It made regional television news possible, per- With the flurry of station sales and purchases taking
mitted local stations to cover national and international place since the start of extensive broadcast deregula-
1651
tion in the 1980s, station ownership by non-local in- to ignore vast portions of the population—especially
vestors became common. In a sharp contrast to the the poor and urban working classes—and present com-
heavy investment in news of the 1970s, many news munity issues almost exclusively through the eyes of
departments now run on shoestring budgets to main- local business owners (when not through the eyes of its
tain the illusion of community service at little cost to corporate parent). While television news has come far,
their corporate parents. In many small and medium a reorientation toward genuine community service and
markets, news departments operate with a staff of a away from entertainment and profit are desperately
dozen or fewer, and—as with many of the regional needed. As Walter Cronkite observed nearly four de-
news operations—eager young reporters work as “one cades ago (Time, October 14, 1966), a half-hour news-
man bands,” acting as videographer and reporter on cast has fewer words than the first page alone of a
the several stories they cover daily. Their salaries are decent newspaper, so anyone relying on TV for their
among the lowest for college graduates. Owners news information will never be as well informed as
unwilling to invest in news often close their news de- they ought to be.
partments and more profitably counter the competi- Chris Paterson
tion’s newscasts with syndicated programs. Many
news departments are experimenting with new ways Further Reading
to pay their own way. News or weather programs are Akre, J., “The Fox, the Hounds, and the Sacred Cows,” in Into
provided to other stations in the same market that the Buzzsaw, edited by K. Borjessen, New York: Prometheus
have no news staff of their own. Increasingly, Books, 2002
revenue-generating commercials and cross- Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook, New Providence, New Jer-
sey: R.R. Bowker, annual
promotions are presented as news, as when one San Colman, P., “Regional News on a Roll”, Broadcasting and Ca-
Francisco station directed viewers to its website to ble (August 26, 1996)
purchase Who Wants To Be A Millionaire board Educational Broadcasting Corporation, “Local News Online,”
games, as part of a feature news story. 2001, available at www.pbs.org/wnet/insidelocalnews
Local television journalists often produce their Goedkoop, R., Inside Local Television News, Salem, Wisconsin:
Sheffield, 1988
product with little knowledge or concern about who is Grimes, T., “Encoding TV News Messages Into Memory,”
watching and why (though they do better in this re- Journalism Quarterly (Winter 1990)
gard than their national counterparts). When stations Hickey, N., “Chicago Experiment—Why it Failed,” Columbia
do research their audience, what they discover may Journalism Review (January/February 2001), available at
tend to lead them to ignore the substance of their archives.cjr.org/year/01/1/chicago.asp
Klite, P., “TV News and the Culture of Violence,” Rocky Moun-
newscast for the superficialities. It is rarely deter- tain Media Watch (1999), available at www.bigmedia.
mined how much viewers actually learn from TV org/texts6.html
news, but existing research suggests it is very little, Lacy, S., “Use of Satellite Technology in Local Television
and often not what producers intend. Distant owner- News,” Journalism Quarterly (Winter 1988)
ship makes the lack of connection with audiences Lieberman, D., “The Rise and Rise of 24-Hour Local News,”
Columbia Journalism Review (November/December 1998),
more acute. By some accounts, the pressure to sacri- available at archives.cjr.org/year/98/6/tvnews3.asp
fice public-service journalism for corporate financial McManus, J., Market Driven Journalism: Let the Citizen Be-
interests has reached crisis proportions in local TV. ware?, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1994
The firing of reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson by Musburger, R., Electronic News Gathering, Boston: Focal
a Florida FOX affiliate in 1997 because their inves- Press, 1991
Napoli, P., “Television Station Ownership Characteristics and
tigative reporting threatened bad publicity for key ad- Local News and Public Affairs Programming: An Expanded
vertisers has gained the most notoriety, but a national Analysis of FCC Data,” occasional paper, Washington, D.C.:
survey in 2000 showed that pressure and intimidation International Communication Association, 2003
in the newsroom is commonplace, with nearly 40 per- Pew Research Center For The People And The Press, “Self Cen-
cent of local broadcast journalists admitting to avoid- sorship: How Often and Why—Journalists Avoiding The
News,” 2000, available at people-press.org/reports/display.
ing stories which might threaten their company’s php3?ReportID539
financial interests (Pew). Postman, N., and S. Powers, How to Watch TV News, New
Other research has shown that contrary to arguments York: Penguin, 1992
made by the FCC as justification for deregulation, Powers, R., The Newscasters, New York: St. Martin’s Press,
conglomerate-owned stations generally do a poorer 1977
Project for Excellence in Journalism, “Does Ownership Matter
job of public service than those owned by smaller in Local Television News? A Five-Year Study of Ownership
companies (Napoli, Project for Excellence in Journal- and Quality,” 2003, available at www.journalism.org/
ism). And local TV, like its network mentors, continues resources/research/reports/ownership/
1652
News in the United States, Network
Robinson, J., and M. Levy, The Main Source: Learning from Stephens, M., Broadcast News, Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt
Television News, Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1986 Brace Jovanovich, 1993
Schihl, R., TV Newscast Processes and Procedures, Boston: Fo- Tuggle, C.A.; Carr, F.; Huffman, S., Broadcast News Hand-
cal Press, 1992 book, Boston: McGraw Hill, 2001
Westin, A., Newswatch, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982

As with most forms of television programming, the an- vision’s first news documentary series, entitled See It
tecedents to network news in the United States reside Now, which ranged broadly in its coverage of both do-
in the radio era, beginning as early as 1928, when NBC mestic and international issues. Produced by Fred
mounted major coverage of the presidential election Friendly, the program took on prominent social issues
race. Yet for a variety of reasons, radio news was slow and painted vivid portraits of the struggles of everyday
to develop. It was not until the impending prospect of citizens. It was also renowned for thought-provoking
war in Europe that news programming emerged as a interviews with such leading figures as Robert Oppen-
major component of network radio. During the late heimer, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Harry Truman. Interest-
1930s, CBS’s Edward R. Murrow assembled a team of ingly, histories of 1950s television less commonly
correspondents scattered across Europe that provided acknowledge Person to Person, a companion program
both breaking news and analysis of major events and developed by Murrow that drew much larger audi-
personalities. The “Murrow Boys”—including Eric ences with its interviews of leading show-business
Sevareid, Howard K. Smith, and Charles Colling- personalities in their homes. In television’s first ven-
wood—earned renown for their war reporting. In the ture into infotainment programming, Murrow toured
post-war period, they would come to play a major role the homes of such stars as Marilyn Monroe and Eddy
in the development of television news as well. Fischer, while chatting about celebrity gossip and their
Immediately after the war, few imagined that televi- personal lives. Both “high-brow” Murrow and “low-
sion news would supersede its radio counterpart. In- brow” Murrow helped to set the early standard for
deed, most correspondents vied for plum radio long-form television news.
postings, and NBC’s initial TV news program was In 1956, however, NBC began to bid for bragging
hosted not by a journalist but rather by announcer John rights in TV news when its new president, Robert
Cameron Swayze, whose Camel News Caravan “hop- Kintner, took charge. An avowed “news junkie,” Kint-
scotched” the globe, delivering a mere 15-minute sam- ner expanded the scope and resources of the news divi-
pling of headline stories. Sponsored by Camel sion, creating a truly international newsgathering
cigarettes, the program nevertheless pioneered the use organization during his reign at the network. Most im-
of remote film footage that was shot, processed, and mediately, Kintner parlayed Chet Huntley’s and David
edited under daily deadline conditions. CBS likewise Brinkley’s adroit coverage of the 1956 Democratic and
launched Douglas Edwards with the News, and late in Republican conventions into the Huntley-Brinkley Re-
the 1950s, ABC floated its own nightly news round-up port, a program that would dominate nightly news rat-
under the leadership of John Daly. Yet the transition ings until 1967. Kintner also nurtured NBC’s
from radio to television proved expensive, so all three documentary efforts, overseeing the launch of the dis-
networks allocated most of their resources to entertain- tinguished NBC White Paper series in 1960. And he
ment programming, allowing only occasional opportu- was furthermore an advocate of news specials, often
nities for experimentation in news and information breaking away from regularly scheduled entertainment
programming. shows in order to provide live coverage of important
The leading experimenter was Edward R. Murrow, events, such as spacecraft launches, Congressional
who had been promoted to vice-president of CBS in hearings, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Yet Kintner’s
recognition for his wartime service. Murrow used his efforts were motivated by more than pro bono profes-
corporate influence and celebrity status to launch tele- sionalism, as he was the first network chieftain to
1653
stress the profit potential of news programming. Just as Most capable in this regard was the President Kennedy
importantly, Kintner, who would later serve in the himself, whose press conferences earned surprisingly
Johnson administration, understood the public rela- strong ratings due in part to his telegenic appearance
tions value of his news division at a time when govern- and his wry humor. Tragically, Kennedy’s assassina-
ment regulators began to press for more news and tion would also draw record audiences, followed by
information programming. the capture and on-camera slaying of his assassin, and
Such growing pressures culminated in the 1961 ap- by live coverage of the visually stunning funeral ser-
pointment of Newton Minow, who famously referred vice beamed from the nation’s capital. All three net-
to network television as a “vast wasteland” in a speech works suspended commercial advertising and turned
he delivered shortly after taking office. Like other offi- the airwaves over to their news divisions for several
cials in the Kennedy administration, Minow explicitly days, in what many would refer to as the coming of age
put network officials on notice that he considered tele- of television. During those few days, the medium pro-
vision a strategic weapon in the struggle against com- vided a common ground upon which citizens worked
munism, and throughout his two-year term, he through the complex emotions engendered by that his-
prodded and cajoled network officials to expand their toric chain of events.
news departments and increase their coverage of inter- In the years that followed, however, the news divi-
national issues. TV executives were generally sympa- sions would find that the awesome power invested in
thetic to this shift in government policy and news them could also prove to be a liability. Although net-
department staffers were especially enthusiastic to see work news now had the authority to direct national at-
their profession restored to the prominence it had en- tention at specific events and social concerns, it also
joyed during World War II. Indeed, it’s important to stirred up controversy and counterattacks when it did
note that the generation of journalists that filed stories so. News programs about the exploitation of migrant
from the battlefronts of WWII were, by the 1960s, in laborers angered farmers; criticisms of public educa-
charge of the network news divisions and generally tion worried parents; and investigations into lung can-
sympathetic to the government’s strategic and ideolog- cer stirred resentments among cigarette companies,
ical struggle against communism. then the leading advertisers on network television. Per-
Former war correspondent Walter Cronkite took haps most significantly, news programs about civil
charge of the CBS Evening News in 1962 and Howard rights elevated African Americans to a level of visibil-
K. Smith (one of the “Murrow Boys”) anchored ABC’s ity they had never before enjoyed in the U.S. media.
nightly newscast. Both networks furthermore launched Sympathetic news portrayals of the plight of black cit-
prime-time documentary series, CBS Reports and ABC izens stirred both righteous indignation and racist an-
CloseUp, which shared a similar set of topics and tipathy. As the campaign for civil rights gained
treatments as NBC White Paper. Indeed, the early momentum in the 1960s, it sometimes skirted conven-
1960s would prove to be the golden age of the prime- tional politics, appealing directly to national television
time documentary in the United States, with much of audiences through a series of carefully orchestrated
the programming shaped by Cold War concerns. All non-violent protest demonstrations and through the
three networks furthermore competed to provide charismatic appeals of black community leaders.
breaking news coverage of important events, and in Likewise, as the war in Vietnam heated up, televi-
1963, CBS and NBC expanded their nightly news pro- sion news became a site of struggle between pro- and
grams from 15 to 30 minutes. By this point, American anti-war factions. During the early years of the war,
network news divisions had established bureaus in Vietnam correspondents rarely challenged the U.S.
dozens of cities around the world and had developed a government’s rationale for intervention or its progress
sophisticated infrastructure for the processing, ship- reports on the war effort. Yet President Johnson’s deci-
ment, and editing of news footage, so that visual ac- sion to escalate troop commitments in 1965 greatly ex-
counts of important events around the world would panded the military draft, inciting resistance on
find their way to national television screens within 24 American college campuses, within the government,
hours. In a few short years, news became an integral and among military units in the field. Closely moni-
component of network television and on-camera news tored by both sides, nightly news divisions juggled the
professionals became major television personalities, competing claims of the administration and the anti-
their popularity carefully tracked by audience research war movement, as opposing viewpoints began to work
services and monitored by network executives. their way into regular news coverage. The growing
The growing prominence of television news also en- protest movement discouraged Lyndon Johnson from
couraged politicians and public officials to play to the seeking a second presidential term in 1968, and many
camera in an attempt to advance particular causes. critics—correctly or not—attributed his political
1654
demise in part to television news coverage that was infor its emphasis on “talking heads,” the program deliv-
creasingly critical of the war and sympathetic to ered precisely what was lacking in commercial net-
protestors. work newscasts. It furthermore addressed two other
Now widely perceived as a news oligopoly, the net- criticisms often leveled at TV news when in 1983 the
works both influenced public perceptions of key pub- anchors bought the production company and expanded
lic issues and found themselves called to account for their program to an hour-long format, as the McNeil-
skewing political deliberation. Presidents were espe- Lehrer News Hour. Ironically, this gave PBS, the net-
cially sensitive to the perceived power of television work with the most diminutive news resources, the
news: during his time in office, Lyndon Johnson grew most in-depth and independent nightly newscast.
increasingly agitated by network reporting, and The resurgent interest in television news could also
Richard Nixon was hostile to the three networks from be measured by the fortunes of the first prime-time
the very moment he entered the Oval Office. Giving newsmagazine, 60 Minutes. Premiering in 1968, many
voice to the administration’s sentiments, Vice Presi- critics complained that the program represented a soft-
dent Spiro Agnew publicly lambasted the “effete corps ening of the documentary news tradition by emphasiz-
of impudent snobs” that ruled the news media, while ing investigative stories that focused on clearly defined
officials within the Nixon administration began to ad- villains, rather than broad-ranging reports on more ab-
vocate the development of cable technology, hoping to stract but pressing social issues. Yet despite the pro-
undermine the power of the three commercial net- gram’s calculated tilt toward a narrative style, it failed
works. to attract large audiences and languished at the bottom
Despite these tensions, television would continue to of the ratings, threatened with cancellation. Ranked
prevail as the public’s dominant news source through- 101st among 106 network programs in 1975, 60 Min-
out the 1970s, even though the complexion of news or- utes unexpectedly began a meteoric ascent to become
ganizations would change considerably. At NBC, the number 1 ratings draw in 1979. Some attributed its
changes began with the retirement of Chet Huntley in newfound success to a shift in scheduling that moved
1970, a vacancy that would stir several years of intense the program to early prime-time on Sundays, but just
competition to fill the anchor slot. At the same time, as importantly, the reversal of fortune seemed to reflect
executives were reassessing the Kintner legacy that a growing popular interest in investigative reporting in
had pushed NBC to a leadership role in TV news. the wake of Watergate.
RCA, the parent corporation of NBC, had earlier ac- ABC soon harnessed this same enthusiasm with the
cepted the costs of an extensive global news operation premiere of 20/20 in 1978, a magazine show that bal-
because it assumed that such programming helped to anced tough investigative reports with lighter fare
drive the sale of television sets, both at home and about fads, fashions, and celebrities. Both networks
abroad. By the 1970s, however, the sale of sets in the saw benefits to the new programs, since they seemed
U.S. began to taper off and RCA began to shift its em- to fulfill public-service responsibilities while steering
phasis to informatic, aerospace, and military product clear of government criticism by focusing their atten-
lines. Given the importance of government contracts in tion on unscrupulous crooks rather than hot-button po-
such fields, and given changing government attitudes litical issues. Moreover, the newsmagazines proved to
toward news, RCA no longer relished the expansive be money machines, costing only half as much as
ambitions of the Kintner era. Consequently, NBC hour-long dramas, while delivering upscale demo-
News began to trim budgets and close news bureaus. graphics and premium advertising rates. Just as impor-
Its nightly news program then began to lag behind its tantly, they helped to mitigate internal tensions within
CBS competitor until coverage of the Watergate hear- the news divisions, as they provided showcases for
ings re-energized the division and catapulted Tom such high-powered talent as Mike Wallace, Barbara
Brokaw to a position of visibility that would eventu- Walters, and Ed Bradley. Over the next two decades,
ally earn him the anchor slot on the nightly news in both ABC and CBS sought to expand on their success-
1976. ful magazine offerings and NBC tried unsuccessfully
Watergate coverage also animated the fortunes of to match its competition until finally, in 1992, it too
public broadcasting, as Robert McNeil and Jim Lehrer scored a hit with Dateline.
fashioned thoughtful interviews and commentary, pro- For ABC, the growing emphasis on newsmagazines
viding some of the first regular coverage of national was only part of a larger set of transformations, as
politics on PBS. In 1976, the duo launched the McNeil- Roone Arledge, the architect of the network’s success-
Lehrer Report, a nightly half-hour program that ful sports division, moved over to take charge of news
quickly won a solid audience of opinion leaders and in what critics perceived as a shocking triumph of
media critics. While earning both criticism and praise showbusiness over journalistic professionalism.
1655
Arledge, however, proved to be a prodigious booster later added Headline News, a news update program
of news, reformatting the nightly news show and that rotated on a half-hourly basis. Journalists at the
launching 20/20 in 1978. The following year, with the major networks generally dismissed the new chal-
hostage crisis in Iran, ABC was especially aggressive lenger, noting that Turner, whom they regarded as a
in its coverage, providing regular updates, including volatile personality, had shown no prior commitment
the sensationally titled late-night show, Iran Crisis: to news, and CNN seemed to be operating on a
America Held Hostage. The program nevertheless pro- shoestring budget. Yet the cable network enjoyed cer-
vided sober, in-depth features and interviews, elevat- tain cost advantages, such as a non-union workforce
ing the network’s chief diplomatic correspondent, Ted and a base of operations in Atlanta, where real-estate
Koppel, to a position of prominence and, after the re- costs were considerably lower than Manhattan. Turner
lease of the hostages, allowing him to transform the also enjoyed the counsel of Reese Schonfeld, a veteran
show into Nightline, a commercial counterpart to news producer who was tapped to lead the news orga-
McNeil-Lehrer. In 1981, Arledge also carved out a new nization during its early years. Schonfeld understood
home for a disillusioned David Brinkley, who fled that the key weakness of his competitors was the rela-
NBC to host This Week with David Brinkley, a show tively high cost of maintaining a global news operation
that would finally bring ABC to a leading position on in order to produce a half-hour nightly newscast and a
the Sunday-morning talk circuit. Shortly thereafter, few weekly magazine shows. CNN by comparison
Arledge shrewdly tapped his leading Middle East cor- spread the cost of its news infrastructure across two
respondent, Peter Jennings, to anchor the ABC World channels broadcasting around the clock—48 hours of
News Tonight. Thus, in less than a decade, Arledge programming per day. In 1985, the cable network went
played a prominent role in transforming ABC into the even further, establishing CNN International (CNNI)
leading U.S. network news operation with some of the to manage a collection of distinctive satellite news ser-
most talented personnel in the profession. vices targeted at different regions of the globe.
Meanwhile, CBS greeted the 1980s with its own By the mid-1980s, cable TV in the United States
agenda for change. Walter Cronkite, who was often re- was a growing force in both news and entertainment,
ferred to as “the most trusted man in America,” retired and Ted Turner’s channels emerged as leaders in both
in 1981 after two decades anchoring the CBS Evening cable ratings and advertising. Though still diminutive
News. Dan Rather won out in the struggle to succeed by comparison to the major broadcast networks, the
Cronkite, but the ratings of the network’s flagship news Atlanta-based upstart began to maneuver for financing
program began to falter. In response, CBS went through that would allow it to mount a hostile takeover of the
a string of executive producers, trying to restore the lus- venerable CBS. Executives at CBS responded by
ter of the Cronkite years, but the network found itself in bringing in friendly investors, most prominently Lau-
an increasingly tight ratings race with its competitors. rence Tisch, who would eventually take control of the
CBS has other problems, as well. A 1982 documentary, network in 1986. Tisch, ironically, proved to be no less
The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception, stirred up disruptive to network operations, and in one of his
a major libel suit when it re-examined the calculation of very first acts as chairman, he toured CBS News bu-
combat casualties during the Vietnam War, claiming that reaus around the world, shuttering operations, laying
military leaders manipulated weekly body counts in an off staff, and slashing costs. In the same year, Capital
effort to sustain support for the war effort. General Wil- Cities Broadcasting took over ABC, and General Elec-
liam Westmoreland, the retired commander of U.S. tric absorbed NBC. At all three networks, executives
forces in Southeast Asia, sued CBS, and the resulting le- suddenly returned their attention to cost controls, seek-
gal settlement sent shock waves through the news de- ing to make news operations more efficient and more
partment, as an internal investigation sought to rectify attractive to advertisers. With only a limited number of
dubious journalistic practices, especially standards for programming hours, news divisions sought to develop
editing on-camera interviews. new prime-time magazine programs and to prop up the
The biggest problem confronting television news, sagging ratings of nightly newscasts with more
however, was the steady erosion of ratings, as cable feature-oriented material.
television increasingly siphoned off network viewers Turmoil within news organizations began to grow,
throughout the 1980s. Younger audiences were most however, as staffers tried to resist what they saw as a
likely to gravitate to cable channels, and consequently further softening of journalistic and public-service
the age demographic for nightly news programs began standards. Remarkably, they could count on little sup-
to drift upward. Cable also posed a direct challenge port from government regulators. Indeed, throughout
when in 1980 Ted Turner launched Cable Network the Reagan Presidency, the administration aggressively
News (CNN), a 24-hour news channel, and one year sought to undermine the independence of network
1656
news divisions, and the FCC relentlessly rolled back news organization, but rather by Matt Drudge, a gossip
government guidelines regarding the public-service columnist on the Internet. Several news organizations
commitments of broadcasters. Chairman Mark Fowler were already aware of rumors of the President’s ro-
argued that the growing number of available TV chan- mantic liaison with a White House intern, but despite
nels diluted the government’s rationale for regulating intense competitive pressures, each had exercised re-
broadcasting in the public’s interest. According to straint until Drudge published undocumented asser-
Fowler, television should enjoy the same First Amend- tions on his web page, launching a frenzy of coverage
ment rights as newspapers and magazines, a position that dominated national news for much of 1998, de-
that has increasingly prevailed since the 1980s. More- spite many other pressing social issues. Intense com-
over, in its efforts to nurture a multiplication of ser- petition among broadcast, cable, and Internet news
vices, the FCC made a number of rulings that allowed organizations paradoxically encouraged a growing di-
Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch to launch a versity of electronic sources but also fostered a singu-
fourth commercial broadcast network in 1986, despite lar fixation on a story of little consequence in the realm
the fact that the FOX Network had no immediate plans of public policy. Since the networks no longer had a
for news or public-affairs programming. Instead, the monopoly of airtime, talent, audiences, or advertising
channel resolutely focused on entertainment, and its revenues they consequently found it difficult to resist
sole forays into news consisted of tabloid-style maga- the attraction of such a sensational news stories, even
zines such as Inside Edition and Hard Copy. The emer- if it led to an imbalance in coverage.
gence of FOX, when coupled with changes at the major Moreover, in a world of multiplying delivery chan-
networks and the increasingly sensational focus of lo- nels, the news organizations that seemed most success-
cal TV news, fueled criticisms about the growing im- ful were those that could leverage their news output
pact of ratings and entertainment values on the news through as many channels and times of the day as pos-
judgment of television professionals. The word “info- sible, both at home and abroad. Such considerations
tainment” gained widespread currency during the late led NBC to launch two global cable networks in 1995:
1980s, and battles erupted within news organizations MSNBC, a joint venture with Microsoft, and CNBC, a
over the future of network news. At one point, six of the financial news channel. CNN took this philosophy to
leading journalists at CBS offered to buy the news divi- another level when it merged with Time Warner in
sion and run it as a separate entity in the hope of pro- 1995, hoping to realize synergies with such magazines
tecting it from what they saw as the cynical economic as Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Soon after,
calculations of network executives. News Corporation, the parent company of FOX and
Sobering events at Tiananmen Square, the Berlin the owner of a growing collection of satellite TV ser-
Wall, and in the Persian Gulf helped to slow the erod- vices around the world, finally took a plunge into
ing status of network news operations, however. The broadcast journalism with the 1996 premier of the
Gulf War especially exposed the challenge faced by FOX News Channel, a service that modeled itself on
the down-sized network news divisions, as they right-wing talk radio in the U.S., thereby distinguish-
seemed to be bested at every turn by CNN, which of- ing it from rivals and helping to push it ahead of CNN
fered round-the-clock coverage that proved influential in U.S. cable ratings. Interestingly, this put ABC and
not only in the U.S. but also in the Middle East and Eu- CBS in a difficult position, since neither news organi-
rope. CNN furthermore earned kudos for its indepen- zation enjoyed the same synergies as their competitors
dent reporting from Baghdad throughout the war, a and yet both worried that it would be costly to launch
stark contrast to the pack journalism practiced by its yet another cable news service in an already crowded
competition. Yet with the luxury of CNN’s many hours market. Consequently, ABC, now owned by Disney,
of programming, it also could swing from the most se- began to search for strategic partnerships, entering into
rious topical news to the most sensational tabloid sto- extended negotiations with CNN. As talks continued,
ries, as it demonstrated with its capacious coverage of the market value of the two organizations indicated a
domestic stories such as the Menendez murder trial, dramatic reversal of fortune, with CNN reporting prof-
Tonya Harding’s assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and Ma- its in 2001 of $200 million on $1.6 billion in revenues
rina Bobbit’s castration of her wayward husband. The and ABC News realizing only $15 million in profits
apogee of such coverage seemed to arrive with the sur- derived from $600 million in revenues. Although at the
real, slow-motion highway pursuit of O.J. Simpson millennium, the nightly newscasts of the major broad-
and his subsequent murder trial, followed shortly cast networks still drew the largest audiences, the pro-
thereafter by the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. liferating services of cable television had dramatically
The latter is remarkable on a number of accounts. redefined the meaning of network news.
First of all, the story was broken not by a network Michael Curtin
1657
See also Brinkley, David; Brokaw, Tom; Cable Michael Curtin, Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Docu-
News Network; Cronkite, Walter; Dateline; Hunt- mentary and Cold War Politics, New Brunswick, New Jer-
sey: Rutgers University Press, 1996
ley, Chet; Murrow, Edward R.; News, Local and Todd Gitlin, The Whole World Is Watching: Mass Media in the
Regional; Sevaried, Eric; 60 Minutes; Smith, Making and Unmaking of the New Left, Berkeley: University
Howard K.; Walters, Barbara of California Press, 1980
Daniel Hallin, The Uncensored War: Vietnam and the Media,
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986
Further Reading Michael D. Murray, editor, Encyclopedia of Television News,
Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999
Ken Auletta, Three Blind Mice: How the Networks Lost Their
Way, New York: Random House, 1991
Nichols, Dandy (1907–1986)

British Actor
Dandy Nichols is remembered above all for one role Antarctic. Film directors cast her initially as cockney
only, that of the long-suffering Else, wife of the ap- maids and charwomen, but it was not long before her
palling Alf Garnett, in the long-running series Till skills as a character actress were recognized and she
Death Us Do Part, and the rather milder follow-up In was occasionally allowed to extend herself in more
Sickness and in Health, both written by Johnny varied parts.
Speight. Born in Hammersmith, in western London, Nichols
The role of Else Garnett (or Ramsey, as the family was nevertheless quite at home with the East End lo-
was called in the beginning) went first to Gretchen cale of the Garnett series, and she proved inimitable in
Franklin when a pilot episode of Till Death Us Do Part the character with which she became most closely
was made in 1965, but Nichols took over when the se- identified. Deadpan in the face of Garnett’s unforgiv-
ries got under way and she quickly proved the perfect able verbal abuse, and resigned to her role as the target
foil to the bigoted and abusive Garnett, played by War- of much of her husband’s frustration and invective, she
ren Mitchell. The rapport between the two ensured the could be, by turns, hilarious and pathetic, and she
show’s immediate, if controversial, success, and the quickly became a firm favorite of the British viewing
program was destined to attract top ratings for 10 years public. Treasured memories of her performances in-
before a weary Nichols complained that she could no cluded the carefully managed moments in which she
longer work with Warren Mitchell, and called it a day would bring a careering Alf Garnett to a sudden stop in
(in the series it was explained that she had left for Aus- mid-tirade with some artlessly innocent observation or
tralia to visit her sister). She came back, however, as other, apparently oblivious of the inevitable result that
Else in the sequel, In Sickness and in Health, although she would draw the full venom of her husband’s ire
she was by now confined to a wheelchair because of upon herself. Else was a type that many people recog-
arthritis and with only months to live. nized from real life, and she provided some necessary
As Else, Alf Garnett’s dimwitted “silly old moo” of warmth and pathos to contrast with the monstrous
a wife, Nichols repeatedly demonstrated the command Alf’s aggression and viciousness. Without Else, and in
of technique and timing that she had learned from her a changed climate under the Thatcher government, the
long apprenticeship in the theater (she appeared, for later series faltered and failed to resonate with viewers
instance, in the original Royal Court Theatre cast of as earlier episodes had done.
David Storey’s Home in 1970 and acted in the West Success in the role of Else Garnett, though it came
End with the likes of John Gielgud and Ralph Richard- relatively late in her career, brought Nichols the oppor-
son). She also appeared in some 50-odd films, which tunity to play both starring and supporting roles in
ranged from Carry on Doctor and Confessions of a many other classic television shows. In the sitcom The
Window Cleaner to Nicholas Nickleby and Scott of the Trouble with You, Lillian, for instance, she was equally
1658
Nichols, Dandy
long-running series Till Death Us Do Part. Died

February 6, 1986.
Television Series
1965–75 Till Death Us Do Part
1971 The Trouble with You, Lillian
1985 In Sickness and in Health
Films
Hue and Cry, 1947; Nicholas Nickleby, 1947; Woman
Hater, 1948; Portrait from Life, 1948; The Fallen
Idol, 1948; The Winslow Boy, 1948; Here Come the
Huggetts, 1948; The History of Mr. Polly, 1948;
Scott of the Antarctic, 1948; Don’t Ever Leave Me,
1949; Now Barabbas was a Robber . . . , 1949; Tony
Draws a Horse, 1950; Dance Hall, 1950; The
Clouded Yellow, 1950; White Corridors, 1951; The
Holly and the Ivy, 1952; The Happy Family/Mr.
Lord Says No, 1952; Mother Riley Meets the Vam-
pire/Vampire Over London, 1952; Emergency
Call/Hundred Hour Hunt, 1952; The Pickwick Pa-
pers, 1952; Woman of Twilight/Twilight Women,
1952; Street Corner/Both Sides of the Law, 1953;
The Wedding of Lili Marlene, 1953; Meet Mr. Lu-
cifer, 1953; The Intruder, 1953; Time Is My Enemy,
1954; The Crowded Sky, 1954; Mad about Men,
Home, Dandy Nichols, John Gielgud, 1972. 1954; Where There’s a Will, 1955; The Deep Blue
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Sea, 1955; A Time to Kill, 1955; Lost/Tears for Si-
mon, 1955; Not So Dusty, 1956; The Feminine
Touch/The Gentle Touch, 1956; Yield to the
effective as Madge, teamed up with the redoubtable Night/Blonde Sinner, 1956; The Strange World of
Patricia Hayes. Among the other classic series in Planet X/Cosmic Monsters, 1958; Carry On
which she appeared to acclaim were Emergency-Ward Sergeant, 1958; A Cry from the Streets, 1958; Don’t
10, Dixon of Dock Green, No Hiding Place, Mrs. Talk to Strange Men, 1962; Ladies Who Do, 1963;
Thursday, and Bergerac. The critics also lavished The Leather Boys, 1963; Act of Murder, 1964;
praise on her performance in a television adaptation of Help!, 1965; The Amorous Adventures of Moll
the William Trevor play The General’s Day, in which Flanders, 1965; The Knack . . . and How to Get It,
she starred opposite Alastair Sim. 1965; The Early Bird, 1965; Doctor in Clover,
David Pickering 1966; Georgy Girl, 1966; How I Won the War,
1967; Carry On Doctor, 1968; Till Death Us Do
See also Till Death Us Do Part
Part, 1968; The Bed Sitting Room, 1969; First
Love, 1970; Home, 1972; The Alf Garnett Saga,
Dandy Nichols (Daisy Nichols). Born in Hammer-
1972; O Lucky Man!, 1973; Confessions of a Win-
smith, London, 1907. Worked for 12 years as a secre-
dow Cleaner, 1974; Three for All, 1974; Kate the
tary in a London factory, taking acting lessons;
Good Neighbour, 1980; The Plague Dogs (voice
professional actor from late 1930s; participated in six-
only), 1982; Britannia Hospital, 1982.
week tour with ENSA during World War II; film debut,
1947; played maids, housewives, and other roles for
many years on both stage and screen, before her great- Stage (selected)
est success opposite Warren Mitchell, as Else in the The Clandestine Marriage; Plunder; Home.
1659
Nick at Nite/TVLand
Nick at Nite/TVLand
U.S. Cable Network
Debuting in 1985, Nick at Nite began as its parent Along with this “family” appeal, however, Nick at
company Nickelodeon’s beachhead in primetime, Nite/TV Land has also quite successfully promoted
eventually becoming one of the most successful exam- their library of old shows as both “camp” and as a
ples of “re-purposing” in the television industry. Look- shared TV heritage. Each network surrounds its “time-
ing to establish continuity between Nickelodeon’s less” and yet potentially repetitive catalogue of reruns
daytime children’s programming and a primetime with clever, complex, fast-paced, and ever-changing
schedule that would accommodate both children and promotional campaigns, interstitial materials that serve
adults, Nick at Nite mined the extensive vaults at Via- continually to repackage old television for new audi-
com for “classic” situation comedies with dual appeal. ences. Often, these campaigns play on and reward the
Comprising the kind of sitcoms that had long been viewer’s familiarity with the programming by parody-
used by local programmers in the late afternoon to fill ing certain plot conventions, pointing out inconsisten-
after-school slots for kids (until this timeslot became cies and continuity errors in individual episodes, and
too lucrative to abandon to children), Nick at Nite also generally celebrating the naïve “unreality” of vintage
appealed to Baby-Boomer memories of their own fa- television’s now increasingly distant and alien world-
vorite television shows from the 1950s, 1960s, and view. One campaign, for example, tallies the total
1970s. The strategy proved so successful that Viacom, number of times Dragnet’s Joe Friday can be seen not
after a brief corporate skirmish with MCA, launched a wearing his trademark gray suit and black tie. Another
second cable service, TVLand, in 1996. While Nick at spot observes how every episode of The Munsters in-
Nite continued as an extension of Nickelodeon, TV- cludes at least one sequence in “fast-motion,” and then
Land honed a more ironic style, targeting adults and considers the comic appeal of this familiar device.
their love/hate relationship with the world of TV re- These promos have proven so popular and crucial to
runs. Series such as I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, the networks’ profile that the TVLand website allows
The Munsters, Dragnet, and The Dick Van Dyke Show Internet users to relive their favorite promotional cam-
remain staples of both services. TVLand went on to paigns. The most successful marketing strategy, then,
update its schedule to include series of the 1970s and may well be each network’s ability to recast the lowly
1980s, such as The A-Team, Charlie’s Angels, and re-run into the collective cultural heritage of TV-
Family Ties, thus tapping into the campy nostalgia of Land—a fantasy world where all of television history
post-Baby-Boomer generations. (or at least, that controlled by Viacom) coalesces into a
Remarkably, both cable services have been extraor- mythic parallel universe to the real world.
dinarily successful at revitalizing television series that Related to this, Nick at Nite and TVLand have also
have long been in syndication and would thus seem to pioneered a number of innovative scheduling strate-
have exhausted their appeal. The key to this success gies. For example, each network has made extensive
has been a series of innovations in marketing and use of block programming, adapting it in ways not seen
scheduling. For example, Nick at Nite has attracted a in the network system. In its various “Block Party” pro-
large viewership by packaging these series as “family motions, the networks will run ten or twelve episodes
television,” appealing to anxious parents with proof the same series back to back (on at least one occa-
grams from a more “innocent” time. For parents con- sion, The Donna Reed Show ran 24 hours a day for an
cerned about the viewing habits of their young entire weekend). Such scheduling indulges the dedi-
children, vintage sitcoms from the network era provide cated fan (who has an opportunity to tape the series in
safe material insulated from the often more provoca- its original sequence) and creates an “event” around an
tive programming of the post-network system. Appeals otherwise shopworn show. Other scheduling schemes
to Baby Boomer and Generation X nostalgia are also have included nights devoted to a common sitcom
strong, a strategy epitomized in TV Land’s recycling theme (across several series) and blocks devoted to
of not only vintage television shows, but vintage com- showcasing a “minor” character on a famous series
mercials. (such as a “Floyd Night” of The Andy Griffith Show).
1660
Nielsen, A.C
about individual episodes. Following a larger trend in

cable, TVLand has also produced a series of original
documentaries devoted to the development, history,
and cultural significance of certain key television pro-
grams (including I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke
Show, and All in the Family). Game shows and travel-
ing exhibits based on the mastery of television trivia
have also proved central to their marketing agenda.
The network’s most unusual promotion, however, may
well be its plan to unveil bronze sculptures of promi-
nent television characters in geographically relevant
locations. A life-size statue of The Honeymooner’s
Ralph Kramden now stands at the Port Authority in
Manhattan, with plans for a Mary Richards in Min-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection neapolis and a Joe Friday in Los Angeles. At over
$100,000 per sculpture, these TV statues present one
of the most unusual examples of “convergence” in
contemporary media, but one wholly appropriate to the
network’s overall public identity as the custodian of
Expanding on its appeal to the TV fan and connois- television memory.
seur, TV Land in particular has in many ways become Jeffrey Sconce
television’s default historian. Although the network of-
ten treats its content as camp, there is also a prominent See also All in the Family; Andy Griffith Show, The;
trend toward according these programs a certain Brady Bunch, The; Charlie’s Angels; Dick Van Dyke
archival and historical respect. Episode numbers and Show, The; Dragnet; Family Ties; Honeymooners,
original broadcast dates are now often included in each The; I Love Lucy; Mary Tyler Moore Show, The
telecast, as are brief “behind-the-scenes” information
Nielsen, A.C. (1897–1980)

U.S. Media Market Researcher
Arthur Charles (A.C.) Nielsen established, and gave Because the Depression was also a period of rapid
his name to, the world’s largest market-research orga- growth for radio, and radio advertising, Nielsen was
nization and the principal U.S. television ratings sys- encouraged to begin measuring radio audiences. In the
tem. After working as an engineer in the Chicago area, spring of 1936, he attended a meeting of the Market
he used investments from former fraternity brothers to Research Council in New York, at which the speaker
establish in 1923 a firm that reported surveys of the was Robert Elder, an instructor from the Massachu-
performance and production of industrial equipment. setts Institute of Technology (MIT). Elder described
A decade later, during the Great Depression, the com- the use of a mechanical recorder that could be attached
pany was faced with a reduced level of manufacturing to the tuning mechanism of a radio receiver, providing
on which to study and report, so it launched the a continuous record of the stations to which the set was
Nielsen Food and Drug Index. Begun in 1933 and tuned. The device had been developed independently
1934, these regular reports on the volume and price of by Claude Robinson while a student at Columbia Uni-
packaged goods sales in a national sample of grocery versity and by Elder with Louis F. Woodruff at MIT.
stores and pharmacies became essential to the pack- Nielsen quickly acquired the meters that had so far
aged goods industry. A.C. Nielsen Company became been produced, as well as patent rights and trademark
the preeminent U.S. market-research firm. registration for the Audimeter, as the device was
1661
Nielsen, A.C.
measurement system and attempted to market it to the

radio industry. Finding much resistance, he never
brought this service into use.
By 1963 Nielsen was out of the radio ratings busi-
ness, preferring to concentrate on the relatively young
national and local television-audience measurement
services—the National Television Index (NTI) and the
Nielsen Station Index (NSI), respectively.
In June 1980 A.C. Nielsen, Sr., died in Chicago. In
1984 his company merged with information giant
Dunn and Bradstreet. The company has since been
split into two entities, Nielsen Media Research and the
A.C. Nielson Company; the first was acquired by the
Dutch company VNU in 1999; VNU also acquired the
second company in 2001.
James E. Fletcher
See also A.C. Nielsen Company; Demographics;
Ratings; Share; Market
Arthur Charles Nielsen, Sr. Born in Chicago, Illi-

nois, September 5, 1897. Educated at University of
Arthur C. Nielsen.
Photo courtesy of A.C. Nielsen Wisconsin, B.Sc. summa cum laude, 1918. Married:
Gertrude B. Smith, 1918; three daughters, two sons.
Served in U.S. Naval Reserve, 1918. Worked as elec-
known. The Nielsen Radio Index (NRI), a series of trical engineer, Isko Company, Chicago, 1919–20, and
regular audience surveys conducted with the Audime- H.P. Gould Company, Chicago, 1920–23; president,
ter, began in December 1942. The Audimeter became 1923–57, and chair, 1957–80, A.C. Nielsen Company;
the principal form for measuring radio ratings when in established numerous Nielsen offices in the United
March 1950 Nielsen bought rival C.E. Hooper’s radio States and abroad. Recipient: silver medal, Annual Ad-
and television ratings services. vertisement Awards Committee, 1936; award for out-
In 1939 the A.C. Nielsen Company Ltd. had been standing service, Chicago Federated Advertisements
organized in London. The internationalization of the Club, 1941; Paul D. Converse Award, American Mar-
company increased, especially after 1957 when A.C. keting Association, 1951 and 1970; elected to Hall of
Nielsen, Jr., became company president. Fame in Distribution, 1953; Knight in Order of Dan-
In 1963 Congressional hearings studying ratings nebrog, 1961; Parlin Memorial Award, 1963; annual
and their influence upon programming in television fo- award, International Advertisement Association, 1966;
cused considerable criticism upon the ratings industry marketing Man of the Year, 1970; elected to National
and on the reliability of audience-measurement sur- Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame, 1971; elected to the Adver-
veys. In that same year Nielsen had discontinued radio tising Hall of Fame, 1986. Died in Chicago, June 1,
Audimeter reports because the increased number of ra- 1980.
dio stations on the dial made it difficult for the device
to distinguish between them. As a stop-gap measure, Further Reading
the company began a diary survey method for radio
measurement (Audiologs). Weaknesses in this method Buzzard, Karen, Chains of Gold: Marketing the Ratings and
Rating the Markets, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow
attracted unfavorable attention during the hearings. Press, 1990
Nielsen Jr. shut down the Audiolog operation, de- Buzzard, Karen, Electronic Media Ratings: Turning Audiences
signed what he considered a reliable radio-audience into Dollars and Sense, Boston: Focal, 1992
1662
Nixon, Agnes
Nielsen Company. See A.C. Nielsen Company
Nixon, Agnes (1927– )

U.S. Writer, Producer
Often termed the “queen” of contemporary U.S. soap and Hispanic families had become central characters
opera, Agnes Nixon is best known, and most honored, on the program.
for introducing social issues into the soaps. Like Wil- Nixon created One Life to Live for ABC in order to
liam Bell (creator of The Young and the Restless and get the opportunity to write her “dream” story, All My
The Bold and the Beautiful), Nixon apprenticed in radio Children (AMC). Launched in 1970, AMC placed more
with Irna Phillips, the creator of the first TV soap- emphasis on personal angles than OLTL, but the newer
operas (adapting the genre from radio), for whom soap did tackle social issues such as child abuse and
Nixon wrote dialogue for Woman in White. In the early the Vietnam War. In May 1971, AMC depicted a char-
1960s, in her first job as a head writer (on Guiding acter going through the process of abortion—the first
Light), Nixon had the heroine, Bert Bauer (played by this had been done following the legalization of abor-
Charita Bauer), develop uterine cancer. Typical of this tion. Assuming the audience would be shocked,
storyteller, Nixon was personally motivated to write AMC’s writers gave the character Erica Kane (Susan
this plotline: a friend had died of cancer and Nixon Lucci) a “bad” motive for seeking the procedure (she
hoped to encourage women to have regular Pap smears. wanted a modeling job), and, following the abortion,
However, the presentation of social and political is- Erica was afflicted with septicemia (this plot twist be-
sues in television soap opera really began in 1968, ing promoted as serving educational ends as well as
with the first show Nixon created, One Life to Live “poetic justice”).
(OLTL). Nixon developed this soap for ABC, and it re- Nixon wrote political nonconformity into scripts, a
flected the changing social structures and attitudes in very rare trait in prime-time television but rarer still in
the United States of its era. In its early years, OLTL daytime drama. When All My Children debuted in
was rich in issue stories and characters. It featured 1970, it featured Amy Tyler (Rosemary Prinz) as a
leads who were Jewish, as well as up-from-poverty peace activist. Nixon then had the young hero Phillip
Irish-American and Polish-American characters. In ad- Brent drafted against his will; he was later missing in
dition, OLTL was the first soap to portray African action in Vietnam. Political pages in U.S. newspapers
Americans as lead characters (Carla Gray, played by took note of a speech against the war by the AMC char-
Ellen Holly, and Ed Hall, played by Al Freeman, Jr.). acter of Ruth Martin (Mary Fickett), who had raised
The character of Carla developed from a woman who Phillip as her son. Fickett won the first Emmy given to
was “passing as white” to one who embodied black a daytime performer for her work during the 1972–73
pride, and she had romantic relationships with both season. In 1974 Nixon turned to humanizing the Viet-
black and white men. Ironically, when Holly and Free- namese, showing Phillip, in one of the few war scenes
man brought Carla and Ed back to One Life in the mid on TV soap opera, being rescued by a young Viet-
1980s, they seemed out of place in the by-then WASP- namese, played by a man who had been adopted by
ish setting of Llanview, Pennsylvania. “Color” in this one of Nixon’s friends.
era was created not by race, but by style, in the persons In the mid-1970s, All My Children’s focus on young
of the nouveau riche, Dallas-style oil family, the adult characters included not only romance and sexual-
Buchanans. By the mid 1990s, however, interracial ity, but also the characters’ growing pains. From its ear-
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Nixon, Agnes
parents, as steadfast as Tad’s blood parents were unre-

liable and frightening.
Nixon’s other archetypal creations on AMC include
“tent-pole” characters, usually older women such as
Erica’s mother, Mona Tyler (Frances Heflin), and Myr-
tle Fargate (Eileen Heckart). Tent-pole characters, says
Nixon, are “the Greek chorus, in a sense . . . telling the
audience how to feel.”
In addition to folk myth, Nixon also drew on the re-
ligious and mystical. One of her favorite tales is from
the third soap opera she created (with the late Douglas
Marland), Loving (ABC, 1983; renamed The City in
1995). Archetypal good/bad twins Keith and Jonathan
(both played by John Hurley) battled, and the evil
Jonathan, after falling from Golden Gate Bridge, re-
turned with supernatural powers. Nixon claimed
Jonathan made a pact with the devil, citing Faust and
C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters as sources.
After semi-retiring from writing in 1997, Nixon re-
turned to the job of head writer for All My Children in
1999, a position she had last held in 1992. Once back
at the helm, she launched one more controversial, so-
cially relevant, and precedent-setting storyline, in
which the teenage daughter of Erica Kane came out as
Agnes Nixon. a lesbian. In 2000 Nixon announced her retirement
Courtesy of the Everett Collection from writing soap operas. Her involvement with ABC
soaps did not end completely, however, as she took a
new position as story consultant for all daytime dramas
liest days, the soap has revolved around Erica Kane. on the network.
Initially presented as a willful but winningly vulnerable Carol Traynor Williams
teenager, Erica has matured over the years, becoming a
See also Soap opera
strong-minded but winningly vulnerable career woman
and parent, the always triumphant survivor of rape, the
Agnes (Eckhardt) Nixon. Born in Chicago, Illinois,
loss of a parent, disastrous love affairs, failed mar-
December 27, 1927. Educated at Northwestern Univer-
riages, drug addiction, and innumerable other tragedies.
sity, Evanston, Illinois. Married: Robert Nixon (died
In the early 1980s, AMC’s popularity soared as
1996); four children. Freelance writer for radio and tele-
young people raced home (or to their dormitory
vision; creator, packager, and head writer for various
lounges) at lunch time to watch the classic star-crossed
daytime drama series. Consultant for ABC daytime dra-
romance of Jenny Gardner (Kim Delaney) and Greg
mas from 2000. Member: International Radio and TV
Nelson (Lawrence Lau). The divisive issue was class:
Society; National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences;
Jenny was from a troubled, lower-class family; Greg’s
Friars Club; Board of Harvard Foundation. Recipient:
mother, Enid Nelson, was Pine Valley’s stereotypical
National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences Trustees
snob. Equally popular were Angie Morgan (Debbi
Award, 1981; Junior Diabetes Foundation Super
Morgan) and Jesse Hubbard (Darnell Williams), soap
Achiever Award; Wilmer Eye Institute Award; Ameri-
opera’s first African-American “super couple.”
can Women in Radio and TV Communicator Award,
The character of Tad Martin (Michael Knight) epito-
1984; American Academy of Achievement Gold Plate
mized another Agnes Nixon gift to soap opera: humor.
Award, 1993; Television Hall of Fame, 1993.
Tad’s biological parents were an evil father, Ray Gard-
ner (dead since the 1980s), and a loving but ditzy
mother, Opal (one of Nixon’s most famous comic cre- Television Series
ations). After Ray abandoned him in a park, Tad was 1951 Studio One
raised by Joe Martin (Ray McConnell) and his wife 1952–54 Robert Montgomery Presents
Ruth. Joe and Ruth were the central father and mother 1957–59 As the World Turns
of AMC, and in folk-myth terms, they were the good 1959–65 The Guiding Light (head writer)
1664
North of 60
1965–68 Another World (head writer) Further Reading

1968 One Life to Live (creator, packager) Allen, Robert C., Speaking of Soap Operas, Chapel Hill: Uni-
1970–92, All My Children (creator, versity of North Carolina Press, 1985
1999–2000 packager, and head writer) Edmondson, Madeleine, and David Rounds, The Soaps: Day-
1983–95 Loving (called The City, 1995; time Serials of Radio and TV, New York: Stein and Day,
creator, packager) 1973
Intintoli, Michael James, Taking Soaps Seriously: The World of
The Guiding Light, New York: Praeger, 1984
Television Miniseries Wakefield, Dan, All Her Children, Garden City, New York:
Doubleday, 1976
1981 The Mansions of America (creator) Williams, Carol T., “It’s Time for My Story”: Soap Opera
Sources, Structure, and Response, Westport, Connecticut:
Praeger, 1992
Television Special
1952–53 Hallmark Hall of Fame
North of 60
Canadian Drama Series
Born of the heightened consciousness of the First Na- tent) way of misunderstanding the Cree community of
tions in the late 1980s, this hour-long CBC series was Lynx River provided the early plotlines. As he was ed-
one of the first in North America to focus almost ex- ucated by the community to the very different values
clusively on contemporary First Nations characters and apparently incomprehensible behavior of the “In-
and situations. Created by Wayne Grigsby and Barbara dians,” so also was the multicultural audience “south
Samuels, the series aired from 1992 to 1998. Aborigi- of 60.” Olsen was followed by a psychotic white “part-
nal writers such as Jordan Wheeler (also a story editor) ner” for Michelle and then by an urban Cree partner.
and novelist and film writer Thomas King provided Michelle remained the focus for most of the series.
some of the scripts. The program starred Tina Keeper The series raised many sensitive issues: the abuses
as Michelle Kenidi, a constable in the Royal Canadian of the residential schools and the many forms of self-
Mounted Police (RCMP). Tom Jackson played her hatred and anger that resulted; the decimation of the
brother, chief (later ex-chief) of the Lynx River com- aboriginal way of life in the wake of animal-rights
munity. George Tootoosis portrayed the bootlegger Al- protesters; runaways who head south to Vancouver to
bert Golo, subsequently chief of the community and become street prostitutes; AIDS; land claims (and an-
the Kenidis’ constant antagonist. Dakota House was thropologists “working” on those lands); interracial
Teevee Tenia, the restless teenager, new father, and marriages. Alcohol abuse, with its effect on the entire
runner for the younger Golos. Other continuing char- community, and unemployment were running motifs.
acters included Elsie, Teevee’s very direct and widely However, North of 60 was not a series about victims. It
respected grandmother; Joe, the self-exiled hunter who was about a community in transition, a community
camped outside of the settlement; Rosie, who was de- whose core values are threatened but still able to with-
termined to run her own store; her carpenter husband, stand the coming of fax machines and satellite televi-
Leon; Gerry, the exploitative owner of the store; and sion.
Harris, the band manager who changed sides but was There was truth to the complaint that the series in
genuinely in love with Teevee’s self-destructive the early seasons took itself too seriously, lacking the
mother, Lois. often ambivalent, sometimes oblique, and often very
In the first two seasons the cast was also headed by earthy humor characteristic of many First Nations.
John Oliver as Sergeant Eric Olsen, a white, burnt-out Subsequent seasons, without Olsen, were a little more
RCMP drug cop from Vancouver, who had requested lighthearted. Sarah, the white nurse, in a rich and un-
this posting as a change of pace. His (usually inadver- expected plot twist, took refuge after a nervous break-
1665
North of 60
sions of a small boy who eventually wounds him with

the stone from a slingshot. As Kenidi comes to see, the
“boy” is his younger self running away from residen-
tial school—but the cut on his forehead is “real.” This
larger sense of reality offers him a reason to become
part of the Lynx River community and to try to find his
place in it.
These topics, and others like them, explore difficult
cultural concerns. Like Cariboo Country in the 1960s
and The Beachcombers in the 1970s and 1980s, the 90
episodes of North of 60 used sensitivity and humor to
address such issues of cross-cultural contact and con-
flict, specifically that between mainstream and indige-
nous cultures. When the series ended, change in the
form of oil exploration was on the way. A number of
made-for-TV North of 60 movies have followed, with
audiences still enjoying new insights into the charac-
ters and their culture.
Mary Jane Miller
Cast
Corporal Eric Olsen (1992–
94) John Oliver
Michelle Kenidi Tina Keeper
Peter Kenidi Tom Jackson
Sarah Birkett Tracey Cook
Albert Golo Gordon Tootoosis
North of 60.
Photo courtesy of CBC Television Teevee Tenia Dakota House
Lois Tenia Willene Tootoosis
Constable James Harper Peter Kelly
Gaudreault
down with Albert, now the chief. Her non sequiturs,
Gerry Kisilenko Lubomir Mykytiuk
together with a generally more confident cast and
Harris Miller Timothy Webber
group of writers, developed a thread of subtle, ironic,
Ellen Kenidi Renae Morriseau
and unexpected humor.
Hannah Kenidi Selina Hanuse
The struggles of Michelle, her attempts to befriend
Rosie Deela Tina Louise Bomberry
her own people while policing them, and her conflicts
Leon Deela Erroll Kinistino
with her teenage daughter Hannah, created situations
Elsie Tsa Che Wilma Pelly
any working parent could relate to. Hannah later
Joe Gomba Jimmy Herman
drowned in a storyline that also introduced Michelle’s
Andrew One Sky Michael Horse
new love interest, a counselor and bush pilot, Andrew
Corporal Brian Fletcher Robert Bockstael
One Sky. However, the series also created unexpected
Sylvie LeBret Michelle Thrush
solutions to the usual domestic problems. For exam-
Nathan Golo Michael P. Obey
ple, rather than simply relying on an unchanging, win-
Rosemary Fletcher Julie Stewart
ning combination of characters, Thomas King’s script
Charlie Muskrat Simon Baker
gave Peter Kenidi, even with his master’s degree, a
Inspector Andre Cormier Yvan Ponton
reason for staying in Lynx River. An unplanned vision
quest is derived from too little sleep, extensive work
on the history of the local families and the stories told Producers
by the elders, and worry about the offer of a well- Wayne Grigsby, Barbara Samuels, Peter Lauterman,
paying and influential job in Ottawa. Kenidi has vi- Tom Cox, Doug MacLeod
1666
Northern Exposure
Programming History November 1994–March 1995 Thursday 9:00–10:00

90 episodes November 1995–March 1996 Thursday 9:00–10:00
CBC October 1996–January 1997 Thursday 9:00–10:00
November 1992–March 1993 Thursday 8:00–9:00 September 1997–December
November 1993–March 1994 Thursday 9:00–10:00 1997 Thursday 9:00–10:00
Northern Exposure
U.S. Dramedy
Northern Exposure, perhaps the best example to date denizens. Former astronaut and wealthy entrepreneur
of a crossbred television “dramedy,” began inauspi- Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin) is forever devising
ciously as a CBS replacement series in the summer of ways to exploit Cicely’s natural wonders. No-nonsense
1990 but quickly garnered critical acclaim as well as septuagenarian Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg Phillips) operates
an audience sufficient to warrant its return for a short Cicely’s General Store, where Native American Ed
stint the following year. Its popularity grew, and for its Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows) helps out while aspiring to
first complete season, 1991–92, Exposure received rat- be a filmmaker and, eventually, a shaman. French-
ings in the top 20, the Emmy for Best Television Canadian immigrant Holling Vincoeur (played by Broad-
Drama, and an unusual two-year commitment from the way star John Cullum) owns and manages Cicely’s
network. During its fourth full year, 1994–95, the watering hole, The Brick. He is assisted by girlfriend-
show’s future appeared questionable. The midseason turned-wife Shelly Tambo (Cynthia Geary), an ex-beauty
departure of one of its key players, Rob Morrow, a queen some 40 years his junior. Joel’s receptionist, Mari-
move from its established Monday night time slot to lyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles), orients her “boss,” a man
Wednesday, and the network’s mushrooming concern of science, to her Native American customs and spiritual-
about attracting youthful demographics all contributed ity while keeping him in line with the slightest grimace or
to a decline in favor. The program was canceled by the glare. Chris Stevens (John Corbett), ex-con and disk
network at the end of the season. jockey for Cicely’s KBHR (“Kaybear”) radio, peppers
Set in the fictional hamlet of Cicely, Alaska, this the narrative with eclectic musical selections, self-taught
unique, contemporary-set, hour-long series was cre- philosophy, and Greek chorus-like commentary. Finally,
ated by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, whose earlier Maggie O’Connell (Janine Turner), a local bush pilot and
brainchild, St. Elsewhere, had also become a surprise Joel’s landlady, engages him in a tangled romance remi-
hit. Location shooting in and around the towns of niscent of 1930s and 1940s screwball comedy. When Joel
Roslyn and Redmond, Washington, offered scenic exited the scene during the 1994–95 season, Dr. Phillip
panoramas invoking cultural images of unspoiled Capra (Paul Provenza) and his journalist-spouse Michelle
American frontier. Into this haven comes the prover- (Teri Polo) were introduced.
bial “fish out of water,” Joel Fleischman (Morrow), It was around intermittent characters that some of
compelled to serve as town doctor in order to repay the Exposure’s most groundbreaking episodes and themes
State of Alaska for his medical school tuition. His ini- emerged. Chris’s African-American half-brother
tial disdain for Cicely’s outwardly unsophisticated in- Bernard (Richard Cummings, Jr.) and Marilyn’s healer
habitants is exceeded only by his desire to return to his cousin Leonard Quinhagak, played by noted film actor
beloved Big Apple where his ambition, cosmopolitan Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves), deepened and
tastes, and Jewishness might have free reign. enhanced the show’s representation of many cultures.
The frontier theme is extended and personified in Gender and sexuality were explored through Ron
many of the town’s multicultural, multigenerational (Doug Ballard) and Erick (Don R. McManus), propri-
1667
Northern Exposure
enced by phenomena such as seasonal winds, Northern

Lights, midnight sun, and ice breaking in springtime.
The lesson is clear: nature tames human beings—not
the other way around.
A cult favorite whose star rose along with that of the
Internet, Northern Exposure inspired fan clubs, web-
sites, and cyberspace bulletin boards—forums for spir-
ited discussion by an international following. Although
its network run was short-lived, the program lived on
in syndication and clearly made its mark with innova-
tive, postmodern storytelling, an eclectic musical
soundtrack, and character-driven themes crystallizing
new and ongoing debates about cultural values weigh-
ing heavily on a viewing public facing the uncertainty
of a new millennium.
Christine Scodari
See also Dramedy
Cast
Dr. Joel Fleischman Rob Morrow
Maggie O’Connell Janine Turner
Maurice Minnifield Barry Corbin
Chris Stevens John Corbett
Ed Chigliak Darren E. Burrows
Holling Vincoeur John Cullum
Shelly Tambo Cynthia Geary
Marilyn Whirlwind Elaine Miles
Ruth-Anne Miller Peg Phillips
Northern Exposure, Rob Morrow, Janine Turner, 1990–96.
Rick Pederson (1990–91) Grant Goodeve
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Adam (1991–95) Adam Arkin
Dave the Cook (1991–95) William J. White
Leonard Quinhagak (1992–
etors of the local inn, whose gay wedding was a prime- 93) Graham Greene
time first. Ron and Erick’s arrival also helped to pro- Bernard Stevens (1991–
vide a larger context within which to recollect the 95) Richard Cummings, Jr.
town’s founding by a lesbian couple, Roslyn and Ci- Mike Monroe (1992–93) Anthony Edwards
cely, later featured in a flashback episode. Eccentric Walt Kupfer (1993–95) Moultrie Patten
bush couple Adam (Adam Arkin) and Eve (Valerie Eugene (1994–95) Earl Quewezance
Mahaffey) allude to the ongoing battle of the sexes Hayden Keyes (1994–95) James L. Dunn
rendered center stage by Joel and Maggie, and, with Dr. Phillip Capra (1994–
their exaggerated back-to-nature facade and conspicu- 95) Paul Provenza
ously consumptive habits, Adam and Eve poke light- Michelle Schowdoski
hearted fun at Exposure’s “yuppie” audience. Capra (1994–95) Teri Polo
The “fish out of water” narrative exemplified by
Joel’s gradual softening toward Cicely, Cicelians, and
Producers
small-town life is replicated again and again in
Joshua Brand, John Falsey, Charles Rosin, Robert T.
episodes about visitors who give of themselves in
Skodis
some fashion while becoming enriched by their inter-
actions with worldly wise, innately intelligent, and ac-
cepting locals. Humanity’s place within the larger Programming History
natural environment is another significant thematic 88 episodes
thread running through the program’s extended text. CBS
Behavior and temperament are often seen to be influ- July 1990–August 1990 Thursday 10:00–11:00
1668
Norway
April 1991–December Pringle, Mary Beth, and Cynthia L. Shearer, “The Female Spirit
1994 Monday 10:00–11:00 of Northern Exposure’s Cicely, Alaska,” The Mid-Atlantic
Almanac: The Journal of the Mid-Atlantic Popular/Ameri-
January 1995–March 1995 Wednesday 10:00–11:00 can Culture Association (1994)
July 1995–96 Wednesday 9:00–10:00 Rabkin, Joel, “Their Alaska and Mine,” Television Quarterly
(Winter 1992)
Further Reading Scodari, Christine, “Possession, Attraction, and the Thrill of the
Chase: Gendered Myth-Making in Film and Television
Chunovic, L., The “Northern Exposure” Book, New York: Comedy of the Sexes,” Critical Studies in Mass Communi-
Citadel, 1993 cation (1995)
Crawford, Iain, “Reading TV: Intertextuality in Northern Expo- Taylor, Annette M., “Landscape of the West in Northern
sure,” The Mid-Atlantic Almanac: The Journal of the Mid- Exposure,” The Mid-Atlantic Almanac: The Journal of
Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association (1994) the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association
Dempsey, John, “Northern Could Get Double Exposure,” Vari- (1994)
ety (30 November 1992) Wilcox, Rhonda V., “‘In Your Dreams, Fleischman’: Dr. Flesh
Di Salvatore, Bryan, “City Slickers: Our Far-Flung Correspon- and the Dream of the Spirit in Northern Exposure,” Studies
dents,” The New Yorker (22 March 1993) in Popular Culture (1993)
Kasindorf, Jeanie, “How Northern Exposure Became the Williams, Betsy, “‘North to the Future’: Northern Exposure and
Spring’s Hottest TV Show,” New York Times (May 27, 1991) Quality Television,” in Television: The Critical View, edited
Pareles, J., “Radio Days in Cicely, Alaska: Anything Goes,” by Horace Newcomb, New York: Oxford University Press,
New York Times (May 3, 1992) 1976; 5th edition, 1994
Norway
Television in Norway has always been a modest affair. broadcasting in Norway, and when television came
The first television service was not formally opened along, the NRK took for granted that it would be re-
until 1960, and it was not until the 1990s that the sec- sponsible for developing the new medium. Like other
ond national channel saw the light of day. The late start public broadcasters in the monopoly era, the NRK oc-
and low pace of developments in television can largely cupied a singular position as a major component of the
be explained with reference to distinct demographic national culture. The early years of television was
and topographic characteristics. Norway has a small marked by a pervasive social democratic enlighten-
population (4.5 million) scattered over a large area ment ethos inherited from radio. The NRK had from
(324,000 sq km or 125,000 sq mi), which works out to the beginning perceived education as one of its main
only 13 people per square kilometer. Nearly two-thirds tasks, and in the 1970s, the policy of enlightenment
of the country is mountainous (a traditional problem took on a sharper and more radical edge. News and
for TV transmissions) and uninhabitable. These fea- current affairs became more explicitly geared toward
tures make it both expensive and difficult to achieve closing the gap between the “information-rich” and
national distribution for broadcasting, but in Norway, the “information-poor,” and a wide range of pro-
with its strong ethos of social-democratic egalitarian- grams—in both the information and entertainment cat-
ism, the option to leave out non-profitable areas was egories—were broadcast with the aim of combating
never seriously considered. The high priority on “alienation,” “marginalization,” and “passive view-
achieving national distribution has had its price in ing.” These ideals were particularly apparent in pro-
terms of a more limited program output and large grams for children and young people, where issues
amounts of imported programming. Even today, view- such as racism, third-world poverty, and the environ-
ing remains among the lowest in Western Europe, with ment were central throughout the period. Although the
an average of only two and a half hours per day (2001). NRK transmitted quite a lot of high culture in the form
Despite its distinct characteristics, Norway’s televi- of classical music and drama, the dominant ideology in
sion history follows a familiar European pattern. The the monopoly era was marked more by social-
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) was es- democratic egalitarianism than high-culture elitism.
tablished in 1933 as a license-fee-funded and state- However, the NRK also transmitted highly popular en-
owned radio corporation. NRK had a monopoly on all tertainments programs. Norwegian versions of pro-
1669
Norway
grams such as Candid Camera and The $64,000 Ques- Egmont. From the beginning, TV2 was organized as a
tion were broadcast, although the formats were made private company, but the political intention was that it
more serious and “academic” than in the U.S. origi- should operate as a public-service corporation. There
nals. were restrictions on ownership, and there were also
The social-democratic ethos of the NRK was based stricter regulations concerning advertising than those
on an ideology of serving the ordinary man and set out in the European television directive (which ap-
woman. Many ordinary people were not convinced, plies in Norway even though the country is not a mem-
however, perceiving the NRK as a self-satisfied, pater- ber of the European Union). TV2 (and other
nalistic and bureaucratic institution. In the polarized commercial channels transmitting from Norway) are
social climate of the 1970s, the NRK also became a not allowed to put advertising breaks in news, current
target of sharp political attacks. Conservatives claimed affairs programs, documentaries, and feature films (un-
that the NRK monopoly was controlled by radicals, less the break lasts 20 minutes or more). Advertising
whereas left-wing and cultural-libertarian interests directed at children is also prohibited, and there is a
claimed that their views were not given adequate rep- ten-minute ban on advertising before and after chil-
resentation (albeit less strongly). By the end of the dren’s programs.
1970s, support for the monopoly was waning, and in Although more channels are now available, the
1981, the first moves were made by a conservative NRK remains a central reference point in Norwegian
government to break up the broadcasting structure. To television. After it lost its monopoly position, the NRK
begin with, a series of experiments were conducted made an effort to build an identity more as an indepen-
whereby voluntary associations, religious and political dent media corporation and less of a state enterprise.
groups, and newspapers were authorized to set up local From the beginning, government and parliament exer-
radio and television stations. Permission was also cised detailed control over organizational and financial
granted to a few cable companies to retransmit pro- matters, but through organizational reforms in 1988
grams from Satellite Television Ltd. (later Sky Chan- and 1996, the NRK achieved greater autonomy from
nel). Once these moves were made there was no the state. NRK is now a limited company, and although
turning back, however, and within a few years the con- the state holds all the shares, the reforms have granted
ditions for local and satellite broadcasting was perma- the NRK the right to appoint its own Director General
nently liberalized. and establish new services without going through a
The deregulation of broadcasting took place despite lengthy political process. In 1996, the NRK opened a
substantial political opposition from social-democratic second television channel (NRK2), and in recent years
and left-wing interests. These groups remained op- the corporation has been granted the right to fund po-
posed to the establishment of terrestrial commercial tential new services (teletext, Internet services, pay-
broadcasting services in competition with the NRK, TV, and so on) with advertising. Its basic radio and
but as satellite services proliferated, the opposition be- television services nevertheless remain without adver-
came difficult to sustain. By 1990, almost 40 percent tising, although some forms of sponsorship have been
of the population could watch satellite channels, allowed.
among them two services directed specifically at the In the competitive economic situation of the 1990s
Norwegian public. This was the pan-Scandinavian and 2000s, the NRK has fought, successfully, to retain
TV3 and the Norwegian cable channel TVNorge its position as the leading television company. In 2001,
(TVN). Both of these came on the air in 1988, and both NRK1 obtained an average market share of 38 percent
turned out to be far more popular than the international in the national market, compared with 31 percent for
satellite channels that had been available up to that TV2. Although TV2 and NRK both have a set of
point. In the end it was the loss of national advertising legally defined public-service obligations, there are
revenue to services transmitting to Norway from important differences between them. TV2 broadcasts
abroad that broke down what remained of the opposi- far more drama than the NRK, and solely within popu-
tion against deregulation. In 1990 the decision was lar genres. NRK’s output include some serious drama
made to allow the establishment of a second “official” and substantially more culture, information, and chil-
Norwegian television channel, a privately owned dren and youth programs. In its news service, TV2 has
“public-service” institution licensed by the state. adopted a more tabloid, down-to-earth style than the
TV2 began broadcasting in September 1992. The NRK. Yet NRK continues to hold a strong position
corporation is owned by two of Norway’s largest me- within news, entertainment, and sport. Both NRK and
dia conglomerates, the Schibsted company and A- TV2 transmit around 50 percent imported program-
pressen, along with the Danish publishing company ming, mostly from English-speaking countries. While
1670
Norway
NRK’s main strategy has been to expand early- public service channels might lose out to global and
evening and prime-time programming, and to retain its commercial competitors has led the NRK and TV2 to
strong position during evenings and weekends, TV2 is join forces, and in January 2002 they announced the
moving toward a 24-hour service. It transmits many formation of a joint venture—Norges Televisjon—that
more repeats, and its schedule also is more highly aims to be the leader in terrestrial digital television
structured, with permanent slots for different types of within the next few years.
programming and with extensive use of “stripping,” The state of Norwegian television in the early years
the placing of identical programs and series in horizon- of the new century is one of both stability and turbu-
tal strips across the weekly television schedule (that is, lence. Audiences for the national channels remain
broadcasting them at the same time each day). The high, although both advertising revenue and the li-
NRK schedule has traditionally been more loosely cense fee shows signs of stagnation. The political le-
structured and resources have been allocated on the ba- gitimacy of the Norwegian duopoly also appears to be
sis of “importance” or “relevance,” rather than ratings. undoubted, as TV2 was awarded a new seven-year li-
With the impact of competition, the NRK has also in- cense without much public criticism in 2002, and the
troduced more competitive scheduling policies. Partic- legitimacy and political support for the NRK has in-
ularly during the weekends, new scheduling principles creased remarkably since the monopoly era. There is a
have been instrumental in retaining viewers. broad consensus that the NRK should continue as a
Although NRK1 remains the biggest channel, it is license-fee-funded broadcaster, with a broad range of
gradually losing out to TV2 in the younger age groups. programming. Current financial difficulties have led to
Other commercial-service channels broadcasting in claims that the NRK should cease competing against
Norwegian are also trying to attract young viewers. commercial companies for sport and entertainment
TvNorge, which commanded a 10 percent market programs and concentrate on “serious” programming,
share in 2001, has sustained its position due to suc- but this view has not gained support within the politi-
cessful adaptations of game shows and global reality cal parties nor within the state-appointed Public Ser-
programs such as Big Brother and Temptation Island. vice Council.
TvNorge is owned partly by TV2 and partly by Scan- Regarding the digital future the situation is more un-
dinavian Broadcasting Systems (SBS), and is overall a certain. An important lesson so far in the competitive
loss-making enterprise. The fourth service broadcast- era is that those services that have limited themselves
ing in Norwegian is TV3-Norway, which is almost to low-quality, low-cost international formats have
wholly owned by the Swedish industrial corporation been less successful than those that have made an ef-
Kinnevik. TV3 is part of a pan-Scandinavian multi- fort to reflect Norwegian culture and daily life. In
channel operation broadcasting from London, thereby Norway, factual programming such as news, docu-
evading Norwegian media law. TV3 operates under far mentaries and current affairs, and domestically pro-
more liberal advertising regulations than the duced family-entertainment programs still obtain
Norwegian-based stations, a fact that has led to loud considerably higher ratings than the cheaply made
complaints about unfair competition. TV3 has hardly games shows and reality programs available on cable
any factual programming at all and broadcasts mainly and satellite.
drama and “reality” shows. Its market share was 7 per- Trine Syvertsen
cent in 2001. The final national channel is NRK2,
See also Convergence; Digital Television; Satellite
which was supposed to help the NRK win back
younger viewers and sharpen its cultural profile. It has
not been very successful, however, commanding a 3 Further Reading
percent market share in 2001.
As elsewhere, the television debate in Norway in re- Bastiansen, Henrik, and Trine Syvertsen, “Towards a Norwe-
gian Television History,” in Television in Scandinavia: His-
cent years has been focused on the challenges of digiti- tory, Politics and Aesthetics, edited by Francesco Bono and
zation and convergence. There are presently several Ib Bondebjerg, Luton: University of Luton Press, 1996
digital satellite and cable services available, and there Syvertsen, Trine, and Eli Skogerbø, “Scandinavia, Netherlands,
are plans to start building a terrestrial digital net in and Belgium,” in Television: An International History,
2002. There is some doubt about the profitability of edited by Anthony Smith and Richard Paterson, New York:
Oxford University Press, 1998
this enterprise, due to international experiences and the Syvertsen, Trine, and Gro Maren Mogstad Karlsen, “The Nor-
fact that two-thirds of the population already has ac- wegian Television Market in the 1990s,” in Nordicom Re-
cess to satellite and cable. Fear that the Norwegian view 21/1 (2000)
1671
Not the Nine O’clock News

British Satirical Review
This fast-paced contemporary satire series launched brought in to make up the team, and once they were all
many successful TV careers and bridged the gap be- together, the shape of the show became clearer. As a
tween the surrealist comedy of the Monty Python gen- bonus, Lloyd found that the cast was willing to be-
eration and the anarchic new-wave comic revolution come actively involved in molding the material, help-
of the 1980s. In 1979 radio producer John Lloyd, frus- ing with the selection of sketches and occasionally
trated that many of the radio shows he had worked on writing or rewriting pieces.
(such as sitcom To the Manor Born) had transferred to The first series aired late in 1979 and attracted just
television without him, approached BBC-TV light en- enough of an audience overall to convince the BBC to
tertainment heads and pitched for a TV series. John go ahead with a second series the following year. At
Howard Davies (head of comedy) and Jimmy Gilbert the end of the first series, it was agreed that Chris
(head of light entertainment) offered Lloyd a six-show Langham did not quite fit in with the rest of the team,
slot with no real brief, but with a stipulation that he and he was replaced by Griff Rhys Jones, who had
collaborate with current affairs expert Sean Hardie, played some of the extra parts in the first series.
who had been recommended to the comedy depart- Pamela Stephenson had discovered an unexpected tal-
ment because of a quirky sense of humor that did not ent for mimicry, and her impressions of the female
always sit comfortably within the confines of current- newsreaders of the day proved to be a highlight of the
affairs programming. Lloyd and Hardie found they show. Atkinson excelled at visual comedy and verbal
worked well together and quickly began developing gymnastics, and Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones
formats. One possible program was called Sacred brought a natural acting technique to the sketches. The
Cows, which each week would have humorously dis- second series firmly established the show, and one
sected a modern-day trend, such as feminism, similar episode won the Silver Rose for innovation at the
to the way the Frost Report (BBC, 1966–67) had oper- Montreux Festival. The third and fourth series consoli-
ated. However, they finally settled on a contemporary dated their success. Some of the written material for
sketch show that would take a “scatter-gun” approach the show came from a central team of regular writers,
dealing with all sorts of targets. but the show also operated an open-door policy, which
A pilot show was produced in March 1979 with a meant that virtually anyone could send sketches in and
team consisting of Rowan Atkinson, Chris Emmet, have them read. This policy provided a fertile training
Christopher Godwin, John Gorman, Chris Langham, ground for new talent, and many budding writers had
Willoughby Goddard and Jonathan Hyde. The pilot their first televised work via Not the Nine O’clock
was never transmitted. A general election was immi- News. To the writers, the show may have seemed fairly
nent, and on viewing the program, the BBC was con- flexible, but Lloyd and Hardie had some firm parame-
cerned about its overtly political nature. They sent ters. The show was contemporary rather than topical,
Lloyd and Hardie back to the drawing board and gave although its recording schedule (taped Sunday evening
them six extra months, which both agreed was a big for transmission the following day) meant that some
advantage. Lloyd and Hardie embarked on forming a last-minute material could be added to give an extra
new team with only Atkinson and Langham surviving edge. Short sketches were preferred (in its entire run,
from the pilot. Lloyd in particular was keen to get a only a handful were over a minute and a half). Al-
woman aboard, but finding a suitable player was prov- though it returned to the idea of using punch lines (a
ing difficult. They approached comedian Victoria tradition some critics thought had been eradicated for
Wood, who felt (rightly) that her future lay as a solo good by the Monty Python team), the show was
artist, and actresses Alison Steadman and Susan markedly post-Python and unashamedly modern. If a
George, to no avail. Finally, John Lloyd met Australian sketch took place in a pub, it would be a modern-day
actress Pamela Stephenson at a party and was con- pub with Space Invaders machines instead of domi-
vinced they had found their woman. Mel Smith was noes; if a sketch took place in a hospital, it would be a
1672
popular in a number of ventures (Smith has since di-

rected movies in Hollywood). Rowan Atkinson be-
came a household name on both sides of the Atlantic,
scoring heavily in the sitcom Blackadder, in the irregu-
lar series of Mr. Bean comic films, and in feature films.
Producer John Lloyd went on to initiate many hit se-
ries, perhaps the most notable being the satirical pup-
pet caricature series Spitting Image. Many of the
show’s writers went on to further successes, including
David Renwick, who wrote the most popular British
sitcom of the 1990s, One Foot in the Grave. Richard
Curtis co-wrote the Blackadder series and scripted
what became two of the most successful British films
in history, Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and
Notting Hill (1999). In 1979, although it had finished
five years previously, Monty Python’s Flying Circus
was still exerting a huge influence on British TV com-
Not the Nine O’clock News. edy; Not the Nine O’clock News was the first comedy
Copyright © BBC Photo Library sketch program to shine successfully in the large
shadow that Python cast.
In 1995 the producers returned to the original shows
and began the mammoth task of editing them for re-
modern understaffed hospital with harassed doctors transmission and eventual video release. A U.S. ver-
and nurses. This sensibility, combined with the show’s sion of the series called Not Necessarily the News (Not
pace, its revoicing of bought-in footage, and its news- the Network Co. Inc.) was syndicated in the 1980s.
style filming and use of new visual equipment and Dick Fiddy
techniques (such as Quantel), created a unique and rec-
See also Atkinson, Rowan
ognizable look.
Memorable skits included a parody of the then-
emerging pop-video industry (“Nice Video, Shame Performers
About the Song”); a satirical comment on the religious Rowan Atkinson
furor surrounding Monty Python’s Life of Brian, in Pamela Stephenson
which Pythonists accuse the Bible of blaspheming Mel Smith
against the Flying Circus; a beauty contest sketch fea- Griff Rhys Jones
turing an unusually candid contestant (Host: “And Chris Langham
why do you want to be Miss World?” Contestant: “I
want to screw famous people”); and an interview with
an intelligent and urbane talking gorilla called Gerald Producers
(Trainer: “When we captured Gerald he was of course Sean Hardie, John Lloyd
wild.” Gerald: “Wild? I was absolutely livid”).
In 1982 the team amicably decided to call it a day,
feeling that they had gone as far as they could with the Programming History
format (they had also produced audio recordings of the 28 30-minute episodes
show which had proved highly popular, and spin-off BBC
books which sold in vast numbers). Although it only 17 October 1979–20 November 1979 6 episodes
ran for 28 episodes, the intensity and density of each 31 March 1980–12 May 1980 7 episodes
show, some containing as many as 30 sketches, meant 27 October 1980–15 December 1980 8 episodes
they had used a lot of material and covered a lot of 1 February 1982–12 March 1982 7 episodes
ground. The careers of many of the creative personnel
from the show continued to flourish afterwards:
Pamela Stephenson worked in Hollywood; Mel Smith Further Reading
and Griff Rhys Jones joined for a number of series of Jeffries, Stuart, “Television: Bog Standards,” The Guardian
Alas Smith and Jones and independently proved very (October 28, 1995)
1673
Not Only . . . But Also . . .
Not Only . . . But Also . . .

British Comedy Program
Not Only . . . But Also . . . was among the most influen- These hilarious routines were frequently enlivened by
tial comedy programs seen on British television in the bursts of ad-libbing, particularly by Cook, and on sev-
1960s. Starring former Beyond the Fringe partners Pe- eral uproarious occasions both men collapsed in fits of
ter Cook and Dudley Moore, this fondly remembered giggles, to the delight of audience and viewers.
comedy-revue series had a considerable impact upon A second series of Not Only . . . But Also . . . was
television comedy of the era, with its innovative and broadcast in 1966, and its effect was evident upon
often eccentric brand of anarchic humor. many subsequent comedy shows, notably in the head-
The series, first broadcast on BBC2 in 1965 and to-head dialogues of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones
then repeated on BBC1, was conceived after Dudley in Alas Smith and Jones some 20 years later, which
Moore was asked to do a single comedy show for the harked back unmistakably to the classic “Pete and
BBC. Moore recruited Cook to help him write the Dud” format.
sketches, and Cook responded with “Pete and Dud,” David Pickering
the characters who were destined to become the
show’s greatest success, and another sketch in which a
Regular Performers
man explained his life’s mission to teach ravens to fly
Dudley Moore
underwater. The resulting show persuaded the BBC to
Peter Cook
commission a whole series from the duo.
John Lennon
Moore and Cook set about developing sequences of
Barry Humphries
lively comedy sketches linked by musical interludes and
Peter Sellers
other set-piece events featuring themselves or guests.
Una Stubbs
Among the most successful of these latter items was Po-
Eric Sykes
ets Cornered, in which invited comedians were required
Henry Cooper
to compose (without hesitation) instant rhyming poems,
Cilla Black
or risk being plunged into a vat of gunge—the first ap-
Dusty Springfield
pearance of the so-called gunge tanks that became such
Spike Milligan
a feature of zany quiz shows and children’s programs in
William Rushton
the 1980s and 1990s. Among those to brave the gunge
Frank Muir
were Frank Muir, Spike Milligan, and Barry
Ronnie Barker
Humphries. Guests in sketches included John Lennon,
who appeared in the uniform of a nightclub commis-
sionaire, and Peter Sellers.
Producers
Other unique characteristics of the show included its
John McGrath, Dick Clement, John Street, James
opening sequence, for which the cameras were set up
Gilbert
at some unexpected location, such as London’s Tower
Bridge, to film Moore playing the signature tune on his
piano, and the closing song “Goodbye” (which was Programming History
successfully released as a single in 1965, reaching 23 episodes
number 18 in the pop charts). BBC2
The highlights of the Not Only . . . But Also . . . shows January 1965–April 1965 7 45-minute episodes
were undoubtedly the appearances of Cook and Moore January 1966–February 1966 7 30-minute episodes
in the roles of “Pete and Dud”—two rather dimwitted Christmas special December 25, 1966
characters in long raincoats and cloth caps who mulled February 1970–May 1970 7 45-minute episodes
over affairs of the day and the meaning of life itself as 14 March 1973 Live performance,
they sipped pints of beer or munched sandwiches. Show of the Week
1674
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
U.S. Police Drama
Amid controversy about Steven Bochco’s intent to Despite the unprecedented number of defections,
produce U.S. network television’s first “R-rated” se- Blue scored well in the ratings. Most blackouts had
ries, NYPD Blue premiered on ABC in September been in small markets (representing only 10 to 15 per-
1993. This innovative police drama has survived an cent of potential viewers); Wildmon’s campaign pro-
onslaught of protest to emerge as a popular, long- vided extra publicity in larger ones. Furthermore,
running, and critically acclaimed series. Blue (as it is NYPD Blue maintained its large audience, leading
sometimes promoted) has deliberately tested the most advertisers and affiliates to cease their opposi-
boundaries of broadcast restrictions on partial nudity tion. By the end of its first season, ABC’s new hit
and adult language. Praise for the show’s finely crafted drama survived a second round of AFA attacks and
storytelling and engaging style soon overtook initial won endorsements from Viewers for Quality Televi-
condemnations of its occasional flashes of skin and sion, the Emmy Awards (27 nominations), and most
salty dialogue. After its first season, NYPD Blue re- reviewers.
vived Bochco’s reputation as a risk-taking producer of After all the hype about sex, violence, and profanity,
“quality television.” For a decade, the series has main- what viewers discovered was a compelling series that
tained solid viewership despite a constantly changing was “adult” in the best, rather than the worst, sense.
cast. Dennis Franz’s portrayal of Detective Andy NYPD Blue is mature and sophisticated, not libertine.
Sipowicz has remained the anchor for a narrative that Instead of inserting racy language and showy sex for
has added ongoing domestic melodrama to its cops- the sake of sensation, this story of career cops features
on-the-job stories. complicated human characters. Charges of excessive
As a gritty, downbeat cop drama filmed against a violence also proved unfounded. As a new round of
backdrop of urban decay, the program has been seen as protests against TV violence circulated in the U.S. in
a return to form for Bochco, who had cocreated the 1993, detractors tagged this latest bête noire of televi-
groundbreaking Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law. At- sion as a prime offender. Yet, particularly for a realistic
tempts to repeat the success of his law-and-order police show, NYPD Blue seldom depicts violent acts.
shows faltered (Bay City Blues, Cop Rock, Civil Wars) When it does, it tends to dramatize the terrible conse-
until Hill Street writer-producer David Milch teamed quences of such actions. (Eventually, ABC responded
with Bochco to revitalize the genre. Arguing that the to public and congressional pressures by airing a con-
networks had to compete with cable TV for the adult tent advisory warning with each episode, although that
audience, the producers persuaded ABC to approve warning did not mention violence: “This police drama
content previously forbidden. The pilot episode con- contains adult language and scenes with partial nudity.
cludes with a dimly-lit lovemaking scene. While mild Viewer discretion is advised.”)
by motion-picture standards, its partial male and fe- Again like Hill Street, NYPD Blue excelled with a
male nudity stirred controversy. potent combination of writing, acting, and directing.
Three months before the debut of such “blue” mate- The look of the show is both realistic and stylized.
rial, ABC screened the pilot for affiliates and advertis- New York City location shooting make the show’s feel
ers. Although Bochco agreed to trim 15 seconds from for big-city street life palpable, while the jagged edit-
the sex scene, adverse reactions threatened the show’s ing and nervous, hand-held camera movement (already
broadcast run. Conservative watchdog Reverend Don- a convention of the genre) heighten the dramatic ten-
ald Wildmon and his American Family Association sion of scenes in the precinct offices, the place where
(AFA) led a national campaign against NYPD Blue, an ensemble of characters’ lives intertwined. Unlike
calling on affiliates not to air the program and on citi- the innovative police drama to which it is often com-
zens to boycott products advertised during the show. A pared—Homicide: Life in the Streets—NYPD Blue
quarter of ABC’s 225 member stations preempted the keeps its stylistic flourishes in check, letting actors
first episode. control scenes. In fact, performers familiar from past
1675
NYPD Blue
Individual episodes introduce new cases for the de-

tectives of New York’s 15th Precinct and blend them
with ongoing melodramatic storylines about personal
relationships. Entanglements of professional and per-
sonal affairs are always imminent as every detective in
the precinct has become romantically involved with a
co-worker: Kelly with Officer Janice Licalsi; Gregory
Medavoy with office secretary Donna Abandando; de-
tectives James Martinez and Adrianne Lesniak with
each other, Baldwin Jones with Assistant District At-
torney Valerie Haywood. Sipowicz marries District At-
torney Sylvia Costas, who is later murdered. After her
death, Sipowicz becomes a devoted, sensitive father to
their young son Theo, thus countering his own often
ugly, violent, struggling alcoholic, on-the-job person-
ality, and again engages in a workplace romance, this
time with Detective Connie McDowell.
Even with so many couples, male characters domi-
nate NYPD Blue. Their tough-guy machismo, how-
ever, is always tempered by a caring side. Rather than
playing to good cop/bad cop stereotypes, Sipowicz,
Kelly, Simone, and their fraternal colleagues exem-
NYPD Blue, Dennis Franz, David Caruso.
©20th Century Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection plify that emerging archetype of 1990s television: the
sensitive man. Like TV cops of the past, they are
moral, yet hard enough to crack down on criminals. To
this “guy” image, the men of NYPD Blue add a dimen-
Bochco productions—Charles Haid, Eric Laneauville, sion of sensitivity. These are sentient cops. The re-
Dennis Dugan, Jesus S. Treviño—have directed many placement of the Cagneyesque John Kelly with
episodes. empathetic widower Simone heightened this aspect.
However, it was another set of alumni from the The NYPD Blue men are working men concerned with
Bochco stock company who stood out above the en- emotion. The boys in Blue have feelings and discuss
semble cast. Franz emerged as the scenery-chewing them, with both their professional and romantic part-
mainstay of the show, reinventing his seedy, sharp- ners. Women’s roles, even nominally feminist ones,
tongued Norman Buntz character from Hill Street have tended only to support men’s and lacked depth in
Blues as Sipowicz. The lesser-known David Caruso early seasons. However, the development of Delaney’s
quickly became a star and sex symbol playing Sipow- character enriched the series. Detective Russell, like
icz’s partner, John Kelly, a throwback, red-headed Sipowicz, was a complex, edgy, melancholic, recover-
Irish cop. Early in the show’s run, Caruso received ing alcoholic, who showed the stress of loyalty to “the
more publicity than Franz, largely because Caruso was job.” Delaney’s portrayal proved strong enough for
the first of the male leads to do a nude scene. However, Bochco to create the law series Philly (2001–02) as a
he departed at the start of the second season. Three star vehicle for her. ABC even moved Blue to an ear-
other detectives have since been partnered with lier hour to serve as a lead-in for the new show; how-
Sipowicz. L.A. Law star Jimmy Smits played Bobby ever, Philly lasted only one season.
Simone, who wed fellow detective Dianne Russell As with other Bochco productions, NYPD Blue
(Kim Delaney) before dying of heart failure. Young, leavens its mixture of police drama and soap opera
taciturn Danny Sorenson (played with surprising as- with comic relief, often interjecting moments of irrev-
tuteness by former child star Rick Schroeder) took Si- erent, even scatological, humor. The show’s uses of
mone’s place but became a murder victim, and was nudity and profanity often play at this level. Naked
replaced by second-generation cop John Clark (por- bodies appear in awkward, comic scenes as well as
trayed by another former child actor, Mark-Paul Gos- erotic ones. Writers self-consciously invent colorful,
selaar). The series’ smooth transitions through major funny curse words for Sipowicz to spew at criminals.
character changes testifies to the storytelling skills of Whatever the length of its run, NYPD Blue made
Milch, Bochco, and their collaborators. history with its breakthrough first season. While not a
1676
NYPD Blue
model for commercial imitation, the series proved that September 1993–August
risky, adult material could be successfully integrated 1994 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
into network television. October 1994–May 2001 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
Dan Streible October 2001– Tuesday 9:00–10:00
See also Bochco, Steven; Hill Street Blues; Police
Programs Further Reading
“Alan Brydon Reveals Why his Video is Set to Record Every
Cast NYPD Blue Episode,” Campaign-London (March 10, 1995)
Auster, Albert, “A Look at Some Contemporary American and
Detective Andy Sipowicz British Cop Shows,” Television Quarterly (Spring 1997)
(1993– ) Dennis Franz Brodie, John, “ABC Affils Ponder: How Blue Is Blue?” Variety
Detective John Kelly (June 21, 1993)
(1993–94) David Caruso Coe, Steven, “Wildmon Targets NYPD Blue,” Broadcasting and
Lieutenant Arthur Fancy Cable (March 28, 1994)
Cole, Lewis, “NYPD Blue,” The Nation (October 25, 1993)
(1993–2001) James McDaniel Douglas, Susan, “Signs of Intelligent Life on TV,” Ms.
Laura Hughes Kelly (1993– (May–June 1995)
94) Sherry Stringfield Giles, Jeff, “The Wild Men of Prime Time: Is Bochco’s Hot
Officer Janice Licalsi New Cop Series Too Blue?” Newsweek (June 28, 1993)
(1993–94) Amy Brenneman Goodman, Walter, “Good Cop, Bad Cop: Which Is Real?” New
York Times (February 23, 1995)
Detective James Martinez Hanczor, Robert S., “Articulation Theory and Public Contro-
(1993–2000) Nicholas Turturro versy: Taking Sides over NYPD Blue,” Critical Studies in
Assistant District Attorney Mass Communication (March 1997)
Sylvia Costas (1993–99) Sharon Lawrence Handy, Bruce, “The Real Golden Age Is Now,” Time (October
Detective Greg Medavoy 30, 1995)
Jensen, Elizabeth, “Crusade against ABC’s NYPD Blue Goes
(1993– ) Gordon Clapp Local,” Wall Street Journal (October 6, 1993)
Donna Abandando (1994– Leonard, John, “NYPD Blue,” New York Times (September 13,
96) Gail O’Grady 1993)
Detective Bobby Simone Leonard, John, “NYPD Blue,” New York (January 17, 2000)
(1994–98) Jimmy Smits McConnell, Frank D., “NYPD Blue,” Commonweal (October 8,
1993)
Detective Diane Russell McGrath, Charles, and Robert Sullivan, “The Triumph of the
(1995–2001) Kim Delaney Prime-Time Novel,” New York Times Magazine (October 22,
Detective Jill Kirkendall 1995)
(1996–2000) Andrea Thompson Meisler, Andy, “A Writer Moves beyond the Notion of
Detective Danny Sorenson Demons,” New York Times (October 26, 1993)
Milch, David, and Bill Clark, True Blue: The Real Stories be-
(1998–2001) Rick Schroeder hind NYPD Blue, New York: Morrow, 1995
Detective John Clark O’Connor, John J., “NYPD Blue,” New York Times (September
(2001– ) Mark-Paul Gosselaar 21, 1993)
Detective Baldwin Jones Rapping, Elayne, “Cops, Crime, and TV,” The Progressive
(1999– ) Henry Simmons (April 1994)
Rensin, David, “Steven Bochco,” TV Guide (August 14–20,
P.A.A. John Irvin (1998– ) Bill Brochtrup 1993)
A.D.A. Valerie Haywood Schmuckler, Eric, “Bochco Speaks: The Creator of NYPD Blue
(2001– ) Garcelle Beauvais Talks about Why He Made the Show so Racy, and Why He
Detective Connie McDowell is Unwilling to Make Major Content Changes,” MediaWeek
(2001– ) Charlotte Ross (August 2, 1993)
Scully, Matthew, “NYPD Blue,” National Review (September
Lt. Tony Rodriguez (2001– ) Esai Morales 20, 1993)
Detective Rita Ortiz (2001– ) Jacqueline Obradors Thompson, Robert J., Television’s Second Golden Age, New
York: Continuum, 1996
Weinraub, Bernard, “The Demons That Have Driven NYPD
Producers Blue,” New York Times (June 18, 2000)
Steven Bochco, David Milch Wolcott, James, “Untrue Grit,” The New Yorker (October 4,
1993)
Programming History
ABC
1677
O
O’Connor, Carroll (1924–2001)
U.S. Actor
Best known for his portrayal of cantankerous Archie programming on television. It may also have opened the
Bunker on the long-running CBS series All in the Fam- door for political and social satires such as Saturday
ily, Carroll O’Connor was one of television’s most rec- Night Live and other controversial programs.
ognized actors in the late 20th century. For his work on Through its 13 seasons, the show gained immense
All in the Family and In the Heat of the Night, the actor popularity (in its heyday, it was said to have reached an
received five Emmy Awards, eight Emmy nomina- average of 50 million viewers weekly) and maintained
tions, a Golden Globe Award, and a Peabody Award. a groundbreaking sense of social criticism. Archie
O’Connor’s acting career began while he was a stu- Bunker’s regular stream of malapropisms and racial
dent in Ireland in the 1950s. Following experiences in invective catalyzed strong reactions from critics. All in
American and European theater, he established himself the Family was attacked by conservatives, who
as a versatile character actor in Hollywood during the thought that the show made fun of their views, and by
1960s. Between films he made guest appearances on liberals, who charged that the show was too matter-of-
television programs such as the U.S. Steel Hour, Kraft fact about bigotry. The show’s successor, Archie
Television Theatre, the Armstrong Circle Theatre, and Bunker’s Place, was broadcast on CBS from 1979 to
many of the filmed series hits of the 1960s. However, 1983, and the earlier show also begat two successful
O’Connor became a television star with his portrayal of spin-offs, Maude and The Jeffersons, the latter becom-
outspoken bigot Archie Bunker, the American archetype ing one of television’s longest-running series about
whose chair now sits in the Smithsonian Institution. African Americans.
In 1968, ABC, which had the first rights to the series From 1988 to 1994, O’Connor starred in and served
(which was based on the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do as executive producer and head writer for the hit prime-
Part), financed production of two pilot episodes of All time drama In the Heat of the Night, based on the char-
in the Family (then under the title Those Were the Days), acters and scenario of the acclaimed 1967 film of the
but the network worried about the program’s socially same title starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Set
controversial content and rejected the show. Producer in fictional Sparta, Mississippi, but shot on location in
Norman Lear then sold the series to CBS, where All in Covington, Georgia, In the Heat of the Night may be
the Family was broadcast for the first time on January seen as continuing O’Connor’s association with televi-
12, 1971, with O’Connor as Archie Bunker. By using sion programs designed to function as social commen-
humor to tackle racism and other sensitive subjects, All tary by addressing issues of racism and bigotry.
in the Family changed the style and tone of prime-time O’Connor played Bill Gillespie (the Steiger role), a
1679
O’Connor, Carroll
See also All in the Family; Till Death Us Do Part
Carroll O’Connor. Born in New York City, August 2,

1924. Educated at the University of Montana; National
University of Ireland, B.A. 1952; University of Mon-
tana, M.A. 1956. Married: Nancy Fields, 1951; child:
Hugh (deceased). Stage actor in Ireland, 1950–54;
substitute teacher in New York, 1954–56; appeared in
plays Ulysses in Nightown, 1958, and The Big Knife,
1959; character actor in numerous motion pictures,
1961–71, including Fever in the Blood, 1961, Cleopa-
tra, 1963, and Kelley’s Heroes, 1970; star of television
series All in the Family, 1971–79; star of Archie
Bunker’s Place, 1979–83; co-executive producer and
star of In the Heat of the Night, 1988–94. Recipient:
Golden Globe Award; Emmy Awards, 1973, 1977,
1978, 1979, 1989; George Foster Peabody Award,
1980; named to Academy of Television Arts and Sci-
ences Hall of Fame, 1990. Died in Culver City, Cali-
fornia, June 21, 2001.
Television Series (Actor)

1971–79 All in the Family
1975 Bronk (creator and co-executive
producer only)
1979–83 Archie Bunker’s Place
1988–94 In the Heat of the Night (also co-
Carroll O’Connor, All in the Family, 1971–83. executive producer)
Courtesy of the Everett Collection 1994 Party of Five
1996–99 Mad about You
Southern police chief whose top detective (Virgil
Tibbs, played by Howard Rollins in the Poitier role) is Made-for-Television Movies
African American. In its 1993 season, the show also 1969 Fear No Evil
featured the marriage of Chief Gillespie to an African- 1972 Of Thee I Sing
American city administrator. The series received two 1985 Brass
National Association for the Advancement of Colored 1986 Convicted
People (NAACP) Image Awards for contributing posi- 1987 The Father Clements Story
tive portrayals of African Americans on television. 1994 In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of
When the series version of In the Heat of the Night Justice
ended, O’Connor produced several made-for-television 1994 In the Heat of the Night: Who Was Geli
movies using the same locations and characters. Bendl?
In 1995 O’Connor’s son and costar on In the Heat of 1995 In the Heat of the Night: Grow Old
the Night, Hugh O’Connor, died of a drug overdose. with Me
O’Connor chose to speak out publicly about his grief 1995 In the Heat of the Night: By Duty Bound
and his views on the legalization of drugs, giving a 1999 Thirty-Six Hours to Die
number of well-publicized interviews on these topics
on television and devoting much of his time to the so- Television Specials
cial problems surrounding drug addiction. Throughout 1972 Of Thee I Sing
the 1990s he also occasionally appeared in films or as a 1973 Three for the Girls
guest star on such series as Mad about You and Party 1977 The Last Hurrah
of Five. On June 21, 2001, he died of a heart attack in 1981 Man, Myths and Titans (writer)
Culver City, California. 1991 All in the Family 20th Anniversary
Diane M. Negra Special
1680
Odd Couple, The
Films Stage
Fever in the Blood, 1961; By Love Possessed, 1961; Ulysses in Nightown, 1958; The Big Knife, 1959;
Parrish, 1961; Lad: A Dog, 1961; Lonely Are the Brothers, 1983; Home Front, 1984.
Brave, 1962; Cleopatra, 1963; In Harm’s Way,
1965; Hawaii, 1966; Not with My Wife, You Don’t, Further Reading
1966; Warning Shot, 1967; Waterhole #3, 1967;
Bennetts, Leslie, “Carroll O’Connor as Detective Chief,” New
Point Blank, 1967; What Did You Do in the War, York Times (March 20, 1985)
Daddy?, 1968; For Love of Ivy, 1968; The Devil’s Du Brow, Rick, “Thriving in the Heat of Adversity despite
Brigade, 1968; Marlowe, 1969; Death of a Gun- Heart Bypass Surgery and the Personal Problems of His Co-
fighter, 1969; Ride a Northbound Horse, 1969; Star Howard Rollins, Carroll O’Connor Is Happy in His
Marlowe, 1969; Kelly’s Heroes, 1970; Doctors’ Work,” Los Angeles Times (March 17, 1990)
Farber, Stephen, “An Actor Stands in as Writer,” New York
Wives, 1971; Law and Disorder, 1974; A Different Times (January 9, 1989)
Approach, 1978; Gideon’s Web, 1998; Return to Lamanna, Dean, “Carroll O’Connor: These Are the Days,”
Me, 2000. Ladies’ Home Journal (October 1991)
Odd Couple, The

Although often positioned in the shadow of such sportswriter Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon as anal-
groundbreaking series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show retentive commercial photographer Felix Unger. Natu-
and All in the Family, The Odd Couple is one of the rally, Paramount wanted its TV division to cash in on
early examples of sophisticated, well-written, character- this success; while Simon had signed away his TV
driven sitcoms that came to dominate the U.S. network rights, Paramount enlisted Dick Van Dyke Show
output in the 1970s. Like M*A*S*H, it is also one of the alumni Gary Marshall and Jerry Belson to produce the
few successful TV sitcoms to be based on material from series for television, which debuted on ABC in
another medium, in this case a successful Broadway September 1970.
play and film. Although critically acclaimed, it did not The sophisticated style and attention to character
receive popular recognition until syndication. that Marshall and Belson had learned during their Dick
Originally conceived by Neil Simon, who based the Van Dyke days paid off, and The Odd Couple became
play on his brother Danny’s true-life experience, The one of TV’s first relevant sitcoms, dealing in an adult
Odd Couple concept is best described in the one- fashion with such issues as the generation gap and sex.
sentence treatment Simon submitted to Paramount, Of course, the primary focus was on the two main
who financed the stage play sight-unseen: “Two characters. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall made for
men—one divorced and one estranged and neither a perfect Oscar and Felix, and, indeed, the TV actors
quite sure why their marriages fell apart—move in to- have become more closely linked than their movie
gether to save money for alimony and suddenly dis- counterparts with these characters. While both actors
cover they’re having the same conflicts and fights they won Emmy awards for their roles, the series failed to
had in their marriages.” capture a wide audience. Third-placed network ABC
The Odd Couple, in all forms, is truly a popular- had little to lose by airing a marginal show, of course,
culture phenomenon. Simon’s wildly successful play and remained committed to the sitcom for five seasons
ran from 1965 to 1967, has been revived on Broadway before giving it the ax. The series then blossomed in
more than once, and, as Rip Stock notes in his book syndication, appearing in major domestic and foreign
Odd Couple Mania, it is most likely being produced markets to this day.
right now by any number of community theater groups The names of those connected with the series, both
across the country. In 1968 the play was made into a on and off screen, reads like a Who’s Who of television.
successful film starring Walter Matthau as unkempt Producer Marshall used the respect he had gained from
1681
Odd Couple, The
actors Ron Glass and Demond Wilson in the Felix and

Oscar roles. Using many of the same plots from the
original episodes, The New Odd Couple lasted only one
season. In 1992 Klugman and Randall reprised their
roles in a special two-hour reunion episode. Given the
American public’s captivation with the series, it is
likely that further versions will continue to surface.
Michael B. Kassel
See also Randall, Tony
Cast (1970–75)
Felix Unger Tony Randall
Oscar Madison Jack Klugman
Murray Greshner Al Molinaro
Speed (1970–74) Garry Walberg
Vinnie Larry Gelman
Roger (1973–74) Archie Hahn
Roy (1970–71) Ryan McDonald
Cecily Pigeon (1970–71) Monica Evans
Gwendolyn Pigeon (1970–
71) Carol Shelly
Dr. Nancy Cunningham
(1970–72) Joan Hotchkis
Gloria Unger (1971–75) Janis Hansen
Blanche Madison Brett Somers
The Odd Couple, Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, 1970–75. Myrna Turner (1971–75) Penny Marshall
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Miriam Welby (1972–74) Elinor Donahue
Cast (1982–83)
the series to create such less critically respected pro- Felix Unger Ron Glass
grams as Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, Laverne and Oscar Madison Demond Wilson
Shirley, and Joanie Loves Chachi. Indeed, it was Murray John Schuck
through his experience with The Odd Couple that Mar- Speed Christopher Joy
shall learned a valuable lesson—in order to be a major Roy Bart Braverman
hit, a show must have “kid appeal,” a formula Marshall Cecily Pigeon Sheila Anderson
soon had down to an art. While Marshall graduated to Gwendolyn Pigeon Ronalda Douglas
feature films, Jerry Belson remained in TV, eventually Maria Liz Torres
serving as consultant for Cybill, coproducer and cocre- Mona Jo Marie Payton-France
ator of The Tracey Ullman Show, and writer for The
Drew Carey Show.
Klugman, after his first of several bouts with throat Producers
cancer, returned to his dramatic roots by starring in Garry Marshall, Jerry Belson, Harvey Miller, Sheldon
NBC’s Quincy. Randall moved over to MTM to star in Keller, Tony Marshall, Phil Mishkin
The Tony Randall Show, as well as the critically ac-
claimed NBC series Love, Sidney. Penny Marshall, Programming History
Gary’s sister, launched her acting career as Oscar 114 episodes
Madison’s whining secretary Myrna Turner (a name ABC
that rhymed when she pronounced it in her heavy New September 1970–January
York accent). 1971 Thursday 9:30–10:00
The Odd Couple has enjoyed a number of spin-offs, January 1971–June 1973 Friday 9:30–10:00
which included an animated version in 1975 featuring a June 1973–January 1974 Friday 8:30–9:00
tidy cat and a sloppy dog. In 1982 Jerry Belson revived January 1974–September
the series for prime time, featuring African-American 1974 Friday 9:30–10:00
1682
Ohlmeyer, Don
September 1974–January Further Reading

1975 Thursday 8:00–8:30 Gross, Edward A., The 25th Anniversary Odd Couple Compan-
January 1975–July 1975 Friday 9:30–10:00 ion: Still Odd after All These Years, Las Vegas, Nevada: Pio-
October 1982–February neer, 1989
1983 Friday 8:30–9:00 Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
May 1983 Friday 8:00–8:30 Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Lit-
May 1983–June 1983 Thursday 8:30–9:00 tle, Brown, 1992
Stock, Rip, Odd Couple Mania, New York: Ballantine, 1983
The Office. See Comedy, Workplace
Ohlmeyer, Don (1945– )

Donald W. Ohlmeyer was president of the National ducer of Sports and worked on network coverage of
Broadcasting Company (NBC), West Coast, a position the World Series and the Super Bowl. Combining his
he held from 1993 until his retirement from the com- careers at ABC and NBC, he has produced or directed
pany in 1999. As president of the West Coast division, television coverage of championships in every major
Ohlmeyer was responsible for the operations of NBC sport in the United States.
Entertainment and NBC Productions, both of which While at NBC, Ohlmeyer branched out into feature-
produce television programs for the network and other film production with The Golden Moment: An Olympic
venues. American television network production of Love Story, an award-winning made-for-TV movie. He
such internally developed programming has increased left NBC in 1982 to form his own production com-
since the Federal Communications Commission re- pany, Ohlmeyer Communications, which produced
laxed its financial-syndication (fin-syn) regulations, made-for-TV films, award programs for MTV, and net-
which previously limited such self-production. work series. In the latter category, Lifestories was an
Ohlmeyer is a veteran television producer-director early reality-based series that garnered positive re-
who won many Emmy Awards from the National views from television critics for its story treatment, but
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He started failed to generate a large enough audience for renewal.
his career at ABC Sports in 1967, and moved up the Ohlmeyer won an Emmy as producer of Special Bul-
career ladder, working on Wide World of Sports, a letin, a harrowing 1983 depiction of nuclear terrorism
groundbreaking program in terms of technological that utilized a television news approach for verisimili-
broadcast innovation and breadth of coverage. At tude.
ABC, he directed three Olympic broadcasts in addition Don Ohlmeyer is a rarity among American televi-
to producing Monday Night Football, an early ratings sion executives in that he moved into senior manage-
success and one of the first U.S. prime-time network ment from the production side of the business. As
sports programs (boxing notwithstanding). producer-executive Grant Tinker also demonstrated at
Ohlmeyer moved to NBC in 1977 as Executive Pro- NBC, this type of background can be valuable in as-
1683
Ohlmeyer, Don
sessing potential projects and encouraging program

submissions from producers. Ohlmeyer leveraged his
knowledge of sports, feature films, and special-events
coverage into a key position managing the production
efforts of NBC at a time when the broadcast networks
had an economic incentive to develop more of their
own programming.
After his retirement from NBC in 1999, Ohlmeyer
worked on Monday Night Football for ABC for a sea-
son, then retired from television management in 2001.
He currently teaches at Pepperdine University in the
Los Angeles area and is writing a book on broadcast
programming.
Peter B. Seel
See also Financial Interest and Syndication Rules;
National Broadcasting Company; Olympics and
Television; Sports and Television; Super Bowl; Tin-
ker, Grant
Don Ohlmeyer.
Old Grey Whistle Test, The

U.K. Music Show
For nearly 20 years, The Old Grey Whistle Test man of a record company, and if he could whistle the
(OGWT) was the British showcase for “grown-up” tune after just one hearing, the song had passed “the
rock music. The BBC’s Top Of The Pops showcased old grey whistle test” and would therefore be released.
hit singles from 1964, but OGWT concentrated on al- OGWT started modestly on September 21, 1971, in-
bums and live performances. The roots of the series lay troduced by Ian Whitcomb and featuring folk-rock
in the 1960s and a trendy arts magazine program, Late band America and singer-songwriter Lesley Duncan as
Night Line-Up (1964–1972) one of the most successful its live guests. The show had many presenters over the
offerings from the newly formed BBC 2, the second years but it was the period hosted by Bob Harris that is
TV channel of the BBC. Its delvings into modern mu- the most fondly remembered segment of the show’s
sic proved to be one of the more popular sections of history. “Whispering” Bob Harris (so nicknamed be-
the show; this led to a spin-off program, Disco 2 cause of his low key, almost hushed delivery) was a
(1970–71) which highlighted those artists grouped un- thoughtful DJ with a wide-eyed enthusiasm for many
der the heading “Progressive Rock.” The successor to different sorts of music and artists. His genuine fascina-
Disco 2 was The Old Grey Whistle Test. The name was tion with the subject clicked with the viewing audience,
derived from a Tin Pan Alley legend that a rough cut of itself mostly formed of knowledgeable rock fans. Har-
a new song would be played to the gray-haired door- ris joined the show in 1972 and introduced the cream of
1684
Olympics and Television in the United States
contemporary rock artists including David Bowie, ing just Whistle Test for its final years (1983–87), which
Roxy Music, Todd Rundgren, Steppenwolf, Sparks, included a series of live gigs recorded at various venues
Edgar Winter, Crazy Horse, Average White Band, Jim around the U.K., called Whistle Test–On The Road
Croce, Ritchie Havens, Captain Beefheart, Elton John, (1983–84).
Supertramp, Janis Ian, Golden Earring, The Pretty By 1987 the program was struggling. Although it
Things, Dr. Feelgood, Van Morrison, Be Bop De Luxe, had changed to reflect the times, its reputation was still
Lynryd Skynyrd, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Ry Cooder, largely that of a progressive rock show. It may have
Joni Mitchell, and Emmylou Harris. Artists were filmed dropped the “old” from its title, but it was considered
in a bare studio, usually presenting two or three songs. “old hat” in some circles and consequently was put fi-
Other acts appeared on film, and new album tracks nally to rest. The great majority of the OGWT perfor-
were played regularly and accompanied by old films, mances have survived, and some footage thought lost
usually silent movies or wild cartoons. There was also has since been returned to the archive by engineers and
space for concert news, music updates, and short inter- other program personnel who had kept private copies.
views. The whole mixture was heralded by the catchy The 30th anniversary in 2001 showed an upsurge of in-
bluegrass/rock theme tune “Stone Fox Chase” by terest in the show, with celebratory programming re-
Nashville sessionmen band Area Code 615. calling the highlights of the series transmitted on both
When the punk and new-wave movements emerged BBC TV and radio, and the distribution of a fine
around 1976 the show was slow to react at first (al- OGWT DVD, featuring many memorable moments
though uber-punks The New York Dolls had appeared and outstanding performances from the show.
in 1973), but by 1978 the show regularly featured Dick Fiddy
artists that represented the new movements including
See also Music on Television; Ready Steady Go; Top
The Motors, Talking Heads, The Ramones, Patti Smith,
of the Pops
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Magazine, The Po-
lice, The Only Ones, Bethnal, The Jam, Siouxsie and
the Banshees, The Buzzcocks, Devo, Blondie, Ultra- Programming History
vox, XTC, Squeeze, Iggy Pop, Lena Lovich, Tubeway BBC2
Army, and The Damned. This gave the show a new Late night airing
lease of life and enabled it to outlive the many other 1971–87
music programs that were emerging at the time. The
punk generation had been catered to by Granada’s So It Presenters
Goes (1976–77) and ATV’s Revolver (1978), and later Ian Whitcomb (1971)
trends were covered by Channel 4’s The Tube (1982– Richard Williams (1971)
87), a lively, irreverent, modern-day version of the clas- Bob Harris (1972–79)
sic 1960s pop show Ready Steady Go. The BBC had Annie Nightingale (1978–82)
unveiled rivals including live showcase Rock Goes To Mark Ellen (1980s)
College (1978–81), which was produced by OGWT David Hepworth (1980s)
producer Michael Appleton and ran when OGWT was Andy Kershaw (1980s)
off the air; and Something Else (1978–82). In 1983 the Ro Newton (1980s)
series dropped the “Old Grey” from its name, becom- Richard Skinner (1980s)

Ever since Walter Cronkite anchored the first U.S. from a precarious financial position to one of power
Olympic broadcast in 1960, the games have enjoyed a and prominence in the global media landscape. Over
mutually beneficial relationship with television. TV the years, however, U.S. television networks have be-
has popularized the event to the point that the global come mired in a high-stakes bidding war for broadcast
audience is now estimated to be in the billions. Broad- rights. The stiff competition has kept rights fees inordi-
cast sponsorship and revenues have taken the games nately expensive, so that they now account for some
1685
40 percent of Olympic revenues, making the Interna- hours as the Tokyo Summer games of 1964. He pre-
tional Olympic Committee (IOC) increasingly depen- sented the coverage as a dramatic, exciting miniseries
dent on them. for the television audience, and successive producers
As a result, U.S. broadcasters contribute much more have continued to expand on this model.
money than their counterparts in other countries to The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Ger-
support the Olympics. For rights to the 1996 Summer many, saw further growth in costs and coverage. How-
games in Atlanta, Georgia, NBC paid $456 million, a ever, the drama of the games was overshadowed by the
figure that did not include the cost of the production it- grisly murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the hands of
self (estimated at another $150 million). All of the Palestinian terrorists. Viewers watched in horror as the
western European nations combined paid $250 million events of the massacre of September 5–6 unfolded,
in fees for the same games. Whereas Canada’s CBC and television turned into an international forum for
paid $160 million to broadcast all of the Olympic the extremist politics of the Black September Organi-
games between 2000 and 2008, NBC paid $3.5 billion zation. This event became the worst tragedy in the his-
for those same rights, thereby serving as the IOC’s tory of sports broadcasting.
largest single financial underwriter. The Olympics have also given television sports
Consequently, the U.S. networks hold a powerful some of its most glorious moments and beloved
position in the Olympic arena. Their financial support heroes. Few in the United States will ever forget the
often allows them a measure of influence in schedul- U.S. ice hockey team’s thrilling victory over the Soviet
ing, especially when determining the time slots for the team in 1980, Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci’s
most popular events. Traditionally, the Winter and perfect performances, the U.S. women gymnasts win-
Summer Olympics were held in the same year, once ning their first team gold medal ever in 1996, or the
every four years, but in 1994 the IOC changed the tim- dedication and perseverance of such athletes as Mark
ing of the games and adopted a two-year staggered Spitz, Carl Lewis, or Dan Janssen. In many instances,
schedule, in part to accommodate the U.S. media. Fol- the top U.S. athletes also become media celebrities,
lowing the 1992 Summer and Winter games, therefore, winning lucrative endorsement and commercial deals
the next Winter Olympics were held in 1994, in Lille- along with their medals. For the 2002 Olympics in Salt
hammer, Norway, followed by the 1996 Summer Lake City, Utah, there were advertising campaigns de-
games in Atlanta, easing the strain on corporations that signed around gold medal hopefuls that aired months
were beginning to find the price of quality Olympic ad- before the games even began.
vertising prohibitive. With 30-second spots selling for Aside from catapulting athletes to media stardom,
hundreds of thousands of dollars during Olympic the Olympic games are usually a ratings boon for their
broadcasts, and companies paying hundreds of mil- host network. In the United States, that network cus-
lions of dollars for a sponsorship package, neither the tomarily captures 50 percent of the television audience
IOC nor the networks could afford to lose these impor- each night of the Olympic telecast.
tant clients. Spacing the Summer and Winter Olympics The audience drawn to the Olympics often trans-
two years apart thus allowed sponsors to spread out lates into increased ratings for the host network’s regu-
their costs and also to invest in more high-profile pack- larly scheduled programming as well. The tremendous
ages. The revised schedule also granted the IOC more till of advertising revenue and the potential spring-
time to allocate the revenue effectively. board into a new season likely ensures that the
The Olympics first attracted a significant television Olympic U.S. broadcast rights will remain among the
audience during the 1968 Summer games in Mexico most coveted and expensive in all of television.
City, when Roone Arledge was at the helm of ABC Bids for these rights are made knowing that tradi-
Sports. Arledge was instrumental in establishing ABC tionally, networks lose a great deal of money on the
as the dominant network in Olympic television—a Olympics. Consequently, it has been argued that net-
legacy that endured for a quarter century, from the Win- work coverage of the games has expanded to the point
ter games of 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria, through 1988 of excess in the attempt to recoup spiraling costs by
in Calgary, Alberta. The combination of Arledge’s in- selling more commercial time. However, the games
depth, personalized approach to sports broadcasting have become such an emotionally charged part of a
(epitomized in ABC’s Wide World of Sports) and the network’s inventory that profit is no longer the chief
technological advances in the field, such as satellite concern. Broadcasting the Olympics, much like broad-
feeds and videotape, set the new standard for Olympic casting professional sports, is more about building a
telecasts. Utilizing inventive graphics and personal pro- network’s reputation than about making business deci-
files of the athletes, Arledge slated 44 hours of cover- sions driven solely by the bottom line. The long-range
age for the Mexico City games, three times as many prestige and promotional value for the host network
1686
have been deemed far more important than any imme- CBS had more success in reducing its outlay by
diate financial losses incurred by covering the games. joining forces in 1992 with TNT (Turner Network
Nevertheless, the expense of televising the Television). The Winter Olympics that year (CBS’s
Olympics can be quite draining at times, as the 2000 first Olympic telecast in 32 years) began a collabora-
Sydney “Internet Olympics” demonstrated. Faced with tion between the two networks that gave TNT 50
an unwieldy 15- to 18-hour time difference between hours, or about 25 percent of the total programming
Australia and North America, NBC decided to broad- time, in exchange for $50 million toward rights fees.
cast all 441.5 hours of the games on tape delay in the The arrangement was so successful that it was re-
United States. The day-old offerings on U.S. television newed in 1994 for the Lillehammer games. The shar-
could not compete with the immediacy of results avail- ing of broadcast duties and costs seemed to hold
able via the Internet, and NBC’s investment of over promise for both the quality and cost of future
$800 million in the broadcast resulted in a ratings di- Olympic coverage, especially when ABC and NBC
saster—the worst Nielsen audience ratings for the were negotiating a partnership deal to cover the 2000
Olympics since 1968. Sydney games together. However, NBC instead se-
The gamble on Olympic broadcasting only gets cured the sole rights to cover the first five Olympics of
riskier as rights fees continue to skyrocket. The Squaw the new millennium, adding the Olympic logo to their
Valley (California) Winter games in 1960 cost CBS network “brand” for nearly a decade and hoping to
only $50,000. Twenty years later, NBC bid an aston- strengthen their own image through this unique identi-
ishing $87 million for the 1980 Summer games in fication with the games.
Moscow. This price was almost four times the fee for Jennifer Holt
the rights to the previous (1976) Summer games in
See also Arledge, Roone; Ohlmeyer, Don; Sports
Montreal. Unfortunately for NBC, the U.S. boycott of
and Television
the Moscow games destroyed hopes of a windfall and
sabotaged the scheduled 150 hours of planned cover-
age. Still, prices have continued to climb. The Summer Further Reading
broadcast rights almost tripled from 1980 to 1984 ($87
Abrahamson, Alan, and Randy Harvey, “How NBC Got the
million to $225 million), and both Winter and Summer Gold,” Los Angeles Times (August 13, 2000)
rights have gone for $300 million or more since 1988. Farrell, Thomas B., “Media Rhetoric As Social Drama: The
In 1995 NBC made its unprecedented $3.5 billion deal Winter Olympics of 1984,” Critical Studies in Mass Com-
for the 2000 through 2008 games, a deal that, despite munication (June 1989)
its overwhelming numbers, was touted as a historic Larson, James F., “A Comparative Analysis of Australian, U.S.,
and British Telecasts of the Seoul Olympic Opening Cere-
coup giving the network a virtual “monopoly” on the mony,” Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media
Olympic games. (Winter 1991)
In the past, these exploding costs have sent net- Larson, James F., Global Television and the Politics of the Seoul
works looking for alternative strategies to ease the fi- Olympics, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1993
nancial burden. In 1992 NBC made an ill-fated attempt Lawrence, Robert Z., “Fool’s Gold: How America Pays to
Lose in the Olympics,” Television Quarterly (Summer
at utilizing pay-per-view subscriptions for the Summer 1990)
games in Barcelona. The “Olympic Triplecast” was or- Rothenbuhler, Eric W., “The Living Room Celebration on the
ganized in conjunction with Cablevision and intended Olympic Games,” Journal of Communication (Autumn
to sell packages of commercial-free, extensive pro- 1988)
gramming. The plan was an enormous failure, owing Sandomir, Richard, “Play It Again and Again and Again,” New
York Times (February 11, 1992)
to its complicated, confusing design and viewers’ re- Sandomir, Richard, “Lights, Cameras, Psycho-Dramas, Dys-
sentment over having to pay for certain events when function! (NBC’s Coverage of the 1992 Olympics),” New
others were free of charge. York Times (July 28, 1992)
YEAR GAMES LOCATION NET HRS. RIGHTS FEES

1960 Winter Squaw Valley CBS 15 $50,000
Summer Rome CBS 20 $394,000
1964 Winter Innsbruck ABC 18 $597,000
Summer Tokyo ABC 14 $1.5 million
1687
YEAR GAMES LOCATION NET HRS. RIGHTS FEES

1968 Winter Grenoble ABC 27 $2.5 million
Summer Mexico City ABC 44 $4.5 million
1972 Winter Sapporo NBC 37 $6.4 million
Summer Munich ABC 63 $7.5 million
1976 Winter Innsbruck ABC 44 $10 million
Summer Montreal ABC 77 $25 million
1980 Winter Lake Placid ABC 54 $15.5 million
Summer Moscow NBC 150 $87 million
1984 Winter Sarajevo ABC 63 $91.5 million
Summer Los Angeles ABC 180 $225 million
1988 Winter Calgary ABC 95 $309 million
Summer Seoul NBC 180 $300 million
1992 Winter Albertville CBS 116 $243 million
Summer Barcelona TNT 50 $50 million
NBC 161 $401 million
1994 Winter Lillehammer CBS 120 $300 million
TNT 45 $50 million
1996 Summer Atlanta NBC 171.5 $456 million
1998 Winter Nagano CBS 128 $375 million
2000 Summer Sydney NBC 441 $705 million
2002 Winter Salt Lake City NBC 373.5 $545 million
2004 Summer Athens NBC $2.3 billion (package
with Turin and Bei-
jing)
2006 Winter Turin NBC
2008 Summer Beijing NBC
Omnibus
U.S. Cultural Series
Omnibus was the most successful cultural magazine Omnibus was the vision of Robert Saudek, a former
series in the history of U.S. commercial television and ABC vice president of public affairs who became di-
a prototype for the development of programming on rector of the Workshop in 1951. Commissioned to de-
educational television. Developed by the Television- vise an innovative series for network television,
Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation, Omnibus Saudek created a variety show for the intellect, a com-
generated both corporate sponsorship and a loyal, but pendium of the arts, literature, science, history, and
limited, network audience for intellectual program- even some pure entertainment. Saudek hired journal-
ming over nine years (1952–61) on all three networks. ist Alistair Cooke to serve as master of ceremonies.
1688
Omnibus
Cooke was known for his literate commentary on Let- Symphony in 1954, Bernstein brought an intellectual
ter from America, a BBC radio series heard through- passion of excitement and discovery to his subject and
out Great Britain. With initial underwriting from the later explored musical comedy, jazz, grand opera, and
Ford Foundation, which TV Guide called “risk capi- modern music with the same vigor. Gene Kelly in his
tal” for the untried, Saudek also secured financing video lecture compared the art and choreography of
from advertisers to produce a weekly, 90-minute se- ballet dancers to the movements of professional ath-
ries, first airing from 4:30 to 6:00 on Sunday after- letes, exemplified by his tap dance with boxer Sugar
noons. Omnibus premiered on November 9, 1952, on Ray Robinson.
CBS. The first installment featured a short drama with For most of its run, Omnibus, nearly always broad-
Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer as Henry VIII and cast live, graced the “ghetto” of weekend program-
Anne Boleyn; William Saroyan narrating an adapta- ming, Sunday afternoon. As that day-part became
tion of his short story “The Bad Men”; and the first more valuable, beginning on CBS with the success of
images of X-ray movies, an inside look at the working professional football, Omnibus shifted to other net-
human digestive system. works. The series was seen on CBS from 1952 to
Saudek and his producers, among them Fred Rickey, 1956; on ABC from 1956 to 1957; and NBC from
William Spier, and Mary V. Ahern, deftly interwove 1957 to 1961. During the final season, Omnibus ap-
the high and popular arts into a cultural smorgasbord. peared as a series of irregular specials, concluding
Their definition of “culture” was flexible enough to en- with a look at the future of the western hemisphere. In
compass Orson Welles’s triumphant return from Eu- all, Saudek and his team assembled 166 editions total-
rope to star in Peter Brook’s production of King Lear; ing more than 230 hours of entertaining enlighten-
a production of William Inge’s Glory in the Flower ment. The series was revived by producer Martin
with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, and a still very Starger as a series of specials on ABC in 1981. In 1999
green James Dean; S.J. Perelman’s paean to burlesque PBS distributed the first-ever retrospective of Omnibus
with Bert Lahr; several appearances by Agnes De- on television for its December pledge drive.
Mille, including the performance of her ballet Three The artistic concerns and approaches to production
Virgins and the Devil (“Virgins” becoming “Maidens” of Omnibus provided a road map for public television.
because of network censors); Jack Benny recreating The Ford Foundation, citing Omnibus’s struggle for
his notorious role as an avenging angel in The Horn ratings, questioned whether commercial broadcasters
Blows at Midnight; and Peter Ustinov in his U.S. tele- were dedicated to “the development of mature, wise,
vision debut as Dr. Samuel Johnson. Omnibus also and responsible citizens,” and began to fund educa-
gave air time to artists new to the mass media: William tional television projects. Without the foundation’s
Faulkner gave a tour of Oxford, Mississippi; James support, Saudek formed his own production company
Agee contributed a five-part docudrama on the life of in 1955 to create and gain network sponsorship for the
Abraham Lincoln, now considered one of the first series. The Omnibus sensibility has been felt through-
miniseries; Frank Lloyd Wright discussed architectural out the history of public television in the United States.
forms with Cooke; and painter Thomas Hart Benton During the National Educational Television years,
gave a tour of his studio. In addition, individuals who NET Playhouse (1966–72) and NET Festival
would later become fixtures in prime time received a (1967–70) were direct descendants. Since the forma-
career boost on Omnibus, including Mike Nichols and tion of the Public Broadcasting Service, Great Perfor-
Elaine May, who brought their sardonic humor to an mances (1974– ) has partaken of the Omnibus ethos to
edition entitled “Suburban Revue”; Les Ford and Mary share a cultural mélange with a discriminating audi-
Ford, who demonstrated multitrack recording with a ence. And, of course, the ringmaster of Omnibus, Alis-
madrigal-singing Cooke; and Jacques Cousteau, who tair Cooke, became a PBS icon for over 20 years as
screened his first undersea adventure on U.S. televi- host of Masterpiece Theatre.
sion. Ron Simon
Beginning with Leopold Stokowski conducting
See also Cooke, Alistair; Educational Television
Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Or-
chestra, Saudek linked pedagogy with showmanship
to produce a series of visual lectures that became a Host
model for educational television. The most stimulating Alistair Cooke
and original of the electronic teachers was Leonard
Bernstein, who single-handedly enlarged the possibili- Producers
ties of musical analysis and performance on television. Robert Saudek, Fred Rickey, William Spier, Mary V.
Commencing with his dissection of Beethoven’s Fifth Ahern
1689
Omnibus
Programming History Bernstein, Leonard, The Joy of Music, New York: Fireside,
CBS 1963
Henderson, Amy, On the Air: Pioneers of American Broadcast-
October 1952–April 1956 Sunday 4:30–6:00 ing, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press,
ABC 1988
October 1956–March 1957 Sunday 9:00–10:30 Jones, William M., and Andrew Walworth, “Saudek’s Omnibus:
NBC Ambitious Forerunner of Public TV,” Current (December
April 1957–April 1961 Sunday irregular 13, 1999)
Leonard Bernstein: The Television Work, New York: Museum
schedule of Broadcasting, 1985
Rose, Brian, Television and the Performing Arts, Westport,
Further Reading Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986
Rose, Brian, Televising the Performing Arts, Westport, Con-
Beck, Kirstin, Cultivating the Wasteland, New York: American necticut: Greenwood Press, 1992
Council for the Arts, 1983
One Day at a Time

Although the series was created by Whitney Blake Throughout the series, Barbara and particularly Julie
(formerly an actor on TV’s Hazel), One Day at a Time dealt with issues of birth control, sexuality, virginity,
showed the unmistakable imprint of Norman Lear, its alcohol, and drugs with an honesty and forthrightness
powerhouse producer. The series, like other Lear that Gidget and other previous TV teens never
comedies, strove to be topical, progressive, even con- dreamed of.
troversial, and to mix serious issues with more comical Rounding out the cast was apartment-building super-
elements. At times the mix was less than even, yet it intendent Schneider (his first name was hardly ever
proved to be very popular, and One Day at a Time was used), who, over the course of the series, played an in-
one of the most successful series of the 1970s and creasingly important role in both the program’s plots
1980s, outlasting many of Lear’s other, more highly and the lives of the girls. In this role, actor Pat Harring-
praised series. ton, Jr., also frequently supplied some much-needed
The program centered around Ann Romano, a tele- comic relief in the midst of the ongoing exploration of
vision character who found herself struggling through serious topics.
many of the same experiences facing real American One Day at a Time went through many cast changes
women. Married at 17, Romano was now divorced, during its run and developed various, almost convo-
raising two teenagers more or less on her own, and en- luted, plot twists and turns. When the show began, Ann
tering the job market for the first time since her mar- was working for an advertising agency, then later
riage. Played by Bonnie Franklin, Romano was not founded her own company. One season she became en-
TV’s first divorced woman or mother (Diana Rigg in gaged, only to have her fiancé killed by a drunk driver.
Diana preceded her, as did Vivian Vance on The Lucy Then, for a time following his death, she became legal
Show), but she was probably—to that time—the most guardian to his teenage son. Daughter Julie married and
realistic. Romano struggled with money, fighting for had a baby, only later to abandon her new family. Ann’s
every penny of the child support that was supposed to mother (played by veteran actor Nanette Fabray) even-
come from her frequently deadbeat ex-husband. She tually became a series regular, appearing in almost ev-
struggled with finding a job. And she struggled to be ery episode. Finally, daughter Barbara married (having
both father and mother to her two children, Julie remained a virgin until her wedding night) and the next
(Mackenzie Phillips) and Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli). season Ann married Barbara’s father-in-law. The series
Just as the portrayal of Ann was without romanti- ended with Ann, now remarried, moving to London
cism, so was the depiction of her two children. with her new husband to take an exciting new job.
1690
One Day at a Time
One Day at a Time, Richard Masur, Pat Harrington Jr., Valerie Bertinelli, Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, 1975–84.
1691
One Day at a Time
For all the problems that were played out in front of Max Horvath (1979–80,
the cameras, just as many occurred behind the scenes. 1981–84) Michael Lembeck
Phillips was fired from the series in 1980 because of Katherine Romano (1979–
her ongoing drug addiction. She would later return to 84) Nanette Fabray
the series, only to be written out again when she suf- Nick Handris (1980–81) Ron Rifkin
fered other health problems. Alex Handris (1980–83) Glenn Scarpelli
In some ways, one of the first television shows in Francine Webster (1981–84) Shelley Fabares
the “dramedy” genre (a hybrid of drama and comedy Mark Royer (1981–84) Boyd Gaines
to be later embodied by series such as The Days and Sam Royer (1982–84) Howard Hessman
Nights of Molly Dodd), One Day at a Time made ex- Annie Horvath (1983–84) Lauren/Paige Maloney
tensive use of multipart episodes (one three-parter
dealt with Julie running away from home), focused on Producers
contemporary issues (one episode dealt with teen sui- Norman Lear, Mort Lachman, Norman Paul, Jack
cide), and incorporated political messages into its sto- Elinson, Alan Rafkin, Bud Wiseman, Dick Bens-
ries. Nothing was ever easy or dealt with offhandedly field, Perry Grant, Allan Mannings, Patricia Fass
on One Day at a Time. The decision not to shy away Palmer, Katherine Green
from difficult themes in the series’ portrayal of con-
temporary life, especially of women’s lives and of fe-
male adolescence, set the program apart from others of Programming History
its time. Thus, the series helped expand the dimensions 205 episodes
and role of U.S. television comedy. CBS
Less brash and politically explicit than Lear’s other December 1975–July 1976 Tuesday 9:30–10:00
feminist comedy heroine, Maude Finley, Ann Romano September 1976–January
(who took back her maiden name after her divorce and 1978 Tuesday 9:30–10:00
preferred to be referred to as “Ms.”) was more “middle January 1978–January 1979 Monday 9:30–10:00
of the road” and therefore easier for audiences to ac- January 1979–March 1979 Wednesday 9:00–9:30
cept as a realistic type of character. This wide appeal, March 1979–September
along with the popularity of series’ stars Franklin, Har- 1982 Sunday 8:30–9:00
rington, and Bertinelli, allowed the show to endure for September 1982–March
an eventful and trendsetting nine-year run. 1983 Sunday 9:30–10:00
Cary O’Dell March 1983–May 1983 Monday 9:30–10:00
June 1983–February 1984 Sunday 8:30–9:00
March 1984–May 1984 Wednesday 8:00–8:30
Cast May 1984–August 1984 Monday 9:00–9:30
Ann Romano (Royer) Bonnie Franklin August 1984–September
Julie Cooper Horvath (1975– 1984 Sunday 8:00–8:30
78, 1981–83) Mackenzie Phillips
Barbara Cooper Royer Valerie Bertinelli Further Reading
Dwayne Schneider Pat Harrington, Jr.
David Kane (1975–76) Richard Massur Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Harry and Walter’s
Favorite Shows: A Fact-Filled Opinionated Guide to the
Ginny Wrobliki (1976–77) Mary Louise Wilson Best and Worst on TV, New York: Prentice Hall, 1989
Mr. Jerry Davenport (1976– Mitz, Rick, The Great TV Sitcom Book, New York: Perigee,
79) Charles Siebert 1983
1692
One Foot in the Grave

British Situation Comedy
One Foot in the Grave, like so many of Britain’s most times irritates her immensely, we are never left in any
enduring and well-liked situation comedies, took three doubt that she loves him dearly. It is to Renwick’s
seasons to establish itself before suddenly becoming credit that he has occasionally been able to insert some
the most popular program on television, with 18 mil- moments of great pathos in which we learn a little
lion viewers. Six series of the program, and numerous more about Margaret and come to understand why she
specials, were aired between 1990 and 2000. and Victor may be unable to live without each other.
The show was writer David Renwick’s first situation Although they are childless, we do learn in “Timeless
comedy after having spent a number of years writing Time” that they had a son who died as a baby, but we
sketches for the likes of the Two Ronnies and Alexei never learn how.
Sayle. Renwick created the lead character, Victor Mel- The series has not been without controversy. Some
drew, with Scottish actor Richard Wilson in mind, but viewers objected when Margaret found a dead cat
Wilson initially turned down the role because he felt he nestling among the fish-sticks in her freezer, and others
was too young to play a 60-year-old man. Luckily, he when an old lady got trapped overnight in their loft.
reconsidered and a new hero for the 1990s made his The program was censured for content in the “Hearts
debut on January 4, 1990. of Darkness” episode. In one scene, set in an old peo-
The first episode, “Alive and Buried,” introduced ples’ home, a resident was abused and kicked, actions
Victor Meldrew just as he was about to be made redun- that offended a number of elderly viewers. The scene
dant from his job as a security guard, and replaced by a was cut slightly when the episode was repeated.
computer chip. From then on Victor’s life is portrayed In addition to his two main characters, Renwick also
as a never-ending battle against the rest of the world. created an idiosyncratic supporting cast: Margaret’s
Everything conspires against him, from his neighbors, friend Mrs. Warbouys (Doreen Mantle), to whom Vic-
to shop assistants, to God. The series showed that el- tor can barely be civil; Nick Swainey, the social
derly people did not have one foot in the grave, but worker who lives next door and constantly refers to his
wanted to lead lives actively like anybody else. How- (unseen) bedridden mother; and Patrick and Pippa,
ever, Renwick cleverly created situations which would next-door neighbors, whose lives are made a misery
anger anyone but which, bizarrely, could only happen from the moment they first meet the Meldrews.
to Victor Meldrew. In “Valley of Sleep,” for example, Renwick has constantly tried to extend the bound-
Victor finds himself in hospital with suspected appen- aries of situation comedy, not only with the situations
dicitis. It is only when the male nurse who is shaving his characters have to face, but also within the confines
him begins discussing the price of property on the of the 30-minute program. In “Timeless Time” the
moon that we, along with Victor, gradually become whole episode is devoted to a sleepless night, in which
aware that the nurse is, in fact, a mental patient. In Victor and Margaret toss and turn, agonizing over life,
“The Worst Horror of All” Victor is convinced that the and during which no other characters are involved and
skip (dumpster) he has hired will have an old mattress we never leave the bedroom. The first ten minutes of
dumped in it in the morning. When he wakes, his fa- “Heart of Darkness” contain virtually no dialogue; the
miliar cry of “I don’t believe it” reveals that someone only sound is a musical accompaniment. “The Beast in
has in fact dumped a Citroen 2CV into the skip. Ren- the Cage” sees the Meldrews stuck in a traffic jam for
wick skillfully returns to his original joke, however, the whole episode. This daring culminated in “Trial,”
for when Victor opens the car door, out falls the mat- when Victor was given an entire episode to himself as
tress which he had so feared he would find. he waited at home to be called for jury service. As
The program’s other constant character is Victor’s many newspapers pointed out, this was the first time
long-suffering wife Margaret, played by the often un- any actor had been given this comedy accolade since
derrated Annette Crosbie. She has to bear the brunt of the great Tony Hancock.
most of Victor’s grumpiness, and, although he some- Renwick finally decided to write one last series, and
1693
in November 2000, Victor was killed in a road acci- Season Two: October 4–
dent—ironically by a new friend of his wife. It was a November 15, 1990 Thursday 9:30
sad and tragic end for one of Britain’s greatest comic Special: December 27, 1990 Thursday 9:30
heroes, and even Meldrew himself would have railed Special: December 30, 1991 Monday 9:30
against the injustice of his final moment being up- Season Three: February 2–
staged by ITV, which screened the first millionaire March 8, 1992 Sunday 9:05
winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire as a spoiler Season Four: January 31–
on the same night. It was probably a fitting end, as Vic- March 7, 1993 Sunday 8.55
tor Meldrew was the comic hero of his time, and just as Short special, Comic
much a part of it as were Harold Steptoe and Basil Relief: March 12, 1993 Friday 10.30
Fawlty of theirs. Special, One Foot In The
Pamela Rostron Algarve: December
26, 1993 Sunday 9.05
Special: December 25, 1994 Sunday 9:00
Cast
Season Five: January 1–
Victor Meldrew Richard Wilson
January 29, 1995 Sunday 9:00
Margaret Meldrew Annette Crosbie
Special: December 25, 1995 Monday 9:00
Mrs. Warbouys Doreen Mantle
Special: December 26, 1996 Thursday 9:00
Patrick Trench Angus Deayton
Special: December 25, 1997 Thursday 9:00
Pippa Trench Janine Duvitski
Season Six: October 16–
Nick Swainey Owen Brenman
November 20, 2000 Monday 9:00
Short special, Comic
Producer Relief: March 16, 2001 Friday 8.30
Susan Belbin
Further Reading
Programming History
BBC 1 Bedell, Geraldine, “What’s Gone Wrong?,” The Independent
(February 28, 1993)
35 episodes and 9 specials “Funny but Serious,” Sunday Telegraph (December 24, 1995)
Season One: January 4– Rampton, James, “Interview: Can You Believe It?,” The Inde-
February 9, 1990 Thursday 9:30 pendent (April 27,1996)
Only Fools and Horses

Only Fools and Horses, a long-running situation com- Readies and finally persuaded the BBC to risk making
edy series concerning the misadventures of a cockney a whole series based on the dubious dealings of a per-
“wide boy” and his naive younger brother, was first sonable cockney “fly-pitcher,” who made a precarious
screened by the BBC in 1981, and over the next de- living selling shoddy goods and—quite without mal-
cade became the most popular and acclaimed sitcom ice—duping customers (including his own family and
on British television. Reflecting the capitalist fervor friends) at every opportunity. Retitled Only Fools and
of Thatcherite Britain in the 1980s, a time of contrast- Horses after the time-honored proverb “only fools
ing economic fortunes, the series celebrated the and horses work,” the first series failed to attract much
proverbial optimism of the archetypal cockney street attention, but the quality of the scripts and the excel-
trader, with his dreams of a wealthy future and aspira- lence of the actors gradually won a huge and devoted
tions for a better life. audience, and by the mid-1980s, special festive
The program began as an idea by writer John Sulli- episodes topped the BBC’s Christmas ratings.
van, who constructed the first scripts under the title The leading role of the brash, streetwise Derek “Del
1694
Only Fools and Horses
Boy” Trotter, decked out with chunky gold jewelry and The achievement of the series was recognized by a
well versed in cockney rhyming slang, was developed BAFTA Best Comedy prize in 1989 (the year of Rod-
to perfection by David Jason, who deftly realized the ney’s wedding to Cassandra). In a final, forgivably
character’s combination of sentimentality and schem- sentimental outing, Del Boy’s dreams of riches were
ing unscrupulousness. Determined to improve his unexpectedly realized by winning the lottery, although
place in the world in the face of every setback, his Del the viewers’ last sight of the Trotter trio was of the in-
Boy—like Minder’s Arthur Daly—became a byword corrigible Del Boy, Rodney, and Albert walking into
for shady practices, although his endearing incompe- the sunset discussing schemes to become even richer.
tence (embodied in the rusty, yellow three-wheeled David Pickering
van he drove) and his breezy vulgarity ensured that he
See also Jason, David; Lyndhurst, Nicholas
always remained sympathetic. Time and again, Del
Boy’s ambitious plans had to be abandoned in order to
extricate another of the Trotter clan (or himself) from Cast
trouble. Often he was his own worst enemy, even when Del Trotter David Jason
his motives were at their most pure. When he felt Rodney Nicholas Lyndhurst
moved to touch up his mother’s monument in the Grandad Lennard Pearce
churchyard, for instance, he used his own supply of Uncle Albert Buster Merryfield
suspiciously acquired paint, and when night fell found Trigger Roger Lloyd Pack
out to his horror that it was luminous. Boycie John Challis
Del Boy’s foil was his younger brother Rodney Micky Pearce Patrick Murray
Trotter, gauche and easily misled (“a right plonker” ac- Mike Kenneth MacDonald
cording to his sibling, who used, or rather misused Marlene Sue Holderness
him) and played with pained indignation by former Denzil Paul Barber
child actor Nicholas Lyndhurst. The relationship be- Alan Dennis Lill
tween Del Boy and Rodney lay at the heart of the se- Cassandra Gwyneth Strong
ries’ success, veering as it did from conflict and petty Raquel Tessa Peake-Jones
deceptions to pathos and genuine warmth and mutual
reliance. The premise was that Rodney had never
Producers
known his father and could not remember his mother,
Ray Butt, Gareth Gwenlan
who had died when he was a baby, thus leaving him in
the care of his scornful but devoted brother. The Trot-
ter trio was completed by dotty old Grandad, played by Programming History
Lennard Pearce, and, after Pearce’s unexpected death 49 episodes (variable lengths); 14 specials
from a heart attack in 1984, by Grandad’s brother, Un- BBC
cle Albert (played by Buster Merryfield). September 1981–October 1981 6 episodes
The format changed little over the years, nor did the December 28, 1981 Christmas special
tasteless decor of the Trotter flat in high-rise Nelson October 1982–December 1982 7 episodes
Mandela House, Peckham, or the memorable clientele December 27, 1982 Christmas special
of the East End pub where the brothers congregated November 1983–December 1983 7 episodes
with such “business associates” as the shady but often December 25, 1984 Christmas special
fooled Boycie, nicknamed Jaffa (because he was ster- February 1985–April 1985 7 episodes
ile, thus like a Jaffa seedless orange), and the even December 25, 1985 Christmas special
more dimwitted road-sweeper Trigger (so named be- August 1986–October 1986 6 episodes
cause he looked like a horse). There were, however, December 25, 1986 Christmas special
some changes in the Trotter household, notably Rod- December 25, 1987 Christmas special
ney’s disaster-strewn romance and eventual marriage December 25, 1988 Christmas special
to city banker Cassandra and Del Boy’s liaison with January 1989–February 1989 6 episodes
the actress Raquel, which led ultimately to the birth December 25, 1989 Christmas special
of the first of a future generation of Trotter entre- December 25, 1990 Christmas special
preneurs, the ominously named Damien. December 1990–February 1991 6 episodes
After a glorious run of some ten years, with both Ja- December 24, 1991 Christmas special
son and Lyndhurst successfully involved in various December 25, 1991 Christmas special
other television projects, the series petered out with the December 25, 1992 Christmas special
exception of occasional specials, which effortlessly December 25, 1993 Christmas special
proved that the tried and tested formula still worked. December 1996 4 episodes
1695
Open University
Open University
Britain’s Open University is an innovative and highly Open University courses are developed by teams of
successful distance-learning program that utilizes a va- academic, education, and media specialists.
riety of media, including television and online com- Television-based course materials generally consist of
puter resources, to extend college and graduate-level printed booklets that contain the lessons, supplemen-
education to nontraditional, non-local students. tary readings, and specially designed broadcast notes
Founded in 1969 with financial support from the gov- and exercises to accompany the television programs.
ernment and a commitment of airtime from the BBC, Televised lessons are approximately 30 minutes in
the Open University offered its first televised courses length, aired during non-peak viewing times on BBC
in January 1971. Targeted at working adults who had 2, and usually repeated during the same week. Video-
not continued on to higher education, it was an imme- cassette recorders enable many students to time-shift
diate success: more than 40,000 people applied for their viewing to more convenient times. The Open
24,000 places. With more than 200,000 students en- University contracts with the BBC for production of
rolled, it is Britain’s largest university. It has served as the programs. Initially, most were studio productions
the model for other distance-education programs in (in black and white), but location shooting was in-
more than 30 countries worldwide, including the creasingly added as more experience was gained in the
Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Australia. educational qualities of the medium. In addition, some
The Open University is “open” in several senses. courses utilize archive footage from the BBC. Because
First, it is open to applicants of any age or background. the Open University pays for production costs, the pro-
Unlike conventional universities in England, there are grams are produced solely for use in coursework and
no entrance requirements of any kind. It has also been not for wider commercial appeal. Nevertheless, some
especially useful for traditionally underserved popula- programs are no doubt watched by incidental viewers,
tions, such as people with disabilities. Second, it is who may develop an interest and end up taking a
open in the sense that it utilizes an array of educational course. In one year, 36,000 “study packs” were sold to
methods, including television and radio broadcasts, people who wanted to audit an Open University course
video and audio tapes, mailed correspondence lessons, without enrolling.
email and electronic conferencing, web-based courses, Television brings a number of unique abilities to the
and multimedia CD-ROM materials, as well as locally teaching/learning experience: it can broadcast an inter-
based tutors, regional study centers, and on-campus view with a leading authority in the field under study;
summer-school sessions. Third, it is open in the sense illustrate abstract mathematical and economic con-
of place. It has no campus of its own, and is equally accepts through animation; show demonstrations of sci-
cessible to students from even the most remote loca- entific experiments, speeding them up or slowing them
tions. (Administrative offices and production facilities down; and provide tours of actual sites of sociological,
are maintained in Milton Keynes, England.) Fourth, it anthropological, or historical interest.
is open in terms of time. Students can set their own Great care is taken in course planning and execution
schedule and progress at their own pace; there is also to attain quality standards equivalent to conventional
no time limit for completion of a degree. universities. An Open University degree has become
Originally to be called “University of the Air,” tele- well respected, and credits received are transferable to
vision played a key role in the Open University concept regular universities. Indeed, many Open University
from the beginning. It was felt that television served as students, perhaps as many as two-thirds, already have
a crucial bridge to the “average” nonacademic person. the academic credentials to attend regular universities
It also provided a human dimension to the prevailing but have chosen not to for a variety of personal or lo-
distance-education model then known as correspon- gistical reasons.
dence study; through television, students could “meet” Jerry Hagins
their faculty. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, tele-
vision offered the most cost-effective means for deliv- See also British Television; Educational Tele-
ering higher education content to a mass public. vision
1696
Original Amateur Hour, The
Further Reading Legge, Derek, The Education of Adults In Britain, Milton

Keynes, England: Open University Press, 1982
Bates, W.A., editor, The Role of Technology in Distance Educa- Perry, Walter, Open University, Milton Keynes, England: Open
tion, New York: St. Martin’s Press, and London: Croom University Press, 1976
Helm, 1984 Tunstall, Jeremy, The Open University Opens, London: Rout-
Ferguson, John, The Open University from Within, New York: ledge and Kegan Paul, 1974
New York University Press, 1976 Walker, David, “Britain’s Pioneering Open University Begins
Gardiner, Jo, “Pipe-dream That Opened Up Learning,” Times Its Third Decade with a New Vice-Chancellor and Big Ex-
Educational Supplement (April 29, 1994) pansion Plans,” Chronicle of Higher Education (June 19,
Garrison, D.R., Understanding Distance Education, London: 1991)
Routledge, 1989

U.S. Amateur Talent, Performance, and Variety Contest
The Original Amateur Hour was first heard on New against a crop of new talent on the next program. Be-
York radio in 1934 as Major Bowes’ Original Amateur tween amateur acts, Mack conducted rambling inter-
Hour. The following year it was programmed on CBS views and shared corny jokes with contestants.
Radio, where it remained until 1946 when Major Contestants who won three times earned cash prizes,
Bowes, the program’s creator and host, died. Two scholarships, or parts in a traveling stage show associ-
years later, the program was revived on ABC Radio ated with the program. In 1951 five such shows trav-
and on DuMont Television, hosted in both media by eled about the United States.
Ted Mack, a talent scout and director of the series un- While most contestants fell back into obscurity fol-
der Bowes. The radio and television programs were lowing their appearance on the program, others went
originally sponsored by Old Gold Cigarettes, repre- on to successful professional careers. Stars who first
sented on television by the famous dancing cigarette appeared on television’s Original Amateur Hour in-
box. During its first season, Original Amateur Hour clude ventriloquist Paul Winchell and pop singers
was a ratings sensation, and although it never equaled Teresa Brewer, Gladys Knight, and Pat Boone.
its initial success, its longevity is testament to its abil- Original Amateur Hour offered a shot at fame and
ity to attract a consistently profitable audience share. fortune to thousands of hopeful, would-be professional
Original Amateur Hour lasted on radio until 1952 entertainers. As such, it represented a permeable
and on television until 1970. The television version was boundary between everyday viewers and the national
ultimately broadcast over all four major networks dur- entertainment industry. The program’s general appeal,
ing its long run, eventually settling in as a Sunday after- reliable ratings, simple format, and low production
noon CBS feature during its final decade of production. costs have inspired many imitators in television, in-
The format of the program remained virtually un- cluding the Gong Show (which resurrected the notori-
changed from its premiere in early network radio. The ous rejection gong, not heard since the Major Bowes’s
show was essentially an amateur talent contest, the radio broadcasts) and, more recently, Star Search.
nonprofessional status of contestants thus distinguish- Warren Bareiss
ing Original Amateur Hour from Arthur Godfrey’s Tal-
See also Variety Programs
ent Scouts, which also ran during the late 1940s and
early 1950s. Contestants traveled to New York’s Radio
City from all parts of the United States to sing, dance, Emcee
play music, and participate in various forms of novelty Ted Mack
entertainment. Those who passed an initial screening
were invited to compete on the program. Winners were Announcers
determined by viewers who voted via letters and phone Dennis James
calls, and winning contestants returned to compete Roy Greece
1697
Producers September 1957–December

Ted Mack, Lou Goldberg 1957 Sunday 7:00–7:30
February 1958–October 1958 Saturday 10:00–10:30
CBS
Programming History
May 1959–June 1959 Friday 8:30–9:00
DuMont Television Network
July 1959–October 1959 Friday 10:30–11:00
January 1948–September
ABC
1949 Sunday 7:00–8:00
March 1960–September 1960 Monday 10:30–11:00
NBC
October 1949–January 1952 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
January 1952–September Further Reading
1952 Tuesday 10:00–10:45 Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to
April 1953–September 1954 Saturday 8:30–9:00 Prime Time Network TV Shows; 1946–Present, New York:
ABC Ballantine, 1988
Dunning, J., Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of
October 1955–December Old-Time Radio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
1955 Sunday 9:30–10:00 Hall, 1976
January 1956–February 1956 Sunday 9:30–10:30 McNeil, Alex, Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Pro-
March 1956–September 1956 Sunday 9:00–10:00 gramming from 1948 to 1980, Harmondsworth, England,
October 1956–March 1957 Sunday 7:30–8:30 and New York: Penguin Books, 1980; fourth edition as Total
Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from
April 1957–June 1957 Sunday 9:00–10:00 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996
NBC “Ted Mack,” in Current Biography: Who’s News and Why,
July 1957–September 1957 Monday 10:00–10:30 1951, edited by A. Rothe, New York: H.W. Wilson, 1951
Ouimet, Alphonse (1908–1988)

Canadian Broadcasting Executive
Alphonse Ouimet was one of a small, quixotic band of Ouimet, CBC chairman Davidson Dunton, and other
public broadcasters who dreamed that television could managers sold the idea of public television, supported
make a truly Canadian culture. He played a command- by both tax and advertising revenues, as a tool of cul-
ing role as engineer, manager, and eventually adminis- tural nationalism that could counter the sway of New
trator in the formation and maintenance of a Canadian York and Hollywood. In the next 6 years the initial 2
television system during the 1950s and 1960s. But his stations expanded to 36 (as of March 31, 1995), 8
hopes were never realized, a lesson that demonstrates owned and operated by the CBC and the rest private
the limits of the cultural power of television. affiliates, reaching well over 80 percent of the popula-
Ouimet was first employed in 1932 by a Montreal tion. On Dominion Day, July 1, 1958, the opening of a
firm then experimenting with television. He joined the microwave relay system from Victoria, British
engineering staff of Canada’s public broadcaster, soon Columbia, on the west coast to Halifax, Nova Scotia,
called the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), on the east gave the CBC the longest television net-
in 1934. After World War II, he became the CBC’s work in the world. It was a great triumph of engineer-
television specialist. In 1946 he began work on an in- ing and a source of national pride—although the most
ternational report on the technology of television; popular English-language shows carried on the net-
three years later he was appointed both coordinator of work were nearly always American in origin.
television and chief engineer, and in January 1953 he Ouimet became president of the CBC in 1958,
became general manager. Thus, he was the chief oper- which made him one of few high-ranked French Cana-
ating officer of CBC-TV (which had commenced dians in the service of the federal government at that
broadcasting in September 1952) during the years it time. Ironically, his first crisis involved Radio-Canada,
spread across the country. In one forum after another, as the French-language service of the CBC was (and
1698
Ouimet, Alphonse
is) known. Early in 1959 a labor dispute involving manding programming. But the English-language ser-
French-language producers in Montreal and English- vice offered only a few Canadian examples of story-
language managers in Ottawa eliminated most of the telling, the great staple of popular television, and
popular local programming in Quebec for over two specialized much more in sports coverage, news and
months. The partial shutdown excited nationalist pas- public affairs, and minority programming. The
sions in Quebec and left behind a legacy of bitterness promise of a cultural renaissance had never material-
that Ouimet could never dispel. ized. Direct U.S. competition had secured nearly one-
The crisis strengthened the presumption that quarter of the Canadian audience outside of Quebec by
Ouimet’s sympathies were on the side of authority, not 1967. Only in French Canada was the CBC able to cre-
creativity. Before long, he was portrayed as a distant ate a continuing series of local dramas, known as
ruler, more interested in “housekeeping” than “pro- téléromans, that proved enormously popular with au-
gram content,” to borrow the terminology of one gov- diences. Television merely built upon the fact that in
ernment commission that severely criticized the CBC English Canada tastes were emphatically American,
for waste, inefficiency, and bureaucracy. Finally, in whereas in French Canada there was a strong tradition
1966 Ouimet ran afoul of the producers in Toronto, the of homegrown entertainment.
center of English-language television. Ottawa manage- Paul Rutherford
ment had tried to impose its authority over the extraor-
See also This Hour Has Seven Days
dinarily successful public affairs show This Hour Has
Seven Days (1964–66), whose bold opinion and sensa-
[Joseph-]Alphonse Ouimet. Born in Montreal, Que-
tional style had captured a mass audience. That upset
bec, June 12, 1908. Educated at McGill University,
Ouimet, who adhered to a creed of public broadcasting
Montreal, degree in electrical engineering, 1932. Built
in which the CBC was neutral, educational, and never
TV set and did broadcast experiments for Canadian
partisan. When the Seven Days crew declared war on
Television Ltd., 1933–34; engineer, Canadian Radio
management, they won the support of Toronto produc-
Broadcasting Corporation (CRBC), 1934 and assistant
ers, many journalists, and much of the public. Eventu-
chief engineer, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
ally, after three months of agitation, including a
(CBC) when it replaced CRBC, 1946; coordinator of
parliamentary inquiry, the appointment of a federal
TV, chief engineer and adviser to the board, CBC,
mediator, even an attempt to secure a new president,
1949; general manager, CBC, 1953; named the “father
Ouimet had his way: Seven Days disappeared from the
of Canadian television” for building the world’s most
airwaves. It was a pyrrhic victory, however, since pub-
geographically widespread TV system when CBC pio-
lic affairs broadcasting in Canada would not recover a
neered Canadian TV, 1950s; president, CBC, 1958, re-
similar kind of significance until the appearance of The
tired, 1967; chair, Telesat Canada, 1969–80; in
Journal in the 1980s.
retirement worked with UNESCO, served on commit-
Ultimately much more significant was what had
tees and task forces; wrote on communication technol-
happened to the television system in Canada. The 1958
ogy and the erosion of Canadian sovereignty. Died
Broadcasting Act led to the end of the CBC’s network
December 20, 1988.
monopoly and a partial privatization of the system.
The new independent stations, especially the affiliates
of the Canadian Television Network (CTV) in English Publication
Canada, used cheap U.S. programs to win audience
“The Future Role of CBC,” CBC Times (January
share. Ouimet and his managers believed they had to
30–February 3, 1960)
compete by offering their own imports in order to re-
tain viewers and boost advertising revenues. Indeed,
these revenues were necessary to support the produc- Further Reading
tion of less-popular Canadian content. The annual par-
liamentary grant of funds was never sufficient. Koch, Eric, Inside Seven Days, Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-
Hall, 1986
Late in 1967, Ouimet retired from the presidency, Peers, Frank, The Public Eye: Television and the Politics of
though he would continue in public service as head of Canadian Broadcasting 1952–1968, Toronto: University of
Telesat Canada (1969–80), a crown corporation in the Toronto Press, 1979
field of telecommunications. He left broadcasting just Raboy, Marc, Missed Opportunities: The Story of Canada’s
before the onset of a new act that further reduced the Broadcasting Policy, Kingston, Ontario: McGill-Queens
stature of the CBC. His legacy was decidedly mixed. Rutherford, Paul, When Television Was Young: Primetime
Public television still won the attention of nearly half Canada 1952–1967, Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
the Canadian audience for its mix of popular and de- 1990
1699
Our Friends in the North
Our Friends in the North

British Drama Serial
Our Friends in the North was British television’s most based on true events involving the Vice Squad, and the
ambitious, and in many respects most important, anti-corruption investigation, Operation Countryman,
drama production of the 1990s. It was BBC 2’s most in the 1970s.
expensive-ever production at £7.5 million, and one of The characters also found themselves in the thick of
its longest commissions in terms of running time. It other events drawn from contemporary British history.
also showed that television drama could engage both Nicky joined a terrorist organization similar to the ur-
the brain and the heart at a time when it seemed that ban guerrilla group The Angry Brigade of the early
British television drama had sunk into a morass of for- 1970s. Tosker made money from the credit boom of
mulaic police and doctor shows. the 1980s, and many characters were involved in the
Our Friends in the North followed the lives of four miners’ strike of 1984–85. Even the minor hurricane
friends from the industrial city of Newcastle-upon- that buffeted southeast England in 1987 made an ap-
Tyne, in the northeast of England, between 1964 and pearance.
1995. Each episode was set in a year during this pe- “Seize the power” was the phrase with which
riod, mainly those in which there was a general elec- Geordie teased Nicky. The series explored whether it is
tion in the U.K. This emphasized the serial’s primary possible to obtain any kind of power over one’s own
theme: the relationship between people and power. life, and posed this concern not only in the encounters
The four friends followed very different paths lead- with the police, organized crime, the Labour Party, or
ing away from their shared working-class backgrounds the political establishment, but also in the interactions
in the mid-1960s. Dominic “Nicky” Hutchinson was a between the characters and their families. Mary mar-
political radical, desperate to change the world and im- ried Tosker after she became pregnant by him, but her
patient with the restrictions and corruption of the polit- real love was Nicky, whom she married in the 1980s,
ical process. Mary Soulsby believed that the solution only to see the marriage founder over his coldness.
to these problems could be found in improving the Nicky and Geordie both had troubled relationships
mainstream parties and the system. In contrast, Terry with their fathers, respectively distant and cynical and
“Tosker” Cox became a self-made businessman with violently alcoholic, only to become just like them.
little time for concerns beyond profit and pleasure. Mary had problems with her angry, unhappy police-
George “Geordie” Peacock had no interest in politics, man son, Anthony.
but his life was constantly affected by those in power Fascinating though the political plots were, it was
as he turned to crime and alcoholism. the personal dramas that really engaged the viewer, as
The series had a tortured history before it finally the show refused to provide easy answers to complex
reached the television screen. The author, successful problems. The characters, viewed over thirty years of
playwright Peter Flannery, originally devised it in the their lives, exhibit numerous personality flaws, and il-
early 1980s but the BBC hesitated to air it, as political lustrate the difficulty of resisting compromise with so-
drama was no longer fashionable. The corporation was ciety’s rules and restrictions, or one’s own worst
also wary of legal action, as some of the plots affecting tendencies.
the characters were obviously drawn from real-life This all comes together in the marvellous final
events. In the mid-1960s, Nicky worked for city boss episode, which is marked by scenes of intense beauty
Austin Donohue, only to discover that he corruptly or- and emotion. These included Nicky weeping in isola-
ganized housing contracts for a builder, John Edwards, tion at his mother’s funeral and his doomed attempts to
who was aided by the Home Secretary. This referred to earn his senile father’s respect; Anthony telling Mary
the scandal of the time involving an architect, John that she was not a good mother because “she was never
Poulson, the leader of Newcastle City Council, T. Dan happy”; and Geordie’s attempts to stop a father who is
Smith, and the Conservative Home Secretary, Regi- abusing a son. However, some hope is offered as well.
nald Maudling. In the late 1960s, Geordie worked in Tosker is much improved by the love of a good
London’s red-light district of Soho for a pornographer, woman, Elaine, and finally gets to fulfill his dream of
and was involved with corrupt detectives. This was playing in a rock band. Nicky and Mary put disap-
1700
Our Miss Brooks
pointment and bitterness behind them and resolve to be Directors

reconciled. Only Geordie, damaged by his years of Pedr James 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974
drink and prison, cannot be wholly redeemed. The Stuart Urban 1966
closing shot was of him walking past the camera over Simon Cellan Jones 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995
Newcastle’s famous Tyne Bridge, toward an uncertain
future. Producer
Our Friends in the North was both a critical and Charles Pattinson
popular success for BBC2. The series was marked by
strong acting from all four primary figures, as well as Programming History
the actor Peter Vaughan who played Nicky’s father, 9 episodes, each lasting between 65 and 75 minutes,
Felix. broadcast at 9:00 on BBC 2
Phil Wickham Dates aired:
January 15, 1996
January 22, 1996
Cast January 29, 1996
Dominic “Nicky” February 5, 1996
Hutchinson Christopher Eccleston February 12, 1996
George “Geordie” Peacock Daniel Craig February 19, 1996
Mary Soulsby Gina McKee February 26, 1996
Terry “Tosker” Cox Mark Strong March 4, 1996
Austin Donahue Alun Armstrong March 11, 1996
Felix Hutchinson Peter Vaughan
Florrie Hutchinson Freda Dowie
Eddie Wells David Bradley Further Reading
Benny Barrett Malcolm McDowell Dessau, Bruce, “Tyneside Story,” Time Out (January 10–17,
Elaine Cox Tracey Wilkinson 1996)
Anthony Cox Daniel Casey Jeffries, Stuart, “Away the Lads,” The Guardian (March 12,
1996)
Paterson, Peter, “Peter was the Best of Friends,” Daily Mail
(March 12, 1996)
Writer Smith, Rupert, “Four Friends and 30 Stormy Years,” Radio
Peter Flannery Times (January 13, 1996)
Our Miss Brooks

The heart and soul of the successful 1950s sitcom Our Beginning on radio in 1948, Our Miss Brooks was
Miss Brooks was actor Eve Arden. A Hollywood film successfully transferred to television beginning in 1952
and New York stage veteran, Arden specialized in (it ran on both media, with largely the same cast, for
playing the wisecracking friend to the heroine. She of- several months in 1952). Between gentle wisecracks,
ten did it better than anyone else, achieving her great- Miss Brooks doted on nerdish student Walter Denton
est success with an Oscar nomination for Mildred and frequently locked horns with crusty, cranky princi-
Pierce (1945). However, Arden’s skill with the wicked pal Mr. Conklin. Many of the program’s episodes re-
one-liner and acid aside was beginning to lead to type- volved around Miss Brooks’s unrequited desire for
casting. To find a new image, she signed on for the ra- Philip Boynton, the school’s biology teacher. In this
dio comedy role of Connie Brooks, English teacher at way Miss Brooks was the beginning of a long list of fe-
fictional Madison High School, a smart and sharp- male TV characters of a certain type, like Sally Rogers
witted—but ever-likable—character. Unlike most of (Rose Marie) on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Jane
her film roles, radio offered her the lead. Hathaway (Nancy Kulp) on The Beverly Hillbillies.
1701
Our Miss Brooks
In 1955 ratings for the program were beginning to

wane, and the series was overhauled. Miss Brooks and
Mr. Conklin were moved out of Madison High to Mrs.
Nestor’s Private Elementary School. For a time, there
was no Mr. Boynton for whom Miss Brooks would pine,
but there was a muscle-bound teacher of physical edu-
cation, Mr. Talbot, who longed for Miss Brooks. This
was an important turn-about in the overall premise of
the show: now Miss Brooks was the pursued rather than
the pursuer. (Mr. Boynton did turn up again in early
1956, just as the series was about to be canceled; in a
film version of the series released by Warner Brothers in
1956, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton finally did tie the
knot and presumably lived happily ever after.)
Connie Brooks was one of TV’s noblest working
women; she was the center of a highly successful show,
toiling in a realistically portrayed and unglamorous ca-
reer (Miss Brooks often made mention of how low her
wages were), and rewarded and honored by real workers
whom she represented. While she was not quite as “no
nonsense,” nor as tough, as film’s prominent working
women (such as the characters played by Rosalind Rus-
sell and Joan Crawford), Connie Brooks, with her tart
tongue, brisk manner, sharply cut jackets, and slim
skirts, was just about as savvy as women were allowed
to be on TV in the 1950s. Despite Miss Brooks’s desire
Our Miss Brooks, Richard Crenna, Eve Arden, 1952–56.
to become “Mrs.” Something—and despite the fact that
she was never promoted to school principal—Our Miss
Brooks’s legacy in television history is that it dared to
depict a funny, attractive, wise, competent woman, be-
yond the realms of the home, marriage, and children.
Our Miss Brooks enjoyed good ratings on radio and
Cary O’Dell
enlarged its audience when it moved to TV. While
some professional educators criticized the series, oth-
ers celebrated Miss Brooks and Arden’s work: she re- Cast
ceived teaching job offers, and fan letters from Connie Brooks Eve Arden
educators; she was made an honorary member of the Osgood Conklin Gale Gordon
National Education Association; in 1952 she was Philip Boynton Robert Rockwell
given an award from the Alumni Association of the Walter Denton (1952–55) Richard Crenna
Teachers College of Connecticut for “humanizing the Mrs. Margaret Davis Jane Morgan
American Teacher.” Said Arden of her on-screen alter Harriet Conklin (1952–55) Gloria McMillan
ego: “I tried to play Miss Brooks as a loving person Stretch Snodgrass (1952–55) Leonard Smith
who cared about the kids and kept trying to keep them Miss Daisy Enright (1952–54) Mary Jane Croft
out of trouble, but kept getting herself in trouble.” Mrs. Martha Conklin (1952–53) Virginia Gordon
Obviously, Miss Brooks encountered enough trou- Mrs. Martha Conklin (1953–56) Paula Winslowe
ble to sustain the series for more than 150 episodes, Superintendent Stone (1953–55) Joseph Kearns
but unlike many other female comics on TV at that Angela (1954–56) Jesslyn Fax
time, Miss Brooks’s forte was not the wild antics of Ricky Velasco (1954–55) Ricky Vera
Lucy or the lopsided logic of Gracie Allen. Instead, Mr. Oliver Munsey (1955–56) Bob Sweeney
Miss Brooks’s humor was achieved by her own sharp, Mrs. Nestor (1955) Nana Bryant
observing wit and by her centered presence in the Mrs. Nestor (1955–56) Isabel Randolph
midst of a group of eccentric supporting players, in- Gene Talbot (1955–56) Gene Barry
cluding dimwitted, squeaky-voiced student Walter and Clint Albright (1955–56) William Ching
pompous Conklin. Miss Brooks was always the source Benny Romero (1955–56) Ricky Vera
of the jokes, not the butt of them. Mr. Romero (1956) Hy Averback
1702
Ovitz, Michael
Producer Further Reading

Larry Berns Arden, Eve, The Three Phases of Eve, New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1985
Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Harry and Walter’s
Programming History Favorite Shows: A Fact-Filled Opinionated Guide to the
154 episodes Best and Worst on TV, New York: Prentice Hall, 1989
CBS Mitz, Rick, The Great TV Sitcom Book, New York: Perigee,
October 1962–June 1953 Friday 9:30–10:00 1983
October 1953–June 1955 Friday 9:30–10:00
October 1955–September 1956 Friday 8:30–9:00
Ovitz, Michael (1946– )

As leader of the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) from Cliffhanger (1993), and Jurassic Park (1993), as well
1975 to 1995, Michael Ovitz succeeded in increasing as flops such as Legal Eagles (1986). Although studio
the importance of talent agents in the film and televi- executives complained that CAA was superseding
sion industries during a key period of technological their producing prerogatives and raising the price for
change and economic expansion in Hollywood. After a talent, the studios also benefited from CAA’s efficient
brief period as president of the Walt Disney Company packaging. In effect, CAA exploited the studios’ need
(1995–96), Ovitz has been involved in talent manage- for more product in the face of increasing demand due
ment, as well as television and film production. to the proliferation of multiplex theaters, home video
According to a fellow agent, Ovitz “redefined what recorders, and premium-movie cable services.
an agent was” while at CAA. Ovitz modeled CAA on CAA’s film packaging tactic simply mirrored com-
the legendary Music Corporation of America (MCA) mon agency practice in television. Since the 1950s, tal-
talent agency led by Jules Stein and Lew Wasserman. ent agencies have packaged program concepts, scripts,
Emphasizing teamwork, professionalism, and aggres- actors, and directors from their stables of clients and
siveness, Ovitz reshaped CAA from a small television shopped these packages around to networks for financ-
agency that packaged programs such as The Rich Little ing and production, in return for fees representing per-
Show and The Jackson Five Show, into a major film centages of the program’s production budget and
agency that corralled top stars, directors, and writers, syndication revenues. If the program is a hit, packag-
including Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra ing fees are far more lucrative for the agency than
Streisand, Michael Douglas, Steven Spielberg, Barry single-client commissions because the fees are paid for
Levinson, and Sydney Pollack, among others. During the life of the program, on and off network. For exam-
the early 1980s, Ovitz and his teams of agents courted ple, the William Morris Agency earned at least $50
contacts with access to new scripts, such as literary million for packaging The Cosby Show, a network and
agent Morton Janklow, whose clients included authors syndication hit.
Jackie Collins and Danielle Steele. These efforts re- Having successfully addressed the studios’ need for
sulted in successful television miniseries packaged by film and television projects, Ovitz began to focus on
CAA, including Rage of Angels, Princess Daisy, and Hollywood’s increasing need for capital investment as
Hollywood Wives. Having signed major screenwriters, well. Ovitz acted as broker between film studios and
such as Joe Eszterhaus, CAA then attracted and signed investors during several transactions that helped re-
top film talent with the promise that it would “pack- shape Hollywood’s ownership structure, including
age” script and talent into projects, shopping those Sony’s 1989 purchase of Columbia Pictures, the
projects around to studios for financing and produc- French bank Credit-Lyonnais’s rescue of MGM in
tion. This activist approach to securing work for 1993, Matsushita’s purchase of MCA/Universal in
clients resulted in films such as Rain Man (1988), 1990, and its sale to Seagram in 1995. Seeking to ap-
1703
Ovitz, Michael
ply his expertise to other fields, Ovitz also helped hit and in syndication generate the profits necessary to
shape Coca-Cola’s “Always Coca-Cola” advertising offset the failures. Unfortunately, all seven ATG pro-
campaign in the early 1990s and consulted with the grams that made it on to network schedules were can-
“Baby Bells” (telephone and telecommunications celed. In August 2001, despite having promised to
companies) on their unsuccessful video-on-demand produce The Ellen Show for CBS and Lost in the USA
service, Tele-TV. By the mid-1990s, Ovitz was being for the WB network, ATG closed its doors and sold off
hailed in the press as the “King of Hollywood” for his its assets, having succumbed to the 95 percent failure
precedent-breaking involvement in its reshaping. rate for new network programs. In 2002, after losing
In 1995 Ovitz rattled the power structure of Holly- the support of major investors, Ovitz also sold control
wood by accepting a position as president of the Walt of the talent management company, AMG.
Disney Company to work with his then-friend, CEO Ovitz’s efforts as a talent agent to leverage his
Michael Eisner. Having just acquired Capital clients’ star power into greater control over film and
Cities/ABC, Eisner announced that Ovitz would help television projects as well as larger shares of revenues
integrate the divisions of the rapidly growing enter- were successful from the late 1980s until the mid-
tainment conglomerate. After barely 14 months, how- 1990s. Ovitz and CAA were able to take advantage of
ever, Ovitz’s Disney presidency ended, and his Hollywood’s relatively decentralized production pro-
reputation as a power broker was severely undercut. cess, which—coupled with the rising demand for
Ovitz returned to the talent business in 1998 by blockbuster, star-driven film and television vehicles in
founding Artists Management Group (AMG), whose the 1980s and 1990s—allowed CAA’s agents to oper-
clients included Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, ate as “de facto producers” for a time. By the 2000s,
Martin Scorsese, Michael Crichton, and Tom Clancy. however, no single talent agency retained that kind of
Talent managers, unlike talent agents, are allowed to clout. Although Ovitz subsequently followed the typi-
own equity stakes in their clients’ productions in addi- cal career path of former agents, working as a studio
tion to earning 10 percent commissions on clients’ executive, talent manager, and film/television pro-
earnings. Managers are not allowed to procure work for ducer, his post-1995 efforts have been far less success-
clients, which is the agents’ job, but only advise them ful.
as to which work to accept. In keeping with his strategy Cynthia B. Meyers
at CAA to generate work for his clients, Ovitz also
See also American Broadcasting Company
started sister film and television production companies,
Artists Television Group (ATG) and Artists Production
Michael Ovitz. Born in Chicago, Illinois, December
Group (APG). The plan was to use the star power of the
14, 1946. Graduated from University of California,
management group to drive production projects in
Los Angeles, 1968; briefly attended law school. Mar-
which the stars (as well as Ovitz) would have owner-
ried Judy Reich, 1969; children: Christopher, Kim-
ship stakes despite having no distribution control.
berly, and Eric. Worked for William Morris Agency,
ATG surprised the television industry by selling
first as trainee, then as agent, 1969–75; cofounder of
four of its programs to four different networks for the
Creative Artists Agency, 1975–95; president of the
fall 2000 season: The $treet (FOX), Grosse Pointe
Walt Disney Company, 1995–96; cofounder of Artists
(WB), The Weber Show (NBC), and Madigan Men
Management Agency, 1998–2002, Artists Television
(ABC). Although most television programs are pro-
Group, 1999–2001, and Artists Production Group
duced by integrated film and television companies
1999–2001.
(such as Warner, FOX, and Disney) with deep pockets
to absorb losses caused by the high failure rate of net-
work programs, Ovitz decided to self-finance the inde- Further Reading
pendent ATG, and he signed numerous expensive pacts
with talent to facilitate their participation. However, Grover, Ronald, “Ovitz: How Many Fields Can the King of
Hollywood Conquer?” Business Week (August 9, 1993)
episode costs of $2 million each for the critical hit The Hirschberg, Lynn, “Michael Ovitz Is on the Line,” New York
$treet were not covered fully by network license fees Times Magazine (May 9, 1999)
(under the deficit financing system, networks pay 80 Singular, Stephen, Power to Burn: Michael Ovitz and the New
percent of production costs for the right to broadcast a Business of Show Business, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol
program twice). ATG soon ran up huge deficits, cush- Publishing Group, 1996
Slater, Robert, Ovitz: The Inside Story of Hollywood’s Most
ioned only by Ovitz’s personal investment of an esti- Controversial Power Broker, New York: McGraw Hill, 1997
mated $100 million. ATG produced 23 television pilots Zeman, Ned, “Michael Ovitz, Take Two,” Vanity Fair (April
in two years, in the hope that one would emerge as a 2001)
1704
Ownership
Ownership
U.S. Regulatory Policy
Private ownership of the airwaves is prohibited under paper, or a telephone service in the same market. Dur-
U.S. law. Unlike in many countries that have maining the 1960s, the Commission placed limits on own-
tained direct ownership of broadcasting frequencies by ership and restricted group licenses to a maximum of 5
the sovereign government, the U.S. Congress has as- VHF stations; later rules were relaxed to include 7 sta-
serted that ownership of the radio spectrum resides tions, then increased to 12 stations or 25 percent of the
with the people of the United States. Users are as- national audience. The FCC also promulgated the
signed portions of the spectrum through a licensing “duopoly rule” that limited a single owner to one AM,
mechanism. Control of radio licensing was first as- one FM and one TV license in a single local market.
signed to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor under When the Commission instituted this rule in 1964, the
the Radio Act of 1912. Subsequently communication U.S. television marketplace consisted only of 649 tele-
legislation transferred licensing authority first to the vision stations and a small number of cable systems,
Federal Radio Commission and finally its successor, which retransmitted the signals of over-the-air broad-
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in cast stations. Numerical limits were coupled with
1934. Today, although no person or entity can own part cross-ownership restrictions as a means of ensuring
of the radio spectrum, control of broadcast licenses is that the viewing public would be exposed to the widest
an issue of increasing concern both within the industry variety of viewpoints within the local community.
and among the general viewing public. Since its earliest days, the FCC has acted on the be-
The FCC licenses all non-governmental broadcast- lief that diversification of media ownership generally
ing stations in the United States. Broadcast licenses are served the public interest. Originally, numerical re-
assigned to specific locales or regions of the United strictions limiting ownership were developed to ensure
States, related to allocation tables that show coverage that no one entity gained control of too many broad-
areas and areas of potential interference. Applicants casting stations. Additionally, limiting the number of
must make a license application after determining stations that a broadcast entity could own effectively
whether a frequency is available for the desired com- limited the power of the three original networks (ABC,
munity. For many years, the Commission was obliged CBS, and NBC) to reach into the local community. In
to determine the character of the applicant, ascertain- 1975, the Commission adopted regulations prohibiting
ing qualifications such as citizenship, character, civic cross-media ownership between television stations and
involvement in the community of license, prior experi- co-located newspapers. Although the FCC permitted a
ence in broadcasting, and other related factors. During number of markets to continue with a co-owned
the 1990s, the FCC streamlined the licensing and re- newspaper-television station combination under a
newal process. Today, while the FCC still needs to de- grandfather clause, the Commission asserted a public
termine the suitability of the applicant, rules interest in enforcing a policy of diversification of me-
concerning licensing have been relaxed. When there dia ownership. Even though the number of commercial
are competing applications for the same frequency as- television stations doubled in the thirty year period be-
signment the Commission resolves the difficulty by tween 1966 and 1996, restrictive ownership policies
means of an auction process, as mandated in the remained a basic tenet of FCC policy.
Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 fundamen-
Historically, the FCC asserted a “scarcity theory” tally changed U.S. communications policy by abolish-
rationale for limiting the number of licenses that any ing the numerical restrictions on ownership, although
entity could own. For example, the FCC imposed na- it placed a maximum on national audience penetration
tional limits on television station ownership and proof 35 percent. Terms for licenses changed as well. Un-
mulgated various rules designed to limit media til 1981, broadcast licenses were granted for a period
companies from co-owning a television license and of three years. During the 1980s the FCC eased license
other media property such as a cable company, a news- restrictions somewhat, but the Act increased license
1705
Ownership
terms to 8 years. Additionally, section 202 of the Act from 35 percent to 45 percent and to relax cross-
required the Commission to execute a biennial review ownership restrictions for newspaper ownership in all
of rules and regulations with the presumption favoring but the smallest TV markets. The Commission also
the repeal or modification of unnecessary rules. lifted local ownership rules, allowing dual and triple
Growth of the industry, coupled with Congress’s leg- ownership of stations in medium and large-sized tele-
islative mandate in the 1996 Act to ease national owner- vision markets.
ship restrictions, have changed the media landscape in Following the Commission’s announcement, a
the United States, particularly in the area of radio own- firestorm of protests moved Congress to form a bipar-
ership and operation. As the new millennium began, the tisan coalition aimed at repealing the ownership caps.
use of the “scarcity” argument, originally offered by the In the autumn of 2003, a compromise raising the cap to
Commission as the rationale for licensing and limiting 39 percent was announced in the Senate. However, as
ownership, has come under increasing scrutiny, particu- the rules were set to be implemented, a federal appeals
larly as the growth of broadcast outlets, cable, and satel- court in Philadelphia suspended all the FCC-adopted
lite outlets spawned an unprecedented growth of new ownership changes. As this publication went to press,
video services during the late 1980s and 1990s. With it was unclear whether the courts would sustain the
the passage of the 1996 Act, the FCC eased some rules FCC rule changes.
and restrictions regarding local television ownership Proponents of relaxing ownership rules point to the
and local management agreement rules. The industry increasing competition from cable and the Internet as
petitioned the Commission to make sweeping reforms the reason changes are necessary, but the increasing
during the 1998 biennial review, but the FCC declined convergence of media properties has many media crit-
to make broad changes to the rules at that time. ics worried that the number of diverse voices in the lo-
In 2001, Chairman Michael Powell created the Me- cal marketplace is decreasing. Critics of the proposed
dia Ownership Working Group. The group undertook a rule changes have pointed to a sharp decrease in the
number of studies that focused on determining number of independent newspaper and television own-
whether various broadcast ownership rules needed to ers over the last quarter century. Some claim that re-
be changed or modified under section 202 of the 1996 laxation in ownership rules will allow large media
Act. Also, two significant cases, FOX TV Stations v. conglomerates to fortify their market power, although
FCC and Sinclair Broadcast Group v. FCC, left the television network owners say that changes are neces-
Commission with the task of either defending the cur- sary to sustain current standards of programming. Due
rent rules with substantive evidence or modifying to economies of scale and the convergence of new dig-
some or all of the various ownership rules. ital media, consolidation of television ownership may
During the later part of 2002 the Commission re- be inevitable.
leased 12 studies conducted by the Media Ownership Fritz Messere
Working Group on various aspects of the ownership
See also Federal Communications Commission;
rules. The various ownership rules under consideration
U.S. Policy: Telecommunications Act of 1996
included:
(1) newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership prohi-
Further Reading
bition
(2) local radio ownership Baer, Walter S., Concentration of Mass Media Ownership: As-
(3) national television ownership limits sessing the State of Current Knowledge, Santa Monica, Cal-
ifornia: Rand Corporation, 1974
(4) local TV multiple ownership rules Ho, David, “FCC Votes to Ease Media Ownership Rules,” Asso-
(5) radio/TV cross-ownership restrictions ciated Press (June 2, 2003)
(6) dual television network restrictions Kahn, Frank J., editor, Documents in American Broadcasting,
4th edition, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1984
Public comment was invited and the Commission Levin, Harvey J., “U.S. Broadcast Deregulation: A Case of Du-
set early 2003 as the time for reply. During this period bious Evidence,” Journal of Communication 36/1 (Winter
various outside groups, reflecting both industry and 1986)
consumer viewpoints, filed a voluminous number of Sterling, Christopher H., and John Michael Kittross, Stay
Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting, 3rd edition,
comments regarding the status of the FCC rules. In Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002
June, voting along partisan lines, Powell and two other Walker, James R., and Douglas Ferguson, The Broadcast Televi-
Commissioners voted to increase the ownership cap sion Industry, Boston: Allen and Bacon, 1998
1706
P
Paar, Jack (1918–2004)
U.S. Talk Show Host
Jack Paar was one of television’s most intriguing and regulars, including Edith Adams, Richard Hayes, Jack
enigmatic talk show hosts. He served as the host of Haskell, and pianist Jose Melis. In August 1954 he
The Tonight Show from 1957 through 1962 and headed took over the Morning Show from Walter Cronkite and
his own NBC variety series from 1962 to 1965. Both became a competitor of Dave Garroway and the Today
series were stamped with Paar’s volatile and unpre- show. During this morning experience, Paar developed
dictable personality and were often a haven for witty, his conversational skills and an appreciation for a re-
literate conversation. laxed program with no rigid guidelines. When CBS
Although Paar is considered one of the key talents again changed formats, Paar was given another variety
uniquely suited to the cool medium of television, he series, this time in the afternoon.
worked extensively in other areas of show business. Because of several well-received guest appearances
Leaving school at 16, he first worked as a radio an- on NBC’s Tonight, Paar ascended to the permanent
nouncer and later as a humorous disc jockey. During host slot on July 29, 1957. For several months before,
World War II Paar entertained troops in the South Pa- the late-night series had floundered when original host
cific with his wry impersonations of officers, some- Steve Allen moved permanently to prime time. Paar
times in concert with his army colleague Jackie Cooper. was given free rein to restore the show’s luster and as-
After the war, he returned to radio, serving as a fill-in sembled his own freewheeling staff, including writers
for Don MacNeill on the Breakfast Club and as a pan- Jack Douglas and Paul Keyes, to give the show an ex-
elist on The $64 Question. In 1947 he was the summer temporaneous quality. The new creative team empha-
replacement for Jack Benny, a comedian whose man- sized the importance of the opening monologue as a
nerisms Paar would later emulate. Paar was signed to a vehicle to transmit Paar’s singular, often emotional
contract at Howard Hughes’s RKO pictures and had his view of the world. Unlike any other host of The
first significant role in Walk Softly, Stranger (1950) Tonight Show, Paar had no talent for sketches, so his
with Joseph Cotten. In 1951 he made Love Nest for writers created a persona through his words, always
Twentieth Century Fox, playing the sexy boyfriend op- leaving space for the host to improvise verbally.
posite an emerging starlet, Marilyn Monroe. Called a “bull in his own china shop,” Paar gained
Paar was first employed in television as a host of notoriety by creating feuds with others in the show
game shows, notably Up to Paar (1952) and Bank of business community, including Ed Sullivan, Walter
Stars (1953). In November 1953 he hosted his own Winchell, William Paley, and most television critics.
daytime variety series for CBS and assembled a cast of To salve his often bruised ego, he surrounded himself
1707
Paar, Jack
$1 million lawsuit against Kennedy and Paar, which

was eventually thrown out of court. Paar was also the
first entertainer to originate a program from the Berlin
Wall, which he did less than a month after its construc-
tion at the height of cold war tension.
Paar became the most successful presence in late
night, expanding his affiliate base from the 46 stations
with which he started out to 170. In 1957 his talk
show’s title was changed to The Jack Paar Tonight
Show, and the next season the show was taped early in
the evening instead of being broadcast live. Beginning
in July 1959, Paar broadcast only four nights a week;
Friday night became “The Best of Paar,” inaugurating
a tradition of Tonight Show reruns. At the height of his
fame, he objected to NBC censoring a joke about a wa-
ter closet (a British euphemism for a bathroom). In-
censed, he walked out at the beginning of the
following evening’s show, leaving announcer Hugh
Downs to finish the program. His walk-off and subse-
quent disappearance dominated news for five weeks
until he returned after an extended stay in Hong Kong.
Paar’s roller-coaster ride on The Tonight Show con-
tinued until March 30, 1962, when he retired from late
night, having hosted more than 2,000 hours. In Septem-
ber 1962 Paar returned to the variety format and pro-
Jack Paar. duced a weekly Friday night series, borrowing the most
Photo courtesy of Jack Paar
successful elements of his talk show. Each telecast was
ignited by a monologue, and the core of each program
was an in-depth conversation with some of Holly-
with a salon of eccentrics whose ranks included pianist wood’s most voluble personalities, including Judy Gar-
and professional hypochondriac Oscar Levant, the out- land, Tallulah Bankhead, Richard Burton, and Jonathan
spoken Elsa Maxwell, the irreverent Alexander King, Winters. Paar also spiced the series with home movies
and British raconteurs Robert Morley, Bea Lillie, and of his family trips, with his wife, Miriam, and daughter,
Peter Ustinov. He resurrected the careers of performers Randy, also becoming celebrities.
on the entertainment fringe, inviting back on a regular Paar continued to make headlines with newsworthy
basis the folksy Cliff “Charley Weaver” Arquette, segments. He ventured into Gabon, Africa, to inter-
music-hall veteran Hermione Gingold, French view Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
chanteuse Genevieve, and acerbic Hans Conreid. More Richard Nixon made his first public appearance after
in keeping with The Tonight Show ethos, Paar also nur- his defeat in the gubernatorial race in California and
tured young comic talent, and among his discoveries entertained Paar’s audience with a piano solo. Paar
were Bob Newhart, the Smothers Brothers, Dick Gre- also presented the first footage of the Beatles in prime
gory, Godfrey Cambridge, and Bill Cosby. time, a performance he openly derided as the downfall
Paar also moved the talk show out of the controlled of British civilization.
studio and began to intermingle politics and entertain- Paar retired from the network grind in 1965 to man-
ment. He and author Jim Bishop journeyed to Cuba age a television station in Maine. In March 1973 he was
and prepared a special report, “The Background of the persuaded to return to late night to compete against the
Revolution.” Paar’s unexplained embrace of Castro inheritor of The Tonight Show mantle, Johnny Carson.
was vehemently questioned by Batista supporters and This time he was reduced to one week every month, as
even the U.S. House of Representatives. Paar also be- part of ABC’s Wide World of Entertainment. The format
came friendly with the Kennedys and invited Robert that he had fostered had changed considerably, and
Kennedy, then serving as chief counsel of the Senate Paar retired five months later, this time for good. In
Labor-Management Relations Committee, to discuss 1997 Paar was the subject of an American Masters pro-
his investigation of organized crime in the unions. The file on public television, a program that achieved record
head of the Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa, responded with a audience numbers for the series.
1708
Paik, Nam June
Paar was an integral part of a new generation of Television Specials

television personalities. Unlike an older generation 1960 Jack Paar Presents
trained in vaudeville and Broadway, Paar and such 1967 A Funny Thing Happened on the
1950s contemporaries as Garry Moore, Arthur God- Way to Hollywood
frey, and Dave Garroway had no specific show- 1967 Jack Paar and a Funny Thing Happened
business talents. They could not act, sing, or dance. Everywhere
They were products of an intimate electronic technol- 1969 Jack Paar and His Lions
ogy that allowed for a personalized connection with 1970 Jack Paar Diary
the audience. As a talk show and variety host, Paar cre- 1986 Jack Paar Comes Home
ated a complex, unpredictable character, whose whims 1987 Jack Paar Is Alive and Well
and tantrums created national tremors.
Ron Simon
Films
See also Talk Shows; Tonight Show Variety Time, 1948; Easy Living, 1949; Walk Softly,
Stranger, 1950; Love Nest, 1951; Footlight Vari-
Jack Paar. Born in Canton, Ohio, May 1, 1918. Mar- eties, 1951; Down among the Sheltering Palms,
ried: 1) Irene, late 1930s; 2) Miriam Wagner, 1943; 1952.
child: Randy. Served as a noncombatant soldier in the
U.S. Army with the 28th Special Service Company
during World War II. Actor in motion pictures, Publications
1948–52; appeared in radio and television shows, in-
cluding The $64 Question, Up to Paar, and CBS Morn- I Kid You Not, with John Reddy, 1960
ing Show, 1947–57; star of NBC’s The Tonight Show, My Saber Is Bent, with John Reddy, 1961
1957–62, and of various other programs. Died in Three on a Toothbrush, 1965
Greenwich, Connecticut, January 27, 2004. P.S. Jack Paar, 1983

1952 Up to Paar Further Reading
1953 Bank on the Stars Galanoy, Terry, Tonight!, Garden City, New York: Doubleday,
1953–54 The Jack Paar Show 1972
1957–62 The Tonight Show (renamed The Jack Henderson, Amy, On the Air: Pioneers of American Broad-
casting, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press,
Paar Tonight Show, 1959) 1988
1962–65 The Jack Paar Program Metz, Robert, The Tonight Show, New York: Playboy Press,
1973 ABC’s Wide World of Entertainment 1980
Paik, Nam June (1932– )

U.S. Video Artist
Nam June Paik—composer, performer, and video and composition. When his family moved, first to
artist—played a pivotal role in introducing artists and Hong Kong and then to Japan, he continued his studies
audiences to the possibilities of using video for artistic in music while completing a degree in aesthetics at the
expression. His works explore the ways in which per- University of Tokyo. After graduating, Paik went to
formance, music, video images, and the sculptural form Germany to pursue graduate work in philosophy.
of objects can be used in various combinations to ques- There he became part of the Fluxus group of artists,
tion our accepted notions of the nature of television. who were challenging established notions of what con-
Growing up in Korea, Nam June Paik studied piano stituted art. Their work often found expression in per-
1709
Paik, Nam June
lation of the sync pulse to alter the image. Magnet TV

used a large magnet that could be moved on the out-
side of the television set to change the image and cre-
ate abstract patterns of light. Paik began to incorporate
television sets into a series of robots. The early robots
were constructed largely of bits and pieces of wire and
metal; later ones were built from vintage radio and
television sets refitted with updated electronic compo-
nents.
Some of Paik’s video installations involve a single
monitor, others use a series of monitors. In TV Buddha
a statue of Buddha sits facing its own image on a
closed-circuit television screen. For TV Clock 24 mon-
itors are lined up. The image on each is compressed
into a single line with the lines on succeeding monitors
rotated to suggest the hands of a clock representing
each hour of the day. In Positive Egg the video camera
is aimed at a white egg on a black cloth. In a series of
larger and larger monitors, the image is magnified until
the actual egg becomes an abstract shape on the
screen.
In 1964 Paik moved to New York City and began a
collaboration with classical cellist Charlotte Moorman
to produce works combining video with performance.
In TV Bra for Living Sculpture, small video monitors
became part of the cellist’s costume. With TV Cello
television sets were stacked to suggest the shape of the
cello. As Moorman drew the bow across the television
sets, images of her playing, video collages of other cel-
lists, and live images of the performance area com-
Nam June Paik with “Piano Piece,” 1993. bined.
Courtesy of the Holly Solomon Gallery When the first consumer-grade portable video cam-
eras and recorders went on sale in New York in 1965,
Paik purchased one. Held up in a traffic jam created by
formances and happenings that incorporated random Pope Paul VI’s motorcade, Paik recorded the parade
events and found objects. and later that evening showed it to friends at Café a
In 1959 Paik performed his composition Hommage Go-Go. With this development in technology, it was
a John Cage. This performance combined a prere- possible for the artist to create personal and experi-
corded collage of music and sounds with “onstage” mental video programs.
sounds created by people, a live hen, a motorcycle, and Paik was invited to participate in several experi-
various objects. Random events marked this and other mental workshops, including one at WGBH in Boston
Paik compositions. Instruments were often altered or and another at WNET in New York City. The Medium
even destroyed during the performance. Most perfor- Is the Medium, his first work broadcast by WGBH,
mances were as much a visual as a musical experience. was a video collage that raised questions about who is
As broadcast television programming invaded the in control of the viewing experience. At one point in a
culture, Paik began to experiment with ways to alter voice-over, Paik instructed the viewers to follow his
the video image. In 1963 he included his first video directions, to close or open their eyes, and finally to
sculptures in an exhibition, Exposition of Music— turn off the set. At WGBH Paik and electronics engi-
Electronic Television. Twelve television sets were scat- neer Shuya Abe built the first model of Paik’s video
tered throughout the exhibit space. The electronic synthesizer, which produced nonrepresentational im-
components of these sets were modified to create un- ages. Paik used the synthesizer to accompany a rock-
expected effects in the images being received. Other and-roll sound track in Video Commune and to
video sculptures followed. Distorted TV used manipu- illustrate Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. At
1710
Paik, Nam June
WNET Paik completed a series of short segments, The New York, 1960s; artist-in-residence, WGBH-TV,
Selling of New York, which juxtaposed the marketing 1969; artist-in-residence, WNET-TV, New York, 1971;
of New York and the reality of life in the city. Global has worked closely with Japanese artist Shigeko Kub-
Groove, produced with John Godfrey, opened with an ota and other collaborators.
explanation that it was a “glimpse of a video land-
scape of tomorrow when you will be able to switch to Television Projects (selected)
any TV station on the earth and TV guides will be as 1970 Video Commune
fat as the Manhattan telephone book.” What followed 1972 The Selling of New York
was a rapid shift from rock-and-roll dance sequences 1974 Tribute to John Cage
to Allen Ginsberg, to Charlotte Moorman with the TV
cello, to an oriental dancer, to John Cage, to a Navaho
drummer, to a Living Theatre performance. Through- Publications
out, the video image was manipulated by layering im- “Expanded Education for the Paperless Society,” In-
ages, reducing dancers to a white line outlining their terfunktionen (1971), reprinted in Flash Art
form against a wash of brilliant color, creating evolv- (May/June 1972)
ing abstract forms. Rapid edits of words and move- An Anthology of Nam June Paik (exhibition catalog),
ments, and seemingly random shifts in the 1984
backgrounds against which the dancers performed,
created a dreamlike sense of time and space.
Paik continues to innovate. In 2000 the Guggenheim Further Reading
Museum in New York mounted an important retro- Atkins, Robert, “Two Years On,” Horizon (April 1987)
spective of his work, entitled “The Worlds of Nam Baker, Kenneth, “Currents,” Art News (February 1985)
June Paik.” In addition to displaying notable pieces Carr, C., “Beam Me Up, Nam June,” The Village Voice (October
from other decades in Paik’s career and numerous 14, 1986)
videos of his collaborations with other artists, the ex- Denison, D.C., “Video Art’s Guru,” New York Times (April 25,
1982)
hibit featured two new installations: 3-D laser light Gardner, Paul, “Tuning in to Nam June Paik: After Twenty
sculptures (described as “postvideo” art on the exhibi- Years of Tinkering with TV Sets, Paik Is at His Peak,” ART-
tion’s website) surrounded by 100 upturned television news (May 1982)
monitors showing a variety of images and emitting Hanhardt, John G., The Worlds of Nam June Paik, New York:
musical excerpts, as well as by video projections on Guggenheim Museum, 2000
Hanhardt, John G, editor, Nam June Paik, New York: Norton,
the walls of the museum. 1982
Nam June Paik pioneered the development of elec- Hoberman, J., “Paik’s Peak,” Village Voice (May 25, 1982)
tronic techniques to transform the video image from a Hughes, Robert, “Electronic Finger Painting: A Flickering Ret-
literal representation of objects and events into an ex- rospective for Nam June Paik at the Whitney,” Time (May
pression of the artist’s view of those objects and 17, 1982)
Nam June Paik: Mostly Video (exhibition catalog), Tokyo: n.p.,
events. In doing so, he challenges our accepted notion 1984
of the reality of televised events. His work questions Robinson, Walter, “Nam June Paik at Holly Solomon,” Art in
time and memory, the nature of music and art, even the America (June 1987)
essence of our sensory experiences. Most significantly, Serwer, Jacquelyn D., “Nam June Paik: Technology,” American
perhaps, that work questions our experience, our un- Art (Spring 1994)
Silver, Kenneth E., “Nam June Paik: Video’s Body,” Art in
derstanding, and our definitions of “television.” America (November 1993)
Lucy A. Liggett Sloane, Patricia, “Patricia Sloane Discusses the Work of Nam
June Paik,” Art and Artists (March 1972)
See also Experimental Video Smith, Roberta, “Out of the Wasteland: An Avant-Gardist’s Ob-
session with Television,” Newsweek (October 13, 1986)
Nam June Paik. Born in Seoul, Korea, July 20, 1932. Solomon, Holly, “Nam June Paik,” ARTnews (December 1986)
Educated at the University of Tokyo, 1952–56; studied Spotnitz, Frank, “The Future Belongs to Video,” American Film
music with Stockhousen at Darmstadt; studied art his- (January/February 1989)
Stoos, Toni, and Thomas Kellein, editors, Nam June Paik: Video
tory and philosophy in Germany, 1956–58. Worked as Time, Video Space, New York: Abrams, 1993
video artist in electronic music studio for Radio Tomkins, Calvin, “Profiles: Video Visionary,” The New Yorker
Cologne, 1958–61; associated with the Fluxus group, (May 5, 1975)
1711
Paley, William S.
Paley, William S. (1901–1990)

William S. Paley developed the CBS radio and televi- Laboratories’ Peter C. Goldmark developed a mechan-
sion networks and ran them for more than a half cen- ical system of color television that was briefly
tury. “A 20th-century visionary with the ambitions of a (1950–53) the nation’s first standard, before being
19th-century robber baron,” as the New York Times de- pushed aside by a superior all-electronic RCA system.
scribed him, Paley took over a tiny failing network By then, CBS had traded a quarter of its stock to buy
with only 16 affiliate stations and developed it into a Hytron, a TV receiver manufacturer later sold for a
world-class communications empire. Delegating man- huge loss. More successfully, Goldmark also pio-
agement details to others, he had a seemingly unfailing neered the long-playing (LP) record, introduced in
sense of popular taste and a resultant flair for program- 1948, which revolutionized the recording industry and
ming. made CBS Records (sold in 1987 to Sony for $2 bil-
Radio’s commercial potential came to fascinate Pa- lion) the leading record company in the United States
ley early on. Using funds from his father’s cigar com- for both classical and popular records.
pany shares, Paley purchased working control of the As he stayed beyond CBS’s compulsory (for others)
struggling CBS network in September 1928. He was retirement age of 65, Paley sought to delay his in-
just turning 27. A year later, family purchase of addi- evitable passing of control to others. Paley worked
tional shares gave him majority control. through several short-lived potential heirs in the late
Paley’s insights helped to define commercial net- 1970s; he stepped down as chief executive officer in
work operations. At the start of his CBS stewardship, 1977 but retained the powerful chairmanship. Finally
he transformed the network’s financial relationship he hired Pillsbury’s Thomas H. Wyman to become
with its affiliates so that the latter agreed to carry sus- president in 1980. Wyman succeeded Paley as the net-
taining programs free, receiving network payments work’s second chair in 1983. Concerned with some of
only for commercially supported programs. Paley en- Wyman’s decisions in the aftermath of an unsuccessful
joyed socializing and negotiating with broadcast stars. attempt by Ted Turner to acquire CBS in 1985, Paley
In the late 1940s, his “talent raids” hired top radio stars allied himself with Laurence Tisch (who was by then
(chiefly away from NBC) by offering huge prices for holding the largest single block of company shares) to
rights to their programs and giving them, in return, lu- oust Wyman and install Tisch as chief executive officer
crative capital gains tax options. The talent pool thus in 1986. Paley returned as a figurehead chair until his
developed helped to boost CBS radio ratings just as death in late 1990.
network television was beginning. At the same time, Paley is important for having assembled the brilliant
he encouraged development of CBS News before and team that built and expanded the CBS “Tiffany Net-
during World War II, as it developed a stable of jour- work” image over several decades. For many years he
nalistic stars soon headed by Edward R. Murrow. had an innate programming touch, which helped keep
During World War II he served as deputy chief of the network on top in annual ratings wars. He blew hot
the psychological warfare branch of General Dwight and cold on network news, helping to found and de-
Eisenhower’s staff. Paley became chair of the CBS velop it, but willing to cast much of that work aside to
board in 1946, turning the network’s presidency over avoid controversy or to increase profits. Like many
to Frank Stanton, who held the post until his own re- founders, however, he stayed too long and unwittingly
tirement in 1973. The television network first showed helped weaken his company.
a profit in 1953, and from 1955 through 1976, CBS Paley was very active in New York art and social
television consistently led in prime-time network rat- circles throughout his life. He was a key figure in the
ings. Network profits helped expand CBS into many Museum of Modern Art from its founding in 1929. He
other lines of entertainment and education—including prompted construction of the Eero Saarinen–designed
the Broadway musical My Fair Lady in 1956—as Pa- “Black Rock” headquarters into which the network
ley acquired other businesses. moved in 1965. His was the primary donation that
There were technical opportunities as well. CBS helped to create in 1976 what is now the Museum of
1712
Paley, William S.
1946–83, founder and chair, 1983–86, acting chair,

1986–87, chair and director, 1987–90; partner, Whit-
com Investment Company, 1982–90; founder, and
member of board of directors, Genetics Institute,
1980–90; Thinking Machines Corp., 1983–90; cochair,
International Herald Tribune, 1983–90; president and
director, William S. Paley Foundation, Greenpark
Foundation, Inc. Trustee: Museum of Modern Art,
1937–90, president, 1968–72, chair, 1972–85, chair
emeritus, 1985–90, life trustee; trustee, Columbia Uni-
versity, 1950–73, trustee emeritus, 1973–90; North
Shore University Hospital, 1949–57, cochair, board of
trustees, 1954–73; life trustee, Federation Jewish Phi-
lanthropies of New York. Member: board of directors,
W. Averill Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of
Soviet Union, Columbia University; Commission for
White House Conference on Education, 1954–56;
chair, President’s Materials for Policy Commission,
which produced “Resources for Freedom,” 1951–52;
executive committee, Resources for the Future,
1952–69, chair, 1966–69, honorary member, board of
directors, 1969–90; chair, New York City Task Force
on Urban Design, which prepared “The Threatened
City” report, 1967; Urban Design Council City, New
York, 1968–71; founding member, Bedford-Stuyvesant
D and S Corp., director, 1967–72; Commission on Crit-
William S. Paley, Founder of CBS, photo dated 04/15/50. ical Choices for America, 1973–77, Commission for
Courtesy of the Everett Collection/CSU Archives Cultural Affairs, New York City, 1975–78; founder and
chair of the board, Museum of Broadcasting, from
1976; Council on Foreign Relations; Academy of Polit-
ical Sciences; National Institute for Social Sciences;
Royal Society of the Arts (fellow). Honorary degrees:
Television and Radio in New York City. The middle
LL.D.: Adelphi University, 1957, Bates College, 1963,
“S” in his name stood for nothing—Paley added it in
University of Pennsylvania, 1968, Columbia Univer-
his early business years. He had no formal middle
sity, 1975, Brown University, 1975, Pratt Institute,
name.
1977, Dartmouth College, 1979; L.H.D.: Ithaca Col-
Christopher H. Sterling
lege, 1978, University of Southern California, 1985,
See also Columbia Broadcasting System; Murrow, Rutgers University, 1986; Long Island University,
Edward R.; Stanton, Frank Southampton, 1987. Military honors: Decorated Le-
gion of Merit; Medal for Merit; officer, Legion of
William S. Paley. Born in Chicago, Illinois, September Honor, France; Croix de Guerre with Palm, France;
28, 1901. Graduated from Western Military Academy, commander, Order of Merit, Italy; associate comman-
Alton, Illinois, 1918; studied at the University of der, Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Recipient: Gold
Chicago, 1918–19; University of Pennsylvania, B.S. Achievement Medal, Poor Richard Club; Keynote
1922. Married: 1) Dorothy Hart Hearst, 1932 (di- Award, National Association of Broadcasters; George
vorced, 1947); one son and one daughter; 2) Barbara Foster Peabody Awards, 1958 and 1961; Broadcast Pio-
Cushing Mortimer, 1948 (died, 1978); one son, one neers, special award; Concert Artists Guild Award,
daughter, one stepson, and one stepdaughter. Served as 1965; Skowhegan Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Award;
colonel, U.S. Army, World War II; deputy chief, psy- National Planning Association, Gold Medal; David
chological warfare division, Supreme Headquarters, Sarnoff Award, University of Arizona, 1979; Society of
Allied Powers (Europe); deputy chief, information Family of Man Gold Medallion, 1982; Joseph Wharton
control division, USGCC. Vice president, Congress Award, Wharton School Club, New York, 1983; TV
Cigar Company, Philadelphia, 1922–28; president, Guide Life Achievement Award, 1984; Center for
CBS, Inc., New York City, 1928–46, chair of the board, Communications Award, 1985; co-recipient, Walter
1713
Paley, William S.
Cronkite Award, Arizona State University, 1984; City Further Reading

of New York Medallion of Honor; First Amendment Halberstam, David, The Powers That Be, New York: Knopf,
Freedoms Award, Anti-Defamation League, B’nai 1979
B’rith; Robert Eunson Distinguished Service Award, Metz, Robert, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, Chicago:
Association of Press Broadcasters; named to Junior Playboy Press, 1975
Achievement National Business Hall of Fame, 1984. Paper, Lewis J., Empire: William S. Paley and the Making of
CBS, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987
Died in New York City, October 26, 1990. Slater, Robert, This . . . Is CBS: A Chronicle of 60 Years, Engle-
wood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1988
Publication Smith, Sally Bedell, In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Pa-
ley, the Legendary Tycoon and His Brilliant Circle, New
As It Happened: A Memoir, 1979 York: Simon and Schuster, 1990
Palin, Michael (1943– )

British Comedian, Actor
Michael Palin is best known for his performances as a from 1969 to 1974, and took on a life of its own,
member of the six-man British comedy troupe Monty spawning five films, a series of stage shows, and nu-
Python. Although it is surely the case that some of merous books, records, and videos.
Palin’s most memorable work was with Monty Python, Some of Palin’s most memorable performances on
both in the group’s TV series, Monty Python’s Flying Monty Python’s Flying Circus include a man who be-
Circus, and in its films and live performances, the ver- lieves he is qualified to be a lion tamer because he al-
satile comedian-actor also has done much notable tele- ready has the hat; Arthur Pewtie, who suspects his wife
vision work on his own, including Ripping Yarns and is being unfaithful and goes for marriage counseling,
Around the World in 80 Days. only to watch the counselor make love to his wife; a
Palin’s comedy career began at Oxford University, lumberjack who, in his spare time, “puts on women’s
where he wrote and performed comedic revues with clothing and hangs around in bars” (and sings about it,
classmate and future Python Terry Jones. After gradu- backed by a chorus of Mounties); a cheese-shop owner
ating with a history degree in 1965, Palin moved to whose shop is “completely uncontaminated by
London, where his first TV job was as host of Now!, a cheese.”
teenage pop music show broadcast by the now-defunct With a kindly face and gentle demeanor, Palin is fre-
Television West Wales. In his spare time, he continued quently cast as a sweet, unassuming man (such as the
to write with Jones, who was working for the BBC. cheated-upon Arthur Pewtie, or the stuttering animal-
The team wrote scripts for The Ken Dodd Show, The lover Ken in the film A Fish Called Wanda). But he is
Billy Cotton Bandshow, and other BBC shows. equally good in more outrageous characters (like the
Palin and Jones first worked with fellow Pythons transvestite lumberjack, or, in another Python sketch, a
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Eric Idle in 1966, high court judge who removes his robe, revealing that
writing for The Frost Report. Palin also worked with he’s wearing only ladies’ underwear beneath).
various future Pythons on Do Not Adjust Your Set After the TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus
(1968–69) and The Complete and Utter History of ended, Palin continued to perform with the group in
Britain (1969), a Jones and Palin production. films, stage shows, and a series of Secret Policeman’s
In 1969 Palin, Jones, Chapman, Cleese, Idle, and Balls, benefit concerts for Amnesty International that
Terry Gilliam (the group’s lone American) created featured several comedians and musicians. Palin also
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, after rejecting other hosted four episodes of NBC’s Saturday Night Live
possible titles such as “Owl Stretching Time,” “Vase- from 1978 to 1984.
line Parade,” and “Bunn, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble, In 1976 the BBC began airing one of Palin’s most
and Boot.” The show ran on the BBC for 45 episodes, memorable efforts, Ripping Yarns. Conceived, written,
1714
Palin, Michael
(1999) recorded his encounters in the places Ernest

Hemingway described in his writings, from Spain to
Africa to Cuba. Palin also appeared in a variety of
roles in a 2001 series written and hosted by fellow
Python Cleese, The Human Face, an entertaining ex-
ploration of beauty and human expression.
Julie Prince
See also Cleese, John; Monty Python’s Flying Cir-
cus
Michael (Edward) Palin. Born in Sheffield, York-

shire, England, May 5, 1943. Educated at Birkdale
School, Sheffield; Brasenose College, Oxford, B.A. in
modern history. Married: Helen M. Gibbins, 1966;
children: Rachel, Thomas, and William. Performed in
plays and revues while at Oxford and formed writing
partnership with Terry Jones; subsequently wrote for
such television shows as The Frost Report; became
member of the Monty Python comedy team, 1969;
later wrote and starred in television series Ripping
Yarns; host of acclaimed travel documentaries; direc-
tor, Meridian Television. President, Transport 2000.
Recipient: British Academy of Film and Television
Arts Award for Best Supporting Actor, 1988; Travel
Writer of the Year Award, British Book Awards, 1993.
Television Series
1966–67 The Frost Report (writer only)
Pole To Pole, Michael Palin, 1992. 1966–67 The Late Show (writer only)
Courtesy of the Everett Collection 1967 A Series of Bird’s (writer only)
1967 Twice a Fortnight
1968–69 Do Not Adjust Your Set
and performed with Jones, Ripping Yarns consisted of 1969 The Complete and Utter History of
two series, one of six shows and one of three shows. Britain
Each show had its own plot, and the plots were not in- 1969–74 Monty Python’s Flying Circus (also
terrelated; the stories were based on English tales of co-writer)
the early 20th century. 1975 Three Men in a Boat
For the next several years, Palin appeared mostly in 1976–80 Ripping Yarns (also writer)
films. He returned to television in 1989’s Around the 1983 Secrets
World in 80 Days, a six-hour documentary of his at- 1989 Around the World in 80 Days
tempt to re-create Phileas Fogg’s fictional journey, re- 1991 GBH (performer only)
tracing Fogg’s route using only transportation that 1992 Palin’s Column
would have been available in Fogg’s day. Followed by 1993 Pole to Pole
a five-man BBC crew, Palin traveled on trains, hot-air 1993 Tracey Ullman: A Class Act
balloons, dogsleds, and garbage barges through 1997 Full Circle with Michael Palin
Greece, Africa, India, Asia, the United States, and back 1999 Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure
to England. 2001 The Human Face (performer only)
Palin has since starred in a number of similar travel-
ogues. In Pole to Pole (1993), he and a BBC crew trav-
eled from the North Pole to the South Pole, through Television Specials
Finland, Russia, and Africa. Full Circle with Michael 1980 Great Railway Journeys of the World
Palin (1997) took Palin around the Pacific rim, 1986 East of Ipswich (writer)
whereas Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure 1987 Number 27 (writer)
1715
Palin, Michael
1995 Three Men in a Boat (actor) Publications (selected)

1995 Wind in the Willows (voice)
Monty Python’s Big Red Book, with others, 1970
Monty Python’s Brand New Book, with others, 1973
Films Ripping Yarns, 1978
And Now for Something Completely Different (also More Ripping Yarns, 1980
co-writer), 1970; Monty Python and the Holy Small Harry and the Toothache Pills, 1982
Grail (also co-writer), 1975; Jabberwocky, 1976; The Missionary, 1983
Pleasure at Her Majesty’s (U.S. title, Monty Dr. Fegg’s Encyclopedia of All World Knowledge,
Python Meets beyond the Fringe), 1976; Monty 1984
Python’s Life of Brian (also co-writer), 1979; The Limericks, 1985
Secret Policeman’s Ball, 1979; Time Bandits (also Cyril and the Dinner Party, 1986
co-writer), 1980; The Secret Policeman’s Other Cyril and the House of Commons, 1986
Ball, 1982; Confessions of a Trainspotter, 1981; The Mirrorstone, 1986
The Missionary (also co-writer and coproducer), Around the World in 80 Days, 1989
1982; Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, Pole to Pole, 1992
1982; Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (also Pole to Pole: The Photographs, 1994
co-writer), 1983; A Private Function, 1984; The The Weekend, 1994
Secret Policeman’s Private Parts, 1984; Brazil, Hemingway’s Chair (novel), 1995
1985; The Dress, 1986; Troubles, 1987; A Fish Full Circle, 1997
Called Wanda, 1988; American Friends (also co-
writer), 1991; The Secret Policeman’s Biggest
Ball, 1991; Splitting Heirs, 1993; Fierce Crea- Further Reading
tures, 1997. Hewison, Robert, Monty Python: The Case against Irreverence,
Scurrility, Profanity, Vilification, and Licentious Abuse, New
York: Grove, 1981
Stage Johnson, Kim, The First 20 Years of Monty Python, New York:
St. Martin’s Press, 1989
Hang Down Your Head and Die; Aladdin; Monty Johnson, Kim, Life (before and) after Monty Python: The Solo
Python’s First Farewell Tour; Monty Python Live Flights of the Flying Circus, New York: St. Martin’s Press,
at Drury Lane; Monty Python Live at City Cen- 1993
ter; The Secret Policeman’s Ball; The Weekend, McCall, Douglas L., Monty Python: A Chronological Listing of
1994. the Troupe’s Creative Output, and Articles and Reviews
about Them, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1991
Palmer, Geoffrey (1927– )

British Actor
Geoffrey Palmer is one of British television’s most re- mercials (notably for Audi cars). After serving his ap-
liable supporting actors, appearing in several of the prenticeship as an actor in the theater, Palmer emerged
most popular situation comedies of the last 20 years or as an accomplished performer in television situation
so, and on occasion taking the lead role himself. comedy through his casting as the absentminded ec-
With his bloodhound features and lugubrious voice centric Jimmy, brother-in-law to Leonard Rossiter’s
and manner, Palmer is instantly familiar in whatever Perrin in The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin. For-
role he plays. Not only is his face at once recognizable ever apologizing for turning up at the Perrin household
from the situation comedies in which he has appeared, in search of a meal after yet another “cock-up on the
but his voice is doubly well known from his frequent catering front,” Palmer’s Jimmy was manifestly ap-
employment as a voice-over artist for television com- pealing, although divorced from reality and patheti-
1716
Palmer, Geoffrey
largely to Palmer’s performance as Truscott, this seem-

ingly unpromising scenario fared reasonably well,
with the dotty major proving surprisingly lovable in
his futile attempts to muster a competent force, despite
his reactionary views and rabidly bigoted attitude to-
ward those of differing political opinions.
His subsequent series, Executive Stress and As Time
Goes By, both saw Palmer back in more familiar sit-
com territory, playing belligerently adorable partners
in support of strong female stars—in the first instance,
Penelope Keith (in the role of her husband, Donald
Fairchild) and in the latter case, Judi Dench (in the role
of her old flame, Lionel Hardcastle). Executive Stress
proved a mixed success, although Palmer gave good
value as always, but As Time Goes By settled in well as
the plot traced the reunion of the two erstwhile lovers.
Palmer played a returned colonial planning to write his
memoirs, to be typed up by Dench’s secretarial agency.
This led to the gradual rebirth of their romance, culmi-
nating in their marriage in the 1995 series.
Palmer has occasionally ventured out of the sitcom
territory with which he is usually associated. Notable
examples of experiments in other fields of comedy
have included guest appearances in such acclaimed
shows as Fawlty Towers and Blackadder Goes Forth,
in which he played Field Marshall Haig.
David Pickering
See also Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, The
As Time Goes By, Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer. Born in London, June 4, 1927. At-
1992–2002. tended Highgate School, London. Married: Sally
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Green, 1963; children: Charles and Harriet. Began ca-
reer as unpaid trainee assistant stage manager, Q The-
atre, London; subsequently became popular star of
situation comedies; has also appeared on stage, in
cally woebegone. These qualities were clearly ideal for
films, and on the radio.
situation comedy, and soon after the end of the Perrin
series, Palmer was back on the screen on a regular ba-
sis playing Wendy Craig’s other half in Carla Lane’s Television Series
hit series Butterflies. As manic-depressive dentist Ben 1976–79 The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Parkinson, Palmer provided extremely sturdy support 1978–82 Butterflies
to Craig herself, alternately bewildered at his wife’s 1984–86 Fairly Secret Army
outbursts and endearingly patient and clumsy in his ef- 1986 Executive Stress
forts to understand her frustrations—although he could 1986–88 Hot Metal
also be stubborn, tactless, and impervious to sugges- 1992– As Time Goes By
tion when he chose.
Palmer returned to the dottiness of Jimmy in the
Made-for-Television Movie
Perrin series when he went on to play the comically
1991 A Question of Attribution
unhinged Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott,
the central character in Fairly Secret Army. Convinced
that the country was on the brink of chaos due to the Films
machinations of the political left, Truscott was com- O Lucky Man!, 1973; The Riddle of the Sands, 1978;
mitted to forming his own army to counter the revolu- The Outsider, 1979; The Honorary Consul, 1983; A
tion that he feared was just around the corner. Thanks Zed and Two Noughts, 1985; Clockwise, 1985; A
1717
Palmer, Geoffrey
Fish Called Wanda, 1988; Christabel, 1989; The Stage (selected)

Madness of King George, 1994; Mrs. Brown, 1997; Difference of Opinion; West of Sussex, 1971; Private
Tomorrow Never Dies, 1998; Anna and the King, Lives, 1973; Eden End, 1974; Saint Joan, 1977;
1999; Rat, 2001. Tishoo, 1979; Kafka’s Dick, 1986; Piano, 1990.
Panorama
British Public-Affairs Program
The longest-running current affairs program anywhere ducer suggested that planting a tin of spaghetti in
in the world, Panorama has long been among the most tomato sauce might do the trick.
influential of all British political commentaries. The The late 1950s and early 1960s are sometimes
first program was broadcast in 1953, but the format looked upon as the “golden era” for the program, but
was quite different then, with a magazine-style ap- this view belittles Panorama’s continuing achieve-
proach. The original presenter was newspaper journal- ment, which has kept it at the forefront of investigative
ist Patrick Murphy, although he was soon replaced by programs despite the burgeoning of often very compe-
Max Robertson. Alongside them were roving inter- tent rival programs on other networks. It remains the
viewer Malcolm Muggeridge, art critic Denis Math- case that the headlines on the morning after the pro-
ews, book reviewer Nancy Spain, and theater critic gram often reflect what has been discussed on
Lionel Hale, who all made their varied contributions to Panorama the night before, and prominent politicians
the fortnightly program. freely admit that appearances on the program have
Everything changed in 1955, when the program was played a key role in furthering or hindering their ca-
relaunched under the slogan “window on the world.” reers and even in deciding the results of both local and
With the new look came a new anchorman, Richard national elections over the years. In view of the influ-
Dimbleby, who over the next few years did much to es- ence wielded by the program, any political bias that has
tablish Panorama’s reputation for determined investi- been perceived in its editorial approach has led to furi-
gation into important political and social matters on ous rows in Parliament, and to repeated affirmations by
behalf of the viewing public. Politicians were suddenly the BBC that this, perhaps still their best-known current
obliged to take the program seriously, and senior mem- affairs program, will remain resolutely nonaffiliated.
bers of the government soon learned that their standing Among the most notable of Richard Dimbleby’s
in the polls could very easily depend on their perfor- successors in the chair of Panorama have been his son
mance on this show, the BBC’s current affairs flagship. David Dimbleby; Robin Day, who set a new standard
In 1961 Panorama achieved a notable first when in the hostile interviewing of such reluctant political
Prince Philip agreed to be interviewed by Dimbleby, guests as Alastair Burnet; Charles Wheeler; and Robert
thus becoming the first member of the royal family to Kee.
make such a television appearance. Dimbleby was im- The removal of the program to a Sunday-night slot
peccably courteous but nonetheless extracted from the in the 1990s was opposed by many who feared for the
royal guest the sort of things the viewing public show’s future, but it remains a significant feature in the
wanted to hear. schedule.
The show has had its lighter moments, however. David Pickering
Perhaps the most memorable of these was the April
See also Dimbleby, Richard; Royalty and Royals
Fool hoax perpetrated by Richard Dimbleby when he
on Television
delivered a straight-faced report on the state of the
Swiss spaghetti harvest, delivered while walking be-
tween trees festooned with strings of spaghetti. Many Presenters (selected)
viewers were taken in and rang the program to ask how Patrick Murphy
they may obtain their own spaghetti plants; the pro- Max Robinson
1718
Park, Nick
Richard Dimbleby Leonard Parkin

Nancy Spain Robin Day
Denis Matthews David Dimbleby
Lionel Hale Robert Kee
Christopher Chataway Charles Wheeler
John Freeman
Michael Barratt
Programming History
Michael Charlton
BBC1
Trevor Philpott
1953–
Park, Nick (1958– )

British Animator, Animation Director
The name of Nick Park is synonymous with that of as a source of funding and creative experiment in a
Aardman Animations, the Bristol-based company country bereft of a subsidized film industry.
founded in the early 1970s by Peter Lord and David Park began making puppet animations in his par-
Sproxton that has been responsible for a highly suc- ents’ attic at the age of 13, using the family’s Bell and
cessful series of 3-D stop-frame animation shorts Howell 8 mm camera. He was persuaded to show his
made for British television. The most celebrated of work at school, and in 1975 his entry in the European
these shorts have been the three films featuring the ad- Young Filmmaker of the Year Competition, Archie’s
ventures of Wallace, a nondescript northerner with a Concrete Nightmare, was shown on BBC Television.
flair for ramshackle invention, and his perspicacious He completed a B.A. in Communication Arts at the
but put-upon dog, Gromit. The first, A Grand Day Out, Sheffield Arts School before going on to study anima-
started out as Park’s graduation project at the National tion at the NFTS. His work shows the signs of his early
Film and Television School (NFTS), where he studied fascination with science fiction and monster films and
animation from 1980 to 1983, and was finally com- the special effects of Ray Harryhausen, as well as his
pleted in 1989. The Wrong Trousers was screened on later admiration for the imaginative animated puppetry
BBC 2 at Christmas 1993: the highest-rated program of Ladislaw Starewicz, Jiri Trnka, and Jan Svankmajer.
over the two-day holiday period, it went on to become However, it is the influence of a childhood filled with
one of BBC Worldwide’s most valuable properties Heath Robinson inventions (his parents once fash-
both for video sales and merchandising. It also brought ioned a caravan from a box and set of wheels, fitting it
Park his second Academy Award for Best Animated out with makeshift furniture and decoration) that
Short, the first having been picked up for another seems to permeate the world of Wallace and Gromit, a
Aardman film, Creature Comforts, in 1991. The third world of handmade objects, idiosyncratic domestic de-
in the Wallace and Gromit trilogy, A Close Shave, also tails, and, above all, enterprising mechanical contrap-
won an Oscar in 1996. tions.
Park’s work with Aardman Animations is a popular Park’s stop-frame animation of plasticine models
manifestation of the wider, if less frequently reported, has developed into a distinctive and highly sophisti-
success enjoyed by British animation since the 1980s, cated technique and is often perceived as the Aardman
much of which has been nurtured by Channel 4 and its house style, although the company has used a number
commissioning editor for animation. Aardman’s highly of other processes—in the Peter Gabriel “Sledgeham-
successful work on commercials—particularly the mer” pop promo, for example, on which Park collabo-
captivating “Heat Electric” campaign, a stylistic and rated with several independent animators, including
thematic development of Creature Comforts—has also the Brothers Quay. The method grew out of Aardman’s
allowed the company to spread its wings, a reminder work in the 1970s on sequences for BBC Children’s
of the importance of this area of television production Television featuring Morph, a plasticine character ca-
1719
Park, Nick
pable of metamorphosing into a multitude of shapes. based on a long-held idea of Park’s himself: The Great
Park’s first job with the company was on the Morph Escape, enacted with chickens.
production line. By this time, Aardman had also made Jeremy Ridgman
two series, Animated Conversations for the BBC and
Lip Synch for Channel 4, in which plasticine characters Nick Park. Born in Preston, Lancashire, England,
were animated to a sound track built from “fly-on-the- 1958. Educated at the Sheffield Polytechnic, Faculty of
wall” recordings of real conversations and interviews. Art and Design, B.A. 1980; National Film and Televi-
This became the basis of Park’s award-winning Crea- sion School, Beaconsfield, 1980–83. Animator since
ture Comforts, in which a range of vox-pop interviews the age of 13; has worked at Aardman Animation,
about people’s living conditions provide the speech for Bristol, since 1985; projects include Peter Gabriel’s
animals commenting on their life behind bars in a zoo. “Sledgehammer” video, 1986; numerous commercials
It was here that the subtle psychological and sociolog- for Access credit cards and Duracell batteries; creator
ical characterization and carefully observed facial and of claymation stars Wallace and Gromit. Recipient:
gestural expressiveness that are the features of Wallace three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards. Com-
and Gromit were developed. For all their farcical play- mander of the Order of the British Empire, 1997.
fulness, these narratives are shot through with stinging
moments of poignancy, as the animated figures mo- Made-for-Television Movies (selected)
mentarily betray the pain, longing, and regret behind a 1989 War Story (animator)
life of repressed British ordinariness. 1989 A Grand Day Out (animator/director)
Although particularly televisual in its domestic inti- 1989 Creature Comforts (animator/director)
macy and attention to psychological detail, Park’s 1993 The Wrong Trousers (animator/director)
work has also brought a sophisticated level of film lit- 1996 A Close Shave (animator/director)
eracy into the process of animation. With their larger 1996 Wallace and Gromit: The Best of Aardman
budgets, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave are Animation (animator/director)
not only technically more accomplished than A Grand
Day Out but also are more cinematic in their use of Film
lighting, framing, and camera movement. Both later Chicken Run, 2000.
pieces are also full of film allusion and pastiche, with
references to a number of popular genres and stock se-
Further Reading
quences, as well as specific British and American
movies. It was no surprise, therefore, when Park and Adair, Gilbert, “That’s My Toon,” Sunday Times (June 19,
his collaborators were offered the opportunity to try 1994)
Macdonald, Kevin, “A Lot Can Happen in a Second” (inter-
their hand at feature filmmaking. The result was the view), in Projections 5, edited by John Boorman and Walter
farmyard comedy Chicken Run, released in 2000 and Donohue, London: Faber, 1996
Thompson, Ben, “Real Lives” (interview), Independent on Sun-
day (March 10, 1992)
Parker, Everett C. (1913– )

U.S. Media Activist
Everett C. Parker played a leading role in the develop- one of the leading mainline Protestant religious
ment of public interest of American television. He groups. He is better known, however, for two other
served as director of the Office of Communication of contributions: his leadership in the development of an
the United Church of Christ from 1954 until 1983. In influential media reform and citizen action movement
that position, he was at the forefront of Protestant com- in broadcasting; and his activism directed at improved
munications, overseeing the public media activities of broadcast employment prospects for women and mi-
1720
Parker, Everett C.
norities. Near the end of his career, he was named one Based on this new right to participate in license pro-
of the most influential men in broadcasting by the ceedings, Parker’s office began to work with other re-
trade publication Broadcasting Magazine. form and citizens’ groups to monitor broadcast
Parker had an early career in radio production. After performance on a number of issues, including employ-
a year at NBC in New York, he founded and became ment discrimination and fairness. In 1967 the office’s
head of an interdenominational Protestant Church petition to the FCC dealing with employment issues
broadcasting organization, the Joint Religious Radio led to the commission’s adoption of Equal Employ-
Committee (JRRC). The JRRC was formed to serve as ment Opportunity (EEO) rules for broadcasting. In
a counterbalance to the dominance of the Federal 1968 it participated as a “friend of the court” in the
Council of Churches in public-service religious broad- landmark Red Lion case, which confirmed and ex-
casting. Besides its impact on programming, the JRRC panded the Fairness Doctrine.
also addressed the impact of media on society and Parker and the office continued to play a central role
public-interest issues in broadcasting. The JRRC was in the developing media reform movement throughout
an early vocal supporter of reserved FM frequency as- the 1970s and 1980s, in cooperation with organiza-
signments for educational use, for example. tions such as Citizens’ Communication Center, the
While a lecturer in communication at Yale Divinity Media Access Project, the National Citizens’ Commit-
School, from 1949 until 1954, he headed the Communi- tee for Broadcasting, Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen or-
cation Research Project, the first major study of reli- ganization, and a variety of other religious and civic
gious broadcasting. This project resulted in the groups. The attention of this movement broadened in
definitive work on religious broadcasting for nearly two subsequent years to include cable television and
decades, The Television-Radio Audience and Religion, telecommunications and telephone policy. These orga-
coauthored by Parker, David Barry, and Dallas Smythe. nizations became active in the developing change in
In 1954 he founded the Office of Communication of regulation and eventual breakup of AT&T during the
the United Church of Christ, the first such agency to period from 1978 to 1984.
combine press, broadcasting, film, research, and edu- In his later years, Parker devoted more attention to
cational functions in one unit. The office pioneered issues of employment in broadcasting and the commu-
programs to improve the communication skills of min- nication industries. In 1974 he established Telecommu-
isters, to improve the communication activities of local nications Career Recruitment, a program for the
churches, and to use television for education. It also recruitment and training of minority broadcasters, with
participated in the production of some landmark tele- the cooperation and support of the Westinghouse Broad-
vision programs, including Six American Families, a casting and Capital Cities Broadcasting companies.
nationally syndicated documentary series produced in Upon his retirement in 1983, Broadcasting Magazine
collaboration with Westinghouse Broadcasting Com- somewhat grudgingly hailed him as “the founder of the
pany and the United Methodist Church. citizen movement in broadcasting” who spent “some
The work of Parker and the office took an important two decades irritating and worrying the broadcast estab-
turn in the 1960s, as the civil rights movement was lishment.” He went on to found the Donald McGannon
gaining momentum. After reviewing the civil rights Communication Research Center at Fordham Univer-
performance of television stations in the South, the of- sity, where he teaches graduate courses in Communica-
fice identified WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, as a tion Policies and Practices, Critical Issues in Electronic
frequent target of public complaints and Federal Com- Communication, and Public-Service Communication.
munication Commission (FCC) reprimands regarding Stewart M. Hoover and George C. Conklin
its public service. In 1963 the office filed a “petition to
See also Religion and Television
deny renewal” with the FCC, initiating a process that
had far-reaching consequences in U.S. broadcasting.
The FCC’s initial response to the petition was to rule Everett C(arlton) Parker. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jan-
that neither the United Church of Christ (UCC) nor lo- uary 17, 1913. Educated at University of Chicago, A.B.
cal citizens had legal standing to participate in its re- 1935; Chicago Theological Seminary, B.D. magna cum
newal proceedings. The UCC appealed, and in 1966 laude 1943, Blatchford Fellow, 1944–45, D.D. 1964;
Federal Appeals Court Judge Warren Burger granted Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina, D.D. 1958.
such standing to the UCC and to citizens in general. Married: Geneva M. Jones, 1939; children: Ruth A., Eu-
After a hearing, the FCC renewed WLBT’s license, re- nice L., and Truman E. Began career as assistant public-
sulting in another appeal by the UCC. Burger declared service and war program manager, NBC, 1943–45;
the FCC’s record “beyond repair” and revoked lecturer in communication, Yale Divinity School,
WLBT’s license in 1969. 1945–57; founder and director, Protestant Radio Commu-
1721
Parker, Everett C.
nications, 1945–50; founder and director, Office of Com- Publications

munication, United Churches of Christ, 1954–1983;
Religious Radio: What to Do and How, 1948
editor-at-large, Channels of Communication Magazine,
Film Use in Church, 1953
1983–84; professor, Fordham University, from 1983;
The Television-Radio Audience and Religion, with
founder, Foundation for Minority Interests in Media,
David W. Barry and Dallas W. Smythe, 1955
1985. Honorary degrees: L.H.D., Fordham University,
Religious Television: What to Do and How, 1961
1978; L.H.D., Tougaloo College, 1978. Recipient: Alfred
Television, Radio, Film for Churchmen, 1969
I. Dupont-Columbia University Award; Human Relations
“Old Time Religion on TV—Blessing or Bane?” Tele-
Award, American Jewish Committee, 1966; Faith and
vision Quarterly, Fall 1980
Freedom Award, Religious Heritage Broadcasting, 1969;
“Social Responsibility of Television in the United
Roman Catholic Broadcasters Gabriel Award for public
States,” with Eli Noam and Alfred Schnieder,
service, 1970; Lincoln University Award for significant
1994
contributions to human relations, 1971; Racial Justice
Award, Committee for Racial Justice, United Christian
Church, 1973; Public Service Award, Black Citizens for a
Further Reading
Fair Media, 1979; Pioneer Award, World Associate for
Christian Communications, 1988. Austin, Charles, “After 30 Years, This Media Watchdog Still
Vigilant,” New York Times (August 28, 1983)
Brown, Les, Keeping Your Eye on Television, New York: Pil-
Television (producer) grim Press, 1979
1956 Off to Adventure Ellens, J. Harold, Models of Religious Broadcasting, Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1974
1965 Tangled World Jennings, Ralph, “Policies and Practices of Selected National
1977 Six American Families (series) Religious Bodies as Related to Broadcasting in the Public
Interest,” Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1969
Soukup Paul, Christian Communication: A Bibliographic Sur-
Films vey, New York: Greenwood, 1989
The Pumpkin Coach, 1960; The Procession, 1961; To- “U.C.C.’s Parker to Step Down,” Broadcasting (March 14,
morrow?, 1962. 1983)
Parkinson
U.K. Talk Show
The benchmark for British chat shows on television cepted as something more than cheap television time
since its inception in 1971, Parkinson—under the no- fillers on a Sunday afternoon. Parkinson reunited vet-
nonsense, gruff Yorkshire control of host Michael eran gangster pals James Cagney and Pat O’Brien,
Parkinson (born 1932)—successfully embraced almost showcased a laid-back singing set from Fred Astaire,
every legendary colossus from Hollywood’s Golden chatted with awe with a typically ebullient Orson
Age. Michael Parkinson’s laudable obsession with the Welles, and sat back openmouthed as Bing Crosby, on
richness of 1930s and 1940s glamour gave these un- his final trip to Europe, reflected on years in the lime-
forgettable encounters an affectionate and endearing light, and more. Only Frank Sinatra seemed to elude
aura of wide-eyed fan meeting unattainable hero. this one-stop London chat shop for visiting American
Indeed, unlike his contemporaries and later entertainment gurus.
wannabe successors to the throne, Parkinson’s original Parkinson also had—and has—a fondness and fa-
run of high-profile chat encounters relied not on the miliarity with comedians, both established and upcom-
subject attempting to remorselessly plug his or her lat- ing. Most famously, he was the first to champion and
est book, film, or marriage, but rather on a relaxed ca- promote Billy Connolly south of the Scottish border,
reer overview in the guest’s autumn years. It was the with Connolly delighting the presenter and eventually
1970s, when vintage films were gradually being ac- becoming the most oft-repeated and warmly greeted
1722
Parkinson
guest. Reunions are always good television, and for charmingly reticent Woody Allen, the beguiling Victo-
admirers of anarchic British comedy none was more ria Wood, and the omnipotent Sir Paul McCartney
welcome than the special “Parkinson Meets the gracing the program, itself an almost sainted and
Goons” edition, so popular that the BBC released the revered part of the British national consciousness.
sound track as a record. Manic architect of the Goon- Cocky rocker Robbie Williams summed it up when,
ish movement, Spike Milligan, was ill in Australia and with gleeful amazement, he turned to the camera, ad-
joined the show via television link, while Harry Sec- dressed his watching mother, and exclaimed, “Look,
ombe and Peter Sellers joined Parkinson in the studio. I’m on Parky!”
Parkinson also delighted in the unpredictable insanity Comedy was still crucial to the mix. Paul Merton
of Tommy Cooper and the flamboyant camp of Ken- (lately of Have I Got News for You) was the first guest
neth Williams, who was once beautifully partnered by on the brand-new programs, while Connolly made a
his friend Maggie Smith in a solemn and moving po- clutch of appearances with his world-weary and ener-
etry reading. getic observations on life very much intact. The guest
It was often Parkinson’s love of incongruous gath- mixtures were as effective as ever, with old alternative
erings of interviewees that made even the most aver- comedian chums Ben Elton (plugging his latest novel)
age or uninspiring guest list literally come alive with and Robbie Coltrane (fresh from creating the role of
tension, admiration, or a mixture of both. The very Hagrid for the Harry Potter series) sharing the stage
first program presented the tennis ace Arthur Ashe on with Hollywood hard-hitter Samuel L. Jackson.
the same bill as comedian Terry-Thomas. Later in the However, the overshadowing demons of Parkin-
run, Peter Cook, with his almost estranged cohort son’s own reluctance to continue were unintentionally
Dudley Moore, sat back and waited for the comic in- but pointedly embraced with one particular edition of
roads as British boxer John Conti explained the need the show. Football (soccer) legend George Best and
for sexual abstinence before a big fight. Beloved extravagant pop musician Sir Elton John were juxta-
British comedians Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise posed with new-millennium football hero David Beck-
were pitted alongside a stunningly attractive, lowcut- ham and his Spice Girl wife, Victoria. The contrast and
gown-wearing Raquel Welch, who, initially straight- unspoken contradiction was typically electric.
faced, described the time when her famous In the long interim between the show’s runs, the re-
“equipment” (her shapely figure) arrived. Violin virtu- placements and pretenders to the Parkinson chat
oso Stefan Grappelli, from the jazz school, and throne (from Terry Wogan to Jonathan Ross) all
Yehudi Menuhin, from the classical school, delivered seemed to be bigger personalities than the guests they
a mesmerizing rendition of “Honeysuckle Rose.” were trying to hype. In contrast, Parkinson did not try
However, in 1987 Parkinson the show and Parkin- to justify his name as the star attraction of the program;
son the man were ousted from British television. Vari- he was more than happy to sit back and be entertained
ous suggestions—ranging from a lackluster attitude on with familiar or unfamiliar anecdotes from the worlds
the part of the BBC to Parkinson’s own disinterested of film, music, and sports.
reactions to the so-called stars who joined him in the Still, as an elder statesman with his hands still very
same studios that once hosted the now-departed Holly- much on the steering wheel, Parkinson has passed be-
wood royalty he adored—could not fully explain why yond criticism into that reassuringly and untouchable
the program was pulled from the air. ITV tried to res- bracket of national treasure. Even the brilliant lam-
urrect the format, first with Parkinson One-to-One and pooning of Parkinson on Alistair McGowan’s Big Im-
then with Parky in the late 1980s. pression, which superbly highlights Parkinson’s often
Then, in a climate of chat show slump and “person- brusque, unrelenting, and incoherent interviewing
ality” overload, a glut of classic Parkinson-hosted style, cannot damage him. It may well be that ar-
compilation repeats proved ratings winners. Therefore, guably his greatest interview, with Muhammad Ali on
after a successful and ongoing Sunday Supplement October 17, 1971, will remain the chat benchmark, as
program for BBC Radio 2 (which allowed Parkinson Parkinson bristled and shone opposite the erudite
to play his favorite music and, once a show, interview fighter, who with menace sweetened with tenderness
a famous guest), the BBC television show was resur- muttered, “You can’t beat me mentally nor physi-
rected for a new generation. Parkinson’s hair may have cally!” Parkinson, for all his faults and foibles, re-
become grayer, his suits slightly more trendy, and the mains the best of the bunch for one simple reason—he
format a bit more commercially minded, but very little lets his guests talk.
else had changed in the decade-long hiatus. Whole Robert Ross
programs were now devoted to the great and the good
of show business, with the elusive John Cleese, the See also Parkinson, Michael; Talk Show
1723
Parkinson
Programming History September 22, 2001–December 1, 2001

BBC 1 Christmas Eve special, 2001
First broadcast June 19, 1971 February 23, 2002–May 18, 2002
Over 350 shows until 1982 September 21, 2002–November 30, 2002
Currently airs Saturday 10:30–11:30 P.M. Christmas Eve special, 2002
First new series: February 22, 2003–May 3, 2003
January 9–March 13, 1998 September 20, 2003–November 22, 2003
January 8–April 2, 1999
June 27–September 17, 1999
December 3, 1999 (Sir Paul McCartney Special) Further Reading
January 21–April 7, 2000 Parkinson: Selected Interviews from the Television Series, Lon-
September 8–November 12, 2000 don: Elm Tree Books/Hamish Hamilton, 1975
February 17–April 21, 2001
Parkinson, Michael (1935– )

British Television Personality, Host
Michael Parkinson was the most successful of the ana Rigg, Shirley MacLaine, the muppet Miss Piggy,
British chat show hosts who proliferated in the 1970s Dame Edith Evans, the inimitable raconteur Peter Usti-
and earned a lasting reputation as a viewers’ favorite. nov, comedian Billy Connolly, and boxer Mohammad
He subsequently exploited his role in a variety of other Ali, who responded magnificently to the geniality and
television series. flattery that the devoted Parkinson lavished on him.
A Yorkshireman to the core, Michael Parkinson If Parkinson took a personal dislike to a guest, he
started out as a newspaper journalist but later moved to tried not to let it show (though viewers were quick to
Granada Television, where he worked on current af- detect any animosity). Among those he later confessed
fairs programs, and then to the BBC, where he joined to finding most difficult were comedian Kenneth
the 24 Hours team and also indulged his enduring love Williams, who appeared a total of eight times on the
of sport, producing sports documentaries for London show and was quick to use Parkinson as a verbal
Weekend Television. punching bag, and Rod Hull’s Emu, the ventriloquist-
Priding himself on his Yorkshireman’s “gift of the dummy bird who wrestled an unusually disheveled
gab,” he made his debut as a chat show host with his Parkinson to the floor to the delight of the audience
own Parkinson show in 1971. Broadcast every Satur- and the barely concealed fury of the host himself.
day night for the next 11 years, the show became an in- After the long run of Parkinson came to an end in the
stitution and set the standard for all other television early 1980s, after 361 shows and 1,050 guests, Parkin-
chat show hosts to meet. Relaxed, well groomed, and son worked for a time as a chat show host on Australian
attentive to his guests’ feelings, Parkinson nonetheless television, then busied himself with helping to set up
proved adept at getting the best out of the celebrities the troubled TV-AM organization in the United King-
who were persuaded to come on the show, without dom in 1983. After the collapse of TV-AM, he returned
causing offense. The questions he asked were often in- to the roles of sportswriter, radio presenter, and host of
nocuous and served as invitations to the guest to as- a range of popular television shows, ranging from
sume the central role. The best interviews were with quizzes to the antiques program Going for a Song. In
those who had a tale to tell and the confidence to tell it 1998 he revised his role as host of Parkinson, attracting
without much prodding from the host; Parkinson was return visits by many of the guests he had last inter-
sensible enough not to interrupt unless it was absolutely viewed in the 1970s and 1980s. The show continues to
necessary. At the top of the list of dynamic guests air Saturday nights at 10:30 on BBC 1.
Parkinson interviewed were Dr. Jacob Bronowski, Di- David Pickering
1724
Parliament, Coverage by Television
Michael Parkinson. Born in Cudworth, Yorkshire, 1993 Surprise Party

England, March 28, 1935. Attended Barnsley Gram- 1995–99 Going for a Song
mar School. Married: Mary Heneghan; children: An- 1998– Parkinson
drew, Nicholas, and Michael. Began career as
newspaper journalist, local papers and The Guardian,
The Daily Express, and The Sunday Times; reporter Television Specials
and producer, Granada Television; executive producer 1981 The Boys of ’66
and presenter, London Weekend Television, 1968; 1985 The Skag Kids
leading chat show host, from the 1970s; presented 1992 Ghostwatch
sporting documentaries among other programs; chat 1995 A League Apart: 100 Years of Rugby
show host, Channel 10, Australia, 1979–84; director, League
Pavilion Books, 1980–97; cofounder, TV-AM, 1983;
presenter, LBC Radio, 1990; revived popular Parkin- Radio
son chat show, 1998. Recipient: Sports Feature Writer Start the Week; Desert Island Discs, 1986–888;
of the Year, 1995; Sony Radio Award, 1998; Sports Parkinson on Sport, 1994–97; Parkinson’s Sunday
Writer of the Year, 1998; Media Personality of the Supplement, 1996– .
Year, Variety Club, 1998; Most Popular Talk Show,
National TV Award, 1998, 1999; Best Light Entertain-
ment, BAFTA, 1999; Media Society Award, 2000. Fel- Publications
low, British Film Institute, 1998. Commander of the
Football Daft, 1968
British Empire, 2000.
Cricket Mad, 1969
A to Z of Soccer, with Willis Hall, 1970
Television Series A Pictorial History of Westerns, with Clyde Jeavons,
1969–71 Cinema 1972
1971 Tea Break Sporting Fever, 1974
1971 Where in the World Football Classified, with Willis Hall, 1974
1971 The Movie Quiz Best: An Intimate Biography, 1975
1971–82 Parkinson Bats in the Pavilion, 1977
1979–84 Parkinson in Australia The Woofits’ Day Out, 1980
1983–84 Good Morning Britain Parkinson’s Lore, 1981
1984–91 Give Us a Clue The Best of Parkinson, 1982
1984–86 All Star Secrets Sporting Lives, 1996
1987–88 Parkinson One to One Sporting Profiles, 1996
1991–92 The Help Squad Michael Parkinson on Golf, 1999

At present almost 60 sovereign states provide some ment and its distinctness from the executive; a lack of
television coverage of parliamentary bodies. Among public knowledge of citizenship; and the desire to form
them are countries as diverse in political organization channels of communication between the public and
as Australia, Germany, and Japan, Hungary, Bulgaria, politicians that can avoid the mediation of media own-
and Russia, China, Denmark, and Egypt. With varying ers and professionals.
allocations of control of the coverage between media In 1944 the British War Cabinet argued that “pro-
entities and chamber officials, countries provide this ceedings in Parliament were too technical to be under-
form of televised information to citizens in response to stood by the ordinary listener who would be liable to
three related perceptions on the part of governmental get a quite false impression of the business trans-
institutions: a lack of public familiarity with Parlia- acted.” It favored professional journalists as expert
1725
first years of the system saw considerable public disaf-

fection because Members of Parliament (MPs) tended
toward dormancy, absence, novel-reading, and jargon
on-camera. Over time, MPs came to attend at the same
time as producers, viewer familiarity with procedural
norms grew, and ratings increased on occasions of mo-
ment. In France, it was two years after President Pom-
pidou resignedly intoned that “Whether one likes it or
not, television is regarded as the Voice of France” that
a clutch of broadcasting reforms required certain sta-
tions to cover the National Assembly. It is no surprise,
similarly, that during the extraordinary events in
Czechoslovakia at the end of 1989, the opposition
Civic Forum made the televising of Parliament one of
its principal demands.
Sometimes such moves have amounted to a defen-
Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Photo courtesy of C-SPAN sive reaction, at others to a positive innovation. The
European Parliament was directly elected from 1979.
It has used TV coverage for the past decade in search
of attention and legitimacy. Recordings and live mate-
mediators between public and politics. Winston rial are available to broadcasters without cost, to en-
Churchill regarded television as “a red conspiracy” courage a stronger image for the new Europe.
because it had a robotic component that combined un- Second-order coverage of the Parliament had always
differentiated mass access with machinelike reproduc- been minimal, due to lack of media interest, but it in-
tion. But debates over televising proceedings in creased markedly with live TV material. The rules on
Britain were common from 1965, with 12 separate coverage are more liberal than elsewhere, even en-
parliamentary proposals discussed between 1985 and couraging reaction shots and film of the public gallery.
1988. Arguments for TV rested on the medium’s ca- When Ian Paisley, a Northern Ireland member, pushed
pacity both to involve the public in making politicians in front of Margaret Thatcher to display a poster in
accountable and to involve politicians in making the 1986, and interrupted the pope’s speech in 1988, his
public interested. Arguments against coverage cen- demonstration was broadcast and made available on
tered on the intrusiveness of broadcasting equipment, tape. One thinks here of the chariots that go into the In-
the trivialization through editing of the circumstance dian countryside with video recordings of political ral-
and pomp integral to British politics, the undue atten- lies and speeches to be shown on screens to five
tion to the major parties and to adversarial division thousand at a sitting. Direct TV politics can be a spe-
that TV would encourage, and the concern that estab- cial event. Uganda adopted color television to coincide
lished procedures and conduct would change to suit with a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity,
television. Channel 4 screened a program called Their and the first live broadcast of the Soviet Union’s new
Lordships’ House from 1985. The Lower House re- Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989 attracted a
jected a proposal for coverage that year, but trial record 200 million viewers across a dozen time zones,
Commons telecasts commenced in late 1989, despite a 25 percent increase on the previous figure. A side ef-
the then prime minister’s opposition. The public had fect was assisting in the formation of a new image
become an audience that must be made into a citizen. overseas. For American journalists, televising parlia-
Consider the position enunciated by contemporary mentary sessions helped to bring the USSR into the
British Conservative politician Norman St. John- field of political normalcy.
Stevas: “To televise parliament would, at a stroke, re- In the United States, despite the introduction of a
store any loss it has suffered to the new mass media as bill in 1922 providing for electronic media coverage of
the political education of the nation.” Congress, with a trial the following year, there were no
This was already a given elsewhere. In postwar Ger- regular radio broadcasts of proceedings until the sign-
many, televising the Bundestag was said to be critical ing of the Panama Canal Treaties of 1978. The opening
for democratizing the public. Proceedings came to of the Eightieth Congress in 1947 was carried on tele-
Netherlands television in 1962, via three types of cov- vision, but this was mostly proscribed until 1971. The
erage: live for topical issues, summaries of less impor- major drive for change stemmed from the results of
tant debates, and “flashes” on magazine programs. The public opinion polls from the early 1970s suggesting
1726
that politicians were held in low esteem. Regular of a repressive state, congressional television viewing
closed-circuit trials were instituted in 1977. Following became popular and influential.
successful coverage of the Connecticut and Florida Conversely, rules enunciated by the British Select
State legislatures, the House of Representatives al- Committee on Televising the Commons prohibit cut-
lowed routine broadcasts from 1979. After extensive away reaction shots, other than of those named in de-
tests, the Senate agreed to the same in 1986. The ser- bate. Close-ups and shots of sleeping members are also
vice is available via Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Net- proscribed. Disruptions lead to a cutaway to the
work (C-SPAN and C-SPAN2), which also broadcasts Speaker. These restrictions persuaded Channel 4 to
House and Senate committees, Prime Minister’s Ques- abandon plans for live telecasts, although the House de-
tion Time from the British House of Commons, and an cided to permit wide-angle shots in 1990 in order to in-
array of public-policy talkfests. crease the televisuality of the occasion. How should
The political process has also been modified by the one read instructions that insist that: “Coverage should
use made of new communications technologies, de- give an unvarnished account of the proceedings of the
signed to break down mediation between politicians House, free of subjective commentary and editing tech-
and publics in the United States. Direct contact be- niques designed to produce entertainment rather than
tween congresspeople and their constituents has posi- information”? Such a perspective contrasts starkly with
tioned them at the leading edge of applications of the response to falling public interest in watching con-
cable, satellite, videocassette recording, and computer- vention politics made by Roone Arledge, network news
aided interaction. Alaska, for example, has a Legisla- president of the American Broadcasting Company:
tive Teleconferencing Network that permits “The two political parties should sit down on their own,
committees to receive audio and computer messages or maybe with the networks, to come up with some-
from citizens. Ross Perot linked six U.S. cities by thing more appealing to the American people.”
satellite in 1992 to convene a “nationwide electronic For the most part, parliaments want to control cov-
rally,” a metonym for the “electronic town hall,” which erage. Guidelines on the use of file footage of proceed-
was to administer the country should he become presi- ings issued by Australia’s Joint Committee on the
dent; he would debate policies with Congress and have Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings, for exam-
citizens respond through modem or telephone. ple, are concerned about the unruly gazes of directors
The most spectacular recent examples of U.S. par- and publics. They insist on maintaining continuity,
liamentary coverage are the Senate Judiciary Commit- avoiding freeze frames, and receiving guarantees that
tee’s Judge Thomas confirmation hearing of 1991 and material will not “be used for the purposes of satire or
the appearance of Oliver North before a congressional ridicule.” After the first day of Question Time TV in
committee in the 1987 hearings into funding the Con- Britain, a Conservative member stated that “some of
tras in Nicaragua. The evidence about Clarence the men—I happen to know—are carrying powder-
Thomas and Anita Hill was so “popular” that its com- puffs in their pockets to beautify their sallow complex-
petition, Minnesota versus Toronto, drew the lowest ions.” And who can forget former U.S. House Speaker
ratings ever for a baseball play-off. North’s evidence Tip O’Neill’s sensational findings on TV coverage of
had five times as many viewers as General Hospital, Democratic and Republican Party conventions: “If
its closest daytime soap opera competitor. Most com- a delegate was picking his nose, that’s what you’d
mentators on that hearing clearly read it intertextually, see . . . . No wonder so many of us were skittish”? Satire
referring to acting, entertainment, and stars in their can never be kept far apart from pomposity.
analysis. CBS actually juxtaposed images of North Toby Miller
with Rambo and Dirty Harry, emphasizing the lone
See also British Programming; Hill-Thomas Hear-
warrior against an establishment state that would not
ings; Political Processes and Television; U.S.
live up to its responsibilities. North assisted this pro-
Congress and Television; U.S. Presidency and Tele-
cess in his promise “to tell the truth, the good, the bad
vision
and the ugly.” Much media attention was given to
Reagan’s words of admiration to North: “This is going
to make a great movie one day.” The reaction of the
Further Reading
public was similarly remarkable. Polls that showed
that years of government propaganda still found 70 Abramson, Jeffrey B., F. Christopher Arterton, and Gary R. Or-
percent of Americans opposed to funding the Contras ren, The Electronic Commonwealth: The Impact of New Me-
dia Technologies on Democratic Politics, New York: Basic,
saw a 20 percent switch in opinion after the hearings. 1988
Once the policy issue became personalized by North, Arterton, F. Christopher, Teledemocracy: Can Technology Pro-
and opposition to him could be construed as the work tect Democracy? Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1987
1727
Franklin, Bob, editor, Televising Democracies, London: Rout- in Government Discourse: The Case of US Lt. Col. Oliver
ledge, 1992 North,” Text (1994)
Garber, Marjorie, “Character Assassination: Shakespeare, Anita Lamb, Brian, C-SPAN: America’s Town Hall, Washington:
Hill, and JFK,” in Media Spectacles, edited by Marjorie Gar- Acropolis, 1988
ber, Jann Matlock, and Rebecca L. Walkowitz, New York: Miller, Toby, The Well-Tempered Self: Citizenship, Culture, and
Routledge, 1993 the Postmodern Subject, Baltimore, Maryland, and London:
Golding, Peter, Graham Murdock, and Philip Schlesinger, edi- Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993
tors, Communicating Politics, Leicester: Leicester Univer- Morrison, Toni, editor, Race-ing Justice, Engendering Power:
sity Press, 1986 Essays on Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas and the Construc-
Hetherington, A., K. Weaver, and N. Ryle, Cameras in the Com- tion of Social Reality, New York: Pantheon, 1992
mons, London: Hansard Society for Parliamentary Govern- Schulte-Sasse, Linda, “Meet Ross Perot: The Lasting Legacy of
ment, 1990 Capraesque Populism,” Cultural Critique (Fall 1993)
Hutchinson, Jenny, The Big Picture on the Small Screen (Papers Smith, Anthony, editor, Television and Political Life: Studies in
on Parliament 5), Canberra: Department of the Senate, Six European Countries, London: Macmillan, 1979
1989 Tomasulo, Frank P., “Colonel North Goes to Washington,”
Kline, Susan L., and Glenn Kuper, “Self-Presentation Practices Journal of Popular Film and Television (1989)
Partridge Family, The

U.S. Situation/Domestic Comedy
The Partridge Family was broadcast on ABC from 1970 Reuben’s nephew Alan, who joined the show in 1973.
to 1974. A modest ratings success, the show peaked at The show was not a sustained hit in syndication.
number 16 in the ratings for the 1971–72 season. Al- During the 1990s, however, a retro vogue endowed The
though The Partridge Family never attracted huge audi- Partridge Family with minor cult status. With their
ences, it was a major hit with younger viewers. The shag hairdos, flair pants, and polyester outfits, the Par-
series was also distinguished for spawning highly suc- tridges epitomized the early 1970s. MTV vee-jay Pa-
cessful, if short-lived, commercial tie-ins. Children’s gan Kennedy praised the show for having made rock
mystery books and comic books featured the Partridges; ’n’ roll culture seem both exciting and benign: “The
their musical albums were heavily promoted; and David Partridge Family took drug culture, made it square,
Cassidy, one of the actors, became a teen idol. and added kids. It was hipness for the under-10 crowd.”
The Partridges were a fatherless family of six who The dramatic formula of the show—something be-
decided, in the premier episode, to form a rock band tween The Brady Bunch and Scooby Doo—rarely re-
and tour the country in a psychedelically painted ceives scholarly attention. References occasionally note
school bus. Most episodes began at the family home in Shirley Partridge’s status as a supermother in the Donna
California. Under the leadership of 1970s supermom Reed mold. For the most part, the show is remembered
Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones), the five Partridge for its successful commercial tie-ins. Several Partridge
kids survived various capers that almost always culmi- Family songs became genuine hits, including the theme,
nated in successful concerts. Mom covered lead vo- “Come On, Get Happy,” and “I Think I Love You,”
cals. Teenage son Keith (David Cassidy) helped keep which sold 4 million copies. On the Partridge Family al-
the family in line. Keith sometimes clashed with sister bums, Jones and Cassidy sang their own parts, but stu-
Laurie (Susan Dey), and everyone clashed with ten- dio artists supplied background vocals and music. The
year-old brother Danny (Danny Bonaduce), the family never toured (since they did not play their own
freckle-faced drummer who was always looking for music), but Cassidy had a brief and wildly successful
the big score. Danny’s special nemesis was band man- career as a pop singer. At the heights of his popularity,
ager Reuben Kinkaid (David Madden), an irritable he could fill stadiums with prepubescent girls.
man with a knack for getting the family into trouble In 1973–74 The Partridge Family was switched
when the plot needed fresh complications. Two from Friday nights to Saturday nights, opposite All in
younger Partridges, Chris and Tracy, rounded out the the Family and Emergency. The ratings quickly fell
cast, along with a next-door neighbor, Ricky, and and the show was canceled before the next season. A
1728
Partridge Family, The
The Partridge Family, Susan Dey, David Cassidy, Dave Madden, Shirley Jones, Jeremy Gelbwaks, Danny Bonaduce, Suzanne
Crough, 1970–74.
cartoon sequel, Partridge Family: 2200 AD, brought Producers

the Partridges back to life in space. The show played Bob Claver, Paul Junger Witt, Mel Swope, William S.
Saturday mornings for one season (1974–75), featur- Bickley, Michael Warren
ing voices from the prime-time cast.
J.B. Bird
Programming History
96 episodes
Cast ABC
Shirley Partridge Shirley Jones September 1970–June 1973 Friday 8:30–9:00
Keith Partridge David Cassidy June 1973–August 1974 Saturday 8:00–3:30
Laurie Partridge Susan Dey
Danny Partridge Danny Bonaduce
Christopher Partridge Further Reading
(1970–71) Jeremy Gelbwaks Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory To
Christopher Partridge Prime-Time Network TV Shows; 1946–Present, New York:
(1971–74) Brian Forster Ballantine, 1992
Tracy Partridge Suzanne Crough Kennedy, Pagan, “I Think I Love You,” The Village Voice Liter-
ary Supplement (December 10, 1991)
Reuben Kinkaid David Madden Mitz, Rick, The Great TV Sitcom Book, New York: Perigree,
Ricky Stevens (1973–74) Ricky Segall 1988
Alan Kinkaid (1973–74) Alan Bursky Steinberg, Cobbet, TV Facts, New York: Facts on File, 1985
1729
Pauley, Jane
Pauley, Jane (1950– )

Jane Pauley is best known as longtime morning broad- shows, featured in magazines and on Life magazine’s
caster for NBC’s Today, an NBC news reporter, and, cover, in December 1989, which proclaimed, “How
most recently, as a cohost for NBC’s popular news- Jane Pauley Got What She Wanted: Time for Her Kids,
magazine, Dateline. Her career began at the age of 21, Prime Time for Herself.” Pauley became deputy an-
when she was hired as daytime and weekend caster at chor to Tom Brokaw on the NBC Nightly News, and in
WISH-TV in Indianapolis. Four years later she was ap- 1989, her magazine pilot, Changes, received the high-
pointed as the first woman to anchor the evening news est ratings in its prime-time slot. Her subsequent 1991
at WMAQ, Chicago. Despite low ratings, Pauley was show, Real Life with Jane Pauley, featuring human in-
selected in 1976 to interview as a possible successor to terest reports for her traditional audience, aired five
Barbara Walters as Tom Brokaw’s cohost on NBC’s successful summer segments. In pursuit of a broader
Today. Competing with well-known reporters Linda audience, the magazine was revamped in 1992 as
Ellerbee and Betty Rolin, Pauley was chosen for the
position, shocking the industry and disappointing crit-
ics who found her too cheery, young, and pretty.
Though fans embraced Pauley for these qualities, NBC
News president Dick Wald defended Pauley’s hire
based on her poise and control. Her honest address and
family commitment, radically different from the more
reserved Diane Sawyer, made Pauley popular with fe-
male baby boomers. Pauley spent the next 13 years co-
hosting Today. Her team ushered the program past
ABC’s Good Morning America, to become the number
one morning show in the United States.
When NBC hired Bryant Gumbel, a sportscaster
with no news experience, to succeed Tom Brokaw as
head anchor, a compliant Pauley remained in the coan-
chor seat. Her career seemed to flounder further when
renowned Washington reporters Chris Wallace and
Judy Woodruff joined the morning group, pushing
Pauley to the periphery. Finally, in 1989, NBC brought
31-year-old Debra Norville to the Today team, to at-
tract a youthful audience. Sensing she would soon be
replaced, Pauley threatened to break her $1.2 million
Today contract two years early, to which NBC re-
sponded with the offer of Pauley’s own prime-time
magazine show. Despite the fact that she had prevailed
in a long, hard-nosed battle and achieved a notable ap-
pointment, the media cast Pauley as a spurned wife, to
the mistress Norville. Nevertheless, Pauley departed
gracefully with a sincere, on-air good-bye to Norville,
leaving the show’s ratings to tumble 22 percent during
sweeps week, and ultimately losing its number one
spot to Good Morning, America.
Following this media soap opera, Pauley herself be- Jane Pauley, Dateline NBC, November, 1998.
came the news item of the day, appearing on talk ©NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1730
PAX Television
Dateline NBC, adding investigative reporting, and re- grees: DePauw University, Indiana University, Notre
porter Stone Philips aboard as cohost. Dateline suf- Dame University, Providence College.
fered a huge press attack on its ethics when it was
discovered that producers staged the explosion of a Television
General Motors truck for an auto safety report; view- 1976– NBC News (correspondent)
ers, however, stayed tuned, and by 1995 Dateline was 1976–90 Today (correspondent),
a consistent ratings winner. 1980–82 NBC Nightly News (reporter/principal
By calling NBC’s bluff, Pauley was catapulted to writer)
the ranks of other women investigative TV reporters 1982–83 Early Today (coanchor)
such as Maria Shriver, Connie Chung, and Diane 1990– NBC Nightly News (substitute anchor)
Sawyer. Nevertheless, Jane Pauley continues to be 1990–91 Real Life with Jane Pauley (principal
framed by the mass media and NBC as the maternal, correspondent)
baby-boom, career heroine of television news fame. 1992– Dateline NBC (cohost)
Pauley is a trustee of the Radio and Television News
Directors Foundation and a fellow with the Society for Publication
Professional Journalists (SPJ).
Paula Gardner “Defending Dateline,” The Quill (November–Decem-
ber 1994)
Jane Pauley. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, October
31, 1950. Educated at Indiana University, B.A. in polit- Further Reading
ical science 1971. Married: Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury Geimann, Steve, “Pauley Seeds Project: Task Force’s Goal to
cartoonist); three children. Began career as TV reporter, Help Education,” The Quill (March 1995)
WISH-TV, Indianapolis, 1972–75; various positions as Henry, William A. III, “Will NBC Make Jane an Anchor?,”
Time (June 18, 1990)
reporter and anchor with NBC News programs, since Hoban, Phoebe, “The Loved One (Jane Pauley)” (interview),
1975. Recipient of numerous awards, including the Ed- New York Times (July 23, 1990)
ward R. Murrow Award; multiple Emmy Awards; the “Morning Becomes Pauley,” Broadcasting (June 2, 1986)
Radio and Television News Directors Foundation’s Waters, Harry F., “If It Ain’t Broke, Break It,” Newsweek
Leonard Zeidenberg First Amendment Award; and the (March 26, 1990)
Zoglin, Richard, “Surviving Nicely, Thanks: When She
first national Matrix Award from the Association for Thought NBC Wanted Her Out, Jane Pauley Prepared to Go
Women in Communications. Inducted into the Broad- Quietly, But the Public Uproar Provided Revenge She Is too
casting and Cable Hall of Fame, 1998. Honorary de- Ladylike to Savor,” Time (August 20, 1990)
PAX Television
PAX Television (also known as PAX-Net) was lenge existing broadcasters in two central ways: PAX-
launched in 1998 by West Palm Beach, Florida, media TV would invert the traditional model of network-
magnate Christian Lowell White “Bud” Paxson. PAX- affiliate business practices; and it would depart from
TV is now considered to be the seventh network (join- the “mainstream” in its network branding, program-
ing ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, and WB). Currently ming, and audience address. PAX-TV’s fairly rapid
reaching 88 percent of Nielsen households, PAX is the growth and gradually increasing ratings success was
largest owned and operated network of stations in the initially premised on these “ antinetwork” practices.
country. On basic cable PAX-TV reaches more homes However, by 2004, commitment to this corporate strat-
than Lifetime, Turner Network Television, or USA egy had led to contentious struggles with business
Network. Previously the owner of cable television’s partners and legislators that suggested PAX-Net would
Christian Network, The Home Shopping Network, and have to reinvent itself to remain a force after the U.S.
multiple radio stations, Bud Paxson conceived of television industry’s mandated transition to digital
PAX-TV as an “antinetwork network” that would chal- television in 2006.
1731
PAX Television
World, Life Goes On, and Promised Land. In its first

year, PAX’s entire weeknight prime-time schedule
consisted of series that had aired or were concurrently
airing on CBS (i.e., syndicated on PAX while in first
run on CBS). Further, PAX-TV’s day-to-day opera-
tions were overseen by former CBS Entertainment ex-
ecutive Jeff Sagansky (who resigned in August 2003
after five years at the helm). By the year 2000, PAX
expanded its “PAX Originals” programming to include
Courtesy of Pax Television
a range of original dramatic series and reality and
game-show series. Examples include Doc (featuring
country and western singer Billy Ray Cyrus as a coun-
try doctor transplanted to New York City), The Pon-
The bulk of PAX stations are low-power, UHF out- derosa (a prequel to Bonanza), Miracle Pets, Twice in
lets (only 4 of the network’s 96 affiliates are VHF out- a Lifetime, Supermarket Sweep, and Next Big Star.
lets). Each station has, typically, fewer than five PAX currently features one or more original series six
personnel. No PAX station has a news division or pro- nights a week in prime time. The network also contin-
duces its own local news. Essentially, each PAX sta- ues to program syndicated shows formerly on CBS,
tion serves purely as a distribution site for national such as Diagnosis Murder and Touched by an Angel, as
programming. The few staff members at each station well as to rebroadcast programming that originated on
are dedicated to local and regional advertising sales NBC, including the game show The Weakest Link and
that form the majority of PAX-TV’s revenue stream. In the drama Mysterious Ways.
prime time, particularly, this emphasis raises the cost- In relation to the growing “family values” media
per-point to an immensely profitable level that allows niche, PAX remains distinct because it is arguably more
PAX to endure and prosper in spite of relatively low accessible to interested viewers than family-oriented
ratings compared with its competitors. channels available only via cable or through a direct
In terms of network identity and audience appeals, broadcast satellite dish. Unlike the family-oriented
while most early press surrounding PAX-TV’s emer- Hallmark Channel, or ABC Family and its sister net-
gence referred to it as a “Christian network,” Paxson work the Disney Channel, PAX stations remain avail-
does not consider his stations to be explicitly Chris- able in most markets via traditional over-air broadcast
tian. Rather, Paxson, his executives, and network pro- delivery (though the quality of these signals is often
motions and programming all posit PAX-Net as a compromised due to their origination on UHF).
national family network representing a nondenomina- PAX’s institutional growth and development largely
tional yet spiritually uplifting haven for viewers pre- was staked on provisions of the Telecommunications
sumed to feel alienated by mainstream media. In this Act of 1996. The Telecommunication Act’s signifi-
regard, the former chief executive officer, Jeff Sagan- cance for PAX-Net was twofold: it upheld must-carry
sky, has described PAX-Net’s brand as “upbeat, posi- rules that require cable franchises to carry all local
tive, family-friendly,” characterized by “no sex, no broadcast channels, including the low-power UHF sta-
violence, no profanity,” and featuring “values-based tions that make up the 92 of the 96 stations in the PAX
spirituality” with “no cynicism.” network chain. This provided PAX-TV with a much
In spite of its antinetwork focus, PAX-TV has suc- larger start-up audience than it might have otherwise
ceeded largely due to strategic alliances with tradi- been able to attract. The 1996 Act also relaxed restric-
tional networks that have allowed PAX to marshal tions that limited the number and types of local sta-
capital, extend market penetration, and procure pro- tions individual companies could own which enabled
gram product. PAX-TV started broadcasting in 1998 the development of duopolies in major television mar-
with programs that, while clearly fitting its professed kets. In 1999 this enabled Paxson to sell 32 percent of
brand ethic, were also almost exclusively former CBS his company to NBC at a cost of $415 million. The
program fare, particularly programming owned and terms of the NBC-PAX partnership gave NBC the op-
distributed by CBS Films (a film production and distri- tion to purchase PAX television stations as well as
bution studio separate from though related to the CBS first-refusal rights on sales of PAX-TV stations located
television network). Such programs included Touched in the top-70 U.S. television markets. Paxson retained
by an Angel (which remains, at this writing, the most the option to buy out the cash value of NBC’s owner-
popular program on PAX network), Dr. Quinn, ship stake as of September 2004. The PAX-NBC part-
Medicine Woman, Diagnosis Murder, Christy, Dave’s nership was originally designed to allow the networks
1732
Pay Cable
to share programming and to enable programs pre- chase by NBC of PAX stations; NBC’s commitment to
empted by local NBC affiliates to be aired within that strengthen PAX’s business; and as regards the develop-
same market on PAX. In most markets, PAX affiliates ment of shared NBC-PAX programming. As ownership
also “repurpose” or rerun the local NBC affiliate’s lo- rules restrict operation of more than two stations in ma-
cal late newscast, a half hour after its first airing on jor markets, PAX-Net affiliates were now placed at risk
NBC. And yet recent FCC rules changes, proposed in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and
legislation regarding UHF spectrum auctions, and Miami, where NBC and Telemundo both have a strong
PAX-Net’s professed “family values” orientation have presence. Finally, pending legislation proposed by the
led to uneasy relations with media industry critics, George W. Bush White House—in anticipation of U.S.
some legislators, and strained relations with NBC. TV’s transition from analog to digital—would require
Initially, PAX-TV’s start-up was marred by an up- clearing television broadcasters from channels 60 to 69
roar over its explicitly conservative promotions in ma- to be auctioned for wireless radio use. This would have
jor news and television industry trade papers a potentially devastating impact on PAX because over
condemning the major networks for “promoting ‘alter- 17 percent of its network affiliates are located in the
native lifestyles’”—a phrase often invoked in the press UHF spectrum at channel 60 or above. As of fall 2003,
to refer to gay and lesbian populations. Later, PAX bat- the PAX-Net station group was opening discussion
tled NBC over its Memphis station’s refusal to broad- with potential buyers in anticipation of the likely con-
cast Will & Grace (a program that features two clusion of its partnership with NBC, set for renegotia-
homosexual characters in its ensemble cast) because of tion in 2004 (at which point Paxson has the option to
PAX executives’ perceptions that the highly rated buy out NBC’s large stake in his network).
NBC program conflicted with PAX’s family-friendly Victoria E. Johnson
programming mission. Because local Memphis affili-
See also Religion on Television; Touched by an An-
ate WMC-TV was contractually obligated to carry a
gel
Memphis Grizzlies basketball game, Memphis’s PAX
affiliate, WPXX, was slated to air NBC’s entire Thurs-
day night lineup that night. WPXX agreed to air only
Further Reading
the first and last hour of the prime-time bloc, thus ex-
cising Will & Grace and Just Shoot Me from the Mem- Grappi, Michelle, “What Went Wrong with Paxson, NBC,”
phis market area. Electronic Media (December 10, 2001)
Halonen, Doug, “Let the Duopolies Begin,” Electronic Media
More recently, the PAX-NBC partnership has been (August 9, 1999)
jeopardized by NBC’s purchase of the Spanish- Higgins, John M., and Sara Brown, “Paxson Renders Unto
language network Telemundo. While Bud Paxson en- TCI,” Broadcasting and Cable (May, 1998)
tered into the NBC partnership with hopes that Motavalli, John. “Pittman Seeking Stations,” Television Week
PAX-Net would one day be a full-fledged member of (July 7, 2003)
Paxson, Lowell, and Gary Templeton, Threading the Needle:
the NBC network “family,” he has stated that NBC’s The Pax Net Story, New York: HarperBusiness, 1998
acquisition of Telemundo suggested NBC’s lack of Schneider, Michael, “Paxson Learns Politically Correct Les-
commitment to PAX on three fronts: the potential pur- son,” Electronic Media (July 27, 1998)
Pay Cable
Pay or premium cable is a cable television service that the pay-cable channel or channels. The monthly pay-
supplements the basic cable service. Most cable sys- cable fee is subject to unit discounts whenever a cus-
tem operators carry one or more pay-cable services tomer subscribes to two or more pay-cable services.
(called “multipay”) on their systems and make them Pay-per-view (PPV) and video-on-demand (VOD)
available to customers for a monthly fee that is added are two additional forms of pay cable that require cable
to the basic fee. Cable customers who choose not to television customers to pay for individual programs
subscribe to pay cable receive a scrambled signal on rather than a program package. PPV customers order
1733
Pay Cable
movies, sports, or other event programs from their ca- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
ble system and view the programming at a time deter- enacted rules in 1957 that severely limited STV pro-
mined either by the system operator or the event gram acquisition. The rules prevented STV from “si-
scheduler. VOD customers, via a more sophisticated phoning” movies and special events such as sports from
digital delivery technology than is required for PPV, “free” television to pay television. In 1969 FCC rules
are able to order recorded programming for viewing at were revised to limit any STV service to a single chan-
a time determined by the customers themselves. The nel, available only in communities already served by at
cable customer’s monthly bill reflects the total cost of least five commercial television stations. Such restric-
each PPV and/or VOD program or event viewed dur- tions for STV and, by then, pay cable were eliminated
ing the preceding month. by a 1977 U.S. Court of Appeals decision that declared
Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) is yet an- that the FCC’s pay television rules infringed on the ca-
other kind of pay-cable service that several cable sys- ble television industry’s First Amendment rights.
tems were providing customers by late 2001. SVOD The court of appeals decision was especially impor-
could best be described as a hybrid of pay cable and tant to the Home Box Office (HBO) pay-cable service.
VOD whereby a cable customer pays a monthly fee The idea behind HBO was conceived by Charles F.
(about $10 in 2001 figures) to access selections from Dolan. Financial assistance from Time-Life Cable to
the SVOD program library for viewing at a time con- launch HBO was followed by agreements with Madi-
venient to the customer. The same digital delivery son Square Garden and Universal Pictures allowing
technology required for VOD also is required for HBO to carry live sports events and recent movies.
SVOD. HBO was launched on November 8, 1972, providing
Since pay-cable services are supported by sub- pay-cable programming (a professional hockey game
scriber fees, they carry no commercials. Pay-cable pro- and a movie) to 365 Service Electric Cable subscribers
grammers usually schedule programs that are unique in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In less than one year,
and that may never be seen on basic cable or broadcast HBO’s service was carried by 14 cable television sys-
television. These include sports events; musical con- tems to more than 8,000 cable customers.
certs; first-run, uncut movies; and program series pro- New ground was broken in pay-cable distribution in
duced by or for a particular pay-cable service. Some 1975, when HBO first carried its service via satellite to
movies carried on pay cable are especially produced UA Columbia Cablevision subscribers in Fort Pierce
by the pay-cable service; others were released origi- and Vero Beach, Florida, and to American Television
nally for theatrical viewing prior to their availability and Communications Corporation subscribers in Jack-
for a pay-cable audience. son, Mississippi. The first satellite distributed (via
Some 48 million U.S. households (accounting for RCA’s Satcom) pay-cable programming was the
nearly 72 percent of all cable television households in Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier championship boxing
the United States) subscribed to a pay-cable service by match from Manila. A nationally distributed pay-cable
early 2001. Pay-cable subscribers typically pay about network was in the making but would not be a reality
$10 per month (in 2001 figures) above their basic cable until HBO managed to convince prospective cable sys-
service charge. Any cost figure above or below the av- tem affiliates to spend nearly $100,000 to purchase the
erage depends on the total number of pay-cable ser- necessary satellite receiving dish and accompanying
vices in the subscriber’s package and the package hardware.
discount allowed by the subscriber’s cable system op- By 2001, 30 companies had launched national pay-
erator. The operator keeps approximately 50 percent of cable services in the United States. HBO remained the
the fees collected from pay-cable subscribers. The largest, with 33 million subscribers receiving the ser-
other 50 percent goes to the company or companies vice from more than 9,300 cable systems. In 2001
originating the pay-cable service. other leading national pay-cable services (with sub-
Pay cable predates the cable industry by several scribership numbers that exceeded 1 million) were
years. The first known pay television or subscription Cinemax, Showtime, the Movie Channel, Encore,
television (STV) service in the United States was a Starz, and the Sundance Channel. One regional pay-
short-lived experimental effort by Zenith Radio Cor- cable service, The New England Sports Network, was
poration in 1951 called Phonevision. During its 90-day carried by 169 cable systems and reached some 1.5
life span, Phonevision offered daily movies carried by million subscribers in 2001. Several national pay-cable
a special telephone line to some 300 Chicago house- services also had subdivided themselves by 2001 in or-
holds. Two other experimental STV services, one in der to serve a more specific group of viewers. For ex-
New York City and one in Los Angeles, followed the ample, HBO provided programming via the HBO
Phonevision lead in 1951 but met with a similar fate. Family and HBO Latino channels
1734
Pay-per-View/Video-on-Demand
Since their inception pay-cable services have strug- heavier schedule of programs during late evening
gled to satisfy subscribers, who frequently choose to hours aimed primarily at adult viewers.
disconnect from pay cable after a brief sampling pe- Ronald Garay
riod. According to surveys of subscribers, such “churn”
See also Cable Networks; Pay-per-View Cable; Pay
occurs because low-quality movies are repeated too of-
Television; United States: Cable
ten, making pay cable a poor entertainment value.
The pay-cable industry is at a disadvantage in com-
bating this criticism because of the preference (based Further Reading
on financial considerations) that the movie industry has Note: Broadcasting and Cable (a weekly), Multichannel News
for pay cable’s chief rival—home video. Production (a biweekly), and Cablecasting (a monthly) carry numerous
companies whose movies score particularly well at the articles and updated statistics regarding all facets of the ca-
box office generally follow the movies’ theatrical run ble TV industry.
by release to the home video market. The movies are Applebaum, Simon, “Video on the Move,” Cablevision (August
14, 2000)
then available for rental or purchase on videocassettes Dominick, Joseph R., Barry L. Sherman, and Gary A. Copeland,
and DVDs and sometimes may be released to air on Broadcasting, Cable, and Beyond, New York: McGraw-Hill,
PPV cable services several weeks or months before 1990; 4th edition, by Dominick, Sherman, and Fritz
they appear on pay cable. Pay-cable services that are Messere, as Broadcasting, Cable, the Internet, and Beyond,
best able to compete with home video in coming years 2000
Eastman, Susan Tyler, Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strate-
may be those that have the financial resources to pro- gies and Practices, Belmont, California: Wadsworth Pub-
duce their own movies and original series. lishing Co., 1981; 6th edition, by Eastman and Douglas A.
Pay cable has therefore focused greater attention in Ferguson, as Broadcast/Cable/Web Programming, 2002
recent years on airing original programming. HBO, in Garay, Ronald, Cable Television: A Reference Guide to Infor-
particular, has achieved critical success with such pro- mation, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1988
Iler, David, “VOD Shining Brightly in Cable Universe,” Broad-
gram series as The Sopranos and Sex and the City. band Week (August 6, 2001)
Several pay-cable services have turned to boxing as Messina, Ignazio, “Premium Values,” Cablevision (July 3,
the most popular choice for their sports-minded view- 2000)
ers. Also, many pay-cable services have begun airing a Picard, Robert G., editor, The Cable Networks Handbook,
Riverside, California: Carpelan, 1993
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a pay-cable offshoot that allows Video-on-demand (VOD) is a relatively new
cable television subscribers to access movies and spe- program-delivery service akin to PPV. VOD allows ca-
cial one-time-only events and to pay a preannounced ble customers equipped with addressable converters to
fee only for the single movie or event viewed. Most order recorded programming whose start time can be
cable system operators offer two or more PPV chan- determined by the customers themselves. An array of
nels to their customers. The signal on each PPV chan- program titles are digitally stored in a server located at
nel is scrambled until the cable subscriber chooses to the cable system headend and distributed to cable cus-
view programming on one of the channels. At such tomers as ordered. Billing procedures for VOD buys is
time, the subscriber contacts the cable system head- the same as that for PPV buys.
end, either by phone or with an interactive handheld The history of PPV and pay cable shared a parallel
remote control, to order the PPV programming. Fol- course until 1974, when Coaxial Communication inau-
lowing the initial order, a computer at the headend ac- gurated the first true PPV service in Columbus, Ohio.
tivates a device near the subscriber’s television set The service, called Telecinema, provided movies
called an “addressable converter,” which unscrambles priced at $2.50 per title. Telecinema shortly suc-
the ordered PPV program signal for the program’s du- cumbed to pay cable’s better revenue stream. Warner
ration. All PPV “buys” are totaled by computer and Cable introduced Columbus to another short-lived
added to the cable subscriber’s monthly bill. PPV service via its interactive QUBE system in 1978.
1735
purchase for a period (called a “window”) ranging

from 30 to 90 days are they then available for PPV.
VOD programming also consists primarily of movies,
with a growing number of customers—PPV and VOD
alike—preferring adult (i.e., sexually explicit) movies
and associated adult fare such as “call-in” programs.
The PPV event category may be subdivided primar-
ily into sports and concerts. Sports, especially profes-
sional boxing and wrestling, occupies a commanding
share of the category. Professional baseball, football,
basketball, and hockey, as well as several college foot-
ball teams, all make some of their games available to
PPV subscribers.
Pricing PPV events is a matter of what the market
will bear. In 2001 PPV prices for professional boxing
matches ranged from $40 to $50. Rock concerts and
other musical events during the same period ranged in
price from $10 to $20. Movies generally cost between
$3 and $4 per title. It is risky to predict what PPV sub-
scribers will pay for an event and what the buy rate
(the percentage of PPV subscribers who choose to buy
a movie or event) might be. For instance, NBC bet that
5 million subscribers would pay between $95 and $170
apiece for access to daily live events of the 1992 Sum-
mer Olympics from Barcelona. The so-called Triple-
Pay-per-view event, WWF Smackdown, Vince McMahon, The cast—for the three PPV channels that carried the
Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson). events—proved a failure, however, and NBC eventu-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection ally tallied its Triplecast loss at nearly $100 million.
Apart from such failures as the Triplecast, PPV rev-
enues have continued to rise. PPV revenues for 2000
Not until late 1985 did two satellite-distributed na- stood at more than $2 billion. Most of that revenue
tional PPV services appear. Viewer’s Choice was came from the purchase of movies, but roughly one-
launched on November 26, 1985, and Request Televi- fifth was generated by sports and musical events and
sion was launched a day later. By 2001, 13 PPV net- another one-fifth was generated by adult movies and
works were in operation in the United States. The In associated programming. Wrestling events such as
Demand network led its competitors in cable-system “Wrestlemania” led other sports events in total buy
carriage as well as subscriber potential. More than rates. Also, cable system operators were finding that in
1,750 systems carried In Demand to over 24 million terms of adult PPV services, the more explicit the con-
addressable subscriber households. By 2000, in the tent, the higher the buy rate. Buy rates for VOD cus-
United States there were more than 52 million address- tomers were highest (roughly 70 percent) in the hit
able cable households (75 percent of all cable house- movie category. About 20 percent of VOD buys were
holds) capable of receiving PPV programming. VOD in the adult programming category. Program buying
deployment was just beginning to gather steam at the characteristics that were emerging in 2001 showed that
beginning of the 21st century. By the end of 2001, fewer than 20 percent of PPV customers accounted for
some 36 VOD services were either operating or nearly 80 percent of all PPV buys, and the buy rate for
preparing for launch. In all, these services were meant VOD movies was nearly triple that of PPV movies.
to reach more than 6 million cable households. The success of PPV cable has been and continues to
PPV programming falls into two broad categories: be a function of promotion. One cable executive la-
movies and events. Movies occupy most PPV network beled PPV a “marketing-intensive business” that relies
schedules. However, following their initial theatrical on an “impulse buy” strategy to attract subscribers.
run, most movies that perform well at the box office The PPV industry’s future appears firmly in place,
are released to home video before they are accessible however, with predictions that nearly one-quarter of
through PPV. Only after videocassette or DVD ver- the 500-channel cable system of tomorrow will be oc-
sions of the movies have been available for rental or cupied by PPV program networks.
1736
Pay Television
VOD was still a relatively new service at the begin- Further Reading
ning of the 21st century. Nonetheless, cable system oper- Dominick, Joseph R., Barry L. Sherman, and Gary A. Copeland,
ators were hoping that customer embrace of VOD would Broadcasting, Cable, and Beyond, New York: McGraw-Hill,
help build digital-cable penetration, which had reached 1990; 4th edition, by Dominick, Sherman, and Fritz
nearly 14 million households (accounting for roughly 20 Messere, as Broadcasting, Cable, the Internet, and Beyond,
percent of all U.S. cable households) by the end of 2001. 2000
Donohue, Steve, “Movies, Porn Up; Events Down: SET,” Mul-
Cable operators also were counting on VOD to help stem tichannel News (December 11, 2000)
the number of persons who were choosing direct broad- Eastman, Susan Tyler, Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strate-
cast satellite (DBS) services over cable. By the end of gies and Practices, Belmont, California: Wadsworth Pub-
2001, new DBS subscribers led new cable subscribers by lishing, 1981; 6th edition, by Eastman and Douglas A.
a 3-to-1 ratio. Another delivery system that stood poised Ferguson, as Broadcast/Cable/Web Programming, 2002
Keefe, Bob, “Video-on-Demand Debuts on Computers,” The
to compete with cable was computer-based streaming Atlanta Journal and Constitution (October 18, 2001)
video. A service launched by Microsoft in late 2001 pro- Stump, Mel, “Quietly, Cable VOD Efforts Head toward Critical
vided its high-speed Internet customers in selected mar- Mass,” Multichannel News (November 5, 2001)
kets with the opportunity to download VOD movies at a Umstead, R. Thomas, “Adult PPV Looks Hot in 2001,” Multi-
cost comparable to that charged for video rentals. How- channel News (January 1, 2001)
Umstead, R. Thomas, “Saturday Was Super for PPV,” Multi-
ever, any advantage that one delivery system might have channel News (February 5, 2001)
over another eventually may depend less on technology
than on the deals that VOD providers make with movie
producers for their product.
Ronald Garay
Pay Television
Advertiser support has been the foundation for Ameri- systems ever reached the experimentation stage. Fewer
can broadcast television since the industry’s begin- still were used commercially. Economics certainly
nings. It is worth noting, however, that many have had an impact on the fortunes of pay-TV, as has
experiments with direct viewer payment for television the recurring hesitation of the Federal Communica-
programs also have taken place throughout television tions Commission (FCC) to approve the systems. Even
history. The idea for pay television (also known vari- when the commission actually granted permission for
ously as “toll” or “subscription” television) actually testing, final approval for commercial use tended to
dates to television experiments of the 1920s and 1930s take many years. Furthermore, no fewer than six major
(at which point the method of financing a national tele- FCC rulings on pay-TV have been handed down over
vision system had not yet been determined) and can be the years, only to be amended in subsequent decisions.
traced through various developmental stages leading Regulators have been aware of ongoing opposition to
up to modern satellite-carried pay-cable program ser- the various forms of pay-TV on the part of commercial
vices. broadcasters and networks, movie theater owners, citi-
Many pay-TV systems have been proposed over the zens groups, and other constituencies.
years. Some have been designed to transmit program- In 1949 Zenith Radio Corporation petitioned the
ming to subscribers’ homes over the air, typically on FCC for permission to test an over-the-air pay system
underutilized UHF frequencies. Other systems have called Phonevision. The test was run over a period of
been designed to transmit by wire, sometimes wires 90 days in 1951 with a group of 300 households in
shared by community antenna or cable TV systems. Chicago. Phonevision was a system of pay television
Various methods have been tested for ordering pay-TV that used telephone lines for both program ordering
programming and unscrambling the electronic signals. and decoding of its scrambled broadcast signal.
Until the proliferation of modern satellite-delivered In 1953 Skiatron Electronics and Television Corpo-
pay program services (both pay-cable and direct satel- ration tested a different over-the-air system,
lite), only a small portion of the many planned pay-TV “Subscriber-Vision,” that used IBM punch cards for
1737
Pay Television
billing and unscrambling. The programming was sports, movies, children’s programs, and theatrical per-
transmitted on New York independent station WOR formances (typical of most pay-TV systems), it was
during off-hours. baseball that provided the foundation for its program-
Also in 1953 the International Telemeter Corpora- ming.
tion, partly owned by Paramount Pictures, launched a Both wired and over-the-air pay-TV systems were
combination community antenna/wired pay-TV opera- launched in the 1970s. In 1977 over-the-air systems
tion in Palm Springs, California. Broadcast signals were started in Newark, New Jersey, by Wometco-
from Los Angeles were delivered without charge, and Blonder-Tongue (over station WWHT) and in Corona
subscribers paid for additional programming through (Los Angeles), California, by Chartwell Communica-
coin boxes attached to their television sets. This sys- tions (over station KBSC). By 1980, 8 others were in
tem lasted through 1955. operation, with an additional 16 stations authorized
The Telemovies system was launched in 1957 in and ready to launch. These over-the-air systems were
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, by Video Independent The- developing concurrently with satellite-delivered cable
atres (VIT). Telemovies offered a first-run movie chan- program services, however, and were not able to com-
nel and a rerun movie channel. The movies originated pete with the wired medium once it became available
from a downtown studio and, in the case of the first- in major urban areas.
run selections, were shown concurrently in VIT’s local By the early 1970s cable had become the preferred
movie theaters. Telemovies charged a flat monthly rate vehicle for pay television, with most start-up pay ven-
rather than a per-program fee. After undergoing sev- tures seeking to run their services on local cable sys-
eral changes, including the addition of community an- tems. Since the early 1950s cable operators had been
tenna service, the system ceased operations in summer experimenting with channels of locally originated pro-
1958. gramming for their systems. While not directly a form
In the late 1950s, in the wake of the much- of pay-TV, these experiments suggested the possibility
publicized failure of the Bartlesville system, Interna- that cable could offer more than simply retransmitted
tional Telemeter announced its latest coin-box broadcast signals—a potential not lost on pay-TV en-
system—designed to use either wires or broadcast sig- trepreneurs.
nals to transmit programming. The site chosen for a The most notable early pay-cable operation was
test of a wired version of the system was Etobicoke, Home Box Office, which launched in 1972 by provid-
Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, under the auspices of ing cable systems with pay programming via mi-
Paramount’s Canadian movie theater subsidiary. Ser- crowave relays in the northeastern United States.
vice began there on February 26, 1960, with 1,000 When HBO took its program service to satellite in
subscribers, and continued through 1965. 1975, it gained the potential to reach virtually any ca-
On June 29, 1962, two years after its petition for an ble system in the United States. Other pay-cable pro-
experimental license had been filed with the FCC, a gram services were to follow, including Showtime, the
Phonevision system was launched in Hartford, Con- Movie Channel, and others.
necticut. By this point, Phonevision had become a joint During the 1990s cable began to face serious com-
venture between RKO and Zenith. Phonevision pro- petition from direct broadcast satellite technology. As
gramming was broadcast on WHCT, a UHF station li- the new delivery technology began enticing consumers
censed specifically for the Phonevision trial. Although with multiple premium and pay-per-view services, tra-
it never made a profit, the Hartford experiment ran ditional cable also began to make multiple versions of
through January 31, 1969, and the system won FCC popular premium channels available—aided by the in-
approval for nationwide use in 1970. creased use of fiber optics and digital compression.
Subscription Television Inc. (STV) was launched in Pay-cable’s programming has developed as well. In
July 1964 and continued through November of that the early 2000s, premium cable channels such as HBO
year—a short-lived but nonetheless highly touted pay- and Showtime boast some of television’s most highly
TV system. STV was the heir (through a complicated acclaimed programming. In addition to made-for-cable
series of stock transactions) to Skiatron’s over-the-air movies, this includes original series such as Oz, Sex
system. The two major figures behind STV were Skia- and the City, and The Sopranos on HBO, and Queer As
tron’s Matthew Fox and former adman and NBC exec- Folk on Showtime.
utive Sylvester L. (Pat) Weaver. STV had built wire Megan Mullen
networks in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the
company planned eventually to wire major cities as See also Cable Networks: Home Box Office (HBO);
well as to incorporate existing CATV systems. Al- Pay-per-View Cable; Showtime Network; United
though STV’s three channels offered a mixture of States: Cable
1738
Peck, Bob
Further Reading Gould, Jack, “Pay-As-You-See TV: The ABC’s of the Contro-
versy,” New York Times (June 19, 1955)
Note: Broadcasting and Cable (a weekly), Multichannel News Howard, H.H., and S.L. Carroll, Subscription Television: His-
(a biweekly), and Cablecasting (a monthly) carry numerous tory, Current Status, and Economic Projections, Knoxville:
articles and updated statistics regarding all facets of the ca- University of Tennessee, 1980
ble TV industry.
Peck, Bob (1945–1999)

British Actor
The British actor Bob Peck shot to television stardom 1982. Along with Anthony Sher, Bernard Hill, and
in 1986 in the acclaimed BBC drama serial, Edge of Richard Griffiths, Peck was one of a number of estab-
Darkness. His performance as the dour Yorkshire polished stage actors in the early 1980s to be brought into
liceman Ronald Craven, inexorably drawn by his television for roles in major new drama serials by BBC
daughter’s sudden and violent death into a passionate producer Michael Wearing.
quest for the truth behind a series of incidents in a nu- Peck’s performance in Edge of Darkness embodied
clear processing facility, won him Best Actor Awards the paradox that is at the heart of the drama. Just as the
from the Broadcasting Press Guild and the British labyrinthine plot remorselessly exposed the apocalyp-
Academy of Film and Television, as well as establish- tic vision behind a veneer of English restraint, so
ing an image of brooding diffidence that was to set the Craven was depicted as a detached loner, whose mun-
seal on a number of subsequent roles. His aquiline, yet dane ordinariness hid long-repressed emotions and
disconcertingly ordinary, countenance was to become whose enigmatic composure exploded into bursts of
familiar to television audiences even if his name did grief, passion, and—in the closing moments—primal
not always spring to mind. Following the success of anguish. In this sense, Peck’s was also a performance
Edge of Darkness, and particularly toward the end of that, like other work of this period (such as Hill’s
his life, Peck was much in demand for voice-overs and Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff), brought to
documentaries, to which his distinctive bass tones lent the surface the expressionistic subcurrents of a new
a potent mixture of assurance and mystery, as well as wave of British television drama realism. Peck was
an association with the integrity of purpose that char- cast as Craven partly because an unknown actor was
acterized his performance as Craven. Success in Edge wanted for the role and because it was written for a
of Darkness also brought him film roles, notably in the Yorkshireman, yet there are mystic and mythic ele-
British productions The Kitchen Toto and On the Black ments in the quest conducted by this seemingly ordi-
Hill in 1987, then, most famously, as the doomed game nary character that ultimately assume epic proportions.
warden Muldoon in Jurassic Park (1993). The plot called for long sequences of physical activity
Peck received no formal training as an actor but and energy, but Peck’s real achievement was a granite-
studied art and design at Leeds College of Art, where, like impassivity that just managed to hold back the
in an amateur dramatic company, he was spotted by pain and possible madness behind the character’s stoic
the writer-director Alan Ayckbourn, who recruited endurance. This tension was cleverly offset by the
Peck to his new theater company in Scarborough. Af- puckish outlandishness of Joe Don Baker’s perfor-
ter stints in the West End and regional repertory, Peck mance as the CIA agent Jedburgh.
joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he The figure of Craven was partly reprised in the serial
stayed for nine years, playing a wide range of parts in Natural Lies (BBC, 1992), where Peck played an ad-
classical and contemporary work. One of his final ap- vertising executive, Andrew Fell, accidentally stum-
pearances for the company was in the double role of bling across a conspiracy to cover up a BSE-like scare
John Browdie and Sir Mulberry Hawke in the epic in the British food industry. In Centrepoint (Channel 4,
dramatization of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas 1992), another dystopian drama, Peck played Arm-
Nickleby, subsequently televised on Channel 4 in strong, a surveillance expert, this time with far-right
1739
Peck, Bob
security connections. In a serialization of Catherine programs and films, from 1974. Recipient: Broadcast-
Cookson’s The Black Velvet Gown (Tyne Tees, 1991), ing Press Guild Award; BAFTA Award. Died in Lon-
Peck brought his brooding presence to the role of the don, April 4, 1999.
reclusive former teacher Percival Miller. He also
played a real-life police officer in the drama-
documentary Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990); a
1982 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas
member of the Securitate state police in a semifictional
Nickleby
account of the Romanian revolution, Shoot the Revolu-
1984 Birds of Prey II
tion (1990); and the role of the detective sergeant in
1985 Edge of Darkness
the psychological crime thriller The Scold’s Bridle
1991 The Black Velvet Gown
(1998).
1992 Natural Lies
Peck’s range, however, was wider than the image of
1992 Centrepoint
the tormented hard man might suggest. Perhaps his
1992 Children of the Dragon
most highly acclaimed performance after Edge of
1994 Hard Times
Darkness was as the mild-mannered, accident-prone
1998 The Scold’s Bridle
academic James Westgate, who falls victim to his
childhood sweetheart’s psychopathic desires, in Simon
Gray’s Prix Italia–winning television play After Pilk- Television Plays (selected)
ington (BBC, 1987). Like many actors of his genera- 1974 Sunset across the Bay
tion, Peck also was able to bring his stage experience 1979 Macbeth
to bear on a variety of classical roles, from Gradgrind 1981 Bavarian Knight
in the BBC serialization of Hard Times (1994) and 1986 The Disputation
Shylock in a Channel 4 production of The Merchant of 1986 After Pilkington
Venice (1996) to Nicias in The War That Never Ends 1989 One Way Out
(BBC, 1991)—a drama-documentary account of the 1989 A TV Dante: The Inferno Cantos I–VIII
Peloponnesian Wars written by former Royal Shake- 1990 Shoot the Revolution
speare Company director John Barton—and Dante in 1990 Who Bombed Birmingham?
Peter Greenaway and Tom Phillips’s A TV Dante: The 1990 Screen Two: “Children Crossing”
Inferno Cantos I-VIII (Channel 4, 1989). 1991 The Prodigal Son
In the stage play In Lambeth, transposed to televi- 1991 The War That Never Ends
sion in 1993, Peck played the role of Thomas Paine in 1992 An Ungentlemanly Act
an imaginary encounter with the poet William Blake, 1993 Tuesday
and, in the same year, he renewed his relationship with 1993 In Lambeth
the work of Edward Bond in Bond’s play for the Crime 1996 The Merchant of Venice
and Punishment season, Tuesday (1993). “It’s nice to 1997 Deadly Summer
be able to sympathize with what you’re having to say,” 1997 Hospital
Peck remarked when playing Paine. Much of his later 1998 The Canterbury Tales (voice)
voice-over work, from ecological series to documen- 2000 The Miracle Worker (voice)
taries on Britain’s clandestine support for Francisco
Franco during the Spanish Civil War or the sugar trade Television Documentary
in the Dominican Republic, reflected that quiet social 1991 Beside Franco in Spain (Timewatch)
commitment. Peck’s last work for television was in
two British/Russian animated programs, as the voice
of Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales and Joseph of Ari- Films
mathea in The Miracle Worker. Royal Flash, 1975; Parker, 1985; On the Black Hill,
Jeremy Ridgman 1987; The Kitchen Toto, 1987; Slipstream, 1989;
Ladder of Swords, 1989; Lord of the Flies, 1990;
Bob (Robert) Peck. Born in Leeds, England, August Hard Times, 1991; Jurassic Park, 1993; Surviving
23, 1945. Educated at Leeds College of Art, diploma in Picasso, 1996; Fairytale: A True Story, 1997;
Art and Design, 1967. Married: Gillian Mary Baker, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, 1997.
1982; children: Hannah Louise and George Edward.
Member of repertory theaters in Birmingham, Scarbor- Stage
ough, and Exeter, 1969–74; Royal Shakespeare Com- Life Class, 1974; Henry IV, Parts One and Two,
pany, 1975–84; appeared in numerous television 1975–76; King Lear, 1976; A Winter’s Tale, 1976;
1740
Pee-wee’s Playhouse
Man Is Man, 1976; Destiny, 1976–77; Schweyk in The Three Sisters, 1979; The Accrington Pals, 1981;
the Second World War, 1976–77; Much Ado about The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, 1981;
Nothing, 1977; Macbeth, 1976–78, 1983; Bandits, Anthony and Cleopatra, 1983; The Tempest, 1983;
1977; The Bundle, 1977; The Days of the Commune, Maydays, 1983; A Chorus of Disapproval, 1985;
1977; The Way of the World, 1978; The Merry Wives The Road to Mecca, 1985; In Lambeth, 1989; The
of Windsor, 1978; Cymbeline, 1979; Othello, 1979; Price, 1990; Rutherford and Son, 1995.
U.S. Children’s Program
Pee-wee’s Playhouse, a half-hour CBS-TV Saturday next year Pee-wee’s Playhouse premiered on CBS.
morning live-action “children’s show,” aired from Based on The Pee-wee Herman Show, the Saturday
1986 until 1991 and was enormously popular with morning series was considerably less “adult” than the
both children and adults. The program won six Emmy theater piece had been, although it incorporated many
Awards and a host of other accolades during its first of the same supporting characters, including lusty sea-
season. Incorporating clips from vintage cartoons and man Captain Carl (Phil Hartman in his pre-Saturday
old educational films, newly produced 3-D animation, Night Live days) and the magical genie Jambi (co-
hand puppets, marionettes, and a cast of endearingly writer John Paragon), the latter a disembodied head in
eccentric characters led by a gray-suited and red-bow- a box who granted Pee-wee’s wishes. Other (human)
tied Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens), Pee-wee’s Play- characters appearing on the TV show included Reba
house might best be described as a flamboyant takeoff the mail lady (S. Epatha Merkerson), the pretty girl-
on the genre of children’s educational TV—a sort of next-door Miss Yvonne (Lynne Stewart), the King of
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood meets MTV. Each week Cartoons (William Marshall and Gilbert Lewis), Cow-
the childlike Pee-wee welcomed viewers into his Tech- boy Curtis (Larry Fishburne), Tito the lifeguard
nicolor fantasyland and led them through a regimen of (Roland Rodriguez), Ricardo the soccer player (Vic
crafts and games, cartoon clips, “secret words,” and Trevino), and the obese Mrs. Steve (Shirley Stoler).
“educational” adventures via his Magic Screen. Yet, in Puppetry was employed to create the characters of
stark contrast to the high moral seriousness of its pre- bad-boy Randy, the Cowntess, Pteri the Pterodactyl,
decessors, Pee-wee’s Playhouse was marked from its Conky the Robot, Globey the Globe, Chairy the Chair,
outset by a campy sensibility and frequent use of dou- and many others. Newly produced animated sequences
ble entendre, allowing different types of viewers to en- focused on a young girl named Penny, a family of
joy the show in many different ways. As The miniature dinosaurs who lived in the walls of the Play-
Hollywood Reporter put it, Pee-wee’s Playhouse was house, and a refrigerator full of anthropomorphized
“TV gone Dada . . . skillfully balanc[ing] the distinction food. Music for the shows was provided by cutting-
between low-camp and high performance art.” edge artists such as Mark Mothersbaugh, Todd Rund-
Pee-wee Herman was the brainchild of Reubens, an gren, Danny Elfman, and Van Dyke Parks. Dolls and
actor who developed the rather nasal-voiced and toys of both Pee-wee and other Playhouse denizens
somewhat bratty character through routines and skits were successfully marketed, and something of a Pee-
in comedy clubs. Reubens as Pee-wee (the ruse was to wee craze spread through popular culture. Episodes of
present Pee-wee as a “real” person and not just a char- the series were aired in prime time in November of
acter) appeared on comedy and talk shows and in a 1987, and another feature film, Big Top Pee-wee, was
successful Los Angeles theater production, The Pee- released in 1988. That same year Pee-wee’s Playhouse
wee Herman Show, which quickly developed a cult Christmas Special aired in prime time, featuring most
following after it was taped and aired on Home Box of the regular characters plus a plethora of special
Office. In 1985 the character starred in Tim Burton’s guest stars, including k.d. lang, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Little
debut feature film, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, and the Richard, the Del Rubio Triplets, Cher, Grace Jones,
1741
easily ignored or dismissed by other, more mainstream

critics. Some parents objected to the show’s polymor-
phous and anarchic approach to childhood (encourag-
ing children to “scream real loud” or jump around the
house).
When Paul Reubens was arrested inside an adult
movie theater in August 1991, the Pee-wee craze came
to an abrupt end. The show was canceled, and in many
toy stores Pee-wee merchandise was removed from the
shelves. A few years later, Reubens as Pee-wee made
an appearance at an MTV event, but it seemed as if his
days as a television host of a “children’s show” were
over, despite the fact that his pre-(hetero)sexualized
antics and progressive social attitude had captured the
United States’ imagination so strongly—for a few
years, at least.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Paul Reubens, Chairie, 1986–90. Harry M. Benshoff
Cast
Pee-wee Herman Paul Reubens
Miss Yvonne Lynne Stewart
Dinah Shore, Joan Rivers, Annette Funicello, and Dixie Johann Carlo
Frankie Avalon. King of Cartoons Gilbert Lewis/William Marshall
From its debut, Pee-wee’s Playhouse attracted the Conky the Robot Gregory Harrison
attention of media theorists and critics, many of whom Reba S. Epatha Merkerson
championed the show as a postmodernist collage of Jambi John Paragon
queer characters and situations that seemed to fly in the Elvis Shawn Weiss
face of dominant racist, sexist, and heterosexist pre- Cher Diane Yang
sumptions. (Some accounts of the show were less cele- Opal Natasha Lyonne
bratory and criticized the show’s regular use of comic Captain Carl Phil Hartman
fat women as sexist.) The show was forthrightly multi- Cowboy Curtis Larry Fishburne
cultural in cast and situation: the “mailman” was an Tito Roland Rodriguez
African-American mail lady; Latino soccer player Ri- Ricardo Vic Trevino
cardo often spoke Spanish without translation; the Mrs.Steve Shirley Stoler
white Miss Yvonne went on a date with African-
American Cowboy Curtis; tough-as-nails cab driver
Dixie (Johann Carlo) was a possible lesbian; and Programming History
Jambi was played as a dishy gay man. Pee-wee himself CBS
often poked fun at heterosexist conventions: he once September 1986–August 1991 Saturday mornings
“married” a bowl of fruit salad. The smirking irony,
the campy double entendre (“Is that a wrench is your Further Reading
pocket?”), and the use of icons from gay and lesbian
culture (perhaps most infamously on the Christmas Balfour, Ian, “The Playhouse of the Signifier,” camera obscura
(May 1988)
special, which, aside from its guest stars, featured two Bryan, Bruce, “Pee-wee Herman: The Homosexual Subtext,”
muscular and shirtless workmen building a “blue boy” CineAction (Summer 1987)
wing to the playhouse out of fruitcakes) furthered this Doty, Alexander, Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting
interpretation. This apparent outbreak of playful Mass Culture, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
queerness during the politically reactionary Reagan- 1993
Jenkins, Henry, “‘Going Bonkers!’: Children, Play, and Pee-
Bush/Moral Majority years was a key factor in many wee,” camera obscura (May 1988)
adults’ enjoyment of the show. Yet that same queerness Penley, Constance, “The Cabinet of Dr. Pee-wee: Consumerism
lurked in the realm of connotation, where it was just as and Sexual Terror,” camera obscura (May 1988)
1742
Pennies from Heaven
Pennies from Heaven

British Drama Series
Pennies from Heaven, a six-part drama series written constantly juxtaposed, but Potter does not provide easy
by Dennis Potter, received great popular and critical evaluations. It is possible to laugh at the simplicity of
acclaim, including the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Arthur’s belief in the “truth” of the popular love songs
Drama, when it was first transmitted on BBC TV in he sells, but scorn the shallow cynicism of his sales-
1978. This was the first six-part drama by Potter after men companions. Arthur’s naïveté has to be balanced
some 16 single television plays, and in its format and against his duplicity: although he loves Eileen and
mixture of popular music and dance sequences, it an- promises to help her, he scribbles down a wrong ad-
ticipated such later works as The Singing Detective dress and creates enormous complications for them.
(1986) and Lipstick on your Collar (1993). Potter’s Yet, however sentimental the songs are, they point to a
ironic handling of music and dance in the television se- world of desire that, in some form, human beings need
rial was a landmark in British television and his own and that is otherwise unrecognized in popular dis-
career. He uses these forms of expression to both discourse. Although Potter used popular music and Busby
rupt the naturalism of the narrative and to show uncon- Berkeley–type choreography, Pennies is not a conven-
scious desires of individuals and of society (the MGM tional musical: the music is not contemporary and thus
feature film version failed to capture the seamless flow arrives with a freight of period nostalgia. Moreover,
from conscious to unconscious desires, treated the the music is dubbed and the actors lip-synch (on occa-
story as a conventional musical, and was a flop). sion across gender lines) so that the effect is comic or
The play tells the story of Arthur Parker, a sheet- ironic as well as enticingly nostalgic.
music salesman in 1930s Britain who is frustrated by If the songs and dance routines are used to express
his frigid wife, Joan, and by the deafness of the shop- unconscious desires or those beyond the characters’
keepers to the beauty of the songs he sells. Although, ability to articulate, another device that provides ac-
as Potter has recalled, Arthur is “an adulterer, and a liar cess to the unconscious and interferes with any natu-
and was weak and cowardly and dishonest . . . he really ralistic reading is the use of doubles. Although
wanted the world to be like the songs” (see Potter, physically and in terms of class distinctly different,
1993). When he falls in love with a young Arthur and the accordion man, and Joan and Eileen,
schoolteacher named Eileen, Arthur connects the are potential versions of the same identity. While the
beauty of the songs with his sexual longings. When she accordion man is presumed to have raped and killed a
becomes pregnant, she has to abandon her blind girl (significantly, not shown), Arthur’s barely
schoolteaching career and flee to London, where she suppressed wish to rape her shows his equivalence.
takes up prostitution to earn a living. After making Similarly, Joan and Eileen, though opposites in terms
contact with Arthur once more, she abandons her of sexual repression, share a similar shrewd awareness
pimp, Arthur abandons Joan, and they set off for the of social reality. The main difference is that Eileen is
country for a brief experience of happiness. The rural led to defy social conventions while Joan is content to
idyll is breached by two murders: Arthur is wrongly work within them, recognizing their power. Arthur’s
pursued for the rape and murder of a blind girl; while limited understanding is compensated for by his naive
seeking a hideaway from pursuers, Eileen murders a passion for music and love, which offers a truth about
threatening farmer. The two return to London where how the world might be.
Arthur is apprehended, charged, and hanged for the Pennies from Heaven can be seen as a development
blind girl’s murder. Eileen, significantly, is not pur- from the 1972 play Follow the Yellow Brick Road, in
sued. which the hero Jack Black, a television actor, shuns the
The disturbing realities that punctuate the narrative real world in favor of the ideal world of television ads
(rape, murder, prostitution, the grinding poverty of the in which families are happy, the sun shines, and every-
Depression era) are counterbalanced by the naive opti- body is optimistic. The earlier play expresses a bleaker
mism of Arthur, expressed through the sentimental Manichean universe of good and evil, while the later
love songs of the period. Daydreams and reality are work acknowledges the internal nature of good and
1743
Pennies from Heaven
Sergeant John Ringham

Conrad Baker Nigel Havers
Bank Manager Peter Cellier
Marjorie Rosemary Martin
Barrett Arnold Peters
Dave Philip Jackson
Irene Jenny Logan
Maurice Spencer Banks
Dad Michael Bilton
Blind Girl Yvonne Palfrey
Miner Frederick Radley
Mrs. Corder Bella Emberg
Barman Will Stampe
Farmer Philip Locke
Judge Carleton Hobbs
Jumbo Robert Putt
Woman Patient Maryann Turner
Cafe Proprietor Tony Caunter
Estate Agent Roger Brierley
Will Keith Marsh
Police Constable Roger Forbes
Customer Tudor Davies
Michael Nigel Rathbone
Constable Tim Swinton
Betty Tessa Dunne
Alf Bill Dean
Detective Inspector John Malcolm
Doctor Vass Anderson
Pennies from Heaven, Bob Hoskins, 1978. Tramp Paddy Joyce
Clerk of the Court Stanley Fleet
Carter Wally Thomas
Youth Tony London
evil and suggests the possibility of redemption, if not Man on Bridge Alan Foss
accommodation, between our lower and higher im- Foreman of the Jury Hal Jeayes
pulses. At a further remove, Pennies from Heaven can Pianist Sam Avent
be seen to pick up the themes of the life-affirming Street Whore Phyllis MacMahon
power of transgressive behavior, and the comic/musi- Busker Ronnie Ross
cal presentation of them, found in John Gay’s Mike Savage Arnold
Beggar’s Opera (1728). Olwen Griffiths First Pub Whore
Brendan Kenny Maggy Maxwell Second Pub Whore
Reg Lever Man in Queue
See also Potter, Dennis; Singing Detective, The
Roy Boyd Horace
Laurence Harrington Inspector
Cast Noel Collins Chaplain
Arthur Parker Bob Hoskins David Webb Shop Manager
Eileen Everson Cheryl Campbell Roger Heathcott Executioner
Joan Parker Gemma Craven Robin Meredith Customer
Accordion Man Kenneth Colley Steve Ubels Pedestrian
Mr. Warner Freddie Jones Betty Hardy Railway Passenger #1
Tom Hywel Bennett Frank Lazarus Railway Passenger #2
Major Archibald Paxville Ronald Fraser Norman Warwick Railway Passenger #3
Police Inspector Dave King David Rowlands Railway Passenger #4
1744
Perry Mason
Programming History Potter, Dennis, Waiting for the Boat, London: Faber and Faber,
6 episodes 1984
Potter, Dennis, Potter on Potter, edited by Graham Fuller, Lon-
BBC don and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1993
March 7, 1978–April 11, 1978 Potter, Dennis, Seeing the Blossom, London and Boston: Faber
and Faber, 1994
Stead, Peter, Dennis Potter, Bridgend: Seren Books, 1993
Further Reading Wu, Duncan, Six Contemporary Dramatists: Bennett, Potter,
Gray, Brenton, Hare, Ayckbourn, New York and London: St.
Potter, Dennis, Pennies from Heaven, London: Quartet Books, Martin’s Press, 1995
1981 Wyver, John, “Paradise Perhaps,” Time Out (March 3, 1978)
Perry Mason
U.S. Legal Drama/Mystery
Perry Mason was the longest-running lawyer show in volving some courtroom “pyrotechnics.” This act not
American television history. Its original run lasted nine only proves his client innocent but identifies the real
years, and its success in both syndication and made- culprit. These scenes are easily the best and most mem-
for-television movies confirm its impressive stamina. orable. It is not because they are realistic. On the con-
Mason’s fans include lawyers and judges who were in- trary, they are hardly that. What is so engaging about
fluenced by this series to enter their profession. The them is the combination of Mason’s efforts to free his
Mason character was created by mystery writer Erle client, perhaps a surprise witness brought in by Drake in
Stanley Gardner and delivered his first brief in the the closing courtroom scene, and a dramatic courtroom
novel The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933). From 1934 confession. The murderer being in the courtroom during
to 1937, Warner produced six films featuring Mason. A the trial and not hiding out in the Bahamas provides the
radio series also based on Mason ran every weekday single most important image of each episode. The mur-
afternoon on CBS radio from 1944 to 1955 as a detec- derer forgoes the Fifth Amendment and admits his/her
tive show/soap opera. When the CBS television series guilt in an often tearful outburst of “I did it! And I’m
was developed as an evening drama, the radio series glad I did!” This pronouncement happens under the
was changed from Perry Mason to The Edge of Night, shocked, amazed eyes of district attorney Burger and
and the cast renamed, so as not to compete against the the stoic, sure face of defense attorney Mason.
television series. Although it is often identified with other lawyer dra-
The title character is a lawyer working out of Los An- mas such as L.A. Law and The Defenders, Perry Ma-
geles. Mason, played on TV by Raymond Burr, is son was more of a detective series. Each episode was a
teamed with two talented and ever-faithful assistants: carefully structured detective puzzle that both estab-
trusty and beautiful secretary Della Street, played by lished and perpetuated a number of conventions asso-
Barbara Hale, and the suave but boyish private detective ciated with most television detective series. Perry
Paul Drake, played by William Hopper. In each episode, Mason used the legal profession and the trial situation
this trio works to clear their innocent client of the charge as a forum for detective work. Although strictly formu-
of murder, opposing the formidable district attorney laic, each episode was guided by the elements of the
Hamilton Burger, played by William Talman. Most variations that distinguish one episode from another.
episodes follow this simple formula: the guest charac- For example, since nearly every episode began with
ters are introduced and their situation shows that at least the guest characters rather than with the series regu-
one of them is capable of murder. When the murder hap- lars, these guest characters set the tone for the rest of
pens, an innocent person (most often a woman) is ac- the episode. If the show were going to be youth ori-
cused, and Mason takes the case. As evidence mounts ented, these characters were young. If it were going to
against his client, Mason pulls out a legal maneuver in- be a contested will, the heirs were introduced.
1745
Perry Mason
for-television movies. Perry Mason Returns was fol-

lowed by The Case of the Notorious Nun (1986). Burr
was back as Mason, albeit a bit older, grayer, and
bearded, with Barbara Hale as his executive secretary.
Since William Hopper had died in 1970, William Katt
(who is the real-life son of Barbara Hale) was featured
in the first nine episodes as Paul Drake, Jr. In The Case
of the Lethal Lesson (1989), Katt was replaced by a
graduating law student, Ken Malansky, played by Wil-
liam R. Moses. Each plot developed over two hours in-
stead of one, and the extra time was spent on extended
chases and blind alleys. However, the basic formula
stayed the same.
This newest version of Perry Mason took an inter-
esting twist in the spring of 1994. After Burr’s death in
the fall of 1993, executive producers Fred Silverman
and Dean Hargrove followed the wishes of the estate
of Erle Stanley Gardner and kept the character alive
but off-screen. First to replace him as visiting attorney
was Paul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso in The Case of
the Wicked Wives (1993) and then Hal Holbrook
starred as “Wild Bill” McKenzie in The Case of the
Lethal Lifestyle (1994). In each movie, Mason was
conveniently absent. But Street and Malansky were
still available as assistants for the “visiting” attorney,
Perry Mason, Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, 1957–66.
and the series was still called A Perry Mason Mystery,
Courtesy of the Everett Collection so that, production after production, the character
could live on. However, after the last appearance of
Holbrook as the visiting attorney, the TV movie series
The credit for the series’ success should be split was canceled.
equally between Burr, the Perry Mason production J. Dennis Bounds
style, and the series’ creator Gardner. Burr provided
See also Burr, Raymond; Detective Programs
the characterization of a cool, calculating attorney,
while the production style built tension in plots at once
solidly formulaic and cleverly surprising, and Gardner, Cast (1957–66)
as an uncredited executive story editor, made sure each Perry Mason Raymond Burr
episode carefully blended legal drama with clever de- Della Street Barbara Hale
tective work. In all, the series won three Emmys, two Paul Drake William Hopper
for Burr and one for Hale. Hamilton Burger William Talman
The series made a brief return in 1973, with the Lieutenant Arthur Tragg
same production team as the original series but a new (1957–65) Ray Collins
cast. Monte Markham replaced Burr. That this ver- David Gideon (1961–62) Karl Held
sion did not survive 15 episodes reveals that one of Lieutenant Anderson
the key draws of the original series was its casting. It (1961–65) Wesley Lau
is interesting to note, however, that Markham’s Ma- Lieutenant Steve Drumm
son was closer to the one featured in the original nov- (1965–66) Richard Anderson
els. Both were brash, elegant, and coolly businesslike Sergeant Brice (1959–66) Lee Miller
in their dealings with clients, something Burr never Terrence Clay (1965–66) Dan Tobin
was. But it was Burr’s coolness and control that be-
came so identified with the character that, for the
television audience, there was no other Mason than Cast (1973–74)
Burr. Perry Mason Monte Markham
Beginning with Perry Mason Returns, Burr returned Della Street Sharon Acker
to his role in 1985 for an almost 10-year run of made- Paul Drake Albert Stratton
1746
Person to Person
Lieutenant Arthur Tragg Dane Clark September 1964–September

Hamilton Burger Harry Guardino 1965 Thursday 8:00–9:00
Gertrude Lade Brett Somers September 1965–September
1966 Sunday 9:00–10:00
September 1973–January
Producers 1974 Sunday 7:30–8:30
Gail Patrick Jackson, Arthur Marks, Art Seid, Sam
White, Ben Brady
Further Reading
Programming History Fugate, Francis L., and Roberta B. Fugate, Secrets of the
World’s Best Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of
245 episodes Erle Stanley Gardner, New York: Morrow, 1980
CBS Hughes, Dorothy B., Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the
September 1957–September Real Perry Mason, New York: Morrow, 1978
1962 Saturday 7:30–8:30 Kelleher, Brian, and Diana Merrill, The Perry Mason Show
September 1962–September Book, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987
Martindale, David, The Perry Mason Casebook, New York:
1963 Thursday 8:00–9:00 Pioneer, 1991
September 1963–September Meyers, Richard, TV Detectives, San Diego, California: Barnes,
1964 Thursday 9:00–10:00 and London: Tantivy Press, 1981
Person to Person
U.S. Talk/Interview Program
Person to Person developed out of Edward R. Mur- From 1953 through 1956, CBS News aired Person
row’s belief that human beings are innately curious. to Person, but it was independently owned and pro-
That curiosity was intense regarding the private lives duced by John Aaron, Jesse Zousmer, and Murrow.
of public people, or visiting the extraordinary in the Tensions inside CBS began when Fred Friendly, Mur-
most ordinary environment—the home. For his televi- row’s producer of See It Now, accused Murrow of cap-
sion program, then, Murrow, sitting comfortably in the italizing on the remote, in-home, investigative news
studio, informally greeted two guests a week, who interviews done with political leaders, and pioneered
gave 15-minute interviews from their homes, talking by Friendly, on See It Now. Although the remote, in-
about the everyday activities of their lives. The inter- home interview was not new, Person to Person’s ap-
views avoided politics, detailed discussion of current proach differed substantially from other CBS projects.
events, and a line of questioning that delved deeper Murrow anticipated criticism of the series’ lack of
into one or two issues. The more general the question, news-directed discussion. But that was not, in fact, its
and more frequent the change of topic, the more satis- intended purpose.
fying the process of revealing different facets of the Murrow wanted the series to “revive the art of con-
private figure. On Person to Person, people conversed versation.” But the image was as significant as the con-
with Murrow and, starting in the fall of 1959, with versation. Employing from two to six cameras, a
Charles Collingwood, as host. Almost every year for program opened up different parts of an individual’s
nine years, informal chats positioned the show in the home. This was a historical step to building the cult of
top-ten network programs. But the series increasingly the personality in news programs. The personalities
became the battleground, inside and outside CBS, over were divided into two camps, with the entertainment
the function of television news, the ethics of peering and sports figures in one; the second camp included all
into private lives for profit, Murrow’s journalistic in- others, such as artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sci-
tegrity, and the organizational control of the network’s entists, and industrialists.
image. Given the period in which it was produced, the se-
1747
Person to Person
ries’ success was as much technological as human. Re- Horne, Philip Mintoff, Gilbert Seldes, and John Lard-
gardless of the series’ news value, it took time and ef- ner, pointed to Murrow’s petty, aimless chatter, argu-
fort to reach people who were otherwise inaccessible. ing that television demanded more substance and
Murrow’s “guests” lived in different locations marked depth, especially from someone of Murrow’s journal-
by distinctive terrain. Thus, in a time of presatellite istic background. For Murrow’s colleagues, the series
technology, a prerequisite to introducing them to diverted his valuable time and energy from other pro-
Americans via television was a line-of-sight transmis- jects and added an unnecessary burden. When Colling-
sion from the guest home to a telephone microwave wood took over as host, these critics quietly accepted
transmission tower. The production crew always con- the series for what it purported to be.
quered terrain barriers. Although the crew received no- But Murrow steadfastly defended the series. When
toriety for shearing off part of a hill to achieve line of an author, such as Walter White, mentioned a new
sight, they most frequently broke records for building book, book sales increased. Thousands of viewers re-
tall relay towers for onetime remotes, the first adjacent quested a one-sentence, 57-word Chinese proverb read
to the Kutcher’s Hotel in Monticello, New York, en- by Mary Martin, which she had engraved in a rug. If
abling interviews with boxers-in-training Rocky Mar- two or three children committed themselves to piano
ciano and Ezzard Charles. lessons after seeing Van Cliburn, Murrow believed the
The guests were maintained in constant visual and criticism to be worth taking. Moreover, the range and
aural contact through advance placement of large variety of people interviewed was unprecedented for
video cameras in different rooms. It was also necessary network television at the time. One three-week period
to obtain FCC approval for a special high-frequency in 1957 included interviews with the political cartoon-
wireless microphone that could be attached to the ist Herbert Block, media market researcher A.C.
guests. Each program periodically used a split-screen Nielsen, and Robert F. Kennedy, chief council of the
image, a new experience for many television viewers. Senate’s Select Committee.
For the live program to proceed smoothly in real In 1956 CBS Television bought the series from
time, some rehearsal was required. From 1953, inter- Murrow, at that time its sole owner. However, because
views and statements by Murrow made it common Person to Person with Murrow made a large profit for
knowledge that cue questions were used before the CBS, it continued to be the center of conflict between
show so that guests could be “talked through” the Murrow and management. Person to Person elevated
movements to be made from room to room. Thus, cer- its host to celebrity status with the public, and some at
tain questions were prepared, but answers were spon- the network resented the fact that the series placed
taneous. The visit to Marlon Brando’s home, for Murrow in a powerful position. Frank Stanton accused
example, began outside at night, with a stunning view Person to Person’s production practices of deceit and
of Los Angeles. From there it moved to his living dishonesty, claiming guests were coached in questions.
room, and finally, to a downstairs area where friends This charge, coming after the quiz show scandals and
waited to play some music with Brando. A home’s directly attacking Murrow’s integrity, resulted in a
content was part of a guest’s personality, so the camera public airing of personality conflicts that hurt CBS’s
frequently stopped to reveal a picture on the wall, image and further estranged Murrow from the execu-
vases, and other objects of interest. In the early days of tive branch at the network. A public respectful of Mur-
the series, guests pointing out possessions of special row as host, however, did not rush to condemn him for
value interrupted discussion, sometimes making the taking risks on other shows, such as his methodical
series more of a gallery of art objects. And many times criticism of Senator McCarthy. Fidel Castro’s appear-
a show’s success depended on how comfortable both ance on Person to Person had the potential to alienate
the guest and the host were with the arrangement. In- viewers who considered him a communist dictator, and
evitably, the spontaneous nature of the discussion or the program attracted government criticism of CBS,
awkwardness of a situation generated embarrassing but Murrow survived the resulting criticism. Person to
moments, such as Julie Harris folding diapers as she Person’s success in the ratings translated to Colling-
spoke, or Maria Callas throwing Murrow off guard by wood as host, continuing to feed the public’s appetite
innocently noting she liked the quality of lingerie in for the celebrity interview. When Collingwood began,
the United States. Perhaps for these reasons, the pro- the series added the attraction of overseas interviews,
ducers valued those infrequent visits to “homes” that filmed or taped.
had more news value, such as the warden’s home on Person to Person first generated many of the argu-
Alcatraz Island, or an old lighthouse. ments still lodged by critics of today’s talk shows, ar-
The series and Murrow received frequent criticism. guments questioning the primacy of the individual in
Respected television critics, including Harriet Van news and the role of a voyeuristic camera as a com-
1748
Pertwee, Jon
pelling approach to news. But before the series began, October 1959–September
Murrow insisted on a thorough respect for the home of 1960 Friday 10:30–11:00
guests “invaded” by the camera. Unlike the series to September 1960–December
follow, Murrow and the camera did not confront 1960 Thursday 10:00–10:30
guests with questions constituting an inquiry. Both June 1961–September
Murrow and Collingwood permitted their guests to di- 1961 Friday 10:30–11:00
rect the conversations, which accounted for a mean-
dering pace. The hosts’ respect for the public figure in
Further Reading
a private setting and avoidance of emotional con-
frontations created a unique ambiance in this program- Bliss, Edward Jr., editor, In Search of Light: The Broadcasts of
ming genre, and Person to Person stands as a vital Edward R. Murrow, 1939–1961, New York: Knopf, 1967
Cloud, Stanley, and Lynne Olson, The Murrow Boys: Pioneers
example of television’s potential for personal, individ- on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism, New York:
ualized communication. Houghton Mifflin, 1996
Richard Bartone Friendly, Fred, Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control . . . ,
New York: Random House, 1967
See also Friendly, Fred W.; Murrow, Edward R.; Friendly, Fred, “Edward R. Murrow’s Legacy and Today’s Me-
Talk Shows dia,” Educational Broadcasting Review (August 1971)
Gates, Gary Paul, Air Time; The Inside Story of CBS News, New
York: Harper and Row, 1978
Hosts Gould, Jack, “CBS Revises TV Policy to End Program De-
Edward R. Murrow ceits,” New York Times (October 20, 1959)
Charles Collingwood Kendrick, Alexander, Prime Time: The Life of Edward R. Mur-
row, Boston: Little, Brown, 1969
Kuralt, Charles, “Edward R. Murrow,” North Carolina Histori-
cal Review (1971)
Producers Merron, J., “Murrow on TV: See It Now, Person to Person, and
John Aaron, Jesse Zousmer, Charles Hill, Robert the Making of a ‘Masscult Personality,’” Journalism Mono-
Sammon, Edward R. Murrow graphs (1988)
“Murrow’s Indictment of Broadcasting,” Columbia Journalism
Review (Summer 1965)
Persico, Joseph E., Edward R. Murrow: An American Original,
Programming History New York: Dell, 1990
CBS Sperber, A.M., Murrow: His Life and Times, New York: Fre-
October 1953–June 1959 Friday 10:30–11:00 undlich, 1986
Pertwee, Jon (1919–1996)

British Actor
Jon Pertwee was a British comedy character actor 1969 to take over as the Doctor from Patrick
credited with an extensive list of stage, screen, radio, Troughton, Pertwee brought to the program a radically
and cabaret appearances. The onetime spouse of Up- different interpretation of the title character. Aired ini-
stairs, Downstairs star Jean Marsh, Pertwee is best tially in 1963, Doctor Who was produced by the drama
known for his turn from 1970 to 1974 as the Doctor in department at the BBC and—contrary to many re-
the long-running BBC program, Doctor Who. A master ports—was not intended primarily for children. The
of accents, voices, sounds, and comical walks, Pertwee first Doctor, as portrayed by William Hartnell, was a
perfected his multiple comedic personae on the radio renegade Time Lord from the planet of Gallifrey who
series The Navy Lark and in supporting roles in various exhibited a strong moral sense, an aggressive and cur-
films, beginning with his appearance in 1937’s Dinner mudgeonly attitude, and impatience with his various
at the Ritz. earthly companions’ comparative mental slowness.
Recruited by Doctor Who producer Peter Bryant in Hartnell was replaced in 1966 by Patrick Troughton,
1749
Pertwee, Jon
Pertwee’s love of fast vehicles and gadgets

prompted him to suggest that the Doctor travel from
trouble spot to trouble spot in an Edwardian four-seat
roadster eventually named “Bessie.” During most of
Pertwee’s term, the Doctor was banished to Earth by
the Time Lords of Gallifrey, thus necessitating a differ-
ent mode of transportation than his predecessors en-
joyed with the Tardis, the Doctor’s police-box-styled
time machine. Thus, “Bessie” and (in 1974) the “Who-
mobile,” a flying-saucer-shaped, custom three-wheel
car built for Pertwee by Peter Faries, became the Doc-
tor’s primary transportation during the four years Doc-
tor Number 3 assisted UNIT (United Nations
Intelligence Taskforce) and its indefatigable leader,
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), as
they saved the Earth from a variety of monsters, aliens,
Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who. megalomaniacs, and other menaces.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection In early 1974 Pertwee announced he would step
down from his stint as the Doctor following that sea-
son’s shooting, in order to resume his stage career in
The Breadwinner. His final appearance came in “The
who played the part as a “cosmic hobo” in the tradition Planet of the Spiders,” which dovetailed with the ini-
of Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp. tial episode the following season, “Robot,” during
As Sean Hogben asserted in “Doctor Who: Adven- which Tom Baker took over as the regenerated Time
ture with Time to Spare” in TV Week, however, “Doc- Lord. Pertwee returned in 1983 to share top billing
tor Who won its reputation as a top science fiction with his fellow Doctors in “The Five Doctors,” a 20th-
series during Jon Pertwee’s time in the role.” Reacting anniversary celebration and one of the stories best re-
to the popularity of the early James Bond films, and ceived by the series’ fans. The plot found all five
determined to move away from the clownish depiction incarnations of Doctor Who taking on their most mem-
Troughton gave the Doctor, Pertwee played the char- orable enemies, who attempted, but failed, to destroy
acter as an action-based interplanetary crusader ex- the five Doctors for good.
hibiting the characteristics of a folk hero. Pertwee was Jon Pertwee returned briefly to British television in
thus able to draw on his considerable ability to perform 1979 for the short-lived comedy series Worzel Gum-
his own stunts—resulting from his love of skin diving midge. His post-Doctor years found him performing
and waterskiing, along with his habit of driving fast primarily onstage and in motion pictures. He contin-
vehicles—which gave a harder edge to his interpreta- ued his association with the Doctor Who character
tion. from time to time with appearances at Doctor Who
The Pertwee era began with the serialization of conventions worldwide. While on vacation in the
“Spearhead from Space,” which also introduced the United States, Pertwee died unexpectedly at the age of
program’s fans to the series’ first broadcasts in color, 77 on May 20, 1996.
after 17 years of black-and-white shows. Pertwee’s Robert Craig
adoption of his grandfather’s evening suits as the foun-
See also Doctor Who
dation of the Doctor’s garb allowed him to switch
among different colored velvet smoking jackets to
mark each passing season of episodes. With this Jon Devon Roland Pertwee. Born in London, July 7,
change in the Doctor’s apparel, the producers began to 1919. Attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (ex-
publicize the series as providing “adventure in style,” pelled). Married: 1) Jean Marsh, 1955 (divorced,
alluding to Pertwee’s penchant for a similar type of life 1960); 2) Ingeborg Rhosea, 1960; children: Dariel and
outside the studio while partly cashing in on the liber- Sean. Toured with the Arts League of Service Travel-
ated “Swinging Sixties” ambiance still prevalent in ling Theatre, prior to World War II; film debut, 1937;
Great Britain during the early 1970s. The fact that the after service with the Royal Navy, worked in BBC ra-
program was attracting a considerable audience among dio comedy and also appeared in films; achieved fame
upscale 17- to 19-year-olds also contributed to this as television performer as third actor to star in Doctor
change in character depiction and promotion. Who, 1970–74; also starred in Worzel Gummidge and
1750
Peter Gunn
made many other television appearances. Died May Radio

20, 1996. Up the Pole; The Navy Lark.
Television Series
Recordings
1970–74, 1983 Doctor Who
Worzel’s Song, 1980; Worzel Gummidge Sings, 1980.
1975–78 Whodunnit? (host)
1979–81 Worzel Gummidge
1987 Worzel Gummidge Down Under Stage
HMS Waterlogged, 1944; Waterlogged Spa, 1946;
Films (selected) Knock on Wood, 1954; There’s a Girl in My Soup;
A Yank at Oxford, 1937; Murder at the Windmill, 1948; Oh Clarence; Irene.
Mr. Drake’s Duck, 1951; Will Any Gentleman?, 1953;
A Yank in Ermine, 1956; It’s a Wonderful World,
1956; Carry On Cleo, 1964; Carry on Cowboy, 1965; Further Reading
I’ve Gotta Horse, 1965; Carry On Screaming, 1966; Bentham, Jeremy, Doctor Who: The Early Years, London:
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Allen, 1986
1966; The House That Dripped Blood, 1970; One of Dicks, Terrance, and Malcolm Hulke, The Making of Doctor
Our Dinosaurs Is Missing, 1975; Adventures of a Pri- Who, London: Allen, 1980
Haining, Peter, Doctor Who, the Key to Time: A Year-by-Year
vate Eye, 1977; Wombling Free (voice only), 1977; Record, London: Allen, 1984
The Water Babies (voice only), 1978; The Boys in Nathan-Turner, John, Doctor Who: The Tardis Inside Out, New
Blue, 1983; Carry On Columbus, 1992. York: Random House, 1985
Peter Gunn
U.S. Detective Program
Peter Gunn, a top-rated detective drama, ran on NBC sorted “hip” characters found on the jazz scene. He
from 1958 to 1960, and then on ABC in 1960 and was often aided by his personal friend and confidant,
1961. The television series was distinguished for its police Lieutenant Jacoby (Herschel Bernardi). Al-
stylish and sophisticated lead character, Peter Gunn, though Gunn often had to endure many thrown fists, he
and is also remembered for the jazz-influenced music himself did not advocate brutality, and violence was
of Henry Mancini. Created and produced by then- not a feature of the series. In the end, the crime was al-
neophyte filmmaker Blake Edwards, Peter Gunn was ways solved, the criminals were behind bars, and Gunn
typical of the male private-eye genre of the late 1950s was shown relaxing at Mother’s, where his girlfriend,
and early 1960s. The lead character was handsome, the vocalist Edie Hart (Lola Albright), was the main at-
dashing, and consistently well dressed in tailored suits, traction.
which never seemed to wrinkle even after the usual The style of Peter Gunn has been described by some
scuffles with the bad guys. Edwards clearly modeled viewers as borderline parody. The dialogue was deliv-
the character of Peter Gunn on Cary Grant, considered ered in a hip, deadpan fashion, and at times the series
one of Hollywood’s most debonair leading men. The seemed to be poking fun at more conventional private-
actor chosen to play Gunn, Craig Stevens, even bore a eye series. Blake Edwards attributed the critical suc-
close resemblance to Grant. cess of Peter Gunn to the series’ tendency to be
The series was set in Los Angeles and, more often somewhat over the top. The success of the show
than not, inside a jazz club called Mother’s. The story- spawned many similar private detective dramas in the
line essentially centered around Gunn solving his late 1950s and early 1960s, such as Philip Marlowe
client’s problems, which always involved his having to and Richard Diamond.
deal with an assortment of hit men, hoodlums, and as- An important ingredient in the show, one that pro-
1751
Peter Gunn
show’s action, and here too it set the precedent for

shows that were to follow.
The show lasted for only three seasons, but by stress-
ing style and sophistication Peter Gunn caught the at-
tention of many viewers. The combination of the main
character’s smooth, stoic demeanor, together with
Henry Mancini’s outstanding jazz themes, worked to
leave a lasting impression in the minds of fans.
Gina Abbott and Garth Jowett
See also Detective Programs
Cast
Peter Gunn Craig Stevens
Edie Hart Lola Albright
Lieutenant Jacoby Herschel Bernardi
“Mother” (1958–59) Hope Emerson
“Mother” (1959–61) Minerva Urecal
Producers
Blake Edwards, Gordon Oliver
Programming History
114 episodes
NBC
September 1958–September
Peter Gunn, Craig Stevens, Lola Albright, 1958–61, episode 1960 Monday 9:00–9:30
Spell of Murder aired 1/11/60. ABC
Courtesy of the Everett Collection October 1960–September
1961 Monday 10:30–11:00
vided its unique character, was the music of Henry Further Reading
Mancini. He provided a new score for each episode, Collins, Max Allan, The Best of Crime and Detective TV: Perry
and when released on the RCA label, the two albums Mason to Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files to Murder
The Music of Peter Gunn and More Music from Peter She Wrote, New York: Harmony, 1988
Gunn became best sellers. (The “Peter Gunn Theme” Larka, Robert, Television’s Private Eye: An Examination of
Twenty Years Programming of a Particular Genre, 1949 to
continues to be played on mainstream radio and has 1969, New York: Arno, 1979
even been used as the vehicle for modern rock ver- Meyers, Richard, TV Detectives, San Diego, California: A.S.
sions.) Mancini’s music was an integral part of the Barnes, and London: Tantivy, 1981
Peter Pan
U.S. Special Presentation
First broadcast on NBC in March 1955 and repeated ducers’ Showcase, a loose rubric for high-quality dra-
annually for many years thereafter, Peter Pan was a matic presentations put together by producer Fred Coe
popular melding of American television and Broadway for the network about once a month between 1954 and
theater. It formed part of an ongoing series titled Pro- 1957.
1752
Peter Pan
The impetus for the telecast was the popular Broad-

way musical Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin in the ti-
tle role and costarring Cyril Ritchard as Pan’s nemesis
Captain Hook. Based on the 1904 J.M. Barrie play of
the same name, the Broadway production was staged
by Jerome Robbins. When it ended its theatrical run,
Coe arranged to run a version of it, modified for the
small screen, on NBC on March 5, 1955.
The production fitted neatly into two of NBC’s
strategies for establishing its identity as a network.
First, Peter Pan was what NBC vice president (and
programming chief) Pat Weaver called a “spectacu-
lar”—a special, high-quality event that publicized the
network and drew programming power away from in-
dividual sponsors, which generally could not afford to
foot the entire bill for these expensive shows. Second,
the show was hailed by the network and by critics as a
splendid forum for the color television system the net-
work and its parent company, RCA, were hawking.
The teleplay loosely followed the familiar original
Barrie play, moving from the nursery of the Darling
family in London to the island of Neverland, a magical
and mythical place to which the eternally young Peter
Pan lured the Darling children. He was especially in-
terested in Wendy, whom he and the other “lost boys”
wished to adopt as their mother. Before the play’s end, Peter Pan, Mary Martin, Maureen Bailey, Kent Fletcher, Joey
Peter had to defeat the dastardly Captain Hook, a hu- Trent, 1960 TV special.
morously effeminate villain played with panache by Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Ritchard, and return Wendy and her brothers to their
home.
The program’s sets, particularly the Neverland set,
were simple yet colorful, and audiences and critics en- costs (Peter did not want to grow up, and Wendy was
joyed the close-up view of the Broadway play pro- unhappy when she did), played into a growing discom-
vided by the television production. Robbins’s staging fort with preset gender roles. And both its hero and its
blended lively and tender moments, engaging the audi- villain were highly androgynous.
ence from the play’s beginning. The production gained The message and the androgyny were, of course,
prestige not just from its famous stars but also from the present in the original Barrie play. They were en-
addition of Lynn Fontaine as the program’s narrator. hanced, however, by script changes and by the inti-
Peter Pan proved an immediate and spectacular macy of the medium on which the play was broadcast.
success, garnering an overnight rating of 48 and inspir- Peter Pan on television resonated with the color and
ing Jack Gould of the New York Times to speculate that the confusion of its era—and encouraged audiences to
the program had provided “perhaps television’s happi- fly to Neverland for years to come.
est hour.” The production was remounted, live, in Jan- Tinky “Dakota” Weisblat
uary 1956 and was rebroadcast annually for years See also Coe, Fred; Special/Spectacular
thereafter. It was singled out in the 1955 Emmys as the
best single program of the year, and Martin was named
best actress in a single performance. Cast
It is easy to account for the teleplay’s popularity. It Peter Pan Mary Martin
presented a charming and imaginatively staged version Captain Hook/George Darling Cyril Ritchard
of a classic children’s tale, drawing in both adult and Mary Darling Margalo Gillmore
youthful viewers. It also gave Americans a fantasy- Wendy Darling Kathleen Nolan
filled forum in which to debate gender in the postwar John Darling Robert Harrington
years. Michael Darling Joseph Stafford
The teleplay’s message about adult manhood and Liza Hellen Halliday
womanhood, that they were states to be avoided at all Smee Sondra Lee
1753
Peter Pan
Slightly David Bean Director

Tootles Ian Tucker Jerome Robbins
Ostrich Joan Tewkesbury
Crocodile Norman Shelly
Programming History
Wendy (as adult) Ann Connolly
NBC
Nibs Paris Theodore
Two hours; March 7, 1955
Noodler Frank Lindsay
Executive Producer Further Reading

Richard Halliday Hanson, Bruce K., The Peter Pan Chronicles: The Nearly 100-
Year History of the “Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up,” Secau-
cus, New Jersey: Carol, 1993
Producer Martin, Mary, My Heart Belongs, New York: Quill, 1984
Fred Coe Rivadue, Barry, Mary Martin: A Bio-Bibliography, New York:
Greenwood, 1991
Peyton Place
U.S. Serial Melodrama
When it appeared on ABC, at that time still the third- in Latin America, telenovela, and Francophone
ranked U.S. network, Peyton Place, a prime-time pro- Canada, teleroman.) Set in a small New England town,
gram based on the Grace Metalious novel, was an Peyton Place dealt with the secrets and scandals of two
experiment for American television in both content generations of the town’s inhabitants. An unmarried
and scheduling. Premiering in the fall of 1964, Peyton woman, Constance MacKenzie, and her daughter, Alli-
Place was offered in two serialized installments per son, were placed at the dramatic center of the story.
week, Tuesday and Thursday nights, a first for Ameri- Constance (played by 1950s film melodrama star
can prime-time television. Initially drawing more at- Dorothy Malone) eventually married Allison’s father,
tention for its moral tone than for its unique Elliott Carson, when he was released from prison,
scheduling, the serial was launched amid an atmo- though his rival Dr. Michael Rossi was never entirely
sphere of sensationalism borrowed from the novel’s out of the picture. Meanwhile, Allison (Mia Farrow)
reputation. ABC president Leonard Goldenson de- was caught up in a romantic triangle with wealthy
fended the network’s programming choice as a bread- Rodney Harrington (Ryan O’Neal) and Betty Ander-
and-butter decision for the struggling network, and the son (Barbara Parkins), a girl from the wrong side of
moral outcry settled down once the program estab- the tracks. Over the course of the series, Betty tricked
lished itself as implying far more sensation than it Rodney, not telling him until after they were married
would deliver. This prototype of what came to be that she had miscarried their child; Rodney fled and
known in the 1980s as the prime-time soap opera ini- found love with Allison, but Allison disappeared;
tially met with great success: a month after Peyton Betty was married briefly to lawyer Steven Cord but fi-
Place premiered, ABC rose in the Nielsen ratings to nally remarried Rodney. Other soap-operatic plotlines
number one for the first time. At one point, the pro- involved Rodney’s younger brother, Norman Harring-
gram was so successful that a spin-off serial was con- ton, and his marriage to Rita Jacks.
sidered. Both CBS and NBC announced similar The production schedule was closest to that of day-
prime-time serials under development. time soap opera, with no summer hiatus, no repeats,
Executive producer Paul Monash rejected the “soap unlike any prime-time American series before or since.
opera” label for Peyton Place, considering it instead a Within the first year, the pace was increased to three
“television novel.” (His term is, in fact, the one applied episodes per week rather than two, going back to two
1754
Peyton Place
Peyton Place, Mia Farrow, Ryan O’Neal, Dorothy Malone,

Chris Connelly, Barbara Parkins, 1964–69. Peyton Place, Barbara Parkins, Dorothy Malone, Ryan O’Neal,
©20thCentury Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection 1964–69.
episodes per week in the 1966–67 season as the craze

for the show declined. Several of the show’s plot twists all-white Peyton Place. Cut back to one half-hour
were necessitated by cast changes. Most notably, Alli- episode per week, the show also was scheduled a half
son MacKenzie’s disappearance occurred when Mia hour earlier to appeal further to youthful audiences.
Farrow left the series in 1966 for her highly publicized These drastic changes did nothing to revive ratings
marriage to Frank Sinatra. The program never fully re- for the serial, which lasted through the spring of 1969.
covered from Farrow’s departure, though news of the ABC brought it back for two years in the 1970s as a
distant Allison kept the character alive. Some two daytime serial, and in 1985 nine of the original cast
years after Farrow left, a young woman appeared with members appeared in a made-for-TV movie, Peyton
a baby she claimed was Allison’s, a development that Place: The Next Generation.
timed with the release of Farrow’s theatrical film, Sue Brower
Rosemary’s Baby.
See also Melodrama; Soap Opera
In 1968 Peyton Place underwent a transformation.
Some storylines were developed to accommodate
more cast changes (Dorothy Malone left the show), but Cast
many of the changes in the final season seem to have Constance MacKenzie/Carson
been in response to Goldenson’s call for more youth- (1964–68) Dorothy Malone
ful, “relevant” programming. One of the youthful ad- Allison MacKenzie (1964–
ditions was the leader of a rock group. Most 66) Mia Farrow
significant, however, an African-American family— Dr. Michael Rossi Ed Nelson
Dr. Harry Miles (Percy Rodriguez), his wife, Alma Matthew Swain (1964–66) Warner Anderson
(Ruby Dee), and their teenage son, Lew (Glynn Tur- Leslie Harrington (1964–68) Paul Langton
man)—assumed a central position in the heretofore Rodney Harrington Ryan O’Neal
1755
Peyton Place
Norman Harrington Christopher Connelly Eddie Jacks (1967–68) Dan Duryea

Betty Anderson/Harrington/ Carolyn Russell (1968–69) Elizabeth “Tippy”
Cord/Harrington Barbara Parkins Walker
Julie Anderson Kasey Rogers Fred Russell (1968–69) Joe Maross
George Anderson (1964–65) Henry Beckman Marsha Russell (1968–69) Barbara Rush
Dr. Robert Morton (1964–65) Kent Smith Rev. Tom Winter (1968–69) Bob Hogan
Steven Cord James Douglas Susan Winter (1968–69) Diana Hyland
Hannah Cord (1965–67) Ruth Warrick Dr. Harry Miles (1968–69) Percy Rodriguez
Paul Hanley (1965) Richard Evans Alma Miles (1968–69) Ruby Dee
Elliott Carson (1965–68) Tim O’Connor Lew Miles (1968–69) Glynn Turman
Eli Carson Frank Ferguson Jill Smith/Rossi (1968) Joyce Jillison
Nurse Choate (1965–68) Erin O’Brien-Moore Joe Rossi (1968) Michael Christian
Dr. Claire Morton (1965) Mariette Hartley
Dr. Vincent Markham (1965) Leslie Nielsen
Rita Jacks/Harrington (1965– Producers
69) Patricia Morrow Paul Monash, Everett Chambers, Richard Goldstone,
Ada Jacks (1965–69) Evelyn Scott Felix Feist, Richard DeRoy
David Schuster (1965–66) William Smithers
Doris Schuster (1965) Gail Kobe
Kim Schuster (1965) Kimberly Beck Programming History
Theodore Dowell (1965) Patrick Whyte 514 episodes
Stella Chernak (1965–68) Lee Grant ABC
Joe Chernak (1965) Dan Quine September 1964–June 1965 Tuesday and Thursday
Gus Chernak (1965–66) Bruce Gordon 9:30–10:00
Dr. Russ Gehring (1965–66) David Canary June 1965–October 1965 Tuesday, Thursday, and
John Fowler (1965–66) John Kerr Friday 9:30–10:00
Marian Fowler (1965–66) Joan Blackman November 1965–August Monday, Tuesday, and
Martin Peyton (1965–68) George Macready 1966 Thursday 9:30–10:00
Martin Peyton (temporary September 1966–January Monday and Wednes-
replacement, 1967) Wilfred Hyde-White 1967 day 9:30–10:00
Sandy Webber (1966–67) Lana Wood January 1967–August 1967 Monday and Tuesday
Chris Webber (1966–67) Gary Haynes 9:30–10:00
Lee Webber (1966–68) Stephen Oliver September 1967–September Monday and Thursday
Ann Howard (1966) Susan Oliver 1968 9:30–10:00
Rachael Welles (1966–67) Leigh Taylor-Young September 1968–January Monday 9:00–9:30 and
Jack Chandler (1966–67) John Kellogg 1969 Wednesday 8:30–9:00
Adrienne Van Leyden (1967) Gena Rowlands February 1969–June 1969 Monday 9:00–9:30
Phil Silvers Show, The

The Phil Silvers Show, a half-hour comedy series, first The program’s 138 episodes trace the minor victories
ran on CBS from September 1955 to September 1959. and misfortunes of the scheming, fast-talking Master
The show’s original title was You’ll Never Get Rich, Sergeant Ernie Bilko (Phil Silvers), head of the motor
but this name was dropped shortly after its debut. pool at the mythical U.S. Army station of Fort Baxter in
Since its inception the series has also been commonly Roseville, Kansas. In his relentless pursuit of personal
referred to as “Sergeant Bilko.” gain and physical comfort, Bilko attempts to manipulate
1756
The Phil Silvers Show (aka Sgt. Bilko/You'll Never Get Rich), Harvey Lembeck, Phil Silvers, Allan Melvin, 9/20/55.
those around him through the selective use of flattery, mental resource to resolve the problem. Bilko’s one re-
false naïveté, pulling rank, and a canny ability to iden- deeming moral quality, therefore, is his heart of gold,
tify and stimulate desires, weaknesses, and emotions in which prevents him both from truly prospering or los-
others. Although his reputation for masterful chicanery ing his humanity.
is well known around the base, the other characters in Frequently, unforeseen obstacles to Bilko’s strate-
the show prove no match for Bilko’s complex mental gies arise out of a misunderstanding between the prin-
designs and are ultimately unable to avoid following the cipal characters. Much of the program’s humor derives
course of action he desires. In his attempts to buck the from Bilko’s incomplete knowledge of a situation—
system, Bilko is aided by members of his platoon: a the audience watches as he unwittingly makes matters
motley collection of blue-collar, “ethnic” Americans worse for himself, before realizing his error and hav-
whose own distaste for military discipline is displayed ing to employ his quick thinking in order to make
through their visible admiration for their brilliant leader. amends. Sharp dialogue and tightly woven plotlines
Aside from money and favors won in poker games (involving absurd, but believable, situations), com-
and elaborate rackets, however, Bilko never benefits at bined with a heavy emphasis on visual comedy, made
the expense of others. Faced with innocent victims, the The Phil Silvers Show one of the most popular and crit-
sergeant’s conscience kicks in and he expends every ically acclaimed sitcoms of the 1950s.
1757
The series developed as a collaboration between Sil- Following the show, Hiken and Silvers collaborated
vers, a Brooklyn-born veteran of vaudeville, Broadway, on several hour-long musical specials for CBS at the
and motion pictures, and Nat Hiken, the show’s unas- end of the 1950s. While the actor then returned to the
suming head writer, producer, and stage director. Hiken stage and big screen, Hiken achieved another TV com-
had already earned a reputation for superb radio and edy hit with Car 54, Where Are You? In 1963, attracted
TV comedy writing for such celebrities as Fred Allen by a lucrative financial offer from CBS, Silvers at-
and Martha Raye. Silvers and Hiken were given tempted to recapture his earlier television success with
tremendous creative license by CBS to devise and cast The New Phil Silvers Show. This series transferred the
the show. The two creators experimented with numer- Bilko scenario to a civilian setting: Silvers played
ous settings and narrative structures before deciding on Harry Grafton, a crafty, wheeling-dealing maintenance
a military location, a Bilko-centered narrative trajec- superintendent at an industrial plant. Grafton lacked
tory, and a colorful coterie of supporting characters. In Bilko’s magical presence and any of his redeeming val-
the spring of 1955, filming began at the DuMont stu- ues; the series floundered in the ratings and was can-
dios in New York. CBS confidence in the production celed in its first season. The Bilko formula was more
was such that 20 episodes were produced prior to the successfully reinvoked in the early 1960s in the form of
show’s broadcast debut in the fall. The network’s mag- the ABC cartoon Top Cat. This prime-time animated
nanimity is understandable, given that “Bilko” neatly series featured the voice of Maurice Gosfield—who
fit the successful formula upon which CBS had built its had played the slothful audience favorite Duane Dober-
television reputation: a half-hour situation comedy se- man in The Phil Silvers Show—as Benny the Ball.
ries written as a vehicle for an established performer. Over the decades since its original broadcast,
The Phil Silvers Show was initially recorded live on “Sergeant Bilko” has inspired a whole genre of male-
film, using a three-camera setup. Postproduction was dominated, uniformed, nondomestic sitcoms. Such se-
minimal, giving the final program a spontaneous, no- ries as McHale’s Navy, Hennesey, M*A*S*H, and At
frills appeal despite its celluloid status. As the series Ease (a banal, short-lived 1980s imitation), to name
developed, the storylines often incorporated outside only few, have clearly attempted to emulate The Phil
characters who were portrayed by guest celebrities. Silvers Show’s successful blend of distinctive, engaging
Mike Todd appeared in one 1958 episode, insisting characters and first-class writing. A 1996 movie named
that it be shot using a movie-style, one-camera produc- Sergeant Bilko starred Steve Martin in the title role.
tion process. The more relaxed shooting schedule en- Matthew Murray
gendered by this approach appealed to cast and crew,
See also Silvers, Phil
and the show subsequently adopted this filming tech-
nique permanently. This meant that the scenes would
be shot throughout the week and later edited together Cast
in order. Consequently, the studio audience disap- Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko Phil Silvers
peared, requiring the recording of a laugh track at a Corporal Rocco Barbella Harvey Lembeck
weekly screening of the final program. Private Sam Fender Herbie Faye
Despite being scheduled against NBC’s Tuesday- Colonel John Hall Paul Ford
night powerhouse Milton Berle, The Phil Silvers Show Private Duane Doberman Maurice Gosfield
quickly attracted viewers and passed Berle in the rat- Sergeant Rupert Ritzik Joe E. Ross
ings within a few months. The show’s popularity was Corporal Henshaw Allan Melvin
matched by great critical acclaim. Along with a bevy Private Dino Paparelli Billy Sands
of other awards, the series won five Emmys in its first Private Zimmerman Mickey Freeman
season on the air, and more were to follow over the Nell Hall Hope Sansberry
next couple of years. Nevertheless, the drain of weekly Sergeant Grover Jimmy Little
programming eventually began to take its toll. Hiken’s Sergeant Joan Hogan (1956–58) Elisabeth Fraser
total commitment to the show proved physically and
creatively exhausting for him, and he left the series in
Producers
1957 to pursue less hectic projects. By the spring of
Edward J. Montagne, Aaron Ruben, Nat Hiken
1959, when CBS announced its forthcoming cancella-
tion of the series, Silvers too was complaining of fa-
tigue induced by the show’s grueling routine. Bending Programming History
under the weight of the 22 cast members’ salaries, CBS 138 episodes
canceled the still-popular series in order to maximize CBS
its syndication price and potential. September 1955–October 1955 Tuesday 8:30–9:00
1758
Philbin, Regis
November 1955–February 1958 Tuesday 8:00–8:30 Freeman, Mickey, and Sholom Rubinstein, “But Sarge . . . Be-
February 1958–September 1959 Friday 9:00–9:30 hind the Lines with Sgt. Bilko,” Television Quarterly (1986)
Freeman, Mickey, and Sholom Rubinstein, Bilko: Behind the
Lines with Phil Silvers, London: Virgin Publishing, 2000
Further Reading Silvers, Phil, with Robert Saffron, This Laugh Is on Me: The
Phil Silvers Story, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
Drury, Michael, “Backstage with Phil Silvers,” Colliers (May Hall, 1973
11, 1956)
Philbin, Regis (1933– )

U.S. Television Personality
Regis Philbin is one of the most recognized individuals events was created out of necessity on KOGO-TV,
in American television. Finally, after more than 45 could not function on That Regis Philbin Show in a
years in the business, he won two Emmys in 2001 as highly structured, taped format shown on a two-week
Best Game Show Host for ABC’s blockbuster Who delay. Canceled after 26 weeks, Philbin resumed
Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Best Talk Show Host KOGO-TV’s The Regis Philbin Show in 1965 and
for syndicated, top-rated daytime talker Live with commuted to L.A.’s KTTV for a weekday show.
Regis & Kelly. Philbin ascended to network television as sidekick
The eldest child of Frank and Florence Philbin, an on ABC’s The Joey Bishop Show, launched April 17,
Irish-Italian/ Catholic couple, Philbin was named after 1967, to compete with NBC’s The Tonight Show Star-
his father’s alma mater, Regis High School, a Manhat- ring Johnny Carson. Philbin tried to suppress his ego
tan Jesuit boys’ school. Regis was raised in the South but tired of Bishop’s jokes and insults. One night,
Bronx section of New York City and graduated from Philbin walked out on-air, but he returned a week later.
Cardinal Hayes High School in 1949. He earned his It remains unclear if it was a publicity stunt. He also
B.A. in Sociology at Notre Dame University in 1953. recorded It’s Time For Regis!, an album for Mercury
Philbin secretly wanted to major in broadcasting but records rereleased on CD in 1998. He ventured into
could not find the courage to do it. acting, appearing on NBC’s Get Smart on March 23,
After two years in the navy, where he became a lieu- 1968.
tenant, Philbin interviewed unsuccessfully in 1955 Philbin held a variety of jobs until 1975. On L.A.’s
with L.A.’s KCOP-TV. He returned to New York and KHJ-TV, he hosted Philbin’s People and Tempo, a
worked as an NBC page/usher for Steve Allen’s The three-hour news and information morning show. Once
Tonight Show. Three months later, KCOP-TV hired a month he commuted to St. Louis to do one live and
him as a stagehand and then writer, researcher, and three taped installments of Regis Philbin’s Saturday
producer. After substituting once on-air in sports, Night in St. Louis, a variety show on CBS affiliate
Philbin wanted to be on-air permanently and became KMOV. Philbin debuted on film in 1972’s Everything
frustrated with behind-the-scenes work. In 1957 he You Always Wanted to Know About Sex as a celebrity
switched to radio news at San Diego’s KSON, where game show guest. In November 1974 L.A.’s KABC-
he developed unremarkable but quirky “Philbinesque” TV hired him as movie reviewer. In 1975 he also co-
stories. In 1960 San Diego’s KFMB-TV news hired hosted KABC’s A.M. Los Angeles with Sarah Purcell.
him specifically to do “Philbinesque” stories. Within a Joy Senese, whom he married in 1970, frequently sub-
year, he was anchor at San Diego’s KOGO-TV and stituted for Purcell. Purcell joined NBC’s Real People
host of The Regis Philbin Show. The Saturday late- in 1979, and Cyndy Garvey replaced her.
night show enabled Philbin to emulate Jack Paar and to Philbin also hosted ABC’s daytime The Neighbors
develop the trademark “host chat” he still uses on Live. (1975–76), in which five neighbors gossiped about one
In October 1964 Philbin replaced Steve Allen on another and were awarded prizes. In 1976 Philbin was
Westinghouse’s nationally syndicated late-night talk on-field correspondent for ABC’s Almost Anything
show. Philbin, whose live ad-libbing about daily Goes, a one-hour game show shot on location with
1759
Philbin, Regis
American small towns competing against one another. and Daniel (1967); 2) Joy Senese, 1970; children:
He continued occasional TV and movie appearances. Joanna (1973) and Jennifer (1974). Graduated from
In November 1981 NBC aired The Regis Philbin Cardinal Hayes High School, Bronx, New York; B.A.
Show, a 30-minute daily national morning show co- Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 1953 and hon-
hosted by Mary Hart. Just half of NBC’s affiliates car- orary doctor of laws degree, 1999. Served in U.S.
ried the taped show. It received an Emmy for Navy. Started career as page/usher for NBC’s The
Outstanding Daytime Variety Series but was canceled Tonight Show, New York (1955); worked as stage-
after four months. In 1982 Philbin created a magazine hand and as writer, researcher, and producer at
show for Cable Health Network (now Lifetime), called KCOP-TV, Los Angeles (1955–57); worked in radio
Regis Philbin’s Celebrity Health Styles. It moved to news at KSON, San Diego (1957–60) and TV news at
prime time as Regis Philbin’s Lifestyles, focusing on KFMB-TV, San Diego (1960). Has hosted The Regis
cooking, health, and fitness, and became Lifetime’s Philbin Show on KOGO-TV, San Diego (1961–63)
highest-rated program ever, lasting until 1988. and Westinghouse’s Nationally Syndicated That
In January 1983 New York’s WABC-TV hired Regis Philbin Show (1964–65); cohosted ABC’s The
Philbin for The Morning Show. Until 1985 his cohost Joey Bishop Show (1967–69); hosted Philbin’s Peo-
was again Cyndy Garvey, until Kathie Lee Gifford re- ple and Tempo on KHJ-TV, Los Angeles (1970–73);
placed her in June 1985. The chemistry between A.M. Los Angeles on KABC-TV (1975–81); hosted
Philbin and Gifford sent ratings skyrocketing, and the ABC’s The Neighbors (1975–76); on-the-field corre-
show was nationally syndicated in September 1988 as spondent for ABC’s Almost Anything Goes, (1976);
Live with Regis & Kathie Lee. Live showcased the cohosted NBC’s The Regis Philbin Show (1981–82);
hosts’ abilities to talk with guests and to each other cohosted with Joy Philbin Regis Philbin’s Celebrity
about anything. Philbin and Gifford coauthored 1993’s Health Styles aka Regis Philbin’s Lifestyles on Cable
Cooking with Regis & Kathie Lee and 1994’s Enter- Health Network/Lifetime (1982–88); cohosted
taining with Regis & Kathie Lee, hosted the Miss WABC-TV New York’s The Morning Show
America pageant, and appeared together and sepa- (1983–88); cohosted nationally syndicated Live with
rately in concert to sold-out crowds. Philbin’s 1993 an- Regis & Kathie Lee (1989–2000); hosts ABC’s Who
gioplasty led to his own exercise video: Regis, My Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1999–2002; became Who
Personal Workout. He has also written his autobiogra- Wants to Be a Super Millionaire?, 2004– ); hosted
phy, I’m Only One Man (1995), and Who Wants to Be Live with Regis (2000–01); hosts nationally syndi-
Me? (2000). cated Live with Regis & Kelly (2001–present).
In 1999 ABC’s ratings were slumping. Philbin was Eleven-time Emmy Award nominee (ten as cohost of
hired to host a new game show, based on a British pro- Live and one as host of Who Wants to Be a Million-
gram, called Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Origi- aire?) and two-time winner in 2001 for Best Talk
nally slated for a two-week sweeps run, it became the Show Host and Best Game Show Host. Honored by
highest-rated prime-time game show in history and New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani with Crystal
was permanently placed in ABC’s lineup, taking the Apple Award for contributions to New York TV in-
network back to the top. In February 2000 ABC’s cor- dustry.
porate owner, Disney, signed Philbin to a salary of $20
million per year, a record for a game show host. He
also introduced the popular catchphrase “Is that your Television
final answer?” into national popular culture. 1961–63 The Regis Philbin Show (KOGO-TV,
Gifford left Live in 2000 to pursue other interests. San Diego)
Proving Philbin’s popularity, the ratings rose dramati- 1964–65 That Regis Philbin Show
cally. After a much-publicized search for a new cohost, (Westinghouse, Nationally
Philbin introduced soap opera star Kelly Ripa and re- Syndicated)
named the show Live with Regis & Kelly in February 1967–69 The Joey Bishop Show (ABC)
2001. 1970–73 Tempo and Philbin’s People (KHJ-
W.A. Kelly Huff TV, Los Angeles)
1972–75 Regis Philbin’s Saturday Night in
See also Allen, Steve; Paar, Jack
St. Louis (KMOV-TV, St. Louis)
1975–81 A.M. Los Angeles (KABC-TV,
Regis Philbin. Born Regis Francis Xavier Philbin in Los Angeles)
New York City, August 25, 1933. Married: 1) Kay 1975–76 The Neighbors (ABC)
Faylan, 1957 (divorced, 1968); children: Amy (1961) 1976 Almost Anything Goes (ABC)
1760
Philco Television Playhouse
1981–82 The Regis Philbin Show (NBC) Made-for-Television Movies

1982–88 Regis Philbin’s Celebrity Health SST: Death Flight, 1977; Mad Bull, 1977; Mirror,
Styles, aka Regis Philbin’s Mirror, 1979; California Girls, 1985; Perry Mason:
Lifestyles (Cable Health Network/ The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host, 1993.
Lifetime)
1983–88 The Morning Show (WABC-TV, Recording
New York) It’s Time For Regis!, 1998.
1989–2000 Live with Regis & Kathie Lee
(nationally syndicated)
1999–2002 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Publications
(ABC) Cooking with Regis & Kathie Lee, 1993
2000–01 Live with Regis Entertaining with Regis & Kathie Lee, 1994
2001–present Live with Regis & Kelly (nationally I’m Only One Man (autobiography), 1995
syndicated) Who Wants to Be Me?, 2000
2004–present Who Wants to Be a Super
Millionaire?
Further Reading
Videotape Allen, Steve, Hi-Ho Steverino: My Adventures in the Wonderful
Wacky World of TV, Fort Lee, New Jersey: Barricade Books,
Regis: My Personal Workout, 1993 1992
Bauder, David, “Philbin’s Ratings Shoot Up After Kathie Lee
Gifford Leaves,” The Associated Press (September 9, 2000)
Films Farache, Emily, “Regis (Finally) Wins Emmy!” E! Online
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (April 19, 2002)
(but Were Afraid to Ask), 1972; The Bad News King, Norman, Regis and Kathie Lee: Their Lives Together and
Bears Go to Japan, 1978; Sextette, 1978; The Man Apart, New York: A Birch Lane Press Book, 1995
Who Loved Women, 1983; Malibu Express, 1985; McNeil, Alex, Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Pro-
gramming from 1948 to the Present, 3rd ed., New York: Pen-
Funny About Love, 1990; Night and the City, 1992; guin Books, 1991
Open Season, 1996; Dudley Do-Right, 1999; Little Tracy, Kathleen, Regis! The Unauthorized Biography, Toronto:
Nicky, 2000; Pinocchio (voice only), 2002. ECW Press, 2000

U.S. Anthology Drama
Philco Television Playhouse was one of the most dis- February 12, 1956, Philco Television Playhouse alter-
tinguished of the many “live” anthology dramas that nated with The Alcoa Hour in addition to Goodyear
aired during the so-called Golden Age of television. Playhouse. Following the end of the Philco Televis-
The first episode of the Philco program was broadcast ion Playhouse in 1955, The Alcoa Hour and Goodyear
over NBC on Sunday October 3, 1948, between 9:00 Playhouse continued in alternation with broadcasts of
and 10:00 P.M. Philco Television Playhouse remained one-hour live dramas until September 29, 1957.
on the air for just over seven seasons, until 1955. At Under the guidance of producer Fred Coe (who also
the beginning of its fourth season in 1951, Philco Tele- served as one of the program’s several directors),
vision Playhouse acquired an alternating sponsor, the Philco Television Playhouse became known for its
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. From 1951 until high-quality adaptations of plays, short stories, and
it went off the air, the program shared its Sunday night novels. It was also the first anthology drama to encour-
slot with Goodyear Playhouse. age the writing of original plays exclusively for televi-
For a short period between August 28, 1955, and sion.
1761
sky, Horton Foote, Tad Mosel, Alan Arthur, Arnold

Schulman, and Gore Vidal, began their careers writing
teleplays for the program.
Chayefsky wrote several scripts for Philco/Goodyear.
Among them were Holiday Song (Goodyear, September
14, 1952), The Bachelor Party (Philco, October 11,
1953), The Mother (Philco, April 4, 1954), Middle of the
Night (Philco, September 19, 1954), and The Catered
Affair (Goodyear, May 22, 1955). The Bachelor Party,
Middle of the Night, and The Catered Affair were later
made into feature films.
Chayefsky’s most famous Philco script was Marty,
aired on May 24, 1953. Directed by Delbert Mann, the
production starred Rod Steiger in the title role. It be-
came the most renowned production from the Golden
Age of television anthologies and marked a turning
point for television drama because of the considerable
amount of critical attention paid to it by the press.
According to Delbert Mann, Marty was inspired by
the ballroom of the Abbey Hotel on the corner of Fifty-
third Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City. A
meeting place for single people during the evening
hours, the ballroom was the site of Philco Television
Playhouse rehearsals during the day. Chayefsky had
originally planned to have the main character be a
woman but then changed the role into that of the lonely
butcher, Marty. The story is a simple one, focused on
Philco Television Playhouse: The Joker character and emotion rather than excessive dramatic
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Re- action. After many unsuccessful attempts to find a girl,
search Marty visits the ballroom one evening and meets a
homely young teacher. Against the objections of his
mother and his bachelor friends, Marty finally stands
During its first season, Philco Television Playhouse up for himself and calls the young woman back for a
emphasized adaptations. The first broadcast was a tele- date.
vision version of Dinner at Eight, a play by George S. Mann believed that Rod Steiger gave the best per-
Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Directed by Coe, the pro- formance of his life in the role of Marty, and Steiger
duction starred Peggy Wood, Dennis King, Judson became so moved by the story that he wept openly on
Laire, Mary Boland, and Vicki Cummings. the set. Mann’s last direction to Steiger before air was
Other adaptations from plays that first season in- to “hold back the tears.” Mann also directed the 1956
cluded Counselor-at-Law with Paul Muni, The Old film version of Marty, which won four Academy
Lady Shows Her Medals, and a version of the Edmund Awards—for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Di-
Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac starring Jose Ferrer. rector, and Best Actor (given to Ernest Borgnine for
Among the novels adapted were Daphne du Maurier’s his portrayal of Marty).
Rebecca, Alexandre Dumas’s Camille, and Jane Other important productions broadcast on the
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. On December 19, 1948, Philco Television Playhouse were Gore Vidal’s Visit to
Philco Television Playhouse broadcast an adaptation a Small Planet (Goodyear, May 8, 1955), which later
of the Charles Dickens’s story A Christmas Carol. The became a Broadway play and a feature film; Vidal’s
program included a filmed rendering of “Silent Night” The Death of Billy the Kid (Philco, July 24, 1955),
sung by Bing Crosby. which became the 1958 film The Left-Handed Gun;
Although it continued to produce adaptations of and Horton Foote’s A Trip to Bountiful, later staged on
plays and novels, Philco Television Playhouse began Broadway in the 1950s and reshot in the 1980s as a
to air original scripts toward the end of the first season. film, with actress Geraldine Paige winning an Acad-
These became more important in subsequent seasons. emy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the
A number of young writers, including Paddy Chayef- film.
1762
Phillips, Irna
Fred Coe, a graduate of the Yale Drama School, was Producers

active as a director and producer for the Philco Televi- Fred Coe, Gordon Duff, Garry Simpson
sion Playhouse for six years. Coe and other staff direc-
tors including Gordon Duff, Delbert Mann, Vincent
Programming History
Donehue, and Arthur Penn shared directing responsi-
NBC
bilities on a rotating basis. Usually, they worked three
October 1948–October 1955 Sunday 9:00–10:00
weeks ahead with one show in preparation, one in re-
hearsal, and one on the studio floor ready for telecast-
ing. Further Reading
During its long tenure, the Philco Television Play- Hawes, William, The American Television Drama: The Experi-
house became a breeding ground for an entire genera- mental Years, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,
tion of young directors, actors, and writers who later 1986
became famous in motion pictures and on Broadway. Kindem, Gorham, editor, The Live Television Generation of
The program won a Peabody Award in 1954 for its “su- Hollywood Film Directors: Interviews with Seven Directors,
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994
perior standards and achievements.” Some of the best- MacDonald, J. Fred, One Nation under Television: The Rise and
known actors who appeared on the series were Joanne Decline of Network TV, New York: Pantheon, 1990
Woodward, Steve McQueen, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saalbach, Louis Carl, “Jack Gould: Social Critic of the Televi-
Saint, Grace Kelly, Kim Stanley, Jack Klugman, and sion Medium,” Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1980
Walter Matthau. Skutch, Ira, Ira Skutch: I Remember Television: A Memoir,
Henry B. Aldridge Stempel, Tom, Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American
See also Advertising, Company Voice; Anthology Television Writing, New York: Continuum, 1992
Sturcken, Frank, Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946–1958
Drama; “Golden Age” of Television; Goodyear in New York, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1990
Playhouse Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein:
1979
Host Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Sur-
Bert Lytell (1948–49) vivors, New York: Delacorte Press, 1976
Phillips, Irna (1901–1973)

U.S. Writer
The universally recognized originator of one of televi- elaborate lives for her dolls. When she started college,
sion’s most enduring—and profitable—television gen- she dreamed of an acting career, but school administra-
res, Irna Phillips is responsible for the daytime drama tors doubted that her looks would get her far so she
as we know it today. Her contributions to one format turned to teaching. After graduation, she taught in Mis-
are unprecedented in television history. Television souri and Ohio for several years before returning to
comedy had many parents—Ernie Kovacs, Jackie Chicago.
Gleason—and TV drama was initially shaped by such There she fumbled her way into a job with radio sta-
figures as Paddy Chayefsky, Rod Serling, Reginald tion WGN as a voice-over artist and actress. Soon af-
Rose, and others. The soap opera, however, had only ter, the station asked her to concoct a daily program
one “mother,” and Phillips was it. She founded an en- “about a family.” Phillips’s program Painted Dreams
tire industry based on her techniques and beliefs, and premiered on October 20, 1930. Dreams is usually rec-
the ongoing, interlocking stories that she dreamed. ognized as radio’s first soap opera. It ran with Phillips
Born in Chicago in 1901, the youngest of ten chil- both writing and acting in it until 1932, when she left
dren, legend has it that Phillips endured her poverty- WGN because of dispute between her and the owners
stricken, lonely childhood by reading and concocting about the future of the program. At WGN’s competi-
1763
Phillips, Irna
blend one scene into the next. She was the first to em-
ploy Dickensian cliff-hanger endings to keep audi-
ences coming back and to develop the casual pace of
these shows—she wanted the busy housewife to be
able to run to the kitchen or see to the baby and not
miss anything. She was the first to address social con-
cerns in her storylines. She was also the first to shift
the focus of serials from blue-collar to white-collar
characters; under Phillips, doctors and lawyers became
soap staples. In fact, hospital settings and stories about
illness were vintage Phillips; a hypochondriac who
visited doctors daily, Phillips brought her fascination
with medicine to her work.
In other ways, the serials she created did not mirror
Phillips’s life. For example, although her shows were
eventually all produced in New York, Phillips refused
to leave Chicago; instead, she stayed involved in all
aspects of her programs with frequent phone calls to
the East. Also, Phillips, who based her stories on nu-
clear families, never married, although late in her life
she adopted two children.
When Phillips brought her creations to television
(somewhat reluctantly), she brought all her devices
with her. The Guiding Light premiered on TV in 1952.
The Brighter Day and The Road of Life came to the
small screen in 1954.
Irna Phillips, 1935. In the early 1950s Phillips began a long association
Courtesy of the Everett Collection with Procter and Gamble, longtime sponsors of soap
operas. All of Phillips’s shows at that time, and all she
would create in the future, would be under the um-
tion, WMAQ, Phillips created Today’s Children, brella of Procter and Gamble Productions.
which aired for seven years. Other highly successful On April 2, 1956, Phillips premiered what was to
dramas followed: The Guiding Light in 1937, The become her most successful (and some say favorite)
Road of Life in 1938, and The Right to Happiness in show, As the World Turns. Until the 1980s phenome-
1939. By this time, Phillips had given up acting to de- non of General Hospital, it was the most successful
vote her time to writing. She had also sold the shows to soap in history. At its ratings peak in the 1960s, it was
national networks. regularly viewed by 50 percent of the daytime audi-
By 1943, just over ten years from her beginning, ence. As the World Turns has broken much historical
Phillips had five programs on the air. Her yearly in- ground during its existence. It was daytime’s first half-
come was in excess of $250,000 and her writing output hour soap (previous shows lasted 15 minutes), and it
was around 2 million words a year. It was at this phase was the first to introduce a scheming female character,
that she developed the need for assistants to create dia- Lisa Miller (played by Eileen Fulton), using feminine
logue for the stories she created. To keep her scripts wiles to catch unavailable men and generate havoc.
accurate she also kept a lawyer and doctor on retainer. The show’s popularity even inspired a prime-time
Not one to put pen to paper, Phillips created her sto- spin-off, Our Private World, which aired for a few
ries by acting them out as a secretary jotted down what months in 1965.
she spoke. Her process of creating by assuming the In 1964 Phillips created daytime’s Another World,
identities of her characters was so successful it was TV’s first hour-long soap and the first to broach the
later adopted by many of Phillips’s protégés, including subject of abortion. (Phillips never shied away from
Bill Bell, who went on to create The Young and the controversy: when writing for the soap Love Is a
Restless. Many-Splendored Thing, she attempted to introduce an
Phillips pioneered in radio many of the devices she interracial romance. When the network balked,
would later put to successful (eventually clichéd) use Phillips quit the show.)
in television. She was the first to use organ music to Also in 1964, Phillips began working as a consultant
1764
Pierce, Frederick S.
on the prime-time soap Peyton Place. Phillips now had Painted Dreams, 1930; launched the soap Guiding
control over shows running on all three U.S. networks. Light, 1937; Guiding Light switched to TV, 1952; con-
In 1965 she created another long-lasting daytime sultant, Peyton Place, first successful evening serial,
drama, Days of Our Lives. 1964; continued writing soaps until just before her
Despite Phillips’s legendary golden touch and her im- death. Died in Chicago, December 22, 1973.
portance to the daytime drama, by the 1970s the times
and the genre were leaving her behind. Soaps were im-
Television Series
portant profit centers for networks, whose executives
1952– Guiding Light
concluded that the serials needed to become more sen-
1954–65 The Brighter Day
sational in order to keep ratings. Phillips’s simpler sto-
1954–55 The Road of Life
ries were now out of fashion. She was fired by Procter
1956– As the World Turns
and Gamble in 1973 and died in December of that year.
1964–99 Another World
Today, daytime is populated with programs she cre-
1964–69 Peyton Place (consultant)
ated: As the World Turns, Days of Our Lives, and Guid-
1965 Our Private World
ing Light. The latter has now set the record as the
1965– Days of Our Lives
longest-running series in broadcasting history. Many
1967–73 Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
other soaps on the air were created by those who began
their careers working for Phillips: Bill Bell and All My
Children creator Agnes Nixon. Radio
Phillips believed her success was based on her focus Painted Dreams, 1930–32; Today’s Children,
on character, rather than on overly complicated plots, 1932–38; Masquerade, 1934–35; Guiding Light,
and her exploration of universal themes: self- 1937–52; The Road of Life, 1938–54; Woman in
preservation, sex, and family. She said in 1965, “None White, 1938–48; The Right to Happiness, 1939–60;
of us is different, except in degree. None of us is a Lonely Women, 1942 (renamed Today’s Children,
stranger to success and failure, life and death, the need 1943); The Brighter Day, 1948–56.
to be loved, the struggle to communicate.”
Cary O’Dell
Further Reading
See also Peyton Place; Soap Opera
Allen, Robert C., Speaking of Soap Opera, Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press, 1985
Irna Phillips. Born in Chicago, Illinois, July 1, 1901. LaGuardia, Robert, Soap World, New York: Arbor House, 1983
Educated at University of Illinois, B.S. in education Matelski, Marilyn J., The Soap Opera Evolution: America’s En-
1923. Children: Thomas Dirk and Katherine Louise. during Romance with Daytime Drama, Jefferson, North Car-
Began career as junior college speech and drama in- olina: McFarland, 1988
O’Dell, Cary, Women Pioneers in Television, Jefferson, North
structor, Fulton, Missouri, 1924; teacher, Dayton, Carolina: McFarland, 1996
Ohio, 1924–29; first writing job with WGN, Chicago Soares, Manuela, The Soap Opera Book, New York: Harmony,
radio station, hired to create ten-minute family drama, 1978
Pierce, Frederick S. (1933– )

U.S. Media Executive, Producer
Frederick S. Pierce began working at ABC Television est accomplishment came from 1974 through 1979,
13 years after the company’s birth. Starting as an ana- when he served as president of ABC Television. How-
lyst in television research in 1956, Pierce held over 14 ever, he began formulating policies and strategies dur-
positions until resigning as vice chairman of Capital ing the 1950s and 1960s as ABC defined its path in
Cities/ABC in January 1986. Pierce’s period of great- network broadcasting.
1765
Marcus Welby, M.D. The network experimented with

violent program content, such as Bus Stop, and
stressed nontraditional sports, including rodeo and
wrestling. Pierce’s singular characteristic of persever-
ing within these boundaries made ABC an industry
power. Reaching number one in prime time in
1976–77, and maintaining the position for two more
seasons, Pierce captured the young, urban viewer with
comedy and action, produced longer and more elabo-
rate miniseries and special programs, offered glossy
production values in sports programming, and even
redirected afternoon soaps toward youth. As president
of the Television Division, Pierce introduced three
megahits, Happy Days, Taxi, and Mork and Mindy.
The violence and tame sexual content of The Rookies,
Baretta, S.W.A.T., and Charlie’s Angels that angered
critics was a natural progression of ABC under
Pierce’s leadership, the outcome of taking risks and
looking—for more than a decade—for any different
approach.
Pierce brought passion and dauntless optimism to the
conception, development, and scheduling of ABC pro-
gramming. The news programs Nightline, 20/20, and
Good Morning, America were introduced under his
leadership. The network’s strategy stemmed from inno-
vation, experimentation, risk, and diversity—words
Pierce frequently employed. He introduced the “living
schedule,” the practice of testing five to eight new series
in late winter and the spring, each for a month or more,
Frederick S. Pierce.
Photo courtesy of Frederick S. Pierce in preparation for fall scheduling. Pierce also referred to
this practice, to be adopted by the other networks, as
“investment spending,” and he thought of it as a way of
respecting and responding to audience feedback. When
Before ABC’s programming department built mo- the “family-viewing hour” was instituted, Pierce sched-
mentum, CBS and NBC were already entrenched, fun- uled comedies and other fare from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M. and
neling talent from their established artist bureaus in followed with action-adventure programs, Monday
radio to television affiliates. Both networks had money through Friday. The strategy, called “ clotheslining” or
and leverage, which were an attraction to advertisers, “ridgepoling,” succeeded in holding viewers.
and had independent producers ready to invest. ABC, Before and after ABC’s hold on first place, Pierce
relying on inexpensive and varied programs, targeted brought a new perspective. If an ABC program ranked
different audiences; Leonard H. Goldenson, ABC’s third in its time slot, it was a failure by industry stan-
founder and ex-owner of United Paramount Theaters, dards. In his view, though, and therefore the view of
sought product and collaborative efforts in Hollywood. ABC, even a third-place program was a success if its
In this programming environment, Pierce moved up rating with a specific target audience was large, for
through research, sales, development, and planning until these numbers could translate into value to the adver-
becoming president of ABC Television in October 1974. tiser. The other networks soon followed Pierce’s view
On a daily basis, Goldenson phoned the research of program assessment and focused attention and ef-
and sales development department, requesting sales forts on material developed with specific demographic
and rating numbers from Pierce, a practice that started groups in mind.
a professional and personal bond between them. In the In the drive for success, Pierce programmed
1950s and 1960s, ABC pursued the youth market with “events” that could draw critical attention and viewer-
programs such as American Bandstand and Maverick ship. The miniseries was transformed into such a tele-
and relied on a mixture of programs, hoping to find a vision event, at times lasting, as in the cases of Roots
niche in the diversity of Bewitched, Mod Squad, and and The Winds of War, more than seven nights. Under
1766
the supervision of Roone Arledge as president of ABC without time for the series to develop an audience. As
Sports, sports coverage became a central source of rev- president of ABC, Inc., he surrounded himself with al-
enue for ABC. The quest for a hit sports event meant lies, including Tony Thomopoulous, president of ABC
Pierce’s approval of large outlays of money for pro- Television, Pierce’s most cherished area.
gramming such as the Olympics and championship Pierce reached the top of ABC as numerous ventures
boxing matches. When one event was a success, it jus- stalled in development, when money was already com-
tified Pierce’s spending but kept the company in a pre- mitted to major events, and shareholders were de-
carious position for the long term. manding fiscal prudence. After ABC was purchased by
The news division received the least amount of at- Capital Cities, Pierce needed Tom Murphy, the new
tention from Pierce until he convinced Goldenson to chair and chief executive officer, to position ABC for
appoint Arledge president of ABC News in 1977. the future. Pierce, however, had no inclination of what
Pierce believed sports and news held a conceptual the future held. CapCities’ assessment of ABC and
common ground. Arledge agreed and successfully ap- what needed to be done significantly excluded him. By
plied engaging production techniques with commenta- the time of his resignation in 1986, he expressed
tors seeking celebrity status in American homes. amazement and disbelief at the turn of events, suggest-
Although Pierce believed Arledge could assist the ing an inability to perceive the complex and unstable
news division, Pierce also made the dramatic move of structure he helped build.
hiring Barbara Walters as an additional safeguard. Since leaving ABC Pierce has continued to be active
Since Pierce was driven by a lifelong commitment to in the entertainment industry. With his two sons,
ABC, he expected the same loyalty in return. He stated Richard and Keith, he founded the Frederick S. Pierce
publicly that he sought the presidency of ABC, but in Company, dedicated to quality films and television
January 1974 Goldenson first appointed him executive programs. The company’s projects included the four-
vice president in charge of ABC Television, with the part 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (ABC, 1997) and
added responsibilities of developing the company’s ca- the Emmy-winning The Positively True Adventures of
ble, pay-per-view, and video projects, before naming the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom
him president of ABC Television in October of that year, (HBO, 1993). Since 1998 Pierce has been an executive
responsible for five divisions: entertainment, finance and producer of the American Film Institute’s centennial
planning, the TV network, ABC-owned stations, and salute to American cinema, including the institute’s
sports. However, Pierce had difficulty positioning ABC 100 Years, 100 Passions in June 2002. Pierce comes to
in the larger media puzzle with some of the projects he this yearly project after serving as chairman of the
initiated. From 1978 through 1980, Pierce baffled the in- American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees from
dustry with his statements against cable, calling for the 1992 to 1996.
protection of free television and criticizing cable’s unre- Richard Bartone
stricted content. But other statements soon followed, de-
See also American Broadcasting Company;
scribing cable as a tool for diverse programming.
Arledge, Roone; Diller, Barry; Eisner, Michael;
Pierce’s credibility began to be questioned.
Goldenson, Leonard; Programming; Silverman,
In the 1970s Pierce was surrounded at different
Fred
times by such prominent figures as Arledge, Fred Sil-
verman, Barry Diller, and Michael Eisner. He pursued
Silverman for the position of president of ABC Enter- Frederick S. Pierce. Born in New York City, April 8,
tainment, and they worked efficiently together. But 1933. Educated at Bernard Baruch School of Business
upon Silverman’s departure, Pierce became highly Administration, City College of New York, B.A.,
critical of Silverman’s limitations, minimizing his con- 1953. Served with U.S. Combat Engineers, Korean
tributions to ABC’s turnaround. Pierce was self- War. Married: Marion; children: Richard, Keith, and
consciously basking in the glory of establishing ABC Linda. Began career as analyst in TV research, ABC,
as a powerful network. The situation began to change. 1956; director of sales planning, ABC, 1962; vice pres-
Pierce all but abandoned action-adventure series by ident of planning, 1970; vice president in charge,
1980, when they were partly responsible for securing ABC-TV planning and development, and assistant to
young, urban male viewers. He did not recognize the president, 1974, president of ABC TV, 1974; president
changes developing in television’s collaborative ar- and chief operations officer, ABC, Inc., 1983, resigned
rangements with Hollywood. He continued to depend from ABC, Inc., 1986; founder, Frederick Pierce Com-
on the “living schedule,” with its rush to find a hit pany, 1988, and Pierce/Silverman Company with Fred
within four weeks, and in so doing alienated producers Silverman, 1989. Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
whose programs were removed from the schedule American Film Institute, 1992–96.
1767
Made-for-Television Movies Film

1992 Deadlock Money Train, 1995.
1993 The Positively True Adventures of the
Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering
Further Reading
Mom
1994 Witness to the Execution Auletta, Ken, Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost
1994 The Substitute Wife Their Way, New York: Random House, 1991
Bedell, Sally, Up the Tube: Prime Time TV and the Silverman
1997 The Absolute Truth Years, New York: Viking, 1981
Goldenson, Leonard H., Beating the Odds: The Untold Story
Behind the Rise of ABC, New York: Scribner’s, 1991
Television Miniseries Gunther, Marc, The House That Roone Built: The Inside Story
1997 20,000 Leagues under the Sea of ABC News, Boston: Little, Brown, 1994
Mermigas, Diane, “Q and A: Fred Pierce,” Electronic Media
(September 30, 1985)
Television Specials “The Pierce Persona,” Broadcasting (January 17, 1983)
2000 AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America’s “Pierce-Silverman: Former Top ABC Executives Team Up,”
Funniest Movies Broadcasting (March 27, 1989)
Quinlan, Sterling, Inside ABC: American Broadcasting Com-
2001 AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America’s pany’s Rise to Power, New York: Hastings House, 1979
Most Heart-Pounding Movies Williams, Huntington, Beyond Control: ABC and the Fate of the
2002 AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Passions Networks, New York: Macmillan, 1989
Pilot Programs
During the first four months of the year, U.S. television final fall 1995–96 season contained several programs
studios and production companies (and, increasingly, resembling the 1994–95 sleeper hit, Friends (NBC).
similar organizations in other nations) immerse them- Youth-oriented, nighttime soaps such as Melrose Place
selves in the annual rite of spring known as “pilot sea- (FOX, 1992) and Central Park West (CBS, 1995)
son.” The television pilot program is a sample episode traced their lineage to the unexpected popularity of
of a proposed television show, which may be chosen Beverly Hills, 90210 (FOX, 1990). Another source for
by networks for the following fall’s schedule. Pilot pilot concepts comes from cycles of popular genres in
season is a frenetic, competitive time in Hollywood; motion pictures or television. In some cases, networks
prominent producers, reputable writers, and experi- derive pilots by developing “spin-offs,” which use
enced directors design and showcase their wares for characters or guest stars from television shows or
network executives, with each “player” hoping for the movies to establish a new program. In 2000 CBS con-
next hit series. sidered a pilot starring talking Baby Bob, a character
Pilots are expensive to produce, and shows that are originally developed to pitch FreeInternet.com.
not purchased by a network have no value. Since the The process begins when a writer or producer
new season is planned using pilots, and the entire of- “pitches” an idea to the networks. Pitches may occur
fering of a network is usually in place by mid-May, the year-round, but most occur in autumn, shortly after the
careful selection of pilots is crucial for designing a fall season premieres. By then, network executives
competitive lineup of shows. Shows made as pilots have already begun to consider the success or failure
during this period are frequently the culmination of of new programming and have charted trends in topics,
long-term preparation, sometimes spanning years. A types of characters, and other information pertinent to
pilot concept deemed unacceptable by network execu- development. If a pitched concept is given a “green
tives in one year may later become suitable as tastes light,” the network will commission a script, to be
and mores change. Writers and producers may also de- written by the series’ creator or by a well-known
sign potential shows based on the popularity of pro- writer. After reading the completed script, the inter-
gramming from a previous season. For example, the ested network offers extensive notes on changes as
1768
Pilot Programs
well as positive elements. Few scripts are commis- panded to episode format by adding music, titles, and
sioned, and fewer still lead to the production of a pilot; new footage. If not contracted, the presentation format
estimates suggest that out of 300 pitches, approxi- helps offset costs. Comparable techniques are used in
mately 50 scripts are commissioned, and of those, only preparing hour-long presentation tapes.
6 to 10 lead to the production of a pilot. Producers screen finished pilots for network repre-
Because pilots may take months or years to develop, sentatives; if the show receives favorable opinions, it
casting becomes a primary concern during the actual will be shown to a test audience, which comments on
pilot-making process. The first quarter of the year is its qualities. Based on screenings and other criteria, a
often the busiest, most lucrative time for actors, network decides whether to reject or purchase the se-
agents, producers, and casting directors. Networks like ries intact, or change cast, location, premise, or other
projects that come with a known star attached and are elements, and rescreen. Another decision involves
willing to pay a studio more if a potential program purchase and scheduling; executives must decide
contains an actor with a following or name recogni- whether to contract for “one bite” or “two bites.” A
tion. A pilot that is also a star vehicle generates more one-bite show gets a tryout during the fall schedule; if
publicity: the press increases its commentary and gos- a show is being contemplated for two bites, its pro-
sip about the star or show; fans of the star already ex- ducers know that it may be chosen in the fall, or also
ist, thereby building a core audience for the show’s as midseason replacement programming, giving it two
debut; and the presence of a star gives a show an ad- chances to be selected. Once decisions are made, net-
vantage over competition in similar genres or oppos- works place orders for a number of episodes. Tradi-
ing time slots. tionally, at least 13 to as many as 23 episodes were
Network executives are aware, however, that known ordered for production; recent changes have led to as
stars often fail to carry shows and lesser-known per- few as 7. For actors, “pickup” means a contractual
formers can quickly build audiences. A 1990s trend in- commitment to the show for five to seven years; if the
volved the casting of stand-up comedians. Unknown to show is not renewed after three years of production,
most viewers, but with solid track records in clubs or the actor is not paid for the remainder of the contract.
other venues, such actors cost less initially but have Such contracts safeguard a producer’s interests: the
enhanced potential for becoming successes. Roseanne, actor is available for an extended run of the series, in-
Jerry Seinfeld, and Tim Allen illustrated the intelli- creasing the likelihood that at least 100 episodes will
gence of this strategy. be made—the minimum number usually needed for
The choice of leading players also influences later domestic syndication. However, the networks often
casting of supporting actors. Appealing, marketable pi- revise pilots after purchase, recasting stars or replac-
lots may sell based on the “chemistry” between the star ing producers.
and members of the supporting cast. In the case of sit- The addition of new networks, cable stations, and
uation comedies (sitcoms), such interplay is often a de- premium channels is altering the process of pilot pro-
ciding factor in choosing one pilot over another. duction and sales, by creating more outlets for pro-
Producers spend a disproportionate amount of grams—even those rejected by other networks. A
money on pilots relative to series’ regular episodes. By record 42 new series appeared in U.S. prime time dur-
the early 1990s, the average cost for a half-hour pilot ing the 1995 fall season, in part because of the previ-
ranged from $500,000 to $700,000, and hour-long pi- ous year’s addition of the United Paramount Network
lot program costs have soared beyond $2 million, with (UPN) and the Warner Brothers (WB) Network. These
James Cameron’s pilot for Dark Angel reportedly cost- joined relative newcomer FOX Broadcasting Com-
ing close to $10 million. If a show is not contracted (or pany as a venue for new pilots and subsequent pro-
“picked up”) by a network, then producers or studios gramming. During the pilot season for the 1998–99
are not reimbursed for costs. schedule, the six major networks commissioned ap-
A trend that began in the mid-1990s, designed to cut proximately 150 pilots for potential new shows but
costs, is the production of shorter presentation tapes, chose to purchase only 37.
called “demos.” Instead of making a standard-length, Although pilots and presentation tapes remain es-
22-minute sitcom using new sets, original music, and sential in the process of program development, new
complete titles, producers create a partial episode, 15 regulations and strategies may eliminate the pilot-
minutes in length. The presentation tape provides a producing season. HBO has initiated new programs in
sample of the show’s premise, writing, and cast. Stu- June, and more channels are in development for series
dios rely on preexisting sets, furniture, and props from and movies all year long. It is clear that as the market-
other shows; titling and new music are limited. If a ing and distribution strategies and capabilities of enter-
network buys the series, presentation tapes may be ex- tainment television continue to shift and change, so,
1769
Pilot Programs
too, will the process by which programs come to be Carter, Bill, “Networks Tuning Out Pilots As a Way to Develop
created and viewed. Shows,” New York Times (January 20, 1992)
Paisner, Daniel, Horizontal Hold: The Making and Breaking of
Kathryn C. D’Alessandro a Network Television Pilot, New York: Carol, 1992
See also Programming Terrace, Vincent, Fifty Years of Television: A Guide to Series
and Pilots, New York: Cornwall, 1991
Vest, David, “Prime-time Pilots: A Content Analysis of Changes
Further Reading in Gender Representation,” Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media (Winter 1992)
Bond, Paul, “Baby Bob Bouncing to CBS Primetime Pilot,” The
Hollywood Reporter (August 4, 2000)
Pittman, Robert W. (1953– )

Robert W. Pittman was listed in Advertising Age’s and-personality-format station, WNBC, to the top of
spring 1995 special issue on the 50th anniversary of the ratings in its target groups. Many knowledgeable
television as one of “50 Who Made a Difference” in radio programmers and historians consider Pittman to
the history of television. Known as “the father of have been the most successful radio program director
MTV,” at age 27 he created the Music Television cable ever, primarily because of his spectacular success in a
network. MTV revitalized the music business and variety of formats.
spawned the music video industry, which in turn influ- His unusual combination of creative and analytic
enced an entire new generation of television program- brilliance made him a rare programmer. A research-
ming, production, and commercials that appealed to oriented manager, he also understood and interacted
the so-called MTV generation of young viewers. well with the creative talents and egos of people in the
Pittman began his remarkable career at age 15 as a music industry, disk jockeys, and personalities such as
radio disc jockey in his hometown of Jackson, Missis- Don Imus (whom Pittman was instrumental in firing
sippi. From there he went to Milwaukee, then Detroit, and then rehiring at WNBC-AM). Pittman’s varied tal-
and at 18 got his first job in programming, as the pro- ents led John Lack, the executive vice president of
gram director for WPEZ-FM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva- Warner Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC),
nia. He took the contemporary-music-format radio to hire Pittman as the programmer for the Movie Chan-
station to the top of the ratings in its younger target nel in 1979, giving him his first job in television. Al-
demographic area. He then moved to Chicago and, at though Lack had conceived of doing an all-music
the age of 20, programmed country music on NBC- channel filled with related programs, it was Pittman
owned WMAQ-AM, where the station shot up from who developed the concept of an all-video channel,
22nd to 3rd. WMAQ’s success is considered one of the where record company-produced videos would be pro-
major programming turnaround success stories in ra- grammed in the same fashion as records on a radio sta-
dio history. tion.
Pittman duplicated the phenomenal success of As much as—and perhaps more—than the music, it
WMAQ-AM when he was given the responsibility of was the image, attitude, and style that made MTV an
programming WMAQ’s co-owned FM station, instant hit with the antiestablishment, antiauthoritar-
WKQX, late in 1975, when he was 22. In one rating ian, under-30 audience it targeted. The network be-
book he beat the longtime album-oriented-rock (AOR) came a cultural icon, the first network expressly
leader in the market and made a debut near the top of designed to target young audiences. From the begin-
the target demographic ratings. In 1977 NBC sent ning, Pittman’s genius was in positioning MTV to be
Pittman to New York to program the floundering different from the traditional networks (ABC, CBS,
WNBC-AM. Once again the “Boy Wonder,” as he was and NBC). He hired cutting-edge, avant-garde produc-
known in radio circles, led the contemporary-music- tion houses to create logos that would be instanta-
1770
Pittman, Robert W.
neously recognizable because they were not network with outsized growth and expenses. As he had with ra-
logos, not traditional graphics, symbols, or icons, and dio stations, television programs, and amusement
thus not connected with the traditional networks in any parks, Pittman used his marketing acumen and opera-
way. He made sure it would be impossible for any tional expertise to turn around AOL, as he led a spec-
young person to click by MTV on a television set and tacular growth spurt in subscriber and advertising
mistake it for any other network or station; immediate revenue. When Case engineered the largest merger in
recognition and a unique look were his goals. U.S. business history with Time Warner to create the
Another facet of Pittman’s brilliance was his ability world’s largest media company, Pittman became co-
to conceptualize programming. He postulated a new chief operating office along with Richard Parsons un-
theory to explain how young people who grew up der CEO Gerald Levin. When the AOL Time Warner
with television consumed it differently from their par- board forced Levin to retire, it named Parsons chief
ents. The older generation, he suggested, watched TV executive office to replace Levin, and Pittman chief
as they read books, in a linear way. The new television operating officer of the entire company. However, the
generation, he believed, processed TV in a nonlinear dot.com bubble burst, which partially led to AOL Time
manner, processing visual information much faster Warner stock plummeting at the same time that Amer-
than previous generations. Younger viewers processed ica Online’s growth was slowing. Pittman agreed to
television in a nonsequential and nonlinear manner, take on the additional duties of being CEO of AOL in
and they were not disoriented by brief, disjointed im- an attempt to help the struggling unit regain its early
ages. From this insight came the distinct style of glory. However, he resigned in exhaustion in July
MTV. 2002.
Pittman’s business savvy was also notable. MTV Charles Warner
was the first basic cable network to become profitable.
See also AOL Time Warner; MTV
The record companies paid for the programming (the
videos) just as they gave radio stations their records.
Robert Pittman. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, De-
MTV’s programming content was virtually free.
cember 28, 1953. Attended Millsaps College, Jackson,
This combination of business acumen and program-
Mississippi. Married: 1) Sandy (divorced); child: Bo;
ming astuteness led to Pittman’s being named CEO of
2) Veronique; children Andrew and Lucy. Started as a
the MTV networks in 1983. In this capacity, he over-
15-year-old disk jockey, Jackson, Mississippi, 1968;
saw the redesign and relaunch of Nickelodeon, the cre-
worked in radio in Milwaukee and Detroit; program
ation of VH1 and Nick at Nite, the expansion of MTV
director, WPEZ-FM, Pittsburgh, 1971; program direc-
into global markets (Europe, Australia, and Japan), and
tor, WMAQ-AM, Chicago, 1973; program director,
the company’s 1984 initial public offering on the stock
WKQX-FM, 1975; program director, WNBC-AM,
market.
1977; producer and host, weekly video music show
In 1987 Pittman left MTV after an unsuccessful
for NBC-owned television stations, 1978; program di-
attempt to buy out the network, cofounding Quan-
rector, the Movie Channel, 1979; head of program-
tum Media with MCA. Quantum Media produced
ming, Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment; created
The Morton Downey Jr. Show, a television talk show,
programming for Music Television (MTV), 1981;
and the innovative police documentary The Street.
president and chief executive officer, MTV Networks,
Quantum Media was sold to Time Warner in 1989,
1983–87; cofounder of Quantum Media (with MCA),
and Pittman became an executive assistant to Steve
1987; sold Quantum Media to Warner Communica-
Ross. In 1990 he was named CEO of Time Warner
tions, 1989; president and chief executive officer,
Enterprises and took over the additional responsibil-
Time Warner Enterprises, 1988–91; president and
ities of being chief executive of Six Flags amuse-
chief executive officer, Six Flags Entertainment,
ment parks, majority-owned by Time Warner. As he
1990–95; chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Es-
did at radio stations and cable networks, he revital-
tate, 1995–96; president, America Online,
ized Six Flags and made the company extremely
1996–2000; Co-chief operating officer AOL Time
profitable. When Time Warner sold Six Flags in
Warner 2000–01; chief operating officer AOL Time
1995, Pittman decided to take his payoff from the
Warner, 2001–02.
sale and look for new challenges. He joined Century
21 at the urging of his close friend and investor
Henry Silverman and joined the board of directors of Television Series
America Online. 1988–89 The Morton Downey Jr. Show
In 1996 Steve Case, the CEO of America Online, (syndicated)
hired Pittman to operate a company that was struggling 1989–92 Totally Hidden Video
1771
Pittman, Robert W.
Television Special Further Reading

1988 The Street “Bob Pittman,” Time (January 7, 1985)
“50 Who Made a Difference,” Advertising Age (Spring 1995)
Lewis, Lisa, Gender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference,
Publication Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990
“We’re Talking the Wrong Language to ‘TV Babies,’” Powers, Ron, “The Cool, Dark Telegenius of Robert Pittman,”
GQ—Gentleman’s Quarterly (March 1989)
New York Times (January 24, 1994) Powers, Ron, The Beast, The Eunuch and the Glass-Eyed Child:
Television in the ’80s, New York: Harcourt Brace Jo-
vanovich, 1990
Playhouse 90
U.S. Anthology Drama
A relative latecomer to the group of live anthology dra- ment at Nuremberg, were enough to ensure the histori-
mas, Playhouse 90 was broadcast on CBS between the cal importance of Playhouse 90, the program also stood
fall of 1956 and 1961. Its status as a “live” drama was out because of its emergence in the “film era” of televi-
short-lived in any case, since the difficulties in mount- sion broadcasting evolution. By 1956 much of televi-
ing a 90-minute production on a weekly basis required sion production had moved from the East to the West
the adoption of the recently developed videotape tech- Coast, and from live performances to filmed series.
nology, which was used to prerecord entire shows Most of the drama anthologies, a staple of the evening
from 1957 onward. Both the pressures and the costs of schedule to this point, fell victim to the newer types of
this ambitious production eventually resulted in Play- programs being developed. Playhouse 90 stands in con-
house 90 being cut back to alternate weeks, sharing its trast to the prevailing trend, and its reputation benefited
time slot with The Big Party between 1959 and 1960. from both the growing nostalgia for the waning live pe-
The last eight shows were aired irregularly between riod and a universal distaste for Hollywood on the part
February and May 1960, with repeats broadcast during of New York television critics. It is also probable that
the summer weeks of 1961. since the use of videotape (not widespread at the time)
Despite its late entry into the field of anthology dra- preserved a “live” feel, discussion of the programs
mas, many considered, and still consider, Playhouse 90 could be easily adapted to the standards introduced by
as the standard against which all other drama anthology the New York television critics.
programs are to be judged. Although its debut show, a It has been argued that Playhouse 90 in fact contrib-
Rod Serling adaptation of the novel Forbidden Area, uted to the demise of live television drama by making
failed to garner much critical interest, the following the genre too expensive to produce. The program’s lav-
week’s presentation of an original teleplay by Serling, ish budget was undoubtedly a factor in the quality of
Requiem for a Heavyweight, was quite notable, with the its productions, but its cost was enormous when com-
story becoming an enormous success both in this initial pared with that of filmed series, against which it could
television broadcast and later as a feature film. Requiem not compete in the newly introduced ratings system.
swept the 1956 Emmys, winning awards in all six cate- Playhouse 90 stood out as an anomaly in its time, and
gories in which it was nominated, including Best Direc- its short run of less than four seasons suggested that a
tion, Best Teleplay, and Best Actor. Playhouse 90 program of its kind could not survive in a changing
established its reputation with this show and continued production environment, regardless of its acclaim. Al-
to maintain it throughout the remainder of its run. though Playhouse 90 was an outstanding program, and
The success of Playhouse 90 continued into the representative of the best that drama anthology pro-
1957–58 season with productions of The Miracle grams could offer, it was also the last of its genre to be
Worker, The Comedian, and The Helen Morgan Story. shown as part of a regular network schedule.
Although these shows, along with Requiem and Judg- Kevin Dowler
1772
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 1956–60: Requiem for a Heavyweight, Ed Wynn, Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn, 1956.
See also Anthology Drama; Coe, Fred; “Golden Further Reading

Age” of Television; Mann, Abby; Robinson, Hawes, William, The American Television Drama: The Experi-
Hubbell; Serling, Rod mental Years, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1986
Kindem, Gorham, editor, The Live Television Generation of
Hollywood Film Directors: Interviews with Seven Directors,
Producers Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994
Martin Manulis, John Houseman, Russell Stoneman, MacDonald, J. Fred, One Nation under Television: The Rise and
Decline of Network TV, New York: Pantheon, 1990
Fred Coe, Arthur Penn, Hubbell Robinson Skutch, Ira, Ira Skutch: I Remember Television: A Memoir,
Stempel, Tom, Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American
Programming History Television Writing, New York: Continuum, 1992
133 episodes Sturcken, Frank, Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946–1958
CBS in New York, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1990
October 1956–January 1960 Thursday 9:30– Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein:
11:00 1979
July 1961–September 1961 Tuesday 9:30– Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Sur-
11:00 vivors, New York: Delacorte Press, 1976
1773
Poland
Polen
For much of its early existence, Polish television re- and entertainment schedule, which, unlike many other
mained in radio’s shadow. Only in the 1960s did the Eastern Bloc countries, also included nonsocialist
postwar communist regime begin to take it seriously films (Rashomon, Wages of Fear) and television serials
and recognize its usefulness as an instrument of propa- (Dr. Kildare, Alfred Hitchcock Presents). Teatr
ganda. Despite developing in a totalitarian system, the Telewizji, one of its greatest achievements, began in
medium was never completely politicized; since the 1958, and at the height of its popularity would be
fall of communism and subsequent deregulation of watched by almost half the available audience. TVP
the media landscape, politicians have sought closely to branched out into school programming (March 1961),
control its development. and children’s bedtime television (1962), but its politi-
Preliminary experiments date back to the 1930s. Al- cal and informational programs, particularly the main
though limited in scope, and centered in Warsaw, they evening news (Dziennik TV, 1958–90), assumed in-
encouraged Polish Radio to plan a custom-built televi- creasing importance in the propagation of ideology. By
sion studio (1940) and to inaugurate a regular service the end of the decade fraternal socialist productions
by 1941, but the German occupation set back progress outnumbered Western imports. Traditionally hostile to
by nearly a decade. It was 1947 before the State communist ideology, Poles could enjoy popular do-
Telecommunications Institute resumed trials. In late mestic series with pro-Soviet messages (such as
1951 the exhibition “Radio in the Struggle for Progress Stawka wi˛eksza niz· zycie—A
· Stake Greater Than Life
and Peace” demonstrated television’s capabilities to Itself, 1968) while ignoring their partisan overtones.
some 100,000 visitors. A half-hour test broadcast in Television steadfastly promoted the official govern-
October 1952 from the Ministry of Communications ment line during crises (although events in 1968 saw
marked the official launching of Polish television the dismissal of 150 employees) yet also immortalized
(TVP) and regular transmissions of up to an hour’s du- historic moments, such as First Secretary Edward
ration, usually every Friday, soon followed (January Gierek’s personal appeal to strikers on the Baltic Coast
1953). The medium’s onerous working conditions, to- (1971) to return to work.
gether with its limited range, militated against serious During the 1970s, when Gierek attempted a great
treatment by the party. Therefore, the criterion of polit- economic leap forward (funded by Western credits that
ical reliability played little part in appointments. ultimately condemned Poland to chronic indebted-
Rapid technological advances and the start of do- ness), television played a crucial role in promoting his
mestic set production (the Soviet-based Wisl\a and Bel- “propaganda of success.” Under his crony, Maciej
weder models) in 1956 accelerated television’s Szczepański (Radio and TV Committee Chairman,
expansion in the late 1950s. Prime Minister Józef 1972–80), television was subjected to much more rig-
Cyrankiewicz formally opened the Warsaw Television orous controls; Szczepański himself oversaw produc-
Centre in May 1956, but television would no longer re- tion of Gierek’s speeches, and “live” interviews were
main the capital’s preserve. In line with the general prerecorded and thoroughly vetted, with presenters
tendency to decentralize cultural offerings, television and guests learning their scripts by rote. It was the
centers quickly emerged in other cities. Simultane- party leadership that took the major decisions—the
ously, the number of Polish license fee payers rose ex- Main Censorship Office (1945–90) played only an an-
ponentially: from 5,000 in 1957 (when registration cillary role. Television news, especially, presented an
became compulsory) to 6.5 million by the mid-1970s. unswervingly positive image of contemporary life, in
From 1957, television was on the air for several hours, stark contrast to most Poles’ experience.
five days a week; in February 1961 this increased to New technology and the industry’s expansion at the
seven days. Indicative of television’s growing impor- turn of the decade greatly facilitated this process. In
tance, the Committee for Radiophonic Affairs was re- 1969 massive studios opened in Warsaw, and the intro-
named the Radio and TV Committee (December duction of the Ampex system allowed prerecording.
1960). TVP2, designed to provide more high-brow program-
Under Jerzy Pański (director of programming, ming, started in December 1970, while color broad-
1957–63), TVP established a reputation for its cultural casts (like Soviet television, using the Secam system)
1774
Poland
commenced in time for the VI Party Congress (De- (January 1990), heralded the end of the party’s audio-
cember 1971). Television schedules offered a mélange visual monopoly.
of mindless entertainment, propaganda, foreign im- The need to create democratic institutions often
ports, and high culture. Bergman and Fellini films ran from scratch also had a profound impact on television.
alongside Columbo and Kojak, popular domestic It played a key role in those changes by providing an
soaps (Czterdziestolatek—Forty-Year-Old ) and, with important forum for political candidates in local, pres-
Poland’s growing international success in soccer idential (1990), then parliamentary elections (1991). In
(1974) and athletics, extensive sports coverage. the chaos of transformation, politicians, reluctant to
The massive turnout to greet Pope John Paul II’s expose TVP to competition before it had the chance to
first visit (June 1979) presented a major challenge, and transform, delayed much-needed new legislation. The
the government permitted television to transmit only December 1992 law established a nine-member Na-
heavily manipulated reports. Not even TVP, however, tional Radio and TV Council (KRRT) as the supreme
resisted the emergence of Solidarity (the regional In- body in audiovisual media affairs and transformed
terenterprise Strike Committee, August 1980). The state television into a joint stock company as of Jan-
party leadership tolerated programs such as Listy o uary 1, 1994, its single shareholder being the Treasury.
gospodarce (Letters on the Economy, November The KRRT was further charged with defining the crite-
1980), where viewers wrote in to criticize the eco- ria for license allocation over two rounds of bidding
nomic and political situation. From March 1981, offi- (1994, 1997). The law limited the share of foreign cap-
cials appeared on Monitor R z˛ adowy (Government ital in Polish terrestrial broadcasters to one-third, but
Monitor), every Friday after the main evening news, to evoked most controversy for an ill-defined clause re-
justify their activities. The declaration of martial law quiring programmers to respect “Christian values.”
(December 13, 1981) ushered in a sharp, but brief, po- Public television, meanwhile, implemented internal
litical freeze. TVP2 went off-air until February 1982, changes, creating a Biuro Reklamy (Advertising Bu-
presenters appeared in military uniform to read out of- reau) (by 1994, advertising would provide 51 percent
ficial announcements, and the secret police took over of TVP’s total income) and embarking on a massive
television’s upper echelons. Seventy employees were expansion from 1992. Breakfast programming (Kawa
interned for pro-Solidarity sympathies. Television czy herbata—Coffee or Tea) extended the daily sched-
news displayed an extreme antiopposition bias. In ule while TVP’s autonomous regional centers (eventu-
protest, many actors mounted an effective boycott of ally 12 in number and known collectively as TVP3)
television, lifting it only in the more liberal climate of commenced their own local production, a move that
the mid-1980s. required enormous financial investment. TV Polonia, a
The last decade of communist rule initiated several satellite channel for Polish communities abroad,
key changes in TVP’s profile. The rise of Latin Ameri- launched in 1993, and a dedicated digital music chan-
can soaps (Isaura the Slave-Girl), the introduction of nel, Tylko Muzyka (April 1997–February 1998), broke
erotic movies (the so-called pink series) and more chic more new ground. As of January 1, 1995, TVP started
news programs (such as Teleexpress [1986], and using the PAL system, the Western European norm.
Panorama dnia [1987]), and commercials indicated a The increasing share of revenue from advertising made
shift toward capitalism. The government, lacking cred- public television highly sensitive to commercial com-
ibility in society at large, realized it could not reform petition and its resultant downmarket shift laid it open
the economy without Solidarity’s assistance and bro- to charges of “dumbing down.” TVP successfully
kered the Round Table talks of February to April 1989. adopted Western formats: game shows (Blind Date,
Here, a special subcommittee dealt with media issues. Wheel of Fortune), fly-on-the-wall documentaries,
Solidarity’s demands included access to TVP, the chat shows, and more relaxed news programming (a
transformation of state television into a public broad- multipresenter Wiadomo´sci replacing Dziennik).
caster, and the reinstatement of journalists sacked dur- TVP2, traditionally more high-brow, also reflected
ing martial law. Prior to the first semifree elections of these trends, showing American police high-speed pur-
May 1989, it duly received television slots (Studio Sol- suits alongside the minilectures of the philosopher
idarno´sć) to promote its candidates. Its other demands Leszek Ko\lakowski. Despite such activity, TVP re-
would be met in the months that followed electoral mains hamstrung by its comparatively low funds
“victory” (near total control of the newly established (amounting to only one-sixth of French public televi-
Senate, and all the seats available in the lower house). sion’s) and shows a tendency—most evident in pro-
The creation of the first postcommunist government gram quality—to spread those funds thinly. Attempts
under the Catholic intellectual Tadeusz Mazowiecki at restructuring have largely failed.
(August 1989), followed by the dissolution of the party Piracy characterized private broadcasting in the
1775
Poland
early 1990s, since the Ministry of Communications the rights to the lucrative European Champions
granted a license to only one new station (Echo, 1990). League and broadcast the 2002 World Cup. Together,
Small private stations mushroomed across Poland, TVP, TVN, and Polsat currently dominate television
many of which eventually joined Polonia 1, estab- advertising (90 percent of all ad spend/US$1.45 billion
lished by the Italian media magnate Nicolo Grauso in in 2001).
1993. When he failed to win a franchise, Grauso with- Cable and digital television are growing in impor-
drew from the scene, and Polonia 1 moved to Italy. TV tance. Cable’s origins lie in the early 1990s: key oper-
Odra (1994) now serves as an umbrella for about a ators today are Polska Telewizja Kablowa (PTK:
dozen stations broadcasting in the west and north of founded 1989, license 1995) with networks in most
Poland. Somewhat surprisingly, given its lack of capi- cities, and Aster City Cable (license 1997). Digital has
tal, the Franciscan Order’s TV Niepokalanów (1995) been an arena of major struggle between American-
received a nationwide license in 1994 on condition that backed operations—HBO (1996) and Wizja TV
advertising did not exceed 2 percent of its schedule. In (launched 1998; taken over by the Dutch-owned
2001, it managed to raise this to 15 percent, paying a United Pan-Europe Communications in 1999)—and
larger fee for its franchise; and TV Puls, which then the French Canal Cyfrowy (license 1997). The for-
started broadcasting on its frequencies, supplemented mer broadcast from outside Poland (from Hungary and
its largely religious programming with family enter- the United Kingdom, respectively) to circumvent re-
tainment (The Cosby Show, Little House on the strictions on foreign capital, which caused Canal to
Prairie). complain about unfair competition. However, in De-
The greatest challenge to TVP comes from two pri- cember 2001, Wizja and Canal merged to form a sin-
vate stations—Zygmunt Solorz’s Polsat (1992), the gle company, Telewizja Korporacja Partycypacyjna
only totally commercial station with a nationwide (25 and 75 percent shares, respectively). Further con-
franchise, and Mariusz Walter’s TVN (1997), which centration of cable and digital television looks likely.
began as a supraregional station but has since ex- Controversy dogged both licensing rounds, with the
panded. Solorz won a ten-year franchise in 1994, and, Supreme Court challenging nearly every award on
in addition to his major cable interests (Dami) and me- procedural grounds. In each case the KRRT has con-
dia investments in all three Baltic states, has developed firmed its original decision. Politicians often intervene
his terrestrial holdings—adding TV4, formerly the in the workings of television: President Wal\e˛ sa, dissat-
debt-ridden Nasza Telewizja (Our Television, 1997)— isfied with the 1994 licensing round, sacked the KRRT
and extended into satellite (Polsat 2, 1997), and digital head, Marek Markiewicz, although his authority to do
(Polsat Cyfrowy, 2000). TVN became an exclusively so was doubtful. The political composition of the
Polish concern after the withdrawal of its American Council remains a contentious issue, with all parties
partner CME in 1998. Its original license gave access seeking to advance their own agendas. These problems
to northern Poland, Warsaw, and L\ódź, but Walter particularly affect TVP, one of whose most dynamic
bought TV Wisl\a (1994) in 1997, thereby extending directors, Wiesl\aw Walendziak, resigned in protest at
TVN’s coverage to the south. Its presence was further political interference in February 1996. His successor,
enhanced by inclusion in the pay-per-view digital plat- Ryszard Miazek, declared that TVP journalists should
form Wizja TV. In September 2001 TVN started seek to inform viewers about, rather than comment on,
broadcasting the first news channel, TVN 24, loosely politicians’ statements, which seemed to presage a re-
modeled on CNN. turn to communist practices.
Polsat has occasionally achieved higher ratings than A new media bill, designed to bring Poland (a mem-
TVP1 (up to 30 percent audience share in 1998), but ber of the European Broadcasting Union since 1992)
like TVN is generally seen as being more downmarket. into line with EU legislation, is creating a major furor.
Both have gained notoriety for their reality shows: The bill lifts restrictions on foreign capital for Euro-
TVN launched Big Brother in Spring 2001, which the pean businesses and relaxes them for others, proposes
KRRT condemned as “socially harmful,” but proved strict limits on cross-media ownership (no nationwide
enormously popular with the audience (70 percent/8.4 newspaper can simultaneously own a national station),
million viewers watched the final episode). Its other and greatly bolsters TVP’s position by allowing it to
key programs include Milionerzy (Who Wants to Be a launch unlimited channels. President Kwaśniewski has
Millionaire?, autumn 1999) and Fakty, its main promised to exercise his veto. The Polish television in-
evening news program, which is almost as popular as dustry nonetheless constitutes one of the great success
Wiadomości. The poaching of several TVP star presen- stories of postcommunist Central and East European
ters (including Tomasz Lis, Krzysztof Ibisz) boosted broadcasting.
its profile. Polsat’s soaps enjoy greater success; it owns John Bates
1776
Poldark
Further Reading Aftermath, Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford: Westview Press,

1994
Dziadul, Chris, “New Channels pop up in Poland,” www. Jakobowicz, Karol, “Improving on the West—the Native Way:
tvinsite.com/television-europe (February 14, 2002) Poland,” in The Development of the Audiovisual Landscape
Giorgi, Liana, The Post-Socialist Media: What Power the West? in Central Europe since 1989, Luton: ULP/John Libbey
The Changing Media Landscape in Poland, Hungary, and Press, 1998
the Czech Republic, Avebury, Aldershot, Vermont: Ashgate Jung, Bohdan, “Media Consumption and Leisure in Poland in
Publishing, 1995 the 1990s,” The International Journal on Media Manage-
Goban-Klas, Tomasz, The Orchestration of the Media. The Pol- ment (Summer 2001)
itics of Mass Communications in Communist Poland and the Karpiński, Jakub, “Politicians Endanger Independence of Pol-
ish Public TV,” Transition (April 1996)
Poldark
British Historical Drama
Poldark is one of the most successful British television Cornwall at that time and the dramatic contrast be-
dramas of all time. The popularity of the first series in tween the oppressed poor and the new landowning
1975 was matched by enthusiastic reception of the classes. Graham added the engaging urchin Demelza,
1993 video release. As a costume drama, scheduled for who marries Ross out of her class, and a fourth book
early evening family viewing, Poldark was not un- focused on the villain, the nouveau riche George War-
usual, but its exterior sequences, cast, and immense leggan.
popularity have made it ultimately memorable. The The first series established Ross Poldark as a charac-
first episode, opening to Ross Poldark’s ride across the ter at war with his own class. After his return to Corn-
Cornish landscape on his return from the U.S. War of wall and his failure to win back Elizabeth, Ross
Independence, was seen by an audience of 5 million. attempts to restore Nampara, his father’s ruined estate.
As the series continued, this figure rose to an average He shocks his neighbors by marrying Demelza, the
of 15 million viewers. The two BBC Poldark series daughter of a brutal miner, and interesting himself in
sold to more than 40 countries, and in 1996 a made- the affairs of those who work for him. His legitimate
for-television movie sequel aired on ITV. business deals and mining company ventures bring
The Poldark series are all closely based on the nov- him into direct competition with George Warleggan.
els of Winston Graham, well known for his thrillers Illegal activities, such as the false charge of incitement
and for the screen adaptations of his later nonhistorical to riot and, later smuggling, also bring Poldark into
books, the British film noir Fortune Is a Woman (1956) conflict with the Warleggans. In this feud, Poldark is
and Marnie (1964), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In portrayed as the forward-looking, benevolent
1969 Associated British Picture bought an option on landowner and entrepreneur, whereas Warleggan is
the Poldark best sellers and commissioned a four-hour seen as a tyrannical arriviste, whose grand house is
Cornish equivalent to Gone With the Wind. However, burnt to the ground by dispossessed miners and ten-
the film project was dropped during the EMI takeover ants.
of the company. The option was taken over by London The house-burning scene and climax to the first se-
films, who eventually collaborated with the BBC. ries was a radical departure from Graham’s novels. Al-
The first BBC series dramatizes the original four though the author felt that the first series was marred
novels Graham wrote at the end of World War II. Gra- by the use of a different writer for every episode, Gra-
ham had initially planned a trilogy set in 18th-century ham wrote a further trilogy for adaptation and became
Cornwall, which would explore the love triangle be- closely involved with the second series made in 1977.
tween the war hero Captain Poldark, his less-exciting This series follows the fortunes of four different mar-
cousin Francis Poldark, and the aristocratic Elizabeth riages: that of the Poldarks; Elizabeth’s marriage to
Chynoweth. However, as the narrative developed, Gra- Warleggan; Caroline’s union with the progressive doc-
ham became more interested in the social situation in tor Dwight Enys; and the marriage of Elizabeth’s un-
1777
Poldark
additional books dealing with a second generation of

Poldarks, continuing the Warleggan feud and introduc-
ing the industrial revolution to Cornwall. The 1996 TV
movie based on some of this material, and featuring
new actors in the lead roles, was not as well received
as the 1970s series.
Nickianne Moody
Cast
Ross Poldark Robin Ellis
George Warleggan Ralph Bates
Jud Paynter Paul Curran
Mark Daniel Martin Fisk
Francis Poldark Clive Francis
Caroline Penvenen Enys Judy Gleason
Demelza Poldark Angharad Rees
Verity Poldark (1975) Norma Streader
Elizabeth Warleggan Poldark Jill Townsend
Prudie Mary Wimbush
Francis Poldark (1975) Clive Francis
Sir Hugh Bodrugan (1975) Christopher Benjamin
Lady Bodrugan (1975) Cynthia Grenville
Jeremy Poldark (1977) Thomas Grady
Sam Carne (1977) David Delve
Drake Carne (1977) Kevin McNally
Poldark, Angharad Rees, Robin Ellis, 1975. Zacky Martin Forbes Collins
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Geoffrey Charles Stefan Gates
Morwenna Jane Wymark
Dwight Enys (1975) Richard Morant
happy cousin Morwenna. All are affected by the in- Dwight Enys (1977) Michael Caldman
tense rivalry between Poldark and Warleggan. Ross
Poldark and George Warleggan continue their feud in
London as well as Cornish society by becoming op- Producers
posing members of Parliament. John McRae, Morris Barry, Tony Coburn
The outdoor locations set the first series apart from
other studio-based costume dramas. Scenes such as the
dramatic rescue of Dr. Enys from a prisoner of war Programming History
camp in revolutionary France; the wrecking of the BBC
Warleggan ship; and action set in mines, against 1975 16 episodes
seascapes, and on coastal paths all created a spectacu- 1977 13 episodes
lar backdrop for the vicissitudes of Poldark’s marital
and financial dilemmas. The contrast between the the-
atrical approach to studio production and the spontane- Further Reading
ity engendered by location filming gave the historical Clarke, D., Poldark Country, St. Teath, England: Bossiney
drama a unique, fresh quality. Books, 1977
Not surprisingly, the BBC expressed an interest in Ellis, R., Making Poldark, St. Teath, England: Bossiney Books,
1978
making a third series, but at that time Graham did not Graham, W., Poldark’s Cornwall, London: Chapmans, 1994
feel that he could write the books required for the Westland, E., Cornwall: The Cultural Construction of Place,
source material. However, Graham did come to write Newmill, England: Pattern Press, 1996
1778
Police Programs
Police Programs
Since its beginnings in the late 1940s the U.S. police police drama. Ironside’s team of crime fighters cob-
procedural genre has continued to bring together a va- bled together representatives of society’s disenfran-
riety of social issues with physical action. It is un- chised groups (women, African Americans, and the
abashedly a genre of car chases and gun battles and young) under the guidance of a liberal patriarch, the
fistfights, but it is also imbued with values critical to wheelchair-bound Robert Ironside (Raymond Burr).
the fabric of a society: justice, social order, law. More Ironside was an outsider who understood the workings
than any other TV genre, the police program brings of police procedure but chose not to function within
into sharp relief the conflicts between individual free- the system. Instead, he formed an alliance of sharply
dom and social responsibility in a democratic society. defined individuals outside the bounds of the police or-
Although the police are closely related to the private ganization proper. Ironside did not challenge the status
detective in their pursuit of criminals, they are ulti- quo, but neither did it fully endorse it.
mately an employee of the state, not a private individ- In The Mod Squad, the policing characters were
ual, and are sworn “to protect and to serve.” In theory, drawn from Hollywood’s vision of 1960s countercul-
this means the police officer is expected to enforce so-
ciety’s laws and maintain order (unlike the private eye,
who can be more flexible in his/her obedience to the
rule of law). In practice, though, policing figures can
also be disruptive forces, violating the letter of the law
in order to enforce a “higher” moral code. As times
change and ideology shifts, so does the police drama.
Although 1949’s Stand by for Crime and
Chicagoland Mystery Players provided television’s
first police detectives, neither was as influential as
their long-running successor, Dragnet, which had two
separate TV incarnations, from 1952 to 1959 and then
from 1967 to 1970. Dragnet defined the genre during
the 1950s. Jack Webb produced and starred as
Sergeant Joe Friday, who doggedly worked his way
through official police procedures. Dragnet drew its
stories from California court cases and prided itself on
presenting “just the facts,” as Friday frequently re-
minded witnesses. Friday was an efficient bureaucrat
with a gun and a badge, a proud maintainer of police
procedure and society’s rules and regulations. Pro-
ducer Webb had such success with this formula that he
returned to the police procedural program in the 1970s
with Adam 12.
The police procedural strain dominated the genre
during the 1950s, but its dry presentational style and
endorsement of the status quo came under attack in the
1960s. Webb’s programs seemed anachronistic and out
of touch with many viewers’ reality during that turbu-
lent decade. New issues, imagery, and character types
revived the genre in programs such as Ironside and
The Mod Squad.
Ironside, in contrast to the Webb programs, at- Inspector Maigret, Michael Gambon, 1991.
tempted to pour a liberal politics into the mold of the Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1779
Police Programs
The genre was also fortified in the 1970s through other

strategies: incorporating a medical discourse (Quincy,
M.E.), setting policemen astride motorcycles (CHiPs—a
term, incidentally, that was fabricated by the program and
is not used by the California Highway Patrol), or casting
younger, hipper actors (Starsky and Hutch).
By the 1980s the police drama was a well-established
genre, possibly in danger of stagnation from the glut of
programs broadcast during the previous decade. With
remarkable resiliency, however, the genre continued to
evolve through a series of programs that took its basic
conventions and thoroughly reworked them. Hill Street
Blues, Cagney and Lacey, and Miami Vice were very
different programs, but each of them was seen as an
Police Woman, Angie Dickinson, 1974–78. iconoclastic, rule-breaking police program.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Police programs have always invoked realism and
claimed authenticity, as was apparent in the genre’s
archetype, Dragnet. But there are different forms of re-
ture: “one white, one black, one blond,” the advertis- alism, and Hill Street Blues altered the prevailing un-
ing promised. Although actual members of the coun- derstanding of realism. Among its innovations were
terculture spurned the program as fake and inaccurate, documentary-film techniques (such as the handheld
The Mod Squad illustrated how policing figures can camera), fragmented and disjointed narrative structure
adopt an antisocial patina, how they can come to re- (actions kept happening without conventional motiva-
semble the rebellious and anarchic forces they are sup- tion and/or explanation), and morally ambiguous char-
posed to contain. acterizations (mixing good and evil in a single
The 1970s saw a flood of police programs (approxi- individual). Hill Street Blues also altered the usually
mately 42 premiered during the decade) and their pro- all-white, usually all-male composition of the police
tagonists became increasingly individualistic and force by including women and minorities as central
quirky. They came closer and closer to the alienated figures—a trend that had begun in the 1970s.
position of the private detective and moved farther and Cagney and Lacey took the inclusion of women
farther from the Dragnet-style police procedural. The characters and women’s concerns much further than
title figures of McCloud, Columbo, and Kojak were po- Hill Street Blues or Ironside. Indeed, it challenged the
lice detectives marked as much by personal idiosyn- genre’s patriarchal underpinnings in fundamental, un-
crasies as by concerns with proper procedure or the precedented ways. There had been women-centered
effectiveness of law enforcement. McCloud (Dennis police programs as early as 1974’s Get Christie Love
Weaver) was a deputy from New Mexico who brought and Police Woman, but these programs were more con-
western “justice” to the streets of Manhattan. Columbo cerned with exploiting Teresa Graves’s or Angie Dick-
(Peter Falk) dressed in a crumpled raincoat and inson’s sexual desirability than presenting a feminist
feigned lethargy as he lured suspects into a false sense agenda. Cagney and Lacey, in contrast, confronted
of confidence. And Kojak (Telly Savalas) was as well women’s issues that the genre had previously ignored:
known for his bald head and constant lollipop sucking breast cancer, abortion, birth control, rape (particularly
as for problem solving. acquaintance rape), and spousal abuse.
The 1970s inclination toward offbeat police officers That Cagney and Lacey disrupted the male-
peaked in detectives that spent so much time under- dominated genre is evidenced by the battles that had to
cover (and masqueraded so effectively as criminals) be fought to keep it on the air. In the most notorious in-
that the distinction between police and criminals be- cident, the role of detective Christine Cagney was re-
came less and less clear. Toma (a ratings success even cast after the first, low-rated season because, according
though it lasted just one season) and Baretta led the to an unnamed CBS executive quoted in TV Guide,
way in this regard, drawing their inspiration from Ser- “The American public doesn’t respond to the bra burn-
pico, a popular Peter Maas book that eventually ers, the fighters, the women who insist on calling man-
evolved into a film and a low-rated TV series. These hole covers peoplehole covers . . . . We perceived them
unorthodox cops bucked the police rulebook and lived [actors Tyne Daley and Meg Foster] as dykes.” Conse-
unconventional lives, but, ultimately, they existed on a quently, a more conventionally feminine actor (Sharon
higher moral plane than the regular police officer. Gless) assumed the Cagney role. (Gless was actually
1780
Police Programs
Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord, Khigh Dhiegh, 1968–80.

1781
Police Programs
the third actor to play the part; Loretta Swit played and second halves. In the former, the police investigate
Cagney in the made-for-TV movie version.) Despite a crime, and in the latter the district attorney’s office
this ideological backpedaling, Cagney and Lacey went prosecute that crime. Like NYPD Blue, Law and Order
on to establish itself as one of the most progressively is set in New York City and it presents its urban envi-
feminist programs on television. ronment through conventions of “realism” that evolved
The third 1980s police program to unsettle the con- from Hill Street Blues.
ventions of the genre was Miami Vice. This immensely The legacy of Miami Vice’s visual stylization was
popular show featured undercover cops who were so most apparent in Homicide: Life on the Street, which
far “under” that they were almost indistinguishable may well have been the most stylized police drama of
from the criminals: quite a far cry from Sergeant Fri- the 1990s. Homicide broke many of television’s most
day. In Miami Vice, good and evil folded back over sacred rules of editing and narrative continuity. Jump
each other in impenetrable layers of disguise and du- cuts were numerous, as the program came to resemble
plicity. James “Sonny” Crockett (Don Johnson) and a French New Wave film from the 1960s. Wild camera
Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) usu- movements and unpredictable shifts in narrative devel-
ally found their way out of the urban jungle they pa- opment marked it as one of the most unconventional
trolled, but not always. In one season, Crockett was programs in the genre.
stricken with amnesia and actually believed himself to Another anomalous 1990s police program was
be a hoodlum. The clearly demarcated moral universe David E. Kelley’s Picket Fences. Although many of
of Dragnet had become hopelessly ambiguous. the central characters were police officers (thus possi-
However, moral ambiguity was not entirely new to bly qualifying it for the genre), Picket Fences did not
the genre. This territory was frequently traveled by pre- adhere to the central police-program convention of an
vious programs such as Baretta. What was truly innova- urban environment. Instead, the program was set in a
tive in Miami Vice was the style of its sound and image, small town, which consequently avoided the pressures
rather than its themes. Miami Vice borrowed its imagery of city life. Moreover, Picket Fences dealt with many
from film noir: high contrast, imbalanced lighting, dis- topics previously unknown to the genre (such as spon-
symmetrical compositions, extreme low and high cam- taneous combustion of a human being). Perhaps be-
era angles, foreground obstructions, black-and-white set cause of its quirkiness, this program has not had much
design, and so on. These images were often edited to- impact on the genre. It was, however, a significant an-
gether into elusive, allusive, music-video-style seg- tecedent to Kelley’s series about lawyers, The Practice
ments incorporating music by Tina Turner, Glenn Frey, and Ally McBeal, both of which continue his fascina-
Suicidal Tendencies, and many others. This led some tion with the idiosyncrasies of the U.S. legal system.
critics to nickname the show “MTV cops.” One program that has influenced the police genre is
Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice paved the way for the documentary program COPS, produced by John
further experimentation with the genre. Stephen Langley. COPS presents handheld, videotape footage
Bochco, the producer of Hill Street Blues, began the of actual police officers apprehending criminal perpe-
1990s with Cop Rock, a bold, but ultimately failed, ef- trators. There is no host introducing this footage and
fort to blend the police program with the musical. Un- the only explanation of what is happening is provided
like Miami Vice’s musical segments, which drew upon by the participants themselves (principally, the police
music video, Cop Rock’s episodes more resembled men and women). In a sense, COPS is merely the logi-
West Side Story or an operetta, as police officers, crim- cal extension of Hill Street Blues’ shooting style and
inals, and attorneys sang about life on the streets. It disjointed narratives—and is much cheaper to pro-
only lasted three months, but it stands as one of the duce. There have been a number of COPS parodies, in-
most unconventional programs within the genre. cluding an episode of The X-Files shot in the COPS
Bochco fared better in more familiar surroundings style and following the pursuit of a monster.
when he developed NYPD Blue, a program about police As the 1990s ended, the police drama waned
detectives that resembles Hill Street Blues in its serial- slightly. Don Johnson of Miami Vice returned to the
ized, unstable narrative development and cinema verité genre in Nash Bridges, which managed to last six sea-
visual style. Although the program raised some contro- sons despite mediocre ratings. Innovative programs
versy in its use of partial nudity and more flavorful lan- such as Homicide, NYPD Blue, and Law and Order
guage than was common on television at the time, it were canceled (Homicide) or settled into conventional
actually has broken little new ground as far as the patterns (NYPD Blue). Even iconoclastic producer
genre’s conventions were considered. More unconven- Bochco’s latest attempt at a police drama, Brooklyn
tional in its narrative structure is Law and Order, in South, seemed all too familiar and was soon taken off
which the program is strictly divided between the first the air. There are signs, however, that the genre may
1782
Police Story
reinvigorate itself. Law and Order, for example, has Bochco, Steven, “Interview,” American Film (July–August
proven quite successful with audiences, who seem to 1988)
Butler, Jeremy G., “Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir,”
enjoy the format in which each crime is solved in a Journal of Popular Film and Television (Fall 1985)
single episode, and private lives of the principal char- Christensen, Mark, “Bochco’s Law,” Rolling Stone (April 21,
acters remain unexplored. The original series has led to 1988)
three spin-offs. Law and Order SVU (Special Victims Collins, Max Allen, The Best of Crime and Detective TV: Perry
Unit) focuses on crimes dealing with sexually related Mason to Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files to Murder
She Wrote, New York: Harmony Books, 1989
offenses. Law and Order CI (Criminal Intent) exam- Crew, B. Keith, “Acting Like Cops: The Social Reality of
ines crimes by exploring the perspectives of the crimi- Crime and Law on TV Police Dramas,” in Marginal Con-
nals involved. Crime and Punishment, the most recent ventions: Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Social De-
production, presents itself as a “dramamentary” and viance, edited by Clinton R. Sanders, Bowling Green, Ohio:
follows real-life cases as they are prosecuted by the Popular Culture Press, 1990
D’Acci, Julie, Defining Women: Television and the Case of
San Diego, California, district attorney’s office. Cagney and Lacey, Chapel Hill: University of North Car-
Another innovative program, C.S.I.: Crime Scene olina Press, 1994
Investigation, has recast the police detective as a Douglas, Susan, “Signs of Intelligent Life on TV,” Ms.
forensic scientist. The series’ high-tech gadgetry and (May–June 1995)
stylized visuals have attracted a sizable audience and Fiske, John, and John Hartley, “A Policeman’s Lot,” in Reading
Television, edited by John Fiske and John Hartley, New
has also spun off a related program, C.S.I. Miami. York: Methuen, 1978
These developments suggest that the genre can still Grant, Judith, “Prime-Time Crime: Television Portrayals of
find new ways to present issues of crime, justice, and Law Enforcement,” Journal of American Culture (Spring
the preservation of social order. 1992)
Jeremy G. Butler Hurd, Geoffrey, “The Television Presentation of the Police,” in
Popular Television and Film, edited by Tony Bennett et al.,
See also Cagney and Lacey; Columbo; Dixon of London: British Film Institute, 1981
Dock Green; Dragnet; Homicide; Inspector Morse; Inciardi, James A., and Juliet L. Dee, “From the Keystone Cops
La Plante, Lynda; Miami Vice; Naked City; NBC to Miami Vice: Images of Policing in American Popular Cul-
ture,” Journal of Popular Culture (Fall 1987)
Mystery Movie; NYPD Blue; Police Story; Prime Kaminsky, Stuart, and Jeffrey H. Mahan, American Television
Suspect; Starsky and Hutch; Sweeney; Untouch- Genres, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1985
ables; Webb, Jack; Z Cars O’Connor, John J., “When Fiction Is More Real Than ‘Real-
ity,’” New York Times (February 7, 1993)
Further Reading Weber, Bruce, “New York City Police: TV’s Archetypes of
Toughness,” New York Times (October 28, 1994)
Auster, Albert, “Did They Ever Catch the Criminals Who Com- Zynda, Thomas H., “The Metaphoric Vision of Hill Street
mitted the Armed Robbery On People’s Drive: Hill Street Blues,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Fall
Blues Remembered,” Television Quarterly (Summer 1988) 1986)
Police Story
U.S. Police Anthology
Police Story is a title shared by two unrelated police The better-known Police Story series ran from 1973
anthology programs. The first Police Story aired on to 1977 on NBC. In 1988 four made-for-television
CBS during 1952. The live, half-hour program drama- movies based on the original’s script aired on ABC.
tized actual crimes lifted from the files of law enforce- Los Angeles police officer and writer Joseph
ment agencies across the United States. The series Wambaugh created the series after his first two police
anticipated “reality” crime programs such as Rescue novels, The Blue Knight and The New Centurions,
911 with its emphasis on casting actors who resembled made the best-seller lists. (The Blue Knight was also
the actual participants and use of the real names of po- adapted into a series for CBS.)
lice officers. Norman Rose narrated the series. Airing during a network television era rife with
1783
Police Story
crime dramas, Police Story distinguished itself from nominations for Outstanding Dramatic Series every
other programs in the genre through its anthology for- year during its 1970s run.
mat and emphasis on a more realistic depiction of po- Although most episodes in Police Story were unre-
lice officers. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Police Story lated, a few actors reprised their characters across sev-
focused on officers from various divisions of the Los eral episodes. Don Meredith and Tony LoBianco
Angeles Police Department. While the series had its appeared as partners or separately in six episodes from
share of car chases and psycho killers, Wambaugh and 1973 to 1975. Two Police Story episodes also served
series producer David Gerber primarily concentrated as spin-offs for the police dramas Police Woman and
on making police officers more three-dimensional and Joe Forrester. Gerber produced these series as well.
human. The series presented the job of police officer as Stephen Lee
challenging, dangerous, and at times mundane. Under-
cover detectives spent their lives on stakeouts; rookie Producers
cops faced tough street educations; SWAT sharpshoot- Stanley Kallis, David Gerber, Liam O’Brien, Christo-
ers hit innocent bystanders. Problems such as corrup- pher Morgan, Hugh Benson, Mel Swope, Larry
tion and racism on the police force and tensions Broder, Carl Pingitore
between ethnic communities were frequently explored.
The personal lives of the characters were also exam-
ined, most often in the context of the pressures police Programming History
work put on all members of the cop’s family. 84 episodes
Although the visual and aural style of Police Story NBC
episodes were on the whole indistinguishable from October 1973–September
other crime dramas of the era, the series introduced 1975 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
and concluded episodes with simple recurring motifs September 1975–October
that asserted the series’ verisimilitude. Each episode 1975 Tuesday 9:00–10:00
opened with the brief Police Story title and then leapt November 1975–August
into its story. Episodes ended with a blurry freeze 1976 Friday 10:00–11:00
frame of the last bit of action. The audio of the scene August 1976–August 1977 Tuesday 10:00–11:00
fell silent and was replaced by the chillingly efficient
voice and static of police dispatchers making a radio Further Reading
call, “Eleven-Mary-six, call the station. Thirteen-zero-
Collins, Max Allen, The Best of Crime and Detective TV: Perry
five, John-Frank-William, eight-nine-nine.” Mason to Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files to Murder,
The result of these narrative and aesthetic conven- She Wrote, New York: Harmony Books, 1989
tions was an at times disturbing picture of police offi- Crew, B. Keith, “Acting like Cops: The Social Reality of Crime
cers operating on the edge of society and their own and Law on TV Police Dramas,” in Marginal Conventions:
personal sanity. While episodes consistently started Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Social Deviance, edited
by Clinton R. Sanders, Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Cul-
stronger than they finished, the anthology format and ture Press, 1990
the ever-present influence of documentary film con- Grant, Judith, “Prime-Time Crime: Television Portrayals of
ventions helped Police Story to stand out from more Law Enforcement,” Journal of American Culture (Spring
familiar cops-and-robbers fare. These stylistic factors 1992)
suggest that the series was, in various ways, the prede- Inciardi, James A., and Juliet L. Dee, “From the Keystone Cops
to Miami Vice: Images of Policing in American Popular Cul-
cessor of later police programs such as Hill Street ture,” Journal of Popular Culture (Fall 1987)
Blues, NYPD Blue, and Homicide: Life on the Street. Kaminsky, Stuart, and Jeffrey H. Mahan, American Television
The series received wide critical praise and Emmy Genres. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1985
Political Processes and Television

Since its beginnings television in the United States has and affecting the direction of campaigns and elections.
been intertwined with political processes of every From its early position as a new medium for political
type, covering major political events and institutions coverage in the 1950s, television quickly supplanted
1784
radio and newspapers to become, by the early 1960s, charming persona that contributed to his eventual
the major source of public information about politics. electoral success.
Stevenson made it easier for the Eisenhower cam-
paign by refusing to participate in this type of elec-
Televised Coverage of Major Political Events
tronic campaigning. Although Stevenson did produce
Television’s influence grew quickly by providing audi- television commercials for the 1956 campaign, he was
ences with the chance to experience major political never able to overcome Eisenhower’s popularity.
events live or with little delay. For instance, observers This early use of television for political advertising
have long discussed the fact that television coverage of was the beginning of a trend that has grown so dramat-
the famous 1954 McArthur Day Parade in Chicago ically that televised political advertising is now the
communicated more excitement and a greater sense of major form of communication between candidates and
immediacy to television viewers than to those partici- voters in the American electoral system. Every presi-
pating in the live event. The televised hearings in con- dential campaign since 1952 has relied heavily on po-
junction with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s search for litical television spots. In the 2000 election, Al Gore
communist sympathizers in the early 1950s also cap- and George W. Bush and their national parties spent
tured the attention of the public. over $200 million on the production and airing of tele-
Probably no political event in the history of televi- vision spots. Even below the presidential level, spots
sion coverage so mesmerized television audiences as now dominate most major statewide (particularly gu-
the coverage of the assassination of President John F. bernatorial and U.S. Senate) and congressional races
Kennedy in 1963. Film of the actual tragedy in Dallas, in the United States, accounting for 50 to 75 percent of
Texas, was played and replayed, and Jack Ruby’s sub- campaign budgets.
sequent assassination of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald Several reasons account for the preeminence of tele-
occurred on live television. vision advertising in politics. First, television spots
By the 1970s the live coverage of major political and their content are under the direct control of the
events had become almost commonplace, but televi- candidate and his/her campaign. Second, the spots can
sion’s ability to lend drama and intimacy to political reach a much wider audience than other standard
events continues to this day. Through television, forms of electoral communication. Third, the spots,
Americans have been eyewitness to state funerals and because they occur in the middle of other program-
foreign wars; a presidential resignation; hearings on ming fare, have been shown to overcome partisan se-
scandals such as Watergate, Iran-Contra, and White- lectivity (i.e., the spots are generally seen by all voters,
water; triumphs of presidential diplomacy and negotia- not just those whose political party is the same as that
tion; and innumerable other political events. of the candidate). Finally, research has shown that vot-
ers actually learn more (particularly about issues) from
political spots than they do from television news or
Television and Political Campaigns/Elections
television debates.
No aspect of the political process has been affected The use of television advertising in political cam-
more by television than political campaigns and elec- paigns has often been criticized of lowering the level of
tions. The first presidential election to see extensive political discourse. Observers bemoan that television
use of television was the 1952 race between Dwight fosters drama and visual imagery, leading to an empha-
D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. In that cam- sis on a candidate’s image or appearance, instead of pol-
paign, Richard M. Nixon, as Eisenhower’s vice presi- icy issues. However, scholarly research has shown that
dential candidate, “took his case to the people” to television spots for campaigns at all levels are much
defend himself on television against corruption more likely to concentrate on issues than on images.
charges in his famous “Checkers” speech. However, Many observers also blame the rise of negative cam-
the most significant innovation related to the role of paigning on the extensive reliance upon television for
television in the 1952 campaign was undoubtedly campaign communication. Scholars and journalists
Eisenhower’s use of short-spot commercials to en- alike have noted that more and more political cam-
hance his television image. The Eisenhower campaign paigns rely on negative television spots to attack oppo-
utilized the talent of successful advertising executive nents. Although even Eisenhower’s original spot
Rosser Reeves to devise a series of short spots that ap- campaign in 1952 contained a large number of critical
peared, just like product ads, during commercial or negative messages and Lyndon Johnson’s 1964
breaks in standard television programming slots. Not campaign spots attacking Barry Goldwater are consid-
only did this strategy break new ground for political ered classic negative ads (particularly the “Daisy Girl”
campaigning, but many observers have credited the spot), the news media labeled the 1980s as the heyday
spots with helping Eisenhower to craft a friendly, of negative spots. Over the history of political spot use,
1785
about one-third of all spots for presidential campaigns been great concern about how television actually cov-
have been negative spots. ers a political campaign. Studies have shown that tele-
One of the causes of increased negative spot use has vision’s predispositions to drama and visual imagery
been the growth in “independent expenditures” by po- have resulted in television news coverage that concen-
litical action committees (PACs) and other special- trates more on candidate images, “horse-race” journal-
interest groups. Campaign finance regulations (the ism (who is winning, who is losing, opinion poll
Federal Election Campaign Acts of 1971 and 1974 and results), and campaign strategy than on issue concerns.
amendments) and related Supreme Court decisions in Television news coverage of campaigns has also
the 1970s (Buckley v. Valeo [1976]) declared that, come to rely extensively on “sound bites,” snippets of
while limits on individual contributions to campaigns candidate messages or commentary excerpts. By the
were legal, constitutional free-speech provisions pro- late 1980s the average sound bite on national televi-
hibited limits on the amount individuals or groups sion news covering political campaigns was only
could spend independently to advocate for or against a about nine seconds. In addition to reliance on short
given candidate. Spending by independent individuals sound bites, television news coverage of campaigns
or groups on television spots has mushroomed since has been characterized by reliance on “spin doctors,”
the 1980s, and often such television spending has been individual experts who interpret events for viewers by
concentrated on negative attacks on candidates (usu- framing, directing, and focusing remarks to favor one
ally incumbents). side or the other.
Other than the federal election laws just noted, Since television coverage is so important to cam-
which created the Federal Election Commission to paigns and politicians, the question of potential bias in
oversee campaign finance and expenditure reporting, coverage has been raised repeatedly. Former Vice
there are very few regulations in the United States that President Spiro Agnew is often credited with raising
affect television’s role in the political process. The the salience of potential bias in his 1969 speeches ac-
Federal Communications Act of 1934 contained the cusing television of political, liberal-leaning bias.
Equal Time Rule, which obligates television and radio Early studies of political bias in television, focused ini-
stations that give or sell time to one candidate to do the tially on the 1972 presidential campaign, concluded
same for all legally qualified candidates for federal of- that there was little evidence of such bias. Scholars
fice. The Fairness Doctrine, which has been retained suggested instead that differences among media in
only with regard to political campaigns and related at- their attention to particular candidates and issues
tacks, provides for a prescribed right of response to at- might be attributed to structural characteristics of the
tacks contained in broadcast programming. However, media (e.g., television needs visuals more than news-
because of free speech concerns, neither the Federal papers do, television has a predisposition to drama,
Election Commission nor the Federal Communica- etc.). However, more recent investigations have led to
tions Commission imposes any restrictions on the con- less complacency, suggesting that there may be unex-
tent of political-message broadcasts, except to require plained differences in coverage of Republican and
sponsor identification. Democratic, and conservative and liberal, political
candidates.
Television News Coverage of Political In addition to outright political bias, television news
has also been criticized for placing too much emphasis
Campaigns
on coverage of candidate personalities, particularly the
Politics provide a great deal of natural content for tele- personal lives of candidates. Examples often cited as
vision news programming. During political campaign evidence of extremes in this regard are the scrutiny of
periods, the national networks, as well as many local the prior treatment for mental illness of McGovern’s
stations, devote substantial amounts of time to covering original vice presidential choice, Thomas Eagleton,
the candidates and their campaigns. So important has and 1988 primary presidential candidate Gary Hart’s
television news coverage of politics become that some extramarital affairs. Both were forced from the politi-
observers suggest its growth has been accompanied by, cal arena by the surrounding media frenzy. This media
and perhaps caused, the demise of political parties in fascination with personal issues reached new heights
U.S. politics. Media producer Tony Schwartz has com- during the presidency of Bill Clinton, whose adminis-
mented that in the past, “political parties were the tration was plagued with a series of scandals investi-
means of communication from the candidate to public. gated by an independent prosecutor and covered
The political parties today are ABC, NBC, and CBS.” widely by the media. The media frenzy reached its
Because more people get their campaign news from greatest heights when Clinton’s sexual involvement
television than from any other news source, there has with White House intern Monica Lewinsky was re-
1786
vealed. The media focus was intense and comprehen- thy for the attention television news has focused on the
sive, culminating in live coverage of congressional de- events. In some instances, such as the second 1976
bates in which Clinton was eventually impeached by Ford-Carter debate, researchers have shown that tele-
the U.S. House of Representatives in late 1998. Al- vision’s emphasis on Ford’s famous misstatement
though the U.S. Senate acquitted the president, these about Soviet domination of Poland and the Eastern
events and the memorable media attention defined bloc changed the interpretation and significance of the
Clinton’s presidency. event to many viewers.
Television news also plays a major role in the cover- Presidential campaigns are defining moments for
age of the presidential candidate selection process be- media involvement in the political process, and the
fore the national party conventions. By covering and 2000 campaign gave every indication of following a
scrutinizing candidates in state primaries and cau- similar path, with media attention focused on the can-
cuses, television coverage can help determine which didates’ campaigns, their ads, and a series of debates.
candidates are perceived by the electorate as viable However, even the media were taken by surprise when
and which might be dismissed as unlikely to succeed. a contest that was labeled “too close to call” on elec-
This ability to give and withhold attention has been tion eve could not be decided for several weeks. As the
seen by many as making television’s role in the politi- votes were counted on election night, the television
cal process a decisive one, since a candidate who does networks first declared Gore the winner, then reversed
not do well in early primaries faces not only an uphill to declare George W. Bush the president-elect, then
battle in subsequent contests but may have difficulty eventually placed the race back in limbo. The uncer-
raising funds to continue at all. Coverage of primaries tainty came down to Florida, where Bush held a slight
has also provided opportunities for coverage of events lead that many speculated might disappear if various
that have continued to be influential on through the counties with possible voting irregularities were al-
general election. For instance, George H.W. Bush’s lowed to recount their ballots. As other states’ voting
unprecedented, hostile encounter with Dan Rather on totals were firmed up, the Florida votes remained in
the CBS Evening News in January 1988 is often cred- doubt. The media found new life for postcampaign
ited with erasing Bush’s “wimp” image and giving him coverage as they converged on Florida to watch and
momentum for the contests ahead. Conversely, Ed- interpret for the public a series of legal challenges.
mund Muskie was forever diminished when television When the U.S. Supreme Court eventually called a halt
cameras caught tears in his eyes at a New Hampshire to the recount process on equal protection grounds in
primary rally early in the 1972 campaign. December, Florida’s electoral votes went into the Bush
News media coverage to politics is not limited to column, making him the winner. However, for the first
simple reporting on candidates and campaign activi- time in over a century, the presidential winner had won
ties, however. Television news has also played a large the contest on electoral votes, while losing the popular
role in other aspects of the political process. In 1952 vote. The aftermath of the 2000 election experience led
television covered its first series of national party con- to a serious examination of the media’s use of polling
ventions. While it was originally believed that such at- to project vote winners and its use of these data during
tention would bring the party process into the open and election broadcasts.
help voters better understand the political selection Several innovations in television coverage of politi-
process, parties quickly learned to “script” their con- cal campaigns were apparent in the last decades of the
ventions for television. National television networks 20th century. One such innovation was the attention
no longer provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of national paid by the television news media to coverage of polit-
party conventions, furnishing only convention high- ical television spots. News media personnel, in con-
lights to viewers. junction with their print journalist counterparts,
Televised campaign debates provide other fodder decided that candidate-controlled spots should be scru-
for the television news operation. The first televised tinized and critiqued by the news media. Beginning
debates in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon campaign were with the 1988 presidential contest, the television net-
viewed as important, perhaps decisive, in Kennedy’s works, as well as local stations, began to devote in-
victory. Kennedy’s success has often been attributed to creased amounts of time to analyzing candidate spots
his impressive appearance on television in these de- in what came to be known as “ad watches.” Television
bates. The next set of presidential debates did not oc- stations, particularly local ones, also began to take ad-
cur until the 1976 contest between Gerald Ford and vantage of satellite technology and other remote-feed
Jimmy Carter, but there has been some type of single capabilities to provide more on-the-spot coverage of
or multiple debate encounter in every subsequent pres- campaigns and candidates. Traditional television news
idential election. All of these cases have been notewor- formats, however, have found themselves challenged
1787
by another innovation, the frequent appearance of po- tin, and Lee M. Mitchell first called attention to the
litical candidates on television talk shows and person- tremendous advantage this coverage might yield for
ality interview programs. These shows have provided the president, suggesting that it gave the president the
candidates with new ways to pitch their messages, of- ability to command public attention and overpower the
ten with the benefit of direct voter call-in questions. more divided and less-visible branches of the federal
The potential influence of such shows has been en- government, Congress and the Supreme Court. Cer-
hanced by the proliferation of cable channels offering tainly, the White House has been a plum assignment
multiple distribution systems. Another recent chal- for television journalists, who have often been accused
lenge to television’s half-century-long dominance of of being co-opted by the aura of power that surrounds
the political process appears to be the increased use of the presidency. This unique situation has been charac-
the Internet for political information. terized as leading, not to a traditional adversarial rela-
tionship between press and president, but to a
Television and the Rise of Political symbiotic relationship in which journalist and politi-
cian need to use each other in order to prosper.
Professionals
However, since the introduction of cameras into
The increased importance of television to political Congress in 1969 and the creation of the C-SPAN net-
campaigning is also largely responsible for the growth work to cover political affairs, there has been some
of political or media “handlers.” The need to perform leveling of the presidential advantage in television
well on television (in controlled paid advertising, in coverage. Although sometimes accused of “playing to
debates, on talk shows, in news interviews, and on the cameras” in their legislative work, congressional
pseudoevents planned for television news coverage) leaders believe this opening up of the governing pro-
has created a great demand for professional campaign cess to the television audience has provided new un-
consultants. Joe McGinniss’s 1969 book, The Selling derstanding of and visibility for the legislative branch
of the President 1968, brought new public visibility to of government. The Supreme Court nonetheless con-
the process by which media consultants mold and tinues to function outside the realm of day-to-day tele-
manage candidates for television by chronicling the vision coverage.
media strategies and packaging of Nixon in his 1968
presidential bid. Dan Nimmo’s The Political Per- Television and International Political Pro-
suaders (1970) helped a whole generation of political
cesses
students and scholars understand this new partnership
between candidates and media specialists. By the As television’s role in the U.S. political system has de-
1980s it was possible to point to particular philoso- veloped, increasing attention has been focused on the
phies and schools of consulting thought and to identify interrelationship between television and politics in
the specific strategies used by consultants to manipu- many international political environments. Although
late candidate images for television. often characterized by parliamentary and multiparty
systems and government-owned media, many other
democracies have been influenced by American styles
Television and the Governing Process
of television campaigning and coverage. This “Ameri-
While television’s role in political campaigns and elec- canization” of the media and political process can be
tions is difficult to overestimate, television’s signifi- seen in the growth of American-style political adver-
cance in the political process carries over to the tising and journalistic coverage. Britain, France, Ger-
governing of the nation. Television monitors govern- many, Italy, Israel, many Latin American countries,
ment institutions and the governing process. Every and others have seen this trend, and newly developing
branch of government is affected by this watchdog. democracies in East and Central Europe are also being
The president of the United States probably bears affected. These countries have not only seen the
the greatest weight of this scrutiny. It is rare to see any growth of television advertising and American patterns
national television newscast that does not contain one of media coverage of politics, but a corollary lessening
or more stories centered on the executive branch of of emphasis on political parties in favor of candidate-
government. In addition, presidents generally have the centered politics.
ability to receive free network television time for na- Media faced a new challenge to both domestic and
tional addresses and for frequent press conferences. international coverage when terrorists struck the World
Their inaugural addresses and State of the Union ad- Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in
dresses are covered live and in full. In Presidential Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. The after-
Television (1973), Newton Minow, John Bartlow Mar- math of these horrific events and the challenges of live
1788
coverage brought the media into the center of serious Many other theories and perspectives on television’s
world events. The U.S. “war on terrorism” offered new possible effects on political processes have been advo-
opportunities for the media to demonstrate their ability cated. Researchers have demonstrated, for instance,
to help the public understand complex events, while that television may play an important role in political
seeking to ensure that freedom of information and socialization, helping both children and adults to ac-
rights of free expression are preserved. quire knowledge about the political system and how it
operates; however, exposure to television may increase
Theories and Perspectives on Television and voter cynicism and feelings of inefficacy. Others have
suggested that we can best understand television’s role
Politics
in politics by viewing it as a medium through which
Early research into the effects of messages delivered fantasies “chain out” among the public, shaping views
through the mass media, particularly television, posited of events and political actors in a dramatist-like fash-
the so-called direct-effects theory: that television mes- ion. Critical and interpretive views also provide per-
sages have direct effects on the behavior of recipients. spective on the interrelationship between governing
However, the early research did not fully support this philosophies, societal values, and television culture.
thesis, and scholars for a time tended to discount the All these approaches and orientations will be essential
notion that such messages directly affected the behav- in the future, as television continues to play a central
ior of recipients such as voters. Recent studies of a role in the political processes that touch the lives of cit-
more sophisticated design have tended to show that the izens throughout the world.
media do affect behavior, although not necessarily in Lynda Lee Kaid
the most obvious ways initially anticipated.
See also Kennedy, John F.: Assassination and Fu-
Television has been proven to have sufficiently
neral; Kennedy, Robert F.: Assassination;
identifiable effects to justify a belief in some direct ef-
Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960; 2000
fect of the medium in the political process. While the
Presidential Election Coverage
foregoing discussion clearly implies some direct ef-
fects of television’s participation in the political pro-
cess, it is important to note that there are many
different theories and interpretations about the role Further Reading
television and other media really play in affecting Blumler, Jay G., and Denis McQuail, Television in Politics: Its
voter knowledge, opinions, and behavior. Dan Nimmo Uses and Influence, London: Faber, 1968; Chicago: Univer-
and Keith Sanders’s classic treatment of political com- sity of Chicago Press, 1969
Bormann, E.G., “Fantasy and Rhetorical Vision: The Rhetorical
munication in The Handbook of Political Communica- Criticism of Social Reality,” Quarterly Journal of Speech
tion (1981) provides a good overview of the theories (1972)
that have guided research in this area. Early theorists Clancey, M., and M. Robinson, “General Election Coverage:
did assume a kind of direct effect from media exposure Part I,” Public Opinion (December/January 1985)
but were later cautioned to view the media as having a Devlin, L.P., “Contrasts in Presidential Campaign Commercials
of 1992,” American Behavioral Scientist (1993)
more limited role. Agenda-setting researchers were the Frank, Robert S., Message Dimensions of Television News, Lex-
first to break with the limited-effects model and to sug- ington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books, 1973
gest that media coverage of particular issues in politi- Graber, Doris A., “Press and Television As Opinion Resources
cal campaigns affected the agenda of issues judged to in Presidential Campaigns,” Public Opinion Quarterly
be important by voters. Agenda-setting theory—the (1976)
Graber, Doris A., Mass Media and American Politics, Washing-
idea that the media does not tell us what to think, but ton, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1980; 6th edition,
what to think about—remains an important theory of 2002
media effects, and researchers have demonstrated that Gurevitch, M., and Jay G. Blumler, “Comparative Research:
the agenda of issues and candidate characteristics The Extending Frontier,” in New Directions in Political
stressed by television and other media may become the Communication, edited by David L. Swanson and Dan D.
Nimmo, Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1990
voters’ agenda as well. Hofstetter, C. Richard, Bias in the News: Network Television
Researchers interested in the political effects of the Coverage of the 1972 Election Campaign, Columbus: Ohio
television have also espoused a “uses and gratifica- State University Press, 1976
tions” theory suggesting that voters attend to various Joslyn, R.A., “The Content of Political Spot Ads,” Journalism
political media messages in order to use the informa- Quarterly (1980)
Kaid, Linda Lee, “Political Advertising,” in Handbook of Polit-
tion in various ways. Jay Blumler and his colleagues ical Communication, edited by Dan D. Nimmo and Keith R.
first proposed this theory as an explanation for why vot- Sanders, Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1981
ers in Britain watch or avoid political party broadcasts. Kaid, Lynda Lee, “Political Advertising in the 1992 Campaign,”
1789
in The 1992 Presidential Campaign: A Communication Per- McGinniss, Joe, The Selling of the President, 1968, New York:
spective, edited by R.E. Denton, Westport, Connecticut: Trident Press, 1969
Praeger, 1994 Minow, Newton N., John Bartlow Martin, and Lee M. Mitchell,
Kaid, Lynda Lee, and A. Johnston, “Negative Versus Positive Presidential Television, New York: Basic Books, 1973
Television Advertising in U.S. Presidential Campaigns, Nimmo, Dan D., The Political Persuaders, Englewood Cliffs,
1960–1988,” Journal of Communication (1991) New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1970
Kaid, Lynda Lee, Dan D. Nimmo, and Keith R. Sanders, New Nimmo, Dan D., and Keith R. Sanders, editors, Handbook of
Perspectives on Political Advertising, Carbondale: Southern Political Communication, Beverly Hills, California: Sage,
Illinois University Press, 1986 1981
Kaid, Lynda Lee, et al., “Television News and Presidential Patterson, Thomas E., and Robert D. McClure, The Unseeing
Campaigns: The Legitimization of Televised Political Ad- Eye: The Myth of Television Power in National Politics,
vertising,” Social Science Quarterly (1993) New York: Putnam, 1976
Kaid, Lynda Lee, Jacques Gerstlé, and Keith R. Sanders, edi- Sabato, Larry J., The Rise of Political Consultants: New Ways of
tors, Mediated Politics in Two Cultures: Presidential Cam- Winning Elections, New York: Basic Books, 1981
paigning in the United States and France, New York: Sabato, Larry J., editor, Overtime: The Election 2000 Thriller,
Praeger, 1991 New York: Longman, 2002
Kaid, Lynda Lee, and C. Holtz-Bacha, editors, Political Adver- Schwartz, Tony, Media: The Second God, New York: Random
tising in Western Democracies. Newbury Park, California: House, 1981
Sage, 1995 Semetko, H.A., et al., The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A
Kern, Montague, 30-Second Politics: Political Advertising in Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent
the Eighties, New York: Praeger, 1989 American and British Elections, Hillsdale, New Jersey:
Klapper, Joseph T., The Effects of Mass Communication, Glen- Lawrence Erlbaum, 1991
coe, Illinois: Free Press, 1960 Steeper, F.T., “Public Response to Gerald Ford’s Statements on
Kraus, S., editor, The Great Debates: Background, Perspec- Eastern Europe in the Second Debate,” in The Presidential
tives, Effects, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962 Debates: Media, Electoral, and Policy Perspectives, edited
Lichter, S. Robert, Daniel Amundson, and Richard Noyes. The by George F. Bishop, Robert G. Meadow, and Marilyn
Video Campaign: Network Coverage of the 1988 Primaries, Jackson-Beeck, New York: Praeger, 1978
Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public West, Darrell M., Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election
Policy Research, 1988 Campaigns, 1952–1992, Washington, D.C.: Congressional
McCombs, M.E., and D.L. Shaw, “The Agenda-Setting Func- Quarterly Press, 1993; 3rd edition, as Air Wars: Television
tion of Mass Media,” Public Opinion Quarterly (1972) Advertising in Election Campaigns, 1952–2000, 2001
Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher

Dubbed by some critics the “McLaughlin Group on than simply a site for stand-up comedy routines and
Acid,” Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher offered stale B movies.
viewers of Comedy Central (1993–96) and later ABC Owned and produced by Brillstein-Grey Entertain-
(1997–2002) a unique twist on political talk on televi- ment and HBO Downtown Productions, the show be-
sion. Hosted by comedian Bill Maher, the half-hour gan its first season with 24 episodes. Taped in
program featured four guests, selected in part for their Manhattan, the weekly program featured Maher and an
status as “nonexperts on politics,” who discussed polit- eclectic array of comedians, actors, and actresses, but
ical and social matters of the day. Designed to resem- also public personalities such as authors, politicians,
ble a televised cocktail party, this hybrid political journalists, activists, and sports and music stars. With
discussion/entertainment show featured a no-holds- the group sitting in a semicircle discussing politics, the
barred approach to political talk designed to live up to show’s early production values resembled those of a
the show’s name. local cable access show. Still, it offered a serious but
The brainchild of stand-up comedian Maher, the entertaining reformulation of both the entertainment
show first appeared on Comedy Central in 1993. The and pundit talk show genres. The novelty lay in the
cable channel was looking for original programming concept: famous people, few of whom were political
that would bring much-needed recognition and ratings experts, talking about something other than their latest
to the young network, which had begun in 1991. Polit- project. This format was generally considered the
ically Incorrect (P.I.) was the first signature show for show’s primary attraction for both audiences and the
Comedy Central, helping define the channel as more guests who increasingly requested to be on the show.
1790
The discussions and arguments could seem glib and

ironic, yet they offered viewers honest and passionate
exchanges—a very different approach to political talk
on television.
After producing 45 episodes and winning a Cable
Ace Award in its second season, the show added Ma-
her’s name to the title and began appearing nightly
during the third season. This allowed Maher and pro-
ducers to include more topical discussions based on is-
sues of the day. The show also appeared in the 11 P.M.
(EST) time slot, going head-to-head with late-night
network programming. Each show began with Maher
offering a brief stand-up routine before launching into
the panel discussions. In January 1996 the show
moved its production to Los Angeles amid talk of the
program becoming a post-Nightline companion show
for the ABC network. In its last season on Comedy
Central, P.I. produced Indecision ’96, a satirical take
on the 1996 presidential elections that included send-
ing its own “correspondents” to both major party con-
ventions for reports and interviews with politicians
and delegates.
After producing 411 shows for Comedy Central, Po-
litically Incorrect moved to ABC in January 1997, one
of the first successful migrations from cable to network
television. Though ABC had not competed in the “late-
night comedy entertainment wars” since 1991, net-
work executives thought the show would work well as
a topical companion to Nightline. The show also en-
abled the network to appeal to the 18–49 demographic Politically Incorrect, Bill Maher.
so desired by advertisers. By moving to ABC, P.I. was Photo courtesy of ABC Photo Archives
able to reach ten times the audience it had on Comedy
Central while offering essentially the same show in the
same format with little to no interference from network
censors. 1999–2000, the show began sporadically featuring a
Like other cable news and talk channels, P.I.’s rat- “Citizen Panelist.” Maher and his staff visited affiliate
ings were best when breaking news or controversial is- stations in various cities across the nation, conducting
sues were available for discussion. The Oklahoma City tryouts for a local citizen to win a guest spot on the
bombing and the O.J. Simpson murder trial were fa- show, thus fulfilling a top request from viewers—for a
vorite discussion topics for many shows on Comedy “regular” citizen to appear on the panel. The stunt may
Central, but it would be the presidential scandal of Bill also have been designed to improve affiliate relations
Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica and clearance issues in these cities as well as to garner
Lewinsky that would comprise the show’s most fre- publicity and ratings points. To attract more politicians
quented topic during its early years at ABC. Maher as panelists, the show was occasionally taped in Wash-
was a persistent and aggressive supporter of Clinton ington, D.C. To attract more intellectuals, it would be
during the controversy and impeachment proceedings, taped in New York. The show also taped episodes in
and the subject’s mixture of sex and politics proved London, in a prison in Arizona, and with mobsters as
perfect for entertaining late-night discussions. The de- panelists in New York (to capitalize on the popularity
liberations on P.I. were distinctive, however, more of HBO’s The Sopranos).
closely resembling public opinion on the scandal than The show’s defining moment, perhaps, occurred due
views expressed on most pundit-staffed political talk to discussions about the terrorist attacks on the World
shows (Jones, 2001). Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Wash-
During slow news periods, P.I. offered numerous ington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. Upon the show’s
thematic gimmicks to increase viewership. From return to the air after the attacks, Maher and panelist
1791
Dinesh D’Souza began a discussion of whether the long run, the show proved that political talk on televi-
Bush administration’s designation of the terrorists as sion was no longer the exclusive domain of news agen-
“cowards” was an appropriate label. When D’Souza cies and broadcast networks, and that elite sources of
argued that the word was misplaced, Maher agreed political commentary did not necessarily speak for or to
saying, “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise many audience members. The show radically chal-
missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. lenged traditional boundaries and generic conceptions
Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say of entertainment programming on the one hand, and se-
what you want about it, it’s not cowardly.” Maher was rious public-affairs programming on the other. Indeed,
referring to American military conduct during the P.I. represents the television talk show as a truly combi-
Clinton administration, but radio talk show hosts used natory form with its blend of politics and social issues,
the statement the following day to excoriate him as an humor and serious discourse, comedic monologues and
unpatriotic traitor. Though the network supported the group discussions, celebrities and less well-known pub-
show and Maher attempted to clarify his statements in lic personalities, and layperson versus elite discourse.
the days and weeks ahead, 17 affiliates eventually Jeffrey P. Jones
dropped the program—with 9 still refusing to show it
See also Political Processes and Television; Talk
six months later. Two major advertisers, Sear’s & Roe-
Show
buck and Federal Express, dropped their advertising.
The comment even elicited a rebuke from White
House ress secretary Ari Fleischer, who said Ameri- Further Reading
cans “need to watch what they say.” Maher and others Carter, Bill, “Lots of Political Humor, and No Morton Kon-
have suggested that this event was the final step in the dracke,” New York Times (February 27, 1994)
show’s demise. In March 2002 Maher was honored Jones, Jeffrey P., “Forums for Citizenship in Popular Culture,”
along with George Carlin, Dick Gregory, and the in Politics, Discourse and American Society: New Agendas,
edited by R. P. Hart and B. H. Sparrow, Boulder: Rowman
Smothers Brothers at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and Littlefield, 2001
with a Freedom of Speech Award. Maher’s contract Jones, Jeffrey P., “Talking Politics in Post-Network Television:
was not renewed, and the show went off the air in De- The Case of Politically Incorrect,” Unpublished diss., Uni-
cember 2002. versity of Texas at Austin, 1999
Politically Incorrect began with a cable channel’s Mifflin, Lawrie, “Mix Comedy and Politics with Strange Bed-
fellows, Then Hope for Sparks,” New York Times (February
need for an identity in a competitive environment and 4, 1997)
as a comedian’s jab at sanitized public discourse in an “‘Politically Incorrect’ Thriving on Lewinsky Situation,” The
era of political correctness. But throughout its decade- Associated Press (March 5, 1998)
Pool Coverage
Pool coverage involves the combined resources of me- of what the press could and could not cover occurred
dia outlets to report on a major news event. Such re- during the U.S. invasion of Grenada in October 1983.
sources include funds, supplies, equipment, and Outcries from the press against the military’s virtual
humanpower. Members of the media pool often share blackout of the media’s information-gathering efforts
news stories and photographic images of the event in that action brought the establishment of the Depart-
with other news outlets outside of the pool. Each news ment of Defense’s National Media Pool.
outlet may use the pool feed at its discretion. The Pentagon chooses members of the National Me-
In the United States, press pools often are associated dia Pool by lottery. Members of the press take turns
with war efforts. Indeed, the free press always has serving in the pool. Pool reporters write accounts of
been considered a little too free for the Pentagon. The the activities they view and share their information
Vietnam War represented the first instance when press with other members. To be included in the National
coverage brought significant numbers of negative im- Media Pool, news organizations must demonstrate a
ages of U.S. military action into American homes. familiarity with U.S. military affairs and maintain a
Since this war the first example of military “guidance” correspondent who regularly covers military affairs
1792
Pool Coverage
and Pentagon press conferences; maintain a Washing- the candidate. These members may be “on the candi-
ton, D.C., staff; be able to participate in the pool on date’s private plane, at small enclaves, during motor-
standby and be able to deploy a reporter within a mini- cades, and so forth.” These reporters write accounts of
mum of four hours; agree to adhere to pool ground the candidate’s activities, which are then made avail-
rules; and be U.S. owned and operated. able to pool journalists who cannot be with the candi-
The National Media Pool is designed to represent all date. In presidential elections, pool members are elite
news organizations and to serve as the eyes and ears of press members. Nimmo and Combs explain that there
Americans when the U.S. military is active. However, is a pecking order for pool members: “At the top are
pool reports often have a uniform quality because all national political reporters—experienced correspon-
reporters are given access to the same information. dents of prestigious newspapers, the wire services, na-
Moreover, many journalists claim that military offi- tional newsmagazines, and television networks. At the
cials often make it hard to provide objective, firsthand bottom are the representatives of smaller newspapers
coverage of events. and organizations.” Regardless of status, pool cover-
In 1992 representatives from the military and news age often is similar. Timothy Crouse (1974) writes,
organizations developed nine principles for pool cov- “After a while, they [pool journalists] began to believe
erage. As outlined by D. Gersh, these principles em- in the same rumors, subscribe to the same theories, and
brace open and independent reporting. Furthermore, write the same stories.”
pools should not be the standard means of coverage; Recently, pools have been enlisted to organize cov-
pools may be necessary for specific events and should erage of high-profile criminal trials. According to
be disbanded when needed; journalists will be given Gersh (1991), when serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was
credentials by the U.S. military and must abide by se- tried for 17 murders allegedly involving cannibalism,
curity rules; journalists will be provided access to all more than 450 journalists flocked to Milwaukee, Wis-
major military units, although special operation re- consin, from around the world to cover the bizarre
strictions may limit some access; military officials will story. Daniel Patrinos, media coordinator for the Wis-
act as liaisons; field commanders will permit journal- consin court, set up a pool system to handle coverage
ists to ride on military vehicles and aircraft when feasi- of the proceedings. In addition to utilizing advisories
ble; and materials will be provided to ensure timely, from Associated Press, United Press International, and
secure, and compatible transmission of pool material Reuters wire services, Patrinos saw to it that local
(see Gersh, 1992). community papers (including black and gay newspa-
According to Mark Thompson (2002), the National pers) were well informed. The judge in this case al-
Media Pool “came to life on July 19, 1987, when a ban lowed 23 pool journalists into the courtroom and
of ten reporters took off from Andrews Air Force Base allowed others to watch from a media center.
for its first real-world deployment” (to witness U.S. Likewise, reporters, photographers, and camera
military operations in the Persian Gulf). In theory, such crews turned out in record numbers on January 23,
pool coverage would provide independent press cover- 1995, for the opening statements of the trial of O.J.
age to journalists while maintaining the safety and se- Simpson on double murder charges. Judge Lance Ito
curity of the nation’s most sensitive military allowed only pool journalists into the courtroom, and a
operations. However, Thompson contends that mili- media room was set up for other journalists. In spite of
tary resistance has prevented the National Media Pool these controls, the term most often used to describe the
from reaching this potential. In one notable example, situation was “media circus.”
although pool reporters were notified to stand by after Whether pool coverage is used to report on military
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World combat, to cover political races, or to control coverage
Trade Center and the Pentagon, the pool was not offi- in high-profile legal cases, the goal of pool coverage is
cially deployed during the U.S. attack in Afghanistan the same. Pool coverage, while providing journalists
in the months that followed. access to events, offers those who employ it a way to
Media resources also have been pooled to reduce the manage media coverage.
unnecessary clutter of camera crews at the scene of an Lori Melton McKinnon
event. Pools have been implemented to cover the Re-
See also News, Network
publican and Democratic national conventions, presi-
dential primaries, and high-profile elections. They also
are utilized to provide coverage of individual political Further Reading
candidates. According to Dan Nimmo and James E. Boot, William (pseud. for Christopher Hanson), “What We Saw,
Combs, each day on the campaign trail, a couple of What We Learned,” Columbia Journalism Review
members of the pool reporters are in close contact with (May/June 1991)
1793
Pool Coverage
Crouse, Timothy, The Boys on the Bus, New York: Ballantine Nimmo, Dan, and James E. Combs, Mediated Political Reali-
Books, 1974 ties, New York: Longman, 1983; 2nd edition, 1990
Gersh, D., “Coordinating Coverage for a Media Trial,” Editor O’Sullivan, G., “Against the Grain: The Free Press—Every
and Publisher (1991) Military Should Own One,” The Humanist (May/June 1991)
Gersh, D., “Press Pool Inclusion Rules Proposed,” Editor and Stein, M.L., “Media Circus Begins Again,” Editor and Pub-
Publisher (1992) lisher (1995)
Lowther, W., “Counting the Hidden Costs,” MacLean’s (Jan- Thompson, Mark, “The Brief, Ineffective Life of the Pentagon’s
uary 22, 1990) Media Pool,” Columbia Journalism Review (March/April
2002)
Porridge
British Sitcom
Porridge was a prison-based sitcom in which are quick to take advantage of Barrowclough’s soft ap-
sparkling dialogue and tight plots combined to create a proach and simplistic naïveté.
funny, sometimes touching, show that became a huge Although these four are the main protagonists, sev-
hit with the viewing public. The setting was Slade eral regular characters make up the mix, notably the
Prison, a grim edifice, isolated on a moor in an unspec- effete prison governor, various inmates, and, most
ified area in northern England. In the pilot episode frighteningly, Harry Grout, who runs a criminal empire
(“Prisoner and Escort”) the viewer meets the “hero,” from within the prison and who has as much sway
Norman Stanley Fletcher, a serial offender being es- within the walls as the governor himself. It is the plots
corted by two guards to begin his latest incarceration where Fletcher and Godber find themselves caught be-
for five years. Fletcher is a nonviolent petty criminal tween the wardens and Harry Grout that feature the
whose regular capture and conviction suggests he’s not most rewarding twists and turns.
as bright as he thinks he is. Nevertheless, Fletcher is Porridge was the brainchild of veteran sitcom writ-
quick-witted and spirited, and he refuses to let the sys- ers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who had first
tem grind him down. Once at the prison Fletcher enters shone in the genre with their 1960s comedy The Likely
the daily routine of prison life determined to “keep his Lads (BBC 1964–66). In the 1970s they perfected their
nose clean” and survive on the regular minor victories technique with two comedy classics, Whatever Hap-
he enjoys over the prison wardens, or “screws.” His pened to the Likely Lads (BBC 1973–74) and Por-
cellmate is Lennie Godber, a first-time offender who is ridge. The banter between Fletcher and Godber was
terrified of prison life. Fletcher has no wish to play vibrant, funny, and superbly constructed. It also helped
nursemaid to the lad and puts on a front of being indif- that the scripts were played by two skilled actors doing
ferent to Godber’s welfare. However, Fletcher is an es- their best work. Ronnie Barker, already a major TV
sentially decent person and soon finds himself acting comedy star with a string of sitcom successes and a
as a surrogate father to the newcomer, showing him the popular sketch show (The Two Ronnies BBC 1971–97,
ropes and generally keeping him out of harm’s way. with comedy partner Ronnie Corbett), played Fletcher.
The two main wardens in Fletcher and Godber’s life Richard Beckinsale, a likable young actor who had al-
are MacKay, a dour, militaristic Scotsman with a jaun- ready made a splash playing a confused suitor in an
diced view of his charges, and Barrowclough, a sensi- earlier sitcom, The Lovers (Granada 1970–71), played
tive man with a soft spot for the inmates in general and Godber. The series was attracting huge audience fig-
Fletcher in particular. Barrowclough is as optimistic ures shortly after its debut, regularly topping the rat-
about the men being rehabilitated as MacKay is pes- ings (during its repeat run in the 1980s, it placed even
simistic. MacKay is a no-nonsense, by-the-book vet- higher in the ratings).
eran of the prison service and he is not easy to fool. Clement and La Frenais toyed with calling the series
Barrowclough, on the other hand, is much kinder and Bird (London East End rhyming slang for a prison sen-
fairer to the inmates, but human nature being what it is tence: Bird Lime–Time) before settling on Porridge,
(and criminal nature being even worse) the prisoners another slang word for doing time (from the ubiquitous
1794
Post, Mike
prison breakfast). Eventually, they penned 21 episodes Cast

of the series before Fletcher had done his time and left Norman Stanley Fletcher Ronnie Barker
to join the outside world. But the story did not end Lennie Godber Richard Beckinsale
there. The writers decided to see how Fletcher would Mr. MacKay Fulton MacKay
fare “outside,” and his adventures were continued in Mr. Barrowclough Brian Wilde
Going Straight (BBC 1978), which also featured
Lennie Godber, likewise released and now courting Producer
Fletcher’s daughter, Ingrid. The series failed to sparkle Sydney Lotterby
like its predecessor and only ran to one season of six
episodes. The character, however, had one last bow,
Writers
this time on the big screen in the 1979 movie spin-off
Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Porridge, which featured the original cast in a caper
wherein Fletcher and Godber are unwittingly involved
in a jail break and, desperate not to ruin their chances Programming History
of parole, strive to break back into the prison before Pilot: Seven of One: “Prisoner and Escort”
their absence is noticed. Tragically, the young Richard 20 Episodes
Beckinsale died of a heart attack before the feature BBC
film was released. Pilot: April 1, 1973
There was a U.S. version of Porridge: On The September 1974–March 1977
Rocks (ABC 1975–76) with Jose Perez in the lead as
Latino Hector Fuentes incarcerated in Alamesa Mini-
mum Security Prison. It failed to duplicate the reso- Further Reading
nance of the U.K. version, however, and bowed out Ableman, Paul, Porridge: The Inside Story, London: Pan
after a few months. It spawned a pilot, I’ll Never For- Books, 1979
get What’s Her Name (ABC 1976), featuring Rita Barker, Ronnie, Fletcher’s Book of Rhyming Slang, London:
Pan Books, 1979
Moreno as Hector’s cousin Rosa, but this failed to Clement, Dick, and Ian La Frenais, Porridge, London: B.B.C.
graduate to a series. The British Porridge remains a Paperback, 1975
mainstay of the schedules, and Norman Fletcher has Clement, Dick, and Ian La Frenais, Another Stretch of Porridge,
taken his place in the British sitcom hall of fame London: B.B.C. Paperback, 1976
alongside such characters as Alf Garnett, Basil Fawlty, Clement, Dick, and Ian La Frenais, A Further Stir of Porridge,
London: B.B.C. Paperback, 1977
Edmund Blackadder, and Victor Meldrew. Lewisohn, Mark, The Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy, Lon-
Dick Fiddy don: BBC, 1998, 2002
Webber, Clement, and Ian La Frenais, Porridge: The Inside
See also La Frenais, Ian; Likely Lads, The Story, London: Headline, 2001
Post, Mike (1945– )

U.S. Composer
Mike Post, one of the most successful composers in cut with smooth jazz sounds. These compositions are
television history, has written music for television noted for their unique blending of styles as well as for
since the 1970s. He has won five Grammy Awards and the dramatic manner in which they complement a
one Emmy for his theme songs and, by his own count, show’s narrative.
has scored more than 2,000 hours of film. Post has pro- Post is regarded as the youngest musician to be ap-
duced the signature melodies for programs such as Hill pointed as musical director for a television program;
Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue. His distinct he assumed that role in 1969, at age 24, on The Andy
themes often have intense, industrial rock music cross- Williams Show. Prior to that appointment, Post worked
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Post, Mike
with audiences and soared onto the pop charts. It also

impressed his peers and the critics and brought Post
two more Grammys in 1981: one for Best Pop Instru-
mental Performance and one for Best Instrumental
Composition.
Hill Street Blues also marked the beginning of
Post’s long-running creative collaboration with Steven
Bochco. One of the most prolific producers of success-
ful dramatic series in the 1980s and 1990s, Bochco
hired Post to write the Hill Street Blues theme and has
worked closely with him ever since. The composer’s
career was largely established by the music he com-
posed for Bochco’s police or law dramas, and their en-
during relationship has continued to push the
boundaries of television music.
Post’s work is wholly devoted to compelling a pro-
gram’s storyline and contributing to its overall tone.
The slick, polished opening sounds of L.A. Law and
the aggressive, chaotic drumbeats punctuating the seg-
ments of NYPD Blue episodes are examples of talent
for melding images, emotions, and sounds. He is also
exceptionally resourceful in orchestrating his award-
winning melodies. To achieve the unique sound of the
NYPD Blue theme, for example, he used, among other
effects, 1,000 men jumping up and down on a wooden
floor, a cheese grater, and a subway horn. All these
Mike Post. ideas are largely inspired by the program’s script, and
Photo courtesy of Mike Post Post’s ability to encompass a show’s character in his
music is what has landed him atop the elite class of
Hollywood composers. Only Pat Williams, Henry
primarily as a session musician for a number of major Mancini, and Dave Grusin have attained comparable
artists including Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and levels of success and respect in this field.
Sonny and Cher (he played guitar on the duo’s “I Got Ironically, some of his music has become so popular
You Babe” in 1965). He was also a successful pro- that the themes play on pop radio, a medium wholly
ducer and arranger, winning a Grammy at age 22 for disconnected from the visual drama he is committed to
Best Instrumental Arrangement on Mason Williams’s enhancing. One of his songs, “The Greatest American
“Classical Gas.” Hero,” is among the few TV themes ever to reach the
Post began his career in Los Angeles with the number one spot on the pop singles charts. Others,
country-rock band First Edition, featuring Kenny such as the themes for Hill Street Blues and The Rock-
Rogers. In the late 1960s he joined forces with Pete ford Files, have reached the top ten.
Carpenter, trombonist, arranger, and veteran of televi- His popular and unique compositions are not Mike
sion theme scoring, and began to write music for tele- Post’s only enduring legacy to television, however. He
vision. Post and Carpenter began working for producer can also be credited with elevating television scoring
Stephen J. Cannell and first wrote the theme for Can- to a fine art, and creating a new dimension of drama
nell’s cop show Toma in 1973. The Rockford Files with his “ear for the visual.”
theme, however, was their breakthrough assignment. Jennifer Holt
The whimsical synthesizer melodies seemed perfectly
See also Music on Television
suited to the ironic character of James Garner’s Rock-
ford. The score sealed their reputations and won Post
his second Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Ar- Mike Post. Born in San Fernando, California, 1945.
rangement in 1975. Married; children: Jennifer and Aaron. Began career as
Hill Street Blues brought more accolades and con- member of Kenny Rogers’s country-rock band First
tinued success. The theme song, an elegant composi- Edition; went on to play for Sammy Davis Jr., and
tion of simple, poignant piano music, struck a chord Dean Martin; musical director, The Andy Williams
1796
Post, Mike
Show, 1969; produced numerous television scores, in- 1983 Hardcastle and McCormick
cluding The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, L.A. 1983 Riptide
Law, Doogie Howser, and NYPD Blue; arranged vari- 1983 The Rousters
ous Ray Charles records; record producer, Dolly Par- 1983 Running Brave
ton’s 9 to 5, among others. Recipient: five Grammy 1984 Four Eyes
Awards and one Emmy. 1984 Hadley’s Rebellion
1984 Hard Knox
Television (selected scoring) 1984 No Man’s Land
(Note: Dates indicate the year in which the program 1984 The Return of Luter Gillie
debuted.) 1984 The River Rat
1971 The NBC Mystery Movie 1984 Welcome to Paradise
1971 Two on a Bench 1984 Hunter
1971 Make Your Own Kind of Music 1985 Brothers-in-Law
1972 Gidget Gets Married 1985 Heart of a Champion
1973 Griff 1985 Stingray
1973 Needles and Pins 1986 Adam: His Song Continues
1973 Toma 1986 L.A. Law
1974 Locusts 1986 The Last Precinct
1974 The Morning After 1987 Beverly Hills Buntz
1974 The Rockford Files 1987 Destination America
1974 The Texas Wheelers 1987 Hooperman
1975 The Bob Crane Show 1987 Sirens
1976 The Invasion of Johnson County 1987 Wiseguy
1976 Richie Brockelman: Missing 24 Hours 1988 Murphy’s Law
1976 Scott Free 1988 Sonny Spoon
1976 Baa Baa Black Sheep (renamed The Black 1989 Booker
Sheep Squadron, 1977) 1989 The Ryan White Story
1977 CHiPs 1989 B.L. Stryker: The Dancer’s Touch
1977 Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging 1989 Doogie Howser, M.D.
1977 Off the Wall 1989 Quantum Leap
1978 Doctor Scorpion 1990 Cop Rock
1978 Richie Brockelman: Private Eye 1990 Law and Order
1978 The White Shadow 1990 Unspeakable Acts
1979 Big Shamus, Little Shamus 1990 Without Her Consent
1979 Captain America 1991 Silk Stalkings
1979 Captain America II 1991 The Commish
1979 The Duke 1991 Blossom
1979 The 416th 1992 Renegade
1979 The Night Rider 1993 NYPD Blue
1979 Operating Room 1994 The Byrds of Paradise
1979 240-Robert 1995 News Radio
1980 Magnum, P.I. 1995 Murder One
1980 Tenspeed and Brown Shoe 1997 Players
1980 Scout’s Honor 1997 Brooklyn South
1980 Hill Street Blues 1997 Total Security
1980 Coach of the Year 1998 Martial Law
1981 The Greatest American Hero 1999 Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
1982 Palms Precinct 2000 Arrest and Trial
1982 The Quest 2000 Deadline
1982 Tales of the Gold Monkey 2000 City of Angels
1982 Will, G. Gordon Liddy 2001 Law and Order: Criminal Intent
1983 The A-Team 2001 PBS Hollywood Presents
1983 Bay City Blues 2001 Philly
1983 Big John 2002 Law and Order: Crime and Punishment
1797
Post, Mike
2002 Dead Above Ground Fink, Edward J., “Episodic’s Music Man: Mike Post” (inter-
2002 Inside NYPD Blue: A Decade on the Job view), Journal of Popular Film and Television (Winter
1998)
2003 Dragnet Harris, Steve, Film and Television Composers: An International
2003 The Gin Game Discography, 1920–1989, Jefferson, North Carolina: Mc-
Farland, 1992
Olsen, David C., editor, Best of the 80’s: TV Songbook: A Prime
Further Reading Time Anthology, Miami, Florida: CPP/Belwin, 1988
Wescott, Steven D., A Comprehensive Bibliography of Music
Borzillo, Carrie, “TV Composer Mike Post Takes BMI Award for Film and Television, Detroit, Michigan: Information Co-
(Lifetime Achievement),” Billboard (May 28, 1994) ordinators, 1985
Potter, Dennis (1935–1994)

British Writer
Dennis Potter is arguably the most important creative Potter continued to write for The Wednesday Play and
figure in the history of British television. From 1965 its successor Play for Today, it gradually became clear
until his death in 1994, he constructed a personal oeu- that underlying the broadly political attacks in his ear-
vre of such remarkable character and consistency that lier work was an older chapel sensibility: Potter repre-
it will probably never be equaled in the medium. The sented a personality molded by biblical teaching and
most prolific yet also most controversial of television imagery, yet now in desperate search of answers in the
playwrights, he remains the undisputed figurehead of face of acute spiritual crisis.
that peculiarly British phenomenon of writers who ex- In 1969 Son of Man was transmitted; it is a gospel
pend much of their working lives and passions at- play in which Potter audaciously created the messiah
tempting to show that television can be just as in his own image, as a human, suffering Christ, racked
powerful a vehicle for artistic expression as cinema or by doubts over his own mission and plagued by the
theater. fear that he has been forsaken by God. With this and
Potter was raised in what he later described as the other titles that followed—such as Angels Are So Few
“tight, enclosed, backward” world of the Forest of (1970), Where Adam Stood (1976), and, most contro-
Dean; a remote rural idyll nestling between two rivers, versially of all, Brimstone and Treacle (originally in-
the Severn and the Wye, on the aggressively English tended for transmission in 1976 but banned by the
side of the border with Wales. The product of a remote, BBC for 11 years on account of a scene where the
God-fearing community, he attended chapel at least devil rapes a mentally handicapped girl)—it became
twice every Sunday, and the vividness of that institu- clear that Potter had discovered his true vocation as a
tion’s language and metaphors formed a powerful in- dramatist of religious or spiritual themes, albeit one
fluence on his writing. highly unorthodox and sometimes offensive to the po-
After an earlier career in journalism and politics, litical and moral establishment.
Potter came to prominence in 1965, when his first Central to Potter’s quest for spiritual answers was
plays were all transmitted by the BBC within the space his own personal affliction of psoriatic arthropathy: a
of a year, as part of The Wednesday Play’s ground- painful combination of psoriasis enflaming the skin
breaking policy of introducing radical new writers to and arthritis crippling the joints, which he had suffered
television. The most successful of these productions from since the age of 26 and which had necessitated
were The Nigel Barton Plays—a pair of semiautobio- his withdrawal from the public worlds of politics and
graphical dramas that expertly dissected the effects of current affairs into the more private realm of life as a
social class upon the psyche of its eponymous hero. television playwright. This inwardness was also mani-
The Barton plays won notable awards and helped to fested in Potter’s famous “nonnaturalistic” style: his
seal Potter’s reputation as a major new playwright of determination to challenge the dominant British televi-
passion and ideas. However, as the 1960s wore on and sion drama tradition of “dreary” naturalism, through
1798
Potter, Dennis
Writer/director Dennis Potter with Alan Bates and Gina Bellman, 1991.
an alternative emphasis on inner, psychological reality. doubtedly endure as Potter’s monument to the creative
He successfully customized a whole series of nonnatu- possibilities of the medium.
ralistic devices—including flashback and fantasy se- The rapturous plaudits that greeted The Singing De-
quences; direct-to-camera address by characters; the tective in Britain and the United States may have ele-
use of adult actors to play children—all of which he vated Potter to the rare status of a genuine TV auteur,
believed represented more truthfully “what goes on in- but the period after 1986 was not an easy one for Pot-
side people’s heads.” ter. In 1989, after a falling out with his erstwhile pro-
In 1978 Potter showcased what became his most fa- ducer Kenith Trodd, Potter decided to direct a
mous technique when Bob Hoskins burst into song, television adaptation of his “feminist” novel Black-
miming to an old 78 rpm recording in the BBC TV se- eyes. The result was a critical bloodbath in the United
rial Pennies from Heaven. The international success of Kingdom, with the director accused of precisely the
Pennies transformed Potter’s career, leading to a lucra- misogyny and sexual exploitation he claimed he had
tive spell as a Hollywood screenwriter, which included been trying to expose on-screen. Nor was Lipstick on
a disastrous movie remake of the serial in 1981. Your Collar (1993), a six-part “drama with songs” set
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, however, Pot- in the 1950s, the resounding popular success he had
ter continued to produce original work for television, desired.
although he now wrote serials rather than one-off In February 1994 Potter was diagnosed with termi-
plays. Among his most notable programs from this era nal cancer of the pancreas. He died four months later
is The Singing Detective (1986), in which his famous but not before giving an extraordinary television inter-
device of characters miming to popular song is used to view in which he talked movingly about his imminent
punctuate a narrative as complex and layered as any death, revealing his plans to complete two final televi-
work of serious literature; this program that will un- sion serials to be uniquely coproduced by rival na-
1799
Potter, Dennis
tional channels BBC 1 and Channel 4. Defying the 1966 Where the Buffalo Roam
medical odds, he succeeded in completing the works, 1967 Message for Posterity
Karaoke and Cold Lazarus, and, in accordance with 1968 The Bonegrinder
his wishes, these were transmitted posthumously by 1968 Shaggy Dog
both channels in the spring of 1996. Although critical 1968 A Beast with Two Backs
reaction to the programs was somewhat mixed in 1969 Moonlight on the Highway
Britain, the very fact of the joint production seemed to 1969 Son of Man
confirm Potter’s creative legacy as the practitioner 1970 Lay Down Your Arms
who, above all others, aspired to raise television to an 1970 Angels Are So Few
art form and whose pioneering nonnaturalism had in- 1971 Paper Roses
deed been successful in opening up the medium’s 1971 Traitor
drama to the landscape of the mind. 1972 Follow the Yellow Brick Road
John Cook 1973 Only Make Believe
1973 A Tragedy of Two Ambitions
See also Pennies from Heaven; Singing Detective,
1974 Joe’s Ark
The; Wednesday Play
1974 Schmoedipus
1975 Late Call
Dennis (Christopher George) Potter. Born in Joy-
1976 Double Dare
ford Hill, Coleford, Gloucestershire, England, May 17,
1976 Where Adam Stood
1935. Educated at Christchurch Village School; Bell’s
1978 The Mayor of Casterbridge
Grammar School, Coleford; St. Clement Danes Gram-
1979 Blue Remembered Hills
mar School, London; New College, Oxford, B.A.
1980 Blade on the Feather
1959. Married: Margaret Morgan, 1959; one son and
1980 Rain on the Roof
two daughters. Member of the Current Affairs Staff,
1980 Cream in My Coffee
BBC Television, 1959–61; television critic for various
1987 Visitors
publications, 1961–78; contributed to That Was the
1987 Brimstone and Treacle
Week That Was, 1962; Labour candidate for Parlia-
1996 Karaoke
ment, East Hertfordshire, 1964; first plays televised,
1996 Cold Lazarus
1965; first screenplay, 1981. Honorary fellow, New
College, Oxford, 1987. Recipient: Writers Guild
Awards, 1965 and 1969; Society of Film and Televi- Films
sion Arts Award, 1966; British Academy of Film and Pennies from Heaven, 1981; Brimstone and Treacle,
Television Arts Award, 1979 and 1980; Prix Italia, 1982; Gorky Park, 1983; Dreamchild, 1985; Track
1982; San Francisco Film Festival Award, 1987; 29, 1988; Blackeyes, 1990; Secret Friends (writer,
Broadcasting Press Guild Award, 1987. Died in Ross- director), 1991.
on-Wye, Herefordshire, June 7, 1994.
Stage
Television Series Sufficient Carbohydrate, 1983.
1971 Casanova
1978 Pennies from Heaven
1985 Tender Is the Night Publications
1986 The Singing Detective The Glittering Coffin, 1960
1988 Christabel The Changing Forest: Life in the Forest of Dean To-
1989 Blackeyes (writer, director) day, 1962
1993 Lipstick on Your Collar The Nigel Barton Plays: Stand Up, Nigel Barton, Vote
Vote Vote for Nigel Barton: Two Television Plays,
Television Plays 1968
1965 The Wednesday Play: The Confidence Son of Man (television play), 1970
Course Hide and Seek (novel), 1973
1965 Alice Brimstone and Treacle (television play), 1978
1965 Cinderella Pennies from Heaven (novel), 1981
1965 Stand Up, Nigel Barton Sufficient Carbohydrate (play), 1983
1965 Vote Vote Vote for Nigel Barton Waiting for the Boat: Dennis Potter on Television,
1966 Emergency Ward 9 1984
1800
Powell, Dick
The Singing Detective (television series), 1986 phy, London: Faber and Faber, 1998; as Dennis Potter: A Bi-
Ticket to Ride (novel), 1986 ography, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999
Cook, John R., Dennis Potter: A Life on Screen, Manchester,
Blackeyes (novel), 1987 England: Manchester University Press, and New York: St.
Christabel (television series), 1988 Martin’s Press, 1995
Potter on Potter (edited by Graham Fuller), 1993 Creeber, Glen, Dennis Potter: Between Two Worlds: A Critical
Seeing the Blossom: Two Interviews, a Lecture, and a Reassessment, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998
Story, 1994 Fuller, Graham, “Dennis Potter,” American Film (March 1989)
Fuller, Graham, Potter on Potter, London and New York: Faber
Karaoke and Cold Lazarus (television plays), 1996 and Faber, 1993
Gilbert, W. Stephen, Fight and Kick and Bite: The Life and
Work of Dennis Potter, London: Hodder and Stoughton,
Further Reading 1995; as The Life and Work of Dennis Potter, Woodstock,
New York: Overlook Press, 1998
Aitken, Ian, “Shout to the Top,” New Statesman and Society Gras, Vernon W., and John R. Cook, editors, The Passion of
(April 22, 1994) Dennis Potter: International Collected Essays, Basingstoke,
Bell, Robert H., “Implicated without Choice: The Double Vi- England: Macmillan, and New York: St. Martin’s Press,
sion of The Singing Detective,” Literature-Film Quarterly 2000
(July 1993) Lichtenstein, Therese, “Syncopated Thriller: Dennis Potter’s
Bragg, Melvin, “The Present Tense” (interview), New Left Re- Singing Detective,” Artforum (May 1990)
view (May–June 1994) Simon, Ron, “The Flow of Memory and Desire: Television and
Cantwell, Mary, “Dennis Potter’s Last Interview: Dying, He Dennis Potter,” Television Quarterly (Spring 1993)
Was Brilliantly Alive,” New York Times (July 30, 1994) Stead, Peter, Dennis Potter, Bridgend, England: Serend, 1993
Carpenter, Humphrey, Dennis Potter: The Authorized Biogra- Yentob, Alan, “Dennis Potter” (obituary), Sight and Sound (July
1994)
Powell, Dick (1904–1963)

U.S. Actor, Producer
Dick Powell may be best remembered as a movie star, eye Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet (regarded by
a boyish crooner in dozens of Hollywood musicals of many as the definitive rendition of Raymond Chan-
the 1930s, and later, a hard-boiled, film noir tough guy. dler’s fictional sleuth). Thereafter the singing roles
Like many stars of the studio era, Powell turned his stopped, and Powell began a new career as a hard-
dramatic talents to television in the 1950s, but he did boiled antihero in such films as Cornered, Pitfall,
so as an adjunct to his most significant television role, Johnny O’Clock, and Cry Danger, in the process re-
as an independent telefilm producer. Between 1952 making his radio persona as well, with a stint as
and his death in 1963, Powell served as the head of gumshoe Richard Rogue in Rogue’s Gallery, and three
Four Star Television, which became, under his leader- seasons as Richard Diamond, Private Detective.
ship, one of Hollywood’s leading suppliers of prime- Still eager to broaden his creative horizons, Powell
time network programming. set his sights on movie directing in the late 1940s, but
As the star of numerous Warner Brothers musicals, he once again met with resistance from studio powers.
Powell was one of Hollywood’s top box-office draws Finally, in 1952 RKO studio head Howard Hughes
during the 1930s (and quickly became just as popular gave Powell a chance to direct the thriller Split Second,
on radio). By mid-decade, the young singer was lobby- and the success of that film led Hughes to offer Powell
ing to break into more serious roles, but his efforts a producing job. Although there was some speculation
were rebuffed by Jack Warner. The parts became in Hollywood that Powell would become head of pro-
somewhat more varied after a 1940 move to duction at RKO, he was able to complete only one fea-
Paramount, but the actor’s dramatic ambitions were ture, The Conqueror, before Hughes sold the company
blocked there as well. The turning point came in 1944, in 1955. Powell went on to helm three more features in
when Powell convinced RKO to cast him as private as many years at other studios.
1801
Powell, Dick
oversaw script conferences, and, when needed, used

his charm—and the weight of his celebrity—to close a
program sale.
Four Star’s stock-in-trade early on was anthologies.
Powell followed up Four Star Playhouse in 1954 with
the short-lived Stage 7, and two years later Dick Pow-
ell’s Zane Grey Theater, hosted by, and occasionally
starring, the Four Star chief executive officer himself.
Powell and company also produced one season of Al-
coa Theatre in 1958 and in subsequent years crafted
anthologies around one of Powell’s partners (The
David Niven Theater), and his wife (The June Allyson
Show), both featuring the requisite array of Hollywood
stars.
Zane Grey Theater ran for seven years, at once feed-
ing and riding the crest of the phenomenal surge of
western programs on television in the late 1950s. Four
Star generated its share of the stampede, scoring its
biggest hits in the genre with The Rifleman, Wanted:
Dead or Alive, and Trackdown, as well as less-
successful entries like Johnny Ringo, Black Saddle,
Law of the Plainsman, Stagecoach West, and the
highly regarded but extremely short-lived Sam Peckin-
pah project, The Westerner.
Dick Powell in Four Star Playhouse, The House Always Wins, Four Star’s western output highlights the creative
1952–56. economy of program development under Powell. An-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection thologies were the perfect vehicles by which to gener-
ate new program pilots at a network or sponsor’s
expense. Most of the Four Star westerns, for example,
Although the leadership of RKO had eluded him, were born as installments of Zane Grey Theater
Powell had already begun his rise as a television (Wanted: Dead or Alive had its trial run as an episode
mogul. On the heels of his first feature assignment, of Trackdown). Four Star Playhouse spawned two
Powell had formed an independent telefilm production crime series featuring gambler Willy Dante: eight Four
company with actors Charles Boyer and David Niven. Star installments starring Powell as Dante were
Four Star Films derived its name from its first project, repackaged as a 1956 summer replacement series (The
the half-hour anthology Four Star Playhouse, in which Best in Mystery), and a new Dante series was hatched
one of the three partners would rotate with a different in 1960 with Howard Duff in the title role. Another
weekly guest star. In its second season, the partners in- spin-off of sorts came in 1957 when Powell revived his
vited guest Ida Lupino to become the show’s perma- Richard Diamond radio vehicle for television, with
nent “fourth star.” Although she did not become a young David Janssen as the suave P.I. Michael Shayne,
stockholder in the firm, Lupino went on to direct many Private Detective was a less-successful Four Star entry
episodes of Playhouse and other Four Star series, in in the private-eye cycle of the late 1950s.
addition to her acting duties. Four Star was one of the busiest telefilm suppliers in
Boyer and Niven each owned a healthy share of the business in 1959, when Powell hired Thomas Mc-
Four Star, but Powell ran the company. A 1962 Televi- Dermott away from the Benton and Bowles ad agency
sion magazine profile of Powell called him the com- to be executive vice president of production. The fol-
pany’s “principal architect of policy as well as the lowing year the newly renamed Four Star Television
most valuable performer and production executive” marked its peak in prime time with a remarkable 12 se-
and noted that the firm’s fortunes moved in direct pro- ries on the networks. Even after dropping to six shows
portion to the time the boss devoted to it. A “worka- in 1962, Four Star was producing more programming
holic” in today’s parlance, Powell was notoriously than any other Hollywood independent, surpassed only
driven and closely involved with both the financial and by MCA-Revue and Columbia-Screen Gems, leading
creative aspects of Four Star. He not only managed op- Broadcasting magazine to dub the firm a “TV major.”
erations but was active in developing story properties, More literally “independent” than most of his produc-
1802
Powell, Dick
ing counterparts, Powell resisted the increasingly com- not had a major hit since The Rifleman, and its at-
mon practice of ceding control of off-network distribu- tempts to exploit the sitcom were unsuccessful. The
tion to the networks themselves. Although Four Star firm’s continued resistance to network control of syn-
often had to cut the broadcasters in on series profits, dication may have cost it prime-time sales. Certainly
the firm retained syndication rights to all its shows, the loss of Powell’s leadership, his formidable sales-
starting its own syndication division, rather belatedly, manship powers, and indeed his reputation could not
in 1962. have helped matters. With declining network program
Powell the executive was sensitive to the creative sales, more flops (e.g., Honey West, The Rogues), and
process as well as profits, no doubt due to his own ex- the disappointing performance of the company’s own
periences as a performer and later a director. “Four (belated) syndication division, Four Star’s ledgers
Star was a paradise for writers,” according to Powell were awash in red ink by 1966. The Big Valley was the
biographer Tony Thomas, and many Four Star alumni last series being produced under the Four Star banner
have attested to their boss’s sensitivity and support. when the firm was sold in 1967.
Powell personally fielded ideas from writers, inter- The bulk of Four Star’s output reflected Powell’s
ceded with sponsors to protect controversial scripts own history in motion pictures, turning out solid, un-
from censorship, and would support any story—even pretentious entertainment. If Powell and company did
if it conflicted with his own political conservatism—if not assay social realism or topical drama with the same
the writer were passionate enough about it. Powell panache as, say, Stirling Silliphant or Reginald Rose,
mentored writer-producers such as Sam Peckinpah, neither did they pursue the radical self-imitation char-
Blake Edwards, Bruce Geller, and Aaron Spelling and acterized by Warner Brothers’ western and detective
signed young writers like Christopher Knopf, Richard series. Rather, Four Star products reflected the relative
Levinson and William Link, Leslie Stevens, and diversity necessary to survive in an uncertain enter-
Robert Towne early in their careers. By all accounts, tainment marketplace. Even Four Star’s genre-bound
Powell was universally respected by his creative per- series exhibited the kind of conventional innovation,
sonnel. and occasional quirkiness, that defines American com-
With the western on the wane in the early 1960s, mercial television at its most fascinating, and Powell
Four Star diversified its product, turning out situation was pursuing anthologies long after the conventional
comedies like The Tom Ewell Show, Peter Loves Mary, wisdom had abandoned the form.
McKeever and the Colonel, The Gertrude Berg Show, Of all the Four Star products from Powell’s tenure,
and Ensign O’Toole, as well as a courtroom drama only The Rifleman remains a syndication staple today,
(The Law and Mr. Jones), an organized crime saga although Zane Grey Theater and Wanted: Dead or
(Target: The Corrupters), and an unusual anthology, Alive survive on commercial video, and Burke’s Law
The Lloyd Bridges Show. Only The Detectives, Star- was revived for the 1990s by its star (and co-owner)
ring Robert Taylor constituted even a modest success. Gene Barry. Aficionados of Hollywood film can, on
In early 1961 Powell reduced his involvement in the cable, video, or at the occasional retrospective screen-
overall operations at Four Star and focused his atten- ing, still enjoy Powell’s innocent grin and golden tones
tions on producing The Dick Powell Show, a star- in Gold Diggers of 1933, and his stubbled smirk and
studded anthology featuring Powell as host and grim wisecracks in Murder, My Sweet. His final dra-
frequent star. The new anthology presented even more matic roles, on Zane Grey and Dick Powell, are the
pilots than Zane Grey—over a dozen in two years— purview of collectors of TV ephemera, until their res-
yielding the newspaper series Saints and Sinners in urrection on video. It remains for historians to cite
1962, and Burke’s Law the following year (among the Dick Powell the independent producer, the telefilm
unsold projects was Luxury Liner—produced by future pioneer, the “TV major,” and to emphasize that by the
Love Boat creator Aaron Spelling). One of television’s early 1960s he was a more successful producer of mo-
few remaining anthologies, the Powell show received tion pictures—for the small screen—than any of the
an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Dramatic old-line Hollywood studios. One wonders what Jack
Achievement for both of its seasons on the air. Warner must have thought.
After Powell’s death in January 1963, Four Star Mark Alvey
continued operation under McDermott’s leadership,
but Four Star’s reign as a “TV major” was over. With Dick (Richard) Ewing Powell. Born in Mountain
six series on the fall schedule for 1962, a year later View, Arkansas, November 14, 1904. Attended Little
Burke’s Law was the firm’s only prime-time entry. The Rock College, Arkansas. Married: 1) M. Maund (di-
change in Four Star’s fortunes probably had as much vorced); 2) actress Joan Blondell, 1936 (divorced,
to do with ratings as anything else. The company had 1945); children: Ellen and Norman; 3) actress June
1803
Powell, Dick
Allyson, 1945, one daughter and one son. Began ca- Want a Divorce, 1940; Model Wife, 1941; In the
reer as singer with his own band, 1921; singer, come- Navy, 1941; Happy Go Lucky, 1942; Star Spangled
dian, and master of ceremonies, Stanley Theatre, Rhythm, 1942; True to Life, 1943; Riding High,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1930; film debut, Blessed 1943; It Happened Tomorrow, 1944; Meet the Peo-
Event, 1932; cofounder, Four Star Productions, 1952; ple, 1944; Murder, My Sweet, 1944; Concerned,
first directed film, Split Second, 1953; host and pro- 1945; Johnny O’Clock, 1947; To the Ends of the
ducer, various shows, and film producer. Died in Hol- Earth, 1948; Pitfall, 1948; Station West, 1948;
lywood, California, January 2, 1963. Rogue’s Regiment, 1948; Mrs. Mike, 1949; The Re-
former and the Redhead, 1950; Right Cross, 1950;
Cry Dangers, 1951; The Tall Target, 1951; You
Television
Never Can Tell, 1951; The Bad and the Beautiful,
1952–56 Four Star Playhouse
1952; Susan Slept Here, 1954.
1956–62 Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater
1961–63 The Dick Powell Show
Films (director)
Split Second, 1953; The Conqueror, 1956; You Can’t
Films Run Away from It, 1957; The Enemy Below, 1957;
Blessed Event, 1932; Too Busy to Work, 1932; The The Hunters, 1958.
King’s Vacation, 1933; 42nd Street, 1933; Gold
Diggers of 1933, 1933; Footlight Parade, 1933;
Radio (selection)
College Coach, 1933; Convention, 1933; Dames,
Rogue’s Gallery, 1945–46; Richard Diamond, Private
1934; Wonder Bar, 1934; Twenty Million Sweet-
Detective, 1949–50.
hearts, 1934; Happiness Ahead, 1934; Flirtation
Walk, 1934; Gold Diggers of 1935, 1935; Page
Miss Glory, 1935; Broadway Gondolier, 1935; A Further Reading
Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1935; Shipmates For- “Dialogue on Film: Aaron Spelling,” American Film (May
ever, 1935; Thanks a Million, 1935; Colleen, 1936; 1984)
Hearts Divided, 1936; Stage Struck, 1936; The Simmons, Garner, Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage, Austin:
Gold Diggers of 1937, 1936; On the Avenue, 1937; University of Texas Press, 1982
The Singing Marine, 1937; Varsity Show, 1937; Stempel, Tom, Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American
Television Writing, New York: Continuum, 1992
Hollywood Hotel, 1937; Cowboy from Brooklyn, Thomas, Tony, “Dick Powell,” Films in Review (May 1961)
1938; Hard to Get, 1938; Going Places, 1938; Thomas, Tony, The Dick Powell Story, Burbank, California:
Naughty but Nice, 1939; Christmas in July, 1940; I Riverwood Press, 1993
Power without Glory

Australian Serial Drama
Power without Glory is probably among the two or At the time, it was widely believed that Hardy had
three finest drama series to have been produced in Aus- based the figure of John West on the real-life Aus-
tralia. The series was, in effect, a local equivalent to tralian businessman John Wren. The Wren family took
The Forsyte Saga and told the story of John West, and legal action against Hardy, accusing him of libel.
his wife and family, from the 1890s when he was an Hardy successfully defended the case, however, on the
impoverished youth in the depression-stricken city of basis that his novel was fiction. Subsequently, the book
Melbourne to his death around 1950. By that time, he sold extremely well, no doubt because the public be-
had become a millionaire, although he was tainted by lieved that it was in fact based on the Wren story.
shady political and business dealings. The series was Power without Glory should have been a natural adap-
based on the novel of the same name by Australian au- tation for either radio or television in the 1950s or
thor Frank Hardy, which had been published in 1949. 1960s, but no broadcast producer was willing to take
1804
Power without Glory
began on-air nationally on the ABC in June 1976.

Power without Glory starred Martin Vaughan as West
and Rosalind Spiers as his wife. Other well-known
Australian actors in the series included Terence Dono-
van, George Mallaby, and Michael Pate. Like many
television miniseries, especially those with such a long
screen-time, Power went well beyond the domestic
drama of the couple and included the developing lives
and careers of their children and acquaintances. These
mostly private dramas were stitched onto a larger his-
torical canvas that included political and national
events such as the formation of the Australian Labour
Party, the conscription debates of World War I, and the
impact of the Great Depression and World War II.
The quality and integrity of the production—most
especially its writing and the performance of the large
cast—effectively sustained audience interest over the
serial’s 26 hours. Power proved enormously popular
and prestigious for the ABC. In 1977 it won a host of
industry awards, including nine Sammys and four Pen-
guins. The series was repeated in 1978, and in 1981 it
was sold to Network Ten, where it was to receive two
further screenings. Power without Glory was arguably
the finest drama series ever made at the ABC. Its pro-
duction and screening were watershed events, coincid-
ing with the 20th anniversary of the first ABC
television transmission, and also highlighting the fact
that, with a change in federal government and a down-
Power without Glory. turn in the Australian economy, the circumstances that
Courtesy of Australian Broadcasting Corporation
had made such a production possible were now a thing
of the past.
Albert Moran
on the material for fear of further legal action from the
Wren family. It was not until 1974 that such a project
Cast
was undertaken.
John West Martin Vaughan
That year Oscar Whitbread, veteran producer with
Nellie Moran Rosalind Spiers
the public-service television broadcaster, the Aus-
Mrs. Moran Heather Canning
tralian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), decided that
Mrs. West Irene Inescort
the novel should be brought to the television screen.
Piggy Lewis Michael Aitkens
After all, despite the timidity of ABC management, the
Barney Robinson George Mallaby
court case had happened more than 20 years earlier
Eddie Corrigan Sean Scully
and had, in any event, been lost by Wren. Moreover,
Mick O’Connell John Bowman
under a federal Labour Party government, the ABC
Paddy Cummins Tim Connor
was expected to be progressive and innovative in its
Jim Tracey Alan Hardy
productions; its revenue, coming directly from the
Detective Sgt. O’Flaherty Peter Cummins
government, was, in real terms, at an all-time high.
Sergeant Devlin David Ravenswood
Whitbread judged that the time was right for such a
Mr. Dunn Carl Bleazby
massive undertaking, and he and script editor Howard
Constable Brogan Burt Cooper
Griffiths set to work on adapting the novel. The book
Sergeant Grieve Terry Gill
was split into 26 hour-long episodes, and a series of
Alec Les James
ABC and former Crawford Production writers, includ-
Arthur West Tim Robertson
ing Tony Morphett, Sonia Borg, and Phil Freedman,
Mrs. Tracey Marnie Randall
were set to work to develop scripts. Writing and film-
Father O’Toole John Murphy
ing took place over the next 18 months, and the series
Brendan Richard Askew
1805
Power without Glory
Sugar Renfrey John Wood Bill Tinns Gus Mercurio

Bob Standish Reg Evans Graham Kennedy Clive Parker
Florrie Robinson Sheila Hayes Keith Burkett Charles Tingwell
David Garside Leon Lissek Ted Thurgood Ken Wayne
Mrs. Finch Esme Melville Jimmy Summers Peter Aanensen
Frank Ashton Barry Hill Smollett Garay Files
Tom Trumbleward Frank Wilson Lygon John Nash
Jim Francis Telford Jackson Monton Arthur Barradell-Smith
Dick Bradley Gerard Kennedy Mrs. Granger Margaret Reid
Rev Joggins Jonathon Hardy Brenda Camilla Rowntree
Martha Ashton Elaine Baillie Ben Worth Ben Garner
Commissioner Callinan Keith Aden Vera Maguire Patsy King
Constable Baddson Stephen Oldfield Egon Kisch Kurt Ludescher
Detective Roberts Tony Hawkins Jock McNeil Michael Duffield
Constable Harris Hugh Price Watty Fred Culcullen
Constable Logan Matthew King Paddy Kelleher Jonathan Hardy
Dolly West Kerry Dwyer Vincent Parelli Alan Bickford
Frank Lammence Terence Donovan Michael Kiely Bobby Bright
Lou Darby Gil Tucker Dr. Bevan Michael Duffield
Dr. Malone Michael Pate Tony Grey Peter Cox
Ron Lassiter Terry Norris
Snoopy Tanner Graham Blundell
Mr. Johnstone Byron Williams Producer
Harriet Rowena Wallace Oscar Whitbread
T.J. Real Carl Bleazby
Turner Lou Brown Programming History
Smith Iain Merton 26 one-hour episodes
Margaret Joan Letch Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Kate Sue Jones June 21, 1976–December 13, 1976
Marjorie Lisa Crittenden
Mary Andrea Butcher
Brendan Stewart Fleming
Further Reading
Jim Morton Norman Hodges
Ned Horan Norman Kaye Cunningham, Stuart, Toby Miller, and David Rowe, Contempo-
Maurice Blackwell Tony Barry rary Australian Television, Sydney: University of New
South Wales Press, 1994
Mary West Wendy Hughes Hardy, Frank J., The Hard Way, Port Melbourne: Mandarin Aus-
Marjorie West Fay Kelton tralia, 1961
Brendon West Tony Bonner Moran, Albert, Images and Industry: Television Drama Produc-
Luke Carson Fred Betts tion in Australia, Sydney: Currency Press, 1985
Peter Monton Tristan Rogers O’Regan, Tom, Australian Television Culture, St. Leonard’s
New South Wales: Allen and Unwin, 1993
Hugo David Cameron Tulloch, John, and Graeme Turner, editors, Australian Televi-
Andy Mackenzie Kevin Colebrook sion: Programs, Pleasures, Politics. Sydney and Boston:
Paul Andreas Warwick Sims Allen and Unwin, 1989
Practice, The. See Workplace Programs
1806
Presidential Nominating Conventions
Premium Cable. See Pay Cable
President. See United States Presidency and Television (Historical Overview)

In the United States the Democratic and Republican otic decorations, placed television crews in positions
political parties, as well as numerous smaller parties, with flattering views of the proceedings, dropped day-
hold conventions every four years to nominate candi- time sessions, limited welcoming speeches and parlia-
dates for president and vice president and to adopt mentary organization procedures, scheduled sessions
party platforms. For the two major parties, these con- to reach a maximum audience in prime time, and elim-
ventions are four-day events held during the summer inated seconding speeches for vice presidential candi-
of each presidential election year. The first national po- dates. Additionally, the presence of television cameras
litical conventions emerged in the 1830s as a reform to encouraged parties to conceal intraparty battling and
the caucus system, which had been heavily controlled choose host cities amenable to their party.
by party machines and party bosses. Although the key Until the early 1950s conventions actually selected
functions of the nominating conventions have not as well as nominated the party’s candidates. Today the
changed in the past 160 years, advances in communi- presidential nominees of the major parties are gener-
cation technologies during the 20th century have had ally determined before the convention takes place. The
great influence on the nature of the meetings. The most prevalence of state political primaries, the increased
dramatic of these alterations have come from televi- power of television as a source of political news, the
sion coverage. trend of early presidential campaigning, and the
The first experiments in televising the nominating prominence of political polling almost ensure that each
conventions began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in party’s candidates are selected prior to the nominating
1948; by 1952 both the Democratic and Republican convention. Indeed, since 1952 only two presidential
conventions were broadcast nationwide on television. nominees have not competed in the primary season
The impact of the medium, eventually networked into (Aldai Stevenson in 1952 and Hubert Humphrey in
a truly national phenomenon, was immediate. After 1968). And, in all but the Democratic convention of
watching the first televised Republican convention in 1952, the Democratic and Republican nominees were
1952, Democratic party officials made last-minute chosen on the first ballot. Therefore, the conventions
changes to their own convention in attempts to main- broadcast on television are no longer geared toward se-
tain the attention of viewers at home. lecting nominees but staged to celebrate candidates
By 1956 both parties further amended their conven- and attract television coverage.
tion programs to fit better the demands of television Television coverage of the convention has assigned
coverage. Party officials condensed the length of the new roles to political parties, candidates, and televi-
convention, created uniform campaign themes for each sion news divisions in the presidential selection pro-
party, adorned convention halls with banners and patri- cess. Today political parties must share the convention
1807
To the television news divisions, the national con-

ventions are the biggest extended political media
events of the election year. The networks (ABC, CBS,
FOX, and NBC), as well as the cable channels CNN
and C-SPAN, allocate prime-time coverage and assign
their top personnel to the conventions. Foote and Rim-
mer refer to convention coverage as the “‘Olympics of
television journalism’ where the networks have a rare
opportunity to go head-to-head on the same story.”
Waltzer contends presidential election years are un-
matched showcases for the rival networks to exhibit
their competing talents. Internetwork rivalry manifests
itself in several ways: (1) the networks engage in ex-
tensive advertising to capture the eye of the viewer; (2)
the conventions are used to introduce new items of
television equipment; (3) the networks compete in
marshaling political consultants and analysts to aug-
ment their coverage staffs; (4) the networks compete
for superiority in content, completeness, and depth of
coverage—it is a race for “exclusives,” “scoops,” and
“firsts,” and for the unusual “features” of a convention;
(5) the networks compete to make news with their cov-
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley at the 1968 Democratic Con- erage as well as to report the news of the conventions;
vention. (6) the networks seek to overcome the enormity and
Photo courtesy of Chicago Historical Society
confusion of the convention and their coverage by per-
sonalizing coverage with anchor correspondents; and
stage with aspiring candidates and prominent journal- (7) the networks compete for audiences and audience
ists. Nominating conventions are no longer controlled ratings.
by party bosses making decisions in smoke-filled These factors indicate why television has made a
rooms. Contemporary conventions are planned by pro- commitment to broadcasting the convention over the
fessional convention managers and consultants who years, and why the networks strive continually to cre-
see the nominating convention as an unequaled oppor- ate the “right” formats to attract audiences. From 1956
tunity for the party to obtain free, rehearsed exposure through 1976, for example, the networks covered con-
on television newscasts. Thus, parties use nominating ventions in their entirety. Although ABC cut back its
conventions to project a desirable party image and in- broadcast in 1968, the other networks continued gavel-
spire party loyalty. to-gavel coverage through 1976. Since 1980 all news
For presidential candidates, the televised convention outlets have cut back on their coverage. Future airtime
has brought freedom from the party establishment. To- is expected to depend on the “newsworthiness” of the
day it is not uncommon for presidential candidates to convention, largely determined by the perceived com-
rise to prominence without party help. State political petitiveness between the two party tickets as well as
primaries and television news and advertising allow a potential conflict or infighting within one party’s nom-
greater number of candidates to seriously contest for inating process.
their party’s nomination. Jimmy Carter’s nomination Parties much prefer to control the visual images
in 1976 provides an example of an outsider with little broadcast to voters themselves, as the Republicans did
national political experience benefiting from television in 1984. In that year, the Republicans aired Ronald
and the primary season. The candidacies of Democrat Reagan’s campaign film, A New Beginning, a film that
Jesse Jackson and Republican Pat Robertson also prof- celebrated the Reagan presidency, transformed the art
ited from political primaries and the televised conven- of political filmmaking, and, according to Joanne Mor-
tion. Television coverage does, of course, ensure that reale, established the televisual campaign film as a
today’s conventions are well attended by prominent centerpiece of the presidential campaign.
politicians. Many high-profile political leaders use the At times, however, no one is able to control the con-
televised convention to launch their own future presi- ventions; political officials and network executives and
dential bids, promote their current legislative efforts, technicians alike are caught up in events beyond their
or support other causes, groups, or programs. control. This was certainly the case in the 1968 Demo-
1808
cratic convention, perhaps the most famous of all tele- dential candidates alike. Although television coverage
vised events of this sort. On that occasion, antiwar has brought cosmetic changes to the convention, it has
protesters demonstrated outside the Chicago Conven- not interfered with its basic functions. As in earlier days,
tion Center, drawing down the wrath of the Chicago contemporary conventions honor presidential nominees,
police. Inside, the conflict was reflected in charges and create party enthusiasm, and present party platforms.
countercharges, name-calling, and recrimination. Sharon Jarvis
Much of this activity was caught on camera, but the
See also Political Processes and Television; U.S.
sense was that even the TV cameras were reacting
Presidency and Television
rather than controlling. Few conventions since that
time have been so dramatically bound to television,
and most are tightly controlled events exhibiting small Further Reading
moments of spontaneity. Adams, W.C., “Convention Coverage,” Public Opinion (1985)
Viewership for nominating conventions has de- Davis, James W., U.S. Presidential Primaries and the Caucus-
creased over the years. According to the Harvard Uni- Convention System: A Sourcebook, Westport, Connecticut:
versity’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Greenwood Press, 1997
Public Policy, television networks aired 60 hours of Fant, C.H., “Televising Presidential Conventions, 1952–1980,”
Journal of Communication (1980)
each party convention in 1952, and 80 percent of the Farrell, T.B., “Political Conventions As Legitimation Ritual,”
households in the United States watched about 10 to Communication Monographs (1978)
13 hours of this coverage. Forty-four years later, net- Foot, J., and R. Rimmer, “The Ritual of Convention Coverage
work coverage of the 1996 conventions averaged eight in 1980,” in Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential
hours, and just 10 percent of households reported tun- Campaign, edited by William C. Adams, Norwood, New
Jersey: Ablex, 1983
ing into the coverage. In 2000 roughly 20 percent of Henry, D., “The Rhetorical Dynamic of Mario Cuomo’s 1984
Americans tuned in to two hours or more of the con- Keynote Address: Situation, Speaker, Metaphor,” Southern
ventions, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Speech Communication Journal (1988)
Center, Annenberg School for Communication, Uni- Morreale, Joanne, A New Beginning: A Textual Frame Analysis
versity of Pennsylvania. of the Political Campaign Film, Albany, New York: State
University of New York Press, 1991
At the close of the 20th century, strategies for in- Morreale, Joanne, The Presidential Campaign Film: A Critical
creasing the audience for conventions took at least History, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993
three forms. Parties attempted to plan the conventions National Party Conventions, 1831–1996, Washington, D.C.:
with “star power,” scheduling political personalities at Congressional Quarterly, 1997
key moments to attract viewers. In 2000 cable channels Paletz, David L., and M. Elson, “Television Coverage of Presi-
dential Conventions: Now You See It, Now You Don’t,” Po-
(such as CNN, Fox News, CNBC) offered extensive in- litical Science Quarterly (1976)
depth coverage to attract viewers desiring extended or Reinsch, James Leonard, “Broadcasting the Conventions,”
non-prime-time reporting, while Internet sites experi- Journal of Broadcasting (1968)
mented with interactive activities to accompany or re- Sautter, R. Craig, and Edward M. Burke, Inside the Wigwam:
place television viewing of the conventions, including Chicago Presidential Conventions, 1860–1996, Chicago:
Loyola Press, 1996
alternative camera angles, gavel-to-gavel streaming Shafer, Byron E., Bifurcated Politics: Evolution and Reform in
video, web-exclusive commentary, 24-hour chat rooms the National Party Convention, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
and related message boards, up-to-the-minute polls and Harvard University Press, 1988
interactive quizzes, and opportunities to chat with dele- Smith, Larry David, “Narrative Styles in Network Coverage of
gates. While the hype surrounding such efforts was no- the 1984 Nominating Conventions,” Western Journal of
Speech Communication (1988)
table, actual traffic on these Internet sites was modest. Smith, Larry David, and Dan Nimmo, Cordial Concurrence:
Advocates of the current system contend televised Orchestrating National Party Conventions in the Telepoliti-
conventions inspire party loyalty and enthusiasm and al- cal Age, New York: Praeger, 1991
low the selection of a candidate who represents the polit- Waltzer, H., “In the Magic Lantern: Television Coverage of the
ical middle rather than the extremes. Critics allege 1964 National Conventions,” Public Opinion Quarterly
(1966)
today’s nominating conventions are undemocratic spec- Womack, D., “Live ABC, CBS, and NBC Interviews during
tacles and propose replacing them with a national presi- Three Democratic Conventions,” Journalism Quarterly
dential primary system. Despite these critiques and (1985)
aforementioned efforts to increase viewership, substan- Womack, D., “Status of News Sources Interviewed During
tial convention reform is unlikely. Today’s streamlined Presidential Conventions,” Journalism Quarterly (1986)
Womack, D., “Live TV Interviews at the 1984 GOP Conven-
conventions continue to attract an audience for television tion,” Journalism Quarterly (1988)
networks and cable channels, political parties, and presi- Womack, D., “Live Television Interviews at the 1988 Demo-
cratic Convention,” Journalism Quarterly (1989)
1809
Press Conference
Press Conference
President Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first tele- ers then determine what information to communicate
vised presidential press conference in January 1955. to the public.
Although Eisenhower regularly used television as a Professionals generally agree that, as a public rela-
means to address the American electorate, President tions tool, press conferences should be used sparingly,
John F. Kennedy was the first to utilize television as a reserved for circumstances that truly are newsworthy.
direct means of communication with voters via the live Such occasions often call for a personal presentation
press conference. As Richard Davis explains, “John by the organization’s chief executive officer, a
Kennedy enjoyed press conferences because of his celebrity, a dignitary, or similarly positioned person. In
skill in bantering with reporters; his press conferences the general realm of business affairs, some organiza-
reinforced the image of a president in command of the tions have used press conferences to announce the in-
issues.” Kennedy’s successors have been measured troduction of major corporate changes such as new
against his performance and have scheduled press con- product lines, takeovers, or mergers. Press conferences
ferences less frequently. They also have employed var- also have been used to organize and manage informa-
iations to the live press conference format. The tion in crisis situations or to respond to accusations of
administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and wrongdoing.
George H.W. Bush held mini press conferences. Presi- Although in the business sector press conferences
dent George Bush Sr., relied on impromptu, daytime are not viewed as a routine means of public relations,
televised press conferences rather than formal, prime- major government agencies employ them on a more
time gatherings. President Clinton used a variation of regular basis. Indeed, press conferences are a principal
the press conference: his televised “town meetings.” component of political communications. Politicians
With these conferences, Clinton managed to sidestep rely on them as a way of providing important informa-
the White House press corps and address questions tion to the public and shaping public opinion. For cor-
asked by average citizens. One such meeting featured respondents, they serve as a means of obtaining such
children and was moderated by PBS’s Fred Rogers of information and examining the opinion-shaping pro-
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. cess.
President George W. Bush’s administration has held In the United States the press and politicians have
press conferences more frequently than his recent pre- traditionally enjoyed an adversarial relationship. Even
decessors did. This administration also is known for as political press conferences are used to provide in-
joint press conferences with national political leaders formation to the public, the goal for the politician is
and with foreign heads of state and government. In a persuasion or news management. Thus, the political
press conference of February 22, 2001, Bush informed figure wants to control the release of information.
journalists, “One of my missions has been to change Conversely, the press relies on such conferences as a
the tone here in the nation’s capital to encourage civil means for ensuring that the politician is held account-
discourse.” Indeed, press conferences provide a forum able for his or her policies and actions. Media outlets
for dialogue between the president and the public. also rely on press conferences as a way of obtaining
As a general category of media strategy, press con- new information so it can be released as quickly as
ferences involve the communication of news about an possible.
individual or organization to the mass media and spe- Even prior to television, press conferences were es-
cialized media outlets. The objective is favorable news sential in the United States to communications be-
coverage of the sponsor’s actions and events. Since the tween the executive branch of government and the
mid-20th century, most press conferences have cen- public. According to Carolyn Smith, Theodore Roo-
tered on the orchestrated use of television, although sevelt was one of the first U.S. presidents to use the
various print and broadcast media outlets usually are press as a frequent means of communicating with the
invited to attend. According to Jerry Hendrix, press public. Although he did not hold formal press confer-
conferences are classified as uncontrolled media. ences in their contemporary sense, he realized that the
Thus, with press conferences, media decision makers media could be used to shape public opinion and estab-
become the target audience members. These gatekeep- lished close relationships with journalists. Woodrow
1810
Prime Suspect
Wilson was the first president to hold regular and for- usually include a selection of reporters from other
mal press conferences. Not only did he view the press news organizations, such as regional newspapers or
as a means of influencing public opinion, but he also news syndicates, who may be more likely to pose
believed that communication via the press was a chief questions the president will find favorable.
duty of democratic leaders. In general, press conferences often are criticized for
Although presidents are not bound by law to hold their theatrical nature. However, for individuals, orga-
them, presidential press conferences have become nizations, and government branches, press confer-
somewhat institutionalized. As Smith contends, a ences serve an important public relations function.
sense of “public contract has evolved to such a degree They are an effective means of organizing and dissem-
that the general occasion of the press conference can- inating newsworthy information to the public.
not be avoided with political impunity.” Since the Wil- Lori Melton McKinnon
son administration, all presidents have held formal See also Political Processes and Television; Pool
press conferences. However, the decision to grant a Coverage; U.S. Presidency and Television
press conference is always made by the White House,
not by the media, and press conferences have varied in
Further Reading
frequency and format with each administration.
Not surprisingly, presidents are most likely to hold Davis, Richard, The Press and American Politics: The New Me-
press conferences when the conferences serve their diator, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Longman, 1992;
3rd edition, 2001
best advantage. Ultimately, the president can control Hanson, C., “Mr. Clinton’s Neighborhood,” Columbia Journal-
the time, place, and setting for a press conference. To ism Review (1993)
some extent, they also control the participants. In the Hendrix, Jerry A., Public Relations Cases, Belmont, California:
contemporary era, journalists at presidential press con- Wadsworth, 1988; 5th edition, 2001
ferences have traditionally included representatives of Kernell, Samuel, Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential
Leadership, Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly
ABC, CBS, and NBC, the wire services, national Press, 1986; 3rd edition, 1997
newsmagazines; and national newspapers such as the Smith, Carolyn, Presidential Press Conferences: A Critical Ap-
New York Times and the Washington Post. They also proach, New York: Praeger, 1990
Prime Suspect
British Crime Series
In 1991 Prime Suspect was broadcast on British televi- ation of DCI Jane Tennison, La Plante continued to
sion to great critical and public acclaim. The produc- elaborate on her predilection for problematic heroines,
tion received numerous awards for its writer Lynda La but this time her central character is not a criminal but
Plante and star Helen Mirren, including a rather con- a woman both shaped and defined by her role as an of-
troversial BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial. Prime ficer of the law.
Suspect’s importance to the development of the police By being positioned as the head of a murder squad
drama series as a genre in Britain is great. By installing hunting for a sadistic serial killer, Tennison transcends
a woman as the head of a murder squad, Prime Suspect many of the traditions of the British police series. It is
broke new ground in terms of both gender and the au- interesting to note that La Plante did not put Tennison
thenticity in the portrayal of the internal dynamics of forward primarily as a woman police officer who does
the police as an organization. her job the feminine way. In terms of the British police
Almost six years earlier, La Plante brought to the series, Tennison’s female predecessors such as Kate
television audience the formidable Dolly Rawlins as Longton (Juliet Bravo) and Maggie Forbes (The Gen-
the single-minded leader of a group of disparate but tle Touch) had been deliberately represented as bring-
gutsy women criminals in her successful television ing the nurturing and compassionate aspects
crime drama Widows. With Prime Suspect and the cre- associated with femininity to the role of senior police
1811
Prime Suspect
Prime Suspect.
Photo courtesy of Frank Goodman Associates
officer. In fact, it would be true to say that central to leading female character who was in most circum-
programs such as Juliet Bravo, The Gentle Touch, and, stances a police officer first and a woman second.
indeed, the American police series Cagney and Lacey It is, in fact, the Tennison character, and Mirren’s
was the exploration of the contradictions inherent be- performance, that unify and act as the reference for the
tween the institutionalized masculinity of the police programs in the series. And although La Plante has
and the presence of femininity. The dramatic resolu- only written Prime Suspect I and II, her creation of
tion, however, was usually to endorse the compassion- Tennison, her exacting original script, and Mirren’s
ate compromise made by the female characters own compelling performance have generated a suc-
between being a good police officer and being a “real” cessful and repeatable legacy and framework.
woman. The fascination of Tennison as a character was Symptomatically, the subtext for each individual
the powerful and compelling focus on the internal and drama in the series has some kind of social issue as its
external confrontations and contradictions faced by a basis and could be read, in order, as sexism, racism,
1812
Prime Suspect
homosexuality, young male prostitution, the results of even discussed. The imperative is clearly to establish
physical abuse in childhood, class, and institutional Tennison’s reputation and stature within the police
conformity in the police. Equally symptomatically, it (she is promoted to the rank of superintendent) and to
could be noticed that each drama contains a character reestablish her and contain what femininity remains
who has a particular investment in the chosen subtext: within a heterosexual relationship with a professional
for example, one of the officers is black; in the next equal, the psychologist played by Stuart Wilson.
drama, one is gay; in the next, one has suffered child- In Prime Suspect V, an interesting intertextual exer-
hood abuse; and so on. In a rather obvious, sometimes cise is carried out when the Marlowe case is reopened,
crude manner, this device has been used to situate and with the investigation now centered on Tennison’s own
contextualize the tensions of the internal police dy- police practices. Apart from one long-standing loyal
namics within those of the larger society. It is our fas- male colleague, the male ranks are again seen to close
cination with Tennison that spawns a more integrated in the face of this unsympathetic woman who remains
and sophisticated involvement with the drama. Be- insistent on her infallibility and methodical detection.
cause of Tennison’s place in the text, the issue of gen- Her ultimate triumph in the case casts her in a new but
der in the police force is never far away, as evidenced recognizable mold, that of maverick cop, where gen-
by the fact that masculinity and male relationships are der is even less of an issue. Prime Suspect VI: The Last
also always under inspection. Witness aired in November 2003.
Above all, no matter the focus of a case on a partic- Ros Jennings
ular social problem, it is the institutionalized perfor-
See also British Programming; La Plante, Lynda;
mance of masculinity and femininity within the police
Mirren, Helen; Police Programs
force that dictates the often considerable dramatic ten-
sion. In Tennison’s pursuit of serial killer George Mar-
lowe in Prime Suspect I, for example, not only must Prime Suspect
she prove she is an exceptional detective and win the
support of her male colleagues, but the narrative is Cast
shot through with her compulsive need to succeed in Jane Tennison Helen Mirren
her job at any cost. Her obsession with her police ca- DS Bill Otley Tom Bell
reer even becomes tinged with perversity when the in- DCS Michael Kiernan John Benfield
terrogation sessions between Tennison and Marlowe DCI John Shefford John Forgeham
are used to generate a fake, yet compelling, sexual ten- Terry Amson Gary Whelan
sion. The fact that she will get out of bed at night to in- DI Frank Burkin Craig Fairbrass
terview a serial killer but will not make time to see to DI Tony Muddyman Jack Ellis
the needs of the man in her life heightens the idea of WPC Maureen Havers Mossie Smith
perversity and obsession. DC Jones Ian Fitzgibbon
In a culture still guided by the binary divisions of DC Rosper Andrew Tiernan
active masculinity and passive femininity, the fact that DC Lillie Phillip Wright
Tennison is a woman means that her sexuality and sex- DC Haskons Richard Hawley
ual practices are subject to much more dramatic DC Oakhill Mark Spalding
scrutiny than if she were a man. Tennison does not, DS Eastel Dave Bond
however, stray much from the sexual conduct expected Commander Trayner Terry Taplin
from the male officer in the television police genre. As DC Avison Tom Bowles
Geoffrey Hurd explains, “the main characters . . . are ei- DC Caplan Seamus O’Neill
ther divorced, separated, widowed, or unmarried, a DI Caldicott Marcus Romer
trail of broken and unmade relationships presented as a George Marlow John Bowe
direct result of the pressures and demands of police Moyra Henson Zoe Wanamaker
work.” Mrs. Marlow Maxine Audley
The focus on sexuality, however, is dramatically Felix Norman Bryan Pringle
changed by Tennison’s pregnancy in Prime Suspect III Willy Chang Gareth Tudor Price
and her consequent abortion in Prime Suspect IV. This Tilly Andrew Abrahams
moment marks the watershed in her personal and ca- Joyce Fionnuala Ellwood
reer conflict, and it is interesting that the following Lab Assistant Maria Meski
programs (not written by La Plante) then seem to de- Lab Assistant Martin Reeve
vote themselves to saving Tennison’s soul. No moral Lab Assistant John Ireland
judgment is made about the abortion; in fact, it is not Peter Tom Wilkinson
1813
Prime Suspect
Marianne Francesca Ryan Jason Reynolds Matt Bardock

Joe Jeremy Warder Nola Cameron Corinne Skinner-Carter
Major Howard Michael Fleming Oscar Bream David Ryall
Mrs. Howard Daphne Neville
Karen Julie Sumnall Producer
Michael Ralph Fiennes Paul Marcus
Mr. Tennison Wilfred Harrison
Mrs. Tennison Noel Dyson
Pam Jessica Turner Programming History
Tony Owen Aaronovitch Granada TV
Sergeant Tomlins Rod Arthur 1992
Carol Rosy Clayton
Linda Susan Brown Prime Suspect III
Painter Phil Hearne
Helen Masters Angela Bruce Cast
Mrs. Salbanna Anna Savva DCI Jane Tennison Helen Mirren
Arnold Upcher James Snell Vera Reynolds Peter Capaldi
Mr. Shrapnel Julian Firth Edward Parker-Jones Ciarán Hinds
James Jackson David Thewlis
Sergeant Bill Otley Tom Bell
Producer Chief Superintendent
Don Leaver Kernan John Benfield
Jessica Smythie Kelly Hunter
Programming History Margaret Speel Alyson Spiro
2 2-hour episodes DC Lillie Philip Wright
Granada TV DI Brian Dalton Andrew Woodall
April 7–8, 1991 WPC Norma Hastings Karen Tomlin
Supt. Halliday Struan Rodger
Red Pearce Quigley
Prime Suspect II Anthony Field Jonny Lee Miller
DS Richard Haskons Richard Hawley
Cast John Kennington Terence Harvey
DCI Jane Tennison Helen Mirren Commander Chiswick Terrence Hardiman
Sgt. Robert Oswald Colin Salmon Jason Baldwin James Frain
D. Supt. Michael Kernan John Benfield DI Ray Hebdon Mark Drewry
DI Tony Muddyman Jack Ellis (III) Mrs. Kennington Rowena Cooper
DI Frank Burkin Craig Fairbrass Disco Driscoll Jeremy Colton
DS Richard Haskons Richard Hawley Billy Matthews Andrew Dicks
DC Lillie Philip Wright
DC Jones Ian Fitzgibbon Producer
DC Rosper Andrew Tiernan Paul Marcus
Commander Traynor Stafford Gordon
Sgt. Calder Lloyd Maguire
DCI Thorndike Stephen Boxer Programming History
Asian PC Nirjay Mahindru Granada TV
Esme Allen Claire Benedict 1993
Vernon Allen George Harris (II)
Tony Allen Fraser James Prime Suspect IV: “The Lost Child,” “Inner Cir-
Cleo Allen Ashley James cles,” and “The Scent of Darkness”
David Allen Junior Laniyan
Sarah Allen Jenny Jules Cast
Esta Josephine Melville Supt. Jane Tennison Helen Mirren
David Harvey Tom Watson (I) Chris Hughes Robert Glenister (“The
Eileen Reynolds June Watson Lost Child”)
1814
Prime Suspect
Susan Covington Beatie Edney (“The Lost Derek Palmer Alan Perrin (“Inner
Child”) Circles”)
Anne Sutherland Lesley Sharp (“The Lost Len Sheldon Pip Donachy (“The Scent
Child”) of Darkness”)
DI Richard Haskons Richard Hawley (“The Chief Inspector Finlay Hugh Simon (“The Scent
Lost Child”) of Darkness”)
DI Tony Muddyman Jack Ellis (“The Lost Supt. Howell Alan Leith (“The Scent of
Child”) Darkness”)
Doctor Gordon Graham Seed (“The Lost Dr. Elizabeth Bramwell Penelope Beaumont (“The
Child”) Scent of Darkness”)
Chief Supt. Kernan John Benfield (“The Lost Anthony Bramwell Christopher Ashley (“The
WPC Maureen Havers Mossie Smith (“The Lost Wayne Glen Barry (“The Scent of
Dr. Patrick Schofield Stuart Wilson (“The Lost Policewoman 1 Rebecca Thorn (“The
Oscar Bream David Ryall (“The Lost Geoff Scott Neal (“The Scent of
Geoff Tom Russell (“Inner DC Catherine Cooper Caroline Strong (“The
Circles”) Scent of Darkness”)
Paul Endicott James Laurenson (“Inner
Circles”) Executive Producer
Lynne Endicott Helene Kvale (“Inner Sally Head
Circles”)
Maria Henry Jill Baker (“Inner
Circles”) Producers
Polly Henry Kelly Reilly (“Inner Paul Marcus (The Lost Child and Inner Circles);
Circles”) Brian Park (The Scent of Darkness)
Denis Carradine Gareth Forwood (“Inner
Circles”) Programming History
James Greenlees Anthony Bate (“Inner Granada TV
Circles”) 1995
Micky Thomas Jonathan Copestake
(“Inner Circles”) Prime Suspect V: Errors of Judgment
Olive Carradine Phillada Sewell (“Inner
Circles”) Cast
Sheila Bower Julie Rice (“Inner Supt. Jane Tennison Helen Mirren
Circles”) DCS Martin Ballinger John McArdle
DCI Raymond Ralph Arliss (“Inner DI Claire Devanny Julia Lane
Circles”) DS Jerry Rankine David O’Hara
DS Cromwell Sophie Stanton (“Inner DC Henry Adeliyeka John Brobbey
Circles”) The Street Steven Mackintosh
DC Bakari Cristopher John Hale Michael Johns Ray Emmet Brown
(“Inner Circles”) Toots Paul Oldham
DI Haskons Richard Hawley (“Inner Radio Joe Speare
Circles”) Campbell Lafferty Joseph Jacobs
Club Manager Albert Welling (“Inner Janice Lafferty Marsha Thomason
Circles”) Noreen Lafferty Gabrielle Reidy
Hamish Endicott Nick Patrick (“Inner DC Skinner Anne Hornby
Circles”) Desk Sergeant Steve Money
Superintendent Mallory Ian Flintoff (“Inner Nazir Chris Bisson
Circles”) DC Growse Antony Audenshaw
Chief Supt. Kernan John Benfield (“Inner DS Pardy Martin Ronan
Circles”) Willem Kevin Knapman
1815
Prime Suspect
Paramedic Paul Warriner Further Reading

Outboard Paul Simpson Ansen, David, “The Prime of Helen Mirren,” Newsweek (May
Deborah Sarah Jones 16, 1994)
Carter, Bill, “A British Miniseries with Many Lives,” New York
Times (May 2, 1994)
Producers Dugdale, John, “Intruder in a Man’s World,” New Statesman
Rebecca Eaton, Lynn Horsford and Society (December 11, 1992)
Jennings, Ros, “The Prime of DCI Tennison: Investigating No-
tions of Feminism, Sexuality, Gender and Genre in Relation
Programming History to Lynda La Plante’s Prime Suspect,” Iris (Autumn 1998)
1996 Rennert, Amy, editor, Helen Mirren: Prime Suspect: A Celebra-
Granada TV tion, San Francisco, California: KQED Books, 1995
Prime Time
Prime time is that portion of the evening when the U.S. creased competition from cable, the networks have
audience levels for television viewing are at their high- been reducing compensation payments to affiliates. In
est. In the Eastern and Pacific time zones, prime time is fact, some network programming is distributed sans
7:00 to 11:00 P.M.; in the Central and Mountain time compensation.
zones, prime time is 6:00 to 10:00 P.M. The 9:00 P.M. In the mid-1990s, the average 30-second prime-time
hour (Eastern and Pacific) and the 8:00 P.M. hour (Cen- network television advertising spot cost about
tral and Mountain) have the highest homes-using- $100,000. By the 2001–02 broadcast season, the aver-
television (HUT) level. age 30-second, prime-time network television adver-
The commercial broadcast networks have always tising spot cost about $125,000. These same spots on a
attracted the largest portion of the prime-time view- top-rated series average about $325,000, and such
ing audience. Through the 1960s, it was not unusual spots on low-rated network prime-time programs aver-
for the three networks (ABC, CBC, and NBC) to at- age about $50,000. Top-rated prime-time spots in local
tract 85 to 90 percent of the available prime-time au- television markets cost as much as $20,000.
dience. The remaining 10 to 15 percent of the Because of network dominance in prime time, in-
audience would be watching programming available dependent television stations (those not affiliated
on independent television stations or on public televi- with a major broadcast network) have found it diffi-
sion stations. cult to compete directly with network-affiliated tele-
Broadcast networks pay their affiliated stations in vision stations during these most desirable hours. In
each local market to air the network offerings (this is an attempt to allow independents to compete some-
called “network compensation”). In return, the net- what more fairly, during at least a portion of prime
works retain the bulk of the commercial time for sale time, the Federal Communications Commission
to national advertisers. This arrangement works well (FCC) enacted the Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR).
for both parties, as the networks attract audiences in The rule limits the amount of time a local affiliate can
each local market for their programming, which en- broadcast programming provided by the network.
ables them to sell commercial time during such pro- The most recent version of PTAR became effective in
grams to advertisers wanting to reach a national September 1975. It basically limited network-
audience. The local affiliated television stations re- affiliated television stations in the 50 largest markets
ceive high-quality programming, payment from the to no more than three hours of network (or off-
network, and the opportunity to sell the remaining network syndicated) programming during the four
commercial time (usually about one minute each hour) hours of prime time. The three-hour limit could be
to local advertisers. However, with the increased costs exceeded if the additional programming was public-
involved in producing and securing prime-time pro- affairs programming, children’s programming, or
gramming and with smaller audience shares due to in- documentary programming, or if the additional pro-
1816
Prime Time
gramming was a network newscast that was adjacent mon marker in the days of citizens around the globe
to a full hour of local newscasts. Other exceptions to and this televisual “clock” has become part of every-
the three-hour limit included runover of live sporting day experience in almost every society.
events, and feature films on Saturday evenings. The Mitchell E. Shapiro
FCC ended the PTAR in 1996; however, network of-
ferings continue to be limited, now by convention, to
Further Reading
three hours.
The growth of cable television in the 1980s resulted Bedel, Sally, Up the Tube: Prime-time TV and the Silverman
in a plethora of viewing options for the audience. Years, New York: Viking, 1981
Blum, Richard A., and Richard D. Lindheim, Primetime: Net-
Where audiences once had a choice of up to five, per- work Television Programming, Boston, Focal, 1987
haps six options at any point in time, the new multi- Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to
channel environment provided viewers with more than Primetime Network TV Shows, 1946–Present, New York:
50 programming choices at once. Meanwhile, the de- Ballantine, 1992
velopment of the FOX network in the late 1980s, and Cantor, Muriel G., Prime-time Television: Content and Control,
Beverly Hills, California: Sage, 1980
on a slightly smaller scale, the Warner Brothers (WB) Castleman, Harry, and Walter Podrazik, Watching TV: Four De-
Network and the United Paramount Network (UPN) in cades of American Television, New York: McGraw-Hill,
the early 1990s, raised the prime-time status and visi- 1982
bility of independent stations. In addition, the advent Eastman, Susan Tyler, and Robert Klein, Strategies in Broad-
of the videocassette recorder (VCR) also enabled cast and Cable Promotion: Commercial Television, Radio,
Cable, Pay-Television, Public Television, Belmont, Califor-
viewers to rent prerecorded tapes, or to time-shift nia: Wadsworth, 1981; 5th edition, by Eastman and Douglas
(watch programs that were recorded at an earlier time). A. Ferguson, as Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strategies
The result of all this increased competition is that the and Practices, 1997
networks’ share of the audience declined throughout Gitlin, Todd, Inside Prime Time, New York: Pantheon, 1985; re-
the 1980s and 1990s. This was most evident in the vised edition, 1994
Goldstein, Fred P., and Stan Goldstein, Prime-time Television: A
prime-time hours. By the 2001–02 season, the net- Pictorial History from Milton Berle to “Falcon Crest,” New
works’ share of the audience had dropped from previ- York: Crown, 1983
ous heights of 80 to 90 percent to 50 to 60 percent. And Head, Sydney W., Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Televi-
as cable and VCR penetration levels (70 percent and sion and Radio, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956; 9th edi-
84 percent, respectively, in 2001) continue to grow, the tion, with Thomas Spann and Michael A. McGregor, as
Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media,
fate of network television in prime time may decline 2001
still further. Lichter, S. Robert, Prime Time: How TV Portrays American
Although prime-time programming has changed Culture, Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1994
much during the history of television, three main Marc, David, and Robert J. Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
trends continue: (1) the continued growth of the situa- Movers: From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America’s Greatest
TV Shows and the People Who Created Them, Boston: Little
tion comedy; (2) the continued decline and perhaps Brown, 1992
death of the variety show; and (3) the consistent appeal McCrohan, Donna, Prime Time, Our Time: America’s Life and
of drama. Times through the Prism of Television, Rockin, California:
As new technologies, increased competition, and Prima Publication and Communication, 1990
decreased regulation of television systems have devel- Montgomery, Kathryn, Target: Prime Time: Advocacy Groups
and the Struggle over Entertainment Television, New York:
oped throughout the world in recent decades, the no- Oxford University Press, 1989
tion of prime time has become more and more Sackett, Susan, Prime-time Hits: Television’s Most Popular
prevalent in systems outside the United States. Where Network Programs, 1950 to the Present, New York: Bill-
television programming in other countries was once a board Books, 1993
special activity, often a limited number of hours Selnow, Gary W., “Values in Prime-time Television,” Journal of
Communication (Spring 1990).
roughly equivalent to American prime time, the move Shapiro, Mitchell E., Television Network Prime-Time Program-
toward 24-hour programming has added new signifi- ming, 1948–1988, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland,
cance to the evening hours. Prime time is now a com- 1989
1817
Prime Time Access Rule
Prime Time Access Rule

The Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) was established local programming by network stations, as well as pro-
by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission vide small, independent programming producers ex-
(FCC) to limit network domination of prime-time pro- panded marketing opportunities. Prior to the PTAR,
gramming throughout the United States. Prime time is almost all network programming was produced by ma-
normally from 7:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. in the Eastern jor studios or the networks themselves.
and Pacific time zones, and from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. With respect to the development of community-
in the Central and Mountain time zones. oriented local programming, the PTAR was a dismal
The “Big Three” networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, failure, as most local television stations opted to pur-
dominated prime-time programming of their own chase inexpensive syndicated entertainment program-
network-affiliated stations nationally in the 1960s. Re- ming, such as game shows, to fill the access hour
runs of old network shows also dominated the sched- rather than developing their own public-affairs pro-
ules of independent (non-network-affiliated) television grams. The PTAR was a resounding success in provid-
stations. The FCC began an investigation of this vir- ing independent producers with more than 200 local
tual monopoly in 1965 and issued its initial PTAR in television markets and over 600 local stations as po-
1970. The rule was modified in 1973, rewritten in tential customers for their original programming. The
1975, and finally rescinded in 1996. Paraphrasing the result was a plethora of game shows and other pro-
rule itself, the PTAR basically limited network- grams in inexpensive-to-produce genres. Along with
affiliated stations in the 50 largest television markets to the Financial Interest and Syndication Rule (Fin-Syn),
airing only three hours of network entertainment pro- the PTAR prevented the Big Three networks from mo-
gramming during prime time. Exceptions were made nopolizing the television production industry and lim-
for some program genres, such as news, public affairs, ited them to distribution and exhibition of prime-time
education, and children’s shows. entertainment programming for 16 years.
This rule meant that the Big Three networks regu- The creation of FOX, the fourth major network, as
larly provided 22 hours of prime-time shows weekly, 4 well as the variety of other channels introduced as the
hours on Sunday and 3 hours on the other six evenings cable and satellite industries developed, provided tele-
each week. Sunday included an extra hour because vision audiences in the United States with many more
feature films, newsmagazines, and family shows quali- viewing options. This shift eroded the Big Three net-
fied as exceptions to the PTAR. Other exceptions in- works’ share of the audience from over 90 percent in
cluded fast-breaking news events and the running over 1970 to less than 50 percent in the mid-1990s. It also
of live broadcasts of sporting events. In markets where gave independent program producers many more
local television stations scheduled the half-hour net- venues to which they could sell programming and ba-
work newscast immediately following the local news- sically eliminated a need for restrictions on network
cast, this was also considered an exception. In actual programming such as the PTAR. The FCC finally
practice, the networks now provided only three hours eliminated the rule in August 1996.
of programming to all their affiliate stations in every Since the PTAR’s demise there has been virtually no
market, not just the top 50, and established what be- change in the number of hours of prime-time program-
came known as the “Access Hour” nationally. ming that networks provide their affiliates. Now, affili-
The PTAR also prohibited top-50 market network- ate stations’ access hours are highly profitable time
affiliated stations from airing off-network rerun pro- slots for selling local advertising spots at premium
grams during the access hour, while encouraging local rates, and affiliate stations therefore have no desire to
independent stations to do so as well. This aspect of give up the access hour to the networks for program-
the rule gave independent stations the exclusive right ming. Even network newscasts typically no longer ap-
to broadcast reruns of successful network situation pear during the access hour.
comedies such as I Love Lucy during the first hour of Robert G. Finney
prime time, while forcing the network-affiliated sta-
tions to provide alternative programming. See also Allocation; Federal Communications
The FCC wanted to encourage community-oriented Commission; License; Syndication
1818
Primetime Live
Further Reading 1981; 6th edition, by Eastman and Douglas A. Ferguson, as

Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strategies and Practices,
Carter, T. Barton, Marc A. Franklin, and Jay B. Wright, The 2002
First Amendment and the Fifth Estate: Regulation of Elec- Ginsburg, Douglas H., Regulation of the Electronic Mass Me-
tronic Mass Media, Mineola, New York: Foundation Press, dia: Law and Policy towards Radio, Television, and Cable
1986; 5th edition, New York: Foundation Press, 1999 Communications, St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publications,
Creech, Kenneth C., Electronic Media Law and Regulation, 1979; 3rd edition, by Michael Botein, as Regulation of the
Boston: Focal Press, 1993; 3rd edition, 2000 Electronic Mass Media: Law and Policy for Radio, Televi-
Eastman, Susan Tyler, Sydney W. Head, and Lewis Klein, sion, Cable, and the New Video Technologies, St. Paul, Min-
Broadcast Programming: Strategies for Winning Television nesota: West Group, 1998
and Radio Audiences, Belmont, California: Wadsworth,
Primetime Live
U.S. Newsmagazine Show
In 1989 the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) newsmagazine genre. First to disappear was the studio
added a second newsmagazine, Primetime Live, to ac- audience. Ironically, Primetime Live then phased out
company 20/20 on its prime-time schedule. Straying the “live” aspects of the program. Following its recog-
from the lackluster tradition of network news, the look nized coverage of the crash of Pan American Flight
of Primetime Live was better characterized as glitzy 103 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the show’s produc-
and glamorous. ABC launched a huge promotional ers reduced the number of segments for each episode
campaign and on August 3 the highly publicized and focused instead on more in-depth journalism.
Primetime Live debuted. The show featured numerous Primetime Live evolved into an award-winning news-
segments, from the secretary of state on American magazine with its own distinct signature. Central to es-
hostages in Lebanon to an interview with Roseanne tablishing this distinctiveness was the use of
Barr. It incorporated comments from a studio audi- undercover investigations and hidden cameras that
ence, as well as live location feeds that were frequently documented everything from racial discrimination to
uninspiring. Booed by critics and parodied by Satur- political scandal and corporate corruption.
day Night Live, Primetime Live’s ratings continually Although their formats and often their content can
declined. Industry journals were replete with accounts be similar, Primetime Live was distinguished as a news
of difficulties plaguing the show, but none discussed rather than a tabloid magazine show because it was
cancellation. produced under the umbrella of the ABC News divi-
A handful of factors contributed to the staying sion. But as a prime-time show the entertainment value
power of Primetime Live. Generally speaking, reality of the program was at least as important as its informa-
programming was recognized as a cost-effective alter- tion value, inspiring the critical label “infotainment.”
native in comparison with the expense and risk of de- Rather than reporting facts, newsmagazine journalists
veloping fictional series. But despite trailing its were expected to be on-air personalities or celebrities
competition, Primetime Live was rated considerably for audience members to identify with. They packaged
higher than the traditional entertainment previously segments of dramatic narrative, but also needed to
scheduled in its time slot. Furthermore, programming communicate professional legitimacy. Therefore,
a newsmagazine improved the audience draw for net- coanchors Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson were vi-
work affiliates that followed the broadcasts with their tal to Primetime Live. Both were praised as talented
local news. and well-respected journalists when they joined the
More specifically, and perhaps most pivotal to the show. Donaldson, a White House correspondent, and
eventual success of the show, was ABC’s stated com- Sawyer, lured to ABC following five years as a re-
mitment to stand by the show for at least two years. porter for 60 Minutes, lent an air of credibility to the
This allowed executive producer Richard Kaplan to fledgling newsmagazine.
modify the program and reshape the still-emerging For the 1998 season ABC merged Primetime Live
1819
Primetime Live
pendently titled shows. For the 2000 season the

Wednesday broadcast of 20/20 was moved to Thurs-
day night, reincarnating Primetime Live as Primetime
Thursday. Sawyer and Gibson remained coanchors of
the program. The goal was to reassociate the show
with its previous success.
ABC News’s metamorphosis over the years can be
traced through the history of Primetime Thursday. The
unsuccessful attempt to expand the 20/20 franchise has
resulted instead in a deeper branding of ABC News
when it becomes clear that it is the organizational fran-
chise, rather than a program franchise, that has been
most strengthened. In the process, the way network
news is produced has also changed. Today, Primetime
Thursday is able to draw on the resources of the entire
ABC News organization. And as the show’s staffers,
from producers to correspondents, are no longer to
dedicated to one show, they now contribute to an array
of the news division’s programming. Rather than fol-
lowing an entrenched formula, the spirit and legacy of
Primetime Live endure precisely because the concept
has been so adaptable to change.
Jennie Phillips
See also News, Network ; Sawyer, Diane
Coanchors
Diane Sawyer (1989–)
Sam Donaldson (1989–98)
Primetime Live, Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer.
Photo courtesy of ABC Photo Archives Charles Gibson (1998–)
with the more preferred 20/20, which expanded to three Executive Producers
(and eventually four) nights a week. The strategy was Richard Kaplan (1989–94)
in keeping with the trend toward stripping one recog- Phyllis McGrady (1994–98)
nizable brand across the network’s weekly schedule. Victor Neufeld (merged with 20/20, 1998–2000)
The Wednesday, 10:00 P.M. broadcast was planned to David Doss (reincarnated as Primetime Thursday,
maintain the flavor of Primetime Live. Sawyer re- 2000–)
mained as coanchor of 20/20 on Wednesday night,
along with Charles Gibson, who had replaced Donald- Senior Producers, Primetime Thursday
son. David Westin, president of ABC News, revealed Jennifer Grossman
this was part of his hope to expand 20/20 to run seven Robert Lange
nights a week. Economic concerns motivated the in- Victor Neufeld
creased pervasiveness of newsmagazine programming, Marc Robertson
which cost as much as 50 percent less to produce than Ira Rosen
an episode of scripted comedy or drama. Additionally, Lisa Soloway
newsmagazine content, though rarely syndicated, could Jessica Velmans
be repurposed for other ABC news programming and
for media outlets aligned through corporate synergies.
Soon, however, network executives decided that Correspondents, ABC News
stripping their newsmagazines as one franchise re- Bob Brown
duced audience anticipation. To generate more de- Juju Chang
mand for a product perceived as uniform ABC Christopher Cuomo
separated the multiple broadcasts of 20/20 into inde- Arnold Diaz
1820
Princess Diana: Death and Funeral Coverage
Jami Floyd September 2000– Thursday 10:00–11:00

Tom Jarriel (reincarnated as Prime-
Timothy Johnson time Thursday)
Cynthia McFadden
John Quinones
Further Reading
Brian Ross
Jay Schadler Baker, Russ W., “Truth, Lies, and Videotape: PrimeTime Live
Lynn Sherr and the Hidden Camera,” Columbia Journalism Review
(July/August 1993)
Joel Siegel Bernstein, Paula, “Doss Is Ready for ‘Primetime,’” Variety
John Stossel (November 28, 2000)
Nancy Snyderman Consoli, John, “All the News That Fits: Television News in
Elizabeth Vargas Prime Time,” Adweek (June 1, 1998)
Chris Wallace Grabe, Mary Elizabeth, “Tabloid and Traditional Television
News Magazine Crime Stories: Crime Lessons and Reaffir-
mation of Social Class Distinctions,” Journalism & Mass
Programming History Communication Quarterly (Winter 1996)
Gunther, Marc, The House Tthat Roone Built: The Inside Story
ABC of ABC News. Boston: Little, Brown, 1994
August 1989–September McClellan, Steve, “Cutting Edge at ABC News,” Broadcasting
1994 Thursday 10:00–11:00 & Cable (September 21, 1998)
September 1994– Mifflin, Lawrie, “Network News Magazine Shows May Look
September 1998 Wednesday 10:00–11:00 Similar but Each Has Its Own Personality Traits,” New York
Times (May 24, 1999)
September 1998– Spragens, William C., Electronic Magazines: Soft News Pro-
September 2000 Wednesday 10:00–11:00 grams on Network Television, Westport, Connecticut:
(merged with 20/20) Praeger, 1995

The sudden death of Diana, Princess of Wales, follow- TV critic Mark Lawson has described as “memorial
ing a car accident in Paris in the early hours of Sunday broadcasting,” where praise is heaped upon the re-
August 31, 1997, sparked a dramatic week of intense cently deceased. Tributes were relayed from eminent
television coverage and high public emotion in the politicians and personages around the world, and cam-
United Kingdom and sent shock waves through inter- eras started to focus on members of the public, some
national media circles. angry and emotional, leaving flowers outside palaces
At the age of 36, the princess cut a figure of glamour in London. A bitter and scathing statement vilifying
and beauty and, despite the years of controversy and the press was read by Earl Spencer, the princess’s
acrimonious dispute with the royal family, she still brother in South Africa, and television commentators
commanded much public popularity and international and journalists distanced themselves from the print
interest. In the week leading up to the accident, the media and discussed the potential implications of the
tabloid press in Britain had been filled with pictures of accident on press regulation.
her relaxing in the south of France with her new The future of the royal family was also discussed,
boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed. Her death in a car crash, ap- and over the afternoon the coverage was intercut with
parently while being chased by press photographers, scenes of Prince Charles and Diana’s two sisters flying
seemed as shocking as it was unexpected. to Paris to collect her body. Scenes of their return, with
That Sunday, British terrestrial television channels the aircraft departing Paris, flying into the sunset and
suspended their scheduled programming and ran live then landing at an air force base just outside London,
rolling news for all or most of the day. The news cov- were particularly poignant and moving.
erage was dramatic and emotive, combining news nar- Yet a disorientating air of unreality hung over the
ratives associated with disaster and crisis with what day’s coverage, especially when television broadcast
1821
images of the car wreckage alongside footage of the solemn commentary of David Dimbleby, son of the fa-
princess while still alive, attending gala functions, mous broadcaster Richard Dimbleby who had com-
meeting the sick and poor, and accompanying her two mentated for television at the queen’s coronation in
sons on visits to a theme park. 1953 and the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965.
In the following days, television news followed The coverage continued through the hour-long ser-
events as revelations emerged that the princess’s vice, which was marked by hymns, prayers, and read-
French chauffeur may have been driving drunk, prepa- ings and included an address by Earl Spencer and a
rations were made for the funeral, and cameras relayed live rendition of the song “Candle in the Wind” rewrit-
extraordinary scenes of people lining up for hours to ten for the occasion and sung by the pop star Elton
leave flowers and sign books of condolence in London. John. After the service and a national minute of si-
These images were read as evidence of public mourn- lence, the main broadcasters continued to follow
ing and helped fuel criticism in the tabloid press, events as the princess’s coffin was taken by hearse
which was repeated on television, of the royal family’s back through London streets, lined with crowds ap-
apparent neglect of the princess when alive. The royal plauding and throwing flowers, and then onto the mo-
family was also accused of being out of touch, for not torway to make its last journey to Althorp in
displaying a response in keeping with the wave of pub- Northamptonshire. There the coverage ended as the
lic sympathy after her death. So stinging was the criti- princess was finally buried, out of the public gaze, at a
cism that the queen was effectively forced to make a private family service in the late afternoon.
live address to the nation across all the terrestrial chan- Undoubtedly a poignant event that gripped and
nels in memorial of the princess on the Friday night moved a large British and international audience, the
before the funeral. funeral was considered the kind of television event at
The princess’s funeral, on Saturday, September 6, which the British excel. The BBC’s then-director gen-
was described by a Buckingham Palace press eral, John Birt, was to describe the week as “one of the
spokesman as “a unique event for a unique person.” It most demanding in the BBC’s history.”
had been a focus of speculation throughout the week A year later, television’s response to the first an-
and was, in the end, a triumph of organization for both niversary of the princess’s death was a more muted af-
the authorities and the broadcasters. With very little fair. Several reports and books began to be published
time for preparation, permission from the princess’s that suggested that not everyone had been caught up in
family to film the funeral service live inside Westmin- the wave of public emotion, and some were critical of
ster Abbey was only granted to the British Broadcast- the press and media for orchestrating the apparent pub-
ing Corporation (BBC) and Independent Television lic response, and for perpetuating what some came to
News (ITN) on Tuesday evening. Agreement was refer to as “grief fascism.”
made with both the Spencer and royal families that Rob Turnock
there would be no television close-ups of any of the
See also Birt, John; Political Processes and Televi-
mourners in the Abbey.
sion
The funeral was televised live across four out of five
of the U.K. terrestrial channels, with both the BBC and
ITN providing live relays to broadcasters around the Further Reading
world. It is estimated that a possible 2.5 billion people Dayan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz, Media Events: The Live Broad-
watched the funeral globally. Live coverage com- casting of History, Cambridge, Massachussetts: Harvard
menced at 9 A.M. in the U.K. as the funeral cortege, University Press, 1992
Liebes, Tamar, “Television’s Disaster Marathons: A Danger for
consisting of a horse-drawn gun-carriage bearing the Democratic Process?” in Media, Ritual and Identity, edited
princess’s coffin, and a small escort of guardsmen and by Tamar Liebes and James Curran, London and New York:
mounted policemen, left Kensington Palace in Lon- Routledge, 1998
don. The coverage followed the cortege every step of Merck, Mandy, editor, After Diana: Irreverent Elegies, London
the way as it made its two-hour journey, on a sunny and New York: Verso, 1998
Turnock, Rob, Interpreting Diana: Television Audiences and
morning, through streets lined with people, past Buck- the Death of a Princess, London: British Film Institute, 2000
ingham Palace and Whitehall to Westminster Abbey. Walter, Tony, editor, The Mourning for Diana, Oxford and New
On the BBC, historical continuity was provided by the York: Berg, 1999
1822
Prinze, Freddie
Prinze, Freddie (1954–1977)

U.S. Actor
Freddie Prinze is one of only a handful of Puerto Rican apartment building superintendent who, when asked to
Americans to earn national prominence as a popular fix a problem in the building, would say with a thick
entertainer—in his case, as a stand-up comedian. accent: “Eez not mai yob.” The line became a national
Prinze was born in Washington Heights, a working- catchphrase in the early 1970s. His comedy also had a
poor, multiethnic neighborhood on the Upper West political edge that was poignant and raw, perhaps best
Side of New York City. His father was a Hungarian im- illustrated by his line about Christopher Columbus:
migrant who worked as a tool and die maker, his “Queen Isabelle gives him all the money, three boats,
mother a Puerto Rican immigrant who worked in a fac- and he’s wearing a red suit, a big hat, and a feather—
tory. Playing on the name “Nuyorican,” as many New that’s a pimp.” Prinze’s comic wit, based in the tradi-
York Puerto Ricans identify themselves, Prinze called tion of street humor pioneered by such comics as
himself a “Hungarican.” Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor, landed him a number
Prinze came from a diverse religious as well as eth- of television appearances, including The Tonight Show
nic background. His father was part Jewish, his mother Starring Johnny Carson in 1973. His performance
Catholic, and they chose to send him to a Lutheran el- there was a major success and the start of his television
ementary school. On Sundays he attended Catholic career.
Mass. “All was confusing,” he told Rolling Stone in Indeed, James Komack, a television producer, liked
1975, “until I found I could crack up the priest doing what he saw in Prinze’s routine and cast him to play
Martin Luther.” Prinze was also overweight when he the part of Chico Rodriquez, a wisecracking Chicano,
was a young boy, which further heightened his anxiety in a situation comedy called Chico and the Man. Ko-
about his “mixed” identity. “I fitted in nowhere,” he mack told Time magazine that Prinze “was the best
continued. “I wasn’t true spic, true Jew, true anything. comic to come along in 20 years.” Chico and the Man
I was a miserable fat schmuck kid with glasses and also starred veteran actor Jack Albertson as “the Man,”
asthma.” Like many comedians, Prinze used humor to a crusty old-timer, owner of a run-down garage in a
cope with the traumas of his childhood. “I started do- Chicano barrio of East Los Angeles. Among the sup-
ing half-hour routines in the boys’ room, just winging porting cast were Scatman Crothers, who played Louie
it. Guys cut class to catch the act. It was, ‘What time’s the garbageman, and Della Reese, who played Della
Freddie playing the toilet today?’” His comedic talents the landlady. In the style of other situation comedies
paid off, as he was selected to attend the prestigious such as All in the Family and Sanford and Son, most of
High School of the Performing Arts in New York. the plots involved ethnic conflicts between Chico, who
Prinze did not graduate from the High School of the worked in the garage, and the Man, the only Caucasian
Performing Arts, although after his later professional living in the mostly Latino neighborhood. “Latin mu-
successes, school administrators awarded him a certifi- sic sounds like Mantovani getting mugged,” the Man
cate. The young comedian skipped many of his morn- says to Chico in one episode. Chico would often re-
ing classes, most commonly economics, because he spond to the old-timer’s bigoted statements with the
often worked as late as 3:00 A.M. in comedy clubs per- line, “Looking good,” which also became a national
fecting his routine and style. Of his time spent in these catchphrase. Premiering on NBC-TV in September
clubs, Prinze would later say, “My heart doesn’t start 1974, Chico and the Man quickly rose to the top of the
till 1:00 P.M.” One of his favorite spots was the Impro- Nielsen ratings. Time reported that Prinze was “the
visation on West Forty-fourth Street, a place where as- hottest new property on prime-time TV,” and the co-
piring comics could try out their material on receptive median literally became an overnight star: the first and,
audiences. to date, only Puerto Rican comedian to command a na-
Prinze called himself an “observation comic,” and tionwide audience. He began working in Las Vegas for
his routines often included impressions of ethnic mi- a reported $25,000 a night. He bought himself a new
norities and film stars such as Marlon Brando. One of Corvette and his parents a home in the Hollywood
his most famous impressions was of his Puerto Rican hills. He was only 20 years old.
1823
Prinze, Freddie
the New York Times, “not heroin, as far as I know, but

coke and a lot of Ludes. The drug thing was a big part
of Freddie’s life. It completely messed him up.”
On January 28, 1977, after a night of phone calls to
his secretary, business manager, psychiatrist, mother,
and estranged wife, Freddie Prinze shot himself in the
head in front of his business manager. He was rushed
to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He
was 22 years old. A note found in his apartment read:
“I can’t take any more. It’s all my fault. There is no one
to blame but me.” According to the New York Times,
Prinze had previously threatened suicide in front of
many of his friends and associates, often by holding a
gun to his head and pulling the trigger while the safety
Freddie Prinze, Chico and the Man, 1974–78. was on. It is not known whether the young comedian
actually intended to kill himself that night or merely
suggest that he might, as he had done in the past, but it
is clear that he was critically depressed.
Chico and the Man faced criticism and protests from The death of Freddie Prinze is an American success
the Los Angeles Chicano community, who protested story turned tragedy. His streetwise insight and raw wit
the use of Prinze, a New York Puerto Rican, to play a is surely missed, perhaps most by the Puerto Rican
Los Angeles Chicano. Citing dialect and accent differ- American community, who have yet to see another po-
ences, and the fact that network television rarely em- litically minded Puerto Rican comedian grab national
ployed Chicano actors, Chicano groups picketed attention.
NBC’s Burbank studios and wrote protest letters. Daniel Bernardi
Prinze responded with his usual irreverent humor: “If I
can’t play a Chicano because I’m Puerto Rican, then Freddie Prinze. Born in New York City, June 22,
God’s really gonna be mad when he finds out Charlton 1954. Educated at the High School of the Performing
Heston played Moses.” Nonetheless, the network and Arts, 1970. Married: Katherine Cochran, 1975; one
producers of the show buckled under the pressure, son, Freddie Prinze Jr. Performed in Manhattan com-
changing the character to half-Puerto Rican and half- edy nightclubs; appeared on Jack Paar’s television
Chicano brought up in New York City. The shift in the show, 1972; appeared on The Tonight Show Starring
character’s ethnic identity apparently did not bother Johnny Carson, 1973; starred in television show Chico
television audiences, for Chico and the Man never and the Man, 1974–77. Died in Los Angeles, Califor-
slipped below sixth place in the ratings when Prinze nia, January 28, 1977.
was its star.
Prinze, however, had a difficult time adjusting to the Television Series
pressures of his overnight success and stardom, and 1974–77 Chico and the Man
during this period, he experienced many personal
problems. His wife of 15 months, Katherine Elaine
Cochran, filed for divorce and Prinze was now less Further Reading
able to see his adored 15-month-old son. Early in the Burke, Tom, “The Undiluted South Bronx Truth about Freddie
show’s run, Prinze was arrested for driving under the Prinze,” Rolling Stone (January 30, 1975)
influence of prescription tranquilizers, fueling specula- Kasindorf, Jeanie, “‘If I Was Bitter, I Wouldn’t Have Chosen
tion of a drug problem. Indeed, friends reported that Comedy,’” New York Times (February 9, 1975)
Nordheimer, Jon, “Freddie Prinze, 22, Dies after Shooting,”
Prinze turned to drugs to cope with the pressures of New York Times (January 30, 1977)
fame and the breakup of his marriage. “Freddie was Pruetzel, Maria, The Freddie Prinze Story, Kalamazoo, Michi-
into a lot of drugs,” comedian Jimmy Walker said to gan: Master’s Press, 1978.
1824
Prisoner
Prisoner
Australian Prison Melodrama
Prisoner, which aired from 1979 to 1986 in Australia granddaughters, Doreen and Maxie and Bobby. Often
and was broadcast in other countries as Cell Block H, this group is shown at work in the prison laundry,
is a triumph of the Australian television industry, a where Bea rules as “top dog,” having the right to press
classic of serial melodrama. Prisoner was conceived the clothes. Here Bea and her “family” resist the op-
by the Grundy Organisation for Network Ten. Reg pression of a labor process the prison management
Watson, in the senior ranks of Grundy, had just re- forces on them by taking smokes, having fun, exercis-
turned from Britain, where he had been one of the orig- ing cheek and wit, chatting, planning rituals such as
inators of the long-running serial Crossroads. In 1978 birthday celebrations, or being involved in dramas of
Watson set out to devise a serial set in a women’s various kinds that distract them from the boredom of
prison, in the context of considerable public attention work.
being given in Australia to prison issues generally and Such “kinship” relationships, often remembered
to the position of female prisoners in particular. rather wistfully by ex-prisoners who are having a hard
Women Behind Bars had been founded in 1975 and time of it alone on the outside, offer the possibility of
had successfully campaigned for the eventual release close friendship, fierce loyalty, cooperation, genuine
of Sandra Willson, Australia’s longest-serving female concern for each other: an image of communitas, in-
prisoner. The combination of an active women’s versionary since it is this community of “good” prison-
movement, prisoner action groups, and an atmosphere ers, not those in authority, whom the text continually
of public inquiry and media attention, stimulated by invites us to sympathize and empathize with. Opposed
gaol riots and a royal commission, laid a basis for an to the powerful resourceful figure of Bea are various
interest in the lives of women in prison. Watson and other women, also powerful personalities, such as
his team at Grundy, in their extensive research for the Kate or Nola MacKenzie or Marie Winters, individual-
new drama, interviewed women in prison as well as istic and ruthlessly selfish, manipulative and wily, who
prison officers (the “screws,” as they are always called scheme and plot (sometimes with harsh screws like
in Prisoner), and later some of the actors also visited Joan Ferguson, known as the Freak, who is also cor-
women’s prisons. Notice was taken of prison reform rupt, or Vera Bennett, known as Vinegar Tits) to topple
groups, whose desire for a halfway house for women Bea and destroy her authority and influence.
was incorporated into the program. The result was a In Prisoner, however, relationships of all kinds are
very popular long-running serial, shown from 8:30 to always complicated, shifting, and often uncertain. Not
10:30 P.M., which only in its eighth year revealed signs all screws are harsh; there is, for example, Meg, more
of falling ratings. a social worker, though still suspected by the women.
Prisoner became as controversial as it was popular. The struggle between those who take a more permis-
In its frequent grimness, pathos, sadness, toughness of sive, helping approach, such as Meg, and the advo-
address, occasional violence, and atmosphere of threat, cates of rigid discipline like Ferguson and Bennett and,
it appeared very decidedly to be adult drama, its to a lesser degree, Colleen Powell goes on and on and
“look” spare, hard, dynamic. Yet ethnographic re- is never resolved, as each approach is alternately seen
search pointed to Prisoner’s consistent appeal to to result in further tension, restlessness, and disorder.
schoolchildren, not least schoolgirls, perhaps identify- As the women’s leader, Bea is particularly ambivalent.
ing the harsher screws with cordially disliked teachers. She possesses impressive wisdom about human rela-
It was not the favorite text of school principals and was tions, which she shrewdly uses for the benefit of the
the subject of complaint by them. prisoners as a whole. She dislikes and tries to counter
With Prisoner, the audience is invited to sympathize or sometimes punish actions that are self-seeking and
and empathize with a particular group of prisoners, in competitive at the expense of what she perceives as a
particular, mother figure Bea Smith, aunt figure Judy family group. But if Bea is a kind of moral center in
Bryant, grandmother figure Lizzie Birdsworth, as well Prisoner, she is an unusual and complex one, drawn as
as some young prisoners, the acting daughters and she is to exerting her control through violence or the
1825
Prisoner
sexual objects but present themselves as human, fe-

male, subjects.
Although Prisoner talks to very contemporary, his-
torically specific concerns, it also draws on much
wider, longer, older cultural histories. Prisoner can be
located in a long female tradition of inversion and in-
versionary figures in popular culture, from the “un-
ruly” or “disorderly” women of early modern Europe
evoked by Natalie Zemon Davis as Women on Top to
the rebellious Maid Marian’s important in Robin Hood
ballads and associated festivities of the May-games, to
the witches of 17th-century English stage comedy. In
such “wise witch” figures, we perhaps approach the fe-
male equivalent of the male mythological tradition of
Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, Rob Roy—outlaws and
tricksters who, like Bea in Prisoner, inspire fear as
well as admiration.
In addition to drawing from such carnivalesque tra-
ditions of world upside-down, misrule, and charivari,
Prisoner speaks to and takes in new directions dramas
of crime on television where private passions erupt
Prisoner. into public knowledge, debate, contestation, judgment.
Photo courtesy of Grundy Television Pty Ltd. As dramaturgy, Prisoner revels in the possibilities of
the TV serial form, of cliff-hangers at the end of
episodes, intensifying melodrama as (in Peter Brooks’s
threat of it: after killing her, she brands “K” (for killer) terms in The Melodramatic Imagination) an aesthetic
on Nola MacKenzie’s chest with a soldering iron (Nola of excess. Prisoner is already a classic of serial melo-
had tried to drive Bea insane over the memory of her drama, yet, in world television, there is and has been
dead daughter Debbie). nothing else quite like it.
Prisoner relies very little on conventional defini- Ann Curthoys and John Docker
tions of masculinity and femininity, beyond the basic
point that sympathy generated for the women rests on Cast
the perception that women are not usually violent or Doreen May Anderson/Burns Colette Mann
physically dangerous. Many of the women are very Freida “Franky” Doyle Carol Burns
strong characters indeed, active and independent. Bea, Vera “Vinegar Tits” Bennett Fiona Spence
Nola, Marie Winters, the Freak are most unusual in the Lizzie Birdworth Sheila Florance
gallery of characters of television drama. They are not Monica Ferguson Lesley Baker
substitute men, but active strong women. Strength and Marilyn Mason Margaret Laurence
gentleness are not distributed in Prisoner on male- Bea Smith Val Lehman
female lines. The binary image of the powerful man Karen Travers Peta Toppano
and the weak or decorative woman is simply not there. Lynn Warner Kerry Armstrong
Nor are the women in Prisoner in the least glamorized. Stud Wilson Peter Lindsay
They are usually dressed in shabby prison uniforms, Jim Fletcher Gerard Maguire
while those on remand usually appear in fairly ordi- Erica Davidson Patsy King
nary clothes. Their faces suggest no makeup, and they Colleen Powell Judith McGrath
range in bodily shape from skinny wizened old Lizzie Bob Moran Peter Adams (II)
(loving, concerned, and kind, yet also a mischievous Tammy Fisher Gloria Adjenstrat
old lag rather like a child, liable to get herself into trou- Officer Green John Allen
ble) to the big girls like Bea, Doreen, and Judy. Their Jean Vernon Christine Amor
faces, luminously featured as in so much serial melo- Camilla Wells Annette Andre
drama, are shown as grainy and interesting, faces full Di Hagen Christine Andrew
of character, with signs of hardship and suffering, al- Reb Kean Janet Andrewartha
ternately soft and hard, happy and depressed, angry or Valarie Jacobs Barbara Angell
bored. The women are not held up voyeuristically as Meg Morris Elspeth Ballantyne
1826
Prisoner
Susan Rice Briony Behets Jessie Wyndem Pat Evison

Andrew Fry Howard Bell Len Murphy Maurie Fields
Sarah West Kylie Belling Lainie Dobson Marina Findley
Matthew “Matt” Delaney Peter Bensley Kerryn Davies Jill Forster
Lisa Snell Liza Bermingham Angela “Angel” Adams Kylie Foster
Randi Goodlove Zoe Bertram Jennifer Bryant Susannah Fowle
Tracy Belman Alyson Best Cindy Moran Robyn Frank
Harry Grovesnor Mike Bishop Brandy Carter Roslyn Gentle
Toni McNally Pat Bishop Mo Maquire Browyn Gibbs
Evy Randel Julia Blake Samantha “Sam” Greenway Robyn Gibbs
Judy Bryant Betty Bobbit Vivienne Williams Bernadette Gibson
Mervin “Merv” Pringle Ernie Bourne Detective Inspector Grace Terry Gill
Dennis Cruckshank Nigel Bradshaw Helen Smart Caroline Gillmer
Jill Clarke Katy Brinson Kevin Burns Ian Gilmour
Merle Jones Rosanne Hull Brown Gloria Payne Tot Goldsmith
Ida Brown Paddy Burnet Suzy Driscoll Jacqui Gordon
Sonya Stevens Tina Bursill Kay White Sandy Gore
Sandra Williams Andrea Butcher Edna Preston Vivean Grey
Barbara Davidson Sally Cahill Barbara Fields Susan Gurin
Deirdre Kean Anne Charleston “Auntie” May Collins Billie Hammerberg
Linda Gorman Mary Charleston (II) Dr Kate Peterson Olivia Hamnett
Anne Yates Kirsty Child Terry Harrison Brian Hannan
Fay Donnally Maud Clark Pippa Reynolds Christine Harris
Bella Abrecht Liddy Clarke Sally Dempster Liz Harris
Edie Warren Collene Clifford Roach Walters Linda Hartley
Margo Gaffney Jane Clifton Bob Morris Anthony Hawkins
Alice Jenkins/“Lurch” Lois Collinder Gail Summers Susanne Haworth
Head of Department: James Leigh Templar Virginia Hay
Dwyer James Condon Jennie Baxter Leila Hayes
Bongo Connors Shane Connors Steve Ryan Peter Lind Hayes
Jenny Armstrong Sally Cooper Barbie Cox Jayne Healey
Alan Farmer Michael Cormick Tina Murry Hazel Henley
Anita Selby Diana Craig Syd Humphries Edward Hepple
Diane Henley Ellen Cressley Sheila Brady Colleen Hewet
Maxine Daniels Lisa Crittenden Kath Maxwell Kate Hood
Carol Lewis Liz Crosby Wally Wallace Alan Hopgood
Glynis Ladd Debs Cummings Paddy Lawson Anna Hruby
Ian Marhoney Peter Curtin Rodney Adams Philip Hyde
Pat Slattery Dorothy Cuts Stan Dobson Brian James (I)
Roxanne Bradshaw Peppie D’Or Steve Faulkner Wayne Jarrett
Hazel Kent Belinda Davey Martha Ives Kate Jason
Frances Harvey Wanda Davidson Sarah Higgens Nell Johnson
Ruth Ballinger Lindy Davies Ros Fisher Marinia Jonathon
Wendy Stone Vivean Davies Kathy Hall Sue Jones
Geoff McCrae Les Dayman Lorna Young Barbara Jungwirth
Bev Baker Maggie Dence Denise Crabtree Lynda Keane
Peter Sue Devine Alison Page Fay Kelton
Andrea Radcliff Marrian Dimmick Gerri Googan Deborah Kennedy
Vicki McPherson Rebecca Dines Frank Burke Trevor Kent
Joanna Jones Nichole Dixon Philip Clary Steve Khun
Lorili Wilkinson Paula Duncan Joan Ferguson (The Freak) Maggie Kirkpatrick
Jock Stewart Tommy Dysart Bobbie Mitchell Maxine Klibingaitus
Janet Williams Christine Earl Sharon Gilmour Margot Knight
Scott Collins Tim Elston Noelene Burke Jude Kuring
1827
Prisoner
Michelle Parkes Nina Landis Zara Moonbeam Ilona Rodgers

Daphne Graham Debra Lawrence Queenie Marshall Marilyn Rodgers
David Andrews Serge Lazareff Spike Marsh Victoria Rowland
Sandy Edwards Louise Le Nay Janet Dominguez Deidre Rubenstein
Tony Bernum Alan David Lee Kath Deakin Michelle Sargent
Andrea Hennesey Bethany Lee Pamela Madigan Justine Saunders
Marlene “Rabbit” Warren Genevieve Lemon Dan Moulton Sean Scully
Rita Conners Glenda Linscott Janet Conway Kate Sheil
Jenny Hartley Jenny Lovell Angie Dobbs Gonza Sheils
Faye Quinn Anne Lucas Lou Kelly Louise Siversen
Clara Goddard Betty Lucas Nola McKenzie Carol Skinner
Janice Grant Jenny Ludlam Delia Stout Desiree Smith
Petra Roberts Penny Maegraith Ted Douglas Ian Smith
Debbie Pearce Dina Mann Mighty Mouse Jentah Sobott
Georgie Baxter Tracey Mann Caroline Simpson Ros Spiers
Meryl King Marilyn Maquire May Worth Adair Stagg
Jonathon Edmonds Bryan Marshall Kath Leach Penny Stewart
Nicki Lennox Vicki Mathios Eve Wilder Lynda Stoner
Pat O’Connell Monica Maughton Spider Simpson Tyra Stratton
Pixie Mason Judy McBurney Ben Fulbright Kevin Summers
Rosie Hudson Anne Maree Shane Monroe Robert Summers
McDonald Nora Flynn Sonja Tallis
Dot Farrow Althea McGrath Roslyn Coulson Sigrid Thornton
Catherine Roberts Margo McLennan Mr. Hudson Bud Tingwell
Cass Parker Babs McMillan Rachael Millson Kim Trentgrove
Tom Lucas John McTernan Lexie Patterson Pepe Trevor
Ernest Craven Ray Meagher Lisa Mullins Terrie Waddell
Ray Proctor Alex Menglet Anne Griffin Rowena Wallace
Irene Zervos Maria Mercedes David Bridges David Walters
Yamille Bacartta Maria Mercedes Jeanette Mary “Mum” Brooks Mary B. Ward
Marie Winter Maggie Miller Joyce Barry Joy Westmore
Trixie Mann Anna Mizza Maggie May Kennedy Davina Whitehouse
Eddie Cooke Richard Moir Donna Mason Arkie Whitely
Chrissie Latham Amanda Muggleton Janice Young Catherine Wilken
Michelle “Brumby” Tucker Sheryl Munks Marty Jackson Michael Winchester
Hannah Simpson Julienna Newbold Julie “Chook” Egbert Jackie Woodburne
Heather Rogers Victoria Nicholls Neil Murray Adrian Wright
Anne Reynolds Gerda Nicolson Joanne Slater Carole Yelland
Joyce Martin Judy Nunn Rosmary Kay Jodi Yemm
Ken Pierce Tom Oliver
Helen Masters Louise Pajo
Sara Webster Fiona Paul Producers
Lisa Mullins Nicki Paul Philip East, John McRae, Ian Smith, Marie Trevor
Philis Hunt Ray Pearce
Anna Geltschmidt Agnieska Perpeczko
Myra Desmond Anne Phelan Programming History
Melinda Cross Lulu Pinkus 692 episodes
Minnie Donovan Wendy Playfair Ten Network
Lucy Furgusson Yoni Prior February 1979–November Tuesday and
Greg Miller Barry Quinn 1980 Wednesday 8:30–
Ethel May “Ettie” Parslow Lois Ramsay 9:30
Agnus Forster Lois Ramsay February 1981–June 1981 Tuesday and
Sandy Hamilton Candy Reymond Wednesday 7:30–
Leone Burke Tracy Jo Riley 8:30
1828
Prisoner, The
June 1981–November 1981 Tuesday and edited by John Tulloch and Graeme Turner, Sydney: Allen
Wednesday 8:30–9:30 and Unwin, 1989
Hodge, Robert, and David Tripp, Children and Television: A
February 1982–November Tuesday and Semiotic Approach, Cambridge: Polity, 1986
1982 Wednesday 7:30–8:30 Kingsley, Hilary, Prisoner: Cell Block H: The Inside Story,
February 1983–December Tuesday and London: Boxtree, 1990
1986 Wednesday 8:30–9:30 Moran, Albert, Moran’s Guide to Australian TV Series, Sydney:
AFTRS/Allen and Unwin, 1993
Palmer, Patricia, The Lively Audience: A Study of Children
Further Reading around the TV Set, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1986
Stern, Lesley, “The Australian Serial: Home Grown Televi-
Bakhtin, Mikhail, The Dialogic Imagination, Austin: University sion,” in Nellie Melba, Ginger Meggs, and Friends, edited
of Texas Press, 1981 by Susan Dermody, John Docker, and Drusilla Modjeska,
Curry, Christine, and Christine O’Sullivan, Teaching Television Melbourne: Kibble, 1982
in Secondary Schools, Sydney: New South Wales Institute of Thomas, Claire, “Girls and Counter-School Culture,” in Mel-
Technology Media Papers, 1980 bourne Working Papers 1980, edited by David McCallum
Curthoys, Ann, and John Docker, “Melodrama in Action: Pris- and Uldis Ozolins, Melbourne: University of Melbourne,
oner, or Cell Block H,” in Postmodernism and Popular Cul- 1980
ture: A Cultural History, by Docker, Cambridge and New Willson, Sandra, “Prison, Prisoners and the Community,” in
York: Cambridge University Press, 1994 Women and Crime, edited by S.K. Mukherjee and J. Scutt,
Curthoys, Ann, and John Docker, “In Praise of Prisoner,” in Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1981
Australian Television: Programs, Pleasures and Politics,
Prisoner, The
British Spy and Science Fiction Series
The Prisoner, an existential British spy and science fic- ably by those for whom he used to work. He wakes up
tion series, was first aired in England in 1967. Actor in “The Village,” a resortlike community on what
Patrick McGoohan conceived of the idea for the series, seems to be a remote island. The Village, however, is
wrote some of the scripts, and starred in the central actually a high-tech prison, and the spy is a prisoner,
role. McGoohan had become bored with his previous along with others, men and women, who were, it is un-
series, The Secret Agent, and wanted something very derstood, spies. All have been sent to the Village to be
different. The new series comprised 17 “adventures,” removed from circulation in any circumstances where
each self-contained, but each also carrying the story their secret knowledge might be discovered.
forward to its remarkable, highly ambiguous conclu- Every member of the Village is known only by a
sion. number. The McGoohan character becomes Number
The series has attained cult status because it is so Six and finds himself engaged in constant intellectual,
complex, so filled with symbolism, with dialogue and emotional, and sometimes physical struggles with
action working at several levels of meaning, that the Number Two. But each episode presents a different
entire story remains open to multiple interpretations. Number Two. With a few exceptions, each episode be-
The Prisoner was shot in the Welsh village of Port- gins with a repetition of some of the opening sequence
meirion, whose remarkable architecture contributes to from the first episode—McGoohan resigns; his file is
the rich, mysterious atmosphere of the series. In many dropped by a mechanical device into a filing cabinet
ways an allegory, the adventures within The Prisoner labeled “Resigned”; he is gassed; he wakes in the Vil-
can be read as commentaries on contemporary British lage and confronts (the new) Number Two. This begin-
social and political institutions. ning is followed by a set piece of dialogue:
The hero of the series is an unnamed spy, who is first
shown resigning his position. He leaves the bureau- Prisoner: Where am I?
cratic office building housing his agency, goes to his Number Two: In the Village.
apartment, starts packing—and is gassed—presum- Prisoner: What do you want?
1829
Prisoner, The
Number Two: Information. probably best described as a spy series filled with
Prisoner: Which side are you on? technological gadgetry. Each program and every as-
Number Two: That would be telling. We want pect of the series has been subjected to scrutiny by its
information, information, fans. Dealing with topics ranging from the nature of
information . . . . individual identity to the power of individuals to con-
Prisoner: You won’t get it. front totalitarian institutions, The Prisoner remains
Number Two: By hook or by crook we will. one of the most enigmatic and fascinating series ever
Prisoner: Who are you? produced for television.
Number Two: The new Number Two. Arthur Asa Berger
Prisoner: Who is Number One?
See also Spy Programs
Number Two: You are Number Six.
Prisoner: I am not a number. I am a free man.
Number Two: Ha, ha, ha, ha . . . . Cast
The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan
Some fans of the series argue that there is a slight gap Number Two Guy Doleman
between the words “are” and the “Number Two” in George Baker
this exchange (“You are. Number Six”), which would Leo McKern
mean that Number Six is also Number One, a character Colin Gordon
who remains unseen until the final episode. Number Eric Portman
Two pushes the inquiry. He wants to know why Six re- Anton Rodgers
signed. Six says he will not tell him, then vows to es- Mary Morris
cape from the Village and destroy it. Peter Wyngarde
Each episode in the series consists of an attempt by Patrick Cargill
a new Number Two and his or her associates to find out Derren Nesbitt
why Six resigned and of measures taken by Six to John Sharpe
counter these attempts. Every possible method, from Clifford Evans
drugs to sex, from the invasion of his dreams to the use David Bauer
of supercomputers, is used to get Number Six to reveal Georgina Cookson
why he resigned. In some episodes Six shifts his focus Andre Van Gysegham
from escape attempts to schemes for bringing down Kenneth Griffith
the administration of the Village, though it is always The Kid/Number 48 Alexis Kanner
understood that escape is his ultimate goal. The Butler Angelo Muscat
The concluding episode, written by McGoohan, The Supervisor Peter Stanwick
was extremely chaotic, confusing, and very contro- Shopkeeper Denis Show
versial. Number Six has defeated and killed Number
Two in the previous episode, “Till Death Do Us
Producer
Part.” When Number Six finally gets to see Number
David Tomblin
One, he turns out to be a grinning ape. But when
Number Six strips off the ape mask, we see what ap-
pears to be a crazed version of Number Six, suggest- Programming History
ing that Number One was, somehow, a perverted 17 50-minute episodes
element of Number Six’s personality. Six, aided by ITC/Everyman Films for ITV
several characters also deemed “revolutionaries” by September 1967–February 1968
the administration (including the Number Two of the
previous episode, somehow brought back to life),
does destroy the Village. He escapes with his associ- Further Reading
ates in a truck driven by a midget, who may have Disch, Thomas, The Prisoner, New York: Ace, 1970
been the servant of all previous Number Two figures. McDaniel, David, Who Is Number Two?, New York: Ace, 1969
They blast through a tunnel just before the Village is Rogers, Dave, The Prisoner and Danger Man, London: Box-
destroyed and find themselves, surprisingly, on a tree, 1989
Stine, Hank, The Prisoner: A Day in the Life, New York: Ace,
highway near London. 1970
The Prisoner is continually rebroadcast, usually White, Matthew, and Jaffer Ali, The Official Prisoner Compan-
presented as a science fiction program, though it is ion, New York: Warner, 1988
1830
Producer in Television
Although the medium’s technical complexity demands Beginning in the mid-1970s, Hollywood embraced
that any television program is a collective product in- an auteurist theory of its own, when the success of
volving many talents and decision makers, in Ameri- well-written comedies produced by small, writer-
can television it is the producer who frequently serves centered independent companies led to the presump-
as the decisive figure in shaping a program. Producers tion that the literate writer-producer was the single
assume direct responsibility for a show’s overall qual- most indispensable creative resource for generating
ity and continued viability. Conventional wisdom in new shows attractive to demographically desirable au-
the industry consequently labels television “the pro- diences. Both studios and networks began an escalat-
ducer’s medium”—in contrast to film, where the direc- ing trend of signing promising writer-producers to
tor is frequently regarded as the key formative talent in long-term, concessionary contracts. The most notori-
the execution of a movie. ous—and arguably the most successful—was ABC
In fact, producers’ roles vary dramatically from and Twentieth Century Fox’s 1988 agreement with
show to show or organization to organization. Some Steven Bochco to underwrite and air the next ten
highly successful producers, such as Quinn Martin and shows he conceived—a decision that offered Bochco
Aaron Spelling, are primarily business executives pre- room to experiment, sometimes disastrously, with
siding over several programs. They may take an active shows like Cop Rock, an attempt to bring opera to
role in conceiving new programs and pitching (pre- prime time. The emphasis on the producer-as-author
senting them for sale) to networks, but once a show is marked the culmination of a concerted shift from
accepted they are likely to concentrate on budgets, 1950s industry procedure, which regarded the net-
contracts, and troubleshooting, handing over day-to- works’ relationships with particular studios as the most
day production to their staffs, and exercising control decisive aspect in generating new programming. Ar-
only in a final review of episodes. Other producers are guably, the shift represented a move away from a fac-
more intimately involved in the details of each tory system whose emphases were standardization and
episode, participating actively in screenwriting, set de- cost containment, and whose most desirable TV pro-
signs, and casting and—like James Burrows—serving ducer was an effective employee or bureaucrat, toward
as a frequent director for their programs. Still others an arts and crafts model of TV whose emphasis was
serve as enabling midmanagers who delegate crucial differentiation and variety, and whose most desirable
activities to directors, writers, and actors, but who producer was a talented visionary with a track record.
choose such personnel carefully, and enforce critical (The shift manifests the transformation of filmmaking
standards, while working to insulate the creative staff from studio-centered Hollywood to the talent packages
from outside pressures. Many producers dispatch their of the New Hollywood.)
duties within studio hierarchies, while others own in- The expanding syndication market ensured that pro-
dependent companies, sometimes contracting space, ducers—who can negotiate part-ownership of their
equipment, and personnel from studios. shows—could enjoy not only creative scope but con-
Some scholars consider the producer television’s siderable financial reward as well. By the 1990s ob-
auteur, suggesting that shows should be considered servers within the industry noted that college
above all extensions of the producer’s individual, cre- graduates once eager to become network executives or
ative sensibility (Marc, 1989; Marc and Thompson, studio employees now arrived hoping to become pro-
1992). Rather than creators freely following a vision, ducers—a shift in the sociology of television produc-
however, producers typically function as orchestrators tion with potential import to the comparatively new
of television programs, applying the resources avail- medium.
able within an organization to the problem of mount- Respect for producers’ creativity, however, did not
ing a show each week. Those resources—and deeper mitigate Hollywood’s strong inclination to treat pro-
cultural presumptions about television’s social roles ducers as specialists in specific genres. When, for ex-
and limits—may shape the producer’s ambitions as ample, the successful action-adventure producer
much as he shapes them (Gitlin, 1983). Stephen Cannell tried to diversify into comedy in the
1831
early 1980s, the networks were unreceptive, on the Given the series format of most television program-
grounds that Cannell had no demonstrated skill in ming, the producers—much more than are film direc-
comedy. As with many commercial artists, then, the tors—ultimately are faced with operating an
television producer’s scope of innovation is generally economically, logistically, and theatrically successful
delimited by convention and often amounts to a varia- assembly line, and so their influence on a program
tion in formula rather than a dramatic break with prac- stems from their entrepreneurial, as well as their for-
tices or expectations held by the industry or the mal, ingenuity. Like so much else about television, the
producer’s audiences (Newcomb and Alley, 1983; Sel- producer’s role combines traditionally conceived
now and Gilbert, 1993). realms of “artistic” and “managerial” decision making
One sign that the producer is not an individual au- into a hybrid activity in which artistic criteria and com-
teur is the multiplication of producer credits seen on mercial calculation impinge on each other.
American shows since the mid-1980s. Programs may Two examples from the late 1990s and into the 2000s
identify an “executive producer” (sometimes a finan- illustrate these interactions in distinctive ways. David
cial underwriter, sometimes the conceiver of the E. Kelley began his television career as a writer for
show’s premise), an associate producer, a supervising Steven Bochco. A lawyer by education and early expe-
producer (who usually serves as head writer), or a line rience, Kelley wrote and later produced L.A. Law. He
producer (who oversees day-to-day production), or soon created his own program, Picket Fences, again
they may list any combination of these titles (which drawing on legal experience. This quirky series estab-
hardly comprise an exhaustive list), all in addition to lished him as an outstanding, perhaps “auteurist” pro-
the regular “producer.” Such credits may reflect a com- ducer, and he exemplified this role with Ally McBeal,
plex division of labor established by the organization almost a cult favorite that grew into a legitimate “hit”
or packagers producing a show. They can also reflect on the FOX network. At one time Kelley had several
the growing negotiating power of participants in a shows on the air, on different networks, at the same
highly successful show, who, no longer content simply time, and he was famous for writing “all” the episodes
to write or act, wish to have contractual control over of his series by himself. He was permitted considerable
the assembly of entire episodes, and perhaps, eventu- freedom from many of television’s famous industrial
ally, develop a measure of artistic and financial inde- constraints. He brought characters from different shows
pendence by forming their own production companies. together in “crossover” episodes. He experimented
In any case, the proliferating credits suggest that “pro- with “re-editing” Ally McBeal into a half-hour sitcom
ducerly” authority is divisible and negotiable, not indi- (a notable failure). But by 2003 the declining ratings
vidual and singular—a construction emerging from for one of his series, The Practice, forced him to take a
institutional pressures and politics (though individual rather drastic step and fire many of the principal actors
talents and preferences of course affect how a given in order to cut costs and continue the series on ABC.
person executes any institutionally defined role). A contrasting success story is offered in the work of
The first television producers were studio personnel Dick Wolf, creator of the Law and Order “franchise.”
in local stations across the country. They included ad- Like Kelley, Wolf also wrote on Bochco series, in his
vertising agency employees who put together shows in case Hill Street Blues. Law and Order, however, is the
the years of sponsor-controlled programming. Some- antithesis of the continuing narratives that distin-
what later, the Hollywood executives assigned to the guished Bochco’s work. Each episode, following the
first television divisions of the studios were known as commission of a crime, the capture of the criminal, and
producers (Anderson, 1994). All, in turn, may have the subsequent trial of the criminal, is completed in
owed elements of their jobs to precursors in radio one hour. Law and Order was largely unnoticed for
(Hilmes, 1990). But the TV producer’s definition as a many years but maintained a loyal audience. Finally
uniquely creative figure was probably initiated by Desi recognized with awards and heavily programmed on
Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who, in 1950, formed Desilu cable television in reruns, Wolf created “different” ver-
expressly to produce I Love Lucy on their own terms. sions of the series—Law and Order SVU (Special Vic-
Their crucial innovation of shooting shows on film in tims Unit dealing with sex crimes), and Law and Order
front of a studio audience combined the excitement of CI (Criminal Intent), presenting, in some ways, the
live performance with the quality control of film and crimes from the criminal’s perspective. Other versions
enabled reruns and syndication, thus transforming tele- were less successful, but from a financial and program-
vision economics, as well as the struggle for creative ming perspective, these programs were enormous suc-
control (Schatz, 1990). cesses. Any “auteurist” efforts on Wolf’s part came in
Desilu serves as an important example of the simul- the creation of a basic concept rather than in the stamp
taneously artistic and commercial role of the producer. of a distinctive sensibility.
1832
Programming
Significantly, changes in the television industries See also Bochco, Steven; Burrows, James; Spelling,
caused by expansion of distribution through cable, Aaron
consolidation of ownership, and the increased use of
personal video recorders has led to an interesting de-
Further Reading
velopment in the role of the producer. By the early
2000s, “nonwriting producers” had returned to promi- Cantor, Muriel G., and Joel Cantor, The Hollywood TV Pro-
nence in some parts of the industry. These individuals ducer: His Work and His Audience, New Brunswick, New
Jersey: Transaction, 1988
took on the business role of the producer in a manner Gitlin, Todd, Inside Prime Time, New York: Pantheon, 1983
not unlike producers in the early years of the medium. Hilmes, Michelle, Hollywood and Broadcasting: From Radio to
Their primary work is to make deals, not television Cable, Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1990
programs, and their efforts in the latter arena extend to Levinson, Richard, and William Link, Stay Tuned: An Inside
locating and hiring the best writer-producers they can Look at the Making of Prime-time Television, New York: St.
attract to those deals. Combined with the increasing Marc, David, Comic Visions: Television Comedy and American
participation by advertisers and underwriters in the Culture, Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989
processes of creating television programs and the in- Marc, David, and Robert Thompson, Prime Time, Prime
dustry bears more and more features that would have Movers, Boston: Little, Brown, 1992
been familiar to executives in the 1950s. In many Newcomb, Horace, and Robert Alley, The Producer’s Medium:
Conversations with Creators of American TV, New York:
ways, opportunities for the most “creative” producers Oxford University Press, 1983
were found in “premium” or “subscription” television Schatz, Thomas, “Desilu, I Love Lucy, and the Rise of Network
venues such as HBO, or on the more innovative and TV,” in Making Television: Authorship and the Production
risk-taking cable channels, such as the FX cable net- Process, edited by Robert Thompson and Gary Burns, New
work. York: Praeger, 1993
Selnow, Gary, and Richard R. Gilbert, Society’s Impact on Tele-
Michael Saenz vision: How the Viewing Public Shapes Television Program-
ming, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1993
Professional Wrestling. See Wrestling on Television
Programming
The term programming refers both to television con- shopping. These events leave a single obvious defini-
tent and to strategies of content selection and presentation of television programming—whatever appears on
tion. Yet shifts in the medium over the past two a television set—unwieldy and highly mutable.
decades have called into question the apparently obvi- Another definition of television programming might
ous nature of both. Modern television, after all, goes turn on the formal aspects of content appearing on the
beyond the broadcast-based mode of operation that tube. But in fact, many elements of television pro-
shaped the medium for so many years. Today a televi- gramming have never been limited exclusively to tele-
sion is not just a set for receiving entertainment, but vision. Historically, television programming has
also a device for viewing videotapes, playing comput- borrowed liberally from other media. In addition, Hol-
erized games, or going channel surfing. Increasingly, it lywood promotion, sponsor marketing, and the self-
is also a means of telecommunication, of accessing promotion of the television industry have long ensured
dedicated information services, or of transacting home that the imaginative worlds of television characters
1833
Programming
and stories are also available through T-shirts, toys, or cess—stem from programming’s status as a malleable
other products. Much television programming, in fact, form that can be developed for profit in often divergent
serves as part of the staged release of products by hor- ways. They stem, in short, from programming’s status
izontally integrated entertainment companies like as a commodity.
Paramount, Time Warner, or Disney. Yet television programming is a complex and ex-
The essential point in these processes is that televi- pensive product, and profitability demands standardi-
sion programming rarely appears in discrete, isolable zation and routinization as much as it requires
units or displays an innately “televisual” form. Instead entrepreneurial experimentation or market differentia-
programming is often part of a broader set of commer- tion. Programming standards and routines—and the
cial or cultural trends that are being drawn upon, com- scope for innovation—depend intimately on the finan-
mented upon, or manipulated. cial and political configuration of the medium at any
Moreover, these trends are continually being recon- moment. And so programming emerged as a fluid
figured by the appearance of new technologies and commodity form whose diversity, mode of address,
businesses that establish new potential forms and fo- and regularity are delimited, at any given time, by tele-
rums for programming. U.S. television programming vision’s industrial underpinnings.
may once have been defined by Hollywood studios and In the first five decades of television, for example,
U.S. television networks, but increasingly it seems the difficulties of developing the new medium typi-
likely to be defined by AT&T, Microsoft, Netscape, or cally meant that television lay in the hands of institu-
America Online—companies bringing different busi- tions that could weather high start-up costs and that
ness agendas, technical expertise, and marketing strate- would benefit from crucial economies of scale in the
gies to newly reconceived “texts” and “audiences.” medium’s use. The result was early broadcasting’s dis-
This tie to larger sequences of events is one of the tinctive mode of address: wide audiences were typi-
major reasons that television programming provokes cally exposed to a handful of channels centrally
broader cultural analysis and evaluation by viewers, programmed by institutions seeking large audiences,
regulators, and critics. Certainly contemporary televi- institutions like national commercial networks in the
sion programming—in whatever form—seems to be United States, or the state in the Soviet systems, or to
more socially significant, and more revelatory of gen- sets of certain cultural expectations, as in the Reithian
eral cultural dialogue, than, say, contemporary opera, version of the British Broadcasting Corporation
or even contemporary written literature. The idea of (BBC). Programming had to conform respectively to
programming, indeed, might be better served by aban- the dramatic expectations and financial investments
doning narrow definitions based on content or form provided by advertisers, to the ideological goals and
and focusing on a set of social processes organized un- prescriptions of government bureaucracies, or to the
der the rubric of television programming. From this standards of cultural guardians and tutors.
view, ultimately, television programming is a histori- Over the decade of the 1990s, however, the nature of
cally developed, changing cultural system for circulat- programming was profoundly renovated. New institu-
ing and transforming meaning and value—a system tions put forward a different set of economic, techno-
collectively shared and supported by television pro- logical, and organizational arrangements and sought to
ducers, distributors, and users, who subscribe to and profit from television in ways that diverged from the
bend its priorities through their participation. centralized broadcasting model. The commodity of
Programming, then, is a process for imbuing public programming was accordingly complicated and differ-
value that—advertisers, celebrities, government offi- entiated.
cials, cultural monitors, and program producers all These developments suggest how specifically early
hope—can be traded in later for cash or the political television programming focused on wide, simultane-
power to continue their specific forms of program pro- ous presentation of a limited number of information
duction and distribution. Treating programming as a and entertainment formats. And they suggest that pro-
processual cultural system for the circulation of meaning gramming is not a static collection of texts or conven-
and value is to focus on television programming as al- tions, but rather a flexible notion, a locus of potential
ways organized but always changing. Any examination commodities whose capacity to convey meaning or
of television programming must ultimately analyze such particular kinds of social exchange can be redefined as
a system institutionalized through an array of activities. the institutions profiting from them alter their strate-
gies.
Though it is familiar enough to seem simple, then,
Programming as Industrialized Commodity
television programming is a complicated cultural phe-
The variety of television formats—and the continuing nomenon establishing a shared speculative reality
fluidity of television genres within this social pro- among wide audiences. The next section focuses on
1834
Programming
the specific ways in which television programming de- In 1954 and 1955 the U.S. networks turned to a new
veloped as a commodity under the U.S. broadcast net- program source that would become a central part of
work model. The focus on the United States is modern television worldwide: Hollywood. The first
limiting, but instructive, since U.S. television pro- routinely filmed television show, I Love Lucy, had be-
gramming, like U.S. filmmaking, has enjoyed a dispro- gun in 1951, but filming remained the exception rather
portionate influence on television worldwide—an than the rule. By 1955 Hollywood—as part of its long-
advantage not coincidentally related to U.S. televi- term response to the Paramount Decree of 1948, an an-
sion’s elaboration of effective means for attracting un- titrust agreement that forced the studios to sell their
precedented investment, controlling risk, and highly lucrative theater chains—was ready to consider
developing efficiencies of production, distribution, and television a crucial new client and point of exhibition.
exhibition of its commodity texts. Despite the consid- The result of the partnership was a new standard of
erable strictures of its commodity form, however, U.S. television programming, the telefilm mass-produced
television programming has also experienced consid- by newly formed divisions of the Hollywood studios.
erable development and elaboration, as changing insti- The concerted move to products of the Hollywood
tutional relationships have altered the financial factory system altered the look and production of pro-
strategies behind programming. gramming. The plays that had composed much of ear-
lier television programming drew frequently on
writers and actors available from Manhattan theater,
Historical Changes in U.S. Programming
radio, and literary circles. Live television, moreover,
For the first three years, television programming was had frequently depended on “anthology” programs
all live, since there existed no feasible means of record- that could vary considerably from week to week. The
ing the signal produced by television cameras. Shows telefilm’s use of recurrent actors, sets, stock footage,
were confined to studios or to on-location programs. In and dramatic formulas, by contrast, helped establish
the United States, studios were located in network the recurring series as the basis of television program-
headquarters in New York—yet in the medium’s first ming and emphasized programming’s standardization.
five years, from 1948 to 1953, the networks did not pro- The results prompted many critics to consider earlier
duce much of their programming. Instead, sponsors live TV a “Golden Age” of television drama. Others
hired advertising agencies to design, budget, and pro- have subsequently questioned the aesthetic superiority
duce shows that fit their marketing needs. Sponsor- of live TV, granting its spontaneity and occasional dra-
controlled production suited the new networks, which matic ambitions, but pointing to the persistent incur-
could not afford to produce the quantity of program- sion of ads within sponsor-produced shows, and
ming they had promised affiliates, particularly in such questioning, ironically, the consistency of its achieve-
an experimental and trouble-prone medium. Sponsors ments.
were encouraged to purchase the time slot they wished Programming in the 1960s reflected a stabilizing
and think of it as their franchise, to develop as they so network oligopoly. Series had longer average runs than
desired. In the words of David Sarnoff, the president of shows in later decades. The number of cancellations
RCA, NBC’s holding company, the network existed per season declined steadily. Even the networks’ rela-
simply as a “pipeline” for sponsors. tive position remained fixed: CBS continued building
After 1953, however, television became less uncer- a remarkable (and given later events, a decidedly indu-
tain, and networks began to suspect they could maxi- plicable) 20 years as the number one network in televi-
mize profits by undertaking their own program sion ratings. ABC, the smallest and youngest network,
production, centralizing control over the schedule, and remained the perennial third; NBC in the middle.
extending the still-haphazard programming day to new Throughout the decade, however, all three networks’
time slots. Under president Sylvester Weaver, NBC ratings converged. Their programming philosophy was
ejected recalcitrant sponsors and advertising agencies summed up by NBC’s Paul Klein, who articulated a
and launched new network-produced live programs— policy: Least Objectionable Programming. Viewers,
Today, Tonight, and Home, a failed afternoon pro- the philosophy assumed, will watch anything unless
gram—which made programming an ever-present they are offended into changing the channel. Many
commodity. Weaver also undertook a concerted effort critics have consequently regarded 1960s program-
to popularize television through expensive, attention- ming—characterized by the most popular show in tele-
grabbing, variety show “spectaculars.” His expensive vision history, The Beverly Hillbillies—as assembly
strategies were effective, so much so that by 1955 they line, escapist TV, though others are reexamining the
were no longer needed, and he was succeeded, presumed homogeneity of programming in the period.
quickly, by a new generation of executives who The perennial third-place network, ABC, was in some
boosted profitability through routinization. respects the most interesting, introducing shows that
1835
Programming
titillated (Bracken’s World, Love American Style), qualities, and, increasingly, “innovative” distribution
sought out young audiences (The Flying Nun), or high- and mode of exhibition. Independent producer Stephen
lighted the spectacular (ABC’s Wide World of Sports). Cannell, for example, began to develop an entire menu
A decisive break in programming came in 1970. of programs—some for prime time, some for syndica-
That year, three milestone developments—the tion, some exclusively for cable, each with different
cigarette ad ban, the Prime Time Access Rule, and the target appeals, and each observing different budgetary
Financial Interest and Syndication Rules—prompted constraints according to expected income. Yet all bore
the networks to address an inevitable question: how the Cannell imprimatur—made explicit by a trailer fol-
could continued network growth come from the finite lowing each show, in which Cannell flourishingly
amount of advertising time available on television, and ripped a script from a typewriter. In one show designed
the inevitable plateauing of demand by advertisers. for fringe-hour cable, Cannell appeared personally as
The primary answer was to develop finer demographic host, using his name recognition to attract audiences to
targeting, a strategy that could make some shows more a highly tongue-in-cheek suspense anthology reminis-
expensive than the prevailing norm. The consequence cent of the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The show’s
was a new emphasis on programming that would at- appeal—actively dwelling on its divergence from
tract varying demographics. Differentiation rather than prime-time budgets, topics, and taste—presumed a
standardization, and active attraction rather than in- much more complex sense of televisual position and
nocuousness, became the basis of network strategies. quotation than would have been normal in 1960s pro-
In 1969 CBS president Robert Wood canceled 13 gramming.
shows appealing to older and rural audiences in favor By 1988 the networks, surrounded by new competi-
of a more urban, higher-income audience. Among the tion, were in the historically unique position of having
replacements were the three innovative sitcoms that to react to program trends, rather than working to se-
served as the basis for what later critics have called the lect and cultivate them. The emergence of the FOX
“Television Renaissance”: The Mary Tyler Moore broadcast network in 1986—the Big Three’s first vi-
Show, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H, programs that able competition—was based in programming that
ultimately found broad appeal, yet did so through am- parodied or transgressed the oligopoly’s genres. It used
bitious character development, topical controversy, irreverence to target and imply a savvy, urban, youth-
and innovative production styles. “Quality” television ful audience. When FOX did use more routine forms,
had emerged as a desirable, even necessary commod- it put in a twist by featuring black characters, assuring
ity for the networks to develop. disproportionately large and loyal black audiences.
CBS’s move contradicts a common tenet that the Prime-time television on the Big Three—which, de-
last-place network in the oligopoly was the most likely spite falling audiences, still constituted the industrial,
to experiment with innovative programming in an ef- financial, and aesthetic point of reference—began to
fort to raise its standing. Third-place standing could be reflect the influence of FOX, music videos, syndicated
a powerful motive for some innovations, but it was tabloid shows, and producers (often arriving from
probably only the perennial first-place network, CBS, filmmaking) whose projects were conceived for multi-
that could have risked such an abrupt and wholesale ple distribution. From 1988 to 1990, the networks ac-
change in programming philosophy. tively experimented with new generic hybrids and
Not only did television programming develop a outre programming with shows like Twin Peaks, Bag-
more complex hierarchy of quality after 1970, it be- dad Cafe, and Northern Exposure.
came less of an anonymous, industrial product. Some Accompanying these changes was a profound shift
producers, like Norman Lear, Stephen Cannell, Aaron in the cultural role of programming. Given the
Spelling, and Steve Bochco, became household names medium’s persistent popularity, the finite amount of
and were credited with functioning as television au- programming available under the three-network
thors. At the same time, the first generations of TV oligopoly had served as a prominent and recognizable
children were achieving adulthood and brought to their social touchstone, a set of social facts that most Amer-
viewing a cumulative, retrospective acquaintance with icans acknowledged and shared as part of their na-
the history of programming. Producers and viewers tional culture. In the days before videotape, such
alike became more self-conscious about television programming had also been ephemeral, assuming the
programming’s variety, its capacities as an expressive aspect of an occasion or experience; and program-
medium, and its historical depth. ming’s simultaneous broadcast nationwide made that
For producers, these developments marked a codifi- ephemeral experience a uniquely collective one. Pro-
cation of unstated industry practices, into more self- gramming, then, possessed the attributes of a public
consciously assumed production “styles,” “authorial” ritual, through which viewers collectively attended to
1836
Programming
experiences constituting a sense of social connection cific appeals to audiences with particular political in-
through the establishment of collective representa- terests.
tions. Many of the new channels were owned or co-owned
Just as pronounced was the sense of comparative by networks or studios producing television content
propriety and circumspection in programming prevail- for broadcast, and new strategies developed to make
ing under the network oligopoly. Aware that their most maximum financial use of programs. “Repurposing”
unique commodity was widespread acceptance by au- described a procedure in which a program would ap-
diences—and that the U.S. regulatory framework de- pear in one venue only to be presented in another dur-
fined broadcasting as a public resource serving the ing the same week. Local broadcasters protested the
public interest—networks used censors to enforce use of network material on cable or satellite, arguing
what they regarded as prevailing public mores of sexu- that the practice reduced the size of their audiences,
ality, violence, and sensationalism. Individual net- thereby reducing potential advertising revenue. They
works occasionally sought to boost ratings through were less concerned, however, when programming
titillation or scandal, but these attempts were measured flowed in the other direction. When Bravo, the NBC-
departures from conventional TV standards that re- owned cable network, discovered a bona fide hit with
mained far more circumscribed than the license taken Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, broadcasters profited
routinely in films or novels. from the migration of the show to the network.
As television programming began to expand beyond Other new technologies intensified the capability of
the three-channel network system, its ritual aspects viewers to act as their own programmers. Digital video
and its highly conventionalized moral circumspection recorders such as TiVo and RePlay made recording
began to dissolve. Shows were no longer singular, television programs much simpler than videocassette
punctual experiences, once they could be recorded, recorders had allowed, even making it possible for
viewed later the same day in syndication, or bought at viewers to collect an entire “season” of a single title,
a video store. Audiences were no longer collective and playing back episodes at will—and fast-forwarding
mass, but fragmented according to the particular time through commercials. In a somewhat related develop-
and venue they chose to engage a program. Moreover, ment, some popular television shows began to be
viewers choosing from many, rather than just three, available for rental on VHS and DVD formats. View-
options were arguably less of a public, and more of a ers without access to premium distribution channels
self-elected fractional interest group, likely to be such as HBO could rent The Sopranos or Sex and the
watching programming that could diverge dramati- City, or even earlier programs such as The Prisoner
cally from “mainstream” interests or values. With the and view them on home video systems.
decline of the three networks, then, programming be- The profound alterations outlined here have been
came less of a central social ritual attended by wide au- paralleled by an equally important set of institutional
diences, and more of a varied, highly differentiated arrangements and developments designed to best con-
medium circulating commodities that could be more trol television programming at any given time.
casually engaged by viewers. Scholars of the 1970s
had identified television programming as a public fo- Institutional Changes in Broadcast
rum and a modern bard. By the 1990s television pro-
Programming
gramming arguably constituted a variegated cultural
“newsstand.” As a commodity, commercial programming is pro-
This alteration has intensified throughout the 1990s duced following familiar priorities of standardization
and into the new century. One major contributing fac- (to control costs), differentiation (to penetrate mar-
tor has been the growth of cable and satellite television kets), and innovation conceived largely as variation
systems, especially those enhanced with digital deliv- within repetition (to contain risk). Although some crit-
ery capability. These systems regularly offer more than ics regard these attributes as evidence of program-
100 channels, many of them highly specialized, tar- ming’s lamentable role in manifesting the values of the
geted toward specific demographic groups (witness the marketplace, others see them as “enabling conditions”
growth in offerings for children) or particular inter- establishing some of television programming’s most
ests—sports programming morphs into The Golf unique and recognizable pleasures.
Channel and multiple channels for sports news and in- Perhaps the strongest symptom of commercial pro-
formation; MTV spins off channels specializing in par- gramming’s commodity status is its common organiza-
ticular musical genres and faces competition from tion into recurrent daily or weekly series. U.S.
multiple channels focused on music; 24-hour news television is not generally filled with unique, onetime
programming expands; and some channels offer spe- programs. Such programming would frustrate not only
1837
Programming
producers and networks, who are trying to extract reli- like the docudrama, miniseries, the sports special, and
ably continuous income from television, but viewers feature film introduce a sense of novelty and occasion,
too, who (many commentators would argue) are accus- of divergence from one’s own routine and that of com-
tomed by consumer society to pleasure that is orga- petitors. Often they represent attempts to capitalize on
nized around a continual but measured introduction of timely, singular events—a sports championship, a
novelty. Unlike a painting or a novel, a television show scandalous murder, political intrigue—which are
that appears once is unsatisfyingly ephemeral, while a likely to have sufficient recognition to ensure a large
show that is exactly reproduced is just a rerun. The se- immediate audience. (Here entertainment blurs indis-
ries format, in which episodes invoke familiar settings solubly into information.) Historically, the most per-
and characters in slightly varied situations, satisfies sistent complement to standard series programming
ambitions both for more of the same and for something have been feature films licensed from Hollywood stu-
new. The series allows producers to develop long-term dios and run under titles such as the Wednesday Movie
elaborations and complications of characters and situa- of the Week.
tions that (most notoriously in the case of the soap The commodity form of television programming is
opera) can make a program’s fictional world part of the evident not just in the rhythm of seasons and the length
viewer’s own. Such involvement also makes viewers’ of series, but in the specific distribution of shows
loyalty to the show into a reliable commodity that net- among eight “dayparts.” Scheduling strategies and
works can either sell to advertisers or use to secure re- purchases of advertising time vary with dayparts, each
liable subscriber fees. At the same time, the series of which fosters unique genres in an effort to attract
routinizes production schedules and standardizes the the presumably distinctive audiences available at dif-
costs that producers and networks must expect to pay ferent times of the day. Many critics suggest that tele-
to produce a new week of programming. vision’s dayparts ultimately represent the penetration
The seasonal schedule long prevalent in the United of rationalized economic organization into the most
States also served to routinize production, viewing, mundane, casual, and intimate activities of domestic
and advertising sales not just week to week, but on a life; others suggest that they form the basis for familiar
yearly calendar, which concentrated the industry’s in- pleasures and ease of use. The composition of dayparts
troduction of novelty in a single spectacular moment. has changed historically, but since the mid-1980s typi-
The impending fall season could foment substantial cal dayparts for an ideal typical U.S. network affiliate
bidding wars for the coming years’ commercial slots, station have remained relatively stable.
by advertisers involved in active speculation over the
popularity of future programs. Definite seasons were a Early Morning (7:00–10:00 A.M.)
strong fixture of the industry when it was dominated Audience: adults preparing for work; preschool chil-
by the oligopoly of ABC, NBC, and CBS, but new de- dren. Programming: news, talk; local or network
velopments such as overnight ratings systems, compe-
tition from cable and syndication, and the rise of new Daytime (10:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M.)
networks such as FOX have blurred the outlines of Audience: midmorning until midafternoon, “house-
these markers. wives.” Programming: talk, fiction (soap operas) net-
Conventions like the length of a series and the in- works, syndicated. Audience: midafternoon until early
tegrity of the season alter, in fact, with changing pres- evening, children. Programming: cartoons and light
sures within the industry. In the 1960s, during the drama; local, network, and syndicated.
height of a stable three-way network monopoly, U.S.
TV functioned on a reliable calendar inherited from ra- Early Fringe (6:00–7:00 P.M.)
dio, in which a 39-week season was interrupted by a Audience: elders and adults returning from work. Pro-
13-week summer rerun period (the lack of new sum- gramming: news; local and network
mer production costs enhanced profits for networks).
As competition for network growth became more in- Prime Access (7:00–8:00 P.M.)
tense after 1970, and as viewers began to abandon net- Audience: busy adults in the home, children. Pro-
work television for cable and syndication after 1976, gramming: “infotainment,” game shows, comedies;
networks became more reluctant to make long-term syndicated, local.
mistakes and tried routinely to contract a minimum of
episodes—as few as four at a time in 1990. Prime Time (8:00–11:00 P.M.)
If series programming forms a major part of the Audience: first hour, “family”; progressively “adult.”
schedule in order to regularize viewership and culti- Programming: comedy, into melodrama, action-
vate loyalty over the long term, shorter-run formats adventure, etc.; network.
1838
Programming
Late Fringe (11:00–11:30 P.M.) in favored dayparts made them the most familiar to au-
Audience: Adults. Programming: news; local. diences. All network programs, however, eventually
lost enough of their popularity to be removed from net-
work schedules. The most successful then entered into
Late Night (11:30 P.M.–12:30 A.M.)
circulation in the piecemeal syndication market that
Audience: Adults, “liminal adults” (maturing adoles-
sold programs for rebroadcast on U.S. stations during
cents). Programming: talk shows, fiction; network,
dayparts not filled by network feeds—or to interna-
syndicated.
tional markets. Syndication was thus responsible for a
distinctive kind of programming based on the reuse of
Overnight (12:30–7:00 A.M.) proven commodities: the rerun.
Audience: Adults, liminal adults. Programming: syn- Syndication of network programs was highly prof-
dicated talk, comedy, drama, and “old movies”; net- itable, since it involved the recycling of commodities
work, syndicated. whose production costs had been almost entirely paid
for by network fees. Originally, U.S. networks tried to
Though these conventionally labeled audiences re- secure syndication profits by demanding part owner-
flect the hoped-for targets of advertisers, from the ship of a show as a condition for airing it, but this be-
viewer’s perspective they constitute modes of address came illegal because of antitrust concerns in 1970. As
that do not necessarily conform with actual identities. product suppliers assumed control, syndication
Many teenagers, for example, probably indulge in late- quickly became less of an appendage to network pro-
night programming explicitly to feel more like liminal gramming, and more of a competitor. When the num-
adults; while many single adults enjoy the warm and ber of television stations in the United States increased
fuzzy feelings of early-evening shows “aimed” at chil- dramatically in 1984 (because of relaxed regulation of
dren. television licenses), a wholly alternative market for
The highly familiar succession of genres and im- syndicated programming suddenly emerged. Demand
plied audiences associated with dayparts reflects the for additional shows was sufficient to stimulate a boom
U.S. medium’s priority on maximizing available view- in first-run syndication—programs produced exclu-
ership at all times, in order to maximize the fees adver- sively for individual bidding stations and never in-
tisers will pay. Important dayparts accrue an tended for network release. The syndication market
identifiable tone: early morning, a hale, nationwide was a somewhat poorer one than the traditional net-
conviviality that orients viewers to the day; early work oligopoly, and so first-run syndication frequently
fringe, a local-community focus supported by the constituted a kind of B-grade programming.
plethora of local ads sold by affiliates; prime access, As networks audiences continued to decline
the netherworld of syndicated tabloid and game shows. throughout the 1980s, suppliers became less concerned
Prime time, of course, is the costliest, most watched with a long-standing convention governing reruns.
period of television, featuring the most elaborately Networks had typically preferred their programming
produced dramas, comedies, or films, and harboring to be exclusive and had discouraged early episodes of
the greatest sense of public event. Late night engages a current program from airing in syndication while the
in moral license for off-color humor in the part of the show still remained part of the network lineup. In the
day most distant from work and school, and having a mid-1980s, offers from independent stations and ca-
presumably adult audience. bles channels for network-quality programming be-
Systems with less stake in appealing to audiences came too lucrative to ignore, and so it became
often develop a less-differentiated programming day. common for viewers to be able to see a show on the
Even within the United States, the tendency to target same day from two radically different perspectives: as
dayparts remains most pronounced on the major net- the wholly novel experience of a new network episode,
works and their affiliates and is less consistent on cable and as a reencounter with syndicated episodes from the
and independent channels whose appeal may already show’s past. This accentuated the series nature of pro-
lie in a particular audience segment, programming gramming and made retrospective evaluation of dra-
genre, or for that matter, in programming against the matic characters and situations a routine part of
norm set by broadcast television. viewing. It also undermined the networks’ sense of ex-
In the United States between 1950 and 1984, the clusive venue by emphasizing the independence of
overwhelming majority of profitable stations were af- shows from particular channels.
filiates of one of the three major networks. New net- In sum, syndication—the attempt to increase profits
work shows were the most ambitious production on through reuse of old programming or to develop
television, and their contractually secured prominence cheaper alternatives to network programming—com-
1839
Programming
plicated and enriched the body of television program- attractive programming, but to sequence shows in a
ming, introducing historical depth; a new “low end” of way that will hold audiences once they have tuned in.
programming inviting self-conscious irony in viewing; A number of tactics have been developed to build a
multiple, simultaneous views of individual series; and profitable schedule.
a divorce of specific shows from previously inevitable “Block programming” involves scheduling a series
network lineups. Changes that demanded that proof related shows that are likely to attract and hold a
gramming serve as a commodity in new ways also al- given audience for an entire daypart. U.S. stations and
tered how programming would be used as a text. As networks, for example, have traditionally filled Satur-
indicated earlier, expansion of cable and satellite deliv- day mornings with cartoons aimed at children, and
ery systems, new digital recording systems, and the Sunday afternoons with (presumably) male-oriented
commercial sale and rental of television series directly sports. A block may be defined by particular demo-
to viewers modified all the conventions of television’s graphics, but its definition can take other forms. From
first three decades. Seasons became more erratic. Day- 1984 to 1987 NBC scheduled a famous Thursday
parts continued to be targeted by demography, but evening lineup featuring five critically acclaimed se-
even more so by age, as “aging down” to younger au- ries in a row: Cosby, Family Ties, Cheers, Night Court,
diences affected categories and forms such as talk and Hill Street Blues. The first four were sitcoms that
shows and soap operas. As audiences “fragmented” or attracted such inclusive audiences that they ended
“segmented” into smaller groups, the difficulty of cre- most years in the top 20. The last program was an in-
ating a “hit” show that could last for many years be- novative drama with a much smaller, but quite exclu-
came more and more difficult. Thus, while expanding sive audience whose demographics made Hill Street
delivery systems demanded more and more syndicated Blues’ advertising rates the highest of the season. De-
material, fewer and fewer programs achieved the spite their differences, all five programs were treated
longevity associated with the practice. More “first- as an identifiable block of programming because they
run” syndication emerged as original programming, fostered NBC’s strategy of offering a night of high-
and cable networks, like the conventional broadcast quality television.
networks, joined the search for creative talent capable Block programming has become increasingly overt,
of producing original programming. and now it is quite common for cable or broadcast net-
works to package particular nights of programming as
blocks devoted to “Our Television Heritage,” “Bette
Programming Strategies
Davis Night,” on “All Comedy Night.” Such promo-
Commercial television generally profits from advertis- tions potentially highlight aspects of shows that view-
ing revenues, which increase with audience size. Both ers may not have conceived alone: as in the case of
local stations and networks thus devote considerable reruns, programming’s nature as a commodity that can
effort to structuring their programming to hold the be packaged can affect the public’s appreciation of
largest desirable audiences possible. shows.
The premium on holding audiences leads to one of “Counterprogramming” involves running an attrac-
the most identifiable characteristics of commercial tive alternative to competitors’ shows. CBS, for exam-
U.S. television: its continual interruption by commer- ple, has tried several times to develop Monday night as
cials. The industry has long presumed that viewers are a lineup of shows attractive to women, whom they pre-
alienated by commercials and will only watch them if sume are alienated by ABC’s ratings-leading Monday
they are interspersed with other programming. The Night Football.
length, frequency, and grouping of ads is a constantly “Hammocking” refers to scheduling a new or com-
renegotiated aspect of the television ad market. Net- paratively unpopular show between two established
works try to limit ads to keep prices high and viewers popular programs, on the theory that audiences are less
tuned in, while advertisers try to secure many commer- likely to change channels for a single time slot. Ham-
cials—short, cheap, and well separated from those of mocking has historically been a reliable strategy, rais-
the competition. In the long term, advertisers’ demands ing the ratings of the middle show, if not always
have steadily decreased the length, increased the fre- making it into a hit. The risk is that the weak show will
quency, and fragmented the grouping of ads, making diminish audiences that would have stayed if the two
commercial television seem increasingly like a clut- popular programs had formed a block. “Lead-ins” and
tered “flow” of programming. “lead-outs,” like hammocking, try to achieve success
Programming strategies are not, of course, limited through association, lead-ins by placing a popular pro-
to the distribution of advertisements. Station and net- gram right before a lower-rated one, lead-outs by plac-
work programmers work concertedly not just to select ing the popular program immediately after the
1840
Programming
less-successful show. Historically, lead-ins have most purchasing power, alternative forms of program-
proved more successful. “Bridging” staggers the start ming may be provided to minority audiences. More at-
of a long-format program so that viewers would have tention may be paid to children and elder groups.
to abandon it in the middle in order to tune in to the be- Linguistic distinctions can be more readily recognized
ginning of the competitor’s show. “Ridgepoling” dis- and honored. Moreover, programming schedules need
tributes the individual shows comprising a successful not be so regularized and routinized; “seasons” and
block across different nights of the week, where they “dayparts” need not be so rigidly applied. As a result,
can serve as lead-ins (or -outs) for additional program- expectations of creative communities, industries, and
ming. audiences may all be different from those attached to
New or ailing stations and networks have frequently the U.S. system.
reversed their fate by combining these strategies: after In the Soviet model, also free from advertiser de-
establishing a minimal block of two or three programs, mands, programming took on yet other configurations,
they will extend the block by hammocking a new more closely aligned to state agendas and more overtly
show. Then each of the shows in the block will be ideological goals. Here again, the routines and patterns
ridgepoled to establish a foothold on several nights of were easily altered by fiat.
the week. Throughout the world, mixtures of these systems
“Stunting” refers to a variety of exceptional tactics have been developed, often forged in specific relation-
used to boost viewership during key weeks of the sea- ships to neighboring nations and almost always in
son, or when a network, station, or program is in spe- some relation to the U.S. television industry, which of-
cial trouble. Frequent stunts involve programming a ten supplied supplemental programming, even in sys-
highly promoted miniseries or feature film to attract tems constructed along lines of the Soviet model. But
concentrated viewer attention; having one show’s star as ideological, technological, economic, and regula-
appear on another program; or mounting highly pro- tory shifts have spread, more and more the patterns of
moted, end-of-season weddings, births, or cliff- industrial and programming arrangements seem to
hangers. More dramatic stunts involve delaying the converge. The “newsstand” model is now expanded by
season debut of a highly popular program a few weeks satellites to a global level, and it has become possible
in order to build suspense—and, hopefully, steal audi- to acquire “information” and “entertainment” in many
ences decisively away from competitors’ just-rolling languages and forms or to observe changes within spe-
season. In 1990 CBS pulled a stunt that experimented cific nations and regions that are the direct result of
with long-held presumptions about the acceptable fre- new technological configurations.
quency and amount of repetition allowed on network In India, for example, the publicly operated state
prime time. Following the example of syndication and broadcast channels long offered an “official” version
cable channels, it ran each episode of a new series (The of news. As household videotape machines became
Flash) in two different time slots each week. The idea more common, however, alternative monthly video
was both to save money and to give the show twice the newsmagazines emerged, supported by subscribers.
chance for its audience to discover it and build loyalty. These video magazines offered fuller exposés into im-
The experiment failed. The seeming incongruity of portant events. Because they were directed at those
such an attempts attests to how strongly the conven- wealthy enough to own videotape machines, they also
tional season and schedule format organizes produc- served to constitute a self-conscious elite, newly de-
ers’ and viewers’ expectations for different varieties of fined by its well-informedness. Here programming is
television programming: what works for syndication again tied to the shifting institutional arrangements
did not work for network prime time. that enable production, distribution, and exhibition,
and the specific kind of commodity formed by pro-
gramming delimits, not just its financial viability, but
Programming in Other National Contexts
its historical aesthetic, social, and cultural import.
This history of programming in the U.S. television sys- In this process the struggles of nations and regions
tem should serve to emphasize its differences from to maintain forms of aesthetic, social, and cultural au-
other national systems, which are grounded in differ- tonomy and distinction—to place their own items on
ent forms of financial support and different regulatory the global newsstand or to construct a continuing local
circumstances. In the public-service tradition, for ex- identity—are now carried out in relation to interna-
ample, most closely identified with the British Broad- tional media conglomerates. These organizations make
casting Corporation, programmers are mandated to use of new technologies that blur national boundaries
provide diversity. Free of the advertiser’s necessary as easily as they blur program genres and once again
search for the largest audience or the audience with the throw television programming into a process of signif-
1841
Programming
icant redefinition. All the technological developments nication,” in Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace
and industrial practices described are increasingly Newcomb, New York: Oxford University Press, 1976; 4th
edition, 1987
common throughout much of the world. Multiple Bergreen, Laurence, Look Now, Pay Later, Garden City, New
channels, increasing commercialization, 24-hour York: Doubleday, 1980
schedules, new devices for recording and program- Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics,
ming in the home—all these have altered the meanings Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990
and uses of television programming in some ways Feuer, Jane, “The Concept of Live TV: Ontology as Ideology,”
in Regarding Television, edited by E. Ann Kaplan, Freder-
while maintaining received practices in others. Even ick, Maryland: American Film Institute and University Pub-
when new developments appear radical or startling, lications of America, 1983
the old patterns often lie just beneath the surface. Tele- Feuer, Jane, Paul Kerr, and Tise Vahimagi, editors, MTM “Qual-
vision programming has become a familiar feature of ity Television,” London: British Film Institute, 1984
social experience and is likely to remain so for some Fiske, John, and John Hartley, Reading Television, London:
Methuen, 1978
time. Gitlin, Todd, Inside Prime Time, New York: Pantheon, 1983
Michael Saenz Gitlin, Todd, “Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in
Television Entertainment,” in Television: The Critical View,
See also Arledge, Roone; Australian Programming; edited by Horace Newcomb, New York: Oxford University
British Programming; Canadian Programming; Press, 1976; 4th edition, 1987
Dann, Michael; Family Viewing Time; Goldenson, Jameson, Frederic, Signatures of the Visible, New York: Rout-
Leonard; Genre; Independent Production Compa- ledge, 1992
nies; Paley, William S.; Prime Time; Reruns/Re- Kepley, Vance Jr., “From ‘Frontal Lobes’ to the ‘Bob-and-Bob’
Show: NBC Management and Programming Strategies,
peats; Sarnoff, David; Silverman, Fred; 1949–65,” in Hollywood in the Age of Television, edited by
Syndication; Tartikoff, Brandon; United States: Tino Balio, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Unwin-Hyman,
Networks; Weaver, Sylvester (Pat) 1990
Newcomb, Horace, and Paul Hirsch, “Television as a Cultural
Forum,” in Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace
Further Reading Newcomb, New York: Oxford University Press, 1976; 4th
edition, 1987
Allen, Robert, Speaking of Soap Opera, Chapel Hill: University Thorburn, David, “Television Melodrama,” In Television: The
of North Carolina Press, 1985 Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb, New York: Ox-
Anderson, Christopher, Hollywood TV, Austin: University of ford University Press, 1976; 4th edition, 1987
Texas Press, 1994 Williams, Raymond, Television: Technology and Cultural
Barker, David, “Television Production Techniques as Commu- Form, New York: Schocken, 1974
PROMAX
PROMAX International (formerly Broadcast Promo- promotion). More elaborate promotion campaigns
tion and Marketing Executives, or BPME) is the trade were usually handled by the networks. Sweeping in-
organization for media promotion and marketing pro- dustry changes in the 1970s and 1980s—including the
fessionals. Founded in the United States in 1956 as the lessening of the dominance of the commercial net-
Broadcast Promotion Association (BPA), its name works, the growing importance of locally produced
changes tellingly reflect the substantial changes expe- news, the rise of cable and pay-TV services, increases
rienced by the electronic media industries since the in program production costs, and the growth of syndi-
mid-20th century. cated programming—resulted in a significantly more
Initially, “broadcast promotion” was the term for complex media environment and led to the need for
media efforts conducted by television and radio sta- more-sophisticated promotion techniques. Conse-
tions to maximize the size of audiences and the num- quently, in 1985 the organization changed its name to
bers of advertisers. These efforts largely consisted of Broadcast Promotion and Marketing Executives to re-
date/time program announcements on the station’s flect the increasing importance of marketing principles
own air coupled with print advertisements in the local such as the use of consumer research, competitive po-
media (particularly TV Guide in the case of television sitioning, long-range planning, and audience segmen-
1842
Pryor, Richard
tation. An ever-more-rapidly changing media scene in ing. Suppliers of promotion materials demonstrate
the late 1980s and early 1990s—including the growth their products and services in an exhibit hall, and net-
of nonbroadcast program distribution channels and in- works, group owners, and other industry organiza-
creasingly international webs of participation—led to tions host suites for special presentations. The
a second major name change, to PROMAX Interna- culmination of the seminar is an awards ceremony
tional, in 1993. recognizing creative excellence.
PROMAX, a loose acronym for Promotion and In addition to ongoing member services, PROMAX
Marketing Executives in the Electronic Media, em- awards several academic scholarships in cooperation
ploys a full-time paid president and staff and receives with sponsoring industry groups. In 1980 the organiza-
oversight from a volunteer board of directors com- tion published a college text, Broadcast Advertising
posed of industry personnel. Focusing on the fields of and Promotion: A Handbook for Students and Profes-
television (including broadcast, cable, and satellite), sionals. It has also conducted numerous surveys over
radio, and digital media, the organization supports a the years on salaries, budgets, staff size, and other de-
wide range of related activities including promotion, partmental measures, which help promotion execu-
marketing, advertising, public relations, design, tives gauge their status and performance according to
sales, and community service. Among its services to industry standards.
members are the electronic magazine PROMAX On- PROMAX is organizationally linked with the
line, which reports on industry events and develop- Broadcast Designers’ Association (BDA), an associa-
ments, key issues, notable campaigns, and new tion of graphic designers who specialize in creating
products, services, and techniques (available on the promotion materials for electronic media. In addition,
Web and via e-mail); an annual directory/promotion PROMAX has increasingly expanded its activities to
planner listing members and suppliers, as well as key include international affiliations, with branch associa-
industry dates and events; the Resource Center, lo- tions in Australia/New Zealand, Asia, Europe, Latin
cated in the organization’s Los Angeles headquarters, America, and the United Kingdom.
which houses an extensive collection of videotapes, Jerry Hagins
printed materials, and publications; and a Job Line,
which provides information on available positions Further Reading
and job seekers (a key service in a field noted for ad-
vancement across, rather than within, markets). Per- Eastman, Susan Tyler, and Robert A. Klein, Strategies in Broad-
cast and Cable Promotion, Belmont, California: Wadsworth,
haps the most notable service is the organization’s 1982
annual seminar, where members meet for workshops, Webster, Lance, “The Growth Years: BPA to BPME,” BPME
demonstrations, presentations, and general network- Image (April 1991)
Pryor, Richard (1940– )

U.S. Comedian, Actor
Richard Pryor, comic, writer, and television and film Pryor dropped out of high school, completed a tour of
star, was the first African-American stand-up come- duty in the army, then began playing small clubs and
dian to speak candidly and successfully to integrated bars, anywhere he could secure a venue. His keen and
audiences using the language and jokes blacks previ- perceptive observation of people, especially his audi-
ously only shared among themselves when they were ences, enabled him to develop into a gifted monolo-
most critical of the United States. His career really be- gist, mimic, and mime.
gan as a high school student, when his teacher per- The first phase of his career began in the 1960s,
suaded him to discontinue cutting and disrupting class when as a clean-cut imitator of Bill Cosby, Pryor
by offering him the opportunity to perform his comic played New York clubs. His material, best suited for an
routine once a week for his classmates. Nevertheless, integrated audience, did not contain the cutting-edge
1843
Pryor, Richard
folklore as well as characters from the streets of Any-

town, U.S.A. He integrated his personal style of com-
edy with commentary on the social condition. His
popularity skyrocketed, and his career as a stand-up
comedian expanded to that of a television and film star.
The Richard Pryor Show premiered on NBC in 1977
and rocked the censors until, after only five shows, the
series was canceled. Television was not ready for his
explosive talent, and Pryor was not ready to alter the
content of his program. He portrayed the first African-
American president of the United States and, in an-
other skit, used costumes and visual distortion to
appear nude. Simultaneously, his concert films—full
of his impersonations, cockiness, and assertiveness
and balanced by his perceptive vulnerability—
achieved wide audience appeal and became legendary
in their content. Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
(1979), considered by critics to be one of his best con-
cert films and his first concert released to theaters,
showcased Pryor and his unique ability to capture eth-
nic humor and make it acceptable to a mainstream au-
dience. Pryor appeared on numerous television
programs and served as a co-writer for Blazing Saddles
and as a writer for Sanford and Son, The Flip Wilson
Show, and The Lily Tomlin Special, for which he won
an Emmy in 1973.
Richard Pryor, May 1974. Even though his early movie roles are forgettable,
Courtesy of the Everett Collection film served as another venue for Pryor’s dangerous and
uncontrollable personality. Lady Sings the Blues was
the turning point. As the Piano Man, Pryor proved he
dialogue for which he later became most noted. By was capable of sustaining a supporting role in a dra-
1970, tired of the constant comparisons to Cosby and matic film. He added life and vitality to the role and to
feeling disgusted with himself for the direction of his the film. After Lady Sings the Blues, he starred or
career, he walked off the Las Vegas Aladdin Hotel costarred in The Mack (1973), Hit (1973), Uptown Sat-
stage in the middle of a performance. After a two-year urday Night (1974), Car Wash (1976), The Bingo Long
hiatus in Berkeley, California, where he spent time Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976), and Sil-
reading Malcolm X’s work, visiting bars, clubs, and ver Streak (1976). Costarring in Silver Streak served as
street corners to observe people, and collaborating another breakthrough for Pryor, and he soon received
with a group of African-American writers later known starring roles in Which Way Is Up? (1977) and
as the “Black Pack,” Pryor returned to performing. A Greased Lightning (1977), among others. His record
metamorphosis took place during those two years, and albums, full of his special humor and street-wise char-
Pryor offered his audiences a new collection of charac- acters, topped the charts: That Nigger’s Crazy (1974);
ters, earthy metaphors, and the tough, rough profane Is It Something I Said? (1975); Bicentennial Nigger
language of the streets. No longer did he mimic Cosby, (1976); and Wanted, Richard Pryor Live and in Con-
for he now spoke on behalf of the underclass, and his cert (1979).
monologues and jokes reflected their despair and disil- In 1980 Pryor sustained third-degree burns over
lusionment with life in the United States. most of his body while, it was reported, he was free-
His performances, enhanced by his use of body lan- basing cocaine. The response to this tragedy was over-
guage, captured the personalities of the numerous whelming, and Pryor received attention from the
black characters he created to ridicule and comment media as well as from citizens throughout the United
upon the circumstances under which African Ameri- States. He returned to the large screen to complete
cans lived. It was revolutionary humor. Pryor’s charac- Bustin’ Loose, then went on to receive rave reviews for
ters introduced to his audiences persons from black his concert films Richard Pryor: Live on Sunset Strip
1844
Pryor, Richard
(1982) and Richard Pryor: Hear and Now (1983). The 1974; Grammy Awards, 1974, 1976; Mark Twain
autobiographical film Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Call- Award for Humor, 1998.
ing (1986) offered his audiences some insight into his
troubled personal life.
Television
After his accident, Pryor’s other starring roles in
1973 The Lily Tomlin Special (co-writer)
movies did not portray the comic as the dynamic, con-
1977 The Richard Pryor Show (writer, star)
troversial storyteller he became after his exile in
1984–85 Pryor’s Place
Berkeley. The roles in his latter films presented a
meeker, more timid person; and, in The Toy (1982), he
literally played the toy for a spoiled white child. This Television Specials (selected)
character and his dialogue were a far cry from the 1973 The Lily Tomlin Show (guest)
Pryor persona most admired by his audiences. 1973 Lily (guest)
Stricken with multiple sclerosis in the 1990s, Pryor 1977 The Richard Pryor Special
appeared on television talk shows and toured infre- 1982 The Richard Pryor Special
quently. He still played to sold-out audiences, but the 1982 Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter
old fire and cutting-edge rhetoric evident in his mono- (cohost)
logues of the 1970s were missing. Pryor in the 1970s 1993 The Apollo Hall of Fame (honoree)
would never allow a heckler to intrude on his story and
ruin his timing. The Pryor of the 1990s, weak and Films (selected)
deeply affected by his disease, did not give the quick, The Busy Body, 1967; The Green Berets, 1968; Wild
biting, and sarcastic comeback that would always si- in the Streets, 1968; The Phynx, 1970; Dynamite
lence a brave heckler from the audience. He did, how- Chicken, 1970; Lady Sings the Blues, 1972; Hit,
ever, guest star on the popular situation comedies 1973; Wattstax, 1973; The Mack, 1973; Some Call
Martin (1993) and Malcolm and Eddie (1996). It Loving, 1973; Blazing Saddles (co-writer only),
Richard Pryor and his comic style emancipated 1974; Adios Amigos (also writer), 1976; Car Wash
African-American humor, and his influence and ascen- (also writer), 1977; Silver Streak (also writer),
dancy crushed boundaries and opened frontiers in 1976; Greased Lightning, 1977; Which Way Is Up?,
comedy unheard of until he appeared on the concert 1977; Blue Collar (also writer), 1978; The Wiz,
stage. A testament to his influence was evident in a 1978; Wholly Moses, 1980; In God We Trust, 1980;
September 1991 televised gala tribute to Pryor pre- Stir Crazy (also writer), 1980; Bustin’ Loose (also
sented by comic stars. In 1998 he was selected as the producer), 1981; Live on Sunset Strip, 1982; Some
first recipient of the Mark Twain Award for Humor, Kind of Hero, 1982; The Toy (also director), 1982;
presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Per- Superman III, 1983; Brewster’s Millions, 1985; Jo
forming Arts. Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (also writer, pro-
Bishetta D. Merrit ducer, director), 1986; Critical Condition, 1987;
Moving, 1988; See No Evil, Hear No Evil, 1989;
Richard Pryor. Born Franklin Lenox Thomas in Peo- Harlem Nights, 1989; Another You, 1991.
ria, Illinois, December 1, 1940. Married numerous
times; children: Elizabeth Ann, Richard, Rain, Renee. Recordings
Served in the U.S. Army, 1958–60. Began career as a That Nigger’s Crazy, 1974; Is It Something I Said?,
stand-up comic in the 1960s; recorded hit comedy al- 1975; Bicentennial Nigger, 1976; Wanted: Richard
bum, 1974; co-wrote and starred in motion pictures, Pryor Live and in Concert, 1979.
since 1974; star of television’s The Richard Pryor
Show, 1977. Member: National Academy of Recording
Publication
Arts and Sciences; Writers Guild of America. Recipi-
ent: Emmy Award, 1973; two American Academy of Pryor Convictions, and Other Life Sentences, with
Humor Awards, 1974; American Writers Guild Award, Todd Gold, 1995
1845
Public Access Television
Public Access Television

Public access television has been one of the most inter- however, few, if any, cable systems made as many as
esting and controversial developments in the intersec- three channels available, but some systems began of-
tion between media and democracy within the past fering one or two access channels in the early to mid-
several decades. Beginning in the 1970s, cable sys- 1970s. The availability of access channels depended,
tems began to offer access channels to the public, so for the most part, on the political clout of local govern-
that groups and individuals could make programs for ments and committed, and often unpaid, local groups
other individuals in their own communities. Access to convince the cable companies, almost all privately
systems began to proliferate, and access programming owned, to make available an access channel. A 1979
has been cablecast regularly in such places as New Supreme Court decision, however, struck down the
York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Madi- 1972 FCC ruling on the grounds that the FCC had no
son, Urbana, Austin, and perhaps as many as 4,000 authority to mandate access, an authority that suppos-
other towns or regions (Linder, 1999). edly belongs to the U.S. Congress alone. Nonetheless,
When cable television began to be widely intro- cable was expanding so rapidly and becoming such a
duced in the early 1970s, the Federal Communications high-growth competitive industry that by the 1980s
Commission (FCC) mandated in 1972 that “beginning city governments considering cable systems were be-
in 1972, new cable systems [and after 1977, all cable sieged by companies making lucrative offers (20- to
systems] in the 100 largest television markets be re- 80-channel cable systems) and were able to demand
quired to provide channels for government, for educa- access channels and financial support for public access
tional purposes, and most importantly, for public systems as part of their contract negotiations.
access.” This mandate suggested that cable systems Consequently, public access grew significantly dur-
should make available three public access channels to ing the 1980s and 1990s and the Cable Communica-
be used for state and local government, education, and tions Policy Act of 1984 and the Cable Television
community public access use, which collectively came Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992
to be referred as PEG access. provided language that allowed local governments to
“Public access” was construed to mean that the ca- require public access cable channels as part of their ne-
ble company should make available equipment and gotiated agreements (Linder, 1999).
airtime so that literally anybody could make noncom- Not surprisingly, public access television has been
mercial use of the access channel, and say and do any- controversial from the beginning. Early disputes re-
thing they wished on a first-come, first-served basis, volved around explicit sexuality and obscenity, particu-
subject only to obscenity and libel laws. The result was larly in New York City where public access schedules
an entirely different sort of programming, reflecting with programs like Ugly George and Midnight Blue
the interests of groups and individuals usually ex- drew attention and provoked criticism. Focus then
cluded from mainstream television. turned to controversial political content when extremist
The rationale for public access television was that, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nation be-
as mandated by the Federal Communications Act of gan distributing programs nationally. Many groups like
1934, the airwaves belong to the people, that in a dem- the American Atheists, labor groups, and a diverse
ocratic society it is useful to multiply public participa- number of political groups began producing programs
tion in political discussion, and that mainstream for syndication, and debates emerged over whether ac-
television severely limited the range of views and cess systems should show programming that was not
opinion. Public access television, then, would open actually produced in the community where it was orig-
television to the public; it would make possible com- inally cablecast.
munity participation and thus would be in the public Despite the controversy, public access television has
interest of strengthening democracy. thrived in many parts of the United States. A few sys-
Creating an access system required, in many cases, tems charge money for use of facilities, or charge a fee
setting up a local organization to manage the access for use of airtime, but due to competitive bidding
channels, though in other systems the cable company among cable systems in the 1980s and 1990s for the
itself managed the access center. In the beginning, most lucrative franchises, many cable systems offer
1846
Public Interest, Convenience, and Necessity
free use of equipment, personnel, and airtime, and oc- abling literally any group or individual to make their own
casionally even provide free videotapes. In these situa- television programs and distribute them over the Internet.
tions, literally anyone can make use of public access Whether a more democratic communications system
facilities without technical expertise, television experi- emerges or dissolves is up to citizens who are interested
ence, or financial resources. in communicating with other citizens and nourishing in-
Many public access systems also offer a range of struments of democratic communication such as public
conceptual and technical training programs designed access TV. Present trends toward concentration of media
to instruct groups or individuals who wish to make ownership, commercialization, and tabloidization of
their own programs from conception through final news and information threaten the integrity of the public
editing. As video equipment costs have rapidly de- sphere and the possibilities for democratic communica-
clined it has even become possible for some groups to tion. If U.S. democracy is to survive and thrive, citizens
purchase their own equipment. need to use all instruments of democratic communication
In the 1990s, following the trends of talk radio, such as community radio, public access television, and
many talk television access shows emerged. Individu- now the Internet.
als fielded calls from members of the community and Douglas Kellner
discussed current political problems, or, in some cases,
See also Activist Television; Cable Television:
personal problems. In many ways, this “conversa-
United States
tional” mode exemplified the community focus and
personal orientation of access television, again moving
away from mainstream TV designed to reach the Further Reading
largest possible audiences, while creating a host of
Alvarez, Sally M., “Reclaiming the Public Sphere: A Study of
highly idiosyncratic conversations. Public Access Television Programming by the U.S. Labor
But various actions moving toward greater media Movement,” Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina, 1995
deregulation in the 1990s and into the new millennium Frederiksen, H. Allan, Community Access Video, Menlo Park,
threaten the continued survival of access, as do the Inter- California: Nowells, 1972
net and other new communications technologies. In a Fuller, Linda K., Community Television in the United State,.
Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994
highly competitive environment, cable systems may very Kellner, Douglas, Television and the Crisis of Democracy,
well close down access systems if there is insufficient Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1990
government pressure to keep them open, though compet- Linder, Laura R., Public Access Television. America’s Elec-
itive market pressures might promote the survival of pop- tronic Soapbox, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1999
ular access channels. And although the Internet and other Phillips, Mary Alice Mayer, CATV: A History of Community An-
tenna Television, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern Univer-
emerging delivery systems could render obsolete the rel- sity Press, 1972
atively low-tech access systems, these same forms of Ryan, Charlotte, Prime-Time Activism, Boston: South End
communication may even multiply access television, en- Press, 1991

U.S. Broadcasting Policy
Originally contained in U.S. public utility law, the of 1934 expanded on the Radio Act of 1927 to include
“public interest, convenience, and necessity” provision the telephone and telegraph industries, and the 1934
was incorporated into the Radio Act of 1927 to become law has in turn been amended to accommodate subse-
the operational standard for broadcast licensees. This quent telecommunications technologies, such as tele-
act contained a regulatory framework that ensured vision and cable.
broadcasters operated within their assigned frequen- The obligation to serve the public interest is integral
cies and at the appropriate time periods. It not only to the “trusteeship” model of broadcasting, the philo-
specified technical requirements, but programming sophical foundation upon which broadcasters are ex-
and licensing ones as well. The Communications Act pected to operate. The trusteeship paradigm is used to
1847
justify government regulation of broadcasting. It main- with the “marketplace” model (which had always un-
tains that the electromagnetic spectrum is a limited re- dergirded commercial broadcasting in the United
source belonging to the public, and only those most States). It was now argued that the contemporary, com-
capable of serving the public interest are to be en- mercially supported telecommunications environment
trusted with a broadcast license. The Federal Commu- could provide a multiplicity of voices, eradicating the
nications Commission (FCC) is the U.S. government previous justification for government regulation. Un-
body responsible for determining whether applicants der this model, the public interest would be defined by
for broadcast licenses meet the requirements to obtain “market forces.” A broadcaster’s commercial success
them, and the FCC also further regulates those to would be indicative of the public’s satisfaction with
whom licenses have been granted. that broadcaster.
Interpretation of the “public interest, convenience, Advocates of the marketplace argument reject the
and necessity” clause has been a continuing source of trusteeship model of broadcasting. It is no surprise that
controversy. Initially, the Federal Radio Commission the Cable Act does not contain a “public interest, con-
(FRC) implemented a set of tests, criteria that would venience, and necessity” stipulation. However, be-
loosely define whether the broadcasting entity was ful- cause cable also falls under the regulatory scrutiny of
filling its obligation to the listening public. Specifica- the FCC, serving the public interest is encouraged
tions included program diversity, quality reception, through the PEG (public, educational, and govern-
and “character” evaluation of licensees. These initial ment) access requirement related to the granting of ca-
demands set a precedent for future explications of the ble franchises.
public interest. Among the deregulatory policies implemented dur-
The pretelevision “Blue Book,” as the set of criteria ing the 1980s were the relaxation of ownership and li-
was popularly known, was developed by the FCC in censing rules, eradication of assorted public-service
1946 to evaluate the discrepancy between the pro- requirements, and the elimination of regulations limit-
gramming “promise” and “performance” of radio ing the amount of commercial advertising in children’s
broadcasters. Since license renewal was dependent on programming. Perhaps most detrimental to the legal
serving the public interest, program content became a justification for the trusteeship model of broadcasting,
significant consideration in this procedure. The “Blue however, was the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine.
Book” required licensees to promote the discussion of This action altered future interpretations of the “public
public issues, serve minority interests, and eliminate interest, convenience, and necessity” clause.
superfluous advertising. Unpopular with commercial In 1949 the FCC established the Fairness Doctrine
broadcasters, the “Blue Book” was rendered obsolete as a policy that guaranteed (among other things) the
after five years because of the economic threat it presentation of both sides of a controversial issue. This
posed. concept is rooted in the early broadcast regulation of
In its “1960 Program Policy Statement,” the FCC the Federal Radio Commission. In 1959 Congress de-
echoed similar sentiments pertaining to television clared the doctrine part of the Communications Act in
broadcasters. In response to assorted broadcasting order to safeguard the public interest and First Amend-
scandals, the FCC issued this statement to “remind” ment freedoms. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
broadcasters of how to serve the public interest. Al- constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine in the case of
though previous tenets of the “Blue Book” were re- Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969). Although
jected, this revised policy included the “license the Fairness Doctrine was enacted to promote plural-
ascertainment” stipulation, requiring broadcasters to ism, it eventually produced an opposite effect. Con-
determine local programming needs through distribu- cerned that advertising time would be squandered by
tion and analysis of surveys. However, adherence to those who invoked the Fairness Doctrine, broadcasters
such programming policies has never been strictly en- challenged its constitutionality, claiming that it pro-
forced. moted censorship instead of diversity. Declared in vio-
The deregulatory fervor of the 1980s seriously chal- lation of the First Amendment, the Fairness Doctrine
lenged the trusteeship model of broadcasting. Obvi- was repealed, and in 1987 President Ronald Reagan
ously, this same move toward deregulation vetoed attempts to provide constitutional protection
subsequently challenged the means by which satisfac- for the doctrine.
tion of the “public interest, convenience, and neces- The 1996 Telecommunication Act, the most sweep-
sity” should be determined. The rise of cable television ing revision of U.S. policies in history, confirmed the
undermined the “scarcity of the spectrum” argument dominance of the “marketplace” model. Taking note of
because of the newer system’s potential for unlimited a wider range of communication technologies no
channel capacity. The trusteeship model was replaced longer reliant on the limited electromagnetic spectrum,
1848
Public-Service Announcement
the act was presumably designed to encourage “com- nerstone of telecommunications policy in the United
petition” among media suppliers, thereby enhancing States.
and increasing options available to the “public.” In Sharon Zechowski
practice, the act enabled a round of massive mergers,
See also Allocation; Federal Communications
placing ownership of distribution devices as well as
Commission; License; Local Television; Prime
content production under control of fewer and fewer
Time Access Rule; Ownership; Station and Station
entities. By 2002 many of these large companies
Group
foundered, and the “marketplace” was in a precarious
state.
The obligation to serve the “public interest, conve- Further Reading
nience, and necessity” is demonstrated through myr-
Ford, Frederick W., “The Meaning of the Public Interest, Con-
iad broadcast policies. Licensing requirements, the venience, or Necessity,” Journal of Broadcasting (Summer
equal-time and candidate access rules, the Fairness 1961)
Doctrine, and the Public Broadcasting and Cable Acts Head, Sydney W., Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Televi-
are just some examples of U.S. regulations that were sion and Radio, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1956; with
implemented to safeguard the public from the possible Thomas Spann and Michael A. McGregor, as Broadcasting
in America: A Survey of Electronic Media, 9th edition, 2001
selfish motives of broadcasters. History has proven, Kahn, Frank J., editor, Documents of American Broadcasting,
however, that interpretation of the “public interest, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1969; 3rd edi-
convenience, and necessity” is subject to prevailing tion, 1978
political forces. The development of new technologies Krugman, Dean M., and Leonard E. Reid, “The Public Interest
continues to test the trusteeship model of broadcasting As Defined by FCC Policy Makers,” Journal of Broadcast-
ing (Summer 1980)
and what defines the public interest. Yet despite its Pember, Don R., Mass Media Law, Madison, Wisconsin: Brown
ambiguity and the difficulties encountered in its appli- and Benchmark, 1977; 9th edition, Boston: McGraw-Hill,
cation, this phrase remains the stated regulatory cor- 1998
Public-Interest Groups. See Advocacy Groups
In the United States a public-service announcement PSAs came into being with the entry of the United
(PSA) is defined by the Federal Communications States into World War II. Radio broadcasters and ad-
Commission (FCC) in a formal and detailed manner. A vertising agencies offered their skills and facilities to
PSA is any announcement (including network) for aid the war effort and established the War Advertising
which no charge is made and which promotes pro- Council, which became the official home front propa-
grams, activities, or services of federal, state, or local ganda arm of the Office of War Information. Print me-
governments (e.g., recruiting, sale of bonds, etc.) or dia, outdoor advertising, and especially radio became
the programs, activities, or services of nonprofit orga- the carriers of such messages as “Loose lips sink
nizations (e.g., United Way, Red Cross blood dona- ships,” “Keep ’em Rolling,” and a variety of exhorta-
tions, etc.) and other announcements regarded as tions to buy war bonds.
serving community interests, excluding time signals, By the end of the war, the practice of volunteering
routine weather announcements, and promotional an- free airtime had become institutionalized, as had the
nouncements. renamed Advertising Council, which now served as a
1849
paigns struck critics as too eager to build consensus

around seemingly inconsequential but carefully non-
partisan concerns. The networks sought to distance
themselves from the Ad Council, and to set their own
agendas, by dealing directly with the organizations
themselves. Local stations were under additional pres-
sure from innumerable new community-based organi-
zations seeking airtime; many stations created and
produced announcements in an effort to meet local
needs, especially once the FCC came to require that
stations report how many PSAs they presented and at
what hour.
In the 1980s a number of stations long held by their
founders’ families went public or changed hands. The
U.S. Department of Transportation PSA. resulting debt load, mounting costs, as well as in-
Photo courtesy of Advertising Council creased competition from the new media, all resulted
in demands for greater profitability. Most unsold air-
time was devoted to promoting the station or network.
facilitating agency and clearinghouse for nationwide Moreover, deregulation saw government relinquishing
campaigns that soon became a familiar part of daily the model of trusteeship of a scarce national resource
life. “Smokey the Bear” was invented by the Ad Coun- in favor of a marketplace model.
cil to personify its “Only You Can Prevent Forest Offsetting this trend to some extent were growing
Fires” campaign; “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to concerns about the illicit drug problem. The Advertis-
Waste” has raised millions of dollars for the United ing Media Partnership for a Drug-Free America (fa-
Negro College Fund; the American Cancer Society’s mous for the PSA intoning “This is your brain . . .” over
“Fight Cancer with a Checkup and a Check” raised a shot of an egg; “This is your brain on drugs. Any
public awareness as well as funds for research and pa- questions?” over a shot of an egg frying) was set up by
tient services. a group of media and advertising agency executives,
The ultimate demonstration of the effectiveness of spearheaded by Capital Cities Broadcasting Company,
PSAs came in 1969. Two years earlier, a federal court then completing the takeover of ABC. Rallying un-
upheld the FCC’s application of the Fairness Doctrine precedented support, the organization mounted the
to cigarette advertising on radio and television and or- largest public-service campaign ever. Indeed, at its
dered stations to set aside “a significant amount of height, with more than $365 million worth of print lin-
time” for the broadcast of antismoking messages. This eage and airtime annually, it rivaled the largest adver-
effectively meant one antismoking PSA would air for tising campaigns. Consistent with contemporary
every three tobacco commercials. The PSAs proved so thinking about the nature of social marketing, the cam-
effective that smoking rates began to decline for the paign was solidly grounded in McGuire’s paradigm of
first time in history; the tobacco industry withdrew all behavioral change: awareness of a problem by a num-
cigarette advertising; and Congress made such adver- ber of people will result in a smaller number who un-
tising illegal after 1971. With the passage of that law, dergo a change of attitude toward the problem; an even
however, the bulk of the antismoking messages also smaller number from this second group will actually
disappeared and cigarette consumption rose again for a change their behavior. During the first years of the
while. On balance, however, public health profession- campaign, its research team documented considerable
als credit the PSAs with having saved many millions of difference in attitudinal and behavioral change among
lives by initiating the decline in smoking by Americans. young people. Later evidence led to less-optimistic
During the 1960s and 1970s, as media access be- conclusions about the antidrug campaign, as a number
came an issue, the Advertising Council—and to some of societal factors changed and media time and space
extent the very concept of PSAs—came under criti- became less readily available.
cism as being too narrow in focus. As David Paletz Other recent developments include two distinctive
points out in Politics in Public Service Advertising on strategies. The Entertainment Industries Council com-
Television, campaigns such as “Only you can stop pol- bined high-profile film, television, and recording stars
lution” were seen as distracting attention from the role doing network PSAs with depiction efforts—produc-
of industry in creating demands for excessive energy ers, writers, and directors incorporating seatbelt use,
and in creating dangerous waste products. Other cam- designated drivers, AIDS education, and antidrug ref-
1850
Public-Service Broadcasting
erences in storylines. The other major development, vice Announcements on Radio and Television, Boston: Na-
championed and often carried out by consultants, was tional Broadcast Association for Public Affairs, 1982
Fritschler, A. Lee, Smoking and Politics: Policy Making and the
the appearance of the Total Station Project. Stations Federal Bureaucracy, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Pren-
would adopt a public-service theme and, often after tice Hall, 1969; with James M. Hoefler, 5th edition, Upper
months of planning and preparation, coordinate PSAs Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996
with station editorials, heavily promoted public-affairs Ginsburg, Douglas H., Michael H. Botein, and Mark K. Direc-
programs, and features in the local news broadcasts. tor, Regulation of the Electronic Mass Media: Law and Pol-
icy for Radio, Television, Cable, and the New Technologies.
Total Station Projects most frequently are aired during St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing, 1979; by Botein only,
sweeps periods, the months when the station’s ratings 3rd edition, 1998
determine the next year’s commercial time prices. Gunther, Albert C., “Perceived Persuasive Effects of Product
George Dessart Commercials and Public Service Announcements: Third-
Person Effects in New Domains,” Communication Research
(October 1992)
Further Reading Lorch, Elizabeth Pugzles, “Program Context, Sensation Seek-
ing, and Attention to Televised Anti-drug Public Service An-
Atkin, Charles, and Lawrence Wallack, editors, Mass Commu- nouncements,” Human Communication Research (March
nication and Public Health: Complexities and Conflicts, 1994)
Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1990 Paletz, David L., Roberta E. Pearson, and Donald L. Willis, Pol-
Dessart, George, More than You Want to Know about PSA’s: A itics in Public Service Advertising on Television, New York:
Guide to Production and Placement of Effective Public Ser- Praeger, 1977
Public-service broadcasting is based on the principles sion) receivers rather than advertising. Under the skill-
of universality of service, diversity of programming, ful leadership of the BBC’s first director general, John
provision for minority audiences (including the disad- Reith, this institution of public-service broadcasting
vantaged), sustaining an informed electorate, and cul- embarked on an ethical mission of high moral respon-
tural and educational enrichment. The concept was sibility to utilize the electromagnetic spectrum (a
conceived and fostered within an overarching ideal of scarce public resource) to enhance the quality of life of
cultural and intellectual enlightenment of society. all British citizens.
The roots of public-service broadcasting are gener- Within the governance of national authorities,
ally traced to documents prepared in support of the es- public-service broadcasting was re-created in various
tablishment of the British Broadcasting Corporation forms in other democracies in Western Europe and be-
(BBC) by Royal Charter on January 1, 1927. This cor- yond. At the core of each plan was a commitment to
poration grew out of recommendations of the Craw- operating radio and television services in the public
ford Committee appointed by the British postmaster good. The principal paradigm adopted to accomplish
general in August 1925. Included in those recommen- this mission was the establishment of a state-owned
dations was the creation of a public corporation that broadcasting system that functioned either as a
would serve as a trustee for the national interest in monopoly or at least as the dominant broadcasting in-
broadcasting. It was expected that as public trustee, the stitution. Funding came in the form of license fees,
corporation would emphasize serious, educational, and taxes, or similar noncommercial options. Examples of
cultural programming that would elevate the level of these organizations include the Netherlands Broad-
intellectual and aesthetic tastes of the audience. The casting Foundation, Danish Broadcasting Corporation,
BBC was to be insulated from both political and com- Radiodiffusion Television Française, Swedish Televi-
mercial influence. Therefore, the corporation was a sion Company, Radiotelevisione Italiana, Canadian
creation of the Crown rather than Parliament, and Broadcasting Corporation, and Australian Broadcast-
funding to support the venture was determined to be ing Corporation. The ideals on which these and other
derived from license fees on radio (and later televi- systems were based suggested services that were char-
1851
acterized by universality and diversity; however, there casting worldwide came under attack, as the underly-
were notable violations to these ideals, especially in ing principles on which it was based were called into
Germany, France, and Italy. In some cases the state- question. The arrival of new modes of television deliv-
owned broadcasting system became the political ery—cable television, satellites, videocassettes—had
mouthpiece for whomever was in power. Such abuse created new means of access to broadcast services and
of the broadcasting institutions’ mandate made public- thus changed the public’s perception about the impor-
service broadcasting the subject of frequent political tance and even legitimacy of a broadcasting service
debates. founded on the principle of spectrum scarcity. Ideolog-
Contemporary accounts of public-service broadcast- ical issues also came into play. Conservative critics
ing worldwide often include the U.S. Public Broad- raised questions about the very notion of a public cul-
casting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio ture, whereas some liberals charged that public-service
(NPR) as American examples. However, unlike the broadcasting was a closed, elitist, inbred, white-male
British model that was adopted across Europe, the U.S. institution.
system came into being as an alternative to the com- Furthermore, movement toward a global economy
mercially financed and market-driven system that has was having an ever-increasing impact on the way poli-
dominated U.S. broadcasting from its inception. cymakers saw the products of radio and television. The
Whereas 1927 marked the beginning of public-service free-market viability of educational and cultural pro-
broadcasting in Britain, the United States Radio Act of gramming as successful commercial commodities
1927 created the communication-policy framework seemed to support the arguments of critics contending
that has enabled advertiser-supported radio and televi- that public-service broadcasting was no longer justi-
sion to flourish. Language contained within this act ex- fied. Deregulation of communication industries was a
plicitly mandated broadcasting stations to operate “in necessary prerequisite to the breakdown of interna-
the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” but tional trade barriers, and the shift toward increased pri-
the public-service ideals of raising the educational and vatization brought new players into what had been a
cultural standards of the citizenry were marginalized in closed system. The growing appeal of economic direc-
favor of capitalistic incentives. When the Radio Act tives derived from consumer preferences favored the
was replaced by the Communications Act of 1934, the substitution of the U.S. market-forces model for
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recom- the long-standing public-trustee model that had been
mended to Congress that “no fixed percentages of ra- the backbone of public-service broadcasting. Adding
dio broadcast facilities be allocated by statute to to the appeal of the U.S. paradigm was the growing re-
particular types or kinds of non-profit radio programs alization that program production and distribution
or to persons identified with particular types or kinds costs would continue to mount within an economic cli-
of non-profit activities.” It was not until 1945 that the mate of flat or decreasing public funding.
FCC created a license for “noncommercial educa- By the early 1990s, the groundswell of political
tional” radio stations. These stations were envisioned and public dissatisfaction with the privileged position
to be the United States’ answer to the ideals of public- of public-service broadcasting entities had reached
service broadcasting, but the government’s failure to new heights. Studies were revealing bureaucratic
provide any funding mechanism for noncommercial bungling, cost overruns, and the misuse of funds. One
educational stations for nearly 20 years resulted in a commission after another was recommending at least
weak and undernourished broadcasting service. Edu- the partial dismantling or reorganization of existing
cational radio in the United States was referred to as institutions. New measures of accountability de-
the “hidden medium.” manded more than idealistic rhetoric, and telecommu-
Educational television was authorized by the FCC’s nication policymakers were turning a deaf ear to
Sixth Report and Order adopted on April 14, 1952, but public-service broadcasting advocates.
the creation of a mechanism for funding educational Communication scholars, who for the most part had
radio and television in the United States had to wait for been reticent on these issues, began to mount an intel-
passage of the Public Broadcasting Act on November lectual counterattack, based largely on the experiences
7, 1967. Funding levels never approached the recom- of public broadcasting in the United States. Critics of
mendations set forth by the Carnegie Commission on U.S. communications policy underscored concerns
Educational Television in its report Public Television: about the evils of commercialization and the influence
A Program for Action, in which the term “public tele- of the open marketplace. Studies pointed to the loss of
vision” first appeared. minority voices and a steady decline in programs for
During the 1970s and 1980s public-service broad- segmented populations. Scholars also challenged the
1852
illusion that new television delivery systems such as on the digital spectrum for commercial ventures
500-channel cable networks and direct broadcast satel- seemed to signal that the trend toward an increased
lites would offer unlimited program choices. Content blurring of the line between commercial and noncom-
analyses revealed program duplication, not diversity, mercial licenses would continue. Other U.S. efforts to
across the channels, and the question of just how far create increased citizen access to the airwaves were
commercial broadcasters would venture away from the largely thwarted when Congress minimized the poten-
well-proven formulas and formats received public at- tial impact of new low-power FM radio stations, an in-
tention. A concerned electorate was beginning to ask novation that had been devised by the FCC as a way to
whether the wide-scale transformation of telecommu- deal with growing numbers of so-called pirate radio
nications was not without considerable risk. Many stations that were operating illegally.
worried that turning over the electronic sources of cul- In the early 2000s telecommunications policy
ture, education, and political discourse to the ever- worldwide seemed increasingly tied to the opportuni-
shifting forces of the commercial marketplace might ties afforded by a new global economy shaped by mar-
have profound negative consequences. ket forces and privatization. Whether public-service
By the mid-1990s, telecommunications policy is- broadcasting ideals could survive within this evolving
sues ranged from invasion of privacy to depictions of political and economic environment remained a topic
violence on television, the manufacturing of parent- for robust debate.
controlled TV sets, revisions in technological stan- Robert K. Avery
dards, and finding new funding alternatives to sustain
public-service broadcasting in some form. These is-
sues were also firmly embedded in the public dis- Further Reading
course. Communication corporations appeared and Avery, Robert K., editor, Public Service Broadcasting in a Mul-
disappeared daily. The environment of electronic com- tichannel Environment: The History and Survival of an
munications was in a state of flux as companies selling Ideal, White Plains, New York: Longman, 1993
new technologies vied for a piece of a quickly expand- Blumler, Jay G., and T.J. Nossiter, editors, Broadcasting Fi-
nance in Transition: A Comparative Handbook, Oxford and
ing and constantly evolving marketplace. Public- New York: Oxford University Press, 1991
service broadcasters reassessed their missions and Burns, Tom, The BBC: Public Institution and Private World,
began building new alliances with book publishers, London: Macmillan, 1979
computer software manufacturers, and commercial Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, Public Televi-
production houses. In the United States, public radio sion: A Program for Action, New York: Bantam, 1967
Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting, A
and television stations experimented with enhanced Public Trust, New York: Bantam, 1979
underwriting messages that looked and sounded more Day, James, The Vanishing Vision: The Inside Story of Public
and more like conventional advertising. Television, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995
In June 2000 a group of scholars assembled at the Emery, Walter B., National and International Systems of Broad-
University of Maine to assess the merits of public- casting: Their History, Operation, and Control, East Lans-
ing: Michigan State University Press, 1969
service broadcasting worldwide, and to develop plans Engelman, Ralph, Public Radio and Television in America: A
for media reform within the United States. At this oc- Political History, Newbury Park, California: Sage, 1996
casion the formation of a new organization, Citizens McChesney, Robert W., Telecommunications, Mass Media, and
for Independent Public Broadcasting, was announced, Democracy: The Battle for the Control of U.S. Broadcasting,
with the association aiming to restore U.S. broadcast- 1928–1933, New York and Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1994
ing to its original mission of public service. Despite all Raboy, Marc, Missed Opportunities: The Story of Canada’s
the fanfare and high hopes of those assembled in Broadcasting Policy, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University
Maine, however, issues related to growing commer- Press, 1990
cialization and the inability to get Congress to create Tracey, Michael, The Decline and Fall of Public Service Broad-
an insulated trust fund to support public broadcasting casting, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
1998
remained unresolved in the early part of the 21st cen- Witherspoon, John, Roselle Kovitz, Robert K. Avery, and A.G.
tury. A ruling by the FCC that permitted public broad- Stavitsky, A History of Public Broadcasting, Washington,
casters to use a portion of their newly assigned space D.C.: Current Publishing, 2000
1853
Public Television
Public Television
U.S. public television is a peculiar hybrid of broadcast- a public TV program for at least 15 minutes, and,
ing systems. Neither completely a public-service sys- overall, the demographics describing viewers of pub-
tem in the European tradition, nor fully supported by lic TV more or less match those of the nation as a
commercial interests as in the dominant pattern in the whole. However, based on an annual average, public
United States, it has elements of both. Although the TV’s prime-time rating hovers at 2 percent of the
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is emerging as a viewing audience, a rating on par with some popular
national image for U.S. public TV, at its base, this sys- cable services but far below network television rat-
tem consists of an ad hoc assemblage of stations united ings. Demographics for any particular program are
only by the fluctuating patronage of the institutions narrowly defined; overall, they are weakest for young
that fund them, and in the relentless grooming of vari- adults. Less heralded, but increasingly important in
ous constituencies. The future of public broadcasting public TV’s rationale, is its extensive instructional
in the United States may in fact be assured by the programming and information-networking, most of
range of those constituencies and by public TV’s mal- which is nonbroadcast.
leable self-definition. As technologies to permit both In the critical design period of American broadcast-
storage and interaction with viewers expand, public ing (1927–34), which resulted in the Communications
TV may come to be as much an electronic public li- Act of 1934, public-service broadcasting had been re-
brary as a broadcaster. It staked a claim to a unique jected out of hand by legislators and their corporate
role in an increasingly diversified televisual environ- mentors. A small amount of spectrum space on the
ment by its early-21st-century campaign to generate more poorly received ultra-high frequency (UHF) band
“social capital,” identified as networks of mutually re- was set aside for educational television in 1952. This
warding social relationships in a community. decision was modeled after the 1938 set-aside for edu-
Since it became a national service in 1967 public cational (not public or public-service) radio stations, a
TV has had a significant cultural impact—an espe- regulation that had been implanted in response to the
cially impressive achievement given its perpetually rampant commercialization of radio. In TV, as in radio,
precarious arrangements. Through its programming much of that spectrum space went unused, and most
choices, it has not only introduced figures such as Big programming was low cost and local (e.g., a lecture).
Bird and Julia Child into national culture, and created After World War II, “educational television”
a home for sober celebrities such as Bill Moyers and evolved into “public television,” around the concerns
William Buckley, but it has also pioneered new televi- of cold war politics and the corporate growth of the
sual technologies. Early achievements included closed television industry. The Public Broadcasting Act of
captioning and distance learning. More recently, pub- 1967 reflected, in part, the renewed emphasis placed
lic TV has pioneered original digital programming, on mass media by major foundations such as Carnegie
particularly using high-definition technology, and led and Ford, as well as the concern of liberal politicians
in the development of web-based extensions of televi- and educators, and, in part, it demonstrated an interest
sion programs. in communications technology by the nation’s
U.S. public TV programming evolved to fill niches military-industrial strategists. The historic 1965
that commercial broadcasters had either abandoned Carnegie Commission on Educational Television,
or not yet discovered. Children’s educational pro- willed into being by President Lyndon Johnson in
gramming (especially for preschoolers), “how-to” search of a televisual component to the Great Society
programs stressing the pragmatic (e.g., cooking, program, claimed that a “Public Television” could
home repair, and painting and drawing), public- “help us see America whole, in all its diversity,” and
affairs news and documentaries, science programs, “help us know what it is to be many in one, to have
upscale drama, experimental art, educationally tilted growing maturity in our sense of ourselves as a peo-
reality and docusoap programming, and community- ple.” Many legislators and conservatives, however,
affairs programming all contribute to the tapestry of openly feared the specter of a fourth network domi-
public TV. In the course of a week, half the nated by eastern liberals. Commercial broadcasters did
television-viewing homes in the United States turn to not want real rivals, although they supported the no-
1854
Public Television
tion of a service that could complement theirs and re- Despite governmental intent to keep public broad-
lieve their public-interest burden. casting local, centralized programming services of
The service was thus deliberately created as the several kinds quickly sprang up. Public-affairs ser-
“lemon socialism” of mass media, providing what vices centered, just as political conservatives had
commercial broadcasters did not want to offer. The feared, on the eastern seaboard. Resulting programs
only definition of “public” was “noncommercial.” To- enraged President Richard Nixon, who tried to abolish
ken start-up funds were provided, and the system was the service and did succeed in weakening it.
not merely decentralized but balkanized. The current Out of this conflict grew, by 1973, today’s Public
complex organization of public TV reflects its origins. Broadcasting Service, the first and still premier na-
The station, the basic unit of U.S. public TV, operates tional programming service for public TV. Shaped in
through a nonprofit entity, most commonly a nonprofit part by station owners who, like Nixon, disliked east-
community organization, through the state’s govern- ern liberals, PBS is a membership organization of tele-
ment (which provides mininetworks for all stations in vision stations. Member stations pay dues to receive
a state), or through a university. Of the approximately up to three hours of prime-time programming at night,
1,660 stations in the United States, there are about 350 several hours of children’s programming during the
public TV stations, although less than 200 indepen- day, and other recommended programs. Since 1990
dently program for their communities (the others stations have accepted a programming schedule de-
mostly retransmit signals). Almost everyone in the signed by a PBS executive. This policy replaced a pre-
United States can receive a public TV signal. About vious system in which programs were selected through
two-thirds of the public TV stations are UHF, still a a system driven by majority vote. Stations were per-
significant limiting factor in reception. At the turn of suaded to cede power because overall ratings for pub-
the 21st century, about 40 stations also broadcast on lic TV were declining. Although not obliged to honor
digital channels, as a result of the requirement of the the prime-time schedule, stations are urged to do so,
1996 Telecommunications Act to use new spectrum and they are increasingly constrained by contract con-
given to each station for digital transmission. ditions to devote larger sections of their programming
Stations are fiercely independent, cultivating useful to a common national schedule. This version of a com-
relationships with local elites, although the stations of- mon schedule assists in enlarging the audience and en-
ten form consortia for program production and deliv- ables stations to benefit from national advertising.
ery and to shape more general policy for public TV as Other programming services abound, both regionally
a whole. A handful of wealthy, powerful producing sta- and nationally, but none has the imprimatur of PBS.
tions contrasts with a great majority of small stations CPB and PBS both provide funds for the develop-
that produce no programming. In most major markets, ment and purchase of programming, but they do not
there are several stations, with much duplication of make most programs. Producing television stations,
PBS programming, but occasionally “overlap” stations especially in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and
establish some distinctive services catering to minori- Washington, D.C., have historically produced the bulk
ties and showcasing independent or experimental proof programming. Public TV also depends heavily on a
ductions. few production houses, both commercial and noncom-
The 1967 Public Broadcasting Act also created the mercial. Canadian production houses have risen in im-
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) as a pri- portance, with favorable exchange rates lowering
vate entity, to provide support to the stations. The gov- production costs there, and smaller stations are in-
erning board of the CPB is politically appointed and creasingly producing individual programs and series,
balanced along partisan lines, and it is funded by tax and working in producing consortia. Smaller television
dollars. The CPB was designed to assist stations with and film producers, historically frozen out of commer-
research, policy direction, grants to upgrade equip- cial broadcast television and typically constrained
ment and services, and, eventually, a small program- within formats on cable, chronically complain that
ming fund. However, the CPB was specifically banned public TV—their last resort and the only venue for au-
from distributing programs. This was designed to in- thorial filmmaking—slights them. They argue that
hibit the creation of a national network. Over the years, their work exemplifies the diversity of viewpoints and
the corporation has acted as the lightning rod for con- perspectives celebrated in the Constitution’s First
gressional discontent, since the CPB is a funnel for Amendment. Their complaints, coordinated over a de-
federal tax dollars. Congress has usually removed the cade, finally convinced Congress in 1988 to create the
board’s discretionary authority over funds rather than Independent Television Service, as a wing of the CPB,
cut its budget. As a result, most of CPB’s funds are with the specific mission to fund innovative work for
now set up to flow directly to local stations. underserved audiences.
1855
Public Television
Public TV’s funds come from a variety of sources, thinking man’s gasoline.” Conflict-of-interest issues
each of which comes with its own set of strings. Fund- ensue from corporate underwriting, as do questions
ing sources include (for fiscal year 1999) the federal about allowing corporations to set programming and
government (15 percent), state and local governments production priorities. (If stations had not aired Doing
(17 percent), public and private universities (11 per- Business in Asia, a series sponsored by Northwest Air-
cent), and private funders: subscribers (26 percent) and lines, which has Asian routes, what else might they
corporations (15 percent). The federal appropriation have been able to do with their time and money?)
brings controversy virtually on an annual basis. Even These pressures have combined to make the service
so, the CPB’s budget has, with few exceptions (no- vulnerable to political attack from both the left and
tably, during the first Reagan presidency, and in 1995, right as elitist. After Nixon accused the service of be-
when a new Republican congressional majority took ing dangerously liberal, many broadcasters scanted
office), been regularly increased to keep its total public affairs and presented “safe” cultural program-
amount roughly steady with 1976 levels measured in ming, only to be accused by the Reagan administration
1972 dollars. The content of public-affairs program- in 1981 of providing “entertainment for a select few.”
ming has consistently been the target of Republican Reagan’s attempt to cut funds also failed, although the
and conservative legislators’ ire, and such anger has administration succeeded in rescinding advance fund-
caused public TV to be hypercautious about such pro- ing that had been designed as a political “heat shield”
grams. This may explain why public TV has not devel- after Nixon’s attack. In 1992 Republican Senator Bob
oped an institutional equivalent of National Public Dole of Kansas threatened to hold up funding for pub-
Radio’s around-the-clock news reporting. lic broadcasting on charges that it was too liberal, and
About half the funds for public TV come from the he succeeded in making broadcasters nervous and
private sector. Viewers are the single largest source of forcing CPB to spend $1 million on surveys and stud-
funding; their contributions come, effectively, without ies that changed nothing. In 1994, following on the Re-
strings and so are especially valuable. These funds are publican victory in Congress, both Dole and Speaker
often raised during “pledge drives” in which special, of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia targeted the
highly popular programming is presented in conjunc- CPB for rescission, on grounds that it was both elitist
tion with heartfelt pleas for funds from station staff, and liberal.
prominent local supporters, and other celebrities. Pro- At the same time, the variety of funding sources,
grams aired during pledge drives (shows hosted by along with the decentralized structure of public TV,
self-help celebrities, operas sung by stars such as militated against mission-focused planning, in the pro-
Placido Domingo, a Harry Potter–themed program) longed industry turmoil that marked the last years of
reflect the genteel image of the service. Stations have the 20th century. Multichannel, satellite, and cable
also found some success with Internet pledging, an- television successfully eroded much of public TV’s
other indication of the upscale tilt of public TV and its traditional niche, although public TV continued to hold
viewers. These pledge drives are supplemented, in as a unique audience the 30 percent of the population
many markets, with other fund-raising efforts, such as that does not receive pay television. Commercial in-
auctions or special performances. The 10 percent of all vestors, hungry for content, increasingly invested in
public TV viewers who become donors tend to be cul- public TV, and public TV entities have searched out
turally and politically cautious, and the need to culti- commercial partners. New technologies posed hypo-
vate them skews public TV programming to what thetical opportunities while requiring extensive exper-
venerable broadcast historian Erik Barnouw called the iment and innovation. Stations were forced to invest in
“safely splendid.” digital technology without business plans or public
Business contributes about a sixth of the funding, subsidies for programming, as a result of a push
but its contributions have disproportionate weight in largely by commercial broadcasters for expanded
shaping programming decisions, because business dol- spectrum. In 2001 the Federal Communications Com-
lars are usually given in association with a particular mission permitted stations to carry advertising on, and
program. Public broadcasters openly market their au- make money from, ancillary (nonbroadcast) services
dience to corporations as an upscale demographic, one on digital channels, such as voice messaging and data
that businesses are eager to capture in what is known transmission.
as “ambush marketing”: catching the attention of a lis- At the beginning of the 21st century, economic, po-
tener or viewer who usually resists advertising. The litical, and technological forces finally converged to
hallmark PBS series Masterpiece Theatre was de- refocus public TV’s role. PBS attained a clearer
signed, from logo to host, by a Mobil Oil Corporation agenda-setting role within the diffuse bureaucracies in-
executive looking to create an image for Mobil as “the volved in public TV, effectively controlling the na-
1856
Public Television
tional schedule and radically revising its prime-time Further Reading

lineup for the first time in two decades. It aggressively Aufderheide, Patricia, The Daily Planet: A Critic on the Capi-
branded the public TV environment as “PBS” by such talist Culture Beat, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
measures as creating websites for all programs but re- Press, 2000
fusing to cite competing websites on air; carrying the Avery, R., and R. Pepper, “The Evolution of the CPB-PBS Re-
PBS “bug” on channel feeds; outreach and educational lationship 1970–1973,” Public Telecommunications Review
(1976)
campaigns and materials; and public relations with Baker, William F., and George Dessart, Down the Tube: An In-
opinion makers. The ascension of Pat Mitchell, a vet- side Account of the Failure of American Television, New
eran of commercial cable TV, as PBS president in York: Basic Books, 1998
2000, brought crisper decision making and more direct Bullert, B.J., Public Television: Politics and the Battle over
competition for programs with commercial channels, Documentary Film, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers
as well as the “social capital” campaign. Producers
Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, Public Televi-
within and for public TV more frequently entered into sion: A Program for Action, New York: Harper and Row,
international coproductions, with both public-service 1967
and commercial partners, and worked harder to retain Engelman, Ralph, Public Radio and Television in America: A
intellectual property rights. The challenge of develop- Political History, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1996
ing and programming digital channels has created new Gibson, George H., Public Broadcasting: The Role of the Fed-
eral Government, 1912–1976, New York: Praeger, 1977
financial pressures and new business plans. At the Horowitz, D., “The Politics of Public Television,” Commentary
same time, stations have individually experimented (December 1991)
with local partners, with extended educational services Hoynes, William, Public Television for Sale: Media, the Market
(including distance learning), and with becoming and the Public Sphere, Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 1994
nodes of community networks. Katz, H., “The Future of Public Broadcasting in the U.S.,” Me-
dia, Culture, and Society (April 1989)
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Konigsberg, E., “Stocks, Bonds, and Barney: How Public Tele-
United States proved a test of the role of public TV in vision Went Private,” Washington Monthly (September
national culture, and it demonstrated public TV’s 1993)
strengths and weaknesses. In the immediate aftermath, Lapham, L., “Adieu, Big Bird: On the Terminal Irrelevance of
the service demonstrated its inability to cover news Public Television,” Harper’s (December 1993)
Lashley, Marilyn, Public Television: Panacea, Pork Barrel, or
thoroughly, since few stations had any ability to cover
Public Trust?, New York: Greenwood, 1992
events live. However, in the days that followed, public Ledbetter, James, Made Possible By . . . : The Death of Public
TV turned out to be the place to go for thoughtful, Broadcasting in the United States, London and New York:
well-researched documentaries about topics related to Verso, 1997
the terrorism, with some of this programming being re- Macy, John W. Jr., To Irrigate a Wasteland: The Struggle to
run to high ratings, after low-rated debuts. The teams Shape a Public Television System in the United States,
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974
that produced these documentaries demonstrated the McChesney, Robert, Telecommunications, Mass Media, and
value of deep investment in the subject matter and Democracy: The Battle for the Control of U.S. Broadcasting,
were able to draw on contacts and outtakes to produce 1928–1935, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
more public affairs quickly. PBS created an Ouellette, L., Viewers Like You: The Cultural Contradictions of
information-rich website with a page for storytelling Public TV, New York: Columbia University Press, 2002
Pepper, Robert M., The Formation of the Public Broadcasting
that expanded quickly and many links to local stations’ Service, New York: Arno Press, 1976
websites, where users could contribute to charities and Rowland, W., “Public Service Broadcasting: Challenges and
support organizations. Thus, the service’s functions as Responses,” in Broadcasting Finance in Transition: A
high-quality programmer, educational resource, and Comparative Handbook, edited by Jay G. Blumler and T.J.
community network node were showcased. Nossiter, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
1991
An improbable, many-headed creature, public TV is Schmertz, Herb, and William Novak, Good-bye to the Low Pro-
unlikely to disappear even under political assault. It is file: The Art of Creative Confrontation, Boston: Little,
also unlikely suddenly to become a service that a plu- Brown, 1986
rality of Americans would expect to turn to on any Somerset-Ward, R., Quality Time? The Report of the Twentieth
given evening. It is likely to become more commercial Century Fund Task Force on Public Television, New York:
in its broadcast services and more entrenched (and de- The Twentieth Century Fund, 1993
Starr, Jerold M., Air Wars: The Right to Reclaim Public Broad-
fensible as taxpayer-funded) in its infrastructure and casting, Boston: Beacon Press, 2000
instructional services. Stone, David M., Nixon and the Politics of Public Television,
Patricia Aufderheide New York: Garland, 1985
1857
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission transmission on May 1, 1954. Programming at both
(FCC) regulates television in Puerto Rico. Its jurisdic- TV stations extended from 4:30 P.M. to 10:30 P.M. and
tion over the Puerto Rican communication industry is included varied genres such as live comedy and drama,
identical to that over the United States and the other variety shows, women’s programs (cooking shows),
U.S. territories. It oversees most aspects pertaining to news programs, and films (mostly Mexican).
the television industry, including the assignment of Competition has always been fierce among these
frequencies, the granting of licenses and their renewal, two broadcasters, which have alternated in their suc-
the evaluation and approval of construction permits, cess at being the first to offer videotape technology
and requests for changes in frequencies, potency, and (1966), color television (1968), and satellite broadcast-
ownership. Following passage of the Telecommunica- ing (1968)—many times achieving these accomplish-
tions Act of 1996, all facets of the telecommunication ments within a week of each other. They have also
industry in Puerto Rico, like those throughout the alternated in obtaining the largest share of the audience
United States, have been rapidly changing. Mergers and the top programs. Due to their early successes,
and acquisitions, convergence of industries, and eco- these two stations attracted the attention of mainland
nomic distress have affected many telecommunication corporations. A succession of sales took place and con-
sectors. Although actions of the FCC remained uncer- tinues to this day; in fact, changes in ownership have
tain as of 2002, it was clear that Puerto Rican televi- accelerated since approval of the Telecommunications
sion would be altered in the near future. Act of 1996.
WKAQ-TV, Telemundo, was first sold to John Blair
and Company, a diversified, publicly traded U.S. com-
History and Trends
pany on April 14, 1983. Blair and Company then sold
Television could not develop in Puerto Rico as early as the station in October 1987 to Reliance Inc., the own-
it did in other areas of the region, due to Puerto Rico’s ers of Telemundo, the Spanish-language television net-
condition as a territory of the United States, which put work in the United States. Thus, Telemundo of Puerto
the communication industry under the overriding con- Rico became part of the large network of Hispanic TV
trol of the FCC. When the FCC implemented the tele- stations on the mainland. In October 2001 NBC, a di-
vision freeze and “ordered applications for new TV vision of General Electric, acquired Telemundo Com-
stations placed in the pending file” on September 29, munications Group, which includes Telemundo of
1948, Puerto Rico had no choice but to postpone its in- Puerto Rico, in a package deal worth $2.7 billion. Reg-
cursion into the new medium. ulatory approval by the Federal Trade Commission
The agency renewed the process for the issuance of (FTC) has been granted; FCC approval was expected
broadcasting licenses on April 12, 1952, and soon shortly.
thereafter, on July 24, 1952, it granted the first permit WAPA-TV, or Televicentro, has changed ownership
for the construction of a commercial television station several times since 1975. It was acquired first by West-
in a U.S. territory to El Mundo Broadcasting Com- ern Broadcasting in the United States; later sold to
pany. WKAQ-TV, Telemundo, was founded by Angel Screen Gems, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures; and
Ramos, who also owned El Mundo newspaper and acquired in 1980 by Pegasus Inc., a subsidiary of Gen-
WKAQ radio (Radio el Mundo), the first radio station eral Electric. In December 1999 WAPA-TV was sold
in Puerto Rico (established in 1922). Telemundo re- to LIN Television, a subsidiary of diversified media
ceived its FCC license to transmit over Channel 2 in company Chancellor Media Corporation, which also
San Juan on February 12, 1954, and went on the air owns and operates eight FM radio stations in Puerto
with regular programming on March 28, 1954. The Rico through Primedia Broadcast Group.
second permit for the construction of a commercial In the early 1950s the Department of Education,
television station was granted to Ramón Quiñónez, headed by Mariano Villalonga, lobbied for the estab-
owner of WAPA Radio on August 12, 1952. WAPA- lishment of public broadcasting. On June 25, 1954, the
TV received its FCC license to transmit over Channel Puerto Rican Legislature approved Joint Resolution
4 in San Juan on March 15, 1954. It started regular Number 94, which authorized and assigned the fund-
1858
Puerto Rico
ing for the creation of the Public Radio and Television cess in radio did not extend to television. As has hap-
Service and the installation and operation of public TV pened to Channel 7, Channel 11’s competition with
and radio stations. After obtaining approval by the Channels 2 and 4 was never effective, and, after
FCC to transmit over Channel 6, WIPR-TV went on Perry’s death, the station’s economic problems wors-
the air on January 6, 1958, thus becoming the first edu- ened, leading it to declare bankruptcy, and close in
cational TV station in Latin America. Offering educa- 1981. In 1986 Lorimar Telepictures acquired the sta-
tional and cultural fare unavailable in commercial tion from Bankruptcy Court and renamed it WSII-TV.
broadcasting, it initially transmitted from 3:30 P.M. to It was subsequently sold to Malrite Communications
9:00 P.M. on weekdays and for only three hours on Group in 1991. Called Teleonce, Channel 11 has
weekends. Its affiliation with the National Educational achieved great success, and since 1995 it has been ca-
Television and Radio Association in 1961 increased its pable of truly competing with Channels 2 and 4, ob-
programming. Also in 1961, a second station, taining equal or better shares and ratings in several
Mayagüez’s WIPM-TV (an affiliate of WIPR-TV), re- time periods. In 1998 it was sold to Montgomery, Al-
transmitted programs to the west coast over Channel 3. abama–based Raycom Media, only to be sold again in
Trailing the commercial stations, WIPR-TV first of- June 2001 to Univisión Communications, the leading
fered regular programming in color on May 12, 1971. Spanish-language media company in the United
By 1979 WIPR-TV and WIPM-TV joined the Public States. Through their subsidiary Univisión Radio, they
Broadcasting Service (PBS), further increasing their also own and operate four radio stations acquired in
offerings and bringing English-language programs 2003 in Puerto Rico’s lucrative radio market.
from the United States to Puerto Rican viewers. On During the 1980s and early 1990s, other commercial
January 21, 1987, radio and TV broadcasting was stations, all lesser players, struggled without much
transferred from the Department of Education to a success. WPRV-TV, Channel 13; WSJU-TV, Channel
newly created state venture, named Corporación para 18 (the oldest of this group dating back to the mid-
la Difusión Pública (Corporation for Public Broadcast- 1960s); WSJN-TV, Channel 24; and WRWR-TV,
ing). An increased budget has since allowed improve- Channel 30, were all unable to effectively compete
ments in physical facilities, equipment, and with the older, more solidly established stations. Seri-
programming, with airtime gradually extended to 24 ous economic problems forced some into bankruptcy,
hours a day. The public TV stations created a news de- and all went off the air. In recent years, all of these sta-
partment in November 1995, and two editions of its tions started to transmit again, albeit with changes in
newscast are presented daily. Export of local produc- ownership, call letters, and programming.
tions to some U.S. markets has been intermittent. WPRV-TV, Channel 13, was bought by the Catholic
WRIK-TV was established in Ponce, on the south Church, Archdiocese of San Juan, in January 1995.
coast of Puerto Rico, after receiving an FCC permit to Known locally as Teleoro, it is a commercial station
go on the air on Channel 7 on February 2, 1958. Its built around social, religious, and cultural program-
owner was Alfredo Ramírez de Arellano, and, lacking ming.
its own programming, the station retransmitted Tele- WSJU-TV, Channel 18, was acquired in December
mundo’s fare. By 1970 it was bought by United Artists, 1990 and belongs to International Broadcasting Cor-
moved to San Juan, renamed Rikavisión, and started to poration. This Puerto Rican enterprise catered to inde-
produce its own programming without much success. pendent producers, had scarce programming, and
In 1979 it was acquired by Puerto Rican producer mostly played Spanish-language music videos. Its call
Tommy Muñiz and became WLUZ-TV. Economic letters changed to WAVB-TV and most recently to
problems forced Muñiz to sell the station in 1985 to WTCV-TV. In February 2001 Channel 18 entered into
Malrite Communications Group. The station became a local marketing agreement with the Home Shopping
WSTE-TV, and in 1991 it was sold to Jerry Hartman, a Network to carry the network’s Spanish-language edi-
Florida entrepreneur. Known locally as SuperSiete, it tion. WVEO-TV, Channel 44, and WIEC-TV, Channel
is a limited outlet for independent producers, who buy 48, are affiliate stations retransmitting to the west and
time to present their programs during periods other south, respectively.
than the 57 weekly hours contracted through a long- WSJN-TV, Channel 24, was bought by S&E Net-
term marketing agreement to transmit Channel 11 pro- work, a Puerto Rican venture that went on the air on
gramming. November 1994 and produced some 50 hours a week
In 1960 Rafael Pérez Perry received authorization to of sports programs and studio-based talk shows. The
start WKBM-TV and transmit over Channel 11. At the station’s call letters were changed to WJPX-TV, and in
time, he owned one of the most successful radio sta- 1997 it was sold to Paxson Communications, a
tions on the island (WKBM-AM). However, his suc- Florida-based TV and radio company, together with
1859
Puerto Rico
two affiliate stations (WKPV-TV, Channel 20, and amount of local productions during this same time-
WJWN-TV, Channel 38). In July 2001 the network, frame but still command a minuscule number of the
known as Telenet, was acquired by LIN Television, television audience.
which has put Channel 24 and its affiliate stations un- An estimated 1,325,610 households exist in Puerto
der the control of Televicentro. This has increased the Rico, of which 1,313,223 have at least one television
reach of WAPA-TV, Channel 4, to areas of weak sig- set, for a penetration of 99.1 percent (Mediafax, June
nals. 2003). A number of affiliate stations exist on the is-
With new call letters, WSJU-TV, Channel 30, was land, which means that TV signals of major stations
launched in March 2000, when its license was granted reach all geographic areas. Channels 2, 4, and 11 con-
to the Puerto Rican firm Aerco Broadcasting Corpora- sistently get the largest share of the audience, with all
tion. WSJU plays only Spanish-language music other channels trailing far behind. Television audience
videos. measurements are an important element for marketing
Other TV stations—educational, commercial, and re- and programming decisions, and, through the years,
ligious—have emerged since the mid-1980s. WMTJ-TV, several companies have performed this function. The
Channel 40, is an educational station belonging to the earliest measurements took place in September 1956,
Ana G. Méndez Foundation, a private university. It was but it was not until the 1970s that companies like
inaugurated in 1985 as a PBS affiliate, and, besides PBS Clapp and Mayne and Stanford Klapper made inroads
programming, it also offers its own news, current affairs into a field that was rapidly developing and which de-
programs, and televised college courses. Its affiliate sta- termined where the advertising dollar would go. Medi-
tion, WQTO-TV in Ponce, retransmits to the southern afax is the only company offering television audience
coast over Channel 26. WZDE-TV, Channel 52, is an measurements, with television stations and local ad-
independent commercial station broadcasting music vertising agencies subscribing and paying a fee for
videos. It belongs to Puerto Rican firm R&F Broadcast- these services. Kantar Media Research, a subsidiary of
ing, Inc. and started transmission early in 2003 after a British global company WPP Group, acquired Medi-
long battle with a cable television franchise over the afax in July 2001.
mandated FCC must-carry rule. WELU-TV, Channel 32;
WDWL-TV, Channel 36; WCCV-TV, Channel 54;
Cable Television
WUJA-TV, Channel 58; and WECN-TV, Channel 64, all
are religious stations belonging to diverse Protestant The cable television industry has transformed the land-
groups. Programming on these stations includes reli- scape of television in Puerto Rico. Plagued by prob-
gious services, revivals, testimonials, interviews, fund- lems in the beginning, it is now an evolving alternative
raising, and news programs. to local television and its programming strategies.
With the exception of a limited number of programs, Since 1996 the Junta Reglamentadora de Telecomuni-
all stations transmit in Spanish. Commercial television caciones (Telecommunication Regulatory Board) has
content mostly consists of Puerto Rican productions, overseen operations of cable TV in Puerto Rico; it now
particularly comedy, children’s programs, news, talk authorizes franchises, a responsibility previously held
shows, and variety shows. Dubbed American TV se- by the Public Service Commission. In the mid-1960s,
ries and movies, and Mexican, Colombian, and the availability of Puerto Rico Cablevision, a sub-
Venezuelan soap operas, comprise the rest of the offer- sidiary of International Telephone and Telegraph, was
ings. Teleonce’s acquisition by Univisión in 2001 initi- limited to major San Juan hotels. The first franchise for
ated a move toward more canned programming from residential service for the area of San Juan was granted
their stateside studios that was directed to the in 1970 to the Cable Television Company of Puerto
Hispanic-American population in the United States. Rico. By 1976 the company was bankrupt, and Cable
This is now standard fare and is altering the offerings TV of Greater San Juan took over the franchise in
of Puerto Rico’s television. The amount of local pro- March 1977. It was bought by Century Communica-
gramming is diminishing while imported programs are tions in 1986, and major investments in infrastructure
on the rise. The other commercial stations, following a took place. Other cable TV operators were granted
global trend, have emulated this. Reality TV, both im- franchises to offer cable service on the rest of the is-
ported and locally produced, is also a new and rapidly land.
increasing trend. There are very limited European or In the early 21st century, four cable companies cov-
Canadian offerings, except for BBC or CBC specials ered the ten franchise areas that serviced more than 90
carried over PBS stations WIPR-TV and WMTJ-TV. percent of the island and reached an estimated 407,979
Interestingly, public television has increased the subscribers (Mediafax, June 2003). Current cable
1860
Puerto Rico
companies are Adelphia Communications, which in spectrum of interactive broadband network services.
October 1999 completed its acquisition of Century This is rapidly changing the nature and reach of cable
Communications and is now the parent company of companies, as well as the services they offer. The con-
Cable TV of Greater San Juan and Community Cable- vergence of services now permitted has allowed cable
vision; Centennial Cable TV of Puerto Rico, which companies in Puerto Rico recently to start launching
since September 2000 has bought Pegasus Communi- cable modem service, by which cable subscribers are
cations of Puerto Rico (two franchise areas), Tele- able to access the Internet at very high speeds through
ponce Cable, and Cable TV del Noroeste; Liberty the cable TV network. While not all cable systems of-
Media, which acquired TCI Cablevision of Puerto fer this service yet, and those that do do not have it
Rico (three franchise areas) in February 2000; and available in all areas they control, this is a rapidly
Digital TV One (previously Telecable of Puerto Rico), changing situation. Cable companies have most of the
the only remaining Puerto Rican company. required infrastructure ready, and with the completion
The expansion of the cable industry is indicated by of the Americas II submarine fiber-optic cable, all will
the steady growth in the number of subscribers. In further diversify their offerings.
1980 there were 35,000 subscribers, increasing to
127,400 by 1985, 218,900 in 1990, 352,000 in 2001,
Satellite Television
and 408,000 in 2003 (PR Cable Subscriber History,
1994; Mediafax, 2001; June 2003). A conservative es- Unregulated by local agencies, the operations of satel-
timate puts their yearly billing at over $300 million. lite television in Puerto Rico are overseen by the FCC.
Expansion is expected to continue, although not as As with cable TV, satellite television had its share of
fast as previously thought because of the inroads problems in the beginning. Initially, small mom-and-
made by satellite television since 2001. Still, cable pop operators sold and installed deep-dish antennas,
penetration is only about 31 percent compared to from the late 1970s. These never operated any sort of
around 70 percent in the United States (Caribbean large-scale enterprise and were mostly unreliable. The
Business, September 14, 2000; Mediafax, June 2003). island’s first taste of organized satellite TV came with
Additional consolidation and convergence of services the Alphastar service launched in 1997. Alphastar
is anticipated and will further transform the cable TV went dark, however, after falling into bankruptcy
industry. problems.
Cable TV systems carry all local stations and more Direct-to-home satellite television was again made
than 150 North American channels via satellite. A available through DirecTV Puerto Rico, which was es-
move to digital cable is well advanced among all tablished in mid-1999. It is a subsidiary of DirecTV
providers. Their fare is mostly in English and includes Latin America (formerly Galaxy Latin America), a
all major networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and multinational company owned by Hughes Electronics
FOX, as well as channels specializing in sports (ESPN, Corporation and Darlene Investments, an affiliate of
ESPN2), news (CNN), finance (CNBC), music (MTV, the Cisneros Group of Companies. DirecTV has grown
VH1), movies (American Movie Classics, HBO, rapidly and aggressively in Puerto Rico. It offers 130
HBO2, Showtime, Cinemax, The Movie Channel), video and audio channels, has 470 employees, and in
cartoons (Cartoon Network), children’s programs late 2003 claimed to have 165,000 clients (DirecTV,
(Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel), science (The Dis- January 2004). The other provider of satellite televi-
covery Channel, The Learning Channel), arts (A&E, sion is Dish Network, a subsidiary of EchoStar Com-
Bravo!), public affairs (C-Span, C-Span2), comedy, munications Corporation, which predates DirecTV,
(Comedy Central), religion (EWTN), shopping (HSC, operates only through dealerships, and has no offices
HSN, QVC, QVC2), weather (The Weather Channel), locally. Independent information about this industry is
and many other areas. There are also some 70 pay-per- still unavailable. Unverified data points to a conserva-
view channels offering movies, sports, and adult fare tive estimate of 300,000 subscribers to satellite televi-
as well as 45 satellite music channels. Channels featur- sion services at the end of 2003. If accurate, this would
ing programming in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Italian, imply a penetration of about 23 percent for satellite
French, and Japanese, although limited, are available. services and a total penetration of close to 54 percent
Few Spanish-language channels are available through for both satellite and cable TV services combined.
cable TV. Among these are TV Chile, Venevisión, Since data available for satellite services is unverifi-
TV3, and Spanish TVE. able and does not allow knowing whether the same
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allows cable households subscribe to both services or not, and if so,
companies to become integrated providers of the full in which percentage they do, these last two statistics
1861
Puerto Rico
are only notional. Mediafax has plans to include audi- as NBC, LIN Television, and Univisión have ob-
ence measurements of satellite television homes in the tained control of the principal television networks,
near future. and everything points to a continuation of this trend.
Educational broadcasters enjoy relative success in
that their audience share, although small, is steady,
Conclusion and investment in infrastructure and programming is
The trends seen in Puerto Rico’s television industry increasing. Insufficient data exists to speculate about
suggest that further expansion and acquisitions, the future of religious channels. As for cable and
mergers, and realignments will take place. Minor satellite television, undoubtedly growth will continue
players unable to compete will either disappear or be in a still-developing market that has consolidated
taken over. The post-1996 era has proven Puerto amid acquisitions by major U.S. and global media
Rico to be an important market of interest to global companies.
players. Already major U.S. media companies such Rodolfo B. Popelnik
1862
Q
Quatermass
British Science Fiction Series
Years before the English Sunday supplements ever dis- sial 1954 telecast. Later in the decade, Kneale adapted
covered the “Angry Young Man,” jazz, science fiction, John Osbourne’s Look Back in Anger and The Enter-
and other “marginal” art forms began to gather adher- tainer for the screen.
ents among those who formerly might have quickly Yet Kneale’s first major project was quite possibly
passed by them. Postwar British culture had entered a his most elegant as well. The story of The Quatermass
self-conscious period of transition, and science fiction Experiment is fairly simple: a British scientist, Profes-
suddenly seemed much more important both to pundits sor Bernard Quatermass, has launched a rocket and
such as Kingsley Amis and to readers in general, who rushes to the site of its crash. There he discovers that
made John Wyndham’s novels (beginning with The only one crew member, Victor Carroon, has returned
Day of the Triffids [1951]) surprising best sellers. with the ship. Carroon survived only as a host for an
The 1950s were also a period of adjustment for the amorphous alien life-form, which is not only painfully
BBC, which lost its television monopoly midway mutating Carroon’s body but also preparing to repro-
through the decade with the dreaded debut of the Inde- duce. Carroon escapes and wreaks havoc on London,
pendent Television Authority (ITA)—the invasion of until Quatermass finally tracks the now unrecognizably
commercial TV. Classical works and theatrical adapta- human mass to Westminster Abbey. There Quatermass
tions suddenly seemed insufficient to secure the BBC’s makes one final appeal to Carroon’s humanity.
popular support. Perhaps not surprisingly, the corpora- Years before, H.G. Wells had inaugurated contem-
tion turned to science fiction: in 1953 the drama depart- porary science fiction with warnings in War of the
ment put its development budget behind one writer, Worlds about Britain’s failure to advance from its colo-
Nigel Kneale, who in exchange produced the script for nial self-satisfaction. The Quatermass Experiment’s
the BBC’s first original, adult work of science fiction, a depiction of an Englishman’s transformation into an
serial to be produced and directed by Rudolph Cartier alienated monster dramatized a new range of gendered
and titled The Quatermass Experiment. The summer of fears about Britain’s postwar and postcolonial security.
that year, its six half-hour episodes aired, and with them As a result, or perhaps simply because of Kneale and
began a British tradition of science fiction television Cartier’s effective combination of science fiction and
that runs in various forms from Quatermass to A Is for poignant melodrama, audiences were captivated.
Andromeda to Blake’s Seven, and from Doctor Who to With a larger budget and better effects, Kneale and
Red Dwarf. Kneale himself went on to adapt George Cartier continued the professor’s story with Quater-
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four for Cartier’s controver- mass II (1955), an effectively disturbing story of alien
1863
Quatermass
rious moments. Even in less-unexpected contexts than

Marcus’s, the name Quatermass may still operate as a
certain sort of cultural code word; for example, in his ex-
tensive science fiction history Trillion Year Spree (1986),
Brian Aldiss uses “the Quatermass school” as if every
reader should automatically understands its meaning.
By the late 1970s the BBC was no longer willing to
commit itself to the budget necessary for Kneale’s
fourth and final Quatermass serial, simply titled Quater-
mass. Commercial television was ready, however, and
in 1979, at the conclusion of a 75-day ITV strike, the
four-part Quatermass debuted with John Mills starring
as the now elderly professor in his final adventure.
Only the serial’s opening sequence, involving
Quatermass. Quatermass deriding a U.S.-USSR “Skylab 2,” dis-
Photo courtesy of Robert Dickinson plays the force of the earlier series: a moment after
Quatermass blurts out his words in a live television in-
terview, the studio monitors are filled with the image of
Skylab 2 blowing to pieces. Subsequent episodes are
less successfully provocative. Concerning a dystopic
possession and governmental conspiracies prefiguring future Britain where hippielike youth are being swept
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Perhaps fit- up by aliens, the serial’s narrative was recognized as
tingly, Quatermass II provided early counterprogram- somewhat stale and unconvincing. Yet even in the late
ming to the BBC’s new commercial competition. 1970s, despite the last serial’s lukewarm reviews,
That same year, the small, struggling Hammer Films Quatermass remained a source of fan preoccupation
successfully released its film adaptation of The reminiscent of the commitment of many to Star Trek.
Quatermass Experiment in Britain. The next year the Unlike the three earlier serials, Quatermass was not
film (retitled The Creeping Unknown) performed un- adapted for the screen. It was simply edited and
expectedly well in the lucrative U.S. market, providing repackaged as The Quatermass Conclusion for theatri-
the foundation for the company’s subsequent series of cal and video distribution abroad. Of the earlier serials,
Gothic horror films. Hammer released its film adapta- only Quatermass and the Pit has had a video release,
tion of the second serial (retitled The Enemy Within for although most of the first serial and all of the second
the United States) in 1957. have been preserved by the British Film Institute.
Kneale and Cartier’s third serial in the series, Robert Dickinson
Quatermass and the Pit, combined the poetic horror of
the first serial and the paranoia of the second. In it, See also Cartier, Rudolph; Lambert, Verity; Sci-
Quatermass learns that an archaeological discovery ence Fiction Programs
made during routine subway expansion means nothing
less than humanity itself is not what we have believed The Quatermass Experiment
it to be. The object discovered in that subway “pit” is
an ancient Martian craft, and its contents indicate hu- Cast
mans are their genetically engineered offspring. By the Professor Bernard Quatermass Reginald Tate
conclusion of the serial, London’s inhabitants have Judith Carroon Isabel Dean
been inadvertently triggered into a programmed mode John Paterson Hugh Kelly
of rioting, and the city lies mostly in ruins. “We’re all Victor Carroon Duncan Lamont
Martians!” became Quatermass’s famous cry, and the James Fullalove Paul Whitsun-Jones
serial’s ample references to escalating racial and class
tensions give his words an ominous power.
Producer
It is this grim, elegant ending, filmed by Hammer in
Rudolph Cartier
1967 (and released in the United States as Five Million
Years to Earth), that Greil Marcus used in his history of
punk to describe the emotional experience of a Sex Pis- Programming History
tols concert. If nothing else, Marcus’s reference in Lip- 6 30-minute episodes
stick Traces (1989) suggests that Quatermass, like those BBC
repressed Martian memories, may return at the most cu- July 18, 1953–August 22, 1953
1864
Quebecor Media Inc.
Quatermass II Quatermass
Cast Cast
Quatermass John Robinson Quatermass John Mills
Paula Quatermass Monica Grey Joe Kapp Simon MacCorkindale
Dr. Leo Pugh Hugh Griffiths Clare Kapp Barbara Kellerman
Captain John Dillon John Stone Kickalong Ralph Arliss
Vincent Broadhead Rupert Davies Caraway Paul Rosebury
Fowler Austin Trevor Bee Jane Bertish
Hettie Rebecca Saire
Producer Marshall Tony Sibbald
Rudolph Cartier Sal Toyah Wilcox
Guror Brewster Mason
Annie Morgan Margaret Tyzack
Programming History
6 30-minute episodes
BBC Producers
October 22, 1955–November 26, 1955 Verity Lambert, Ted Childs
Programming History
Quatermass and the Pit 4 60-minute episodes
Cast ITV
Quatermass Andre Morrell October 24, 1979–November 14, 1979
Dr. Matthew Roney Cec Linder
Barbara Judd Christine Finn
Colonel Breen Anthony Bushell Further Reading
Captain Potter John Stratton Briggs, Asa, The History of Broadcasting in the United King-
Sergeant Michael Ripper dom, vol. 4, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979
Corporal Gibson Harold Goodwin Fulton, Roger, The Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction, Lon-
don: Boxtree, 1990
Private West John Walker Kneale, Nigel, The Quatermass Experiment; Quatermass II;
James Fullalove Brian Worth Quatermass and the Pit, London: Penguin, 1960
Sladden Richard Shaw Kneale, Nigel, Quatermass, London: Hutchinson, 1979
Leman, Joy, “Wise Scientists and Female Androids: Class and
Gender in Science Fiction,” in Popular Television in
Producer Britain, edited by John Corner, London: British Film Insti-
Rudolph Cartier tute, 1991
Marcus, Greil, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twenti-
eth Century, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Programming History Press, 1989
6 35-minute episodes Pirie, David, A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cin-
BBC ema, 1946–1972, London: Gordon Fraser, 1973
December 22, 1958–January 26, 1959
Quebecor Media Inc.

Quebecor Media is a leading global multimedia con- sion services. While the company has already captured
glomerate based in Quebec, Canada, with large hold- a large part of the French-Canadian market, its corpo-
ings in newspaper, magazine, and commercial rate vision is global in scope. Quebecor has benefited
publishing; television production, broadcasting, and from a relaxed regulatory environment in Canada,
distribution; and cable, Internet, and interactive televi- which has allowed the company to vastly expand its
1865
Quebecor Media Inc.
holdings both within and across media and to pursue a Internet services but also acquired a major stake in the
strategy that emphasizes convergence and economies development of interactive television. Videotron oper-
of scale as well as achieve vertical integration of its ates the illico digital interactive television system,
print and television services. Like other multimedia which currently has 114,000 subscribers. Illico allows
conglomerates such as Time Warner or Universal- subscribers to access e-mail and surf the Internet
Vivendi, Quebecor has largely acquired its holdings through their television set, as well as participate in
through corporate buyouts and mergers. Quebecor’s specially designed chat rooms and newsgroups unique
television holdings have largely resulted from the to the interactive service. It also provides easy access
company’s purchase of Groupe Videotron Ltee. in Oc- to home shopping, creating new synergies between
tober 2000, although its exploitation of the television television programs and ancillary markets for the
medium dates back to the early 1950s. products they feature. Viewers are alerted to the avail-
Publishing magnate Pierre Peladeau founded Que- ability for purchase of particular fashions, furniture,
becor in 1965. Peladeau had begun his career in 1950 and accessories shown on select programs. Quebecor
as a publisher of community newspapers in Montreal. has identified interactive television as key to its media
In 1955 Peladeau launched Nouvelles et Points, the convergence strategy. According to Quebecor’s web-
first of a series of weekly entertainment magazines, site, “[interactive television] will crystallize the syner-
which focused heavily on the burgeoning Francophone gies among the company’s media properties, giving
television industry and its celebrities. Over the years, advertisers a multitude of cross-promotion opportuni-
Peladeau’s magazines and newspapers would carve ties and customers a host of innovations and value-
out a niche in Quebec by devoting significant coverage added interactive services.”
to French-Canadian stars and TV series. In 1964 In September 2001 Quebecor added the TVA group
Peladeau started Le Journal de Montreal, which would to its conglomerate. In order to own the lucrative tele-
become the largest French-language daily in North vision channel, Quebecor was first required to sell off
America. The newspaper emulated local television its holdings in TQS, which it had owned since 1997.
news by using an abundance of colorful and sensa- Under Canadian law, companies cannot own more
tional photographs accompanied by short articles and than one broadcast channel in the same market,
by devoting a significant amount of space to local though they can own multiple newspapers and operate
sports and culture. various services within a single market. TVA is the
Over the years, Quebecor’s publishing empire grew, largest private-sector producer and broadcaster of
expanding beyond Quebec into the rest of Canada and French-language programming in North America. Ten
the United States and eventually the world. Today, stations reaching the majority of French-speaking
Quebecor is the world’s largest commercial printer, households in Quebec as well as the rest of Canada
operating 160 plants in 17 countries and employing carry TVA’s signal. The TVA network owns six of
39,000 people worldwide. The corporation also owns those ten stations. Additionally, TVA International
Sun Media, the second-largest newspaper group in was founded in 1997 when the TVA group bought
Canada with eight metropolitan dailies, eight commu- Motion International, which has since become the
nity dailies, and 175 weekly newspapers, and it re- leading distributor of Canadian programming in
mains the largest magazine publisher in Quebec. Canada. With the addition of TVA International, the
Additionally, Quebecor owns Videotron, the largest company has achieved full vertical integration of its
cable TV provider in Quebec with an estimated 1.4 television holdings. Finally, TVA has a significant in-
million subscribers as of 2003. Videotron is also one of terest in specialty cable channels, launching Le Canal
the largest Internet service providers in Canada. Nouvelles TVA, a 24-hour all-news station, in 1998,
Videotron subsidiary SuperClub Videotron is the lead- and partnering to create Canal Evasion, a French-
ing video rental and sales chain in Quebec with over language travel and tourism specialty channel, and
170 locations. Finally, Quebecor also owns and oper- Canal Indigo, a French-language pay-per-view chan-
ates TVA, the top general-interest network in Quebec, nel. TVA also owns 50 percent of HSS Canada, a lead-
maintaining a market share of approximately 35 per- ing producer of infomercials, and has launched Club
cent. TVAchat, a French-language equivalent of the Home
With the purchase of Videotron Ltee. in 2000, Que- Shopping Network.
becor not only expanded into the world of cable and Avi Santo
1866
Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk
British Drama Series (adapted in U.S.)
This British television drama, by Russell T. Davies, Folk as a counter to most mainstream TV portrayals of
was first aired on public television from February to homosexual characters as incidental or associated with
April 1999, causing equal measures of controversy and misery or villains. All the main characters in Queer as
delight. The original eight-part series was followed by Folk are gay, but instead of attempting to create an
the two-part Queer as Folk 2: Same Men. New Tricks. imagined gay world that represented a politically cor-
In 2000 the program idea transferred to the U.S. cable rect diversity, Davies focused his setting on Manch-
channel Showtime as a 20-episode series. Writers Ron ester’s Canal Street gay scene. It was filmed on
Cowen and Daniel Lipman relocated the action from location in a colorful, vibrant style with an upbeat, par-
Manchester to Pittsburgh, and it aired its fourth season tying theme and club music sound track.
in the autumn of 2003. Davies went on to irk some gay The three main characters were hardly all likable.
viewers by writing Bob and Rose (ITV 2001), a drama They had faults and behaved foolishly, selfishly, or
about a gay man who falls in love and sleeps with a naively. The most striking, Stuart (Aiden Gillen), a late-
woman, questioning the absolute nature of his homo- 20s advertising executive, is a pill-popping sexually
sexuality. He has been commissioned to write the re- voracious “scene queen”; for most of the series, he is
launching of the camp BBC sci-fi TV series, Dr. Who, not “out” to his family. Vince (Craig Kelly), his long-
thereby regaining, in the eyes of some, his “gay- suffering best friend and secret admirer, is the manager
friendly” reputation. Queer as Folk was, and remains, of a supermarket. Finally, Nathan (Charlie Hunnam), a
controversial because it challenged accepted modes of 15-year-old boy, is seduced on his first time out in
screening homosexuality on television, and because Canal Street by the predatory Stuart and proceeds to
Davies rejects the “gay writer” tag. Produced by Chan- fall in love with him. The sequel, Queer as Folk 2,
nel 4 TV in the United Kingdom, the program ex- ended by whisking the boys off in their jeep in a magi-
pressed the channel’s remit to screen challenging cal, surrealistic finale, the audiovisual excess of which
material, even though it was scheduled at a cautious broke any links that the series had tentatively kept with
10:30 P.M. time slot. the long tradition of British TV social realism.
The program’s title plays on the northern English The strength of Queer as Folk was that it created an
aphorism that “there’s nowt [nothing] as queer as entirely credible world for the characters, with their
folk,” innocently meaning that there is no accounting priorities and emotional landscape brilliantly captured
for the behavioral surprises that people will spring on in the dialogue and the scenarios depicted. Life in this
you. But it also suggests a politicized use of the word: gay scene was exhilarating, highly pleasurable, and
the provocatively postgay slogan “Queer as Fuck” as- marked by excessive alcohol consumption and drug-
sociated with radical activist groups that emerged in fueled sex. It was also misogynistic, exploitative, and
the late 1980s. “Queer” activists sought to reappropri- deeply materialistic. It unashamedly showed the inti-
ate the abusive term queer for subversive uses: to mate lives of a few affluent gay men in the 1990s en-
counter prejudices against HIV, and to protest against joying a consumer-led hedonism that captured the
the culture of arcane legislative iniquities in Britain spirit of “scene gays,” and also of many young hetero-
(namely, but not solely, Section 28, which prohibits lo- sexual adults living in Britain.
cal authorities from the “promotion of homosexuality” The worth of the series is signified both by its initial
and forbids presenting homosexuality in government- disruptive impact, its enduring “after-life” qualities,
funded schools as an acceptable or appropriate aspect and its commercial abilities to travel well across the
of family life). But more significantly, “queer politics” world. Banned from Australian public TV, it spawned
tried to forge a sexual politics beyond the simple bi- the U.S. adaptation, another series, called Metrosexu-
nary of gay/straight, and to disrupt the liberal progres- ality (Channel 4, 2001), that featured black gay charac-
sive identity politics associated with gay reform ters, DVD and music collections, and academic
groups Stonewall or GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Al- writing and conferences devoted to it. Queer as Folk
liance Against Defamation). Davies wrote Queer as has become a media phenomenon, sustaining itself as a
1867
Queer as Folk
product of the consumerism that it represented on- Programming History

screen. The program was critically divisive within a Channel 4
majority, heterosexual society, some hating it, some 8 episodes
loving it. Interestingly, it divided gay people and their February–April 1999 Tuesday 10:30
community representatives in Britain.
Press releases, media commentary, and trailers en-
Queer as Folk 2: Same Men. New Tricks.
sured that viewers expected taboos to be broken: over 4
2-part special:
million of them were not disappointed. The opening ten
February 15, 2000–February 22, 2000
minutes of the first episode showed 15-year-old Nathan
(under the legal age for sex) and Stuart engaged in
graphically depicted oral-anal and anal sex. This set a U.S. version
record number of complaints to the ITC, independent
television’s regulatory body. These official complaints Cast
were not upheld, but the ITC did disapprove of the pro- Brian Kinney Gale Harold
gram’s “celebratory tone” and castigated it for its lack Michael Novotny Hal Sparks
of a moral framework or posttransmission advice about Justin Taylor Randy Harrison
safer sex. Angela Mason of Stonewall, the gay reform Emmett Honeycutt Peter Paige
group, condemned the program and distanced her orga- Ted Schmidt Scott Lowell
nization from the series because it propagated the idea Melanie Marcus Michelle Clunie
that gay people were sexually promiscuous; Stonewall Lindsay Peterson Thea Gill
believed that the program would damage its campaign
to lobby the new Labour government (1997) to push its Developers for U.S. Version
equality and decriminalization laws through Parlia- Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman
ment. The program’s sponsor (Beck’s beer) withdrew
its support.
The U.S. version is a polished, well-acted, and cred- Executive Producers
ible transatlantic version that has worked very success- Ron Cowen, Tony Jonas, Daniel Lipman
fully for its own constituency, although its wider social
impact is restricted since Showtime is a pay-to-view Programming History
channel. Post-Ellen, it provides a much-needed anti- Showtime
dote to the wisecracking but anodyne and inoffensive 49 episodes (as of winter 2003)
U.S. sitcom Will & Grace. Season 1: December 3, 2000–June 24, 2001
Lance Pettitt Sunday 10:00
See also Ellen; Sexual Orientation and Television Season 2: January 6, 2002–June 16, 2002
Season 3: March 2, 2003–June 22, 2003
Program Notes
Further Reading
U.K. version Almighty Records, Queer as Folk: The Whole Love Thing.
Sorted, ALMYCD28, 1999
Cast Davies, R.T., Queer as Folk: The Scripts, Channel 4 Books,
Stuart Alan Jones Aidan Gillen 1999
Nathan Maloney Charlie Hunnam Davies, R.T., “Transmission was madness. Honestly,” The
Vince Tyler Craig Kelly Guardian (September 16, 2003): 16–17
Cooke, L., British Television Drama, British Film Institute,
2003
Writer Munt, S. R., “Shame/Pride Dichotomies in Queer as Folk,” Tex-
tual Practice 14:2 (2000): 531–46
Russell T. Davies Showtime, Queer as Folk: The Complete First Season, VHS,
SHO2001, 2001
Tobin, R., “Showtime’s Queer as Folk,” Film and History 31:2
Executive Producer (2001): 75–77
Nicola Shindler
1868
Quentin Durgens, M.P.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

See Bravo; Sexual Orientation and Television

Canadian Drama Series
One of the first hour-long Canadian drama series pro- emotional behavior. The result made for what its direc-
duced by the CBC, Quentin Durgens, M.P., began as tor and producer David Gardner called an “ironic
six half-hour episodes entitled Mr. Member of Parlia- drama.” Documentary techniques grounded in the tra-
ment in the summer of 1965 as part of The Serial, a dition of the National Film Board of Canada also
common vehicle for Canadian dramas. The program added to the “behind-the-scene” feel of the series and
starred a young Gordon Pinsent as a naive rookie reflected, according to Canadian television critic Mor-
member of Parliament who arrives in Ottawa and ris Wolfe, a Canadian tradition of “telling it like it is.”
quickly learns that the realities behind public service Despite these claims, other Canadian television critics
can be alternately humorous, overwhelming, and frus- and historians such as Paul Rutherford have ques-
trating. tioned the uniqueness of these “made-in-Canada” dra-
Consciously designed to be an absolutely distinctive mas, arguing instead that many of the characteristics
Canadian drama series, Quentin Durgens, M.P., con- attributed to Canadian drama series such as Wojeck,
trasted the private struggles and controversies faced by Quentin Durgens, M.P., and Cariboo Country were al-
politicians with the more sedate, pompous image pre- ready to be found in some U.S. and, especially, British
sented by Parliament. Many of its plots were inspired dramas.
by real-life issues and situations. Pornography, vio- Although Quentin Durgens, M.P., was part of a
lence in minor-league hockey, gender discrimination, formidable lineup, it was never popular with Canadian
and questions of religious tolerance were topics ad- viewers. With fewer funds and resources than Wojeck,
dressed among its episodes. In all of them, however, the show had to be videotaped (on location and in the
the inner workings of power, with its backroom deals studio) for its initial two seasons. The flattened, taped
and interpersonal struggles, remained the backbone of images and sometimes awkward edits detracted from
the series. the documentary feel. Nor were its scripts consistently
The regular series of Quentin Durgens, M.P., began strong. Despite the increased support in its third season
in December 1966 as a winter season replacement. It (after the end of Wojeck), when all 17 episodes were
followed the popular series Wojeck in a Tuesday 9:00 filmed and in color, Quentin Durgens failed to hold the
P.M. time slot, and, like Wojeck, Quentin Durgens was large audiences Wojeck had won for the evening.
hailed as an example of Canadian television, distinct Canadian viewers, it seemed, did not share the CBC’s
and set apart from Hollywood drama. The show still and producers’ interest in developing a distinctive
carried its imprint as a serial with open narratives, un- Canadian perspective. Parliamentary intrigues were
resolved psychological conflicts, and the freedom to not fascinating enough to attract a large following, and
construct stories around topical issues. Frequent allu- Quentin Durgens, M.P., simply lacked the excitement
sions to actual social events and a great deal of subtext of cop shows.
were interwoven in plots that juxtaposed rational and Manon Lamontagne
1869

Photo courtesy of National Archives of Canada/CBC Collection
Cast December 1966–January 1967 Tuesday 9:00–10:00

Quentin Durgens, M.P. Gordon Pinsent February 1967–April 1967 Tuesday 9:00–10:00
His Secretary Suzanne Levesque September 1968–January 1969 Tuesday 9:00–10:00
Other Members of Parliament Ovila Legere,
Franz Russell,
Chris Wiggins Further Reading
Miller, Mary Jane, Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television
Producers Drama since 1952, Vancouver: University of British
David Gardner, Ron Weyman, John Trent, Kirk Jones Columbia Press, 1987
Rutherford, Paul, When Television Was Young: Primetime
Canada, 1952–1967, Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
Programming History 1990
41 episodes (including 6 as Mr. Member of Parlia- Wolfe, Morris, Jolts: The TV Wasteland and the Canadian Oa-
ment on The Serial, summer 1965) sis, Toronto: James Lorimer, 1985
1870
Quiz and Game Shows
Quiz and Game Shows
Prior to the quiz show scandals in 1958, no differentia- considered quiz shows, since they rely primarily or
tion existed between quiz shows and game shows. Pro- completely on physical talents, whereas Family Feud
grams that relied mainly on physical activity and had and The Newlywed Game, which rely entirely on
no significant quiz element to them, such as Truth or knowledge of people or of individuals, would also be
Consequences or People Are Funny, were called “quiz considered game shows. Jeopardy!, however, with its
shows,” as was an offering like The $64,000 Question, focus on academic, factual knowledge, is clearly a quiz
which emphasized factual knowledge. The scandals show.
mark an important turning point because in the years Many early television quiz shows of the 1940s were
following, programs formerly known as “quiz shows” transferred or adapted from radio, the most prominent
were renamed “game shows.” This change coincided among them being Information Please, Winner Take
with a shift in content, away from high culture and fac- All, and Quiz Kids. These shows also provided a pro-
tual knowledge common to the big-money shows of fessional entry point for influential quiz show produc-
the 1950s. However, the renaming of the genre also ers such as Louis Cowan, Mark Goodson, and Jack
represents an attempt to distance the programs from Barry. Although a number of early radio and television
the extremely negative connotations of the scandals, quiz shows were produced locally and later picked up
which had undermined the legitimacy of the high- by networks, this trend ended in the early 1950s, when
cultural values that quiz shows (the term and the increasing production values and budgets led to the
genre) embodied. Thus, the new name, “game shows,” centralization of the production of quiz shows under
removed the genre from certain cultural assumptions the control of networks and sponsors. Nevertheless,
and instead creates associations with the less-sensitive the relatively low production costs, simple sets, small
concepts of play and leisure. Nevertheless, the histori- casts, and highly formalized production techniques
cal and material causes for this renaming still fail to have continually made quiz shows an extremely attrac-
provide a sufficient basis for a definition of this genre tive television genre. Quiz shows are more profitable
as a whole. and faster to produce than virtually any other form of
In Television Culture, John Fiske suggests more sat- entertainment television.
isfactory definitions and categories with which to dis- In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most quiz shows
tinguish among different types of shows. One of the were extremely simple in visual design and the struc-
main appeals of quiz shows is that they deal with is- ture of the games. Sets often consisted of painted flats
sues such as competition, success, and knowledge— and a desk for an expert panel and a host. The games
central concerns for American culture. It makes sense, themselves usually involved a simple question-and-
then, to follow Fiske in defining this genre according answer format that displayed the expertise of the panel
to its relation to knowledge. He begins by suggesting a members. An important characteristic of early quiz
basic split between “factual” knowledge and “human” shows was their foregrounding of the expert knowl-
knowledge. Factual knowledge can be further divided edge of official authorities. A standard format (used,
into “academic” knowledge and “everyday” knowl- e.g., on Americana or Information Please) relied on
edge. Human knowledge consists of knowledge of home viewers to submit questions to the expert panel.
“people in general” and of specific “individuals.” Viewers were rewarded with small prizes (money or
While Fiske does not clearly distinguish between the consumer goods) for each question used, and with
terms game show and quiz show, his categories reflect larger prizes if the panel failed to answer their ques-
a significant difference in program type. All shows that tion. Some programs relied on the audience to send in
deal with competitions between individuals or groups, questions and challenge the intellectual authority of
and based primarily on the display of factual knowl- the expert panel. Information Please, for example,
edge, may be considered quiz shows. Shows dealing played with the appeal of reversing educational hierar-
with human knowledge (knowledge of people or of in- chies and challenged its viewers to “stump the ex-
dividuals), or that are based primarily on gambling or perts.” While the expert-panel format dominated the
on physical performances, fall in the category of game 1940s, it was slowly replaced by audience-centered
shows. Thus, The Gong Show or Double Dare are not quizzes in the early 1950s. In this period, “everyday
1871
Quiz and Game Shows
people” from the studio audience became the subjects of the programs to create a desired audience identifica-
of the show. The host of the show, however, remained tion with these popular contestants.
the center of attention and served as a main attraction When these practices were discovered and made
for the program (e.g., Bert Parks and Bud Collyer in public, the ensuing scandals undermined the popular
Break the Bank and James McClain in Doctor I.Q.). appeal of big-money shows and, together with lower
At this point, the visual style of the shows was still ratings, led to the cancellation of all of these programs
fairly simple, often re-creating a simple theatrical in 1958–59. Entertainment Productions Inc. (EPI), a
proscenium or using an actual theater stage. The Mark production company founded by Cowan, was particu-
Goodson–Bill Todman production Winner Take All larly involved in and affected by the scandals. EPI had
was an interesting exception. Although it also used produced a majority of the big-money shows and was
charismatic hosts, it introduced the concept of a return- also most actively involved in the riggings. Following
ing contestant who faced a new challenger for every the scandals, the networks used the involvement of
round. Thus, the attention was moved away from pan- sponsors in the rigging practices as an argument for the
els and hosts and toward the contestants in the quiz. complete elimination of sponsor-controlled program-
A 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling created the impe- ming in prime-time television.
tus for the development of a new type of program Still, not all quiz shows of the late 1950s were can-
when it removed “jackpot” quizzes from the category celed due to the scandals. A number of programs that
of gambling and made it possible to use this form of did not rely on the huge prizes (e.g., The Price Is
entertainment on television. At CBS, producer Cowan, Right, Name That Tune) remained on the air and pro-
in cooperation with Revlon Cosmetics as sponsor, de- vided an example for later shows. Even these pro-
veloped the idea for a new “jackpot” quiz show based grams, however, were usually removed from prime
on the radio program Take It or Leave It. The result— time, their stakes significantly reduced, and the re-
The $64,000 Question—raised prize money to a spec- quired knowledge made less demanding. In the early
tacular new level and also changed the visual style and 1960s, very few new quiz shows were introduced, and
format of quiz shows significantly. The $64,000 Ques- most were game shows focusing less on high culture
tion, its spin-off The $64,000 Challenge, and other im- and more on gambling and physical games. Overall,
itations following between 1955 and 1958 (e.g., the postscandal era was marked by a move away from
Twenty-One, The Big Surprise) all focused on high- expert knowledge to contestants with everyday knowl-
culture and factual, often academic, knowledge. These edge. College Bowl and Alumni Fun still focused on
programs were part of television’s attempts in the “academic” knowledge without reviving the spectacu-
1950s to gain respectability and, simultaneously, a lar qualities of 1950s quiz shows, but Jeopardy!, intro-
wider audience. They introduced a much more elabo- duced by Merv Griffin in 1964, is the only other
rate set design and visual style and generally created a significant new program developed in the decade fol-
serious and ceremonious atmosphere. The $64,000 lowing the scandals. It reintroduces “academic”
Question introduced an IBM sorting machine, bank knowledge, a serious atmosphere, elaborate sets, and
guards, an isolation booth, and neon signs, while other returning contestants, but offers only moderate prizes.
shows built on the same ingredients to create similar The late 1960s were marked by even more cancella-
effects. In an effort to keep big-money quiz shows at- tions (CBS canceled all of its shows in 1967) and by
tractive, the prize money was constantly increased increasing attempts of producers to find alternative
and, indeed, on a number of shows, became unlimited. distribution outlets for their products outside the net-
Twenty-One and The $64,000 Challenge also created work system. Their hopes were realized through the
tense competitions between contestants, so that audi- growth in first-run syndication.
ence identification with one contestant could be even In 1970 the Federal Communications Commission
greater. Consequently, the most successful contestants (FCC) introduced two new regulations, the Financial
became celebrities in their own right, perhaps the most Interest and Syndication Rules (Fin-Syn) and the
prominent among them being Dr. Joyce Brothers and Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR), that had a consider-
Charles Van Doren. able effect on quiz/game show producers and on the
However, this reliance on popular returning contes- television industry in general. Fin-Syn limited network
tants, on celebrities in contest, also created a motiva- ownership of television programs beyond their net-
tion for program makers to manipulate the outcome of work run and increased the control of independent pro-
the quizzes. Quiz show sponsors in particular recog- ducers over their shows. The producers’ financial
nized that some contestants were more popular than situation and their creative control were significantly
others, a fact that could be used to increase audience improved. Additionally, PTAR gave control of the 7:00
size. These sponsors required or advocated the rigging to 7:30 P.M. time slot to local stations. The intention of
1872
Quiz and Game Shows
this change was to create locally based programming, highly consumerist programs moved to the PAX net-
but the time period was usually filled with syndicated work, where they exemplify family-friendly program-
programs, primarily inexpensive quiz shows and ming that, according to PAX’s mission, features strong
tabloid-news offerings. The overall situation of values and positive role models. This shows the status
quiz/game show producers was substantially improved of many quiz shows as wholesome entertainment and
by the FCC rulings. the ability of the genre to adapt to a wide variety of
As a result, a number of new quiz shows began to programming demands. One area of growth for quiz
appear in the mid-1970s. They were, of course, all in shows in the era of cable television, then, seems to be
color and relied on extremely bright and flashy sets, the creation of this type of “signature show,” which ap-
strong primary colors, and a multitude of aural and vi- peals to the relatively narrowly defined target audience
sual elements. In addition to this transformation to the of specific cable channels.
traditionally solemn atmosphere of quiz shows, the The unexpected success of ABC’s Who Wants to Be
programs were thoroughly altered in terms of content. a Millionaire? in the summer of 1999 gave quiz shows
Many of the 1970s quiz shows introduced an element a new presence on prime-time television and focused a
of gambling to their contests (e.g., The Joker’s Wild, significant degree of public attention on the genre.
The Big Showdown) and moved them further from a Adapted from a British program of the same name,
clear “academic” and serious knowledge toward an ev- Millionaire incorporated both traditional, educational
eryday, ordinary knowledge. A number of shows, such knowledge and trivia and often emphasized the pre-
as Card Sharks and Family Feud, not only emphasize sumed mental prowess of its winners. Additionally, it
the everyday character of their contestants but also ask provided several devices for contestants to receive as-
players to guess the most popular responses to ques- sistance from the home or studio audience, thus creat-
tions asked in small polls. Contestants are thus re- ing a link between program and viewers that tended to
warded for understanding or representing “average” encourage increased viewer identification. Several
people. other prime-time game shows premiered in the follow-
Blatant consumerism began to play an important ing fall and spring season, including Greed on FOX
role in quiz shows such as The Price Is Right and Sale and a new version of Twenty-One on NBC, both of
of the Century, as the distinctions between quiz and which lasted less than a season. Although faced with a
game shows became increasingly blurred in this pe- number of competing programs, Millionaire was the
riod. As Graham points out in Come on Down!!!, quiz most successful of the quiz shows premiered from
shows had to change in the 1970s, adapting to a new 1999 on. For a time, it dominated the ABC schedule,
cultural environment that included flourishing pop cul- with episodes airing several nights a week and consis-
ture and countercultures. On The Price Is Right, Good- tently ranking among the top-10 rated programs. How-
son answered this challenge by creating a noisy, ever, perhaps because of overexposure, its rating
carnival atmosphere that challenged cultural norms plummeted in the 2001–02 season, and Millionaire
and assumptions represented in previous generations was not renewed as a regular series for the 2002–03
of quiz shows. season (though occasional specials were anticipated).
The same type of show remained prevalent in the The Millionaire concept continues to thrive in adapta-
1980s, although most examples now appeared primar- tions shown around the world. In 2004 Regis Philbin
ily in syndication and, to a lesser extent, on cable chan- introduced “Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire” on
nels. Both Wheel of Fortune and a new version of ABC.
Jeopardy! were extremely successful as syndicated Following the wave of new shows initiated by Mil-
shows in the prime-time-access slot (7:00–8:00 P.M.) lionaire, the premiere on CBS of Survivor in May
and remain popular in that time period even though the 2000 introduced to the United States a new type of hy-
PTAR was rescinded in 1996. brid programs, often termed “reality shows,” which
In what may become a trend, Lifetime Television in- quickly started to gain popularity. Survivor, Big
troduced two quiz shows combining everyday knowl- Brother, Fear Factor, Boot Camp, Lost, and The Amaz-
edge (of consumer products) with physical contests ing Race all have structured their competition like an
(shopping—and spending—as swiftly as possible). extended game show. Contestants have to perform a
These shows, Supermarket Sweep and Shop ’Til You variety of physically and, less frequently, mentally
Drop, also challenge assumptions about cultural norms challenging tasks; earn different types of rewards; and
and the value of everyday knowledge. In particular get eliminated one by one until the winner of the game
they focus on “women’s knowledge” and thus effec- is identified. What has changed from traditional game
tively address the predominantly female audience of shows is mainly the use of a manipulated exterior or
this cable channel. In September 2000 these two nonstudio (“real”) space in which much of the ex-
1873
Quiz and Game Shows
tended competition takes place. Following the exam- Garry; Quiz Show Scandals; Sale of the Century;
ple of Millionaire, the level of prize money on these $64,000 Question, The/The $64,000 Challenge
shows is extremely high, often ranging from $500,000
to $1 million. While the hybridization of game shows
into reality shows has generated a significant amount Further Reading
of new programming, these shows also stand out for Barnouw, Erik, A History of Broadcasting in the United States,
their excessive abuse of contestants and their inconsid- volume 3, The Image Empire, from 1953, New York: Oxford
erate use of the countries and landscapes in which they University Press, 1970
are set. One of the striking characteristics of many re- Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics,
ality game shows is that they entice their contestants to Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990
Fabe, M., TV Game Shows, Garden City, New York: Doubleday,
do literally anything to win. On several shows, contes- 1979
tants ate insects, rotten food, or animal innards; were Fiske, John, Television Culture, London: Routledge, 1987
exposed to starvation and injury; and displayed vari- Graham, J., Come on Down!!!: The TV Game Show Book, New
ous forms of antisocial behavior to stay ahead in the York: Abbeville Press, 1988
game. It seems that more than ever, game shows tend Schwartz, D., S. Ryan, and F. Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of
Television Game Shows, New York: Zoetrope, 1987; 3rd edi-
to legitimize greed and ruthless competitive behavior tion, New York: Facts on File, 1999
as the genre develops in new directions. Shaw, P., “Generic Refinement on the Fringe: The Game Show,
Olaf Hoerschelmann Southern Speech Communication Journal 52 (1987)
Stone, J., and T. Yohn, Prime Time and Misdemeanors: Investi-
See also Goodson, Mark, and Bill Todman; Griffin, gating the 1950s TV Quiz Scandal—A D.A.’s Account, New
Merv; Grundy, Reg; I’ve Got A Secret; Moore, Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1993
Quiz Show Scandals

No programming format mesmerized television view- make them sweat. Tight close-ups framed faces against
ers of the 1950s with more hypnotic intensity than the darkened backgrounds, and spotlights illuminated con-
“big-money” quiz show, one of the most popular and testants in a ghostly aura. Armed police guarded “se-
ill-fated genres in U.S. television history. In the 1940s cret” envelopes and impressive-looking contraptions
a popular radio program had awarded top prize money spat out precooked questions on IBM cards. The big
of $64. The new medium raised the stakes a thousand- winners—such as Columbia University student Elfrida
fold. From its premiere on CBS on June 7, 1955, The Von Nardroff, who earned $226,500 on Twenty-One,
$64,000 Question was an immediate sensation, rack- or warehouse clerk Teddy Nadler, who earned
ing up some of the highest ratings in television history $252,000 on The $64,000 Challenge—took home a
up to that time. Its success spawned a spin-off, The fortune.
$64,000 Challenge, and a litter of like-minded shows: By the standards of the game shows of a later epoch,
The Big Surprise, Dotto, Tic Tac Dough, and Twenty- the intellectual content of the 1950s quiz shows was
One. When the Q-and-A sessions were exposed as erudite. Almost all the questions involved some
elaborate frauds, columnist Art Buchwald captured the demonstration of cerebral aptitude: retrieving lines of
national sense of betrayal with a glib name for the pro- poetry; identifying dates from history; or reeling off
ducers and contestants who conspired to bamboozle a scientific classifications, the stuff of memorization and
trusting audience: the Quizlings. canonical culture. Since victors returned to the show
Broadcast live and in prime time, the big-money until they lost, risking accumulated winnings on future
quiz show presented itself as a high-pressure test of stakes, individual contestants might develop a devoted
knowledge under the heat of klieg lights and the following over a period of weeks. Matching an incon-
scrutiny of 55 million participant-observers. Set de- gruous area of expertise to the right personality was a
sign, lighting, and pure hokum enhanced the atmo- favorite hook, as in the cases of Richard McCutchen,
sphere of suspense. Contestants were put in glass the rugged marine captain who was an expert on
isolation booths, with the air conditioning turned off to French cooking, or Dr. Joyce Brothers (not then an
1874
Quiz Show Scandals
icon of pop psychology), whose encyclopedic knowl-

edge of boxing won her $132,000.
If the quiz shows made celebrities out of ordinary
folk, they also sought to engage the services of celebri-
ties. Orson Welles claimed to have been approached by
a quiz show producer looking for a “genius type” and
guaranteeing him $150,000 and a seven-week engage-
ment. Welles refused, but bandleader Xavier Cugat
won $16,000 as an expert on Tin Pan Alley songs in a
rigged match against actress Lillian Roth on The
$64,000 Challenge. “I considered I was giving a per-
formance,” he later explained guilelessly. Twelve-
year-old Patty Duke won $32,000 against child actor
Eddie Hodges, then the juvenile lead in The Music
Man on Broadway. Teamed with a personable marine
flyer named John Glenn, Hodges had earlier won the
$25,000 grand prize on Name That Tune.
Far and away the most notorious Quizling was
Charles Van Doren, a contestant on NBC’s Twenty-
One, a quiz show based on the game of blackjack.
Scion of the prestigious literary family and a lecturer
in English at Columbia University, Van Doren was an
authentic pop phenomenon, whose video charisma
earned him $129,000 in prize money, the cover of Time
magazine, and a permanent spot on NBC’s Today,
where he discussed non-Euclidean geometry and re- Charles Van Doren.
cited 17th-century poetry. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Re-
search
From the moment Van Doren walked onto the set of
Twenty-One, on November 28, 1956, for his first face-
off against a high-IQ eccentric named Herbert Stem-
pel, he proved himself a telegenic natural. In the estimated 50 million Americans tuned in to Twenty-
isolation booth, Van Doren managed to engage the One for what host and coproducer Jack Barry called
spectators’ sympathy by sharing his mental concentra- “the biggest game ever played in the program.” The
tion. Apparently muttering unself-consciously to him- first category was boxing, and Van Doren fared poorly.
self, he let viewers see him think: eyes alert, hand on Ahead 16 points to Van Doren’s 0, Stempel was given
chin, then a sudden bolt (“Oh, I know!”), after which the chance to stop the game. Supposedly, only the au-
he delivered the answer. Asked to name the volumes of dience knew he was in the lead and, if he stopped the
Winston Churchill’s wartime memoirs, he muttered, game, Van Doren would lose. At this point, on live
“I’ve seen the ad for those books a thousand times!” television, Stempel could have reneged on the deal,
Asked to come up with a biblical reference, he said vanquished his opponent, and won an extra $32,000.
self-deprecatingly, “My father would know that.” Van But he opted to play by the script and continue the
Doren’s was a remarkable and seductive performance. match. The next category, movies, proved more Van
Twenty-One’s convoluted rules decreed that, in the Doren-friendly. Asked to name Brando’s female costar
event of a tie, the money wagered for points doubled, in On the Waterfront, Van Doren teased briefly (“she
from $500 a point to $1,000 (and so on). Thus, contes- was that lovely frail girl”) before coming up with the
tants needed to be coached not only on answers and correct answer (Eva Marie Saint). Stempel again had
acting but on the amount of points they selected in the the chance to ad-lib his own lines, but he did not.
gamble. A tie meant double financial stakes for each Asked to name the 1955 Oscar Winner for Best Pic-
successive game with a consequent ratcheting up of ture, he hesitated and answered On the Waterfront. The
the tension. By pregame arrangement, the first Van correct answer was Marty.
Doren–Stempel face-off ended with three ties; hence, But another tie meant another round at $2,500 a
the next week’s game would be played for $2,000 a point. The next round of questions was crucial. Van
point, and publicized accordingly. Doren was asked to give the names and the fates of the
On Wednesday, December 5, 1956, at 10:30 P.M., an third, fourth, and fifth wives of Henry VIII. As Barry
1875
Quiz Show Scandals
led him through the litany, Van Doren took the audi- Harris (Democrat, Arkansas), held standing-room-only
ence with him every step of the way. (“I don’t think he hearings into the quiz show scandals. A renewed wave
beheaded her . . . . Yes, what happened to her?”) Given of publicity recorded the testimony of the now-
the same question, Stempel successfully named the repentant network bigwigs and star contestants whose
wives, and Barry asked him their fates. “Well, they all minds, apparently, were concentrated powerfully by
died,” he cracked to gales of laughter. Van Doren federal intervention. At one point, committee staffers
stopped the game and won the round. came upon possible communist associations in the
In August and September 1958 disgruntled former background of a few witnesses.
contestants went public with accusations that the re- Meanwhile, as newspaper headlines screamed
sults were rigged and the contestants coached. First, a “Where’s Charlie?,” the star witness everyone wanted
standby contestant on Dotto produced a page from a to hear from was motoring desperately through the
winner’s crib sheet. Then, the bitter Herbert Stempel back roads of New England, ducking a congressional
told how he had taken a dive in his climatic encounter subpoena. Finally, on November 2, 1959, with tension
with Van Doren. An artist named James Snodgrass had mounting in anticipation of Van Doren’s appearance to
taken the precaution of mailing registered letters to answer questions (the irony was lost on no one), the
himself with the results of his appearances on Twenty- chastened former English professor confessed. “I was
One predicted in advance. Most of the high-drama involved, deeply involved, in a deception,” he told the
matchups, it turned out, were carefully choreographed. Harris Committee. “The fact that I too was very much
Contestants were drilled in Q-and-A before airtime deceived cannot keep me from being the principal vic-
and coached in the pantomime of nail-biting suspense tim of that deception, because I was its principal sym-
(stroke chin, furrow brow, wipe sweat from forehead). bol.” In another irony, Washington’s made-for-TV
By October 1958, as a New York grand jury con- spectacle never made it to the airwaves due to the op-
vened by prosecutor Joseph Stone investigated the position of House Speaker Sam Rayburn, who felt that
charges and heard closed-door testimony, quiz show the presence of television cameras would undermine
ratings had plummeted. For their part, the networks the dignity of Congress.
played damage control, denying knowledge of rigging, The firestorm that resulted, claimed Variety, “in-
canceling the suspect shows, and tossing the producers jured broadcasting more than anything ever before in
overboard. Yet it was hard to credit the innocence of the public eye.” Even the sainted Edward R. Murrow
executives at NBC and CBS. A public relations flack was sullied when it was revealed that his celebrity in-
for Twenty-One best described the implied contract: “It terview show, CBS’s Person to Person, provided
was sort of a situation where a husband suspects his guests with questions in advance. Perhaps most signif-
wife but doesn’t want to know because he loves her.” icantly in terms of the future shape of commercial tele-
Despite the revelations and the grand jury investiga- vision, the quiz show scandals made the networks
tion, the quiz show producers, Van Doren, and the forever leery of “single sponsorship” programming.
other big-money winners steadfastly maintained their Henceforth, they parceled out advertising time in 15-,
innocence. Solid citizens all, they feared the loss of 30-, or 60-second increments, wrenching control away
professional standing and the loyalty of friends and from single sponsors and advertising agencies.
family as much as the retribution of the district attor- Thomas Doherty
ney’s office. Nearly 100 people committed perjury
rather than own up to activities that, though embarrass- Further Reading
ing, were not illegal. Prosecutor Stone lamented that
“nothing in my experience prepared me for the mass Anderson, Kent, Television Fraud: The History and Implica-
tions of the Quiz Show Scandals, Westport, Connecticut:
perjury that took place on the part of scores of well- Greenwood Press, 1978
educated people who had no trouble understanding Karp, Walter, “The Quiz-show Scandal,” American Heritage
what was at stake.” (May–June 1989)
When the judge presiding over the New York inves- Real, Michael, “The Great Quiz Show Scandal: Why America
tigations ordered the grand jury report sealed, Wash- Remains Fascinated,” Television Quarterly (Winter 1995)
Stone, Joseph, and T. Yohn, Prime-Time and Misdemeanors: In-
ington smelled a cover-up and a political opportunity. vestigating the 1950s TV Quiz Scandal: A D.A.’s Account,
Through October and November 1959 the House Sub- New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press,
committee on Legislative Oversight, chaired by Oren 1992
1876
R
Racism, Ethnicity, and Television
Until the late 1980s, whiteness was consistently natu- tions inherited and diffused, on an hourly and daily ba-
ralized in U.S. television—social whiteness, that is, sis, a mythology of whiteness that framed and sus-
not the “pinko-grayishness” that British novelist E.M. tained a racist national self-understanding. U.S.
Forster identified as the “standard” skin hue of Euro- television was not alone in this respect. Nations as dif-
peans. This whiteness has not been culturally ferent as Australia, Brazil, Britain, France, and Mexico
monochrome. Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, British, shared in common a television representation of peo-
French, German, and Russian people, whether as eth- ple of color that rather systematically excluded them or
nic entities or national representatives, have dotted the was content to stereotype them, and a set of news val-
landscape of TV drama, providing the safe spice of ues that privileged whiteness as normal. Joel Zito
white life, entertaining trills and flourishes over the Araújo has provided an absorbing account of the
basso ostinato of social whiteness. painful struggle to represent Afro-Brazilians (50 per-
In other words, to pivot the debate on race and tele- cent of the population) in Brazil’s hugely popular te-
vision purely on whether and how people of color have lenovelas. Nonetheless, none of these television
figured, on or behind the screen or in the audience, is systems had anything like the global reach of Ameri-
already to miss the point. What was consistently pro- can TV. The implications of American TV for helping
jected, without public fanfare, but in teeming myriads cement racially prejudicial attitudes elsewhere in the
of programs, news priorities, sportscasts, movies, and world, for normalizing certain levels of white racism,
ads, was the naturalness and normalcy of social white- would make a fitting topic for international communi-
ness. Television visually accumulated the heritage of cation research.
representation in mainstream U.S. science, religion, There is a second issue in American television,
education, theater, art, literature, cinema, radio, and which has become increasingly significant at the begin-
the press. According to television representation, the ning of the 21st century. Insofar as the televisual hege-
United States was a white nation, with some marginal mony of social whiteness has been critiqued, either on
“ethnic” accretions that were at their best when they television itself, or on video, or in print, it has most of-
could simply be ignored, like well-trained and deferen- ten tended to focus on African-American issues. Yet, in
tial maids and doormen. This was even beyond being reviewing racism and ethnicity in U.S. television, we
thought a good thing. It was axiomatic, and self- need not downplay four centuries of African-American
evident. experience and contribution in order to recognize as
Thus, American television in its first two genera- well the importance of Native American nations, Lati-
1877
nos, and Asian Americans in all their variety. Thus, in Mainstream Representation
this essay, attention will be paid, so far as research per-
mits, to each one of these four groupings, although In discussing mainstream representation, it is vital to
there will not be space to treat the important subgroup- note three issues. One is the importance of historical
ings (Haitians, Vietnamese, etc.) within each. The shifts in the representation of these issues, especially
discussion will commence with representation, main- since the mid-1980s, but also at certain critical junc-
stream and alternative, and then move on to employ- tures before then. The second is the importance of tak-
ment patterns in the TV industry, broadcast and cable. ing into account the entire spectrum of what television
The conclusion will introduce the so far underre- provides, including ads (perhaps 20 percent of U.S.
searched question of racism, ethnicity, and TV audi- TV content), weathercasting, sitcoms, documentaries,
ences. Before doing so, however, a more exact sports, MTV, non-English-language programming, re-
definition is needed of racism in the U.S. context. ligious channels, old films, breaking news, reality pro-
First, racism is expressed along a connected spec- grams, and talk shows. Too many studies have zeroed
trum, from the casual patronizing remark to the sadism in on one or another format and then taken it as repre-
of the prison guard, from avoidance of skin contact to sentative of the whole. Here we will try to engage with
the starving of public education in inner cities and the spectrum, although space and available research
reservations, or to death rates among infants of color will put most of the focus on whites and blacks in
higher than in some Third World countries. Racism mainstream television news and entertainment. The
does not have to take the form of lynching, extermina- third is the strong concentration of African Americans
tion camps, or slavery to be systemic and virulent—yet in comedy and crime scenarios. Quality of representa-
simultaneously dismissed as of minor importance or tion is as important as quantity.
even as irrelevant by the white majority. Historically, as J. Fred MacDonald has shown, U.S.
Second, racism may stereotype groups differently. television perpetuated patterns established in U.S.
Class is often pivotal here. Claimed success among cinema, radio, theater, and other forms of public com-
Asian Americans and Jews is attacked just as is the al- munication and announced people of color over-
leged inability to make good among Latinos and whelmingly by their absence. It was not that these
African Americans. Multiple Native American nations people were malevolently stereotyped or denounced.
with greatly differing languages and cultures are They simply did not appear to exist. If they surfaced,
lumped together in a generic “Indian” category. Gen- it was almost always as wraiths, silent black butlers
der plays a role too: white stomachs will contract at smiling deferentially, Latino field hands laboring
supposedly truculent and violence-prone men of color, sweatily, or Indian braves whooping wildly against
but ethnic minority women get attributed with pli- the march of history. Speaking parts were rare, heav-
ancy—even, for white males, to presuming their spe- ily circumscribed, and typically an abusive distortion
cial eagerness for sexual dalliance. of actual modes of speech. But the essence of the
Third, racism in the United States is binary. People problem was virtual nonexistence.
of mixed descent are not permitted to confuse the is- Thus, the TV industry collaborated to a marked de-
sue but belong automatically to a minority group of gree with the segregation that has marked the U.S. na-
color; witness the public debate around the appropri- tion, once legally and residentially, now residentially.
ateness of a “multiple” category for racial/ethnic self- Programs and advertisements that might have in-
identification in the 2000 census. Ethnic minority flamed white opinion in the South were strenuously
individuals whose personal cultural style may be read avoided, partly in accurate recognition of the militancy
as emblematic of the ethnic majority’s are quite often of some opinions that might lead to boycotts of adver-
responded to as traitors, and thus they are either tisers, but partly yielding simply to inertia in defining
warmly regarded as the “good exception” by the white that potential as a fact of life beyond useful reflection.
majority or derisively labeled as “self-hating” by the The programs shunned were rarely in the slightest
minority. degree confrontational, or even suggestive of interra-
Lastly, as Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki have cial romance. The classic case was The Nat “King”
argued, racist belief has changed to being more supple, Cole Show, which premiered on NBC in November
and “modern” racism has shed its biological abso- 1956, and which was eventually taken off for good in
lutism. In the “modern” version, the civil rights move- December of the following year. A Who’s Who of dis-
ment won, racial hatred is past, and talented tinguished black as well as white artists and perform-
individuals now make it. Therefore, continuing ethnic ers virtually gave their services to the show, and NBC
minority poverty is solely the minority’s overall cul- strove to keep it alive. But the program could not find a
tural/attitudinal fault. national sponsor, at one point having to rely on no less
1878
than 30 sponsors in order to be seen nationwide. Cole

himself explicitly blamed the advertising agencies’
readiness to be intimidated by the White Citizens
Councils, the spearhead of resistance to desegregation
in southern states.
This was not the only occasion that African Ameri-
cans were seen on the TV screen in that era. A number
of shows, notably The Ed Sullivan Show, made a point
of inviting black performers on to the screen. Yet en-
tertainment was only one thin slice of the spectrum.
Articulate black individuals, such as Paul Robeson,
with a clear critique of the racialization of the United
States, were systematically excluded from expressing
their opinions on air (in his case, on the pretext he was
a communist).
This generalized absence, and univocal whiteness,
was first punctured by TV news coverage of the savage
handling of civil rights demonstrators in the latter
1950s and early 1960s. Images of police dogs, fire In Living Color, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans,
hoses, and billy clubs being unleashed against un- 1990–94.
armed black demonstrators in Montgomery, Alabama, ©20th Century Fox /Courtesy of the Everett Collection
and white parents—with their children standing by
their side—spewing obscenities and hurling rocks at
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march through Cicero, Illi-
nois, may still have portrayed African Americans as common in “reality TV” police shows and local TV
largely voiceless victims, but the coverage was news programs. The standard alternative role for
nonetheless able to communicate the activists’ dignity African Americans has been comic actor (or stand-up
under fire, whereas their white persecutors communi- comic in comedy shows). Commenting upon the wider
cated their own monstrous inhumanity. The same story cinematic tradition of Latino portrayals, Charles
repeated itself in the school desegregation riots in New Ramírez-Berg has identified the bandit/greaser, the
Orleans in 1964 and Boston in 1974. mixed-race slut, the buffoon (male and female), the
U.S. television since then has made sporadic at- Latin lover, and the alluring Dark Lady, as five hack-
tempts to address these particular white-black issues, neyed and offensive tropes.
with such shows as Roots, The Cosby Show, and Eyes Roots (1977) and Roots: The Next Generations
on the Prize, and through a proliferation of black (1979) confounded the TV industry’s prior expecta-
newscasters at the local level, but all the while cleav- tions, with up to 140 million viewers for all or part of
ing steadfastly to three traditions. First, there is the the first miniseries, and over 100 million for The Next
continuing virtual invisibility of Latinos, Native Amer- Generations. For the first time on U.S. television,
icans, and Asian Americans. Indeed, some studies indi- some of the realities of slavery—brutality, rape, en-
cate that for decades Latinos have hovered around 1 to forced deculturation—were confronted over a pro-
2 percent of characters in TV drama, very substantially tracted period, and through individual characters with
less than their percentage of the population. Darrell whom, as they fought to escape or survive, the audi-
Hamamoto similarly charges that, “By and large, TV ence could identify. Against this historic first was the
Asians are inserted in programs chiefly as semantic individualistic focus on screenwriter Alex Haley’s de-
markers that reflect upon and reveal telling aspects of termined family, presented as “immigrants-times-ten”
the Euro-American characters.” Second, the tradition fighting an exceptionally painful way over its genera-
of color-segregating entertainment has changed but lit- tions toward the American Dream myth of all U.S. im-
tle. Even though black shows began to multiply con- migrants. Against it, too, was the emphasis on the
siderably from the latter 1980s, casts have generally centuries and decades before the 1970s, which the
been white or black (and never Latino, Native, or ahistorical vector in U.S. culture easily cushions from
Asian). Third, the few minority roles in dramatic TV application to the often devastating here and now.
have frequently been of criminals and drug addicts. Nonetheless, it was a signal achievement.
This pattern has intensively reinforced, and seemingly The Cosby Show (1984–92) was the next milestone.
been reinforced by, the similar racial stereotyping Defeating industry expectations just as Roots had, the
1879
series scored exceptionally high continuing ratings in U.S. TV. The other turning point was the prolifera-
right across the nation. The show attracted a certain tion, mostly locally, of black and other ethnic minority
volume of hostile comment, some of it smugly super- group individuals as newscasters. Although newscast-
cilious. The fact it was popular with white audiences in ers rarely had the clout to write their own bulletin
the South, and in South Africa, was a favorite quick scripts, let alone decide on news priorities for report-
shot to try to debunk it. Some critics claimed it fed the ing or investigation, they had the cachet of a very pub-
mirage that racial injustice could be overcome through lic, trusted role. To that extent, this development did
individual economic advance; others posited that it carry considerable symbolic prestige for the individu-
primly fostered Reaganite conservative family values. als concerned. As of 2001, the Radio-Television News
Both of the analyses were indeed easily possible read- Directors Association found 10 percent of general
ings of the show within contemporary U.S. culture. managers and 14 percent of TV news directors were
Herman Gray, one of the few critics to acknowledge people of color. This was a move in the right direction
the role of the show in opening the gate to a large num- but still left minorities vastly underrepresented in these
ber of black television shows and to new professional key authority positions.
experience and openings for many black media artists, Only as time went on and racial news values and
is also correct in characterizing The Cosby Show as as- priorities remained the same or similar despite the
similationist. It hardly ever directly raised issues of so- change in faces, did the limits of this development be-
cial equity, except in interpersonal gender relations. gin to become more apparent. At about the same time,
Nonetheless, in the context of the nation’s and the inmost news bulletins, especially local ones, were deteri-
dustry’s history, the show could have been exquisitely orating into “infotainment,” with lengthy weather and
correct—and never once have hit the screen. sports reports incorporated into the half hour. The lat-
Eyes on the Prize (1987; 1990) allows a much more ter trend continues in the early 2000s. With news audi-
straightforward discussion. A documentary series on ences highly concentrated in the over-50 age group,
the American civil rights movements from 1954 to programmers expend much effort to make news still
1985, it too marked a huge watershed in U.S. televi- more entertaining to younger audiences.
sion history. Partly, its achievement was to bring to-
gether historical footage with movement participants,
Alternative Representations
some very elderly, who could supply living oral his-
tory. Partly, too, its achievement was that producer- Alternative representation became somewhat more
director Henry Hampton consistently included in the frequent after The Cosby Show’s success. In part, this
narrative the voices of segregationist foes of the move- change was also due to the steadily declining price of
ment, on the ground that the story was theirs, too. This video cameras and editing equipment, to support from
gave the opportunity for self-reflection within the federal and state arts commissions, and to develop-
white audience, rather than easy self-distancing. ments in cable TV, especially public access, which
However, the series was on PBS and thus never opened up more scope for independent video makers
drew the kind of audience Roots did. In the United to develop their own work, some of which could be
States the public appetite for documentaries was also screened locally and even nationally.
at something of a low toward the end of the century, as From the mid-1990s, first FOX and then imitators
opposed to Europe and Russia, where the documentary WB and UPN sought to challenge the dominance of
form was much more popular. Eyes’ influence would the “Big Three” networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) by
be slower than Roots or Cosby achieved, though sig- offering fresh programming, including a series of
nificant through video rentals and college courses. Its shows with African-American content. Kristal Brent
primary significance for present purposes is its demon- Zook suggests that while this was a rare and exciting
stration of what could be done televisually, but what moment in a number of instances, the fundamental im-
was never contemplated to be undertaken by the com- petus was competitive rather than inclusive, and that
mercial TV companies. once the new networks began to establish themselves
In 1996, PBS screened a similar four-part series, with advertisers their innovative programming began
Chicano!, by documentarist Héctor Galán on the Chi- to tail off, especially with regard to shows featuring
cano social movements in the southwest, a story much African Americans. On cable, Nickelodeon and the ex-
less known even than the civil rights movements. pensive premium channels (HBO, Showtime) also of-
These then were turning points, not in the sense of fered some innovation, such as the children’s series
an instantaneous switch, but in terms of setting a high- The Brothers Garcia (Nickelodeon), the Latino-
water mark that expanded the definition of the possible themed Resurrection Boulevard (Showtime), and some
1880
strong documentaries and docudramas with African- ated by video artists of color and/or on ethnic themes.
American themes (HBO). Quite often too, HBO’s cast- Suffice it to say that distribution—cable channels
ing and scripting met the “quality” test by having notwithstanding—is the largest single problem that
minority-ethnic characters in nonstereotypical roles, such work encounters. (Sources of information on
such as the Puerto Rican mortician and the gay black these videos include Asian-American CineVision and
cop played by Freddy Rodriguez and Mathew St. the Black Filmmakers Foundation, both in New York
Patrick, respectively, in Six Feet Under. City, and Facets Video in Chicago.)
A further development was the emergence of black In examining alternatives, finally, we need to take
and Latino cable and UHF channels such as Black En- stock of some of the mainstream alternatives to segre-
tertainment Television (BET), Univision, and Tele- gated casts, such as one of the earliest, Hawaii Five-O,
mundo, together with leased ethnic-group program and the later Miami Vice and NYPD Blue. The first was
slots in metropolitan areas. With respect to the latter, definitely still within the “Tonto” tradition insofar as
Hamid Naficy has explored the world of expatriate Ira- the ethnic minority cops were concerned (“Yes, boss”
nian programming in Los Angeles and thereby opened seemed to be the limit of their vocabulary). Miami
up a whole new perspective on migration, ethnicity, Vice’s tri-ethnic leads were less anchored in that tradi-
and “American-ness” as they play out in television. tion, although Edward James Olmos as the police cap-
These new developments were often contradictory. tain often approximated Captain Dobey in Starsky and
The often cheap-shot satirization of racial issues on In Hutch, apparently only nominally in charge. NYPD
Living Color; the question Gray and others raise con- Blue carried over some of that tradition as regarded the
cerning BET programming as often simply a black re- African-American Lieutenant Fancy’s role, but it actu-
production of white televisual tropes; the role of black ally starred Latinos in key police roles.
sitcoms and stand-up comics as a new version of an A central issue on NYPD Blue, however, raised once
older tradition in which blackness is acceptable as more the question of “modern” racism. A repetitive
farce—each of these highlights in some way the ten- feature of the show was the skill of the police detec-
sions in television’s representations of race. tives in pressuring people they considered guilty to
Another contradictory example is Univision, effec- sign confessions and not to avail themselves of their
tively dominated by Mexico’s near-monopoly TV gi- legal rights. Two comments are in order here. One is
ant, Televisa. Its entertainment programs are mostly a that a police team is shown at work, undeflected by
secondary market for Televisa’s products, and while racial animosity, strenuously task-driven. It is a theme
they are certainly popular, they have had little direct with its roots in many World War II movies, although
echo of Chicano or other Latino life in the United in those films, ethnicity was generally the focus rather
States. At the same time, as América Rodríguez has than race. The inference plainly to be drawn was that
shown, Univision’s news program has cultivated, for atavistic biases should be laid aside in the face of clear
commercial reasons of mass appeal, pan-ethnic Span- and present danger, with the contemporary “war” be-
ish that over time may arguably contribute to a pan- ing against the constant tide of crime.
Latino U.S. cultural identity, rather than the Chicano, Second, it is a fact that the number of U.S. prisoners
Caribbean, Central and South American fragments that who are African Americans and Latinos is vastly dis-
constitute the Latino minority. proportionate to the size of these subpopulations rela-
MacDonald goes so far as to forecast cable TV’s tive to the U.S. population as a whole. On NYPD Blue
multiple channels as an almost automatic technical so- we see firm unity among white, black, and Latino po-
lution to the heritage of unequal access for African lice professionals in defining aggressive detection and
Americans. However, the “technological fix” he envis- charge practices as legitimate and essential, even
ages would not of itself address the urgent national though it is procedures like those that, along with
need for dialogue on race and whiteness in television’s racially differential sentencing and parole procedures,
public forum, because a multichannel environment have often helped create that huge racial imbalance in
may resemble a Babel of voices mutually insulated U.S. prisons.
from each other rather than engaged with each other.
Nor does his proposal seem to bargain with the huge
The Television Industry and Race Relations
costs of generating mostly new product for even a sin-
gle cable channel. Except for a clutch of public figures led by Bill Cosby,
Scattered as they are over multiple tiny distributors CNN’s political analyst Bernard Shaw (who retired in
or self-distributed, it is difficult to generalize about the 2001), talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Geraldo
profusion of single features and documentaries gener- Rivera; moderately influential behind-the-camera indi-
1881
viduals such as Susan Fales, Charles Floyd Johnson, ally struck down FCC rules promoting the hiring of
Ralph Farquhar, Thomas Carter, and Suzanne de people of color and women in the broadcast industry.
Passe; and local newscasters, the racial casting of tele- A CBS spokeswoman announced that CBS’s “commit-
vision organizations has been distinctly leisurely in ment to diversity is as strong as ever,” which was
changing. Cable television has the strongest ratio of hardly reassuring.
minority personnel, but this should be read in connec- The question then at issue is to what degree this ab-
tion with its lower pay scales and its minimal original sence of minorities from positions of TV authority de-
production schedules. Especially in positions of senior termines the mainstream representation patterns
authority, television is still largely a white enterprise. surveyed above. One might argue that if no customary
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) formats or tropes were changed, and if none of the le-
statistics are often less than helpful in determining the gal, financial, and competitive vectors vanished, then a
true picture and represent a classic instance of bureau- television executive stratum composed entirely of eth-
cratic response to the demand to collect evidence by re- nic minority individuals would likely proceed to repro-
fusing to focus with any precision on the matter in duce precisely the same patterns of representation.
hand. In the National Association of Minorities in However, this position is an abstract one and only
Communication survey of cable TV, the same phenom- helps to shed light on the pressures to conform faced by
enon was evident, with a number of multiple system the few ethnic minority individuals scattered through
operators (MSOs) including not only executives with the TV hierarchy. Sociologically, were the percentage
direct influence over programming (e.g., marketing) in of executive positions held by minorities to increase to
their minority/ethnic headcount but also human re- within even hailing distance of their percentage of the
sources personnel. Given the undoubted intelligence of national population, a much wider internal dialogue
those who communicate these statistics, it is hard to see would be feasible concerning the very limits of the pos-
other than a pattern of deliberate obfuscation at work. sible in television. We come back, in a sense, to Cosby.
The FCC’s two top cable and broadcast employment At the time that program aired, the proportion of
categories, for example (Officials and Managers, and blacks and Latinos who watched TV was higher than
Professionals), are extremely broad and render com- the national average, and these two minority groups
pletely foggy the degree of real authority entailed over accounted in 1995 for at least $300 billion in consumer
the process. Drawing meaningful conclusions from mi- spending a year. Therefore, by the mid-1990s, the eco-
nority/ethnic percentages within those categories is nomic logic of advertising seemed to point toward in-
consequently impossible. Unless and until cable and creasing inclusiveness on TV. How this clash between
broadcast organizations see fit to reveal clearly the economic logic and inherited culture would work out
holders of significant executive power and their ethnic remained to be seen. The efforts of advocacy groups,
status, it is logical to assume that television boardrooms such as the National Association for the Advancement
are as white as U.S. corporate boardrooms in general, of Colored People (NAACP), the National Council of
and yet those boardrooms are, to belabor the obvious, La Raza, Children Now, and others, became more in-
where the fundamental television decisions are made. tensive from 1993 onward, and in 2000 many joined
Whether or not this exclusion of racial minorities from the Multi-Ethnic Coalition, monitoring and publicly
the corridors makes immediate market sense, the impli- critiquing failures of representation.
cations of the television industry’s decision-making
process for the immediate future of American life and
Audience and Spectatorship
culture are very disturbing ones.
Data from 2001 indicated 47 TV stations, 75 percent The most complex issue centers on how viewers pro-
of which were UHF, had minority/ethnic owners. Eight cess televisual content related to race and ethnicity. It
of these stations were in California; seven in Puerto has already been argued that decades of daily pro-
Rico; seven in Texas; two each in Connecticut, Illinois, grams have mostly underwritten the perception of the
Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Wis- United States as, at its core, a white nation with a white
consin; and one each in Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, culture, rather than a multicultural nation beset by en-
Louisiana, Michigan, Vermont, Virginia, and Washing- trenched problems of ethnic inequity. Television fare
ton, D.C. This was a higher number than five years has obviously not been a lone voice in this regard, nor
previously, but still a pathetic coda when 30 percent of has it been anything resembling a steady opposition
the U.S. population is identified as minority/ethnic. As voice. This judgment clearly transcends interpretations
of early 2001, a Federal Appeals Court, responding to of particular programs or even genres. It is sufficiently
a case brought by three broadcast associations, actu- loose in formulation to leave its plausible practical
1882
consequences open to extended discussion. However, Cosby Show, The; Different World, A; Eyes on the
given the ever greater dominance of television in U.S. Prize; Frank’s Place; Flip Wilson Show, The; Gold-
culture, TV’s basic vision of the world can hardly be bergs, The; Good Times; Haley, Alex; I Spy; Jeffer-
dismissed as impotent. sons, The; Julia; Nat “King” Cole Show, The;
Historically, it has been a vision likely to reassure the National Asian Americans in Telecommunications
white majority that it has little to learn or benefit from Association; Pryor, Richard; Room 222; Social
people of color. Rather, TV coverage of immigration Class and Television; Telemundo; 227; Univision;
and crime has made it much easier to be afraid of ethnic Winfrey, Oprah
and racial minorities. George H.W. Bush’s manipulation
of the Willie Horton case for a 1988 campaign commer-
cial (with Horton representing the specter of the vicious Further Reading
black rapist aided and abetted by a liberal Democrat— Araújo, Joel Zito, A Negação do Brasil: o Negro na Telenovela
Bush’s opponent, Michael Dukakis) had even the na- Brasileira, São Paulo: Editora SENAC, 2000
tion’s vice president (and president-to-be) drawing on, Bobo, Jacqueline, Black Women As Cultural Readers, New
and thus endorsing, the standard tropes of local TV York: Columbia University Press, 1995
Corea, Ash, “Racism and the American Way of Media,” in
news. Particularly following the September 11, 2001, Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition,
terrorist assaults on New York and Washington, D.C., edited by John Downing, Ali Mohammadi, and Annabelle
but also for some 20 years before that, television cover- Sreberny-Mohammadi, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage,
age of Arabs and Muslims, while often maintaining an 1995
abstract theme of tolerance and civil rights, did much at Cosby, Camille O., Television’s Imageable Influences: The Self-
Perceptions of Young African-Americans, Lanham, Mary-
the same time to encourage many members of the U.S. land: University Press of America, 1994
public to distrust as potential terrorists and enemies any- Dates, Jannette L., and William Barlow, editors, Split Image:
one who answered to (or appeared to answer to) those African Americans in the Mass Media, Washington, D.C.:
identities. The suspicious reaction and backlash was Howard University Press, 1993
reminiscent of the anti-Asian culture that formed the Downing, John, “The Cosby Show and American Racial Dis-
course,” in Discourse and Discrimination, edited by Teun A.
backdrop for hostility toward Japanese Americans fol- Van Dijk and Geneva Smitherman-Donaldson, Detroit,
lowing the Pearl Harbor attack 60 years previously. Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1988
Naturally, not all of the white majority have en- Entman, Robert M., and Andrew Rojecki, The Black Image in
dorsed or believed that vision. However, it has been dif- the White Mind: Media and Race in America, Chicago: Uni-
ficult to muster a coherent and forward-looking public versity of Chicago Press, 2000
Fiske, John, Media Matters: Everyday Culture and Political
debate about race, whiteness, and the nation’s future, Change, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994
given TV’s continuing refusal, in the main, to squarely Gray, Herman, Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for
face the issue. This medium was not the only institution “Blackness,” Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
with that responsibility, nor the unique forum available. 1995
But TV was and is crucial to any solution. Hamamoto, Darrell Y., Monitored Peril: Asian Americans and
the Politics of TV Representation, Minneapolis: University
The detailed analysis of audience reception of par- of Minnesota Press, 1994
ticular shows or series is a delicate business, linking as Heider, Don, White News: Why Local News Programs Don’t
it will into the many filaments of social and cultural Cover People of Color, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erl-
life for white audiences and for audiences of color. It baum, 2000
is, however, a sour comment on audience researchers hooks, bell, Black Looks: Race and Representation, Boston:
South End Press, 1992
that so little has been done to date to explore how TV Hunt, Darnell M., Screening the Los Angeles “Riots”: Race,
has been appropriated by various ethnic minority audi- Seeing, and Resistance, Cambridge and New York: Cam-
ences, or how majority audiences handle ethnic bridge University Press, 1997
themes. Commercial research has been content simply Jhally, Sut, and Justin Lewis, Enlightened Racism: The Cosby
to register viewer levels by ethnicity, whereas aca- Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream,
Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 1992
demic research, with a scattering of exceptions, has MacDonald, J. Fred, Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in
rarely troubled to explore ethnic diversity in process- Television Since 1948, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983; 2nd edi-
ing TV, despite the outpouring of ethnographic audition, 1992
ence studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Naficy, Hamid, The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Televi-
John D.H. Downing sion in Los Angeles, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1993
Navarrete, Lisa, and Charles Kamasaki, Out of the Picture: His-
See also Allen, Debbie; Amen; Amos ’n’ Andy; Beu- panics in the Media, Washington, D.C.: National Council of
lah; Black Entertainment Network; Cosby, Bill; La Raza, 1994
1883
Noriega, Chon, Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rodríguez, América, Making Latino News: Race, Language,
Rise of Chicano Cinema, Minneapolis: University of Min- Class, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1999
nesota Press, 2000 Waterston, Alisse, et al., A Look Towards Advancement: Minor-
Ramírez-Berg, Charles, Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, ity Employment in Cable, La Palma, California: National As-
Subversion, and Resistance, Austin: University of Texas sociation of Minorities in Communication, 1999
Press, 2002 Zook, Kristal Brent, Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the
Revolution in Black Television, New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1999
Radio Corporation of America

U.S. Radio Company
In 1919, General Electric (GE) formed a privately Association (RMA) to consider adoption of its televi-
owned corporation to acquire the assets of the wireless sion system for standardization. The RMA adopted the
radio company American Marconi from British Mar- RCA version, a 441-line, 30-pictures-per-second sys-
coni. The organization, known as the Radio Corpora- tem, and presented the new standard to the FCC on
tion of America (RCA), was formally incorporated on September 10, 1938. Upon the recommendation of the
October 17 of that year. Shortly thereafter, American RMA, the Federal Communications Commission
Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) and Westinghouse (FCC) scheduled formal hearings to address the adop-
acquired RCA assets and became joint owners of tion of standards. The hearings, however, did not take
RCA. In 1926, RCA formed a new company, the Na- place until January 1940.
tional Broadcasting Company (NBC), to oversee oper- In the interim, RCA began production of receivers
ation of radio stations owned by RCA, General and initiated a limited schedule of television program-
Electric, Westinghouse, and AT&T. ming from the New York transmitters of NBC, basing
In the early 1930s, the Justice Department filed an their service upon the RMA-RCA standards. The ser-
antitrust suit against the company. In a 1932 consent vice was inaugurated in conjunction with the opening
decree, the organization’s operations were separated, of the New York World’s Fair on April 30, 1939, and
and GE, AT&T, and Westinghouse were forced to sell continued throughout the year. At the commission’s
their interests in the company. RCA retained its patents hearing addressing standards on January 15, 1940, op-
and full ownership of NBC. Shortly after becoming an position to the proposed RMA standards emerged. The
independent company, RCA moved into new head- two strongest opponents of the standard were DuMont
quarters in the Rockefeller Center complex in New Laboratories and Philco Radio and Television. One of
York City, into what later became known as Radio the criticisms voiced by both organizations was the as-
City. sertion that the 441-line standard did not provide suffi-
While other American companies were cutting back cient visual detail and definition. Given the lack of a
on research expenditures during the depression years, clear industry consensus, the Commission did not act
David Sarnoff, president of RCA since 1930, was a on the proposed RMA standards.
staunch advocate of technological innovation. He ex- Despite the absence of official approval, RCA con-
panded RCA’s technology research division, devoting tinued to employ the RMA standards and announced
increased resources to television technology. Televi- plans in early 1940 to increase production of television
sion pioneer Vladimir Zworykin was placed in charge receivers, cut the price to consumers by one-third, and
of RCA’s television research division. RCA acquired double its programming schedule. While some com-
competing and secondary patents related to television mentators saw this as a reasonable and progressive ac-
technology, and once the organization felt that the tion, the Commission perceived it as a step toward
technology had attained an appropriate level of refine- prematurely freezing the standards in place and, as a
ment, it pushed for commercialization of the new consequence, scheduled another set of public hearings
medium. for April 8, 1940. At these hearings, opponents argued
In 1938, RCA persuaded the Radio Manufacturers that the action taken by RCA was stifling research and
1884
Radio Television News Directors Association
development into other alternative standards. As a re- parate entities as the publishing firm Random House
sult of the hearings, the Commission eliminated com- and the car rental company Hertz. Throughout the
mercial broadcasting until further development and 1970s and early 1980s, RCA began to divest itself of
refinement had transpired. Furthermore, the Commis- many of its acquired subsidiaries. In June 1986, RCA
sion asserted that commercialization of broadcasting was acquired by General Electric, the organization that
would not be permitted until there was industry con- had originally established it as a subsidiary. GE re-
sensus and agreement on one common system. To mar- tained the brand name RCA, established NBC as a rel-
shal industry-wide support for a single standard, the atively autonomous unit, and combined the remainder
RMA formed the National Television System Commit- of RCA’s businesses with GE operations.
tee (NTSC). The NTSC standards, a 525-line, 60- David F. Donnelly
fields-per-second system, were approved by the FCC
See also National Broadcasting Company; Sarnoff,
in 1941.
David; Sarnoff, Robert; Silverman, Fred; Tar-
Several years later, RCA also became a major par-
tikoff, Brandon; Tinker, Grant; United States: Net-
ticipant in the establishment of color television stan-
works
dards. In 1949, the organization proposed to the FCC
that its dot sequential color system, which was com-
patible with existing black and white receivers, be
adopted as the new color standard. Citing shortcom- Further Reading
ings in the compatible systems offered by RCA and Barnum, Frederick O., “His Master’s Voice,” in America:
other organizations, the FCC opted to formally adopt Ninety Years of Communications Pioneering and Progress,
an incompatible color system offered by the Columbia Camden, New Jersey: Victor Talking Machine Company,
Radio Corporation of America, and General Electric, 1991
Broadcasting System as the color standard. RCA ap- Bilby, Kenneth M., The General: David Sarnoff and the Rise of
pealed this decision all the way to the Supreme Court, the Communications Industry, New York: Harper and Row,
while simultaneously refining its color system. A sec- 1986
ond NTSC was formed to examine the color issue. In Graham, M., RCA and the VideoDisc: The Business of Re-
1953, the FCC reversed itself and endorsed a modified search, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986
Lewis, Thomas S.W., Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made
version of the RCA dot sequential compatible color Radio, New York: Edward Burlingame Books, 1991
system offered by the NTSC. Lyons, Eugene, David Sarnoff, A Biography, New York: Harper
In the 1950s, RCA continued the military and de- and Row, 1966
fense work in which it had been heavily engaged dur- Sarnoff, David, Looking Ahead; The Papers of David Sarnoff,
ing World War II. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the New York: Wisdom Society for the Advancement of Knowl-
edge, Learning, and Research in Education, 1968
company became involved with both satellite technol- The Wisdom of Sarnoff and the World of RCA, Beverly Hills,
ogy and the space program. During the 1960s, RCA California: Wisdom Society for the Advancement of Knowl-
began to diversify as the company acquired such dis- edge, Learning, and Research in Education, 1967

U.S. Professional Organization
The Radio Television News Directors Association bership is open to all electronic journalists as well as
(RTNDA) is the trade organization representing broad- students, educators, suppliers, and other interested par-
cast news professionals in the United States. Founded ties, only members who exercise significant editorial
in 1946, when radio was the dominant broadcast news supervision of news programming are allowed to vote.
medium, the association now serves all electronic me- Among the organization’s services to members are a
dia, with the bulk of its membership comprised of lo- monthly magazine, RTNDA Communicator, and an an-
cal television news professionals. Its primary focus is nual convention held in the fall and featuring training
on the needs of broadcast news managers. While mem- sessions, notable speakers, technology demonstra-
1885
tions, and an exhibit area for suppliers of news prod- avoiding deception, sensationalism, and conflicts of
ucts and services. Augmenting its printed magazine is interest.
the RTNDA website (http://www.rtnda.org), which RTNDA honors professional excellence through its
provides such member services as job listings, a talent Edward R. Murrow Awards in the areas of spot news
bank for posting résumés, and a membership directory. coverage, feature reporting, series, investigative re-
Other ongoing member services include a resource porting, and overall newscast (awarded separately for
catalog of related books and tapes, and industry re- small- and large-market stations). The organization’s
search projects that examine pertinent issues such as top honor is the Paul White Award, given each year to
salaries, staff size, and profitability. an individual for lifetime achievement in the field of
The number and scope of RTNDA services reflect broadcast journalism. RTNDA also sponsors the Radio
the dramatic changes experienced by the broadcast Television News Directors Foundation, a nonprofit or-
news industry in recent years. Among such develop- ganization that engages in research, education, and
ments have been the growing profitability and expan- training activities related to such topics as journalistic
sion of local television news; the emergence of new ethics, the impact of technology on electronic news
outlets such as Cable News Network, MSNBC, gathering, the role of electronic journalism in politics
C-SPAN, and online information services; and ad- and public policy, environmental news coverage, and
vances in the technology of news gathering, particu- cultural diversity in the profession.
larly in live remote broadcast capabilities and satellite Jerry Hagins
transmission. In addition, local TV news operations,
See also National Broadcasting Company; Sarnoff,
unlike their newspaper counterparts, are generally
David; Sarnoff, Robert; Silverman, Fred; Tar-
locked in fierce three-way competition with other local
tikoff, Brandon; Tinker, Grant; United States: Net-
news programs in the same market. The pressure to
works
maximize ratings often puts the news manager in the
precarious situation of having to decide between news
Further Reading
values and entertainment values. The nature of a com-
mercial medium such as television generally makes Cook, Philip S., Douglas Gomery, and Lawrence W. Lichty, The
such conflict unavoidable. Future of News: Televisions, Newspapers, Wire Services,
Newsmagazines, Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Cen-
Through its ongoing activities and services, ter Press, 1992
RTNDA strives to set and promote professional stan- Fields, Howard, “RTNDA at 40: Major Lobbying Role,”
dards for electronic journalists. The RTNDA Code of Television-Radio Age (August 18, 1986)
Ethics is published in each issue of the organization’s Jacobs, Jerry, Changing Channels: Issues and Realities in Tele-
monthly magazine. The code states that “the responsi- vision News, Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publish-
ing, 1990
bility of radio and television journalists is to gather and Kaniss, Phyllis C., Making Local News, Chicago: University of
report information of importance and interest to the Chicago Press, 1991
public accurately, honestly, and impartially,” and pro- McManus, John H., Market-Driven Journalism: Let the Citizen
vides guidelines for fair, balanced reporting that re- Beware? Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1994
spects the dignity and privacy of subjects and sources, “RTNDA and the State of Electronic Journalism,” Broadcasting
(December 12, 1988)
Randall, Tony (1920–2004)

U.S. Actor
Tony Randall, an Emmy Award-winning television and Randall began his career in radio in the 1940s, ap-
film actor, was most noted for his role as the anal- pearing on such shows as the Henry Morgan Program
retentive Felix Unger in the ABC sitcom The Odd and Opera Quiz. From 1950 to 1952, Randall played
Couple. A popular guest on numerous variety and talk Mac on the melodramatic TV serial One Man’s Fam-
shows, Randall was connected with all three major ily. He then went on to play Harvey Weskit, the brash,
broadcast networks, as well as with PBS. overconfident best friend of Robinson Peepers (Wally
1886
Randall, Tony
Award-winning variety show episodes, The Flip Wil-

son Show (1970) and The Sonny and Cher Show
(1971). Randall’s frequent appearances as a guest on
the Tonight Show won him a role playing himself in
Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy (1983).
Beginning in 1976, Randall starred in the CBS sit-
com The Tony Randall Show. Randall played Walter
Franklin, a judge who deliberated over his troubled
family as much as he did over the cases presented to
him in his mythical Philadelphia courtroom. In 1981,
Randall returned to television playing Sidney Shorr in
NBC’s Love, Sidney, a critically acclaimed yet com-
mercially unsuccessful sitcom canceled in 1983. The
series did attract some criticism from religious and cul-
turally conservative communities. In Sidney Shorr, the
made-for-television movie that preceded the series,
Randall’s character was presented as homosexual. In
the series, this aspect of the role was simply dropped.
Randall reprised his Felix Unger role in a 1993 TV-
movie version of The Odd Couple. He has also hosted
the PBS opera series Live from the Met and continued
to appear frequently on such talk shows as The Late
Show with David Letterman. However, from 1991,
Randall focused his professional efforts primarily on
the National Actors Theatre, a classical repertory com-
pany he founded and with which he frequently acted.
Michael B. Kassel
See also Odd Couple, The
Tony Randall, 1987.

Tony Randall. Born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Ok-
©Stockline/Courtesy of the Everett Collection lahoma, February 26, 1920. Educated at Northwestern
University, Chicago; Columbia University, New York;
the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre,
New York City, 1938–40; and the Officer Candidate
Cox) in the live sitcom Mr. Peepers (1952–55). After
School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Married: 1)
finding a niche in films, including numerous roles in
Florence Gibbs (died, 1992); 2) Heather Harlan, 1995;
romantic comedies, Randall won the part of Felix
two children. Served as private and first lieutenant,
Unger in the ABC television version of The Odd Cou-
U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1942–46. Announcer and ac-
ple (1970–75).
tor in radio soap operas; New York debut as stage ac-
Randall played Unger in a Chicago stage version of
tor, A Circle of Chalk, 1941; various theater and radio
The Odd Couple, but the Broadway and film versions
work, 1947–52; television actor, from 1952. Member:
of The Odd Couple became established hits with dif-
Actors’ Equity Association; Screen Actors Guild;
ferent stars in the role. Nevertheless, Randall lent nu-
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists;
merous additions to the Felix character. Drawing upon
Association of the Metropolitan Opera Company;
his interest in opera, Randall had Felix become an
founder and artistic director of the National Actors
opera lover. Randall also added the comedic honking
Theatre in New York City. Recipient: Emmy Award,
noises that accompanied Felix’s ever-present sinus at-
1975. Died in New York City, May 17, 2004.
tacks. Much like television costar Jack Klugman’s
close connection to the Oscar Madison role, Randall
became synonymous with Unger. Television Series
Despite low ratings for the series, ABC, the third- 1949–55 One Man’s Family
place network, allowed The Odd Couple a five-season 1952–55 Mr. Peepers
run. In 1975, Randall won an Emmy for Best Lead Ac- 1970–75 The Odd Couple
tor for his role as Felix. A popular guest on numerous 1976–78 The Tony Randall Show
variety shows, Randall was present on two Emmy 1981–82 Love, Sidney
1887
Randall, Tony
Made-for-Television Movies Bottle, 1964; Fluffy, 1965; Bang, Bang, You’re

1978 Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid Dead, 1966; Hello Down There, 1969; Everything
1981 Sidney Shorr: A Girl’s Best Friend You Always Wanted to Know About Sex . . . , 1972;
1984 Off Sides Huckleberry Finn, 1974; Scavenger Hunt, 1979;
1985 Hitler’s SS: Portrait in Evil Foolin’ Around, 1980; The King of Comedy, 1983;
1986 Sunday Drive My Little Pony, 1986; That’s Adequate, 1989;
1988 Save the Dog Gremlins 2: The New Batch (voice), 1990; Fatal In-
1989 The Man in the Brown Suit stinct, 1993; Down with Love, 2003.
1993 The Odd Couple: Together Again
Stage (selected)
Television Specials (selected) Circle of Chalk, 1941; Candida, 1941; The Corn Is
1956 Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl Green, 1942; The Barretts of Wimpole Street, 1947;
(host) Anthony and Cleopatra, 1948; Caesar and Cleopa-
1960 Four for Tonight (costar) tra, 1950; Oh Men, Oh Women, 1954; Inherit the
1960 So Help Me, Aphrodite Wind, 1955–56; Oh Captain, 1958; UTBU, 1966;
1962 Arsenic and Old Lace Two Into One, 1988; M. Butterfly, 1989; A Little
1967 The Wide Open Door Hotel on the Side, 1992; The Master Builder (direc-
1969 The Littlest Angel tor), 1992; Three Men on a Horse, 1993; The Gov-
1977 They Said It with Music: Yankee Doodle ernment Inspector, 1994; The Odd Couple, 1994;
to Ragtime (cohost) The School for Scandal, 1995; Inherit the Wind,
1981 Tony Randall’s All-Star Circus (host) 1995; The Sunshine Boys, 1998.
1985 Curtain’s Up (host)
1987 Walt Disney World Celebrity Circus
(host) Radio
I Love a Mystery; Portia Faces Life; When a Girl
Films Marries; Life’s True Story.
Oh Men, Oh Women, 1957; Will Success Spoil Rock
Hunter?, 1957; The Mating Game, 1959; Pillow
Publication
Talk, 1959; Let’s Make Love, 1960; Lover Come
Back, 1962; Send Me No Flowers, 1964; The Brass Which Reminds Me (with Michael Mindlin), 1989
Rather, Dan (1931– )

In a career in journalism that is now in its fifth decade, the case of well-publicized contretemps with Richard
Dan Rather has established himself as a crucial figure Nixon and George Bush.
in broadcast news. Anchor of the CBS Evening News Rather began his career in journalism in 1950 as an
since 1981, Rather has enjoyed a long and sometimes Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas. He sub-
colorful career in broadcasting. Rather has interviewed sequently worked as a reporter for United Press Inter-
every U.S. president from Dwight D. Eisenhower to national, for KSAM Radio in Huntsville, for KTRH
Bill Clinton, and international leaders from Nelson Radio in Houston, and at the Houston Chronicle. He
Mandela to Boris Yeltsin. In 1990, he was the first became news director of KTRH in 1956 and a reporter
American journalist to interview Saddam Hussein af- for KTRH-TV in Houston in 1959. He was news direc-
ter Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Rather’s hard-hitting tor at KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston, before
journalistic style has sometimes been as much dis- joining CBS News in 1962 as chief of the southwest
cussed as the content of his reporting, particularly in bureau in Dallas.
1888
Rather, Dan
In 1963, Rather was appointed chief of CBS’s

southern bureau in New Orleans, responsible for cov-
erage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico,
and Central America. He reported extensively on
southern racial strife, becoming well acquainted with
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On November 22, 1963, in
Dallas, Rather broke the news of the death of President
John F. Kennedy. A few weeks after the assassination,
he became CBS’s White House correspondent.
Rather attracted notice in 1974 for an exchange with
Richard Nixon. At a National Association of Broad-
casters convention in Houston, Rather was applauded
when he stood to ask a question, drawing Nixon’s
query, “Are you running for something?” Many saw
Rather’s quick retort, “No, sir, Mr. President. Are
you?” as an affront to presidential dignity.
A year later, Rather was selected to join the roster of
journalists on CBS’s 60 Minutes, and in 1981, after
lengthy negotiations with the network, Rather became
the successor to Walter Cronkite, anchoring the CBS
Evening News. During Rather’s tenure, he has some-
times been associated with striking, even bizarre, mo-
ments of news coverage. For one week in September
1986, Rather concluded his nightly broadcast with the
solemn, ominous-sounding, single-word sign-off
“Courage.” The line, seen as an attempt to respond to or
replace audience familiarity with Cronkite’s “And that’s
the way it is,” attracted widespread media coverage and
more than a little satire. In October 1986, Rather was at- Dan Rather, anchorman of The CBS Evening News, 3/10/85.
tacked outside the CBS building by thugs reportedly de- Courtesy of the Everett Collection
manding “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” and he
subsequently appeared on the air with a swollen and
bruised face. In September 1987, Rather walked off the
Rather’s career reflects the passing of the era in
CBS Evening News set in protest over the network’s de-
which one anchor, Walter Cronkite, was unproblemati-
cision to allow U.S. Open tennis coverage to cut into
cally “the most trusted man in America.” Along with
the broadcast. His action on this occasion left CBS with
Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings, Rather is one of a tri-
a blank screen for more than six minutes. This moment
umvirate of middle-aged white male anchors who
was recalled in an explosive live interview Rather con-
dominate the U.S. national nightly news. The three
ducted with Vice President George Bush in January
network news broadcasts continue to be locked in a
1988. When Rather pressed Bush about his contradic-
tightly contested ratings race, and these highly paid an-
tory claims regarding his involvement in the Iran-
chors are decidedly valuable properties, the “stars” of
Contra scandal, the vice president responded by asking
television news. CBS, cognizant of this state of affairs,
Rather if he would like to be judged by those minutes
offered Rather a new three-year contract in 2002,
resulting from his decision to walk off the air.
which he signed.
Connie Chung joined Rather on the CBS Evening
Diane M. Negra
News in a dual anchor format in 1993 amid constant
speculation that he did not approve of the appointment. See also Anchor; Columbia Broadcasting System;
When Chung left the Evening News spot in 1995, he News, Network; 60 Minutes
did not seem displeased. Rather also continues to an-
chor and report for the CBS News broadcast 48 Hours Dan Rather. Born in Wharton, Texas, October 31,
(which premiered in 1988). He was the first network 1931. Educated at Sam Houston State College,
journalist to anchor an evening news broadcast and a Huntsville, Texas, B.A. in journalism 1953; attended
prime-time news program at the same time, a practice University of Houston and South Texas School of Law.
which has since been adopted by other networks. Married: Jean Goebel; children: Dawn Robin and
1889
Rather, Dan
Daniel Martin. Journalism instructor, Sam Houston Publications

State College; worked for the Houston Chronicle;
America at War: The Battle for Iraq: A View from the
news writer, reporter, and news director, CBS radio af-
Frontlines, 2003
filiate KTRH, Houston, mid- to late 1950s; director of
The American Dream: Stories from the Heart of Our
news and public affairs, CBS television affiliate
Nation, 2001
KHOU, Houston, late 1950s to 1961; chief, CBS’s
The Camera Never Blinks: Adventures of a TV Jour-
southwestern bureau, Dallas, 1962–64; CBS White
nalist (with Mickey Herskowitz), 1977
House correspondent, 1963; chief, CBS’s London bu-
The Camera Never Blinks Twice: Further Adventures
reau, 1965–66; war correspondent, Vietnam, 1966; re-
of a Television Journalist, 1994
turned to position as CBS White House correspondent,
1966–74; anchor-correspondent, CBS Reports,
1974–75; correspondent and co-editor, 60 Minutes,
Further Reading
1975–81; anchor, Dan Rather Reporting, CBS Radio
Network, since 1977; anchor and managing editor, Corliss, Richard, “Broadcast Blues,” Film Comment (March–
CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, since 1981; an- April, 1988)
Goldberg, Robert, and Gerald Jay Goldberg, Anchors: Brokaw,
chor, 48 Hours, since 1988; anchored numerous CBS Jennings, Rather, and the Evening News, New York: Birch
news specials. Recipient: Texas Associated Press Lane, 1990
Broadcasters’ Awards for spot news coverage, 1956, Jones, Alex S., “The Anchors: Who They Are, What They Do,
1959; numerous Emmy Awards. The Tests They Face,” New York Times (July 27, 1986)
Matusow, Barbara, The Evening Stars, Boston: Houghton Mif-
flin, 1983
Television Westin, Av, Newswatch: How TV Decides the News, New York:
1974–75 CBS Reports Simon and Schuster, 1982
Zelizer, Barbie, “What’s Rather Public About Dan Rather: TV
1975–81 60 Minutes Journalism and the Emergence of Celebrity,” Journal of
1981– CBS Evening News with Dan Rather Popular Film and Television (Summer 1989)
1988–2002 48 Hours
1998– 60 Minutes II
Ratings
Ratings are a central component of the television indus- watching a particular show. There are approximately
try, almost a household word. They are important in 100 million households in the United States, and most
television because they indicate the size of an audience of them have TV sets. If 20 million of those house-
for specific programs. Networks and stations then set holds are watching NBC at 8:00 P.M., then NBC’s rat-
their advertising rates based on the number of viewers ing for that time period is 20 (20 million / 100 million
of their programs. Network revenue is thus directly re- 20). Another way to describe the process is to say
lated to the ratings. The word “ratings,” however, is ac- that one rating point is worth 1 million households.
tually rather confusing because it has both a specific and Ratings are also taken for areas smaller than the en-
a general meaning. Specifically, a rating is the percent- tire nation. For example, if a particular city (Your-
age of all the people (or households) in a particular loca- town) has 100,000 households and 15,000 of them are
tion tuned to a particular program. In a general sense, watching the local news on station KAAA, that station
the term is used to describe a process (also referred to as would have a rating of 15. If Yourtown has a popula-
“audience measurement”) that endeavors to determine tion of 300,000 and 30,000 people are watching
the number and types of viewers watching TV. KAAA, the station’s rating would be 10. And because
One common rating (in the specific sense) is the rat- television viewing is becoming less and less of a group
ing of a national television show. This calculation mea- activity with the entire family gathered around the
sures the number of households—out of all the living-room TV set, most ratings are expressed in
households in the United States that have TV sets— terms of people rather than households.
1890
Ratings
Many calculations are related to the rating. Some- call method, because people were remembering what
times people, even professionals in the television busi- they had listened to the previous day. Crossleys existed
ness, confuse them. One of these calculations is the for about 15 years but ended in 1946 because several
share. This figure reports the percentage of households for-profit commercial companies began offering simi-
(or people) watching a show out of all the households lar services that were considered better.
(or people) who have the TV set on. So if Yourtown has One of these, the Hooper ratings, was begun by C.E.
100,000 households but only 50,000 of them have the Hooper. Hooper’s methodology was similar to Cross-
TV set on and 15,000 of those are watching KAAA, ley’s, except that respondents were asked what pro-
the share is 30 (15,000 / 50,000 30). Shares are al- grams they were listening to at the time of the call—a
ways higher than ratings unless, of course, everyone in method known as the coincidental telephone tech-
the country is watching television. nique. Another service, the Pulse, used face-to-face in-
Another calculation is the cume, which reflects the terviewing. Interviewees selected by random sampling
number of different persons who tune in a particular were asked to name the radio stations they had listened
station or network over a period of time. This number to over the past 24 hours, the past week, and the past
is used to show advertisers how many different people five midweek days. If they could not remember, they
hear their message if it is aired at different times such were shown a roster containing station call letters to
as 7:00 P.M., 8:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M. If the total number aid their memory. This was referred to as the roster-
of people available is 100, five of them view at 7:00, recall method.
those five still view at 8:00, but three new people Today the main radio audience measurement com-
watch, and then two people turn the TV off, but four pany is Arbitron. The Arbitron method requires people
new ones join the audience at 9:00, the cume would be to keep diaries in which they write down the stations
12 (5 3 4 12). Cumes are particularly important they listen to at various times of the day. In these di-
to cable networks because their ratings are very low. aries, they also indicate demographic features—their
Two networks with ratings of 1.2 and 1.3 cannot really age, sex, marital status, etc.—so that ratings can be
be differentiated, but if the measurement is taken over broken down by subaudiences.
a wider time span, a greater difference will probably The main television audience measurement com-
surface. pany is the A.C. Nielsen Company. For many years
Average quarter hours (AQH) are another measure- Nielsen used a combination of diaries and a meter de-
ment. This calculation is based on the average number vice called the Audimeter. The Audimeter recorded the
of people viewing a particular station (network, pro- times when a set was on and the channel to which it
gram) for at least 5 minutes during a 15-minute period. was tuned. The diaries were used to collect demo-
For example, if, out of 100 people, 10 view for at least graphic data and list which family members were
5 minutes between 7:00 and 7:15, 7 view between 7:15 watching each program. Nielsen research in some mar-
and 7:30, 11 view between 7:30 and 7:45, and 4 view kets still uses diaries, but for most of its data collec-
between 7:45 and 8:00, the AQH rating would be 8 (10 tion, Nielsen now attaches Peoplemeters to TV sets in
7 11 4 32; 32 / 4 8). selected homes. Peoplemeters collect both demo-
Many other calculations are possible. For example, graphic and channel information because they are
if the proper data have been collected, it is easy to cal- equipped with remote control devices. These devices
culate the percentage of women between the ages of 18 accommodate a number of buttons, one for each per-
and 34, or of men in urban areas, who watch particular son in the household and one for guests. Each person
programs. Networks and stations gather as much infor- watching TV presses his or her button, which has been
mation as is economically possible. They then try to programmed with demographic data, to indicate view-
use the numbers that present their programming strate- ing choices and activities.
gies in the best light. There are also companies that gather and supply
The general ratings (audience measurement) pro- specialized ratings. For example, one company spe-
cess has varied greatly over the years. Audience mea- cializes in data concerning news programs and another
surement started in the early 1930s with radio. A group tracks Latino viewing.
of advertising interests joined together as a nonprofit All audience measurement is based on samples. At
entity to support ratings known as “Crossleys,” named present, there is no economical way of finding out
after Archibald Crossley, the man who conducted what every person in the entire country is watching.
them. Crossley used random numbers from telephone Diaries, meters, and phone calls are all expensive, so
directories and called people in about 30 cities to ask sometimes samples are small. In some cases, no more
them what radio programs they had listened to the day than .004 percent of the population is being surveyed.
before his call. This method became known as the re- However, the rating companies try to make their sam-
1891
Ratings
ples as representative of the larger population as possi- the data collected are sent over phone lines to a central
ble. They consider a wide variety of demographic fea- computer. People keeping diaries mail them back to
tures—size of family, gender and age of head of the company, and employees then enter the data into a
household, access to cable TV, income, education— computer. Usually, only about 50 percent of diaries are
and try to construct a sample comprising the same per- useable; the rest are never mailed back or are so incor-
centage of the various demographic traits as in the rectly filled out that they cannot be used.
general population. From the data collected and calculated by the com-
In order to select a representative sample, the computer, ratings companies publish reports. These vary
panies attempt to locate every housing unit in the according to what was surveyed. Nielsen covers com-
country (or city or viewing area), mainly by using mercial networks, cable networks, syndicated pro-
readily available government census data. Once all the gramming, public broadcasting, and local stations.
housing units are accounted for, a computer program is Other companies cover more limited aspects of televi-
used to randomly select the sample group in such a sion. Reports on each night’s prime-time national com-
way that each location has an equal chance of being se- mercial network programming, based on Nielsen
lected. Company representatives then write or phone Peoplemeters, are usually ready about 12 hours after
people in the households that have been selected, try- the data are collected. It takes considerably longer to
ing to secure their cooperation. About 50 percent of generate a report based on diaries. The reports dealing
those selected agree to participate. People are slightly with stations are published less frequently than those
more likely to allow meters in their house and to an- for prime-time network TV. Generally, station ratings
swer questions over the phone than they are to keep di- are undertaken four times a year—November, Febru-
aries. Very little face-to-face interviewing is now ary, May, and July—periods that are often referred to
conducted because people are reluctant to allow as “sweeps.” The weeks of the sweeps are very impor-
strangers into their houses. When people refuse to co- tant to local stations because the numbers produced
operate, the computer program selects more house- then determine advertising rates for the following
holds until the number needed for the sample have three months. Most reports give not only the total rat-
agreed to volunteer. ings and shares but also information broken down into
Once sample members have agreed to participate, various demographic categories—age, sex, education,
they are often contacted in person. In the case of a di- income. The various reports are purchased by net-
ary, someone may show them how to fill it out. In other works, stations, advertisers, and any other companies
cases, the diary and instructions may simply be sent in with a need to know audience statistics. The cost is
the mail. For a meter, a field representative goes to the lower for small entities, such as TV stations, than for
home (apartment, dorm room, vacation home, etc.) larger entities, such as commercial networks. The lat-
and attaches the meter to the television set. This person ter usually pay several million dollars a year to receive
must take into account the entire video configuration a ratings service.
of the home—multiple TV sets, VCRs, satellite dishes, While current ratings methods may be the best yet
cable TV, and anything else that might be attached to devised for calculating audience size and characteris-
the receiver set. The field representative also trains tics, audience measurement is far from perfect. Many
family members in the use of the meter. of the flaws of ratings should be recognized, particu-
People participating in audience measurement are larly by those employed in the industry who make sig-
usually paid, but only a small amount, such as five dol- nificant decisions based on ratings.
lars. Ratings companies have found that paying people Sample size is one aspect of ratings that is fre-
something makes them feel obligated, but paying them quently questioned in relation to rating accuracy.
a large amount does not make them more reliable. Statisticians know that the smaller the sample size the
Ratings companies try to see that no one remains in more chance there is for error. Ratings companies ad-
the sample very long. Participants become weary of mit to this and do not claim that their figures are totally
filling out diaries or pushing buttons and cease to take accurate. Most of them are only accurate to within 2 or
the activities seriously. Soliciting and changing sample 3 percent. This was of little concern during the times
members is expensive, however, so companies do keep when ratings primarily centered around three net-
an eye on the budget when determining how to update works, each of which was likely to have a rating of 20
the sample. or better. Even if CBS’s 20 rating at 8:00 P.M. on Mon-
Once the sample is in order, the data must be col- day was really only 18, this was not likely to disturb
lected from the participants. For phone or face-to-face the network balance. In all likelihood, CBS’s 20 rating
interviews, the interviewer fills in a questionnaire and at 8:00 Tuesday evening was really a 22, so numbers
the data are later entered into a computer. For meters, evened out. Now that there are many sources of pro-
1892
Ratings
gramming, however, and ratings for each are much first introduced, ratings for sports viewing soared
lower, statistical inaccuracies are more significant. A while those for children’s program viewing decreased
cable network with a 2 rating might actually be a 4, an significantly. One explanation held that men, who were
increase that might double its income. watching sports intently, were very reliable about the
Audience measurement companies are willing to in- button pushing, perhaps, in some cases, out of fear that
crease sample size, but doing so would greatly in- the TV would shut off if they didn’t push that button.
crease their costs, and customers for ratings do not Children, on the other hand, were confused or apa-
seem willing to pay. In fact, Arbitron, which had previ- thetic about the button, thereby underreporting the
ously undertaken TV ratings, dropped them in 1994 viewing of children’s programming. Another theory
because they were unprofitable. held that the women of the household had previously
As access to interactive communication increases, it kept the diaries and although they were not always
may be easier to obtain larger samples. Wires from aware of what their husbands were actually viewing,
consumer homes back to cable systems could be used they were quite conscious of what their children were
to send information about what each cable TV house- watching. Under the diary system, in this explanation,
hold is viewing. Many of these wires are already in sports programming was underrated.
place. Consumers wishing to order pay-per-view pro- But diaries have their own problems. The return rate
gramming, for example, can push a button on the re- is low, intensifying the problem of the number of un-
mote control that tells the cable system to unscramble cooperative people in the sample. Even the diaries that
the channel for that particular household. Using this are returned often have missing data. Many people do
technology to determine what is showing on the TV set not fill out the diaries as they watch TV. They wait un-
at all times, however, smacks of a “Big Brother” type til the last minute and try to remember details—per-
of surveillance. Similarly, by the 1970s, a technology haps aided by a copy of TV Guide. Some people are
existed that enabled trucks to drive along streets and simply not honest about what they watch. Perhaps they
record what was showing on each TV set in the neigh- do not want to admit to watching a particular type of
borhood. This practice, perceived as an invasion of pri- program.
vacy, was quickly ended. With interviews, people can be influenced by the
Sample composition, as well as sample size, is also tone or attitude of the interviewer or, again, they can be
seen as a weakness in ratings procedures. When tele- less than truthful about what they watched out of em-
phone numbers are used to draw a sample, households barrassment or in an attempt to project themselves in a
without telephones are excluded and households with favorable light. People are also hesitant to give infor-
more than one phone have a better chance of being in- mation over the phone because they fear the person
cluded. For many of the rating samples, people who do calling is really a salesperson.
not speak either English or Spanish are eliminated. Beyond sampling and methodological problems,
Perhaps one of the greatest difficulties for ratings com- ratings can be subject to technical problems: comput-
panies is caused by those who eliminate themselves ers that go down, meters that function improperly, ca-
from the sample by refusing to cooperate. Although ble TV systems that shift the channel numbers of their
rating services make every attempt to replace these program services without notice, station antennas
people with others who are similar in demographic struck by lightning.
characteristics, the sample’s integrity is somewhat Additionally, rating methodologies are often com-
downgraded. Even if everyone originally selected plicated and challenged by technological and sociolog-
agreed to serve, the sample cannot be totally represen- ical changes. Videocassette recorders, for example,
tative of a larger population. No two people are alike, have presented difficulties for the ratings companies.
and even households with the same income and educa- Generally, programs are counted as being watched if
tion level and the same number of children of the same they are recorded. However, many programs that are
ages do not watch exactly the same television shows. recorded are never watched, and some are watched
Moreover, people within the sample, aware that their several times. In addition, people replaying tape often
viewing or listening habits are being monitored, may skip through commercials, destroying the whole pur-
act differently than they ordinarily do. pose of ratings. And ratings companies have yet to de-
Other problems rise from the fact that each rating cide what to do with sets that show four pictures at
technique has specific drawbacks. Households with once.
Peoplemeters may suffer from “button pushing fa- Another major deterrent to the accuracy of ratings is
tigue,” thereby artificially lowering ratings. Addition- the fact that electronic media programmers often try to
ally, some groups of people are simply more likely to manipulate the ratings system. Local television sta-
push buttons than others. When the Peoplemeter was tions program their most sensational material during
1893
Ratings
ratings periods. Networks preempt regular series and Both electronic media practitioners and audience
present star-loaded specials so that their affiliates will measurement companies want their ratings to be accu-
fare well in ratings and can therefore adjust their ad- rate, so both groups undertake testing to the extent
vertising rates upward. Cable networks show new pro- they can afford it. In 1989, for example, broadcasters
grams as opposed to reruns. All of this, of course, initiated a study to conduct a thorough review of the
negates the real purpose of determining which elec- Peoplemeter. The result was a list of recommendations
tronic media entities have the largest regular audience. to Nielsen that included changing the amount of time
It simply indicates which can design the best program- people participate from two years to one year to elimi-
ming strategy for sweeps week. nate button-pushing fatigue, metering all sets includ-
Because of the possibility for all these sampling, ing those on boats and in vacation homes, and
methodological, technological, and sociological er- simplifying the procedures by which visitors log into
rors, ratings have been subjected to numerous tests and the meter.
investigations. In fact, in 1963, the House of Represen- Still, the weakest link in the system, at present,
tatives became so skeptical of ratings methodologies seems to be how the ratings are used. Networks tout
that it held hearings to investigate the procedures. rating superiorities that show .1 percent differences,
Most of the skepticism had arisen because of a cease- differences that certainly are not statistically signifi-
and-desist order from the Federal Trade Commission cant. Programs are canceled because their ratings fall
(FTC) requiring several audience measurement com- one point. Sweeps weeks tend to become more and
panies to stop misrepresenting the accuracy and relia- more sensationalized. At stake, of course, are advertis-
bility of their reports. The FTC charged the rating ing fees that can translate into millions of dollars. Ad-
companies with relying on hearsay information, mak- vertisers and their agencies need to remain vigilant so
ing false claims about the nature of their sample popu- that they are not paying rates based on artificially stim-
lations, improperly combining and reporting data, ulated ratings that bear no resemblance to the pro-
failing to account for nonresponding sample members, grams in which the sponsor is actually investing.
and making arbitrary changes in the rating figures. At this time all parties in the system seem invested
The main result of the hearings was that broadcast- in some form of audience measurement. So long as the
ers themselves established the Electronic Media Rat- failures and inadequacies of these systems are ac-
ing Council (EMRC) to accredit rating companies. cepted by these major participants, the numbers will
This group periodically checks rating companies to remain a valid type of “currency” in the system of tele-
make sure their sample design and implementation vision.
meet preset standards that electronic media practition- Lynne Schafer Gross
ers have agreed upon, to determine whether interview-
See also A.C. Nielsen Company; Advertising;
ers are properly trained, to oversee the procedures for
Advertising, Company Voice; Cost-Per-
handling diaries, and in other ways assure the ratings
Thousand/Cost-Per-Point; Demographics; Market;
companies are compiling their reports as accurately as
Nielsen, A.C.; Programming; Share
possible. All the major rating companies have EMRC
accreditation.
The EMRC and other research institutions have Further Reading
continued various studies to determine the accuracy of
Buxton, William J., and Charles R. Acland, “Interview with Dr.
ratings. These studies have shown that people who co- Frank Stanton: Radio Research Pioneer,” Journal of Radio
operate with rating services watch more TV, have Studies, Vol. 8 (Summer 2001)
larger families, and are younger and better educated Buzzard, Karen, Electronic Media Ratings, Boston: Focal, 1992
than those who will not cooperate; telephone inter- Gross, Lynne S., Telecommunications: An Introduction to Elec-
viewing gets a 13 percent higher cooperation rate than tronic Media, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000
Webster, James G., Patricia Phalen, and Lawrence W. Lichty,
diaries; Hispanics included in the ratings samples Ratings Analysis: The Theory and Practice of Audience Re-
watch less TV and have smaller families than Hispan- search (Lea’s Communication Series) (2nd edition), Mah-
ics in general. wah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000
1894
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!

Ready Steady Go! was a seminal 1960s pop show that that she had no experience whatsoever in the field (she
featured the top music acts of the time. The British was a secretary at the time), she landed the job and en-
pop scene had begun to evolve with the solo teenage joyed virtual overnight success. McGowan was un-
singing stars (Billy Fury, Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, derstandably nervous on screen at first and a little
Adam Faith) giving way to female solo singers (Dusty overawed by her surroundings, but she quickly got a
Springfield, Lulu, Sandie Shaw) and groups, many handle on the job. Fordyce may have been more pro-
from the Merseyside area round Liverpool (The Beat- fessional, but McGowan was younger (roughly the
les, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and same age as the fans) and far trendier. She was some-
the Dakotas, etc.). With the pop scene becoming ever one with whom the audience could identify. The fact
bigger and the British sound in particular so globally that she was on screen talking to the likes of Mick
successful, it was obvious that television producers Jagger and John Lennon resonated with the home
had to invent new style shows to cover this phenome- viewers, who could almost imagine themselves doing
non. Ready Steady Go! began in 1963 on the indepen- the same job. Such was her impact that in 1964 she
dent TV station Associated Rediffusion, and the was named TV personality of the year by the Variety
BBC’s Top of the Pops debuted the following year. Club of Great Britain, a prestigious honor. Cathy Mc-
These two shows dominated the TV music coverage Gowan’s presence in the show was one of the factors
of the 1960s in the United Kingdom. Whereas Top of that made Ready Steady Go! such a success.
the Pops followed the simple (but highly durable) for- Of even more importance, though, were the
mat of simply featuring artists performing their hits in ramshackle, fast-paced style of the show and the con-
the charts, Ready Steady Go! featured a mixture of sistently good lineup of acts, chosen mainly because
live performances, interviews, dance instructions, and of the individual tastes of the creative crew rather than
competitions. any chart position. A spin-off magazine was launched
Ready Steady Go! was first broadcast on August 9, to cash in on the success of the program, which was
1963, and initially ran 30 minutes. Billy Fury was on also ideally situated to cover the emergence of
the first show, but more representative of the upcom- “mods” and their music. This meant that, apart from
ing guests were Brian Poole and the Tremoloes, who local bands, the show also featured American artists
were currently popular thanks to their version of (including many African-American artists). A Mo-
“Twist and Shout.” The following year the show ex- town special in 1965 was hosted by show regular
panded to a 50-minute slot and entered a golden pe- Dusty Springfield and featured all the leading Mo-
riod. Top acts were booked every week, and they town acts of the day (Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robin-
performed to a studio audience of 200 or so teenagers. son, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Temptations,
Initially located at the Kingsway Studios in London, it Martha Reeves and the Vandellas).
soon outgrew its home, and production moved to the The last edition of the series (headlining The Who
airier Wembley Studios. The show’s main presenters and subtitled Ready Steady Gone!) aired December 23,
were Keith Fordyce, an established TV face who 1966. The show had been groundbreaking and influen-
came across like an affable uncle, and Cathy Mc- tial, and the surviving footage provides a priceless
Gowan, a fashionable, pretty ingénue who quickly archive of some memorable moments and important
struck a chord with the viewing audience. The produc- performances. The rights to tapes of the series were ac-
ers of Ready Steady Go! were determined to find a quired by pop artist-turned-entrepreneur Dave Clark in
new face to front the show and advertised in the music the 1980s.
press for potential presenters. McGowan’s sister sent Dick Fiddy
in an application on her behalf and, despite the fact
See also Music on Television; Top of the Pops
1895
Reagan, Ronald
Reagan, Ronald (1911–2004)

U.S. Actor, Politician
Ronald Reagan lived in the public eye for more than By 1980, the year Reagan was elected president for
50 years as an actor and politician. He appeared in 53 the first of his two terms, more people received their
Hollywood movies, from Love Is in the Air (1937) to political information from television than from any
The Killers (1964). Never highly touted as an actor, his other source. Reagan’s experience as an actor in film
most acclaimed movie was Kings Row (1942), while and on television gave him an enormous advantage as
his favorite role was as George Gipp in Knute politics moved fully into its television era. His mastery
Rockne—All American (1940). He served as president of the television medium earned for him the title “the
of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and great communicator.” He perfected the art of “going
again in 1959, where he led the fight against commu- public,” appealing to the American public on televi-
nist infiltration in the film industry and brokered resid- sion to put pressure on Congress to support his poli-
ual rights for actors. cies. The rhetoric of this “prime-time president” suited
Reagan made his debut on television on December 7, television perfectly. Whether delivering a State of the
1950, as a detective on the CBS Airflyte Theater adapta- Union address, eulogizing the crew of the space shuttle
tion of an Agatha Christie novel. After a dozen appear- Challenger, or speaking directly to the nation about his
ances over the next four years on various shows, strategic defense initiative, he captured the audience’s
Reagan’s big television break came when Taft Schreiber attention by appealing to shared values, creating a vi-
of MCA acquainted him with General Electric Theater. sion of a better future, telling stories of heroes, evok-
Reagan hosted this popular Sunday evening show from ing memories of a mythic past, exuding a spirit of
1954 to 1962, starring in 34 episodes himself. Reagan can-do optimism, and converting complex issues into
was one of the first movie stars to see the potential of simple language that people could understand and en-
television, and, as host, he introduced such Hollywood joy.
notables as Joan Crawford, Alan Ladd, and Fred Astaire Reagan understood that television is more like the
in their television debuts. He also became a goodwill oral tradition committed to narrative communication
ambassador for General Electric (GE), plugging GE than like the literate tradition committed to linear, fac-
products, meeting GE executives, and speaking to GE tual communication. As Robert E. Denton puts it, in
employees all over the United States. These activities video politics “how something is said is more important
proved fine training for his future political career as he than what is said.” Reagan surmounted his numerous
honed his speaking skills, fashioned his viewpoints, and gaffes and factual inaccuracies until the Iran-Contra af-
gained exposure to middle America. fair, when it became apparent that his style could not
In 1965, Reagan began a two-season stint as host of extricate him from the suspicion that he knew more
Death Valley Days, which he had to relinquish when than he was telling the American public.
he announced his candidacy for governor of Califor- Reagan’s administration also greatly expanded the
nia, in January 1966. During his terms as governor Office of Communication to coordinate White House
(1966–74), Reagan made frequent televised appear- public relations, stage important announcements, con-
ances on Report to the People. trol press conferences, and create visual productions
The hinge between Reagan’s acting and political ca- such as That’s America, shown at the 1984 Republican
reers swung on a nationally televised speech, “A Time convention. Image management and manipulation in-
for Choosing,” on October 27, 1964. This speech for creased in importance because of television. Reagan’s
Barry Goldwater, which David Broder hailed as “the aides perfected a new political art form, the visual
most successful political debut since William Jennings press release, whereby Reagan could take credit for
Bryan electrified the 1896 Democratic convention new housing starts while visiting a construction site in
with his ‘Cross of Gold’ speech,” brought in over $1 Fort Worth, Texas, or announce a new welfare initia-
million for the Republican candidate and marked the tive during a visit to a nursing home.
beginning of Reagan’s reign as the leading conserva- Ronald Reagan was an average television actor but a
tive for the next 25 years. peerless television politician. Both Reagan and his
1896
Reagan, Ronald
Television Series
1953–54 The Orchid Awards (host)
1953–62 General Electric Theater (host and
program supervisor)
1965–66 Death Valley Days (host)
1964 The Killers (released as theatrical feature
due to violent content)
Films
Love Is in the Air, 1937; Hollywood Hotel, 1937; Swing
Your Lady, 1938; Sergeant Murphy, 1938; Accidents
Will Happen, 1938; The Cowboy from Brooklyn,
1938; Boy Meets Girl, 1938; Girls on Probation,
1938; Brother Rat, 1938; Going Places, 1939; Secret
Service of the Air, 1939; Dark Victory, 1939; Code of
the Secret Service, 1939; Naughty but Nice, 1939;
Hell’s Kitchen, 1939; Angels Wash Their Faces,
1939; Smashing the Money Ring, 1939; Brother Rat
and a Baby, 1940; An Angel from Texas, 1940; Mur-
der in the Air, 1940; Knute Rockne—All American,
1940; Tugboat Annie Smith Sails Again, 1940; Santa
Fe Trail, 1940; The Bad Men, 1941; Million Dollar
Ronald Reagan in the 1960s. Baby, 1941; Nine Lives Are Not Enough, 1941; Inter-
Courtesy of the Everett Collection national Squadron, 1941; Kings Row, 1941; Juke
Girl, 1942; Desperate Journey, 1942; This Is the
Army, 1943; Stallion Road, 1947; That Hagen Girl,
staff set the standard by which future administrations
1947; The Voice of the Turtle, 1947; John Loves Mary,
will be judged. As Robert Schmuhl argues in Statecraft
1949; Night unto Night, 1949; The Girl from Jones
and Stagecraft, Reagan represented not only the
Beach, 1949; It’s a Great Feeling, 1949; The Hasty
rhetorical presidency, but the theatrical presidency as
Heart, 1950; Louisa, 1950; Storm Warning, 1951;
well.
Bedtime for Bonzo, 1951; The Last Outpost, 1951;
D. Joel Wiggins
Hong Kong, 1952; She’s Working Her Way Through
See also General Electric Theater; U.S. Presidency College, 1952; The Winning Team, 1952; Tropic Zone,
and Television (Historical Overview) 1953; Law and Order, 1953; Prisoner of War, 1954;
Cattle Queen of Montana, 1954; Tennessee’s Partner,
Ronald (Wilson) Reagan. Born in Tampico, Illinois, 1955; Hellcats of the Navy, 1957; The Young Doctors
February 6, 1911. Educated at Eureka College, Illinois, (narrator), 1961; The Killers, 1964.
B.A. in economics and sociology, 1932. Married: 1)
Jane Wyman, 1940 (divorced, 1948); children: Mau-
reen and Michael; 2) Nancy Davis, 1952; children: Publications
Patti and Ron. Served in U.S. Army Air Force, Where’s the Rest of Me? (with Richard Hubler), 1965
1942–45. Wrote sports column for Des Moines, Iowa, The Reagan Wit (edited by Bill Adler), 1981
newspaper; sports announcer, radio station WOC, Ronald Reagan: An American Life, 1990
Davenport, Iowa, 1932–37; in films, 1937–64; contract
with Warner Brothers, 1937; first lead role in big-
budget film was in Kings Row, 1942; president, Screen Further Reading
Actors Guild, 1947–52, and 1959; in television,
1953–66, starting as host of The Orchid Awards, Barilleaux, Ryan J., The Post-modern Presidency: The Office
After Ronald Reagan, New York: Praeger, 1988
1953–54; governor of California, 1966–74; U.S. presi- Cannon, Lou, Reagan, New York: Putnam, 1982
dent, 1980–88. Died June 5, 2004, in Bel-Air, Califor- Deaver, Michael, A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with
nia. Ronald Reagan, New York: HarperCollins, 2001
1897
Reagan, Ronald
Deaver, Michael, with Mickey Herskowitz, Behind the Scenes: McClelland, Doug, Hollywood on Ronald Reagan: Friends and
In Which the Author Talks About Ronald and Nancy Rea- Enemies Discuss Our President, the Actor, Winchester, Mas-
gan . . . and Himself, New York: William Morrow, 1987 sachusetts: Faber and Faber, 1983
Denton, Robert E., Jr., The Primetime Presidency of Ronald McClure, A.F., C.D. Rice, and W.T. Stewart, editors, Ronald
Reagan, New York: Praeger, 1988 Reagan: His First Career: A Bibliography of the Movie
D’Souza, Dinesh, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Years, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen, 1988
Became an Extraordinary Leader, New York: Free Press, Morris, Edmund, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan, New
1997 York: Random House, 1999
Erickson, Paul D., Reagan Speaks: The Making of an American Pearce, Barnett, and Michael Weiler, Reagan and Public Dis-
Myth, New York: New York University Press, 1985 course in America, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama
Gold, Ellen Reid, “Ronald Reagan and the Oral Tradition,” Press, 1992
Central States Speech Journal (1988) Schmuhl, Robert, Statecraft and Stagecraft: American Politics
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall, Eloquence in an Electronic Age: The in the Age of Personality, Notre Dame, Indiana: University
Transformation of Political Speechmaking, New York: Ox- of Notre Dame Press, 1990
ford University Press, 1988 Stuckey, Mary E., Getting into the Game: The Pre-presidential
Kernal, Samuel, “Going Public,” Congressional Quarterly Politics of Ronald Reagan, New York: Praeger, 1989
Press (1986) Stuckey, Mary E., Playing the Game: The Presidential Rhetoric
Kiewe, Amos, and Davis W. Houck, A Shining City on a Hill: of Ronald Reagan, New York: Praeger, 1990
Ronald Reagan’s Economic Rhetoric, 1951–1989, New Stuckey, Mary E., The President As Interpreter-in-Chief,
York: Praeger, 1991 Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham House, 1991
Leamer, Laurence, Make-believe: The Story of Nancy and Thomas, Tony, The Films of Ronald Reagan, Secaucus, New
Ronald Reagan, New York: Harper and Row, 1983 Jersey: Citadel, 1980
Real World, The

U.S. Reality Series
Beginning in the spring of 1992, The Real World tested to sleep with the house lesbian; and a religious woman
the supposition of what would happen if seven who is intimidated by blacks and believes homosexu-
strangers lived together for several months before ality is a sin. As a result of the selective casting, drama
video cameras and had most aspects of their lives between the roommates inevitably ensues, especially
taped for later editing and broadcast. The ultimate ap- when placed in The Real World environment. For ex-
peal for viewers, as the show suggests in its opening, is ample, no televisions or radios are allowed in The Real
watching what happens “when people stop being po- World household. As a result of this and other devices,
lite, and start getting real.” As is made clear at the be- cast members must interact with each other instead of
ginning of the program, the format for The Real World zoning out on music or television.
consists of hand-selecting seven young adults (ages 18 Episodes of The Real World cover the day-to-day
to 28), plopping them in a plush, rent-free home for activities of the cast. They are usually required to per-
four to five months, and observing their interactions. form some volunteer work with a local organization.
While living in this fishbowl environment the “cast” is Snippets of the roommates’ activities are highlighted
videotaped 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Finally, by “confessionals,” allowing cast members, in soli-
the videotape—over 2,000 hours of footage—is edited tude, to directly address a video camera in a manner
into 22 or 23 half-hour episodes. similar to a video diary. The “confessional” is a Real
Each season The Real World sets up in a new city, World invention that dozens of other reality shows, in-
with a new cast of seven young adults, picked from cluding Survivor, Boot Camp, Making of the Band, Big
thousands of applicants reflecting a diverse set of Brother, and The Real World’s sister show, Road Rules,
backgrounds, ideologies, and stereotypes. The Real have adopted. By allowing the audience to listen to a
World Chicago (season 11) is typical, and includes a cast member explain his or her thoughts or give con-
biracial lesbian; a recovering alcoholic; a homosexual text to events they are witnessing, the viewer has an
male; an all-American, football-playing Princeton stu- even closer look at the lives and individual thoughts of
dent; a sexually fixated black male who is determined cast members.
1898
Real World, The
In some ways, then, The Real World combines the thousands of fans, to sales of videos and merchandise,
soap opera format with elements of documentary film and to the creation of Real World auctions, specials
to create a distinctive reality television experience. and spin-offs. As a result, The Real World can be
The cast and their reactions to events are real. How- viewed as the grandfather of the contemporary reality
ever, through the magic of editing, storylines and sen- television genre.
sational moments are pulled from the material to build Lisa Joniak
an ongoing saga. It is no surprise to learn that the cre-
See also Big Brother; MTV; Reality Programming;
ators of The Real World, Mary-Ellis Bunim and
Survivor
Jonathan Murray, previously worked with soap operas
and documentary films, respectively.
Since its inception, The Real World has continued to Cast
garner impressive ratings in the highly coveted young Season 1: Andre, Becky, Eric, Heather, Julie,
adult market. In addition, the success of The Real World Kevin, and Norman
has launched a home-video market. These videos pri- Season 2: Aaron, Beth, David, Dominic, Irene,
marily feature content—nudity or other “adult-oriented” Jon, and Tami
material—that could not be shown on basic cable televi- Season 3: Cory, Judd, Mohammed, Pam, Pedro,
sion. The Real World’s spin-off, Road Rules, is similar Puck, and Rachel
to The Real World, but instead of living in a lavishly Season 4: Jacinda, Jay, Kat, Lars, Michael, Neil,
decorated house, the Road Rules cast lives on a huge, and Sharon
traveling bus and competes in challenges to win money Season 5: Cynthia, Dan, Flora, Joe, Melissa,
and prizes. The producers of The Real World and Road Mike, and Sarah
Rules have tapped the combined drawing power of the Season 6: Elka, Genesis, Jason, Kameelah,
shows to create television specials such as The Road Montana, Sean, and Syrus
Rules/Real World Challenge, which features cast mem- Season 7: David, Irene, Janet, Lindsey, Nathan,
bers from the two shows competing against each other Rebecca, and Stephen
for prizes and cash. Other Real World specials include Season 8: Amaya, Collin, Justin, Kaia, Matt,
cast reunions, love specials (featuring cast members Ruthie, and Teck
who engaged in romantic relationships), and fight spe- Season 9: Danny, David, Jamie, Julie, Kelly,
cials (featuring the worst—or best—arguments). There Matt, and Melissa
are even specials devoted to examining the “rejects” of Season 10: Coral, Kevin, Lori, Malik, Mike,
the show, splicing together in comical fashion clips of Nicole, and Rachel
audition tapes from the thousands of Real World wanna- Season 11: Aneesa, Cara, Chris, Keri, Kyle,
bes who did not make the cut. Theo, and Tonya
The Real World’s commercialism and synergy ex- Season 12: Alton, Arissa, Brynn, Frank, Irulan,
tends beyond home-video sales and television specials. Steven, and Trishelle
Fans of the show are prompted at the end of each Season 13: Ace, Adam, Chris (CT), Christina,
episode to purchase a CD of the music featured on The Leah, Mallory, and Simon
Real World. Additionally, Real World enthusiasts can
visit the show’s website, buy Real World merchandise,
Creators/Excutive Producers
and even bid on items from the current Real World
Jonathan Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim
house that are auctioned off to the highest bidder. In
this manner The Real World blends nicely with the ba-
sic programming format of the Music Television net- Programming History
work (MTV), which is designed essentially to sell 1992 Season 1, New York, 13 episodes
music and music-related merchandise through the ad- 1993 Season 2, Los Angeles, 23 episodes
vertising potential grounded in airing music videos 1994 Season 3, San Francisco, 23 episodes
and music-related programming. 1995 Season 4, London, 22 episodes
The Real World served as an important foundation 1996 Season 5, Miami, 23 episodes
for other reality series to follow. It was instrumental in 1997 Season 6, Boston, 23 episodes
popularizing the voyeuristic, real-life soap-opera for- 1998 Season 7, Seattle, 23 episodes
mat and was the first to utilize the “confessional,” 1999 Season 8, Hawaii, 23 episodes
which has become a mainstay for many reality televi- 2000 Season 9, New Orleans, 23 episodes
sion programs. Its popularity has spread to the creation 2001 Season 10, Back to New York, 22
of hundreds of websites maintained by and engaging episodes
1899
Real World, The
2002 Season 11, Chicago, 23 episodes Further Reading

(note: start of two seasons per year) Collins, Monica, “MTV’s Risqué ‘Real World’ Is Twisted,
2002 Season 12, Las Vegas, 28 episodes Sleazy Fun,” Boston Herald (January 29, 2002)
2003 Season 13, Paris, 23 episodes Joniak, Lisa, “Understanding Reality Television: A Triangulated
Analysis,” Ph. D. diss., University of Florida, 2001
Kloer, Phil, “We Got Our MTV,” Atlanta Constitution (August
1, 2001)
Music Television (MTV) Real World Casting Special, produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim
June 1992– and Jonathan Murray, on Music Television Network, New
present Tuesday 10:00–10:30 York: MTV, 2000
Reality Television (U.S.)

“Reality television” is a label that encompasses a wide n’t depend on writers or other above-the-line talent)
range of nonfiction formats, including gamedocs, and produced new reality shows in order to fill the gap
makeover programs, talent contests, docusoaps, dating left by their fictional counterparts. From this, the net-
shows, court programs, tabloid newsmagazine shows, works learned reality programming was not only
and reality-based sitcoms. Yet, the genre’s overarching cheap, but also strike-proof, and they consequently
characteristic is its claim to “the real,” which it works added more of such programs to their prime-time line-
to underscore through its aesthetic strategies (use of ups. Some of the most successful of the shows that
cinema verité techniques, surveillance video, low-end came out of this period were COPS, America’s Most
production values, or “natural settings”), its relentless Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries, America’s Funniest
obsession with the intimate, and its tendency to focus Home Videos and Rescue 911. But reality programs
on ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. were not just confined to prime time. Syndicated talk
And it is these very traits that have helped make reality shows such as Geraldo, Oprah, and Donahue began to
TV one of the most talked about, reviled, and popular take over the daytime programming slots, while
genres on television. tabloid magazine programs like Inside Edition, A Cur-
The summer of 2000 is often considered the starting rent Affair, and Entertainment Tonight were populating
point of the reality television phenomenon in the afternoon and early evening slots.
United States, since it marked the initial appearance The fact that these programs tended to focus on the
and unexpected popularity of Survivor and Big personal problems of both ordinary people and celebri-
Brother. Yet, the roots of the genre stretch back to tele- ties led many to decry them as exploitative and sensa-
vision’s early years with programs that delved into the tional and to eventually group them under the
personal lives of game contestants (Queen for a Day derogatory heading, “trash TV.” According to many
and Bride and Groom) or used hidden cameras to catch critics, one producer in particular seemed to represent
people in compromising or embarrassing situations the very worst tendencies of this type of reality pro-
(Candid Camera). Nevertheless, there have been dis- duction. Mike Darnell, a former child star, produced a
tinct periods in television history wherein reality pro- series of controversial specials for FOX during the
grams have swelled in numbers or developed in novel mid-1990s—such as World’s Scariest Police Chases
and significant ways. and When Good Pets Go Bad—which were amped-up
During the 1980s, the networks’ financial and labor collections of recycled home movie and news footage
troubles contributed to a proliferation of reality-based that were described by the New York Times as “gross-
programs. Already burdened by rising production out shockumentaries and socially unreedeming freak
costs, debts incurred by the mid-decade sale of three shows.” In 1999, FOX’s decision to air Darnell’s Who
networks to new owners, and a loss of viewers to bur- Wants To Marry a Multimillionaire? (a combination
geoning cable channels, the broadcast industry faced a beauty contest and dating show met with almost uni-
writers’ strike in 1988. In the midst of what would be- versal scorn) appeared to be the death knell for both
come a 22-week walk-off, networks came to depend Darnell’s career and, perhaps, reality programming in
on their existing lineup of reality programs (which did- general. However, at that very moment, CBS execu-
1900
tives and producer Mark Burnett were creating a new

model of reality in the form of an expensively pro-
duced game show/documentary hybrid. That program,
Survivor, would air the following summer and give rise
to an unprecedented number of reality programs in
prime-time television.
Like the wave of reality in the 1980s, the prolifera-
tion of reality in the early 2000s was driven, in part, by
financial concerns and the threat of more strikes by
writers and actors. However, this most recent surge
was also pushed along by both the promise and threat
posed by new technologies. The appearance of digital
video recorders like TiVo and Replay, which allowed
consumers to not only record up to 90 hours of their
favorite shows, but to also skip over commercial spots
during real-time broadcasts, threatened to upend the
long-standing relationship between networks and ad-
vertisers. However, a re-envisioned version of reality
programming, as exemplified by Survivor, allowed for
sponsorship and product placement, enabling networks
a way around the commercial-skipping feature.
Other technologies offered the potential for audi-
ence participation and worked well to increase viewer
interest in the gamedoc format of many of these new
reality programs. They also significantly increased the
potential for profits. Phone numbers set up to take
viewer votes to expel contestants often charged callers COPS.
Photo courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Company
for the privilege. Websites were set up to provide extra
footage or updates for a price, like the Big Brother site
that charged $19.95 for access to 24-hour live stream-
ing video of the contestants in the house. While not a added more risqué or raw versions of reality to their
popular strategy for American television, European schedules with series like Freshman Diaries and
versions of reality programs sold a service that would America Undercover. The Learning Channel found its
keep fans on top of program developments with regu- reality niche with makeover and lifestyle shows that
lar text message updates sent to their cell phones. often were packaged with an “educational” or family
These technologies not only gave networks new fi- bent. Expanding upon its success with A Wedding
nancing opportunities, but also offered viewers rather Story/A Baby Story series, it filled its daytime schedule
unique ways to engage with a reality narrative that with A Makeover Story, A Personal Story, A Dating
seemed to extend outside the boundaries of traditional Story, and added shows like Maternity Ward and Resi-
textual installments. dent Life to its prime-time lineup. It also Americanized
But it was not only networks that were investing in a number of British imports such as Changing Rooms
reality TV. Basic and premium cable channels also (which it renamed Trading Spaces) and What Not To
found the genre to be a cheap and popular program- Wear.
ming alternative that they could easily gear toward the Reality TV has become a decidedly global phenom-
interests of their target audiences. MTV, whose long- enon that has involved a reversal of the usual flow of
standing Real World program had prefigured many of programming across international borders. Instead of
the characteristics of the new wave of reality program- theUnited States being the major television exporter,
ming a decade before Survivor came on the air, devel- European companies were the originators of many of
oped reality shows that featured teenagers, sorority the formats that have become the most popular reality
girls, and rock stars. The Osbournes, a reality sitcom programs in the United States The Dutch production
that centered on the domestic life of Ozzy Osbourne company Endemol is one of the most successful pro-
and his wife, children, and innumerable pets, became ducers of such formats, selling basic elements of
the most successful (and expensive) of such shows of shows like Big Brother and Fear Factor to not only the
2002. Premium channels Showtime and HBO also United States but also markets in Africa, Latin Amer-
1901
ica, Asia, and Europe. British exporters have also done for an all-reality cable channel were revealed, and The
well for themselves selling programs that found their Real Cancun, the first “reality movie” was released in
initial success on the BBC and Channel 4 to U.S. cable theaters. Surprisingly, even Darnell and FOX overcame
stations and networks. The practice of selling formats the taint of the Multimillionaire disaster and came out
instead of providing already-produced programs for with two new and softer marriage programs, Joe Mil-
international distribution is relatively new industrial lionaire and Married by America, which had followed
practice, and is considered yet another financial advan- ABC’s success with The Bachelor.
tage of the genre. Believing that a program can be Susan Murray
evacuated of its cultural particulars and then refilled
See also America’s Most Wanted; Big Brother; Can-
with new ones once it arrives in another country, pro-
did Camera; COPS; Real World; Survivor
duction companies assume that the basics of reality
programming maintain a universal appeal.
Although many critics in the United States predicted Further Reading
the genre’s rapid decline or demise just a year or two af- Andrejevic, Marc, Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched,
ter its rise, reality TV continued to dominate the air- New York: Rowan and Littlefield, 2003
waves. In fact, in early 2003, ABC announced that Brenton, Sam, and Reuben Cohen, Shooting People: Adven-
one-seventh of all its programming was reality-based tures in Reality TV, New York: Verso, 2003
and was planning to add even more to its schedule in up- Calvert, Clay, Voyeur Nation: Media, Privacy and Peering in
Modern Culture, New York: Westview Press, 2000
coming seasons. The staying power of the genre and the Friedman, James, Reality Squared: Televisual Discourses on the
success of new shows like American Idol and The Bach- Real, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University
elorette convinced networks to make long-term plans Press, 2002
for reality TV and its accompanying business strategies. Glynn, Kevin, Tabloid Culture: Trash Taste, Popular Power
In a front-page story on the topic in the New York Times, and the Transformation of American Television, Durham,
North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2000
president of CBS television, Leslie Moonves, pro- Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, Reality TV: Remaking
claimed rather melodramatically that, “The world as we Television Culture, New York: New York University Press,
knew it is over.” A few months later, development plans 2004
Red Green Show, The

Canadian Comedy Program
The Red Green Show is a half-hour comedy series tar- spoof on male bonding in the outdoors and gives an in-
geted to family audiences. The Red Green Show is the tentionally hilarious insight into the dreams and ob-
creation of Steve Smith (S & S Productions) and de- sessions of men. Regular segments include the
buted on CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in “Handyman’s Corner” (where Red’s philosophy of “if
1990 and featured on the Public Broadcasting System women don’t find you handsome, they should at least
(PBS). The low-budget variety show is a spinoff of the find you handy” is played out with innovative, yet un-
Smith & Smith variety show that featured Smith and seemly construction adaptations using duct tape, the
his wife, Morag, and served as a debut for the Green “handyman’s secret weapon”); “The Experts” (featur-
character. The Red Green Show features Smith as Red ing a panel of Possum Lodge, Chapter 13 members
Green, a gentle, handy, outdoorsman with a laid-back who answer viewer mail and find any way to respond
sense of humor. The Red Green Show is set at the ficti- without the words, “I don’t know”); and “Adventures
tious Possum Lodge, Chapter 13, known as the hang- with Bill” (a klutzy outdoors and nature segment
out of “the last real men on the planet.” The cast hosted by Possum Lodge’s resident naturalist and nar-
consists mostly of incompetent outdoorsmen in plaid rated by Red and shot in black and white).
shirts who unwittingly work right into Green’s bizarre Other Lodge members and characters include
sense of humor. The Red Green Show is intended as a nerdy nephew Harold Green (Pat McKenna); clumsy
1902
Red Skelton Show, The
naturalist Bill Smith (Rick Green); compulsive liar characters include Red’s wife, sweet Bernice; the
Hap Shaughnessy (Gordon Pinsent); bush pilot and cranky, old, senile, and mean Old Man Sedgewick;
hippie Buzz Sherwood (Peter Wildman); Monster the large, stupid, and strong Moose Thompson; the
Truck driver Dougie Franklin (Ian Thomas); natural smelly and unclean Stinky Peterson; and the unlucky
resources enthusiast and golfer Bob Stuyvestant in love Junior Singleton. Co-writers are Rick Green
(Bruce Hunter); vacationless fire watch tower warden and Peter Wildman.
Ranger Gord (Peter Kelleghan); penny-pinching Dal- The Red Green Show was been honored with
ton Humphries (Bob Bainborough); sales-without- Canada’s 1999 Gemini Award for Best Performance in
the-service marina owner Glen Braxton (Mark a Comedy Program or Series (awarded to Steve Smith
Wilson); sweet but not innocent repeat offender Mike and Patrick McKenna), and the Rockie Award of the
Hammer (Wayne Robson); dynamite-loving Edgar Sir Peter Ustinov Endowment. Smith is a successful
Montrose (Graham Greene); septic-sucking motiva- fundraiser for PBS; his supporters and fans pledge mil-
tor Winston Rothschild III (Jeff Lumby); and big-city lions of dollars to PBS.
land developer Kevin Black (Paul Gross). Mythical Margaret Miller Butcher

U.S. Comedy/Variety Program
The Red Skelton Show, which premiered on September their love and laughter. His signature closing line be-
30, 1951, was not only one of the longest-running vari- came “Good night, and may God bless.”
ety series on television but also one of the first variety The Red Skelton Show, unlike other variety series,
shows to make the successful transition from radio to did not rely on guest stars every week. Skelton had a
television. Despite his popularity as an entertainer in strong group of support players, most of whom had
nightclubs, vaudeville, radio, and 26 feature films, worked with him on radio, including Benny Rubin,
Skelton was unsure of the new medium. Consequently, Hans Conried, Mel Blanc, and Verna Felton.
he continued his weekly radio broadcasts while simul- Most of Skelton’s characters were first developed
taneously working on the first two seasons of his tele- for radio and worked equally well on television.
vision show. Among the best known were Junior the Mean Widdle
The series originally aired in a half-hour format on Kid (who was famous for his expression, “I dood it”),
NBC. Despite an outstanding first year, in which his country boy Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye,
show was ranked fourth in the Nielsens and won two boxer Cauliflower McPugg, drunkard Willy Lump-
Emmy Awards, the series’ ratings toppled in its second Lump, and con man San Fernando Red. Skelton had a
season. When NBC canceled the show, it was immedi- reputation for his extensive use of “headware”—each
ately picked up by CBS, and The Red Skelton Show be- character had his own specific hat, which Skelton used
came a Tuesday night staple from 1954 to 1970, as a means to find the center of each personality. The
garnering a total of 16 Emmy nominations. only television addition to his repertoire of characters
The format of the series was similar to Skelton’s ra- was Freddie the Freeloader, a hobo who never spoke.
dio program. Each show began with Skelton perform- A special “silent spot” featuring the hobo character
ing a monologue based on topical material, followed was added to the program and provided Skelton the
by a musical interlude. Next would follow a series of opportunity to demonstrate his talents as a pan-
blackout sketches featuring one or more of his charac- tomimist.
ters. The sketches were a mixture of new material and Skelton’s forte was his use of slapstick. He appeared
old routines perfected over the years in vaudeville and oblivious to physical punishment and often ended his
in nightclubs (including his popular “Guzzler’s Gin” vaudeville act by falling off the stage into the orchestra
sketch). At the end of the program, Skelton would turn pit. One of his most popular pieces was created for his
serious, expressing his gratitude to his audience for premiere show. At the end of his monologue, while
1903
During the run of his variety series, Skelton was

also able to demonstrate his dramatic abilities. He
played punch-drunk fighter Buddy McCoy in Play-
house 90’s The Big Slide (CBS, November 8, 1956),
for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award as
best actor. He died in Rancho Mirage, California, on
September 17, 1997.
Susan R. Gibberman
See also Skelton, Red; Variety Programs
Regular Performers
Red Skelton
David Rose and His Orchestra
Carol Worthington (1970–71)
Chanin Hale (1970–71)
Jan Arvan (1970–71)
Bob Duggan (1970–71)
Peggy Rea (1970–71)
Brad Logan (1970–71)
The Burgundy Street Singers (1970–71)
Producers
1951–70: Nat Perrin, Cecil Barker, Freeman Keyes,
Ben Brady, Gerald Gardner, Bill Hobin, Seymour
Berns; 1970–71: Guy Della Cioppa, Gerald Gard-
Red Skelton Show, Eve Arden, Red Skelton as George Appleby, ner, Dee Caruso
1951–71; 1961 episode.
Programming History
NBC
Skelton was taking a bow, two hands reached out from September 1951–June 1952 Sunday 10:00–10:30
under the curtain, grabbed him by the ankles, and September 1952–June 1953 Sunday 7:00–7:30
swept him off the stage. CBS
Many stars got their start on The Red Skelton Show. September 1953–June 1954 Tuesday 8:30–9:00
In 1954, Johnny Carson, one of Skelton’s writers, was July 1954–September 1954 Wednesday 8:00–9:00
called upon to fill in for the star when Skelton injured September 1954–December
himself during a rehearsal. The Rolling Stones made 1954 Tuesday 8:00–8:30
one of their earliest U.S. appearances on the show in January 1959–June 1961 Tuesday 9:30–10:00
1964. September 1961–June l962 Tuesday 9:00–9:30
Critics often chastised Skelton for breaking into September 1962–June 1963 Tuesday 8:30–9:30
laughter at his own material on the air. But, no matter September l963–June 1964 Tuesday 8:00–9:00
how many times he succumbed to his giggles, took an- September 1964–June 1970 Tuesday 8:30–9:30
other pratfall, mugged for the camera, or made asides NBC
to the audience, his popularity only increased. September 1970–March 1971 Monday 7:30–8:00
Although the series remained among the top-20 June 1971–August 1971 Sunday 8:30–9:00
rated shows, CBS canceled it in 1970, citing high pro-
duction costs. However, it was also the case that Skel-
Further Reading
ton’s main audience was very young viewers, and it is
more likely that the network wanted shows that would Busch, N.F., “Red Skelton: Television’s Clown Prince,”
Reader’s Digest (March 1965)
increase its audience share of young adults. The next
Castro, Peter, “Good Night and God Bless: Despite Grievous
season, Skelton returned to NBC in a half-hour format Losses, TV’s Clown Prince Red Skelton Made Laughter His
on Monday night, but the new show lasted only one Life’s Work,” People Weekly (October 6, 1997)
season. Chassler, S., “Helter Skelton,” Colliers (March 29, 1952)
1904
Redmond, Phil
“Clown of the Year,” Newsweek (March 17, 1952) Marx, Arthur, Red Skelton, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979
Gehring, Wes D., “Red Skelton and Clem Kadiddlehopper,” In- Pryor, Thomas M., “Impromptu Comic: In TV, Red Skelton
diana Magazine of History (March 1, 1996) Is a Free-Wheeling Clown,” New York Times (March 2,
Gehring, Wes D., Seeing Red: The Skelton in Hollywood’s 1952)
Closet: An Analytical Biography, Davenport, Iowa: Robin Tschopp, Henry W., “Six Radio Comedians: An Introduction
Vincent Publishing, 2001 and Investigative Study,” Ph.D. diss., University of New
Marceau, Marcel, “Red Skelton: America’s Clown,” TV Guide Mexico, 1977
(October 11, 1997)
Redmond, Phil (1949– )

British Producer
Phil Redmond is the most well-known drama producer of Channel 4, Jeremy Isaacs, and its commissioning
in Britain, recognized as the creator of the long- editor for fiction, David Rose, and succeeded in con-
running children’s school drama Grange Hill and the vincing them that they should adopt his proposals for
soap opera Brookside. Redmond rose from a council Brookside, a twice-weekly soap opera focusing on so-
estate childhood in north Liverpool to become a media cial issues based around family life on a new private
celebrity and owner of a large private production com- housing estate. Channel 4 brought a new style of tele-
pany. As for most working-class children, a career in vision production to Britain by commissioning inde-
the media lay outside his reach, and in 1968 he left his pendent production companies to make programs. In
local comprehensive school to train as a quantity sur- 1981, Redmond secured a £4 million investment from
veyor in the building trade. However, by 1972, he had Channel 4 to establish his own company, Mersey Tele-
abandoned this, having resolved instead to become a vision, and to begin work on Brookside. Much of the
writer, and to take a university degree in social studies money was spent purchasing and fitting out the real
to help him in the task. The course had a profound ef- Liverpool housing estate that was to serve both as the
fect on his career, and his writing and programs contin- production and company base.
ually draw on forms of social observation. The development of Redmond’s soap opera is of
The producer’s career in television began as a considerable importance to the history of British tele-
scriptwriter for comedy programs, but his major break- vision. For many years following its launch in 1982,
through came in 1978, when his proposals for a new Brookside provided Channel 4 with by far its most
children’s drama series were adopted by the BBC. popular program and played a major role in establish-
What set Grange Hill apart from other high school dra- ing the viability of the channel. The setting up of
mas was the program’s realism and its interweaving of Mersey Television in Liverpool to produce the pro-
serious moral and social issues, such as truancy, gram represented a considerable innovation, for it cre-
teenage sex, heroin addiction, and racism, into the ated not only the largest independent production
story lines. The program’s unsentimental approach to company in Britain, with over 100 full-time jobs for
school and controversial subject matter has frequently the local workforce, but also significantly extended
provoked complaints from pressure groups. Despite the opportunities for television production outside
the objections, however, the series has always been London.
hugely popular with young people, and successive Redmond has always contended that the audience of
generations of school students have grown up with the popular drama will respond positively to challenging
program and enjoyed exposure to the problems of the subject matter. With Brookside he was to prove his
“real” world. point. After a slightly shaky start, the program’s realist
Redmond wrote over 30 episodes for Grange Hill in aesthetics, pioneering single-camera video production
its first four seasons, but his ambitions were driving on location, and focus on major social issues such as
him toward becoming a producer in his own right and unemployment, rape, drug use, and gay rights has won
following up the opportunities created by the advent of over an up-market audience group not normally inter-
the fourth channel in Britain. He approached the head ested in soaps. The program helped to raise the stakes
1905
Redmond, Phil
soap opera, and Hollyoaks was introduced into Chan-

nel 4’s early evening schedule.
Redmond and his company have ridden the reces-
sion in British commercial TV at the start of the new
century with more limited success. The proliferation of
new digital and terrestrial channels drew away large
numbers of viewers from Channel 4, and by 2002
Brookside’s audience had dropped to less than a mil-
lion. Audience tastes, too, were changing, moving
away from realist fictions to reality television and
lifestyle shows Brookside was closed down in Novem-
ber 2003. However, Hollyoaks has moved from
strength to strength in its niche as an upbeat, lifestyle
soap, and output has been increased to five episodes a
week. At the same time, Redmond has also resumed
executive control of Grange Hill. The move of the pro-
duction from London to Mersey Television has taken
up some of the company’s spare capacity brought
about by the loss of Brookside.
Redmond remains the chair of the largest indepen-
dent drama production company in Britain, which over
the years has launched the careers of some of the most
well-known actors, writers, directors, and producers in
British television. He continues to play an active role
in television training.
Bob Millington
Phil Redmond, creator of “Brookside,” “Hollyoaks,” and
“Grange Hill.” See also Brookside; Channel 4; Grange Hill
Photo courtesy of Phil Redmond
Phil Redmond. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, En-
gland, 1949. Began career as a television scriptwriter,
contributing to Z Cars and other series; established
of production design, and has added a new seriousness reputation with the realistic school series Grange Hill,
to popular drama. A new generation of realist drama BBC; subsequently moved into independent televi-
programs, including top shows such as EastEnders and sion, setting up Mersey Television and creating Brook-
Casualty, have followed Brookside’s example and ex- side soap opera for Channel 4.
plored contemporary social problems.
Redmond’s wider business activities provide a con- Television Series
spicuous example of the entrepreneurial spirit that has 1978– Grange Hill
pervaded broadcasting in Britain following deregula- 1982–2003 Brookside
tion. In 1991, he was at the center of the £80 million 1995– Holly Oaks
consortium bid for the new ITV franchise in northwest
England, which had been held by Granada since 1956. Further Reading
Though the bid was unsuccessful, the additional Cooke, Lez, British Television Drama, A History, London:
premises that had been acquired to substantiate it have British Film Institute, 2003
strengthened the power base of Mersey Television and Geraghty, Christine, Women and Soap Opera, London: Polity,
enabled it to extend its production. In 1990, the output 1990
Redmond, Phil, Brookside, The Official Companion, London:
of Brookside was increased to three episodes a week Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1987
and its audience peaked at 8 million viewers in 1993. Tunstall, Jeremy, Television Producers, London: Routledge,
In 1995, Redmond successfully bid for a new youth 1993
1906
Redstone, Sumner
Redstone, Sumner (1923– )

U.S. Media Mogul
Sumner Redstone is one of the most powerful media Redstone has continued in the movie-exhibition busi-
moguls of the early 21st century. In his capacity as ness. At the end of the 20th century, National Amuse-
chairman of the board and chief executive officer of ments operated 1,350 screens across the United States,
Viacom, Redstone controls Hollywood’s Paramount the United Kingdom, and Latin America.
Pictures television and motion picture factory; the Redstone is a physically tough individual. In 1979,
CBS and UPN networks; a handful of cable TV net- he survived a Boston hotel fire by clinging to a third-
works, including MTV, the Movie Channel, Showtime, floor window with one severely burned hand. Doctors
Black Entertainment Television, The Nashville Net- never expected him to live through 60 hours of
work, Comedy Central, Country Music Television, surgery, but he did. Medical experts told him he would
Nickelodeon, and VH-1; several radio and TV stations; never walk again, yet Redstone began to exercise daily
and a TV production and syndication business that on a treadmill and to play tennis regularly, wearing a
owns the lucrative syndication rights to Roseanne, A leather strap that enabled him to grip his racquet.
Different World, I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, The Twi- Those who know the Boston tycoon say that his recov-
light Zone, and The Cosby Show. Viacom has also pro- ery spurred his ambition to succeed in the motion-
duced such prime-time fare as Matlock and Jake and picture and later television business.
the Fatman. As he recovered from his burns, Redstone used his
Redstone’s father, Michael, first sold linoleum from knowledge of the movie business to begin selectively
the back of a truck, later became a liquor wholesaler, acquiring stock in Hollywood studios. In a relatively
and finally purchased two nightclubs and set up one of short time, he made millions of dollars buying and
the original drive-in movie operations in the United selling stakes in Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia
States. By the time Sumner Redstone graduated from Pictures Entertainment, MGM/UA Entertainment, and
Harvard University in 1943, his father was concentrat- Orion. At first, Viacom represented simply another
ing on the movie industry. One of a number of strug- stock market investment, but soon Redstone realized
gling owners in the fledgling drive-in business, he was that the company needed new management, and, in
unable to book first-run films because the vertically in- 1987, he resolved to take over and run the operation.
tegrated Hollywood giants promoted their own movie Redstone’s acquisition proved difficult. The com-
theaters. pany had rebuffed an earlier takeover attempt by fi-
Sumner Redstone graduated first in his class from nancier Carl Icahn, and Viacom executives had sought
the prestigious Boston Latin School and then finished to buy and protect their own company. Redstone be-
Harvard in less than three years. Upon graduation, he came embroiled in a bitter, six-month corporate raid
was recruited by Edwin Reischauer, a future U.S. am- that forced him to raise his offer three times. Upon fi-
bassador to Japan, for an ace U.S. Army intelligence nal acquisition, rather than break up Viacom and sell
unit that would become famous for cracking Japan’s off divisions to pay for the deal as his bankers advised,
military codes. After three years of service, during Redstone slowly and quietly built the company into
which he received two Army commendations, Red- one of the world’s top TV corporations.
stone entered Harvard Law School. Redstone hired former Home Box Office chief exec-
After graduating from Harvard Law in 1947, he be- utive Frank Biondi to build on Viacom’s diversity. For
gan to practice law, first in Washington, D.C., and then example, by the mid-1990s, Viacom had expanded its
in Boston, but he soon was lured into the family MTV music network far beyond its original base in the
movie-theater business. Two decades later, Redstone United States to reach more than 200 million house-
became president and chief executive officer of the holds in approximately 80 countries in Europe, Latin
family firm, National Amusements, Inc. (NAI) and he America, and Asia. Redstone felt that his networks
took on the additional role of chairman of the NAI needed a Hollywood studio to make new products, and
board in 1986. Indeed, even with his move to Viacom, in 1993 he decided to acquire Paramount. He soon
1907
Redstone, Sumner
decision maker. Thus, Redstone brought together the

CBS and UPN television networks and Viacom’s cable
channels under one roof, making Redstone one of the
handful of the world’s most powerful media moguls.
But as the advertising market soured at the commence-
ment of the 21st century, the synergy of the merger did
not increase profits. Overall, advertising sales were
down, and it was uncertain whether Redstone, as he
neared his 80th birthday, would spin off subsidiaries he
deemed unnecessary for Viacom’s future.
Douglas Gomery
See also Cable Networks; MTV; Syndication
Sumner Murray Redstone. Born Sumner Murray

Rothstein in Boston, Massachusetts, May 27, 1923.
Educated at Harvard University, B.A., 1944, L.L.B.,
1947. Married: Phyllis Gloria Raphael, 1947; children:
Brent Dale and Shari Ellin. Served as first lieutenant,
U.S. Army, 1943–45. Admitted to the Massachusetts
Bar, 1947; instructor of law and labor management,
University of San Francisco, 1947; law secretary, U.S.
Court of Appeals for 9th Circuit, San Francisco,
1947–48; admitted to U.S. Court of Appeals (1st and
9th Circuits), 1948; special assistant to U.S. Attorney
General, Washington, D.C., 1948–51; admitted to U.S.
Court of Appeals (8th Circuit), 1950; admitted to
Washington, D.C., Bar, 1951; partner in firm of Ford,
Sumner Redstone, 2000. Bergson, Adams, Borkland, and Redstone, Washing-
©Robert Bertoia/Everett Collection ton, D.C., 1951–54; admitted to U.S. Supreme Court,
1952; executive vice president, Northeast Drive-In
Theater Corporation, 1954–68; president, Northeast
found himself in a battle with QVC Network, Inc., and Theater Corporation; assistant president, Theater
in time he joined forces with video rental empire Owners of America, 1960–63, president, 1964–65;
Blockbuster Entertainment to cement the deal. chair of the board, National Association of Theater
Owning more than two-thirds of Viacom’s voting Owners, 1965–66; president and chief executive offi-
stock (as of 2002) means that Redstone controls a vast cer, National Amusements, Inc., Dedham, Massachu-
media empire second only to that of Rupert Murdoch. setts, since 1967, chair of the board, since 1986; chair
Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Forbes ranked of the board, Viacom International, Inc. and Viacom,
Redstone among the richest persons in the United Inc., New York City; professor, Boston University
States, with a net worth in excess of $4 billion. Yet Law School, 1982, 1985–86. Member: American Bar
Redstone has never “gone Hollywood.” At the start of Association; National Association of Theatre Owners;
the 21st century, he continues to operate his collection Theatre Owners of America; Motion Picture Pioneers;
of enterprises, not from Paramount’s sprawling studio Boston Bar Association; Massachusetts Bar Associa-
on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, but from his long- tion; Harvard Law School Association; American Judi-
time NAI headquarters in Dedham, Massachusetts. cature Society. Recipient: Army Commendation
On September 7, 1999, Redstone announced the cap- Medal; William J. German Human Relations Award,
stone deal of his life by taking over CBS Corporation American Jewish Committee Entertainment and Com-
for $37.3 billion. He was able to bend the Federal Com- munication Division, 1977; Silver Shingle Award,
munications Commission ownership rules, and the deal Boston University Law School, 1985; Man of the Year,
sailed past government regulators. Mel Karmazin of Entertainment Industries Division of United Jewish
CBS became the chief operating officer of the whole Appeal Federation, 1988; Variety New England Hu-
company, but with Redstone owning controlling inter- manitarian Award, 1989; Pioneer of the Year, Motion
est in the stock, it was clear who was the boss, the final Picture Pioneers, 1991.
1908
Rees, Marian
Publication Lenzer, Robert, “Late Bloomer,” Forbes (October 17, 1994)

Leonard, Devin, “Who’s the Boss?” Fortune (April 16, 2000)
A Passion to Win (with Peter Knobler), 2001 Maney, Kevin, Megamedia Shakeout: The Inside Story of the
Leaders and Losers in the Exploding Communications In-
Further Reading dustry, New York: John Wiley, 1995
Matzer, Marla, “Winning Is the Only Thing,” Forbes (October
Auletta, Ken, “The Last Studio in Play,” The New Yorker (Octo- 17, 1994)
ber 4, 1993) Parker, Jim, “The CBS-Viacom Merger: Impact on Journalism,”
Bart, Peter, “Owners Take Over the Asylum: Murdochian Federal Communications Law Journal (May 2000)
Moguls Become Hands-on,” Variety (February 26, 1995) Schwartzman, Andrew Jay, “Viacom-CBS Merger: Media
Gallese, Liz Roman, “‘I Get Exhilarated by It,’” Forbes (Octo- Competition and Consolidation in the New Millennium,”
ber 22, 1990) Federal Communications Law Journal (May 2000)
Greenwald, John, “The Man with the Iron Grasp,” Time Stern, Christopher, “Ready to Take On the World” (interview),
(September 27, 1993) Broadcasting and Cable (September 20, 1993)
Landler, Mark, “The MTV Tycoon: Sumner Redstone Is Turn- “Sumner Redstone: A Drive to Win,” Broadcasting (November
ing Viacom into the Hottest Global TV Network,” Business 14, 1988)
Week (September 21, 1992) Waterman, David, “CBS-Viacom and the Effects of Media
Landler, Mark, “Sumner at the Summit,” Business Week (Febru- Mergers: An Economic Perspective,” Federal Communica-
ary 28, 1994) tions Law Journal (May 2000)
Rees, Marian
U.S. Producer
After graduating with honors in sociology from the In order to fund her first independent productions,
University of Iowa, Marian Rees moved to Los Ange- Rees initially mortgaged her home and car, facing de-
les in 1952, where she began her television career as a mands for financial qualification far more extensive
receptionist-typist at NBC. By 1955, she had joined than would have been required for a man. She pressed
the Norman Lear-Bud Yorkin company, Tandem Pro- for months to gain network approval for her first pro-
ductions, and in 1958, she served as an associate production, Miss All-American Beauty, but resistance con-
ducer of the much-honored An Evening with Fred tinued, and she finally learned that the male executive
Astaire. She continued to advance in the organization, she had to convince simply did not want to trust a
and by the early 1970s, she served as associate pro- woman. Finally, with funds running extremely low, ap-
ducer of the pilots of All in the Family and Sanford and proval for the project came from CBS. Rees completed
Son. In 1972, however, she was told by Tandem that the production under budget, and her company at last
she would be happier elsewhere, and was given two found itself on solid footing.
weeks’ notice. It was a stunning blow, but as she told In the succeeding years, Rees has garnered 11
an interviewer in 1986, she used the firing to grow. Emmy Awards and 38 Emmy nominations. In 1992,
Rees assumed a new position at the independent just ten years after her company began, she saw her
production company Tomorrow Entertainment, where film for NBC, Miss Rose White, garner four Emmys
she broadened her knowledge of development, prepro- out of ten nominations, a Golden Globe nomination,
duction, and postproduction. At Tomorrow, Rees was and the Humanitas Award. Ten of her productions have
associated with a variety of quality productions, in- been aired as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series.
cluding The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. She Rees has remained faithful to her vision of excel-
then spent two years as vice president of the NRW lence, even in times of financial difficulty. She exam-
Company, where she was the executive producer of ines potential stories to ascertain whether they speak to
The Marva Collins Story, a Hallmark Hall of Fame her personally, and whether they will make her proud
presentation starring Cicely Tyson. In 1982, Rees to be associated with the final product. These same
formed her own company, Marian Rees Associates. concerns are reflected in the meticulous attention she
Anne Hopkins joined the company as a partner and has and her partner give to each project once it is in pro-
continued to work with Rees ever since. duction. While filming Miss Rose White in spring 1992
1909
Rees, Marian
Guild of America, where she has served as vice presi-

dent. “Producer” may be an easy title to acquire in the
modern television age. Few earn it, and certainly none
deserve it more than Marian Rees.
Robert S. Alley
See also All in the Family; Hallmark Hall of Fame;
Sanford and Son
Marian Rees. Worked in live television, New York

City, from 1950s; associate producer, Tandem Produc-
tions, 1955–72; executive, Tomorrow Entertainment,
First Artists Television, EMI Television, and NRW
Company’s features division, 1972–82; founder, Mar-
ian Rees Associates, 1982, ALT Films, 1997; producer,
numerous made-for-television movies. Member:
Women in Film (twice elected president); board of di-
rectors, American Film Institute; Producers Guild of
America (vice president, 1996).

1971–79 All in the Family
1972–77 Sanford and Son
2000–02 ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre’s
American Collection
Marian Rees. Made-for-Television Movies (selected)

Photo courtesy of Marian Rees 1979 Orphan Train
1981 The Marva Collins Story
1981 Angel Dusted
1982 Miss All-American Beauty
in Richmond, Virginia, for example, both Rees and
1983 Between Friends
Hopkins supervised details at every stage and person-
1984 License to Kill
ally examined each location shot for authenticity. Such
1984 Love Is Never Silent
care has meant that their work is usually focused on a
1986 Christmas Snow
single film at a time. Rees and Hopkins form a remark-
1986 Resting Place
able team, taking considerable risks, and always deliv-
1987 The Room Upstairs
ering quality products, a task made more difficult in
1987 Foxfire
today’s U.S. television industry.
1988 Little Girl Lost
In 1997, the partners joined with Stephen Kulczycki
1989 The Shell Seekers
to form ALT Films, a nonprofit production company
1989 Home Fires Burning
that in 1999 won a grant to produce five films based on
1990 Decoration Day
American literary works for ExxonMobil Masterpiece
1992 Miss Rose White
Theatre’s American Collection on PBS. The adapted
1995 In Pursuit of Honor
works were Esmeralda Santiago’s Almost a Woman,
1995 When the Vows Break
James Agee’s A Death in the Family, Eudora Welty’s
1998 Ruby Bridges
The Ponder Heart, Willa Cather’s The Song of the
2000 Cora Unashamed
Lark, and Langston Hughes’s Cora Unashamed. These
2000 Papa’s Angels
five films aired from 2000 to 2002.
2000 The Song of the Lark
A champion for women’s rights in the U.S. televi-
2001 Almost a Woman
sion industry throughout her career, Marian Rees
served two terms as president of Women in Film. Her
service to her profession also includes board member- Television Special
ship at the American Film Institute and the Producer’s 1958 An Evening with Fred Astaire
1910
Reid, Tim
Reid, Tim (1944– )

U.S. Actor, Writer, Producer
Tim Reid is an accomplished television actor and pro- ries was canceled after its first season. Reid contends
ducer whose critically acclaimed work has, unfortu- that this cancellation was due to the constant schedule
nately, often failed to meet with sustained audience changes that afflicted the series (a problem he and Wil-
acceptance. As an African American, Reid has tried to son experienced previously with WKRP), as well as
choose roles and projects that help effect a positive im- CBS’s overall dismal ratings at the time.
age for the black community. Through both his acting In 1989, Reid became executive producer of
and writing, he has provided important insights regard- Snoops, a drama in which he starred with his wife,
ing black-white relationships and bigotry. Daphne Maxwell Reid, as a sophisticated husband-
Being a part of show business was one of Reid’s and-wife detective team in the tradition of the Thin
childhood dreams. Not content with simply being an Man series. Just as with Moonlighting and Remington
actor, he hoped to play a vital role behind the scenes, Steele, Snoops placed character development over
as well. Like many young actors, he began his career mystery. Once again, despite quality scripts and per-
as a stand-up comedian, working with Tom Dreesen as formances, the show failed to find an audience. Reid’s
part of the comedy duet “Tim and Tom.” It was during best-known television role of the 1990s was the father
this experience that Reid began exploring the dynam- on Sister, Sister (ABC then WB; 1994–99).
ics of black-white relationships. In 1978, after per- In 1997, Reid established New Millennium Studios
forming in various episodic series, he received the role in Petersburg, Virginia. The studio features a sound-
of Venus Flytrap in Hugh Wilson’s WKRP in Cincin- stage and postproduction facilities and has allowed
nati. From the beginning, Reid made it clear to Wilson him to produce his own work as well as contract with
that he was not interested in playing just another “jive- other producers in search of a location for television
talking” black character. Wilson agreed, eventually and film projects. Reid has personally used the studio
giving Reid control over his character’s development, as creator and producer of the 1998 series Linc’s,
which culminated in a story that revealed a much
deeper character than the Flytrap persona first pre-
sented.
It was during WKRP that Reid gained experience as
a writer, contributing several scripts to the series. One
episode, “A Family Affair,” dealt with the underlying
tones of bigotry that plague even the best of friends.
He also worked closely with Wilson on the script
“Venus and the Man,” in which Venus helped a young
black gang member decide to return to high school.
Teacher’s organizations applauded the effort, and
scenes from the show were reproduced, in comic book
form, in Scholastic magazine.
After WKRP, Reid landed a recurring role in the de-
tective drama Simon and Simon, for which he also
wrote a number of scripts. In 1987, he again joined
forces with Wilson to coproduce Frank’s Place, which
starred Reid as a Boston professor who took over his
deceased father’s bar in a predominately black section
of New Orleans. While critics raved about the rich
writing (Wilson won an Emmy for the Frank’s Place Tim Reid.
script “The Bridge”), acting, and photography, the se- Photo courtesy of Tim Reid Productions
1911
Reid, Tim
shown on the Showtime cable channel, and as pro- 1977 The Richard Pryor Show
ducer of feature and made-for-television films. 1978–82 WKRP in Cincinnati
Michael B. Kassel and Elizabeth Nishiura 1983 Teachers Only
1983–87 Simon and Simon
See also Frank’s Place; Racism, Ethnicity, and
1987–88 Frank’s Place (also co-executive
Television
producer)
1989–90 Snoops (also co-creator, executive
Tim Reid. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, December 19,
producer)
1944. Educated at Norfolk State College, B.B.A., 1968.
1994–99 Sister, Sister (also creator, producer)
Married: Daphne Maxwell, 1982; children: Tim II, Tori
1998 Linc’s (also creator and producer)
LeAnn, Christopher Tubbs. Marketing representative for
Dupont Corporation, 1968–71; actively involved in anti-
drug movement, since 1969; stand-up comedian, Tim Made-for-Television Movies
and Tom comedy team, 1971–75; actor in series televi- 1979 You Can’t Take It with You
sion, from 1976; founded Timalove Enterprises, 1979; 1990 Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced
creator, producer, anti-drug video Stop the Madness, Singer
1986; founded Tim Reid Productions, 1989; cofounded, 1991 Stephen King’s It
with Black Entertainment Television, United Image En- 1991 The Family Business
tertainment Enterprises, 1990; founder and president, 1992 You Must Remember This
New Millennium Studios, since 1997. Also co-chair; or- 1994 Race to Freedom: The Underground
ganizer, and sponsor, Annual Tim Reid Celebrity Tennis Railroad (producer)
Tournament, Norfolk State University campus. Mem- 1995 Simon and Simon: In Trouble Again
ber: Writers Guild of America; Screen Actors Guild; 1998 About Sarah (executive producer)
board of directors, Phoenix House of California; board 2000 Alley Cats Strike
of trustees, Norfolk State University, Commonwealth of
Virginia; board of directors, National Academy of Cable
Programming; AFTRA; life member, NAACP. Recipi- Films
ent: Emmy Award; Critics Choice Award, 1988; Dead Bang, 1989; The Fourth War, 1990; Once Upon
NAACP Image Award, 1988; Viewers for Quality Tele- a Time . . . When We Were Colored (director), 1995;
vision Best Actor in a Comedy Award, 1988; National Mu Sa Do, 2002; For Real, 2003 (director and ac-
Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, 1991. tor); On the One, 2004.
Television Series Further Reading

1976 Easy Does It . . . Starring Frankie Avalon Gray, Herman, Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for
1977 The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. “Blackness,” Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
Show 1995
Reiner, Carl (1922– )

U.S. Comedian, Writer, Producer
Carl Reiner is one of the few true Renaissance persons winning Reiner has touched three generations of
of 20th-century mass media. Known primarily for his American comedy.
work as creator, writer, and producer of The Dick Van According to Vince Waldron’s Official “Dick Van
Dyke Show, Reiner has also made his mark as a come- Dyke Show” Book (1994), Reiner began his career as a
dian, actor, novelist, and film director. From Reiner’s sketch comedian in the Catskill Mountains. After serv-
“Golden Age” TV connection with Sid Caesar to his ing in World War II, he landed the lead role in a na-
later film work with Steve Martin, the Emmy Award- tional touring company production of Call Me Mister,
1912
Reiner, Carl
which he later reprised on Broadway. Reiner’s big with his first 13 episodes becoming the “bible” upon
break came in 1950, when producer Max Leibman, which consequent episodes were based. He continued
whom he had met while working in the Catskills, cast to write many of the series’ best episodes, as well as
Reiner as a comic actor in Sid Caesar’s Your Show of portray recurring character Alan Brady, the egomania-
Shows. Drawn to the creative genius of the show’s cal star of the variety program for which Petrie and
writers, which included Mel Brooks and Neil Simon, crew wrote. After a tough first season in 1961,
Reiner ended up contributing ideas for many of the se- Leonard was able to convince CBS executives, who
ries’ sketches. The experience undoubtedly provided had canceled the series, to give it a second chance.
Reiner with a good deal of fodder for his later Dick The series became a top hit in subsequent years, en-
Van Dyke Show. While he never received credit for his joying five seasons before voluntarily retiring. The re-
writing efforts on Your Show of Shows, in 1955 and runs have never left the air, and it, along with I Love
1956 he received his first two of many Emmy Awards, Lucy, comprises some of the most-watched programs
these for his role as supporting actor. In 1957, Reiner in syndication history. Those series, along with The
conquered another medium when he adapted one of Mary Tyler Moore Show, also became the flagship
his short stories into Enter Laughing, a semi- programs of U.S. cable’s classic-TV powerhouse Nick
autobiographical novel focusing on a struggling ac- at Nite.
tor’s desire to break into show business. In 1963, the While many view The Dick Van Dyke Show as the
book became a hit play. high point of Reiner’s career, his films cannot be ig-
By the summer of 1958, after Caesar’s third and fi- nored. After directing Enter Laughing in 1967, Reiner
nal series was canceled, Reiner spent the summer went on to do several critically acclaimed films such as
preparing for what many consider his greatest accom- The Comic (1969), a black comedy starring Dick Van
plishment—writing the first 13 episodes of “Head of Dyke as an aging silent-film comedian, and Where’s
the Family,” a sitcom featuring the exploits of fictional Poppa? (1970). Reiner also directed the wildly suc-
New York comedy writer Rob Petrie. Originally in- cessful George Burns vehicle Oh, God! (1977). Reiner
tended as an acting vehicle for himself, Reiner’s pilot is also significant for his role as straight man in “The
failed to sell. However, Danny Thomas Productions’ 2,000 Year Old Man” recordings, which he began with
producer Sheldon Leonard liked the idea and said it Mel Brooks in 1960.
had potential if it were recast—which was Leonard’s In the 1970s, Reiner and Van Dyke re-entered televi-
nice way of saying, “Keep Reiner off camera.” When sion with The New Dick Van Dyke Show. While Reiner
Reiner’s Rob Petrie was replaced with TV newcomer had hoped to break new ground, he became frustrated
Dick Van Dyke (who had just enjoyed a successful with the network’s family-standard provisions that
Broadway run in Bye, Bye Birdie), The Dick Van Dyke hampered the series’ sophistication. It was not until
Show was born. 1976 that Reiner returned to series television as actor
As with Enter Laughing, Reiner’s sitcom was auto- and executive producer of the short-lived ABC sitcom
biographical. Like Petrie, Reiner was a New York Good Heavens.
writer who lived in suburban New Rochelle. Like Just as The Dick Van Dyke Show had represented a
Petrie, Reiner spent part of his World War II days at departure from the standard sitcom fare of the 1960s,
Camp Crowder in Joplin, Missouri, a fact that was Saturday Night Live and its famous guest host Steve
brought out in several flashback episodes. Even Martin forged their own type of late-1970s humor.
Petrie’s 148 Bonny Meadow Road address was an allu- Once again on the cutting edge, Reiner joined forces
sion to Reiner’s own 48 Bonny Meadow Road home. with Martin as the “wild and crazy” comedian made
Perhaps it was this realism that contributed to the se- the transition to film, with Reiner directing Martin in
ries’ timelessness, making it a precursor for such so- The Jerk (1979), The Man with Two Brains (1983), and
phisticated and intelligent sitcoms as The Mary Tyler All of Me (1984).
Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. Just as with In a 1995 episode of the NBC comedy series Mad
these later works, Reiner’s series placed character in- About You, Reiner reprised his role as Alan Brady and
tegrity over raw laughs. By being the first to combine won an Emmy Award for outstanding guest appear-
both the home and work lives of the series’ main char- ance in a comedy series for this program. In the fic-
acter, Reiner also provided interesting insights regard- tional world of the newer sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke
ing both sedate suburbia and urbane New York. The Show is “real,” as is the Brady character. Reiner’s per-
Dick Van Dyke Show also serves as an early example formance drew on the entire body of his work, from
of the “coworkers as family” format, which has be- his days with Sid Caesar through his work as writer,
come a staple relationship in modern sitcoms. director, and producer, and the portrait he presented in
Carl Reiner was one of the first “auteur producers,” this new context echoed with references to the televi-
1913
Reiner, Carl
sion history he has lived and to which he has so fully Television Specials
contributed. He remains active as a writer and as an ac- 1967 The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl
tor in both film and television—for example, writing Reiner, Howard Morris Special
novels and short stories; reviving the 2,000-year-old 1968 The Fabulous Funnies (host)
man character with Mel Brooks in 1997; lending his 1969 The Wonderful World of Pizzazz (cohost)
voice to episodes of the animated TV series King of the 1970 Happy Birthday Charlie Brown (host)
Hill (FOX, 1997) and Disney’s Hercules (1998); 1984 Those Wonderful TV Game Shows (host)
guest-starring on two episodes of the CBS legal drama 1984 The Great Stand-Ups: 60 Years of
Family Law (1999 and 2000); and playing a featured Laughter (narrator)
role in the film Ocean’s Eleven (2001). For his career 1987 Carol, Carl, Whoopi, and Robin
achievements, he has been honored by the Kennedy
Center in Washington, D.C., and inducted into the
Films (selected)
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of
Happy Anniversary, 1959; The Gazebo, 1960; Gidget
Fame.
Goes Hawaiian, 1961; It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad
Michael B. Kassel
World, 1963; The Russians Are Coming!, 1966; En-
See also Caesar, Sid; Dick Van Dyke Show, The ter Laughing (director), 1967; Where’s Poppa?,
1970; Heaven Help Us (coproducer), 1976; Oh,
Carl Reiner. Born in the Bronx, New York, March 20, God! (director), 1977; The End, 1978; The One and
1922. Educated at the School of Foreign Service, Only (director), 1978; The Jerk (director), 1979;
Georgetown University, 1943. Married: Estelle Le- Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, 1982; The Man with
bost, 1943; children: Robert, Sylvia, and Lucas. Two Brains (codirector), 1983; All of Me (director),
Served in the U.S. Army, attached to Major Maurice 1984; Summer Rental (director), 1985; Summer
Evans’s Special Services Unit, 1942–46. Worked in School (director), 1987; Bert Rigby, You’re a Fool
Broadway shows, 1946–50; character actor and em- (director), 1989; The Spirit of ’76, 1990; Basic In-
cee, television show Your Show of Shows, 1950–54; stinct, 1993; The Slums of Beverly Hills, 1998; The
appeared in Caesar’s Hour, 1954–57; appeared in Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, 2000; Ocean’s
short-lived Sid Caesar Invites You, 1958; emcee, Keep Eleven, 2001; The Majestic (voice), 2001; Good
Talking, 1958–59; writer, actor, and producer, various Boy!, 2003; Ocean’s Twelve, 2004.
TV series, from 1960; director and star, numerous mo-
tion pictures, since 1959. Recipient: 12 Emmy
Stage
Awards, since 1965; Kennedy Center Mark Twain
Call Me Mister, 1947–48; Inside U.S.A., 1948–49;
Prize for American Humor, 2000. Inducted in Acad-
Alive and Kicking, 1950; Enter Laughing, 1963;
emy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame,
Something Different (writer and director), 1968; So
1999.
Long 147th Street (writer), 1976; The Roast (direc-
tor), 1980.
Television Series
1950–54 Your Show of Shows
Publications
1954–57 Caesar’s Hour
1956–63 The Dinah Shore Chevy Show Enter Laughing (novel), 1958
1958–59 Keep Talking The 2,000 Year Old Man (with Mel Brooks), 1981
1961–66 The Dick Van Dyke Show (producer and All Kinds of Love (novel), 1993
writer) Continue Laughing (novel), 1995
1971–74 The New Dick Van Dyke Show (producer The 2,000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 (with Mel
and writer) Brooks), 1997
1976 Good Heavens (actor and producer) How Paul Robeson Saved My Life, and Other Mostly
2003 The Alan Brady Show Happy Stories, 1999
1914
Reith, John C.W.
Reith, John C.W. (1889–1971)

British Media Executive
John Reith, the founding director general of the British revered and somewhat feared in the organization he had
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1922 to 1938, shaped. In a mid-1938 managerial coup, however,
was aptly designated by the New York Times as “the Reith was eased out as director general by the BBC’s
single most dominating influence on British broadcast- Board of Governors (acting in consort with the govern-
ing.” Reith developed strong ideas about the educa- ment), which had grown weary with his self-righteous
tional and cultural public-service responsibilities of a inflexibility within the organization as well as his polit-
national radio service, ideas subsequently pursued by ical stance. He left the BBC after 16 years, with consid-
many broadcasting systems around the world. erable bitterness that remained for the rest of his life.
Reith was born the fifth son of a Scottish minister Reith’s remaining three decades were a disappoint-
and trained in Glasgow as an engineer. After service in ment to him and others. After a brief period (1938–40)
World War I, where he was severely wounded (his face heading Imperial Airways as it became the British
carried the scars), and a growing boredom with engi- Overseas Airways Corporation (the government-
neering, he answered a 1922 advertisement for a post owned predecessor of British Airways), he held a num-
at the new BBC, then a commercial operation. He ber of minor cabinet posts in wartime and postwar
knew nothing of radio or broadcasting and did not governments and served as chair of several companies.
even own a receiver. He was hired and a year later was Reith’s strong views, conviction that he was nearly al-
promoted to managing director. ways right, and dour personality made it difficult for
Learning on the job, Reith soon defined public- him to readily get along in the rapidly changing post-
service broadcasting as having four elements, which war British scene. He wrote an autobiography, Into the
he described in his book Broadcast over Britain Wind (1949), and complained he had never been “fully
(1924). Such a system, he argued, operated on a stretched.” Indeed, he saw his entire life as one of fail-
public-service rather than commercial motive, offered ure. He argued strongly in the House of Lords against
national coverage, depended upon centralized control the inception of commercial television in 1954. He felt
and operation rather than local outlets, and developed the BBC had long since given way to social pressures
high-quality standards of programming. He held and lowered its standards. It was no longer his child.
broadcasting to high moral—almost religious—stan- Reith was an obsessive keeper of diaries all his
dards and rather quickly identified the BBC (which be- life—excerpts published in 1975 showed him to be a
came a public corporation early in 1927) with the man with strong convictions, powerful hatreds, con-
political establishment, just as he also insisted on BBC siderable frustration, and an immense ego.
operational independence from any political pressures. Christopher H. Sterling
Reith directed the expanding BBC operations from
See also British Television; Public Service Televi-
Broadcasting House, the downtown London headquar-
sion
ters he initiated, which opened in 1932 and remains a
landmark. His primary interest was in radio, however,
and the BBC was slow to cooperate with John Logie John Charles Walsham Reith. Born in Stonehaven,
Baird and other TV experimenters. With the develop- Grampian, Scotland, July 20, 1889. Attended Glasgow
ment of effective all-electronic television, Reith’s BBC Academy; Gresham’s School, Holt. Married Muriel
inaugurated the world’s first regular public schedule of Odhams; one son and one daughter. Served in World
television broadcasts from November 1936 until War I; also uniformed service as officer in Royal Navy
Britain entered World War II in September 1939. Reserve, 1942–44, assigned to the Admiralty. Engi-
Reith felt increasingly underutilized at the BBC by neer, Coatbridge; first general manager, BBC, 1922;
the late 1930s; the system he had built and the key peo- director general, 1927–38, pioneering public-service
ple he had selected were all doing their jobs well and broadcasting; chair, Imperial Airways, 1938; elected
the system hummed relatively smoothly. He was both member of Parliament, Southampton, 1940; appointed
1915
Reith, John C.W.
minister of information, 1940, later minister of works Further Reading

and public buildings, 1940–42. Elected a director of Allighan, Garry, Sir John Reith, London: Stanley Paul, 1938
Cable & Wireless, 1943; Commonwealth Communi- BBC Annual, London: BBC, 1935–37
cations Council, 1944–45; chair, Commonwealth BBC Handbook, London: BBC, 1938
Telecommunications Board, 1946–50, and Colonial BBC Yearbook, London: BBC, 1928–34
Development Corporation, 1946–57. Annual Reith Boyle, Andrew, Only the Wind Will Listen: Reith of the BBC,
London: Hutchinson, 1972
lectures inaugurated in his honor, 1948. Knighted, Briggs, Asa, The History of Broadcasting in the United King-
1927; created Baron Reith of Stonehaven, 1940; mem- dom: The Birth of Broadcasting, Oxford: Oxford University
ber of House of Lords. Died June 16, 1971. Press, 1961
Briggs, Asa, The Golden Age of Wireless, Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1965
Publications Briggs, Asa, Governing the BBC, London: BBC, 1979
McIntyre, Ian, The Expense of Glory: A Life of John Reith, Lon-
Broadcast over Britain, 1924 don: Harper Collins, 1993
Into the Wind (autobiography), 1949 Milner, Roger, Reith: The BBC Years, Edinburgh: Mainstream
Wearing Spurs, 1966 Publishing, 1983
The Reith Diaries (edited by Charles Stuart), 1975
Religion on Television
American television has had a long, uneasy relation- suasive power of television compelled pioneering tele-
ship with religion. Television has always broadcast vangelists forward. The Lutheran Hour and Youth on
programs with religious themes, but more often to ful- the March both debuted in 1949, and the first of Billy
fill regulatory obligations or sell undesirable air time Graham’s prime-time crusades aired in 1957.
than to attract viewers. Still, although American televi- The cozy relationship between the networks and
sion tolerates religious faith more than embraces it, re- mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Jews began to
ligious programs and commercial programs with erode in 1960, when the Federal Communications
religious themes have been constants on television. Commission (FCC) ruled that broadcasters need not
Until the 1960s, religion on television followed the give away time to earn public interest credit. Once
pattern devised earlier by radio broadcasters. Broad- paid, religious broadcasts counted as much as donated
casters provided time and production facilities free of religious broadcasts in the FCC’s public interest ac-
charge for programs produced by mainline Protestants counting, broadcasters lost their incentive to give time
(the National Council of Churches and, in the South, away. When the mainline groups chose not to include
the Southern Baptist Convention); Catholics (the expensive television productions in their budgets, the
United States Catholic Conference); and Jews (New non-denominational, Christian evangelical direction of
York Board of Rabbis). This arrangement enabled paid religious programming was set: American reli-
broadcasters to satisfy their license requirement to do- gious television would be dominated by personality-
nate time for “public interest” programs, while allow- driven “television ministries” such as Oral Roberts
ing them to choose religious programmers whose and You, Jerry Falwell’s Old Time Gospel Hour, and
material would not motivate viewers to change the Pat Robertson’s 700 Club. These three programs were
channel. The result was programming with ecumenical so remunerative that their founders were able to create
appeal, including the award-winning Lamp Unto My universities with their proceeds. Oral Roberts Univer-
Feet (CBS) and Frontiers of Faith (NBC). sity began in 1963; Falwell established Liberty Uni-
Fundamentalist and evangelical groups wishing to versity in 1971; and Pat Robertson founded Regent
express their unique perspectives received neither time University, originally CBN University, in 1977.
nor access to production facilities. They had to pro- In the 1980s, critics worried that powerful televan-
duce their own programs and buy air time, usually pur- gelists were reducing church attendance and income
chasing the little-viewed hours of Sunday morning. and influencing national politics, but these fears sub-
Nevertheless, the evangelical imperative and the per- sided after academic studies showed that the audience
1916
for televangelism was a small subset of churchgoers,

news reports exposed the sexual misdeeds of Jim
Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, and a Republican pri-
mary ended Pat Robertson’s bid for president. The les-
son many televangelists learned was to spend more
time on ministry and less on politics and fund raising.
Televangelism continues to dominate religious pro-
gramming today, whether in individual programs or in
cable services like the Family Channel, which mixes
G-rated network reruns and movies with straightfor-
ward evangelical programs. The leader is Trinity
Broadcasting Network, a 24-hour, commercial-free
service founded in 1973 that appears on thousands of
television stations and cable systems as well as dozens
of satellites around the world. TBN far overshadows
its mainline Christian and Jewish counterpart, Faith &
Values Media, whose programming appears on cable’s
Hallmark Channel mostly on Sunday and early morn-
ing, or in some prime-time holiday specials.
But religion has not simply been relegated to fringe
time and the odd televangelism cable channel; from
the beginning of television, it has appeared in the pop-
ular hours of commercial prime time. Most notable in
this regard is Bishop Fulton Sheen’s Life Is Worth Liv-
ing (1952–57), the only explicitly religious program
ever to be commercially viable. For most dramas and
comedies, however, the principle of least-
objectionable material applied in the first few decades
of television. In order not to offend any viewers, God
was seldom mentioned, and even more seldom con- The Hour of Power with Robert Schuller.
nected to any particular faith. Characters sometimes
attended church or participated in weddings or funer-
als, but religious specifics were glossed over. A priest
may have worn a collar and a nun a habit, but their family in which the father is a minister. Significantly,
clothing rarely communicated more than vague hu- the series, which began in 1996, continues to be one of
manitarianism. the most popular programs among teenagers, often at-
This blandness began to disappear in the 1980s, tracting more teens than any other program airing at
when the broadcast television networks began to com- the same time. At the beginning of the autumn 2003
pete with cable and then satellite channels. Program- television season, Joan of Arcadia was among the very
mers began to look for distinct characters and themes few new programs to attract a substantial audience. In
to set them apart from run-of-the-mill competition, and this series God appears to Joan, a high school student,
one underused source was religion. NBC found suc- in the personae of “ordinary” people she encounters in
cess in Highway to Heaven, in which an angel is as- everyday settings. Their exchanges, in conventional
signed to help people through tough times. CBS conversational manner, usually lead to the exploration
followed with Touched by an Angel, in which three an- of some generally “religious” aspect of personal or so-
gels help human beings understand that God wants to cial engagement.
be involved in their lives. Other shows explored reli- Network news sometimes addresses religious topics
gious themes in particular episodes. UPN’s Star Trek: and issues. ABC World News Tonight hired Peggy
Deep Space Nine delved into the religion of the planet Wehmeyer as a full-time religion news correspondent
Bajor; CBS’s Picket Fences took up the issues of bibli- from 1994 until 2001. Religion & Ethics News Weekly,
cal literalism, miracles, and prayer; and HBO’s Oz por- a weekly half-hour of news about religion and ethics,
trayed complex questions of faith faced by a Muslim began on PBS in 1997. And in 2002, PBS’s Frontline
leader and a prison chaplain. On the WB network 7th broadcast the provocative Faith and Doubt at Ground
Heaven is a family melodrama constructed around a Zero, in which a number of clergymen and -women ex-
1917
plored the question of God’s presence or absence dur- Further Reading

ing the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Bruce, Steve, Pray TV: Televangelism in America, New York:
However attentive television can be to religious is- Routledge, 1990
sues and practices, most Americans view these treat- Forbes, Bruce David, and Jeffrey H. Mahan, editors, Religion
ments of religion only occasionally, a situation not and Popular Culture in America, Berkeley: University of
likely to change with a medium governed by visual ap- California Press, 2000
Hoover, Stewart M., and Lynn Schofield Clark, editors, Practic-
peal and commerce. ing Religion in the Age of the Media: Explorations in Media,
John P. Ferré Religion, and Culture, New York: Columbia University
Press, 2002
See also Landon, Michael; Robertson, Pat; Robertson, C.K., editor, Religion as Entertainment, New York:
Touched by an Angel Peter Lang, 2002
Remote Control Device

The remote control device (RCD) is a central techno- more complex television receivers. Without the RCD,
logical phenomenon of popular culture. Though many the popularity and impact of these programming con-
cartoons, anecdotal accounts, and even television com- duits would have been much less. In the 1990s, a con-
mercials trivialize the RCD, they also reflect its ubiq- verging television/telecommunications industry
uity and importance in everyday life. For better or for redefined the RCD as a navigational tool whose design
worse, the RCD has permanently altered television is essential to the success of advanced and interactive
viewing habits by allowing the user to exercise some consumer services such as DVDs, personal video
of the functions once the exclusive province of pro- recorders (PVRs), and Internet/television hybrids (e.g.,
gram and advertising executives. The RCD has altered Microsoft’s Ultimate TV; AOLTV). RCD manufactur-
viewing styles by increasing activities such as “zap- ers continue to introduce more advanced models to
ping” (changing channels during commercials and control the expanding number of media devices in U.S.
other program breaks), “zipping” (fast forwarding homes.
through pre-recorded programming and advertising), While some industry figures see the RCD as a key to
and “grazing” (the combining of disparate program el- the success of future services, the same elements that
ements into an individualized programming mix). allow viewers to find and use specific material from
Although wired RCDs existed in the “Golden Age” the many channels available also enables them to
of radio, their history is more directly tied to the televi- avoid content that they find undesirable. Both aca-
sion receiver manufacturing industry and, more re- demic and industry studies have identified two types of
cently, to the diffusion of videocassette recorders gratification derived by viewers from RCD use that
(VCRs) and cable television. Zenith Radio Corpora- cause particular concern for the industry: advertising
tion engineer Robert Adler developed the Space Com- avoidance and “getting more out of television.” These
mand, the first practical wireless RCD in 1956. rewards are evidence of a generation of “restless view-
Although other manufacturers would offer both wired ers” who challenge many of the conventional practices
and wireless RCDs from the mid-1950s on, the combi- of the television industry.
nation of high cost (RCDs typically were available The industry has coped with the RCD “empowered”
only on more expensive “high end” receivers), techno- viewer by implementing changes in programming and
logical limitations, and, most critically, the limited advertising. Examples include “seamless” scheduling,
number of channels available to most viewers made where one program immediately segues into the fol-
the RCD more a novelty than a near-standard feature lowing program; the reduction or elimination of open-
of television receivers until the 1980s. ing themes; shorter and more visually striking
The rapid increase in the number of video distribu- commercials; increasing advertising-program integra-
tion outlets in the 1980s was instrumental in the paral- tion, and more emphasis on television brand promo-
lel mass diffusion of RCDs. The RCD, in essence, was tion. Although not solely a result of RCD diffusion, the
the necessary tool for the use of cable, VCRs, and ongoing economic consolidation of the world televi-
1918
Zenith print ad for remote control television (c. 1957).
Photo courtesy of Zenith Electronics Corporation
1919
Remote Control Device
sion/telecommunications industry; the continuing shift Further Reading

of costs to the television viewer/user through cable, Bellamy, Robert V., Jr., and James R. Walker, Grazing on a Vast
pay-per-view, and emerging interactive services; and Wasteland: The Remote Control and Television’s Second
the increased emphasis on integrated marketing plans Generation, New York: Guilford Press, 1996
that treat traditional advertising spots as only one ele- Ferguson, Douglas A., “Channel Repertoire in the Presence of
ment of the selling process can all be regarded in part Remote Control Devices, VCRs, and Cable Television,”
Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Vol. 38
as reactions to restless and RCD-wielding television (1992)
viewers. Walker, James R., and Robert V. Bellamy, Jr., editors, The Re-
Robert V. Bellamy, Jr. mote Control in the New Age of Television, Westport, Con-
necticut: Praeger, 1993
See also Zapping
Reruns/Repeats
A television program that airs one or more times fol- producers to create fewer than 52 episodes a year, yet
lowing its first broadcast is known as a rerun or a re- still present weekly episodes throughout the year. They
peat. In order for a program to be rerun, it must have could produce 39 new episodes and repeat 13 of those,
been recorded on film or videotape. Live telecasts, ob- usually during the summer months when viewership
viously, cannot be rerun. The use of reruns is central to was lower. While some expenses, for additional pay-
the programming and economic strategies of television ments to creative personnel, are involved in airing re-
in the United States and, increasingly, throughout the runs, the cost is almost 75 percent less than that
world. incurred in presenting a new first-run episode. The
In the early days of U.S. television, most program- practice proved so successful that by the end of the
ming was live. This necessitated the continuous pro- 1950s there was very little live entertainment program-
duction of new programs, which, once aired, were ming left on U.S. television, and the television indus-
gone. Certain program formats, such as variety, talk, try, which had been well established in New York, had
public affairs, quiz, sports, and drama, dominated the shifted its center to Hollywood, the center of U.S. film
airwaves. With the exception of variety and drama, production.
each of these formats is relatively inexpensive to pro- By the 1970s, most network prime-time series were
duce, so the creation of live weekly or daily episodes producing only 26 new episodes each year, repeating
worked fairly well for broadcasters. Even the produc- each episode once (the 26/26 model). By the 1980s,
tion costs for variety shows could be reduced over time the standard prime-time model was 22/22, with spe-
with the repeated use of sets and costumes. cials or limited series occupying the remaining weeks.
Production of dramatic programming, however, was The shift to film or videotape as the primary form of
more expensive. Most dramatic series were “antholo- television production also turned out to have benefits
gies”; a different story was broadcast each week, with far exceeding the reduction of production costs and
different characters and, often times, different talent. modifications of the programming schedule. Reruns
The costs involved in creating each of these plays was and repeats are not used merely to ease production
considerable and could rarely be reduced, as the cost schedules and cut costs. By contractual arrangement,
of variety programs could be, by repeated use of the episodes usually return to the control of the producer
durable properties. Because of the expense, the num- after two network showings. They may then be licensed
ber of dramatic programs decreased, and the number for presentations by other television distributors. This
of other less-expensive types of programs increased, strategy is financially viable only after several years of
during the first decade of television. a successful network run, when enough episodes of a
During the early 1950s, several weekly prime-time television program are accumulated to make the series
series, most notably I Love Lucy, began filming valuable to other programmers. It does lead to the pos-
episodes instead of airing live programs. This allowed sibility, however, that reruns of a program can be in
1920
Reruns/Repeats
syndication forever and almost anywhere. A common tems and the multichannel environment—additional
industry anecdote claims—and it may be true—that I markets for reruns of old network series were created.
Love Lucy is playing somewhere in the world at any In the 1990s, cable networks, such as, Nickelodeon’s
given moment of the day. TV Land and Nick at Nite, found success putting to-
The development of the rerun system, particularly gether entire schedules consisting of reruns of old net-
as it supports syndication, has become the economic work series. In addition, new partnerships between
foundation on which the U.S. television industry does broadcast and cable networks were established to help
business. Because networks, the original distributors defray initial production costs of a new series. Reruns
of television programs, rarely pay the full production of new episodes of prime-time series such as Law &
costs for those programs, independent producers Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Once and
and/or studios must create programs at a deficit. That Again (ABC) have aired on cable networks as soon as
deficit can only be recouped if the program goes into ten days after the initial network broadcast. So long as
syndication (not a foregone outcome). If the program these venues continue to increase, the financial basis
is sold into syndication, the profits may be great—suf- for U.S. television production will continue to be sta-
ficient to pay off the cost of deficit financing for the ble. And, as more and more countries establish large
original production and support both the development programming systems of their own, the amount of ma-
of other series and the programming of less-successful terial available for second, third, and continuing airings
programs that may never be syndicated. This entire will continue to grow.
system is dependent on a sufficient market for rerun Mitchell E. Shapiro
programs, a market traditionally composed of inde-
See also Prime Time Access Rule; Programming;
pendent television stations and the international tele-
Syndication
vision systems, and on an economical means of
reproduction.
Initially, film was more desirable than videotape as Further Reading
a means of storing programs because film production Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics,
contracts called for lower residual payments (the pay- Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990
ments made to performers in the series when episodes “Brits Bank on Rerun Bonanza with U.S. Help,” Variety
are repeated). Programs produced on film were under (September 28, 1992)
Eastman, Susan T., Broadcast/Cable Programming: Strategies
the jurisdiction of the Screen Actors Guild, which re- and Practices, Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1981; 4th
quired lower residual payments than did the American edition, 1993
Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which Godfrey, Donald G., Reruns on File: A Guide to Electronic Me-
oversaw programs produced on videotape. By the dia Archives, Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum,
mid-1970s, residual costs for film and taped perfor- 1992
Moore, Barbara, “The Cisco Kid and Friends: The Syndication
mances evened out, and more and more programs are of Television Series from 1948 to 1952,” Journal of Popular
now produced on or transferred to videotape for syn- Film and Television (1980)
dication. Nelson, Jenny L., “The Dislocation of Time: A Phenomenology
In addition to their use in prime time, reruns are of Television Reruns,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video
scheduled by networks in all other time periods. Sev- (October 1990)
Robins, J. Max, “Rerun Resurrection: Webs Favor Old Shows,
eral unions have petitioned the Federal Communica- Newsmags, to Summer Startups,” Variety (June 27, 1994)
tions Commission (FCC) in an attempt to restrict Shales, Tom, “The Re Decade,” Esquire (March 1985)
network use of reruns, claiming that the use of reruns Simon, Ronald, “The Eternal Rerun: Oldies but Goodies,” Tele-
results in a loss of jobs because it leads to less original vision Quarterly (1986)
production. All of these attempts have failed. Story, David, America on the Rerun: TV Shows That Never Die,
Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol, 1993
With the tremendous growth of television distribu- Williams, Phil, “Feeding off the Past: The Evolution of the Tele-
tion outlets throughout the world in the 1980s—growth vision Rerun,” Journal of Popular Film and Television
often founded on the expansion of cable television sys- (Winter 1994)
1921
Reynolds, Gene
Reynolds, Gene (1925– )

U.S. Actor, Producer, Director
From a child movie actor in Boy’s Town, Gene Reynolds grams every year M*A*S*H aired. The concluding
grew into a respected producer-director identified with two-and-one-half-hour “farewell” episode (February
thoughtful television dramas reflecting complex human 28, 1983) still stands as the single-most-watched pro-
situations. The programs Reynolds is associated with of- gram in American TV history, attracting almost two
ten possess an undercurrent of humor to entertain, but out of every three homes in America (60.3 rating).
without softening socially significant story lines. More than 50 million families tuned in that evening to
As producer-director of Room 222 (1969–74), watch the program.
Reynolds found a supportive, kindred spirit in the se- Reynolds left M*A*S*H in 1977. He teamed up
ries’ creator James L. Brooks. Exploring life among again with James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, all as ex-
high school teachers, administrators, and students, ecutive producers of Lou Grant. This series explored
their program featured African-American actor Lloyd the combative turf of a major metropolitan newspaper.
Haynes as a revered, approachable teacher. A lighter It dealt with the constitutional and ethical issues found
touch in dialogue and situations helped keep the stories in pitting journalists against politicians, corporate exec-
attractive to casual viewers. Still, the central characters utives, courts, and the general public. Reynolds’s cre-
were involved each week in matters of personal and ative team avoided cliché-driven plots, focusing instead
social import such as drugs, prejudice, self-worth, and on complex, unresolved issues and depicting their im-
dropping out of school. pact on a mix of vulnerable personalities. The series
Again aligning himself with a congenial, creative as- (1977–82) received critical acclaim, including Pea-
sociate for a TV version of the novel and motion picture body, Emmy, and Humanitas Awards, for exploring
M*A*S*H, Reynolds sought out respected “comedy complicated challenges involving media and society.
writer with a conscience” Larry Gelbart. Together they Gene Reynolds’s modus operandi for producing a
fleshed out a sensitive, probing, highly amusing, and television series is to thoroughly research the subject
wildly successful series about the foibles and aspirations area by extended visits to sites—schools, battlefields
of a military surgical team in the midst of warfare. Rau- (Vietnam to replicate Korean field hospitals), and
cous, sometimes ribald comedy acted as counterpoint to newspaper offices. There he interviews at length those
poignant human dilemmas that are present when facing engaged in career positions. He and his creative part-
bureaucratic tangles amid willful annihilation. Though ners regularly returned to those sites armed with au-
intended as comedy-drama commentary on the devas- diotape recorders to dig for new story ideas, for points
tating absurdities of war in general, and the Vietnam of view, for technical jargon and representative
conflict in particular, Reynolds and Gelbart pushed the phrases, and even for scraps of dialogue that would
time period of their show back to Korea in the 1950s in add verisimilitude to the words of studio-stage actors
order to be acceptable to the network and stations, and recreating an incident. Reynolds and his associates al-
to a deeply divided American public. Gelbart left the se- ways strive for accuracy, authenticity, and social sig-
ries early on, and Reynolds eventually became execu- nificance. They present individual human beings
tive producer, turning the producer’s role over to Burt caught up in the context of controversial events, but
Metcalf. The ensemble cast only grew stronger as new affected by personal interaction.
actors replaced departing ones through the decade. The A thoughtful, serious-minded creator with a quiet
acclaimed series earned awards from all sectors during sense of humor, Gene Reynolds’s ability to work closely
its 11-year run (1972–83), including the Peabody Award with colleagues earns the respect of both actors and pro-
in 1975, Emmy Awards for outstanding comedy series duction crews. He often directs episodes, regularly
in 1974; many other Emmys for outstanding writing, works with writers on revising scripts, and establishes a
acting, and direction; Emmys twice for best directing by working climate on the set that invites suggestions from
Gene Reynolds (1975, 1976); and the Humanitas Prize. the actors for enhancing dialogue and action.
The public voted, too; their sustained viewing kept Reynolds directed pilots for potential TV series and
the program among the top-ranked five or ten pro- movies for television, including People Like Us
1922
Rich Man, Poor Man
Gene Reynolds. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, April 4,

1925. Married: Bonnie Jones. Began career as film ac-
tor, debut in Thank You, Jeeves, 1936; producer and di-
rector of numerous television series, from 1968.
Recipient: five Emmy Awards, Directors Guild of
America Award, Peabody Award.
Television (producer, director)

1968–70 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (pilot)
1969–74 Room 222 (executive producer)
1972 Anna and the King
1972–83 M*A*S*H (also director)
1973–74 Roll Out
1975 Karen
1977–82 Lou Grant
1984 The Duck Show
1988–95 In the Heat of the Night
1989 Studio 5-B
1993–97 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of
Superman
1994–95 Christy
1994–2003 Touched by an Angel
1996–99 Promised Land
Director Gene Reynolds, Stanley Livingston on the set of My

Three Sons, 1962. Made-for-Television Movies (selected)
Courtesy of the Everett Collection 1976 People Like Us (producer, director)
1983 In Defense of Kids (director)
(1976), In Defense of Kids (1983), and Doing Life 1986 Doing Life (director)
(1986). He continued to produce and direct throughout 1991 The Whereabouts of Jenny (director)
the 1990s and early 2000s, notably the television series 1999 How To Get There (director)
In the Heat of the Night and Touched by an Angel. In
1993, having served actively in organizations and on
Films
committees in the creative community for many years,
Thank You, Jeeves (actor) 1936; In Old Chicago (ac-
he was elected president of the Directors Guild of
tor), 1937; Boys Town (actor), 1938; They Shall
America, a role in which he served until 1997.
Have Music (actor), 1939; Edison, the Man (actor),
James A. Brown
1940; Eagle Squadron (actor), 1942; The Country
See also Lou Grant; M*A*S*H; Room 222; Touched Girl (actor), 1954; The Bridges at Toko-Ri (actor),
by an Angel 1955; Diane (actor), 1955.
Rich Man, Poor Man

U.S. Miniseries
One of the first American television miniseries, Rich Irwin Shaw novel, Rich Man, Poor Man was a limited
Man, Poor Man aired on ABC from February 1 to 12-part dramatic series consisting of six two-hour
March 15, 1976. Adapted from the best-selling 1970 prime-time made-for-television movies. The televised
1923
Rich Man, Poor Man, Nick Nolte, Susan Blakely, Peter Strauss, 1976.
1924
Rich Man, Poor Man
novel chronicles the lives of the first-generation immi- Rich Man, Poor Man
grant Jordache family. The story focuses on the tumul-
tuous relationship between brothers, Rudy (Peter Cast
Strauss) and Tom Jordache (Nick Nolte), as they suffer Rudy Jordache Peter Strauss
through 20 years (1945–65) of conflict, jealousy, and Tom Jordache Nick Nolte
heartbreak. Julie Prescott Abbott
The serial was enormously successful, leading the Jordache Susan Blakely
weekly ratings and ending as the second-highest-rated Axel Jordache Edward Asner
show for the 1976–77 television season. Along with its Mary Jordache Dorothy McGuire
enormous audience popularity, it also garnered critical Willie Abbott Bill Bixby
praise, reaping 20 Emmy nominations and winning Duncan Calderwood Ray Milland
four Emmy Awards—two for acting achievement, one Teddy Boylan Robert Reed
for directing, and one for musical score. Virginia Calderwood Kim Darby
The success of Rich Man, Poor Man hinged on its em- Sue Prescott Gloria Grahame
ployment of several innovative techniques. The narrative Asher Berg Craig Stevens
struck a unique combination that contained the lavish Joey Quales George Maharis
film-style production values of prestigious special-event Linda Quales Lynda Day George
programming while at the same time relying upon the Nichols Steve Allen
“habit viewing” characteristic of a weekly series. Also, Smitty Norman Fell
by setting the plots in the historical context of such de- Teresa Sanjoro Talia Shire
velopments as McCarthyism, the Korean War, campus Marsh Goodwin Van Johnson
riots, and the Civil Rights Movement, Rich Man, Poor Irene Goodwin Dorothy Malone
Man suggested larger circumstances than those usually Kate Jordache Kay Lenz
found in a traditional soap opera. However, the limited Sid Gossett Murray Hamilton
series also liberally took on a range of risqué melodra- Arnold Simm Mike Evans
matic topics, including adultery, power struggles, and al- Al Fanducci Dick Butkus
coholism. Another inventive concept introduced by Rich Clothilde Fionnula Flanagan
Man, Poor Man was the use of multiple, revolving guest Brad Knight Tim McIntire
stars throughout the series. While the three principal cast Bill Denton Lawrence Pressman
members were relatively unknown at the time, shuffling Claude Tinker Dennis Dugan
better-known actors throughout the series was a way to Gloria Bartley Jo Ann Harris
maintain interest and achieve some form of ratings insur- Pete Tierney Roy Jenson
ance on the $6 million venture. Lou Martin Anthony Carbone
By invigorating the concept of adapting novels into Papadakis Ed Barth
television miniseries, Rich Man, Poor Man began a Ray Dwyer Herbert Jefferson, Jr.
rapid proliferation of similar prime-time program- Arthur Falconetti William Smith
ming, including a sequel. The continuation, Rich Man, Col. Deiner Andrew Duggan
Poor Man: Book II, was a 21-part weekly series that Pinky Harvey Jason
began airing in the fall of 1976. Although the sequel Martha Helen Craig
was not as successful as its predecessor, the idea of ex- Phil McGee Gavan O’Herlihy
tended televised adaptations of popular novels quickly Billy Leigh McCloskey
became a component of network schedules. In the sea- Wesley Michael Morgan
son following the debut of Rich Man, Poor Man, each
of the major networks scheduled at least one minise-
ries, including an adaptation of Harold Robbins’s The Producers
Pirates and Alex Haley’s historical epic Roots. Harve Bennett, Jon Epstein
Although eclipsed by the record-breaking 1977
miniseries Roots (aired January 1 through 30 on ABC),
Rich Man, Poor Man nonetheless has staked a spot in Programming History
television history. It helped to create a special niche for 6 2-hour episodes
televised novels as an economically viable miniseries ABC
genre. February 1976–March
Liza Trevio 1976 Monday 10:00–11:00
See also Adaptation; Miniseries May 1977–June 1977 Tuesday 9:00–11:00
1925
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II Senator Paxton Barry Sullivan

Kate Jordache Kay Lenz
Cast John Franklin Philip Abbott
Senator Rudy Jordache Peter Strauss Max Vincen George Gaynes
Wesley Jordache Gregg Henry Al Barber Ken Swofford
Billy Abbott James Carroll Jordan Senator Dillon G.D. Spradlin
Maggie Porter Susan Sullivan
Arthur Falconetti William Smith
Marie Falconetti Dimitra Arliss Producers
Ramona Scott Penny Peyser Michael Gleason, Jon Epstein
Scotty John Anderson
Charles Estep Peter Haskell
Phil Greenberg Sorrell Brooke Programming History
Annie Adams Cassie Yates 21 episodes
Diane Porter Kimberly Beck ABC
Arthur Raymond Peter Donat September 1976–March
Claire Estep Laraine Stephens 1977 Tuesday 9:00–10:00
Rigg, Diana (1938– )

British Actor
After shooting her first 12 episodes in the role of Mrs. name may have been simply a play upon the charac-
Emma Peel in The Avengers, Diana Rigg discovered ter’s hoped-for “man appeal,” but Rigg’s embodiment
that her weekly salary as the female lead in an already of the role suggested a much more utopian representa-
highly successful series was £30 less than what the tion of women. Peel demonstrated that women can be
show’s cameraman earned. Rigg had not even been the intelligent, independent, and sexually confident. After
first choice to replace the popular Honor Blackman as three seasons and an Emmy nomination, Rigg left the
secret agent John Steed’s accomplice; the first actress series in 1968, claiming “Emma Peel is not fully
cast had been sacked after two weeks. The role then emancipated.” Still, Rigg resisted publicly associating
fell to Rigg, whose television résumé at the time con- herself with feminism; to the contrary, she flippantly
sisted only of a guest appearance on The Sentimental claimed to find “the whole feminist thing very boring.”
Agent and a performance of Donald Churchill’s The Following Blackman into James Bond films (in
Hothouse. 1964 Blackman had been Goldfinger’s Pussy Galore),
Rigg’s stage experience, however, was solid. After Rigg’s presence in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959, the (1969) as the tragic Mrs. James Bond added intertex-
same year as Vanessa Redgrave, Rigg had steadily tual interest to the film. Paired with the unfamiliar
amassed a strong list of credits, including playing George Lazenby as Bond, it was Rigg who carried the
Cordelia to Paul Schofield’s Lear. Years later, Rigg de- film’s spy genre credentials, even though her suicidal,
scribed the rationale for her turn to television: “The spoiled character displayed few of Peel’s many abili-
trouble with staying with a classical company is that ties. However, the British spy genre had already begun
you get known as a ‘lady actress.’ No one ever thinks to collapse, followed by the rest of the nation’s film in-
of you except for parts in long skirts and blank verse.” dustry, and Rigg’s career as a movie star never soared.
Rigg’s salary complaints were quickly addressed, Rigg did not immediately return to series television.
and American audiences, who had never been exposed In fact, she publicly attributed her problems on film to
to Blackman’s Avengers episodes (which did not air in having learned to act for television only too well; she
the United States until the early 1990s), quickly em- had become too “facile” before film cameras, a trait
braced Rigg’s assertive, upper-class character. Peel’s necessitated by the grueling pace of series production.
1926
Rigg, Diana
Apparently, her stage skills remained unaffected, and

Rigg went on to a wide range of both classical and
contemporary roles as a member of the Royal Shake-
speare Company and the National Theatre, and on
Broadway. However, while Rigg has originated the
lead roles in such stylish works as Tom Stoppard’s
Jumpers (1972), the stage work she performed for tele-
vision broadcast tended to fit more snugly into familiar
Anglophilic conventions. In the United States, her
television appearances in the 1960s included The
Comedy of Errors (1967) and Women Beware Women
(1968) for NET Playhouse; in the 1980s, they included
Hedda Gabler, Witness for the Prosecution, Lady Ded-
lock in a multipart adaptation of Bleak House (1985),
and Laurence Olivier’s King Lear (1985).
During the decade between, however, NBC at-
tempted to capitalize upon what Rigg jokingly called
her “exploitable potential” following The Avengers. Af-
ter one failed pilot, the network picked up Diana
(1973–74), a Mary Tyler Moore Show-inspired sitcom,
and Rigg returned to series television as a British expa-
triate working in New York’s fashion industry. As if to
acknowledge the sexual daring of her first series,
Rigg’s character became American sitcom’s first divor-
cée (Moore’s character had been initially conceived as
divorced, but that scenario was altered before The Mary
Tyler Moore Show aired). In Diana, Rigg’s comedic tal-
ents, which television critics had once praised as wry
and deliberately understated, did not shine; instead, she
appeared rather bland, and the series provided no Steed Avengers, Diana Rigg, 1961–69.
for verbal repartee. (Perhaps even more damning, Di- Courtesy of the Everett Collection
ana showed few traces of The Avengers’ always dash-
ing fashion sense.) NBC programmed Diana during
what had once been The Avengers’ time slot, but the sit- In addition to her hosting duties on Mystery!, Rigg
com shortly disappeared. was busy in the 1990s playing a range of notable stage
A year later, Rigg successfully played off both her roles, including the leads in Medea (for which she won
previous roles and her sometimes bawdy public per- a 1994 Tony Award), Mother Courage (1995–96), and
sona in a sober religious drama, In This House of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1996–97). She also
Brede (1975). Portraying a successful businesswoman took on a number of character roles on television.
entering a convent, Rigg’s combination of restraint and These latter parts were frequently villainous to some
technique seemed quintessentially British and earned degree, whether in bodice-rippers (A Hazard of
her a second Emmy nomination. Hearts, 1987), light comedy (Mrs. ’arris Goes to
In 1989, Rigg succeeded Vincent Price in hosting Paris, 1992), or edgy comedy such as the Holocaust
the PBS series Mystery!, and in 1990 she impressed farce Genghis Cohn (1994). For her portrayal of Mrs.
American audiences as the star of an Oedipal night- Danvers in the miniseries Rebecca (shown in the
mare, Mother Love, a multipart British import pre- United States in 1997 on ExxonMobil Masterpiece
sented on that program. In her role as the series’ host, Theatre), she won an Emmy Award for outstanding
Rigg has in a sense become that “lady actress” she had supporting actress in a miniseries. Since 1998, she has
once entered television to avoid: ensconced in finely also played the title role in The Mrs. Bradley Myster-
tailored suits and beaded gowns, her performance as ies, a crime drama set in the 1920s, which debuted on
host displays all the genteel, ambassadorial authority the BBC and has since aired in the United States (on
of a woman now entitled to be addressed as Dame Mystery! and the cable channel BBC America) and
Rigg (having been named Dame Commander, Order of Australia (on ABC).
the British Empire, in 1994). Robert Dickinson and Elizabeth Nishiura
1927
Rigg, Diana
See also Avengers, The 1997 Rebecca

2000 In the Beginning
Diana Rigg. Born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, 2003 Charles II
July 20, 1938. Attended Fulneck Girls’ School, Pudsey;
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London. Television Specials (selected)
Married: 1) Menachem Gueffen, 1973 (divorced, 1974); 1964 The Hothouse
2) Archibald Stirling, 1982 (divorced); child: Rachel. 1968 Women Beware Women
Began career as stage actor, making debut with RADA 1981 Hedda Gabler
during the York Festival at the Theatre Royal, York, 1984 King Lear
1957; made London stage debut, 1961; member, Royal 1986 Masterpiece Theatre: 15 Years
Shakespeare Company (RSC), 1959–64; made London 1992 The Laurence Olivier Awards 1992 (host)
debut with RSC, Aldwych Theatre, 1961; toured Europe
and the United States with RSC, 1964; made television Films (selected)
debut as Emma Peel in The Avengers, 1965; film debut, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968; The Assassina-
1967; joined National Theatre Company, 1972; has tion Bureau, 1969; On Her Majesty’s Secret Ser-
since continued to appear in starring roles both on screen vice, 1969; Married Alive, 1970; Julius Caesar,
and on stage; director, United British Artists, from 1982; 1970; The Hospital, 1971; Theatre of Blood, 1973;
vice president, Baby Life Support Systems, from 1984. A Little Night Music, 1977; The Serpent Son, 1979;
Companion of the Order of the British Empire, 1988; Hedda Gabler, 1980; The Great Muppet Caper,
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1981; Evil Under the Sun, 1982; Little Eyolf, 1982;
1994. Chair: Islington Festival; MacRoberts Arts Centre. Held in Trust, 1986; Snow White, 1986; A Good
Recipient: Plays and Players Award, 1975, 1979; Vari- Man in Africa, 1994; Parting Shots, 1998.
ety Club Film Actress of the Year Award, 1983; British
Academy of Film and Television Arts Award, 1989; Stage (selected)
Evening Standard Drama Award, 1993, 1996; Tony The Caucasian Chalk Circle, 1957; Ondine, 1961;
Award, 1994; Emmy Award, 1997. The Devils, 1961; Beckett, 1961; The Taming of the
Shrew, 1961; Madame de Tourvel, 1962; The Art of
Television Series (selected) Seduction, 1962; A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
1965–67 The Avengers 1962; Macbeth, 1962; The Comedy of Errors, 1962;
1973–74 Diana King Lear, 1962; The Physicists, 1963; Twelfth
1989– Mystery! (host) Night, 1966; Abelard and Heloise, 1970; Jumpers,
1999– The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries 1972; ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, 1972; Macbeth,
1972; The Misanthrope, 1974; Pygmalion, 1974;
Made-for-Television Movies (selected) Phaedra Britannica, 1975; The Guardsman, 1978;
1975 In This House of Brede Night and Day, 1979; Colette, 1982; Heartbreak
1980 The Marquise House, 1983; Little Eyolf, 1985; Antony and
1982 Witness for the Prosecution Cleopatra, 1985; Wildfire, 1986; Follies, 1986;
1986 The Worst Witch Love Letters, 1990; All for Love, 1991; Berlin
1987 A Hazard of Hearts Bertie, 1992; Medea, 1992; Mother Courage,
1994 Genghis Cohn 1995–96; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, 1996–97.
1994 Running Delilah
1995 The Haunting of Helen Walker
Publications
1995 Danielle Steele’s Zoya
1996 Chandler and Co. No Turn Unstoned (editor), 1982
1996 Samson and Delilah So Too the Land (editor), 1994
2001 The American
2001 Victoria and Albert
Further Reading
Television Miniseries (selected) Jenkins, Henry, Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Partici-
1979 Oresteia patory Culture, New York and London: Routledge, 1992
1985 Bleak House Nathan, David, “Heavy-Duty Lightweight,” The Times (Lon-
don; April 20, 1991)
1989 Mother Love Rogers, Dave, The Avengers, London: ITV Books, 1983
1996 The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Story, David, America on the Rerun: TV Shows That Never Die,
Flanders New York: Citadel Press, 1993
1928
Riggs, Marlon
Riggs, Marlon (1957–1994)

U.S. Filmmaker
Before his death in 1994, African-American film- which aired on public television stations and featured
maker, educator, and poet Marlon Riggs forged a posi- independently produced film and video documentaries
tion as one of the more controversial figures in the on various subjects ranging from personal reflections
recent history of public television. He won a number on the Nazi Holocaust to urban street life in the con-
of awards for his creative efforts as a writer and video temporary United States.
producer. His theoretical-critical writings appeared in Tongues Untied is noteworthy on at least three ac-
numerous scholarly and literary journals and profes- counts. First, Riggs chose as his subject urban,
sional and artistic periodicals. His video productions, African-American gay men. Moving beyond the ste-
which explored various aspects of African-American reotypes of drag queens and comic-tragic stock carica-
life and culture, earned him considerable recognition, tures, Riggs offered to mainstream America an
including Emmy and Peabody Awards. Riggs will insightful and provocative portrait of a distinct gay
nonetheless be remembered mostly for the debate and subculture—complete with sometimes explicit lan-
contention that surrounded the airing of his highly guage and evocative imagery. Along with private do-
charged video productions on public television stations nations, Riggs had financed the production with a
during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Just as art pho- $5,000 grant from the National Endowment for the
tographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s provocative, homo- Arts (NEA), a federal agency supporting visual, liter-
erotic photographs of male nudes caused scrutiny of ary, and performing arts. News of the video’s airing
government agencies and their funding of art, Marlon touched off a tumult of debate about the government
Riggs’s video productions similarly plunged public funding of artistic creations that to some were consid-
television into an acrimonious debate, not only about ered obscene. While artists argued the basic right of
funding but about censorship as well. free speech, U.S. government policymakers, especially
Riggs’s early works received little negative press.
His production Ethnic Notions aired on public televi-
sion stations throughout the United States. This pro-
gram sought to explore the various shades of
mythology surrounding the ethnic stereotyping of
African Americans in various forms of popular culture.
The program was well received and revolutionary in
its fresh assessment of such phenomena as the mythol-
ogy of the Old South and its corresponding caricatures
of black life and culture.
The video Color Adjustment, which aired on public
television stations in the early 1990s, was an interpre-
tive look at the images of African Americans in 50
years of American television history. Using footage
from such shows as Amos ’n’ Andy, Julia, and Good
Times, Riggs compared the grossly stereotyped carica-
tures of blacks contained in early television program-
ming to those of more recent, and presumably more
enlightened, decades.
By far the most polemical of Riggs’s work was his
production Tongues Untied. This 55-minute video,
which “became the center of a controversy over cen-
sorship” as reported The Independent in 1991, was Marlon Riggs.
aired as part of a series entitled P.O.V. (Point of View), Photo courtesy of Signifyiní Works/Andy Stern
1929
Riggs, Marlon
those of a conservative bent, engaged in a hotly con- Marlon Riggs. Born in Ft. Worth, Texas, February 3,
tentious debate regarding the use of taxpayer money 1957. Graduated from Harvard University, magna cum
for the funding of such endeavors. laude, B.A. in history, 1978; University of California,
The second area of consternation brought on by the Berkeley, M.A. in journalism, 1981. Taught documen-
Tongues Untied video concerned the issue of funding tary film, Graduate School of Journalism, University
for public broadcasting. The P.O.V. series also received of California, Berkeley, from 1987; produced numer-
funding from the NEA, in the amount of $250,000, for ous video documentaries, from 1987. Honorary doc-
its production costs. Many leaders of conservative torate, California College of Arts and Crafts, 1993.
television watchdog organizations labeled the program Recipient: Emmy Awards, 1987 and 1991; George
as obscene (though many had not even seen it). Others Foster Peabody Award, 1989; Blue Ribbon, American
ironically heralded the program’s airing, in the hope Film and Video Festival, 1990; Best Video, New York
that U.S. taxpayers would be able to watch in dismay Documentary Film Festival, 1990; Erik Barnouw
how their tax dollars were being spent. Award, 1992. Died in Oakland, California, April 5,
Lastly, the question of censorship loomed large 1994.
throughout the debate over the airing of Tongues Un-
tied. When a few frightened station executives decided
Television Documentaries
not to air the program, the fact of their self-censorship
1987 Ethnic Notions
was widely reported in the press. As mentioned,
1988 Tongues Untied
Tongues Untied was not the first P.O.V. production to
1989 Color Adjustment
be pulled. Arthur Kopp of People for the American
1992 Non, Je Ne Regrette Rein (No Regret)
Way noted in The Independent, “the most insidious
1994 Black Is, Black Ain’t
censorship is self-censorship . . . . It’s a frightening sign
when television executives begin to second guess the
far right and pull a long-planned program before it’s Publications (selected)
even been attacked.” “Black Macho Revisited: Reflections of a Snap!
Riggs defended Tongues Untied by lambasting those Queen,” Black American Literature Forum (Sum-
who objected to the program’s language and imagery, mer 1991)
stating in a 1992 Washington Post interview, “People “Notes of a Signifying Snap! Queen,” Art Journal
are far more sophisticated in their homophobia and (Fall 1991)
racism now . . . they say ‘We object to the language, we
have to protect the community’ . . . those statements are
a ruse.” Further Reading
Tongues Untied was awarded Best Documentary of Becquer, M., “Snap-Thology and Other Discursive Practices in
the Berlin International Film Festival, Best Indepen- Tongues Untied,” Wide Angle: A Quarterly Journal of Film
dent Experimental Work by the Los Angeles Film Crit- History, Theory, and Criticism (1991)
ics, and Best Video by the New York Documentary Berger, M., “Too Shocking to Show,” Art in America (July
1992)
Film Festival. Creekmur, Corey K., and Alexander Doty, Out in Culture: Gay,
Before his death, Riggs began work on a production Lesbian, and Queer Essays on Popular Culture, Durham,
entitled Black Is, Black Ain’t. In this video presenta- North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995
tion, Riggs sought to explore what it meant to be black Grundmann, R., “New Agendas in Black Filmmaking: An Inter-
in the United States, from the period when “being view with Marlon Riggs,” Cineaste (1992)
Harper, Phillip Brian, “Marlon Riggs: The Subjective Position
black wasn’t always so beautiful” to the 1992 Los An- of Documentary Video,” Art Journal (Winter 1995)
geles riots. This visual reflection on gumbo, straighten- Maslin, Janet, “Under Scrutiny: TV Images of Blacks,” New
ing combs, and Creole life in New Orleans was York Times (January 29, 1992)
Riggs’s own personal journey. It also unfortunately Mercer, Kobina, “Dark and Lovely Too: Black Gay Men in In-
served as a memorial to Riggs. Much of the footage dependent Film,” in Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian
and Gay Film and Video, edited by Martha Gerver et al.,
was shot from his hospital bed as he fought to survive New York: Routledge, 1993
the ravaging effects of AIDS. The video was finished Mills, David, “The Director with Tongue Untied; Marlon Riggs,
posthumously and was aired on public television dur- A Filmmaker Who Lives Controversy,” Washington Post
ing the late 1990s. (June 15, 1992)
Pamala S. Deane Prial, Frank J., “TV Film About Gay Blacks Is Under Attack,”
New York Times (June 25, 1991)
Scott, Darieck, “Jungle Fever? Black Gay Identity Politics,
See also Public Service Broadcasting; Racism, Eth- White Dick, and the Utopian Bedroom,” GLQ: A Journal of
nicity, and Television Lesbian and Gay Studies (1994)
1930
Rintels, David W.
Rintels, David W. (1939– )

Writer-producer David W. Rintels has worked in a vari- that Gideon was entitled to an attorney, although he
ety of dramatic television forms, including series, made- could not afford to pay for one; this case established
for-television movies, and miniseries. He began his the constitutional right to legal representation, now
television career in the early 1960s, writing episodes for guaranteed to all U.S. citizens.
the critically acclaimed CBS courtroom drama series Rintels has also frequently focused on the political
The Defenders. He continued his series involvement sphere, and especially on idealistic individuals who
writing episodes for Slattery’s People (1964–65), a CBS become ensnared in the nefarious webs woven by
political drama, and became head writer for the ABC those seeking power or influence. In “A Continual
science fiction series The Invaders (1967–68) before Roar of Musketry,” he developed the character of
concentrating his energies on writing and producing Hayes Stowe, an idealistic U.S. senator (played by Hal
made-for-television movies and miniseries. His work Holbrook).
has been honored with two Emmy Awards for outstand- In the 1975 CBS docudrama Fear on Trial, starring
ing writing (Clarence Darrow, 1973, and Fear on Trial, George C. Scott and William Devane, Rintels told the
1975); Writers Guild of America Awards for outstanding story of John Henry Faulk, a homespun radio personal-
scripts (“A Continual Roar of Musketry,” parts 1 and 2 ity who wrote a book about the blacklisting in televi-
of the series The Senator, 1970; Fear on Trial, 1975; and sion in the 1950s. Upon publication of this book, Faulk
Gideon’s Trumpet, 1980); and a cable ACE Award for suddenly found his own name appearing in the
writing (Sakharov, 1984). Rintels’s achievements also AWARE bulletin, a blacklisting sheet created by two
include the sole story and joint screenplay credits for the communist-hunting businessmen who proclaimed
feature film Scorpio (1972). themselves protectors of the entertainment industry.
Rintels’s television work in the genres of fictional Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), a 12-
history (using novelistic invention to portray real his- and-one-half-hour ABC miniseries co-written (with
torical figures and events) and historical fiction (plac- Eric Bercovici) and co-produced by Rintels, was a pro-
ing fictional characters and events in a more or less vocative examination of the Nixon administration, in-
authentic historical setting) has been praised by Los cluding a striking psychological portrait of Nixon,
Angeles Times television critic Howard Rosenberg, fictionalized as President Richard Monckton. Played to
who noted that Rintels’s “fine record for using TV to perfection by Jason Robards, Monckton is described
present history as serious entertainment is probably by Michael Arlen as “nervous and disconnected . . . in-
unmatched by any other present dramatist.” Some crit- secure, vengeful, riddled with envy, and sublimely hu-
ics have argued, however, that while his faithfulness to morless.” Although loosely based on The Company
historical detail and accuracy is commendable, Rin- (the novel by Nixon administration insider John Er-
tels’s use of lengthy expository sequences has, on oc- lichman) the Rintels and Bercovici script transcended
casion, diminished the stories’ dramatic power. Erlichman’s one-dimensional characterizations to
Following his involvement as an episode writer for bring to the small screen “an intelligent and well-paced
The Defenders, the Emmy Award-winning drama se- scenario of texture and character.” Yet working in the
ries featuring a father and son legal team defending genre of historical fiction was not without its pitfalls.
people’s constitutional rights, Rintels returned to the In a foreshadowing of the heated debate surrounding
subject of the courts in Clarence Darrow (NBC, 1973) Oliver Stone’s 1995 feature film Nixon, Arlen ques-
and Gideon’s Trumpet (CBS, 1980), the latter a Hall- tioned the production’s mixing of fiction with fact:
mark Hall of Fame production he both wrote and pro- There should be room in our historical narratives for
duced. Based on Anthony Lewis’s book, Gideon’s such a marvelously evocative (though not precisely fac-
Trumpet was the real-life story of Clarence Earl tual) interpretation as Robards’ depiction of Nixon-
Gideon (played by Henry Fonda), a drifter with little Monckton’s strange humorous humorouslessness, where
education, who was arrested in the early 1960s for an actor’s art gave pleasure, brought out character, and
“breaking and entering.” The U.S. Supreme Court held took us closer to truth. At the same time, for major tele-
1931
Rintels, David W.
vice, Sakharov’s “growing awareness—through his

personal relationship with Yelena—of his moral duty.”
Rintels was careful to avoid painting the Soviet bu-
reaucrats and security police as “evil” in simplistic
melodramatic terms in order to glorify Sakharov. The
script attempted to explain why the Soviet officials
perceived Sakharov as an internal threat and was cir-
cumspect regarding his motivations when the facts (or
lack thereof) warranted.
In two other efforts, Day One (AT&T Presents/CBS,
1989) and Andersonville (TNT, 1996), Rintels exam-
ined the United States at war. Day One was a three-
hour drama special detailing the history of the
Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb during
World War II. Based on Peter Wyden’s book Day One:
Before Hiroshima and After, the program was written
and produced by Rintels and won an Emmy Award for
outstanding drama special. The story began with the
flight of top European scientists, who feared Nazi Ger-
many was progressing toward developing an atomic
bomb, to the United States. Near the program’s conclu-
sion, a lengthy, balanced, and soul-searching debate
transpires among scientists, military leaders, and top
civilian government officials, including President Tru-
man, regarding whether to drop the bomb on Japan
without prior notice or to invite Japanese officials to a
David W. Rintels, 1980.
demonstration of the bomb in hopes that they would
Courtesy of the Everett Collection /CSU Archives
surrender upon seeing its destructive power. Through-
out the piece, Rintels explores the symbiotic relation-
ship that developed between the two key players in the
vision producers . . . to be so spaced out by the present Manhattan Project: the intellectual scientist and pro-
Entertainment Era as to more or less deliberately fool ject leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the military
around with the actual life of an actual man, even of a leader charged with overall coordination of the effort,
discredited President . . . seems irresponsible and down-
General Leslie R. Groves.
right shabby.
Andersonville, a four-hour, two-part drama written
Rintels turned his attention to political repression and produced by Rintels, recounts the nightmare of the
abroad in Sakharov (HBO, 1984), the moving story of Civil War Confederate prison camp in southwest
the courageous Soviet scientist Andrei Dmitrievich Georgia—a 26-acre open-air stockade designed for
Sahkarov (played by Robards) and his second wife Ye- 8,000 men, which at peak operation contained 32,000
lena G. Bonner (Glenda Jackson). Sakharov chronicles Union Army prisoners of war. Of the 45,000 Union
the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s painful journey soldiers imprisoned there between 1864 and 1865,
into dissent, and his outspoken advocacy of human nearly 13,000 died, mostly from malnutrition, disease,
rights. Because so much information about affairs in and exposure. Not only were the Confederate captors
the Soviet Union was cloaked in secrecy, it would have cruel; there also existed in the camp a ruthless gang of
been tempting to invent much of Sakharov’s tale. Rin- prisoners, the Raiders, who intimidated, beat, and even
tels, however, was loath to do this. Rather, in order to killed fellow prisoners for their scraps of food. The
present the personal side of Sakharov, Rintels com- other prisoners eventually revolted against the Raiders,
piled information from extensive interviews with placing their six ring leaders on trial and hanging them
Sakharov’s children and their spouses, who had emi- with the Confederates’ blessing. Rintels places the
grated to the United States, and with Yelena Bonner’s blame for the squalid conditions in the camp both on
mother. Rintels also drew upon Sakharov’s own ac- the camp’s authoritarian German-Swiss commandant,
counts and those of his friends, and on reports from Henry Wirz, the only person tried and executed for war
journalists stationed in Moscow. As the story unfolded crimes following the Civil War, and on larger forces
for Rintels, he decided to use, as a primary framing de- that were the products of a devastating four-year war:
1932
Rintels, David W.
shortages of food, medicine, and supplies that plagued See also Defenders, The; Writer in Television
the entire Confederacy and forced it to choose between
supplying its own armies or the Union prisoners. To David W. Rintels. Born in Boston, Massachusetts,
Rintels, the Andersonville camp, unlike the Nazi con- 1939. Educated at Harvard University, B.A. magna
centration camps, seemed less the result of a conscious cum laude, 1959. Journalist, Boston Herald, 1959–60;
evil policy than the tragic result of a brutal war. news director, WVOX-Radio, New Rochelle, New
The Holocaust and the people responsible for it York, 1959; researcher, National Broadcasting Com-
were the subject of Rintels’s miniseries Nuremberg pany, 1961; television writer, since the early 1960s.
(TNT, 2000), which earned the highest ratings to date Member: Writers Guild of America, West, president,
for any miniseries aired on U.S. basic cable. Starring 1975–77; chair, Committee on Censorship and Free-
Alec Baldwin (who also coproduced the four-hour dom of Expression; advisory board, Death Penalty Fo-
miniseries) as the lead U.S. prosecutor, Nuremberg cus. Recipient: ACE Award, George Foster Peabody
chronicles the International Military Tribunal proceed- Award, 1970; Silver Gavel Award from the American
ings against Nazi officers after World War II, focusing Bar Association, 1971; Writers Guild of America
not only on the horrible crimes committed but also on Awards, 1970, 1975, 1980; Emmy Awards, 1973,
the challenges faced in this first effort to establish stan- 1975.
dards for the international prosecution of war crimes.
Rintels tackled a somewhat less weighty subject in
Television Series
his next for-cable project, a biography of Indiana Uni-
1961–75 The Defenders
versity’s volatile head basketball coach, Bobby
1964–65 Slattery’s People
Knight. A Season on the Brink (2002) is notable for
1965–68 Run for Your Life
two reasons: it represents the first effort by the sports
1967–68 The Invaders
cable channel ESPN to air an original drama, and it
1970–71 The Senator
was aired simultaneously on ESPN, with dialogue
1970–71 The Young Lawyers
heavily peppered with profanity, and ESPN2, where
the offending words were covered by “bleeps.”
In addition to his creative work, Rintels has also Made-for-Television Movies
been active in the politics of television. As president of 1973 Clarence Darrow
the Writers Guild of America (1975–77), he coordi- 1975 Fear on Trial
nated the successful campaign, led by the Guild and 1980 Gideon’s Trumpet
producer Norman Lear, to have the courts overturn the 1980 The Oldest Living Graduate
Federal Communications Commission’s 1975 “family- 1981 All the Way Home
viewing” policy, which designated the first two hours 1982 The Member of the Wedding
of prime time (7:00–9:00 P.M.) for programs that would 1984 Choices of the Heart
be suitable for viewing by all age groups. Rintels and 1984 Mister Roberts
Lear argued that the policy violated the First Amend- 1984 Sakharov
ment, forcing major script revisions of more adult- 1985 The Execution of Raymond Graham
oriented programs appearing before 9:00 P.M. and the 1989 Day One (also producer)
rescheduling of series such as All in the Family. 1990 The Last Best Year (also producer)
Since the early 1970s, Rintels has been a vocal critic 1992 A Town Torn Apart
of television networks’ timidity in their prime-time 1994 World War Two: When Lions Roared
programming. In 1972, he condemned commercial 1995 My Antonia
television executives for rejecting scripts dealing with 2002 A Season on the Brink
Vietnam draft evaders, the U.S. Army’s storing of
deadly nerve gas near large cities, antitrust issues, and
Television Miniseries
drug companies’ manufacture of drugs intended for the
1977 Washington: Behind Closed Doors
illegal drug market. In a 1977 interview, Rintels criti-
(co-producer, co-writer)
cized the bulk of prime-time entertainment television:
1996 Andersonville
“That’s the television most of the people watch most of
2000 Nuremberg
the time—75 to 80 million people a night. And it is for
many people a source of information about the real
world. But the message they are getting is, I think, not Films
an honest message.” Scorpio (co-writer), 1972; Not Without My Daughter,
Hal Himmelstein and Elizabeth Nishiura 1992.
1933
Rintels, David W.
Stage Nordheimer, Jon, “How the Ordeal of Sakharov Was Re-created

Clarence Darrow, 1975. for Cable TV,” New York Times (June 17, 1984)
Rintels, David W., “Not for Bread Alone,” Performance 3
(July/August 1972)
Further Reading Rosenberg, Howard, “Civil War POWs’ Tale of Horror,” Los
Angeles Times (March 1, 1996)
Arlen, Michael J., “The Air: Getting the Goods on Pres. Monck- Wertheimer, Ron, “A Season the Brink: A Movie on Two Chan-
ton,” The New Yorker (October 3, 1977) nels, One with Cussing,” New York Times (March 9, 2002)
Rising Damp
Rising Damp, the Yorkshire Television situation com- Jones played in highly individualistic style by the re-
edy series set in a run-down northern boarding house, spected stage actress Frances de la Tour; the confused,
was originally screened on ITV between 1974 and naive medical student Alan played by an ingenuous but
1978 and has continued to be revived on British televi- appealing Richard Beckinsale; and Philip, the proud
sion at regular intervals ever since, always attracting but smug son of an African tribal chief, played by Don
large audiences (many of whom were no doubt lodgers Warrington. Only Beckinsale had not appeared in the
at one time or another in similarly seedy houses). Cre- original stage play. Other lodgers later in the series
ated by writer Ernie Chappell, the series depicted the were Brenda (Gay Rose) and Spooner (Derek
comic misadventures and machinations of Rupert Newark).
Rigsby, the embittered, down-at-heel landlord, who The frustrations and petty humiliations constantly
constantly spied on the usually very innocent private suffered by the various characters, coupled with their
lives of an assortment of long-suffering tenants. dingy surroundings, could easily have made the se-
The success of Rising Damp depended largely upon ries a melancholy affair, but the deft humor of the
the considerable comic talent of its star, Leonard scripts, married to the inventiveness and expertise of
Rossiter, who played the snooping and sneering the performers, kept the tone light, if somewhat hys-
Rigsby. Rossiter had first demonstrated his impeccable terical at times, and enabled the writers to explore
comic timing in the same role (though under the name Rigsby’s various prejudices (concerning sex, race,
Rooksby) in the one-off stage play Banana Box, from students, and anything unfamiliar) without causing
which the television series was derived. Rossiter offense. In this respect, the series was reminiscent of
rapidly stamped his mark upon the money-grubbing, the techniques employed in Steptoe and Son, and by
lecherous, manneristic landlord, making him at once Johnny Speight and Warren Mitchell in the “Alf Gar-
repulsive, vulnerable, paranoid, irrepressible, ignorant, nett” series, although here there was less emphasis on
cunning, and above all hilarious. Sharing his inmost invective and more on deliberately farcical comedy.
fears and suspicions with his cat Vienna, he skulked One occasion on which the series did come unstuck
about the ill-kempt house, bursting in on tenants when was when fun was had at the expense of an appar-
he thought (almost always mistakenly) that he would ently fictional election candidate named Pendry, who
catch them in flagrante, and impotently plotting how was described as crooked and homosexual. Unfortu-
to seduce university administrator Miss Jones, the nately, there was a real Labour member of Parliament
frustrated spinster who was the reluctant object of his of the same name, and Yorkshire Television was
desire. obliged to pay substantial damages for defamation as
Rigsby’s appalling disrespect for the privacy of his a result.
lodgers and his irrepressible inquisitiveness were the The success of the television series led to a film ver-
moving force behind the storylines, bringing together sion in 1980, but this met with mixed response, lacking
the various supporting characters who otherwise the conciseness and sharpness of the television series
mostly cut lonely and inadequate, even tragic, figures. and also lacking the presence of Beckinsale, who had
The supporting cast was in fact very strong, with Miss tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 31 the pre-
1934
Rivera, Geraldo
vious year. Rossiter himself went on to star in the Producers

equally popular series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Ian MacNaughton, Ronnie Baxter, Len Luruck, Ver-
Perrin before his own premature death from heart fail- non Lawrence
ure in 1984.
David Pickering
Programming History
28 episodes
Cast Yorkshire Television (ITV)
Rupert Rigsby Leonard Rossiter September 2, 1974 pilot episode
Alan Moore Richard Beckinsale December 1974–January 1975 five episodes
Ruth Jones Frances de la Tour November 1975–December 1975 eight episodes
Philip Smith Don Warrington December 27, 1976 Christmas special
Spooner Derek Newark April 1977–May 1977 seven episodes
Brenda Gay Rose April 1978–May 1978 six episodes
Rivera, Geraldo (1943– )

U.S. Journalist, Talk Show Host
The name of journalist and talk show host Geraldo cally acclaimed and highly rated special on the horrific
Rivera has become synonymous with more sensational abuse of mentally retarded patients at New York’s Wil-
forms of talk television. His distinctive style, at once lowbrook School. He then went on to work for ABC
probing, aggressive, and intimate, has even led, at national programs, first as a special correspondent for
times, to parodies of him in a variety of print and Good Morning, America, and then, in 1978, for the
broadcast media. He has seemed to contribute to this prime-time investigative show 20/20. However, his
high-profile identification by playing himself (or a brashness led to controversies with the network, and in
close approximation) in fictional settings, such as an 1985 he was fired after publicly criticizing ABC for
episode of thirtysomething, a 1992 Perry Mason TV canceling his report on an alleged relationship between
movie, the finale of Seinfeld, and the theatrical films John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Primary Colors Rivera was undaunted by his altercation with the
(1998). Yet, ironically, his fear of going too far with his network, and he moved to boost his visibility with an
public image led him to turn down an offer to play the hour-long special on the opening of Al Capone’s secret
role of an over-the-top tabloid reporter in Oliver vault in April 1986. The payoff for the audience was
Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994). A master of self- virtually nil, since the vault contained only dirt, but the
promotion, Rivera’s drive has taken his career in direc- show achieved the highest ratings for a syndicated spe-
tions he may not have predicted. Despite having won cial in television history. Rivera wrote in his autobiog-
ten Emmys and numerous journalism awards (includ- raphy, “My career was not over, I knew, but had just
ing the Peabody), Rivera is still primarily known for begun. And all because of a silly, high-concept stunt
the more public nature of both his personal life and his that failed to deliver on its titillating promise.”
talk show. The same high-concept approach became the base
Rivera was discovered while working as a lawyer for Rivera’s talk show Geraldo, which debuted in
for the New York Puerto Rican activist group the September 1987. The first guest was Marla Hanson, a
Young Lords. During the group’s occupation of an model whose face had been slashed on the orders of a
East Harlem church in 1970, Rivera had been inter- jilted lover. Many critics attacked the show, and
viewed on WABC-TV local news and caught the eye Rivera, for his theatrics and “swashbuckling bravado,”
of the station’s news director Al Primo, who was look- but Geraldo garnered a respectable viewership. How-
ing for a Latino reporter to fill out his news team. In ever, Rivera has pointed out that it was his 1987 show,
1972, Rivera gained national attention with his criti- “Men in Lace Panties and the Women Who Love
1935
Rivera, Geraldo
Them,” which turned the talk format in a more sensa- correspondent at the cable channel FOX News; a few
tional direction. The following year, he broke talk months later he was lambasted for one of his reports
show rating records with a highly publicized show on from the U.S.-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Nazi skinheads. During the show’s taping, a brawl had After the deaths of three American soldiers in Kandahar
broken out between two of the guests—a 25-year-old by “friendly fire” in early December 2001, Rivera
leader of the White Aryan Resistance Youth and black (dressed in flak jacket and carrying a pistol) reported
activist Roy Innis. A thrown chair hit Rivera square in that he had “walked over the spot where the friendly
the face, breaking his nose. The show was news before fire took so many of our men . . . . I said the Lord’s
it even aired. The press jumped on this opportunity to Prayer and really choked up.” Newspapers quickly
use Rivera as an example of television’s new extremes. pointed out that the “hallowed” ground of which he
A November 1988 cover of Newsweek carried a close- spoke was actually hundreds of miles away from where
up of his bashed face next to a headline reading, he was standing during his report. Rivera, admitting his
“Trash TV: From the Lurid to the Loud, Anything mistake, blamed “the fog of war.” More criticism fol-
Goes.” lowed, as he acted as a swaggering patriot in many of
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Geraldo his reports about events following the September 11,
(which was eventually renamed The Geraldo Rivera 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. When
Show) continued to capitalize on the sensational as- Rivera promised that if he ever found Osama bin
pects of Rivera’s reputation. He inserted himself into Laden, he would “kick his head in, then bring it home
the talk show narrative, often using his own exploits and bronze it,” many wondered if this “new” Geraldo
and bodily desires to fill out the issue at hand. In a Rivera was all that different from the old.
show on plastic surgery, Rivera had fat sucked from Susan Murray
his buttocks and injected into his forehead in a proce-
See also Talk Shows
dure to reduce wrinkles. A few years later, in another
procedure, he had his eyes tucked on the show. The
Geraldo Rivera. Born Jerry Rivers in New York City,
publication of his autobiography, Exposing Myself, in
July 4, 1943. Educated at University of Arizona, B.S.,
the fall of 1991 caused a major stir due to Rivera’s rev-
1965; Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1969; postgraduate
elations of his numerous affairs.
work at University of Pennsylvania, 1969; attended
In a 1993 interview, Rivera offered an analysis of
School of Journalism, Columbia University, New
his own place in American life:
York, 1970. Married: 1) Edith Bucket “Pie” Vonnegut,
I’m so much a part of the popular culture now. I’m 1971; 2) Sherryl Raymond, 1976; 3) C.C. Dyer, 1987
a punch line every night on one of the late-night (divorced); children: Gabriel Miguel, Isabella, Si-
shows . . . . I’m used as a generic almost in all the edito- mone. Member, antipoverty neighborhood law firm
rials and commentaries and certainly all the books about Harlem Assertion of Rights and Community Action for
whether the news media has gone too far. It’s just that, Legal Services, New York City, 1968–70; admitted to
what is a review going to do to me? They either like me New York Bar, 1970; in television, from 1970, begin-
or don’t like me, but I’m always interesting to watch. ning at Eyewitness News, WABC-TV, New York City;
host, numerous television specials and talk shows; re-
By mid-1994 Rivera had begun working to recoup
porter for FOX News, since 2001. Member: Puerto Ri-
his former role as a “serious” journalist. While still
can Legal Defense and Education Fund; Puerto Rican
taping episodes of his daytime talk show, he began
Bar Association. Recipient: Smith Fellowship, Univer-
hosting his own legal affairs program, Rivera Live, on
sity of Pennsylvania, 1969; three national and seven
CNBC and became a regular contributor to the Today
local Emmy Awards; two Robert F. Kennedy Awards;
Show. Although many at NBC News were uncomfort-
Peabody Award; Kennedy Journalism Awards, 1973
able with Rivera’s tabloid image, Rivera Live became
and 1975.
one of the cable network’s highest-rated programs and
Rivera won critical praise for his coverage of the O.J.
Simpson trial in 1997. In early 1998, Rivera signed a Television Series
lucrative new six-year contract with NBC, and in May 1970–75 Eyewitness News
he taped the last original episode of The Geraldo 1973–76 Good Morning, America
Rivera Show. In the fall of that year, Rivera became 1974–78 Geraldo Rivera: Goodnight, America
host of a second CNBC show, Upfront Tonight. 1978–85 20/20 (correspondent and senior
Yet Rivera could not completely shake the contro- producer)
versy that seemed to follow him. In 2001, he left CNBC 1987–98 Geraldo (host; show’s title later
with two years left on his contract for a position as war changed to The Geraldo Rivera Show)
1936
Road to Avonlea
1991–92 Now It Can Be Told Publications (selected)

1994–2001 Rivera Live
A Special Kind of Courage: Profiles of Young Ameri-
1998–2001 Up Front Tonight
cans, 1977
Exposing Myself (with Daniel Paisner), 1991
1992 Perry Mason: The Case of the Reck
less Romeo Further Reading
Heaton, Jeanne Albronda, and Nona Leigh, Tuning in Trouble:
Talk TV’s Destructive Impact on Mental Health, San Fran-
Television Specials (selected) cisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995
1986 The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault Leershen, Charles, “Sex, Death, Drugs, and Geraldo,”
Newsweek (November 14, 1988)
1986 American Vice: The Doping of a Levine, Art, “Blitzed: Ed Murrow, Meet Geraldo,” The New Re-
Nation public (January 9, 1989)
1986 American Vice: The Real Story of the Littleton, Cynthia, “Geraldo Takes the Pledge,” Broadcasting
Doping of a Nation and Cable (January 8, 1996)
1987 Modern Love: Action to Action Livingstone, Sonia, and Peter Lunt, Talk on Television: Audi-
ence Participation and Public Debate, London: Routledge,
1987 Innocence Lost: The Erosion of 1994
American Childhood Munson, Wayne, All Talk: The Talkshow in Media Culture,
1987 Sons of Scarface: The New Mafia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press, 1993
1988 Murder: Live from Death Row Priest, Patricia Joyner, Public Intimacies: Talk Show Partici-
pants and Tell-All TV, Creskill, New Jersey: Hampton, 1995
Silverman, Art, “Network McNews: The Brave New World of
Films Peter, Dan, Tom . . . and Geraldo,” ETC.: A Review of Gen-
eral Semantics (Spring 1990)
The Bonfire of the Vanities, 1990; Grumpier Old Men, Timberg, Bernard, “The Unspoken Rules of Television Talk,” in
1995; Meet Wally Sparks, 1997; Contact, 1997; Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb,
Copland, 1997; Primary Colors, 1998. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994
Road to Avonlea
Canadian Family Drama
Road to Avonlea, one of English Canada’s most suc- with the participation of Telefilm Canada. Thus, from
cessful dramatic series, aired on CBC (the Canadian the beginning of its production run, the series was de-
Broadcasting Corporation network) for seven seasons, veloped in relation to both domestic and international
from 1990 to 1996. In addition to this domestic success, markets. In addition, the program was plotted in rela-
the series has been among the most widely circulated tion to the considerations of both a national broadcast-
Canadian programs in international markets; it was ing service and a specialty cable service.
sold in more than 140 countries by the end of its do- The narrative was developed from the novels of
mestic run. The series was both a popular and a critical Lucy Maud Montgomery, following the previous suc-
success and is a singular example of the adaptation of cess of Sullivan Entertainment’s miniseries adaptation
“national” Canadian fiction for the generic constraints of Montgomery’s best-known novel, Anne of Green
of both domestic and international televisual markets. Gables. Set in the Atlantic province of Prince Edward
This singularity is evident in both the production con- Island (P.E.I.) in the first decades of the 20th century,
text of the series and in its narrative development Avonlea opens with the move of young Sara Stanley
across the seven seasons. The program was produced (Sara Polley) from Montreal to the small P.E.I. town of
by Sullivan Entertainment in association with the Dis- Avonlea to live with two aunts, Hetty King (Jackie
ney Channel in the United States and was supported Burroughs) and Olivia King (Mag Ruffman). Over the
1937
Road to Avonlea
Road to Avonlea.
Photo courtesy of Sullivan Entertainment/Marni Grossman
seven seasons, the narrative traces the coming of age accounting of rural forms of community life. The fact
of Sara and the other children of the town as well as that the series’ narrative ends on the eve of World War
the adjustments of the adults in the community to the I serves to reinforce this linking of childhood, family,
increasing changes that 20th-century modernization and community in an earlier, more innocent period.
brings to rural island life. The series is situated simul- The episodic use of outsider characters also inte-
taneously within the genres of period-costume drama grated well with the series development in relation to
and children’s, or family, drama—on the CBC, the se- both domestic and foreign markets. Over the years the
ries ran in the 7:00 P.M. family hour. producers succeeded in recruiting for these roles a
The dramatic formula for the series was relatively number of internationally known Canadian guest stars
stable. Episode plots built upon the development of the (for example, Kate Nelligan, Colleen Dewhurst) and
children’s interrelationships and their increasing en- international guest stars (Michael York, Stockard
trance into the “adult” world of family and community Channing), a production decision that greatly aided in
life. At the same time, the shape of the community was the international marketing of the series. Road to
developed through the interactions of series regulars Avonlea, therefore, is a prime example of the adapta-
with “outsiders” who instigated disruptions into both tion of a national popular culture narrative to the con-
family and kinship ties, and who served as indices of straints of the international television culture of the
the invasive modernity encroaching on town life. The 1990s. At the same time, it demonstrates one possible
dramatic formula therefore intertwined the coming-of- strategy for series finance within relatively “small” na-
age incidents and the character development of a traditional television industries.
tional children’s series with an idealized and nostalgic Martin Allor
1938
Robertson, Pat
See also Canadian Programming in English Producers

Kevin Sullivan, Trudy Grant
Cast
Sara Stanley (1990–94) Sara Polley Programming History
Aunt Hetty King Jackie Burroughs 91 episodes
Janet King Lally Cadeau CBC
Alec King Cedric Smith January 1990–March 1996 Sunday 7:00–8:00
Olivia King Dale Mag Ruffman
Jasper Dale R.H. Thompson
Further Reading
Felicity King Gema Zampogna
Felix King Zachary Bennett Miller, Mary Jane, “Will English Language Television Remain
Rachel Lynde Patricia Hamilton Distinctive? Probably,” in Beyond Quebec: Taking Stock of
Canada, edited by Kenneth McRoberts, Montreal: McGill
Queen’s Press, 1995
Robertson, Pat (1930– )

U.S. Religious Broadcaster
Pat Robertson is the leading religious broadcaster in made an application to the Federal Communications
the United States. His success has made him not only a Commission (FCC) and then signed an agreement with
television celebrity but also a successful media owner, Scientific Atlanta to purchase CBN’s satellite Earth
a well-known philanthropist, and a respected conser- station, and he also bought substantial air time on one
vative spokesman. Robertson experienced a religious of the U.S. domestic satellites. On April 29, 1977,
conversion while running his own electronics com- CBN began 24-hour Christian and family program-
pany in New York, and he became increasingly certain ming; this was the beginning of the Family Channel.
that God wanted him to buy a television station to By December 1977, the CBN Satellite Network had
spread the gospel. Robertson brought his family to become the largest syndicator of satellite programs in
Portsmouth, Virginia, in November 1959, with only the United States. Two years later, in October 1979,
$70 in his pocket, and a year later he bought a bankrupt CBN opened its new International Communications
UHF station in Portsmouth for a mere $37,000 (the Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. CBN has since ex-
station was valued at $500,000). The station he bought panded its broadcasts internationally, and in 2002 it
was given the call letters WYAH-TV, for “Yahweh,” broadcast to 180 nations in 71 languages.
the Hebrew word for “God,” and Robertson called his CBN also affiliated with 33 U.S. Christian television
enterprise the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). stations to form the Home Entertainment Network in
CBN went on the air on October 1, 1961, with an evan- 1989. A year later CBN decided to sell its 24-hour
gelistic religious format. Family Channel, whose most important function was
In the fall of 1963, CBN held its first telethon asking to carry The 700 Club three times a day. The new com-
700 supporters to join the “700 Club” by pledging $10 a pany, called International Family Entertainment, was
month to help meet the station’s monthly operational launched on the New York Stock Exchange and sold in
budget of $7,000. In 1966, after another successful 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide for $1.8 billion, with
telethon, Robertson started The 700 Club as a daily CBN receiving $136.1 million from the sale. Under the
broadcast of prayer and ministry that encouraged a tele- terms of the sale, Fox carried The 700 Club twice a
phone response; toll-free 800 numbers were always dis- day, and the same conditions applied when in 2001
played, and viewers could ring in for advice and prayer. Fox Kids Worldwide was sold to Disney. The cable
Robertson’s genius was to recognize early the im- network is now called ABC Family, and it continues to
portance of an Earth station that could uplink and carry The 700 Club daily.
downlink his programs to local cable operators; he Robertson, an ordained minister of the Southern
1939
Robertson, Pat
Christian Broadcasting Network, Virginia Beach, from

1960; ordained minister, Southern Baptist Convention,
1961–86; author of numerous books, from 1972; on
board of directors, National Broadcasters, from 1973;
founder and president, CBN (now Regent) University,
1978; started relief organization Operation Blessing,
1978; founder and president, Continental Broadcasting
Network, from 1979; cofounded Freedom Council
foundation, 1981; member, Presidential Task Force on
Victims of Crime, Washington, D.C., 1982; candidate
for Republican nomination for U.S. president, 1988.
ThD. (honorary), Oral Roberts University, 1983. Re-
cipient: National Council of Christians and Jews Dis-
tinguished Merit citation; Knesset Medallion;
David Frost interviewing Pat Robertson. Religious Heritage of America Faith and Freedom
Award; Southern California Motion Picture Council
Bronze Halo Award; Religion in Media’s International
Clergyman of the Year, 1981; International Committee
Baptist church, resigned his ordination in 1986 in order for Goodwill’s Man of the Year, 1981; Food for the
to make a bid for the presidency of the United States. Hungry Humanitarian Award, 1982; Freedoms Founda-
As a result of Robertson’s actions, CBN lost nearly 40 tion George Washington Honor Medal, 1983.
percent of its gift income in 1988, but upon Robertson’s
return to The 700 Club in 1988, finances were restored. Television Series
Robertson’s conservative political commentaries be- 1963– The 700 Club (host)
came an ever more important aspect of his program.
Robertson can claim to have built the popularity of Publications (selected)
the religious talk show format, a format that has
proved consistently popular for more than 30 years. The Secret Kingdom, 1982; revised edition, 1992
The 2002 version of The 700 Club talk show remains a Beyond Reason, 1984
mixture of news; in-depth feature reports on current Answers to 200 of Life’s Most Probing Questions,
ethical and moral issues such as school prayer; stories 1985
and commentary asserting the agenda of the new Shout It from the Rooftops, 1986
Christian right; and Christian evangelism with a America’s Date with Destiny, 1986
charismatic flavor. The program is an important indi- The New World Order, 1991
cator of what evangelicals and Pentecostals believe The Turning Tide, 1993
about current moral and political issues. The End of the Age: A Novel, 1995
In 2002, Pat Robertson retired from the leadership
of the Christian Coalition and from active politics, an- Further Reading
nouncing that he intended to spend his remaining years
Boston, Rob, The Most Dangerous Man in America?: Pat
concentrating on the leadership of CBN and Regent Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition, Amherst,
University, which he founded in 1978, and which has New York: Prometheus, 1996
provided many of his best broadcasting executives. Donovan, John B., Pat Robertson: The Authorized Biography,
His younger son Gordon is now the principal host of New York: Macmillan, and London: Collier Macmillan, 1988
The 700 Club and is expected to continue if and when Foege, Alec, The Empire God Built: Inside Pat Robertson’s Me-
dia Machine, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1996
his father retires. Green, John Clifford, and James L. Guth, “The Christian Right
Andrew Quicke in the Republican Party: The Case of Pat Robertson’s Sup-
porters,” Journal of Politics (February 1988)
See also Religion on Television Harrow, David Edwin, Pat Robertson: A Personal, Religious,
and Political Portrait, New York: Harper and Row, 1987
Pat Robertson. Born Marion Gordon Robertson in Hertzke, Allen D., Echoes of Discontent: Jesse Jackson, Pat
Lexington, Virginia, March 22, 1930. Educated at Robertson, and the Resurgence of Populism, Washington,
Washington and Lee University, B.A., 1950; Yale Uni- D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1992
Peck, Janice, The Gods of Televangelism, Crosskill, New Jer-
versity, J.D., 1955; New York Theological Seminary, sey: Hampton, 1993
MDiv, 1959. Married: Adelia Elmer; children: Timothy, Straub, Gerard Thomas, Salvation for Sale: An Insider’s View of
Elizabeth, Gordon, and Ann. Founder and president, Pat Robertson, Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, 1988
1940
Robinson, Hubbell
Robinson, Hubbell (1905–1974)

U.S. Writer, Producer, Network Executive
Hubbell Robinson was active in American broadcast- Chayevsky, Reginald Rose, and Rod Serling, among
ing as a writer, producer, and network programming others. During its run from 1956 to 1961, Playhouse
executive for over 40 years. As the CBS executive who 90’s plays included Requiem for a Heavyweight, A
championed the 1950s anthology drama Playhouse 90, Sound of Different Drummers, The Miracle Worker,
his efforts to develop high-quality programming that and Judgment at Nuremberg. Robinson was credited
he described as “mass with class” contributed to CBS’s with bringing serious television drama to its peak with
long-lived reputation as the “Tiffany” network. Playhouse 90.
Robinson’s broadcasting career began in 1930, For Paley and others at CBS, however, the anthol-
when he became the first head of the new radio depart- ogy drama format was a drawback: its lack of continu-
ment at the advertising agency Young and Rubicam. In ity from week to week did not seem to encourage
the era of early commercial broadcasting, when corpo- regular television viewing habits. But the networks’ in-
rate clients sought new radio programs to sponsor, creasing reliance on filmed episodic programs was dis-
many advertising agencies helped develop program paraged by many admirers of live anthology drama.
genres, such as the soap opera, that encouraged habit- Referring to critics’ concerns that network program-
ual listening. At Young and Rubicam, Robinson cre- ming quality was declining, Robinson openly criti-
ated and wrote scripts for General Foods’ soap opera
The Second Mrs. Burton. The program’s success was
based, according to Robinson, on “four cornerstones”:
simple characterizations, understandable predica-
ments, the centrality of the female characters, and the
soap opera’s philosophical relevance.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Young and
Rubicam became an important radio program provider,
simultaneously producing The Jack Benny Show, Fred
Allen’s Town Hall Tonight, and The Kate Smith Hour,
among others. As did other radio executives at the
agency, Robinson wrote many scripts and commer-
cials, in addition to producing programs.
By the time Robinson joined CBS Television in
1947, his extensive background in radio programming
had prepared him well for the new medium. Indeed, in
his autobiography, As It Happened, then-CBS chair-
man William Paley referred to Robinson as “the all-
around man in our programming department.” As
executive vice president in charge of television pro-
gramming at CBS, Robinson championed and oversaw
the development of such popular programs as I Love
Lucy, You’ll Never Get Rich (with Phil Silvers as
Sergeant Bilko), and Gunsmoke.
However, according to Paley, “Culturally, [Robin-
son’s] interests were levels above many of his col-
leagues. . . . His special flair was for high-quality
programming.” Robinson organized and championed
the 90-minute dramatic anthology series, Playhouse Hubbell Robinson in the 1960s.
90, which featured serious dramas written by Paddy Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1941
Robinson, Hubbell
cized the television industry’s “willingness to settle for Knickerbocker Press, 1929; radio producer, Young and
drama whose synonym is pap.” Paley, on the other Rubicam, 1930, vice president and radio director,
hand, expressed concern that, as a network executive, 1942; vice president and program director, ABC radio,
Robinson “may have lacked the common touch.” Still, New York City, 1944–45; vice president, Foote, Cone,
it was Robinson’s stance that helped CBS deal with and Belding advertising agency, 1946; vice president
federal regulators when questions were raised about and program director, CBS, 1947–56; executive vice
whether CBS programs served the (loosely defined) president, CBS-TV, 1956–59; organized Hubbell
public interest. Robinson Productions, 1959; senior vice president,
Robinson returned to CBS briefly from 1962 to television programs, CBS, 1962–63; executive in
1963 and later joined ABC as executive producer of charge of various productions, ABC-TV, 1966–69;
the Stage 67 series and the on-location series Crisis! contributing critic, Films in Review, 1971–74; film
from 1966 to 1969. In the early 1960s, he was credited critic, CATV Channel 8, New York City, 1969–72. Re-
with helping erode stereotyping of African Americans cipient: Emmy Awards, 1958 and 1959; two TV Digest
on television by distributing a memorandum calling Awards, 1960; Producers Guild Award, 1962; Fame
for producers to cast blacks in a greater variety of Award, 1967; Television Academy’s Salute Award,
roles. Robinson’s contributions as a producer and pro- 1972. Died in New York City, September 4, 1974.
grammer spanned the crucial decades of radio’s matu-
rity and television’s early growth. As the executive
Television Series (executive producer)
responsible for the programming of both popular and
1956–61 Playhouse 90
innovative television programs in the 1950s, he helped
1966–69 Crisis!
CBS establish and maintain its reputation as the net-
1967 Stage 67
work with the highest ratings and best programming, a
reputation that endured for several decades.
Cynthia Meyers Radio
See also Anthology Drama; “Golden Age” of Tele- The Second Mrs. Burton; The Jack Benny Show; Fred
vision; Playhouse 90 Allen’s Town Hall Tonight; The Kate Smith Hour.
Hubbell Robinson. Born in Schenectady, New York,

Further Reading
October 16, 1905. Graduated from Phillips Exeter
Academy, 1923; Brown University, B.A., 1927. Mar- Boddy, William, Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics,
ried: 1) Therese Lewis, 1940 (divorced, 1948); 2) Mar- Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990
Metz, Robert, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye, Chicago:
garet Whiting (divorced); 3) Vivienne Segal (legally Playboy Press, 1975
separated, 1962). Drama critic, Exhibitors Herald, Paley, William S., As It Happened, Garden City, New York:
1927; reporter, Schenectady Union Star, Albany Doubleday, 1979
Rockford Files, The

U.S. Detective Drama
The Rockford Files is generally regarded (along with and infused with humor and realistic relationships.
Harry O) as one of the finest private eye series of the Driven by brilliant writing, an ensemble of winning
1970s, and indeed of all time, consistently ranked at or characters, and the charm of its star, James Garner, the
near the top in polls of viewers, critics, and mystery series went from prime-time Nielsen hit in the 1970s to
writers. The series offered superbly plotted mysteries, a syndication staple with a loyal cult following in the
with the requisite amounts of action, yet it was also 1980s, before spawning several made-for-TV movie
something of a revisionist take on the hard-boiled de- sequels in the 1990s.
tective genre, grounded more in character than crime, The show was created by producer Roy Huggins
1942
Rockford Files, The
and writer Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins originally

sketched the premise of a private eye who took on only
closed cases (a conceit quickly abandoned in the se-
ries), at one point intending to introduce the character
in an episode of the cop show Toma. Huggins assigned
the script to Cannell—a professed aficionado of the
hard-boiled detective tradition—who decided to have
fun with the story by flouting the genre’s clichés and
breaking its rules. After the Toma connection crum-
bled, James Garner signed on to the project, NBC
agreed to finance the pilot, and The Rockford Files was
born.
Cannell was largely responsible for the character
and the concept that finally emerged in the pilot script
and the series. Jim Rockford did indeed break the mold
set by television’s earlier two-fisted chivalric P.I.s. His
headquarters was a mobile home parked at the beach
rather than a shabby office off Sunset Boulevard; in
lieu of a gorgeous secretary, an answering machine
took his messages; he preferred to talk, rather than
slug, his way out of a tight spot; and he rarely carried a
gun. (When one surprised client asked why, Rockford
replied, “Because I don’t want to shoot anybody.”) No
troubled loner, Jim Rockford spent much of his free
time fishing or watching TV with his father, Joe Rock-
ford (Noah Beery, Jr.), a retired trucker with a vocal
The Rockford Files, James Garner, 1974–80.
antipathy to “Jimmy’s” chosen profession. Inspired by Courtesy of the Everett Collection
an episode of Mannix in which that tough-guy P.I. took
on a child’s case for some loose change and a lollipop,
Cannell decided to make his creation “the Jack Benny Lew Archer: an unwavering sense of morality, and an
of private eyes.” Rockford always announced his rates almost obsessive thirst for the truth. Thus, despite his
up front: $200 a day, plus expenses (which he itemized ostensible concern for the bottom line, in practice
with abandon). He was tenacious on the job, but busi- Rockford ended up doing at least as much charity work
ness was business—and he had payments on the as any fictional gumshoe (as in “The Reincarnation of
trailer. Angie,” when the soft-hearted sleuth agrees to take on
For all of its ostensible rule-breaking, however, The a distressed damsel’s case for his “special sucker rate”
Rockford Files hewed closely to the hard-boiled tradi- of $23.74).
tion in style and theme. The series’ depiction of Los Ultimately—perhaps inevitably—all of Cannell’s
Angeles’s sun-baked streets and seamy underbelly ri- generic revisionism served to make his hero more hu-
vals the novels of Raymond Chandler and Ross Mac- man, and the stories that much more realistic. Jim
Donald. Chandler, in his essay “The Simple Art of Rockford could be the Jack Benny of private eyes pre-
Murder,” could have been writing about Jim Rockford cisely because he was the first TV private eye—per-
when he describes the hard-boiled detective as a poor haps the first literary one—to be created as a fully
man, a common man, a man of honor, who talks with credible human being, rather than simply a dogged,
the rude wit of his age. Rockford’s propensity for alienated purveyor of justice. The Rockford Files was
wisecracks, his fractious relationship with the police, as much about character and relationships as it was
and his network of shady underworld connections, about crime and detection. The presence of Rockford’s
lead straight back to Dashiell Hammett by way of father was more than a revisionist or comic gimmick.
Chandler and Rex Stout. As for his aversion to Although “Rocky” and Jim’s wrangling was the source
fisticuffs, Rockford was not a coward, but a pragma- of much humor, that humor was credible and endear-
tist, different only by degree (if at all) from Philip Mar- ing; their relationship was the emotional core of the
lowe; when violence was inevitable, Rockford was as show, underlining Jim’s essential humanity—and sub-
tough as nails. Most tellingly of all, he shared the same tly, implicitly, sketching in a history for the detective.
code as his Los Angeles predecessors Marlowe and By the same token, a tapestry of supporting and recur-
1943
Rockford Files, The
ring characters gave Rockford a life beyond the case at TV, captures the series’ central strengths in noting that
hand: Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Dennis “the complexity of the plots and the relationships be-
Becker (Joe Santos), Jim’s buddy on the force, served tween the characters were novelistic.” John D. Mac-
a stock genre function as a source of favors and threats, Donald, critiquing video whodunits for TV Guide,
but their friendship, which played out apart from the proposed that in terms of “believability, dialogue,
precinct and the crime scene, added another dimension plausibility of character, plot coherence, The Rockford
of character. Likewise, Jim’s attorney and sometimes Files comes as close to meeting the standards of the
girlfriend Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett) further written mystery as anything I found.” During its run,
fleshed out the details of his personal life, and served the series was nominated for the Writers Guild Award
as an able foil for Becker and his more ill-tempered su- and the Mystery Writer’s of America “Edgar” Award,
periors (in the process imparting a dash of 1970s femi- in addition to winning the Emmy for outstanding
nism to the show). Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin), drama series in 1978.
Rockford’s San Quentin cellmate, the smallest of The Rockford Files ran for five full seasons, coming
small-time grifters, the weasel’s weasel, at once hilari- to a premature end in the middle of the sixth, when
ous and pathetic, evoked Rockford’s prison past, Garner left the show due to a variety of physical ail-
evinced his familiarity with Los Angeles’s seamier ments brought on by the strenuous demands of the pro-
side and balanced Rocky’s hominess with an odious duction. Yet Rockford never really left the air; not only
measure of sleaze. These regular members of the has the series remained steadily popular in syndication
Rockford family, and a host of distinctive recurring and on cable, eight made-for-television movies reunit-
characters—cops, clients, crooks, con men, ex-cons— ing the original cast aired on CBS between 1994 and
helped create, over time, a web of relationships that 1999. In addition, a loyal cult following continues to
grounded Rockford, investing it with a more intense celebrate the series on various Rockford File websites.
and continuing appeal than would a strict episodic fo- The show’s rather rapid canonization as a touchstone
cus on crime and detection. of the private eye genre is evinced by subsequent se-
As the preceding might suggest, The Rockford Files ries, including Magnum, P.I., Detective in the House,
was underlined with a warmth not usually associated and Charlie Grace, consciously imitating or directly
with the private eye genre. Much of the show’s distinc- quoting it.
tiveness was its emphasis on humor, exploiting Gar- The Rockford Files marked a significant step in the
ner’s comic gifts (and his patented persona of evolution of the television detective, honoring the tradi-
“reluctant hero”) and the humor of the protagonist’s tional private eye tale with well-crafted mysteries, and
often prickly relationships with his dad, Becker, Angel, enriching the form with what television does best: fully
and his clients. In later seasons the series occasionally developed characters and richly drawn relationships. In
veered into parody—especially in the episodes featur- musing on the hard-boiled detective whose tradition he
ing dashing, wealthy, virtuous detective Lance White helped shape, Raymond Chandler wrote, “I do not care
(Tom Selleck), and bumbling, pulp-fiction-addled, much about his private life.” In Rockford, Cannell and
would-be private eye Freddie Beamer (James Whit- company embraced and exploited their detective’s pri-
more, Jr.)—and even flirted with self-parody, as the vate life. Television encourages, even demands this in-
show’s signature car chases became more and more timacy. For all the gritty realism of Spade and
elaborate and (sometimes) comical (as when Rockford Marlowe’s mean streets, they were, in their solitary as-
is forced to give chase in a Volkswagen beetle with an ceticism, figures of romantic fantasy. Jim Rockford was
enormous pizza adorning the top). Even so, the series no less honorable, no less resolute in his quests; he was,
was faithful to its hard-boiled heritage. Yet the series however, by virtue of his trailer, his dad, his gun in the
also brought a contemporary sensibility to the hard- cookie jar, just that much more real.
boiled tradition’s anti-authority impulses, assailing po- Mark Alvey
litical intrigue, official corruption, and bureaucratic
See also Cannell, Stephen; Detective Programs;
absurdity with a distinctly post-Watergate cynicism.
Garner, James; Huggins, Roy
Rockford’s most profound homage to the detective
tradition was first-rate writing and a body of superbly
realized mysteries. Cannell and Juanita Bartlett wrote Cast
the bulk, and most of the best, of the series’ scripts, Jim Rockford James Garner
with writer-producer David Chase (I’ll Fly Away, Joseph “Rocky” Rockford Noah Beery, Jr.
Northern Exposure, The Sopranos), also a frequent Detective Dennis Becker Joe Santos
contributor of top-notch work. Mystery author Donald Beth Davenport (1974–78) Gretchen Corbett
Westlake, quoted in The Best of Crime and Detective Evelyn “Angel” Martin Stuart Margolin
1944
Roddenberry, Gene
John Cooper (1978–79) Bo Hopkins Further Reading

Lieutenant Alex Diehl Chandler, Raymond, The Simple Art of Murder, New York:
(1974–76) Tom Atkins Houghton Mifflin, 1950
Lieutenant Doug Chapman Collins, Max, and John Javna, The Best of Crime and Detective
(1976–80) James Luisi TV: Perry Mason to Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files to
Murder She Wrote, New York: Harmony, 1988
Grillo, Jean, “A Man’s Man and a Woman’s Too,” New York
Producers Daily News TV Week (June 10, 1979)
Meta Rosenberg, Stephen J. Cannell, Charles Floyd Kane, Hamilton T., “An Interview with Stephen J. Cannell,”
Johnson, Juanita Bartlett, David Chase Mystery (January 1981)
MacDonald, John D., “The Case of the Missing Spellbinders,”
TV Guide (November 24, 1979)
Programming History Martindale, David, The Rockford Phile, Las Vegas, Nevada:
114 episodes Pioneer, 1991
Randisi, Robert J., “The Best TV Eyes of the 70s,” Mystery
NBC (January 1981)
September 1974–May 1977 Friday 9:00–10:00 Robertson, Ed, “This Is Jim Rockford . . . ”: The Rockford Files,
June 1977 Friday 8:30–9:30 Beverly Hills, California: Pomegranate, 1995
July 1977–January 1979 Friday 9:00–10:00 Torgerson, Ellen, “James Garner Believes in Good Coffee—
February 1979–March 1979 Saturday 10:00–11:00 And a Mean Punch,” TV Guide (June 2, 1979)
Vallely, Jean, “The James Garner Files,” Esquire (July 1979)
April 1979–December 1979 Friday 9:00–10:00 Wicking, Christopher, and Tise Vahimagi, The American Vein:
March 1980–April 1980 Thursday 10:00–11:00 Directors and Directions in Television, New York: Dutton,
June 1980–July 1980 Friday 9:00–10:00 1979
Roddenberry, Gene (1921–1991)

Gene Roddenberry, who once commented, “No one in Roddenberry’s first professional television work
his right mind gets up in the morning and says, ‘I think was as technical adviser to Frederick Ziv’s Mr. District
I’ll create a phenomenon today,’” is best known as the Attorney (1954). The series also gave him his first pro-
creator and executive producer of Star Trek, one of the fessional writing work. In addition to creating episodes
most popular and enduring television series of all time. for Mr. District Attorney, Roddenberry also wrote the
A decorated B-17 pilot during World War II, Rod- science fiction tale “The Secret Weapon of 117,” which
denberry flew commercially for Pan American Air- was broadcast on the syndicated anthology series
ways after the war while taking college writing Chevron Hall of Stars (March 6, 1956). As he gained
classes. Hoping to pursue a career writing for the bur- increasing success in his new career, he decided to re-
geoning television industry, Roddenberry resigned sign from the LAPD in 1956 to pursue writing full
from Pan Am in 1948 and moved his family to Califor- time.
nia. With few prospects, he followed in his father’s and Roddenberry continued working on Ziv’s new se-
brother’s footsteps and joined the Los Angeles Police ries, The West Point Story (CBS, 1956–57; and ABC,
Department (LAPD), where he served for eight years. 1957–58), and eventually became the show’s head
During his career as a police officer, the LAPD was ac- writer. For the next few years, he turned out scripts for
tively involved with Jack Webb’s Dragnet series, giv- such series as Highway Patrol (syndicated), Have
ing technical advice on props, sets, and story ideas Gun—Will Travel (CBS), Jane Wyman Theater
based on actual cases, many of which were submitted (NBC), Bat Masterson (NBC), Naked City (ABC), Dr.
by police officers for $100 in compensation. Rodden- Kildare (NBC), and The Detectives (ABC and NBC).
berry submitted treatments based on stories from Even at this furious pace, Roddenberry continued to
friends and colleagues. develop ideas for new series.
1945
Roddenberry, Gene
popular series, its stories focused on the “individuals

who traveled to promote the expansion of our hori-
zons.” Star Trek was the first science fiction series to
depict a peaceful future, and Roddenberry often cred-
ited the enduring success of the series to the show’s
positive message of hope for a better tomorrow. It
was also the first series to have a multicultural cast.
Star Trek received little notice during its three-year
run and was canceled after the third season due to
low ratings. However, it gained worldwide success in
syndication.
In addition to producing the Star Trek feature films,
Roddenberry continued to write and produce for tele-
vision, but without the same degree of success. His pi-
lot for Assignment: Earth (NBC) was incorporated as
an episode of Star Trek (March 29, 1968). Later pilots
included Genesis II (CBS, March 23, 1973), The
Questor Tapes (NBC, January 23, 1974), Planet Earth
(ABC, April 23, 1974), and Spectre (May 21, 1977).
Roddenberry also served as executive consultant on an
animated Star Trek series (NBC, 1974–75). A second
Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, pre-
miered as a syndicated series in 1987 and had a suc-
cessful seven-year run.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was the last series
on which Roddenberry had an active role. Since his
death in 1991, three new Star Trek series based on
Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek, 1973–75. Roddenberry’s original concept have been created:
Courtesy of the Everett Collection /CSU Archives Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–99), Star Trek: Voy-
ager (1995–2001), and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001– ).
Two other science fiction series based on Rodden-
The first series created and produced by Rodden- berry’s earlier writings have also been televised:
berry was The Lieutenant (NBC, 1963–64). Set at Earth: Final Conflict (1997–2002) and Andromeda
Camp Pendleton, The Lieutenant examined social (2000– ).
questions of the day in a military setting. Coinciden- Known affectionately to Star Trek fans as “the Great
tally, the show featured guest performances by three Bird of the Galaxy,” Roddenberry was the first televi-
actors who later played a large role in Star Trek: sion writer to be honored with his own star on the Hol-
Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy, and Majel Barrett, lywood Walk of Fame, on September 4, 1985. In 1992,
whom he later married. Casting director Joe D’Agosta with the permission of Roddenberry’s widow, Majel
and writer Gene L. Coon would also work with Rod- Barrett, the late producer’s ashes were carried aboard a
denberry on Star Trek. flight of the space shuttle Columbia. In 1993, Rodden-
A lifelong fan of science fiction, Roddenberry de- berry was posthumously awarded NASA’s Distin-
veloped his idea for Star Trek in 1964. The series was guished Public Service Medal for his “distinguished
pitched to the major studios and finally found support service to the nation and the human race in presenting
from Desilu Studios, the production company formed the exploration of space as an exciting frontier and a
by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The original $500,000 hope for the future.”
pilot received minor support from NBC executives, Susan R. Gibberman
who later commissioned an unprecedented second pi-
See also Star Trek
lot. The series premiered on September 8, 1966.
Like The Lieutenant, Star Trek episodes comment
on social and political questions in a military (albeit Gene (Eugene Wesley) Roddenberry. Born in El
futuristic) setting. Roddenberry described Star Trek Paso, Texas, August 19, 1921. Educated at Los Ange-
as a “Wagon Train to the stars” because, like that les City College; University of Miami; Columbia Uni-
1946
Rogers, Fred McFeely
versity; University of Southern California. Married: 1) 1975 Strange New World

Eileen Anita Rexroat, 1943 (divorced, 1969); 2) Majel 1977 Spectre (director)
Leigh Hudec (Majel Barrett), 1969; child: Eugene
Wesley. Served in U.S. Army Air Force, World War II.
Films
Pilot for Pan American Airways, 1946–49; worked for
Pretty Maids All in a Row (producer and writer),
Los Angeles Police Department, 1949–51; television
1971; Star Trek: The Motion Picture (producer),
scriptwriter, 1951–62; wrote first science fiction script,
1979; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (executive
“The Secret Defense of 117,” episode for Chevron
consultant), 1982; Star Trek III: The Search for
Theater, 1952; created and produced several television
Spock, 1984; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, 1986;
series. D.H.L., Emerson College, 1973; D.Sc., Clark-
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, 1989.
son College, 1981. Recipient: Distinguished Flying
Cross; Emmy Award; Hugo Award. Died in Santa
Monica, California, October 24, 1991. Publications
The Making of “Star Trek” (with Stephen E. Whit-
Television Series field), 1968
1952 “The Secret Defense of 117,” Chevron Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979
Theatre (writer) The Making of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (with
1955–58 Jane Wyman Theater (writer) Susan Sackett), 1980
1955–59 Highway Patrol (writer) Star Trek: The First Twenty-Five Years (with Susan
1956–58 The West Point Story (writer) Sackett), 1991
1957–63 Have Gun—Will Travel (writer) Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation: A Dia-
1958–63 Naked City logue with the Creator of Star Trek (with Yvonne
1959–61 Bat Masterson Fern), 1994
1959–62 The Detectives
1961–66 Dr. Kildare
1963–64 The Lieutenant (creator and producer) Further Reading
1966–69 Star Trek (creator and producer) Alexander, David, Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biogra-
1973–74 Star Trek (animated show) phy of Gene Roddenberry, New York: ROC, 1994
1987–91 Star Trek: The Next Generation Barrett, Majel, The Wit and Wisdom of Gene Roddenberry, New
(executive producer) York: HarperCollins, 1995
Engel, Joel, Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind
Star Trek, New York: Hyperion, 1994
Made-for-Television Movies (pilots; producer) Paikert, Charles, “Gene Roddenberry: American Mythmaker,”
Variety (December 2, 1991)
1973 Genesis II Van Hise, James, The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Rod-
1974 Planet Earth denberry, Las Vegas, Nevada: Movie Publisher Services,
1974 The Questor Tapes 1992
Rogers, Fred McFeely (1928–2003)

U.S. Children’s Television Host, Producer
Fred McFeely Rogers, better known to millions of programs employ the slick, fast-paced techniques of
American children as Mr. Rogers, was the creator and commercial television, Rogers’s approach was as
executive producer of the long-running children’s pro- unique as his content. He simply talks with his young
gram on public television, Mister Rogers’ Neighbor- viewers. Although his program provided a great deal
hood. While commercial television most often offers of information, the focus was not upon teaching spe-
children animated cartoons, and many educational cific facts or skills, but upon acknowledging the
1947
only a meager budget, their public television show was

not a slick production, but Rogers did not view this as
a detriment. He wanted children to think that they
could make their own puppets, no matter how simple,
and create their own fantasies. The important element
was to create the friendly, warm atmosphere in the in-
teractions of Josie and the puppets (many of whom re-
mained a part of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood),
which became the hallmark of the program.
In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC) in Toronto provided Rogers another opportu-
nity to pursue his ministerial charge through a 15-
minute daily program called Mister Rogers. This was
his first opportunity to develop his on-camera style:
gentle, affirming, and conversational. The style was
grounded in Rogers’s view of himself as an adult who
took time to give children his undivided attention,
rather than as an entertainer.
Rogers returned to Pittsburgh in 1964, acquired the
rights to the CBC programs, and lengthened them to
30 minutes for distribution by the Eastern Educational
Fred Rogers. Network. When production funds ran out in 1967 and
Photo courtesy of Family Communications, Inc.
stations began announcing the cancellation of the
show, an outpouring of public response spurred the
search for new funding. As a result of support by the
uniqueness of each child and affirming his or her im- Sears, Roebuck Foundation and National Educational
portance. Television, a new series entitled Mister Rogers’ Neigh-
Rogers did not originally plan to work in children’s borhood began production for national distribution.
television. Rather, he studied music composition at New episodes were taped from 1979 to 2001 and
Rollins College in Florida, receiving a bachelor’s de- broadcast along with the original 460 episodes.
gree in 1951. He happened to see a children’s televi- Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was unique because it
sion program, and felt it was so abysmal that he provided a warmth and intimacy seldom found in mass
wanted to offer something better. While he worked in media productions. The show was designed to approx-
television, however, he also pursued his dream of en- imate a visit between friends, and was meticulously
tering the ministry, continuing his education at Pitts- planned in consultation with psychologists at the Arse-
burgh Theological Seminary. In 1962, Rogers received nal Family and Children’s Center. The visit began with
a bachelor of divinity degree, and was ordained by the a model trolley that traveled through a make-believe
United Presbyterian Church with the charge to work town to Rogers’s home. He entered, singing “Won’t
with children and their families through the mass You Be My Neighbor?,” an invitation for the viewer to
media. feel as close to him as to an actual neighbor. He also
Rogers began his television career at NBC, but created a bond with his audience by speaking directly
joined the founding staff of America’s first to the camera, always in an inclusive manner about
community-supported television station, WQED in things of interest to his viewers. As he spoke, he
Pittsburgh, as a program director in 1953. His priority changed from his sport coat to his trademark cardigan
was to schedule a children’s program; however, when sweater, and from street shoes to tennis shoes, to fur-
no one came forward to produce it, Rogers assumed ther create a relaxed, intimate atmosphere.
the task himself and, in April 1954, launched The Chil- The pacing of the program also approximated that of
dren’s Corner. He collaborated with on-screen hostess an in-depth conversation between friends. Rogers
Josie Carey on both the scripts and music to produce a spoke slowly, allowing time for children to think about
show that received immediate acclaim, winning the what he said and to respond at home. Psychologists
1955 Sylvania Award for the best locally produced studying the show have verified that children do re-
children’s program in the country. Rogers and Carey spond. He also took time to examine objects around
also created a separate show with similar material for him or to do simple chores such as feed his fish. Al-
NBC network distribution on Saturday mornings. With though he invited other “neighbors,” such as pianist
1948
Van Cliburn, to share their knowledge, the warm rap- 1946; Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, B.A. in
port also allowed him to tackle personal subjects, such music, 1951; Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, bache-
as fears of the dark or the arrival of a new baby. lor of divinity, 1962. Married: Sara Joanne Byrd,
Recognizing the importance of play as a creative 1952; children: James Byrd and John Frederick. As-
means of working through childhood problems, he sistant television producer and network floor director,
also invited children into the Neighborhood of Make NBC, 1951–53; program director, producer, writer,
Believe. Because Rogers wanted children to clearly and performer, WQED, Pittsburgh, 1953–62; pro-
separate fantasy from reality, this adjacent neighbor- ducer and television host, Canadian Broadcasting
hood could only be reached via a trolley through a tun- Corporation, Toronto, Ontario, 1963–64; producer
nel. The Neighborhood of Make Believe was and host, PBS show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,
populated by a number of puppets who were kindly 1967–2001; producer and host, Old Friends, New
and respectful but not perfect. King Friday XIII, for Friends, 1979–81; producer of videocassettes, CBS,
example, was kind but also somewhat pompous and 1987–88. Founder and president, Family Communica-
authoritarian. tions, Inc., 1971. Member: Esther Island Preserve As-
Human characters also inhabited this neighborhood sociation; Luxor Ministerial Association; board of
and engaged the puppets on an equal level. Since directors, McFeely-Rogers Foundation; honorary
Rogers was the puppeteer and voice for most of the chair, National PTA, 1992–94. Numerous honorary
puppets, it was difficult for him to interact in this seg- degrees. Recipient: Peabody Awards, 1969 and 1993;
ment. This movement away from “center stage,” how- Emmy Awards, 1980 and 1985; Ohio State Awards,
ever, was a conscious choice. His lack of visible 1983 and 1986; ACT Award, 1984; Christopher
participation underscored the separation between the Award, 1984; Educational Press Association of Amer-
reality he created in his “home” and these moments of ica’s Lamplighter Award, 1985; Children’s Book
fantasy. The trolley then took the children back to Council Award, 1985; Gold Medal at the International
Rogers’s home, and the visit ended as he changed back Film and TV Festival, 1986; Parent’s Choice Award,
into his street clothes and left the house, inviting the 1987–88; PBS Award in recognition of 35 years in
children back at a later date. public television, 1989; Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill
In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Medal, 1994; Joseph F. Mulach, Jr., Award, 1995.
Inc., a nonprofit corporation of which he was presi- Died February 27, 2003.
dent, to produce Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and
other audiovisual, educational materials. Many of
these productions, such as the prime-time series Mister Television Series
Rogers Talks with Parents (1983), and his books Mis- 1954–61 Children’s Corner
ter Rogers Talks with Parents (1983) and How Fami- 1963–67 Misterogers
lies Grow (1988), are guides for parents. He also 1967–2001 Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
recorded six albums of children’s songs. However, 1979–81 Old Friends, New Friends
these activities were viewed as educational endeavors
rather than profit-generating enterprises, and most of
the funding for his productions came from grants. Television Special (selected)
Fred Rogers succeeded in providing something dif- 1994 Fred Rogers’ Heroes
ferent for children on television, and in acknowledg-
ment of his accomplishments he received two Peabody
Awards, a first for noncommercial television. Rather Recordings
than loud, fast-paced animation or entertaining educa- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, 1967; Let’s Be Together
tion, he presented a caring adult who visits with chil- Today, 1968; Josephine, The Short-Necked Giraffe,
dren, affirming their distinction and value, and 1969; You Are Special, 1969; A Place of Our Own,
understanding their hopes and fears. Fred Rogers 1970; Bedtime, 1992; Growing, 1992.
passed away due to stomach cancer on February 27,
2003.
Publications (selected)
Suzanne Williams-Rautiolla
Mister Rogers Talks with Parents, 1983.
See also Children and Television
The New Baby, 1985.
Making Friends, 1987.
Fred McFeely Rogers. Born in Latrobe, Pennsylva- Mister Rogers: How Families Grow, 1988.
nia, March 20, 1928. Educated at Dartmouth College, You Are Special, 1994.
1949
Further Reading “Fred M(cFeely) Rogers,” in Current Biography, edited by

Charles Moritz, New York: H.W. Wilson, 1970
Barringer, Felicity, “Mister Rogers Goes to Russia,” New York “Fred McFeely Rogers,” Broadcasting and Cable (July 26,
Times (September 21, 1987) 1993)
Berkvist, Robert, “Misterogers Is a Caring Man,” New York Lewin, Tamar, “A Lifetime of Beautiful Days,” New York Times
Times (November 16, 1969) (March 2, 2003)
Blau, Eleanor, “Rogers Has New TV Series on School,” New “The Man Kids Believe,” Newsweek (May 12,1969)
York Times (August 20, 1979) McCleary, Elliott H., “Big Friend to Little People,” Today’s
Briggs, Kenneth A., “Mr. Rogers Decides It’s Time To Head for Health (August 1969)
New Neighborhoods,” New York Times (May 8, 1975) O’Connor, John J., “An Observer Who Bridges the Generation
Collins, Glenn, “TV’s Mr. Rogers—A Busy Surrogate Dad,” Gap,” New York Times (April 12, 1978)
New York Times (June 19, 1983) O’Connor, John J., “Mr. Rogers, a Gentle Neighbor,” New York
Fischer, Stuart, “Children’s Corner,” Kids TV: The First Twenty- Times (February 15, 1976)
Five Years, New York: Facts on File, 1983 “TV: On Superheroes,” New York Times (February 4, 1980)
Ziaukas, Tim, “Kid Video,” Pittsburgh (July 1986)
Rogers, Ted (1933– )

Canadian Media Executive
The founder and chief executive officer of Rogers holder of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation,
Communications, Inc., Ted Rogers has become publisher of newspapers across Canada, and is also the
Canada’s undisputed new-media mogul. A tireless owner of dozens of periodicals in Canada, Britain, the
worker, over the last 35 years Rogers has ceaselessly United States, and Europe. In 1993, Rogers Communi-
expanded his business undertakings by plunging head- cations generated revenues of $1.34 billion; the addi-
long into each new communication technology. He has tion of the assets from Maclean-Hunter bring the
compared his corporate machinations to the likes of annual revenues of Rogers Communications to more
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Time- than double that figure.
Warner, maintaining that only by building Canadian Ted Rogers’s interest in broadcasting continues a
companies of comparable size and diversity can Cana- family tradition. His father, Edward Samuel Rogers,
dians be assured of a distinctive voice at the forefront Sr., was the first amateur radio operator in Canada to
of the electronic highway. transmit successfully a signal across the Atlantic. In
Established in 1967, Rogers Communications has 1925, he invented the radio tube that made it possible
grown into one of Canada’s largest media conglomer- to build “battery-less” alternating current receiving
ates. Rogers Communications is the largest cable tele- sets, and in the same decade he founded Rogers Majes-
vision business in Canada, with more than 30 percent tic Corporation to build them. Until then, neither radio
of all Canadian cable subscribers. As a broadcaster and receivers nor transmitters could utilize existing house-
television content provider, Rogers Communications hold wiring or power lines, and the batteries that pow-
owns more than 40 radio stations, CFMT in Toronto (a ered radio receivers were cumbersome, highly
multicultural television station), the cable channel corrosive, and required frequent changing. Rogers’s
Sportsnet, and the Canadian Home Shopping Channel. radio greatly increased the popularity of broadcasting.
It also owns a chain of video stores. In telecommunica- The elder Rogers also established a commercial radio
tions, Rogers Communications held a major stake in station, CFRB (with the call letters signifying
Unitel Communications, a long-distance telephone Canada’s First Radio Batteryless), in Toronto, which
company, from 1989 to 1995, and has been in the wire- grew to command Canada’s largest listening audience.
less telephone business since 1985. As of 2002, Rogers In 1935, Rogers Sr. was granted the first Canadian li-
Communications owned 51 percent of Rogers AT&T cense to broadcast experimental television. He died
Wireless, a Canada-wide cellular phone service. As a eight years later at the age of 38, when Ted Rogers was
result of its 1994 takeover of Maclean-Hunter Ltd., five. After Rogers Sr.’s death, the Rogers family lost
Rogers Communications became the majority share- control of CFRB.
1950
Rogers, Ted
Sportsnet, and the acquisition of Maclean-Hunter’s

publishing interests, with more than 60 magazine and
trade periodicals, make Rogers a key player in virtu-
ally all of Canada’s media markets.
Although the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunication Commission has generally given
its assent to Rogers’s corporate maneuvers, there are
many who believe that the commission has neither the
regulatory tools nor the will to monitor or control ade-
quately the activities of Rogers Communications and
other large cable operators, especially with regard to
pricing and open network access. While cable rates
rose an average of 80 percent between 1983 and 1993,
Rogers Communications was busy adding to its corpo-
rate empire and upgrading its technical infrastructure.
As some cable operators tremble at the prospect of
competition from direct-to-home satellites and tele-
phone companies, Ted Rogers has ensured that Rogers
Communications is well positioned for life after the
era of local cable monopolies. Taking his cue from cor-
porate strategists south of the border, Rogers has added
a sports property to his holding with his purchase of
the Toronto Blue Jays, and his wireless venture now
accounts for more operating revenue than his cable as-
sets. From humble beginnings, Rogers has built a com-
pany that seems destined to travel in the fast lane.
Ted Magder
See also Canadian Production Companies
Ted (Edward Samuel) Rogers. Born in Toronto, On-

Ted Rogers.
tario, Canada, May 27, 1933. Educated at the Upper
Photo courtesy of Ted Rogers Canada College, Toronto; University of Toronto, Trin-
ity College, B.A., 1956; Osgoode Hall Law School,
LL.B., 1961. Married: Loretta Anne Robinson, 1963;
children: Lisa Anne, Edward Samuel, Melinda Mary,
In 1960, while still a student at Osgoode Hall Law and Martha Loretta. Read law for Tory, Tory, DesLau-
School in Toronto, Ted Rogers bought all the shares in riers, and Binnington; called to bar of Ontario, 1962;
CHFI-FM, a small, 940-watt Toronto radio station that founder, Rogers Communications, 1967; president and
pioneered the use of frequency modulation (FM) at a chief executive officer. Director: Toronto-Dominion
time when only 5 percent of Toronto households had Bank, Canada Publishing Corporation, Hull Group,
FM receivers. By 1965, Rogers was in the cable TV Wellesley Hospital, Junior Achievement of Canada.
business. In 1979 and 1980, he bought out two com-
petitors, Canadian Cablesystems and Premier Cablevi- Further Reading
sion (both were larger than his own operation), and, by
1980, Rogers Communications had taken over UA- Dalglish, Brenda, “Shifting Ground: Changes in Canada and
U.S. Rulings Give Rogers Second Thoughts on His Bid for
Columbia Cablevision in the United States, to become Maclean Hunter,” Maclean’s (March 7, 1994)
for a time the world’s largest cable operator, with more Dalglish, Brenda, “King of the Road,” Maclean’s (March 21,
than 1 million subscribers. 1994)
Rogers has since sold his stake in U.S. cable opera- Fotheringham, Allan, “The Revenge of Mila Mulroney,”
tions to concentrate on the Canadian market. His for- Maclean’s (February 14, 1994)
Newman, Peter C., “Life in the Fast Lane,” Maclean’s (March
ays into long-distance and cellular telephone service, 21, 1994)
his ownership of cable services such as the Home Newman, Peter C., “The Ties That Bind: Ted Rogers’ Past Is
Shopping Network and specialty channels such as Shaping His Future,” Maclean’s (February 21, 1994)
1951
Room 222
Room 222
U.S. High School Drama
Room 222 was a half-hour comedy-drama that aired on “workplace family.” Treva Silverman, a writer for
ABC from 1969 to 1974. While seldom seen in syndi- Room 222, also joined her bosses on the new show,
cation today, the show broke new narrative ground that and Gene Reynolds, another Room 222 producer, pro-
would later be developed by the major sitcom factories duced The Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Lou Grant
of the 1970s, Grant Tinker’s MTM Enterprises and several years later.
Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions. Mixing dramatic Room 222 was given a number of awards by com-
elements with traditional television comedy, Room 222 munity and educational groups for its positive por-
also prefigured the “dramedy” form by almost two de- trayal of important social issues seldom discussed on
cades. television at the time. It won an Emmy Award for out-
The series was set at an integrated high school in standing new series in 1969.
contemporary Los Angeles. While the narrative cen- Robert J. Thompson
tered on a dedicated and student-friendly African-
See also Brooks, James L.; Burns, Allan; Dramedy;
American history teacher, Pete Dixon (Lloyd Haynes),
Tinker, Grant
it also depended upon an ensemble cast of students and
other school employees. The optimistic idealism of
Pete, guidance counselor Liz McIntyre (Denise
Nicholas), and student-teacher Alice Johnson (Karen
Valentine) was balanced by the experienced, somewhat
jaded principal, Seymour Kaufman (Michael Constan-
tine). These characters and a handful of other teachers
would spend each episode arguing among themselves
about the way in which to go about both educating their
students and acting as surrogate parents.
A season and a half before Norman Lear made “rel-
evant” programming a dominant genre with the intro-
duction of such programs as All in the Family and
Maude, Room 222 was using the form of the half-hour
comedy to discuss serious contemporary issues. Dur-
ing its five seasons on the air, the show included
episodes that dealt with such topics as racism, sexism,
homophobia, dropping out of school, shoplifting, drug
use among both teachers and students, illiteracy, cops
in school, guns in school, Vietnam War veterans, vene-
real disease, and teenage pregnancy.
Most importantly, Room 222 served as a prototype
of sorts for what would become the formula that MTM
Enterprises would employ in a wide variety of come-
dies and dramas during the 1970s and 1980s. When
Grant Tinker set up MTM, he hired Room 222’s execu-
tive story editors James L. Brooks and Allan Burns to
create and produce the company’s first series, The
Mary Tyler Moore Show. This series eschewed issue- Room 222, Denise Nicholas, Michael Constantine, Karen
oriented comedy, but it picked up on Room 222’s con- Valentine, Lloyd Haynes, 1969–74.
temporary and realistic style as well as its setting in a ©20th Century Fox/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1952
Roots
Cast September 1969–January

Pete Dixon Lloyd Haynes 1971 Wednesday 8:30–9:00
Liz McIntyre Denise Nicholas January 1971–September
Seymour Kaufman Michael Constantine 1971 Wednesday 8:00–8:30
Alice Johnson Karen Valentine September 1971–January
Richie Lane (1969–71) Howard Rice 1974 Friday 9:00–9:30
Helen Loomis Judy Strangis
Jason Allen Heshimu
Al Cowley (1969–71) Pendrant Netherly Further Reading
Bernie (1970–74) David Jollife Eisner, Joel, and David Krinsky, Television Comedy Series: An
Pam (1970–72) Te-Tanisha Episode Guide to 153 TV Sitcoms in Syndication, Jefferson,
Larry (1971–73) Eric Laneuville North Carolina: McFarland, 1984
Feuer, Jane, Paul Kerr, and Tise Vahimagi, editors, MTM:
“Quality Television,” London: British Film Institute, 1984
Producers MacDonald, J. Fred, Blacks and White TV: Afro-Americans in
Gene Reynolds, William D’Angelo, John Kubichan, Television Since 1948, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983; 2nd edi-
tion, 1992
Ronald Rubin Newcomb, Horace, and Robert S. Alley, The Producer’s
Medium: Conversations with Creators of American TV, New
York: Oxford University Press, 1983
Programming History Tinker, Grant, and Bud Rukeyser, Tinker in Television: From
112 episodes General Sarnoff to General Electric, New York: Simon and
ABC Schuster, 1994
Roots
U.S. Miniseries
Roots remains one of television’s landmark programs. Roots also validated the docudrama approach of its ex-
The 12-hour miniseries aired on ABC from January 23 ecutive producer, David Wolper. The Wolper style,
to January 30, 1977. For eight consecutive nights it riv- blending fact and fiction in a soap opera package, in-
eted the United States. ABC executives initially feared fluenced many subsequent miniseries. Finally, Roots
that the historical saga about slavery would be a ratings was credited with having a positive impact on race re-
disaster. Instead, Roots scored higher ratings than any lations and expanding the nation’s sense of history.
previous entertainment program in history. It averaged Adapted for television by William Blinn and based
a 44.9 rating and a 66 audience share for the length of on Alex Haley’s best-selling novel about his African
its run. The seven episodes that followed the opener ancestors, Roots follows several generations in the
earned the top seven spots in the ratings for their week. lives of a slave family. The saga begins with Kunta
The final night held the single-episode ratings record Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured
until 1983, when the finale of M*A*S*H aired on CBS. by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 18th
The success of Roots has had lasting impact on the century. Kunta receives brutal treatment from his
television industry. The show defied industry conven- white masters and rebels continually. An older Kunta
tions about black-oriented programming: executives (John Amos) marries and his descendants carry the
simply had not expected that a show with black heroes story after his death. Daughter Kizzy (Leslie Uggams)
and white villains could attract such huge audiences. is raped by her master and bears a son, later named
In the process, Roots almost single-handedly spawned Chicken George (Ben Vereen). In the final episode,
a new television format—the consecutive-night mini- Kunta Kinte’s great-grandson Tom (Georg Stanford
series. (Previous miniseries, such as the 1976 hit Rich Brown) joins the Union Army and gains emancipation.
Man, Poor Man, had run in weekly installments.) Over the course of the saga, viewers saw brutal whip-
1953
Roots
phenomenal audiences. On average, 80 million people

watched each of the last seven episodes. More than
100 million viewers, almost half the United States, saw
the final episode, which still claims one of the highest
Nielsen ratings ever recorded, a 51.1 with a 71 share. A
stunning 85 percent of all U.S. television homes saw
all or part of the miniseries. Roots also enjoyed un-
usual social acclaim for a television show. Vernon Jor-
dan, former president of the Urban League, called it
“the single most spectacular educational experience in
race relations in America.” Today, the show’s social ef-
fects may appear more ephemeral, but at the time they
seemed widespread. More than 250 colleges and uni-
versities planned courses on the saga, and during the
broadcast, more than 30 cities declared Roots weeks.
The program drew generally rave reviews. Black
and white critics alike praised Roots for presenting
African-American characters who were not tailored to
suit white audiences. The soap opera format drew
some criticism for its emphasis on sex, violence, and
romantic intrigue. A few critics also complained that
the opening segment in Africa was too American-
ized—it was difficult to accept such television regulars
as O.J. Simpson as West African natives. On the
whole, however, critical acclaim echoed the show’s re-
sounding popular success. Roots earned more than 30
Emmy Awards and numerous other distinctions.
The program spawned a 1979 sequel, Roots: The
Next Generations. The sequel did not match the origi-
nal’s ratings but still performed extremely well, with a
Roots, LeVar Burton, 1977.
Courtesy of the Everett Collection total audience of 110 million. Overall, Roots had a
powerful and diverse impact, as a cultural phenome-
non, an exploration of black history, and the crown
pings and many agonizing moments: rapes, the forced jewel of historical miniseries.
separations of families, slave auctions. Through it all, J.B. Bird
however, Roots depicted its slave characters as well-
See also Adaptation; Haley, Alex; Miniseries;
rounded human beings, not merely as victims or sym-
bols of oppression.
Apprehensions that Roots would flop shaped the
way that ABC presented the show. Familiar television Producer
actors such as Lorne Greene were chosen for the Stan Margulies
white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences. The
white actors were featured disproportionately in net- Cast
work previews. For the first episode, the writers cre- Kunta Kinte (as a boy) LeVar Burton
ated a conscience-stricken slave captain (Ed Asner), a Kunta Kinte (Toby; adult) John Amos
figure who did not appear in Haley’s novel but was in- Binta Cicely Tyson
tended to make white audiences feel better about their Omoro Thalmus Rasula
historical role in the slave trade. Even the show’s Nya Boto Maya Angelou
consecutive-night format allegedly resulted from net- Kadi Touray O.J. Simpson
work apprehensions. ABC programming chief Fred The Wrestler Ji-Tu Cumbuka
Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut Kintango Moses Gunn
his network’s imminent losses—and get Roots off the Brimo Cesay Hari Rhodes
air before sweeps week. Fanta Ren Woods
Silverman need not have worried. Roots garnered Fanta (later) Beverly Todd
1954
Rose, Reginald
Capt. Davies Edward Asner Programming History

Third Mate Slater Ralph Waite eight episodes on consecutive nights
Gardner William Watson ABC
Fiddler Louis Gossett, Jr. January 1977 9:00–11:00, or 10:00–
John Reynolds Lorne Greene 11:00
Mrs. Reynolds Lynda Day George
Ames Vic Morrow
Further Reading
Carrington Paul Shenar
Dr. William Reynolds Robert Reed Adams, Russell L., “An Analysis of the Roots Phenomenon in
Bell Madge Sinclair the Context of American Racial Conservatism,” Presence
Africaine: Revue Culturelle du Monde Noir/Cultural Review
Grill Gary Collins of the Negro World (1980)
The Drummer Raymond St. Jacques Blayney, Michael Steward, “Roots and the Noble Savage,”
Tom Moore Chuck Connors North Dakota Quarterly (Winter 1986)
Missy Anne Sandy Duncan Bogle, Donald, “Roots and Roots: The Next Generations,” in
Noah Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs Blacks in American Television and Film: An Encyclopedia,
New York: Garland, 1988
Ordell John Schuck Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to
Kizzy Leslie Uggams Prime-Time Network TV Shows: 1946–Present, New York:
Squire James Macdonald Carey Ballantine, 1979; 5th edition, 1992
Mathilda Olivia Cole Gray, Herman, Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for
Mingo Scatman Crothers “Blackness,” Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1995
Stephen Bennett George Hamilton Gray, John, Blacks in Film and Television: A Pan-African Bibli-
Mrs. Moore Carolyn Jones ography of Films, Filmmakers, and Performers, New York:
Sir Eric Russell Ian McShane Greenwood, 1990
Sister Sara Lillian Randolph Haley, Alex, Roots, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1976
Sam Bennett Richard Roundtree Journal of Broadcasting, special issue on Roots (1978)
Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn, “Alex Haley,” in Dictionary of Liter-
Chicken George Ben Vereen ary Biography, Detroit: Gale, 1985
Evan Brent Lloyd Bridges Tucker, Lauren R., and Hemant Shah, “Race and the Transfor-
Tom Georg Stanford Brown mation of Culture: The Making of the Television Miniseries
Ol’ George Johnson Brad Davis Roots,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication (December
Lewis Hilly Hicks 1992)
Winship, Michael, Television, New York: Random House, 1988
Jemmy Brent Doug McClure Woll, David, Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and
Irene Lynne Moody Television, New York: Garland, 1987.
Martha Lane Binkley
Justin Burl Ives
Rose, Reginald (1920–2002)

U.S. Writer
Reginald Rose was one of the outstanding television most of Rose’s fame derived from his teleplays for the
playwrights to emerge from the “Golden Age” of tele- live drama anthologies, he also wrote a number of suc-
vision drama anthology series. Like his acclaimed con- cessful plays for screen and stage. Additionally, he cre-
temporaries—Paddy Chayefsky, Tad Mosel, and Rod ated and wrote scripts for The Defenders at CBS, and
Serling, for example—Rose takes a place in history at he won recognition for the revived CBS Playhouse in
the top of the craft of television writing. In addition to the late 1960s.
other accolades, Rose was nominated for six Emmy Rose’s first teleplay to be broadcast was The Bus to
Awards during his career, and won three. Although Nowhere, which appeared on Studio One (CBS) in
1955
Rose, Reginald
Author Reginald Rose, on stage with Harry Bergman (L), and Rene Auberjonois (R).
1951. It was the 1954–55 season, however, that gave private life and the domestic sphere, and the problems
Rose his credentials as a top writer—that year has been of society as a whole remain implicit in their writing.
referred to as “the Reginald Rose season” at Studio Rose, in contrast, tackled controversial social issues
One. His contributions included the noted plays 12:32 head-on.
A.M., An Almanac of Liberty, Crime in the Streets, as In one of his best-known and most contentious
well as the play that opened the season and became plays, Thunder on Sycamore Street (Studio One,
perhaps Rose’s best-known work, Twelve Angry Men. 1953), Rose aimed to confront the problem of social
In addition to winning numerous awards and undergo- conformity. In this story, an ex-convict moves to an
ing transformation into a feature film, Twelve Angry upscale neighborhood in an attempt to make a new be-
Men undoubtedly established Rose’s reputation almost ginning. When the man’s past is discovered, one of his
immediately as a major writer of drama for television. neighbors organizes a community march to drive the
What distinguished Rose’s teleplays from those of ex-convict out of his new home. Rose dealt directly
his colleagues, such as Chayefsky and Serling, was with the issues of mob anger and difference from the
their direct preoccupation with social and political is- norm, issues of general concern in a time when the
sues. Although the other writers were perhaps equally pressures of conformity were overwhelming and the
concerned with the larger social dimensions of their memory of fascism still prevalent. This play was con-
work, they concentrated on the conflicts that emerge in troversial from the outset, since the central character
1956
Rose, Reginald
was originally written to be an African American. Rose Television Series (various episodes)
was forced, under pressure from Studio One sponsors 1948–55 Philco Television Playhouse/Goodyear
fearful of offending (and losing) audiences in the Playhouse
South, to change the character into an ex-convict. This 1948–58 Studio One
controversy, perhaps more than anything, was indica- 1951 Out There
tive of his ability to touch on the most sensitive areas 1954–55 Elgin Hour
of American social life of that time. 1955–57 The Alcoa Hour/Goodyear Playhouse
Although Rose kept his sights directed at the 1956–61 Playhouse 90
scrutiny of social institutions and mechanisms, his 1959–60 Sunday Showcase
characters were as finely drawn as those of writers who 1961–65 The Defenders (creator and writer)
focused on domestic struggles. Exemplary in this re- 1967 CBS Playhouse
gard is the tension created by exhausting deliberations 1975 The Zoo Gang (creator and writer)
within the confined closeness of the jury room in 1977 The Four of Us (pilot)
which Twelve Angry Men occurs. The remake of this
powerful drama and Paddy Chayefsky’s teleplay
Miniseries
Marty (Goodyear Playhouse, 1953) into successful
1979 Studs Lonigan
feature films marked the breakthrough of the television
1987 Escape from Sobibor
drama aesthetic into Hollywood cinema. Rose was re-
sponsible in part for the creation of this new approach.
This gritty realism that became known as the “slice of Made-for-Television Movies
life” school of television drama was for a time the sta- 1982 The Rules of Marriage
ple of the anthology shows and reshaped the look of 1986 My Two Loves (with Rita Mae
both television and American cinema. Brown)
Kevin Dowler
See also Defenders; Playhouse 90; Studio One; Films
Writing for Television Crime in the Streets, 1956; Dino, 1957; Twelve Angry
Men (also co-produced), 1957; Man of the West,
Reginald Rose. Born in New York City, December 10, 1958; The Man in the Net, 1958; Baxter!, 1972;
1920. Studied at City College (now of the City Univer- Somebody Killed Her Husband, 1978; The Wild
sity of New York), New York, 1937–38. Married: 1) Geese, 1978; The Sea Wolves, 1980; Whose Life Is
Barbara Langbart, 1943 (divorced); children: Jonathan, It, Anyway? (with Brian Clark), 1981; The Final
Richard, Andrew, and Steven; 2) Ellen McLaughlin, Option, 1983; Wild Geese II, 1985.
1963; children: Thomas and Christopher. Served in U.S.
Army, 1942–46. Writer in television, from 1951, start-
ing with CBS, eventually working for all the major net- Stage
works; wrote CBS-TV’s Studio One episode Twelve Black Monday, 1962; Twelve Angry Men, 1964; The
Angry Men, 1954; wrote and coproduced Twelve Angry Porcelain Year, 1965; Dear Friends, 1968; This
Men film version, 1957, and wrote stage version, 1964; Agony, This Triumph, 1972.
writer of films, from 1956; author of books, from 1956;
wrote CBS pilot for series The Defender, as episode of Publications
Studio One, 1957; wrote Emmy-nominated The Sacco-
Vanzetti Story, NBC-TV’s Sunday Showcase, 1960; Six Television Plays, 1957
president, Defender Productions, from 1961; created se- The Thomas Book, 1972
ries and with others wrote The Defenders, 1961–65;
wrote Emmy-nominated Dear Friends for CBS Play-
house, 1967; wrote multiple-award-winning CBS mini- Further Reading
series Escape from Sobibor, 1987. President of Reginald Hawes, William, The American Television Drama: The Experi-
Rose Foundation. Recipient: Emmy Awards, 1954, mental Years, University: University of Alabama Press,
1962, 1963 (with Robert Thom), 1968; Edgar Allan Poe 1986
Award, 1957; Berlin Film Festival Golden Berlin Bear Sturcken, Frank, Live Television: The Golden Age of 1946–
1958 in New York, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland,
Award, 1957; Writers Guild of America Award, 1960; 1990
Writers Guild of America Laurel Award, 1958 and 1987. Wilk, Max, The Golden Age of Television: Notes from the Sur-
Died in Norwalk, Connecticut, April 19, 2002. vivors, New York: Delacorte Press, 1976
1957
Roseanne
Roseanne (1952– )
U.S. Actor, Comedian
Roseanne (née Roseanne Barr, formerly Roseanne Company approached her with a proposal for develop-
Arnold) is best known as the star of the situation coming a situation comedy based on her stand-up routines.
edy Roseanne, for several years the most highly rated The show would be an antidote to the upper-middle-
program on American television and the centerpiece of class wholesomeness of the previous Carsey-Werner
ABC comedy programming. She was also one of the hit, The Cosby Show. The popularity of her sitcom
more controversial and outspoken television stars of Roseanne, which aired from 1988 to 1997, broadened
the 1980s and 1990s. Her public statements, appear- the audience for Roseanne as a public persona and
ances on celebrity interview shows, and feature arti- greatly increased her power within show business (she
cles about her life in magazines and tabloid has been compared to Lucille Ball in this regard).
newspapers have often overshadowed her work as an There have been missteps, however. One highly
actress and comedian. publicized gaffe was Roseanne’s off-key performance
When Roseanne created the lead character for the of the national anthem at a professional baseball game,
series Roseanne, it was based on her own comic per- a performance that ended with a crude gesture. Still,
sona, a brash, loud-mouthed, working-class mother the resulting flurry of outraged criticism from public
and wife who jokes and mocks the unfairness of her officials and in the media did not diminish the popular-
situation and who is especially blunt about her views ity of the Roseanne show. In another exercise of indus-
of men and sexism. First revealed to a national televi- try clout, Roseanne threatened to move her sitcom to a
sion audience in the mid-1980s in her stand-up rou- different network when ABC decided to cancel the
tines on such late-night programs as The Tonight Show low-rated The Jackie Thomas Show, which starred her
and in two HBO specials, Roseanne’s humor aggres- then-husband Tom Arnold. The threat created real jit-
sively attacks whomever and whatever would deni- ters among network executives until it was discovered
grate fat, poor women: husbands, family and friends, that Roseanne did not own the rights to the show (only
the media, or government welfare policies. She has of- Carsey-Werner could make such a decision). Roseanne
ten stated that her life experiences were the basis for also pushed boundaries by having her series take a
the TV character and her comedy. Critics have de- number of risks by raising issues of gender, homosex-
scribed the persona as a classic example of the “un- uality, and family dysfunction. The forthrightness of
ruly” woman who challenges gender and class these dramatic moments is rare in prime-time sitcoms.
stereotypes in her performances. Despite such frankness, the series continued to appeal
Roseanne’s published self-disclosures, in her two to a wide segment of the viewing audience during its
autobiographies, provide a detailed public record of nine-year run.
her life. She grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a The show’s treatment of such charged issues was
working-class Jewish family she has defined as “dys- consistent with Roseanne’s stated political and social
functional,” a description that includes her assertions views. While she did not write the scripts (for a time,
of having been sexually molested by family members. Arnold was heavily involved in writing), Roseanne re-
A high-school dropout, she reports getting married tained a good deal of artistic control. Many of the plots
while still in her teens in order to get away from her drew on aspects of her life prior to her success or re-
family. She worked as a waitress, and, according to ferred to contemporaneous events in her “real” life.
People Weekly magazine, began her comedy by being Other episodes included entire dialogues proposed by
rude to her customers. Her career as a stand-up comic Roseanne to address specific themes or issues. The
began in Denver, Colorado, where her club appear- show occasionally strayed from the sitcom formula of
ances gained a following among the local feminist and neatly tying up all the plotlines by the end of the
gay communities. She toured nationally on the comedy episode. As Kathleen Rowe notes, one year saw Dar-
club circuit and made well-received appearances on lene (Sara Gilbert), the younger daughter character,
late-night talk shows before starring in her own com- going through an early adolescent depression that con-
edy specials on HBO. In 1986, the Carsey-Werner tinued for the entire season.
1958
Roseanne
well as Roseanne’s personal life during the production,

with some segments filmed in her home. However, the
premiere of Domestic Goddess was delayed when
Roseanne had to undergo a hysterectomy. Under these
circumstances, The Real Roseanne Show, already
widely panned by critics and plagued with low ratings,
was forced to suspend production after only two weeks
on the air.
Kathryn Cirksena
See also Comedy, Domestic Settings; Family on
Television; Gender and Television; Roseanne
Roseanne (also known as Roseanne Barr and

Roseanne Arnold). Born in Salt Lake City, Utah,
November 3, 1952. Married: 1) Bill Pentland, 1974
(divorced, 1989); children: Jessica, Jennifer, Brandi,
and Jake; 2) Tom Arnold, 1990 (divorced, 1994); 3)
Ben Thomas, 1994 (divorced, 2002); child: Buck.
Cocktail waitress in Denver, Colorado, and comedy
performer in local clubs, including the Comedy Store
in Los Angeles, 1985; appeared in or starred in several
TV specials; star of television series Roseanne,
1988–97; co-executive producer, The Jackie Thomas
Show, 1992; host of The Roseanne Show talk show,
1998–2000; executive producer, The Real Roseanne
Show, 2003. Has acted in motion pictures since 1989.
Recipient: Cable Ace Award, 1987; Best Comedy Spe-
cial, 1987; Emmy Award, 1993.
Roseanne. Television Series

Courtesy of the Everett Collection 1988–97 Roseanne
1990 Little Rosie (voice)
1992 The Jackie Thomas Show (coproducer)
Although the program continued to be extremely 1998–2000 The Roseanne Show (host and
popular as it grew older, with some critics arguing that executive producer)
later seasons improved over earlier ones, Roseanne 2003 The Real Roseanne Show
herself faced greater media exposure for details of her
personal life (cosmetic surgery, divorce, remarriage, Made-for-Television Movies
pregnancy) than for her political views or her career as 1991 Backfield in Motion
an actor. In almost every case, she seemed able to turn 1993 The Woman Who Loved Elvis (also
such public discussions into more authority and con- coproducer)
trol within the media industries. After the sitcom con-
cluded, however, Roseanne’s next major television Television Specials
venture, a talk show titled The Roseanne Show, sug- 1985 Funny
gested that there were limits to her power; afflicted 1986 Rodney Dangerfield: It’s Not Easy Bein’
with poor ratings and reviews, the syndicated series Me
was canceled after less than two years on the air. 1987 Dangerfield’s
In 2003, Roseanne contributed to the reality televi- 1987 On Location: The Roseanne Barr Show
sion trend with The Real Roseanne Show, a “behind- 1990 Mary Hart Presents Love in the Public
the-scenes” look at another television show she was Eye
working on, a cooking and lifestyle series entitled Do- 1992 The Rosey and Buddy Show (voice;
mestic Goddess. The Real Roseanne Show followed coproducer)
the development of Domestic Goddess in the studio, as 1992 Class Clowns
1959
Roseanne
Films Further Reading

She-Devil, 1989; Look Who’s Talking Too (voice), Cole, Lewis, “Roseanne,” The Nation (June 21, 1993)
1990; Freddy’s Dead, 1991; Even Cowgirls Get the Klaus, Barbara, “The War of Roseanne,” New York Times (Oc-
Blues, 1994; Blue in the Face, 1995; Meet Wally tober 22, 1990)
Sparks, 1997; Cecil B. DeMented, 2000; 15 Min- Murphy, Mary, and Frank Swertlow, “The Roseanne Report,”
utes, 2001. TV Guide (January 4, 1992)
Rowe, Kathleen, The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of
Laughter, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995
Publications Van Buskirk, Leslie, “The New Roseanne: The Most Powerful
Woman in Television,” Us (May 1992)
Roseanne: My Life As a Woman, 1989 Wolcott, James, “On Television: Roseanne Hits Home,” New
“What Am I, a Zoo?” New York Times, July 31, 1989 Yorker (October 1992)
“I Am an Incest Survivor: A Star Cries Incest,” People
Weekly, October 7, 1991
My Lives, 1994
Roseanne
Roseanne evolved from the stand-up comedy act and new infant for Roseanne and Dan, Jerry Garcia Con-
HBO special of its star and executive producer, ner (Cole and Morgan Roberts).
Roseanne (formerly Roseanne Barr). In the act, The Conners are constantly facing money problems,
Roseanne deemed herself a “domestic goddess” and as both Roseanne and Dan work in blue-collar jobs: in
dispensed mock cynical advice about child-rearing: “I factories; hanging sheetrock; running a motorcycle
figure by the time my husband comes home at night, if shop; and eventually owning their own diner, where they
those kids are still alive, I’ve done my job.” Roseanne, serve “loose-meat” sandwiches. Their parenting style is
the program, built a working-class family around this often sarcastic, bordering on scornful. In one episode,
matriarchal figure and became an instantaneous hit when the kids leave for school, Roseanne comments,
when it premiered in 1988 on ABC. “Quick. They’re gone. Change the locks.” But caustic
Roseanne’s immediate success may well have been remarks such as these are always balanced by scenes of
in reaction to the dominant 1980s domestic situation affection and support, so that the stability of the family is
comedy, The Cosby Show. Like The Cosby Show, never truly in doubt. Much as in its working-class prede-
Roseanne starred an individual who began as a stand- cessor, All in the Family, the Conner family is not gen-
up comic, but the families in the two programs were uinely dysfunctional, despite all the rancor.
polar opposites. Where The Cosby Show portrayed a Roseanne often tested the boundaries of network
loving, prosperous family with a strong father figure, standards and practices. One episode deals with the
Roseanne’s Conner family was discordant, adamantly young son’s masturbation. In others, Roseanne frankly
working class, and mother-centered. discusses birth control with Becky and explains her
The Conner family included Roseanne, her hus- (Roseanne’s) choice to have breast reduction surgery.
band Dan (John Goodman), sister Jackie (Laurie The program also featured gay and lesbian characters,
Metcalf), daughters Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and which made ABC nervous, especially when a lesbian
Becky (played alternately by Lecy Goranson character kissed Roseanne. The network initially re-
[1988–92, 1995–96] and Sarah Chalke [1993–95, fused to air that episode until Roseanne, the producer,
1996–97]), and son D.J. (Michael Fishman). Over the demanded they do so.
years the household expanded to include Becky’s Roseanne became increasingly quirky as the years
husband Mark (Glenn Quinn) and Darlene’s went by. The final season was filled with strange
boyfriend David (Johnny Galecki) and, in 1995, a episodes in which Roseanne won the lottery and lived
1960
Roseanne
Roseanne, Glenn Quinn, Sarah Chalke, Roseanne, Michael Fishman, John Goodman, 1993.
1961
Roseanne
out numerous fantasies (including one in which she Sylvia Foster (1988–89) Anne Falkner
imagines herself as an action figure named Ed Conner (1989–97) Ned Beatty
Roseambo). Then, in the program’s last episode, Bev Harris (1989–97) Estelle Parsons
Roseanne spoke directly to the viewers as the pro- Mark Healy (1990–97) Glenn Quinn
gram’s producer and denied the reality of the entire David Healy (1992–97) Johnny Galecki
season, explaining that Dan had died the season be- Grandma Nanna (1991–97) Shelley Winters
fore, even though he had appeared to survive a heart Leon Carp (1991–97) Martin Mull
attack. The final season had been the character Bonnie (1991–92) Bonnie Sheridan
Roseanne’s reveries as she struggled to deal with his Nancy (1991–97) Sandra Bernhard
death. It was a controversial, and, for some critics, an Fred (1993–95) Michael O’Keefe
unsatisfying, way to end the program’s nine-year run. Andy Garrett and Kent
Controversy attended the program off screen as well Hazen
as on. During its first season, there were well- Jerry Garcia Conner Cole and Morgan
publicized squabbles among the producing team, Roberts
which led to firings and Roseanne assuming principal
control of the program. Subsequently, Roseanne bat-
Producers
tled ABC over its handling of her then-husband Tom
Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Roseanne
Arnold’s sitcom, The Jackie Thomas Show. Dwarfing
these professional controversies was the strife in
Roseanne’s publicly available personal life. Among Programming History
the events that were chronicled in the tabloid press ABC
were her tumultuous marriage to and divorce from October 1988–February 1989 Tuesday 8:30–9:00
Arnold (amid accusations of spousal abuse), her recon- February 1989–September
ciliation with the daughter she put up for adoption (an 1994 Tuesday 9:00–9:30
event that was forced by a tabloid newspaper’s threat September 1994–March 1995 Wednesday 9:00–9:30
to reveal the story), her charges of being abused as a March 1995–May 1995 Wednesday 8:00–8:30
child, her struggles with addictions to food and other May 1995–September 1995 Wednesday 9:30–
substances, and her misfired parody of the national an- 10:00
them at a baseball game in 1990. September 1995–May 1997 Wednesday 8:00–8:30
Jeremy G. Butler
See also Comedy, Domestic Settings; Family on Further Reading
Television; Gender and Television Arnold, Roseanne, My Lives, New York: Ballantine, 1994
Dresner, Zita Z., “Roseanne Barr: Goddess or She-Devil,” Jour-
nal of American Culture (Summer 1993)
Cast Dworkin, Susan, “Roseanne Barr: The Disgruntled Housewife
Roseanne Conner Roseanne as Stand-up Comedian,” Ms. (July–August 1987)
Dan Conner John Goodman Givens, Ron, “A Real Stand-up Mom,” Newsweek (October 31,
1988)
Becky Conner (1988–92, Klaus, Barbara, “The War of the Roseanne: How I Survived
1995–96) Lecy Goranson Three Months in the Trenches Writing for TV’s Sitcom
Becky Conner (1993–95; Queen,” New York Times (October 22, 1990)
1996–97) Sarah Chalke Lee, Janet, “Subversive Sitcoms: Roseanne as Inspiration for
Darlene Conner Sara Gilbert Feminist Resistance,” Women’s Studies: An Interdisci-
plinary Journal (1992)
D.J. (David Jacob) Conner Mayerle, Judine, “Roseanne—How Did You Get Inside My
(pilot) Sal Barone House? A Case Study of a Hit Blue-Collar Situation Com-
D.J. Conner Michael Fishman edy,” Journal of Popular Culture (Spring 1991)
Jackie Harris Laurie Metcalf Rich, Frank, “What Now My Love,” New York Times (March 6,
Crystal Anderson (1988–92) Natalie West 1994)
Rowe, Kathleen, The Unruly Woman: Gender and Genres of
Booker Brooks (1988–89) George Clooney Laughter, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995
Pete Wilkins (1988–89) Ron Perkins Volk, Patricia, “Really Roseanne,” New York Times Magazine
Juanita Herrera (1988–89) Evalina Fernandez (August 8, 1993)
1962
Rosenthal, Jack
Rosenthal, Jack (1931– )

British Writer
As one of British television’s most successful drama- experiences that many face at particular moments in
tists, Jack Rosenthal has received British Academy of life: moving (The Chain), growing up (Bar Mitzvah
Film and Television Arts Awards for The Evacuees, Boy, P’tang Yang Kippperbang), falling in love (The
Bar Mitzvah Boy, P’tang Yang Kipperbang, and Ready Lovers), and forgetfulness and old age (A Day to Re-
When You Are, Mr. McGill, an Emmy Award for The member).
Evacuees, and the Prix Italia for Spend, Spend, Spend, The strength of Rosenthal’s comedy lies in its close-
and The Knowledge. He has written for the big screen ness to tragedy; from another perspective, the petty cru-
with The Chain and The Knowledge, and has also au- elties of the stepmother in The Evacuees could have
thored five plays for the live stage, notably Smash! blighted the lives of the children, but both plot and psy-
Rosenthal learned the craft of writing for the chological insight combine to restore harmony and rec-
medium of television in the 1960s, at a time when tele- ognize the cruelty as misplaced possessiveness. So too,
vision drama in Britain (particularly on the BBC) was
still dominated by writers schooled in theatrical con-
ventions and overly concerned with being taken seri-
ously. This resulted in a preoccupation with
adaptations of theatrical successes, revivals of classics
(e.g., Shakespeare, Dickens), and writing that ex-
ploited literary rather than visual resources. Indepen-
dent television in the late 1950s was looking to
develop more popular forms of drama to attract wider
audiences and brought in Sydney Newman from
Canada, who fostered new dramatists and initiated
new series. It was against this background that Rosen-
thal started work in Granada, where he served his ap-
prenticeship by creating more than 150 scripts for the
popular TV soap Coronation Street. The experience of
writing for a popular genre prepared him for originat-
ing such comedy serials as The Dustbinmen, The
Lovers, and Sadie, It’s Cold Outside. His growing rep-
utation in the 1970s as a reliable professional writer
led to his being entrusted with the prestigious single
play: a form that Rosenthal himself prefers because of
the freedom it offers the artist to explore his own vi-
sion.
Rosenthal was born in Manchester to Jewish par-
ents, and he drew on his experiences to write Bar Mitz-
vah Boy and The Evacuees. But his interest lies in
observing the interactions of individuals in diverse so-
cial networks, and the Jewish community is merely
one of the many institutions that he explores: schools
(P’tang Yang Kippperbang), taxi drivers (The Knowl-
edge), the army (Bootse and Snudge), fire fighters
(London’s Burning), and TV drama (Ready When You Jack Rosenthal.
Are, Mr. McGill). He is also interested in the common Photo courtesy of Jack Rosenthal
1963
Rosenthal, Jack
in A Day to Remember, the terror and pain of short-term several of which were pilots for series. Commander of
memory loss, attendant on a stroke in old age, are con- the Order of the British Empire, 1994. D.Litt., Univer-
tained and balanced by the comic presentation of the sity of Manchester, 1995. Recipient: British Academy
gaps and imperfections that beset the middle-aged. If of Film and Television Arts Writer’s Awards; Emmy
the comic vision is shown as perceptive about the frail- Award; Prix Italia; Royal Television Society Writer’s
ties of the human condition, it is not sentimentalized. Award, 1976; British Academy of Film and Television
The insight that comes through comedy is one that is Arts Best Play Awards, 1976, 1977.
often painfully achieved. The schoolboy hero of P’tang
Yang Kipperbang is only able to kiss his first love; he
enters upon adult sexuality by recognizing the fantasy Television Series
element of that anticipated delight. To fulfill his desire 1960– Coronation Street
means abandoning private fantasy and entering the real 1962–63 That Was the Week That Was
world in which people are both less than we would 1965 Pardon the Expression
wish and more diverse than we could expect. Similarly, 1969–70 The Dustbinmen
when the aspirant cabby in The Knowledge finally 1970–71 The Lovers
achieves his ambition to be a London taxi driver, he 1975 Sadie, It’s Cold Outside
discovers his girlfriend, the initial driving force behind 1994 Moving Story
his application, has fallen for somebody else. He ne-
glected her to focus on the discipline of acquiring “the
knowledge” (learning by heart the streets and land- Television Specials
marks of London by perpetually driving around them). 1963 Pie in the Sky
Knowledge of chaps rather than maps turns out to be 1963 Green Rub
that which is most difficult to acquire. 1968 There’s a Hole in Your Dustbin, Delilah
Although the comedy of Jack Rosenthal is invari- 1972 Another Sunday and Sweet FA
ably rooted in a recognizable social setting that has 1974 Polly Put the Kettle On
been carefully researched, the characters are not 1974 Mr. Ellis Versus the People
deeply explored. The story is, instead, focused on the 1974 There’ll Almost Always Be an England
themes: in Another Sunday and Sweet FA, the frustra- 1975 The Evacuees
tions of refereeing a football match provide the oppor- 1976 Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill
tunity for a comic disquisition on the competing claims 1976 Bar Mitzvah Boy
of power and justice; in P’tang Yang Kipperbang, 1977 Spend, Spend, Spend
imagination and reality struggle for an accommoda- 1979 Spaghetti Two-Step
tion; in The Chain, the seven deadly sins provide the 1979 The Knowledge
motivation for Fortuna’s wheel of house-hunting. If 1982 P’tang Yang Kipperbang
there is a thread that underlies most of Rosenthal’s 1985 Mrs. Capper’s Birthday
work, it is that our desire as individuals to do good in 1986 Fools on the Hill
order to be liked and admired is at variance with our 1986 London’s Burning
role as social beings to impose order, our order, on oth- 1986 A Day to Remember
ers. Wisdom comes when we learn to accommodate 1989 And a Nightingale Sang
these competing demands and accept responsibility for 1989 Bag Lady
fulfilling our desires. 1991 Sleeping Sickness
Brendan Kenny 1992 ’Bye, ’Bye, Baby
1993 Wide-Eyed and Legless
See also Coronation Street; That Was the Week That 1996 Eskimo Jim
Was 2003 Lucky Jim
Jack Morris Rosenthal. Born in Manchester, En-

Films
gland, September 8, 1931. Attended Colne Grammar
Lucky Star, 1980; Yentl (with Barbra Streisand), 1983;
School; Sheffield University, B.A. in English language
The Chain, 1985; Captain Jack, 1999.
and literature; University of Salford, M.A., 1994. Mar-
ried: Maureen Lipman, 1973; one son and one daugh-
ter. Writer for television; subsequently consolidated Stage (selected)
reputation with comedy series and one-off dramas, Smash!, 1981.
1964
Route 66
Publications First Loves: Stories (anthology), 1984

The Chain, with The Knowledge, and Ready When
The Television Dramatist (with others), 1973
You Are, Mr. McGill, 1986.
Three Award Winning Television Plays: Bar Mitzvah
Boy, The Evacuees, Spend, Spend, Spend, 1978
Route 66
U.S. Drama
Route 66 was one of the most unique American televi- faces, from such fading stars as Joan Crawford and
sion dramas of the 1960s, an ostensible adventure se- Buster Keaton to newcomers such as Suzanne
ries that functioned, in practice, as an anthology of Pleshette, Robert Duvall, and Robert Redford. The
downbeat character studies and psychological dramas. show’s distinct anthology-style dimension was symp-
Its 1960 premiere launched two young drifters in a tomatic of a trend Variety dubbed “the semi-
Corvette on an existential odyssey in which they en- anthology,” a form pioneered by Wagon Train and
countered a myriad of loners, dreamers, and outcasts in refined by such shows as Bus Stop and Route 66. The
the small towns and big cities along U.S. Highway 66 series’ nomadic premise, and its virtual freedom from
and beyond. And the settings were real; the gritty so- genre connections and constraints, opened it up to a
cial realism of the stories was enhanced by location potentially limitless variety of stories. While the wan-
shooting that moved beyond the Hollywood hills and dering theme was hardly new in a television terrain
studio back lots to encompass the vast face of the overrun with westerns, for a contemporary drama the
country itself. Route 66 took the anthology on the road, premise was quite innovative. Route 66 was consistent
blending the dramaturgy and dramatic variety of the in tone to the rest of TV’s serious, social-realist dramas
Studio One school of TV drama with the independent of the period, but it was unencumbered by any prede-
filmmaking practices of the New Hollywood. termined dramatic arena or generic template—setting
Route 66 was the brainchild of producer Herbert B. it apart from the likes of The Defenders (courtroom
Leonard and writer Stirling Silliphant, the same cre- drama), Dr. Kildare (medical drama), Saints and Sin-
ative team responsible for Naked City. The two conners (newspaper drama), or Mr. Novak (blackboard
ceived the show as a vehicle for actor George Maharis, drama). Indeed, the show’s creators met initial resis-
casting him as stormy Lower East Side orphan Buz tance from their partner/distributor Screen Gems for
Murdock, opposite Martin Milner as boyish, Yale- this lack of a familiar “franchise,” with studio execu-
educated Tod Stiles. When Tod’s father dies, broke but tives arguing that no one would sponsor a show about
for a Corvette, the two young men set out on the road two “bums.” Of course, Chevrolet proved them wrong.
looking for “a place to put down roots.” Amid a dis- Perhaps even more startling for the Hollywood-
pute with the show’s producers, Maharis left the show bound telefilm industry was the program’s radical loca-
in 1963 and was replaced by Glenn Corbett as Linc tion agenda. Buz and Tod’s cross-country search
Case, a troubled Vietnam vet also seeking meaning on actually was shot across the country, in what Newsweek
the road. termed “the largest weekly mobile operation in TV his-
Like Naked City, which producer Leonard had con- tory.” Remarkably, by the end of its four-season run,
ceived as an anthology with a cop-show pretext, the pi- the Route 66 production caravan had traveled to 25
caresque premise of Route 66 provided the basis for a states—as far from Los Angeles as Maine and
variety of weekly encounters from which the stories Florida—as well as Toronto. The show’s stark black-
arose. Episodes emphasized the personal and psycho- and-white photography and spectacular locations pro-
logical dramas of the various troubled souls encoun- vided a powerful backdrop to its downbeat stories and
tered by the guys on their stops along the highway. yielded a photographic and geographical realism that
Guest roles were filled by an array of Hollywood has never been duplicated on American television.
1965
Route 66
even more disaffected searchers of Easy Rider. The

show’s rejection of domesticity in favor of rootless-
ness formed a rather startling counterpoint to the dom-
inant prime-time landscape of home and family in the
1960s, as did the majority of the characters encoun-
tered on the road. The more hopeful dimension of
Route 66 coincided with the optimism of the New
Frontier circa 1960, with these wandering Samaritans
symbolic of the era’s new spirit of activism. Premier-
ing at the dawn of a new decade, Route 66 captured in
a singular way the nation’s passage from the disquiet
of the 1950s to the turbulence of the 1960s, expressing
a simultaneously troubled and hopeful vision of the
United States.
Despite its uniqueness as a contemporary social
drama, and its radical break from typical Hollywood
telefilm factory practice, Route 66 has been largely for-
gotten amid the rhetoric of 1960s’ TV-as-wasteland.
When the series is cited at all by television historians,
it is as the target of CBS-TV president James Aubrey’s
attempts to inject more “broads, bosoms, and fun” into
the series (“the Aubrey dictum”). Aubrey’s admitted
attempts to “lighten” the show, however, only serve to
underscore its dominant tone of seriousness. What
other American television series of the 1960s could
Route 66, Martin Milner, George Maharis, 1960–64. have been described by its writer-creator as “a show
Courtesy of the Everett Collection about a statement of existence, closer to Sartre and
Kafka than to anything else”? (see “The Fingers of
God,” Time). Silliphant’s hyperbole is tempered by
The literate textures and disturbing tones of Route critic Philip Booth, who suggested in a Television
66’s dramas were as significant as its visual qualities. Quarterly essay that the show’s literacy was “some-
The wandering pretext provided both a thematic foun- time spurious,” and that it could “trip on its own pre-
dation and a narrative trajectory upon which a variety tensions” in five of every ten stories. Still, Booth
of psychological dramas, social-problem stories, and wrote, of the remaining episodes, four “will produce a
character studies could be played out. The nominal se- kind of adventure like nothing else on television, and
ries “heroes” generally served as observers to the dra- one can be as movingly universal as Hemingway’s ‘A
mas of others: a tormented jazz musician, a heroin Clean, Well-Lighted Place.’”
addict, a washed-up prizefighter, migrant farm work- How often Route 66 matched the power of Ernest
ers, an aging RAF pilot (turned crop-duster), a run- Hemingway (or the existential insight of Jean-Paul
away heiress, Cajun shrimpers, a weary hobo, an Sartre) is debatable. That it was attempting something
eccentric scientist, a small-time beauty contest pro- completely original in television drama is certain. Its
moter, drought-stricken ranchers, Cuban-Basque jai- footloose production was the antithesis of the claustro-
alai players, a recent ex-con (female and framed), a phobic stages of the New York anthologies of old, yet
grim Nazi-hunter, a blind dance instructor, a dying many of the program’s dramatic and thematic con-
blues singer—each facing some personal crisis or se- cerns—even certain of its stories—echoed those of the
cret pain. intimate character dramas of the Philco Playhouse era.
The show’s continuing thread of wandering probed Indeed, one of Aubrey’s CBS lieutenants, concerned
the restlessness at the root of all picaresque sagas of with the show’s “downbeat” approach to television en-
contemporary American popular culture. The search tertainment, protested to its producers that Route 66
that drove Route 66 was both a narrative process and a should not be considered “a peripatetic Playhouse
symbolic one. Like every search, it entailed optimism 90”—capturing, willingly or not, much of the show’s
as well as discontent. The unrest at the core of the se- tenor and effect. Route 66 was trying to achieve the
ries echoed that of the Beats—especially Jack Ker- right mix of familiarity and difference, action and
ouac’s On the Road, of course—and anticipated the angst, pathos and psychology, working innovative ele-
1966
ments into a commercial package keyed to the de- Producers

mands of the industry context. Even with its gleaming Herbert B. Leonard, Jerry Thomas, Leonard Freeman,
roadster, jazzy theme song, obligatory fistfights, and Sam Manners
occasional romantic entanglements, Route 66 was far
removed indeed (both figuratively and geographically)
Programming History
from the likes of 77 Sunset Strip.
116 episodes
In 1993, the Corvette took to the highway once
CBS
more in a nominal sequel, a summer series (on NBC)
October 1960–September 1964 Friday 8:30–9:30
that put Buz’s illegitimate son at the wheel with a glib
Generation-X partner in the passenger seat. Although
the new Route 66 lasted only a few weeks, by reviving Further Reading
the roaming-anthology premise of the original, it Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Tele-
evinced television’s continuing quest for narrative vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 1975; 2nd re-
flexibility (and Hollywood’s inherent penchant for revised edition, 1990
cycling). From The Fugitive to Run For Your Life to Bergreen, Laurence, Look Now, Pay Later: The Rise of Network
Highway to Heaven to Quantum Leap to Touched by Broadcasting, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1980
Booth, Philip, “Route 66—On the Road Toward People,” Tele-
an Angel, television has continued to exploit the tradi- vision Quarterly (Winter 1963)
tion of the wandering Samaritan, to achieve the story Castelman, Harry, and Walter Podrazik, Watching TV: Four De-
variety of an anthology within a series format. Route cades of American Television, New York: McGraw-Hill,
66 established the template in 1960, launching a singu- 1982
lar effort at contemporary drama in a nonformulaic se- Chandler, Bob, “Review of Route 66,” Variety (October 12,
1960)
ries format. That the series mounted its dramatic Dunne, John Gregory, “Take Back Your Kafka,” New Republic
agenda in a Corvette, on the road, is to its creators’ ev- (September 4, 1965)
erlasting credit. “The Fingers of God,” Time (August 9, 1963)
Mark Alvey “Have Camera, Will Travel,” Variety (October 12, 1960)
“The Hearings that Changed Television,” Telefilm (July–August
See also Silliphant, Stirling 1962)
Jarvis, Jeff, “The Couch Critic,” TV Guide (June 12, 1993)
Jenkins, Dan, “Talk About Putting a Show on the Road!” TV
Cast Guide (July 22, 1961)
“A Knock Develops on Route 66,” TV Guide (January 26, 1963)
Tod Stiles Martin Milner “Rough Road,” Newsweek (January 2, 1961)
Buz Murdock (1960–63) George Maharis Seldes, Gilbert, “Review of Route 66,” TV Guide (February 10,
Linc Case (1963–64) Glenn Corbett 1962)

U.S. Comedy-Variety Program
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was an NBC comedy- In an age of “sit-ins,” “love-ins” and “teach-ins,”
variety program that became an important training NBC was proposing a “laugh-in” that somehow
ground for a generation of comic talent. If The Smoth- bridged generational gaps. Originally a one-shot spe-
ers Brothers Comedy Hour captured the political cial, Laugh-In was an immediate hit and quickly be-
earnestness and moral conscience of the 1960s coun- came the highest-rated series of the late 1960s. In a
terculture, Laugh-In snared the decade’s flamboyance, decade of shouted slogans, bumper stickers, and
its anarchic energy, and its pop aesthetic, combining protest signs, Laugh-In translated its comedy into dis-
the blackout comedy of the vaudeville tradition with a crete one-liners hurled helter-skelter at the audience in
1960s-style “happening.” hopes that some of them would prove funny. Many of
1967
the kind of screen time grabbed by the program’s en-

semble of talented young clowns.
The comic regulars—Gary Owens’s overmodulated
announcer, Ruth Buzzi’s perpetually frustrated spin-
ster, Arte Johnson’s lecherous old man, Goldie Hawn’s
dizzy blonde, Jo Anne Worley’s anti-Chicken-Joke
militant, Henry Gibson’s soft-spokenly banal poet,
Lily Tomlin’s snorting telephone operator, Pigmeat
Markham’s all-powerful Judge, and countless others—
dominated the program. Many of these comics moved
almost overnight from total unknowns to household
names, and many became important stars for the sub-
sequent decades. Not until Saturday Night Live would
another television variety show ensemble leave such a
firm imprint on the evolution of American comedy.
These recurring characters and their associated shtick
gave an element of familiarity and predictability to a
program that otherwise depended upon its sense of the
unexpected.
While Laugh-In lacks the satirical bite of later series
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
Photo courtesy of George Schlatter Productions
such as Saturday Night Live or In Living Color, or of
That Was the Week That Was (to which it was often
compared by contemporary critics), Laugh-In brought
many minority and female performers to mainstream
them became catchphrases: “Sock it to me,” “Here audiences, helping to broaden the composition of tele-
come de judge,” “You bet your sweet bippy,” and vision comedy. Its dependence upon stock comic char-
“Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls.” In this fre- acters and catchphrases was clearly an influence on the
netic and fragmented series, comic lines were run as development of Saturday Night Live, which by com-
announcements along the bottom of the screen, printed parison, has a much more staid visual style and more
in lurid colors on the bodies of bikini-clad go-go girls, predictable structure. Unfortunately, Laugh-In’s topi-
and shouted over the closing credits. The humor was cality, even its close fit with 1960s aesthetics, has
sometimes topical, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes meant that the program has not fared well in reruns,
“right on” and sometimes right of center, but it largely being perceived as dated almost from the moment it
escaped the censorship problems that besieged the was aired. However, the ongoing success of Laugh-In
Smothers Brothers. Its helter-skelter visual style alums such as Hawn, Tomlin, or even game show host
stretched the capabilities of television and videotape Richard Dawson point to its continued influence.
production, striving for the equivalent of the cutting Henry Jenkins
and optical effects Richard Lester brought to the Beat-
See also Variety Programs
les movies.
Laugh-In broke down the traditional separation of
comedy, musical performance, and dramatic interludes Regular Performers
that had marked most earlier variety shows and decen- Dan Rowan
tered the celebrity hosts from their conventional posi- Dick Martin
tion as mediator of the flow of entertainment. Dan Gary Owens
Rowan and Dick Martin, successful Las Vegas enter- Ruth Buzzi
tainers, sought to orchestrate the proceedings but were Judy Carne (1968–70)
constantly swamped by the flow of sight gags and ec- Eileen Brennan (1968)
centric performances that surrounded them. Similarly, Goldie Hawn (1968–70)
guest stars played no privileged role here. For a time, Arte Johnson (1968–71)
everyone seemed to want to appear on Laugh-In, with Henry Gibson (1968–71)
guests on one memorable episode including Jack Lem- Roddy-Maude Roxby (1968)
mon, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hugh Hefner, and presidential Jo Anne Worley (1968–70)
candidate Richard Nixon. But no guest appeared for Larry Hovis (1968, 1971–72)
more than a few seconds at a time, and none received Pigmeat Markham (1968–69)
1968
Royal Canadian Air Farce, The
Charlie Brill (1968–69) Sarah Kennedy (1972–73)

Dick Whittington (1968–69) Donna Jean Young (1972–73)
Mitzi McCall (1968–69) Tod Bass (1972–73)
Chelsea Brown (1968–69) Lisa Farringer (1972–73)
Alan Sues (1968–72) Willie Tyler and Lester (1972–73)
Dave Madden (1968–69)
Teresa Graves (1969–70)
Producers
Jeremy Lloyd (1969–70)
George Schlatter, Paul W. Keyes, Carolyn Raskin
Pamela Rodgers (1969–70)
Byron Gilliam (1969–70)
Ann Elder (1970–72) Programming History
Lily Tomlin (1970–73) 124 episodes
Johnny Brown (1970–72) NBC
Dennis Allen (1970–73) January l968–May 1973 Monday 8:00–9:00
Nancy Phillips (1970–71)
Barbara Sharma (1970–72)
Further Reading
Harvey Jason (1970–71)
Richard Dawson (1971–73) Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik, Watching TV: Four
Moosie Drier (1971–73) Decades of American Television, New York: McGraw-Hill,
1982
Patti Deutsch (1972–73) Rowan, Dan, A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John
Jud Strunk (1972–73) D. McDonald, 1967–1974, New York: Knopf, 1986
Brian Bressler (1972–73) Waters, Harry R., “Laugh-In,” Newsweek (February 8, 1993)

Canadian Satirical Review
On December 9, 1973, the first radio show by the ductees into the International Humour Hall of Fame.
Royal Canadian Air Farce comedy troupe was broad- The editors of Maclean’s (Canada’s national news
cast coast-to-coast on CBC Radio and CBC Stereo. Af- magazine) chose the Air Farce for the 1991 Honour
ter a ten-episode series in 1981 and several specials in Roll of Canadians who make a difference. The group
the 1980s, The Royal Canadian Air Farce—a Cana- has won 15 ACTRA Awards (Association of Canadian
dian institution for political commentary, social satire, Television and Radio Artists) for radio and television
and general nonsense—became a weekly CBC televi- writing and performing, and a Juno Award (Canadian
sion series in the fall of 1993. Like the radio show, the recording award) for best comedy album. In 1993, Ab-
television Air Farce is topical, on the edge of contro- bott, Ferguson, and Goy were each awarded honorary
versy, and performed in front of a live audience. The doctor of law degrees by Brock University in St.
group consists of Roger Abbot, Don Ferguson, and Catharines.
Luba Goy. John Morgan performed with the troupe un- The Air Farce keeps in touch with Canadians and
til retiring in 2001, at the end of the series’ eighth tele- ensures that the troupe’s humor remains relevant by
vision season. Dave Broadfoot was a member of the performing and recording in all ten provinces and two
troupe for 15 years before moving on to a solo career; territories. For several years the troupe worked on both
he has continued to make guest appearances since radio and television. “We’re reluctant to give up ra-
leaving the troupe. Two nonperforming writers, Rick dio,” Ferguson told Toronto Star journalist Phil John-
Olsen and Gord Holtam, have been with the troupe son. “Radio allows us to showcase new acts and
since 1977. characters.” However, after 24 years, the troupe broad-
In 1992, the group became the first Canadian in- cast its last radio program on May 25, 1997. They gen-
1969
erally play in halls that hold 2,000 or 2,500 people, and public network CBC), “One would be hard-pressed to
did so even when taping for radio. This approach cre- imagine another country in the world where purveyors
ates the need for more visual interest. “I did [former of official disrespect would be regarded with such
Prime Minister] Brian Mulroney for 20 years—the widespread affection.” Dave Broadfoot used to say,
worst years of my life I might add,” Ferguson told “Do you know what they’d call us in the Soviet
Globe and Mail columnist Liam Lacey. “On-stage, I’d Union? Inmates.”
have a long walk over to the microphone, so I’d start Janice Kaye
from the side of the stage with just the chin first, and
See also Canadian Programming in English
then the stuck-out bum would follow. The audiences
would be roaring before I reached the microphone.
Then we’d edit all that out, and cut to the voice.” Regular Performers
When the Air Farce first tried a television show in Roger Abbot
1981, it was shot in advance and produced with canned Don Ferguson
laughter. The lack of live performance and topicality Luba Goy
destroyed the spontaneity that is at the heart of the John Morgan (retired 2001)
Farce, and the show failed. Then in 1993, a New Dave Broadfoot (left 1988)
Year’s Eve special was made, raking in 2 million view-
ers, almost 10 percent of the entire Canadian popula- Programming History (television only)
tion. Network executive Ivan Fecan approved a series. CBC
It became one of the top-20 Canadian shows and one 1980 one-hour special
of the CBC’s top five. February–April 1981 ten episodes
Rather than leaning toward a particular point of January 31, 1992 “1992 Year of the Farce
view, the Farce points fingers at all parties. Skewered Special”
politicians and media figures regularly show up in per- October 8, 1993– weekly series
son to do sketches on the show. Individual performers
do not even know how the other members of the group
vote and would not dream of discussing it. As Liam Further Reading
Lacey wrote in noting that the Farce receives indirect Turbide, Diane, “The Air Farce Is Flying High,” Maclean’s
governmental support (by virtue of its airing on the (February 26, 1996)
Royalty and Royals on Television

The relationship between television and the royalty of In the early days, immediately after World War II, tele-
the United Kingdom and other states has always been vision was regarded by many in the establishment as
uneasy, albeit generally mutually respectful, as the per- too trivial to be taken seriously, and it was argued that
ceived dangers to both sides have been immense. With it was inappropriate for heads of nations to appear on
television audiences of grand royal occasions and ma- TV. In Britain Sir Winston Churchill was in the van-
jor documentaries running into many millions around guard of those who considered television a vulgar
the globe, the impact of a mishandled interview could plaything and beneath the dignity of the crown.
have serious political repercussions for any monarchy, The crunch came in 1953, when it was suggested
as well as huge public relations problems for television that television cameras be allowed to film the corona-
networks anxious not to outrage public opinion. tion of Elizabeth II. Churchill, the archbishop of Can-
The idea that members of the British royal family terbury, the earl marshal, and various members of the
might allow themselves to be seen on television in any British cabinet strongly opposed the idea, but, to their
capacity other than at the end of a long-range lens in surprise, the 26-year-old Princess Elizabeth, in a deci-
the course of a formal state occasion or fleetingly sion subsequently hailed for its sagacity, insisted upon
in newsreel footage was once considered unthinkable. the rest of the nation being able to witness her en-
1970
thronement via television, and the cameras were al-

lowed in. The resulting broadcast, expertly narrated by
the BBC’s anchorman Richard Dimbleby, was a tri-
umph, bringing the monarchy into the television age
and cementing the image of Elizabeth II as a “people’s
monarch.”
Following the 1953 coronation experiment, it be-
came accepted that the television cameras would be
permitted to film grand royal occasions, including
weddings, the state opening of Parliament, and the
trooping of the color, as well as jubilee celebrations,
visits by the royal family to local businesses, and so
forth. Coverage of royal events, however, remained a
sensitive area in broadcasting, and many rows erupted
when it was felt cameras had intruded too far or, con-
versely, that too much deference had been shown. Cer-
tain presenters, including ITV’s Alistair Burnet and the
BBC’s Raymond Baxter, specialized in coverage of
royal stories or spectacles, but found they had to tread
a very thin line between being accused of sycophancy
or charged with gross insensitivity.
The British queen is sheltered from more intrusive
interrogation on television by necessity: there is a con-
stitutional imperative that the monarch should not
comment personally on the policies of her government
because of the implications this might have in terms of
party politics, and because of this rule, Buckingham
Palace, in concert with the government of the day,
closely controls the style and content of all broadcasts
in which she appears. In 1969, an attempt was made The Prince and Princess of Wales.
for the first time, in the joint BBC and ITV production Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Royal Family, to portray Queen Elizabeth as a private
person rather than as a constitutional figurehead. The
program attracted an audience of 40 million in the the three youngest of the queen’s children attempted to
United Kingdom alone, and similarly large audiences sound a populist note by appearing in a special It’s a
have watched her celebrated annual Christmas broad- Knockout program for charity (royal guests stormed
casts, which have over the years become more relaxed out of press meetings when the questioning became
in tone, inspiring further occasional documentaries hostile, and the experiment was not repeated).
inviting the cameras “behind the scenes” (though, After years of carefully treading the line between
again, only under strict direction from the palace). deference and public interest, television’s relationship
There is more leeway in television coverage of other with the British royals was stretched to the limit in the
members of the royal family; however, this has been 1990s during the furor surrounding the break-up of
exploited with increasing vigor since the 1980s, in re- several royal marriages, notably that of the heir-
sponse to changing public attitudes toward royalty. apparent, Prince Charles (whose wedding to Lady Di-
Prince Philip’s hectoring manner during rare appear- ana Spencer had been seen by 700 million people
ances on chat shows did little to endear television audi- worldwide in 1981). A notorious interview with
ences, and he was henceforth discouraged from taking Princess Diana that was broadcast on Panorama, when
part in such programs. Princess Anne developed a sim- it was becoming clear that the rift was irreparable
ilarly tempestuous relationship with the media as a (though many still hoped the marriage could be saved),
whole, though she was better received after her good provoked howls of protest from many quarters—not
works for charity won public recognition. Prince An- least from the palace itself. Charles was given his own
drew came over as bluff and hearty, and Prince Edward program in which to tell his side of the story, but he
was considered affable enough—though there were only succeeded in drawing more fire upon himself and
adverse comments about loss of dignity in 1987 when his family. For many viewers, both interviews were en-
1971
thralling, though to others they were distasteful and re- sitive sensationalization of the tragedy while still re-
flected badly both on the individuals themselves and flecting the public mood.
on the institution of the monarchy. In the wake of Diana’s death, there has been some
A severe test of the relationship between television reform of the relationship between the royal family
and the British royal family came in 1997, when Diana, and the media, but there is still tension. In 2001, with
Princess of Wales, died in a car accident in Paris. The press attention to Diana’s son Prince William escalat-
media’s coverage of the tragedy and of the national ing, the royal family was caused particular embarrass-
trauma that ensued provoked intense debate. The fact ment when a video company in which Prince Edward
that, initially at least, press photographers pursuing the had an interest was accused of breaking an embargo on
princess’s car were blamed for the crash heightened the filming William while at university. The company was
feeling that all members of the media should behave severely criticized and subsequently announced it
more responsibly when covering the royal family. From would no longer undertake filming of the royal family.
the moment that the first shots of the tangled wreckage Other monarchies have experienced not dissimilar
of the princess’s car were transmitted, it became clear difficulties in their relations with television and other
that broadcasters would have to behave with the utmost organs of the media. For a number of years, the
sensitivity. As the extent of public sympathy for the Rainiers of Monaco, for instance, seemed to live their
dead princess emerged, it was quickly realized that lives in the constant glare of the cameras. Some, how-
Buckingham Palace’s wishes would have to take sec- ever, have protected themselves by insisting that the
ond place to national sentiment. The accident and its af- cameras remain at a discreet distance (as in Japan,
termath received blanket coverage on all channels, and where the emperor is only rarely filmed), despite the
the royal family itself was obliged, with evident reluc- demands imposed by unflagging public interest.
tance, to obey the dictates of the cameras. Television’s fascination with royalty has expressed
The failure of the queen to sanction any immediate itself in other forms besides coverage of contemporary
public expression of grief over the disgraced princess’s royals, notably in the field of drama. The BBC in par-
death was a public relations mistake, although the ticular won worldwide acclaim in the late 1960s and
parading of the princess’s sons before the cameras at 1970s for lavish costume series dealing with Henry
their mother’s funeral did something to deflect hostil- VIII, Elizabeth I, Edward VII, and, rather more contro-
ity. The impression of most viewers was that the palace versially, Edward VIII. More recently, a documentary
had mishandled things badly and needed to overhaul series in which Prince Edward delved into the lives of
its public relations policy. With the funeral over and some of his royal ancestors was also well received.
schedules back to normal, the verdict on how televi- David Pickering
sion covered events was that it had faced the challenge
See also Parliament, Coverage by Television; Politi-
rather better than the royals, managing to avoid insen-
cal Processes and Television
Royle Family, The

British Sitcom
Just when critics in the United Kingdom were proof The Royle Family lay in its contradictions. It was
nouncing that the British sitcom was dead, The Royle that most traditional of TV staples, the family sitcom,
Family restored faith in the genre. Not only was it crit- but was it hugely innovative. It showed modern
ically acclaimed, but ratings were high, with around Britain, but remained strangely old-fashioned. It said
ten million viewers at its peak. In its brief run between something about the world, but hardly ever moved
1997 and 2000, the show managed to become part of away from one living room in Manchester.
the fabric of British culture, much like the best sitcoms The series was created by Caroline Aherne and
of the past, such as Till Death Us Do Part and What- Craig Cash, who drew on their own backgrounds to
ever Happened to The Likely Lads? Part of the success forge a new kind of family sitcom. Aherne was already
1972
Royle Family, The
a big name in British comedy through her persona as

Mrs. Merton, a deceptively sweet old lady who inter-
viewed and frequently humiliated minor celebrities.
Instead of the usual weary plots, she based the new se-
ries firmly on the characters and their interactions, say-
ing “I knew that if you strip it bare and have funny
characters and love in it, it would work.”
Nothing special happens in The Royle Family, and
that is the point of the show. There are a few major life
events, such as weddings or births, but mostly the
Royles just sit round the television and talk. Dad Jim is
coarse, miserly, and hypocritical, while the mother,
Barbara, is kind, loyal, and slightly dim. Daughter
Denise (played by creator Aherne) is idle, while the
nice son Anthony, is put upon and long suffering. Son-
in-law Dave lends a constant air of dull stupidity to the
proceedings, as does Barbara’s whining mother Norma.
Occasionally friends, like the Carrolls who live next
door, visit. For the audience, the lack of action quickly
ceases to be a problem because it becomes the expecta-
tion. The audience understands that the pleasures of the
series are in magnifying humdrum reality.
Executives originally insisted on a studio audience,
but a test episode proved disastrous, so it was dropped.
Also out are harsh studio lighting and the theatrical
performance conventions of television sitcom. The
Royles’ sitting room, the center of all the episodes, is
beautifully shot on film in a documentary style. The
actors rely on laughs from the smallest facial expres-
sion or verbal quirk, which allows the complexities of
the characters to be gradually revealed to the audience. The Royle Family, Caroline Aherne, Craig Cash, Ralf Little,
Unlike many sitcoms, the quality of acting is as good Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, 1998–2000.
in minor roles (such as Jessica Stevenson as Denise’s Courtesy of the Everett Collection
friend Cheryl) as it is in the leads. Perhaps as a result
of the success of The Royle Family, these innovations
are becoming the norm in U.K. TV comedy. Ricky Tomlinson’s portrayal of an obnoxious but
The Royle Family is also important in its under- witty slob (“with more faces than the town hall
standing of the role the media plays in our lives. Previ- clock”) was hugely popular. British audiences trea-
ously TV programs existed in a parallel universe, sured him as a wry comment on what they suspected
where people never watched TV themselves nor were they had become.
affected by it. Here the characters are not only watch- The family became popular at a time when some
ing television, they are also talking about it. The audi- claimed the English working class no longer existed,
ence at home is watching a show about a family or had become reactionary. Aherne is affectionate but
watching television. The mirror image is constantly not uncritical about the reality of life in the north of
there to challenge the viewer. England. Inevitably a few critics (invariably middle
For all the formal innovation and self-reflection, class themselves) accused her of being condescending,
however, the success of the series is also a result of its but she was speaking from her own experience. Only
affirmation of traditional British sitcom virtues. There on very rare occasions (the baby’s middle name is
is an air of melancholy underlying the laughter. People Keanu) is there a false note.
are held back by their flaws, by bad luck, and by soci- The general critical consensus was that the program
ety, but they have the strength to endure. declined over the three series. The show could feel
In many ways The Royle Family echoes the classic repetitive, but even so it still dared to challenge its au-
1960s program Till Death Us Do Part. Like Alf Gar- dience. In the third series, for example, Denise’s ne-
nett, Jim Royle captured the mood of the nation. glect of her baby and Jim’s bullying of Anthony were
1973
Royle Family, The
highlighted. Aherne was brave enough to give these Directors

actions a comic aspect, but there is also a deep sense of Series 1 Mark Mylod
unease. Even so, at no time does she moralize or go for Series 2 Steve Bendelack
cheap laughs. Series 3 Caroline Aherne
Eventually, and probably wisely, Caroline Aherne
pulled the plug on the show. Tired of media intrusion Producers
into her private life, she announced her retirement Series 1 Glenn Wilhide
from performing and moved to Australia. Series 2 Kenton Allen
The Royle Family imparted a much-needed fresh- Series 3 Kenton Allen and Caroline
ness to the sitcom genre and proved it could be popu- Aherne
lar once more. It reminded us that sitcoms could be
profound about the human condition and command Executive Producer
the highest quality in writing, camera work, and per- Andy Harries
formance. It also offered a shared pleasure at a time
when the viewing public seemed irredeemably frag- Programming History
mented. 18 episodes and two Christmas specials
Phil Wickham The program started on BBC 2 but after the success of
See also Till Death Do Us Part the first series was switched to BBC 1. The second se-
ries premiered on BBC 1 with a repeat on BBC 2 later
in the week.
Cast Series 1 (six episodes) BBC 2 September–October
Jim Royle Ricky Tomlinson 1998
Barbara Royle Sue Johnston Series 2 (six episodes) BBC 1 September–October
Denise Royle/Best Caroline Aherne 1999
Anthony Royle Ralf Little Christmas special 1999 (40 minutes)
Dave Best Craig Cash Series 3 (six episodes) BBC 1 October–November
Norma Liz Smith 2000
Cheryl Carroll Jessica Stevenson Christmas special 2000 (30 minutes)
Mary Carroll Noreen Keogh
Joe Carroll Peter Martin Further Reading
Twiggy Geoffrey Hughes
Emma Sheridan Smith Aherne, Caroline, Craig Cash, and Henry Normal, The Royle
Family Scripts: Series 1, London: Granada Media, 1999
Christiansen, Rupert, “Comedy of a Different Class,” Daily
Writers Telegraph (London; December 20, 1999)
Lewis-Smith, Victor, “Royles Have the Last Laugh,” Evening
Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash with Henry Normal Standard (London; February 10, 2000)
(series 1) and Carmel Morgan (1999 Christmas Parker, Ian, “They Shout ‘Arses’ Don’t They,” Observer (Lon-
Special) don; September 20, 1998)
Raven, Charlotte, “Class of ’98,” Guardian (London; Septem-
ber 17, 1998)
Rule, Elton (1916–1990)

Elton Rule took the ABC TV network from a strug- stations, and revenues increased from $600 million to
gling operation in 1968 to top of the television network $2.7 billion. The “alphabet network” began turning a
world a decade later. Under Rule’s leadership, ABC- profit in 1972; by 1976, it was the highest rated net-
TV expanded its number of affiliates from 146 to 214 work in prime time; a year later Rule was presiding
1974
Rule, Elton
moved sports producer Roone Arledge over to head a

languishing network operation, approved hiring re-
porters from major newspapers, and expanded the lo-
cus of the network’s foreign news bureaus. By the
mid-1980s, ABC News was the leading broadcast jour-
nalism operation in the United States.
When Rule retired in January 1984, he was properly
hailed as a corporate savior. Through the remainder of
the 1980s, he bought and sold television stations, be-
coming a multimillionaire. He is remembered, and
heralded, for creating a television network empire, an
economic, political, social, and cultural force second
to none in the history of television.
Douglas Gomery
See also American Broadcasting Company; Net-
works; United States
Elton (Hoerl) Rule. Born in Stockton, California,

June 13, 1916. Graduated from Sacramento College,
Sacramento, California, 1938. Married: Betty Louise
Bender; children: Cindy Rule Dunne, Christie, James.
Served in the U.S. Army Infantry, 1941–45. Worked at
KROY, Sacramento, 1938–41; radio sales account ex-
ecutive, 1946–52; assistant sales manager, KECA-TV
(now KABC-TV), 1952; general sales manager,
1953–60; general manager, 1960–61; vice president
Elton Rule. and general manager, 1961–68; president, California
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Broadcasters Association, 1966–67; president, ABC-
TV, 1968–70; group vice president, ABC, 1969–72;
over a television empire that was collecting more president, ABC division, 1970–72; director, ABC,
money for advertising time than any media corpora- 1970–84; president, chief executive officer, and mem-
tion in the world. ber of executive committee, ABC, 1972–83; vice chair,
The key to this extraordinary success was Rule’s ABC, 1983–84; president, chair, investment funds
ability to find top programming. During the 1970s, with I. Martin Pompadur; co-chair, National Center of
Rule helped introduce such innovations as the made- Film and Video Preservation. Member: advisory
for-television movie, the miniseries, and Monday board, Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic
Night Football. One of his first moves as network pres- Trauma, Lenox Hill Hospital, 1973–84; board of visi-
ident was to sign the Hollywood producer Aaron tors, University of California, Los Angeles, School of
Spelling, who through the 1970s added a string of top- Medicine, 1980–84. Recipient: Purple Heart; Bronze
ten hits to ABC’s line-up, including Mod Squad, Fam- Star with Oak Leaf Cluster; International Radio and
ily, Starsky and Hutch, Love Boat, and Charlie’s TV Society Gold Medal Award, 1975; Academy of TV
Angels. Rule pioneered the presentation of made-for- Arts and Sciences Governor’s Award, 1981. Died in
television movies as a regular part of network sched- Beverly Hills, California, May 5, 1990.
ules, billing them as ABC’s Movie of the Week, and
producing such early hits as Brian’s Song and That Further Reading
Certain Summer. In 1974, Rule approved the minise-
Brown, Les, Televi$ion: The Business Behind the Box, New
ries QB VII. Three years later, a week of Roots, from York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971
Alex Haley’s best-selling book, set ratings records, Goldenson, Leonard H., Beating the Odds, New York: Scrib-
earned Rule wide acclaim, and generated for ABC vast ner’s, 1991
sums of advertising dollars. Gunther, Marc, The House That Roone Built: The Inside Story
During the 1970s, Rule made ABC the leading of ABC News, Boston: Little, Brown, 1994
Quinlan, Sterling, Inside ABC: American Broadcasting Com-
sports network, centered on Monday Night Football pany’s Rise to Power, New York: Hastings’s House, 1979
and the Olympics. Rule must also be credited with Williams, Huntington, Beyond Control: ABC and the Fate of the
making the ABC news division the industry leader. He Networks, New York: Atheneum, 1989
1975
Rumpole of the Bailey

British Legal/Mystery Comedy
Rumpole of the Bailey, a mix of British courtroom Erskine-Brown (Patricia Hodge), a feminist voice for
comedy and drama, first aired on Thames Television in the series, and the endearing Uncle Tom (Richard Mur-
1978. The program made a successful transatlantic doch), an octogenarian waiting to have the good sense
voyage and has been popular in the United States as to retire, who, in the meantime, practices his putting in
part of PBS’s Mystery! anthology series. chambers.
All episodes feature the court cases of Horace The prolific writer John Mortimer is creator of the
Rumpole (Leo McKern), a short, round, perennially Rumpole stories and has exclusive rights in writing the
exasperating, shrewd, lovable defense barrister. His television series, for which he continues to write new
clients are often caught in contemporary social con- scripts. Mortimer draws upon both his 36 years of ex-
flicts: a father accused of devil worshipping; the Gay periences as queen’s counsel and his life with his fa-
News Ltd. sued for blasphemous libel; a forger of Vic- ther, a blind divorce lawyer. Much like Rumpole,
torian photographs who briefly fooled the National Mortimer adores good food, enjoys a bottle of claret
Portrait Gallery; a pornographic publisher. Rumpole’s before dinner, loves Dickens, and fights for liberal
deep commitment to justice leads him to defend causes. He is much revered in England, and in 1988
wholeheartedly hopeless cases and the spirit of the the queen awarded him a knighthood.
law, as opposed to his fellow barristers who stubbornly In addition to the quick-witted dialogue among
defend the letter of the law. Rumpole is given to fre- characters, Mortimer’s series is distinguished by its so-
quent oratorical outbursts from the Oxford Book of En- cial commentary. Specifically, the program is a clev-
glish Verse and manages to aim the elegant passages at erly entertaining vehicle for tweaking the legal
upper-class hypocritical trumpeters, buffoons, and profession and the general state of British mores and
other barristers and at prosecution-inspiring justices. manners. In chambers and during court cases,
He comments on the phenomenon of “judgitis [pom- Rumpole provides viewers with grumbling commen-
posity] which, like piles, is an occupational hazard on taries and under-the-breath critiques of pomposity and
the bench.” His suggested cure is “banishment to the the all-too-frequent soulless application of strict legal-
golf course.” ism. Yet, even though these comments on various so-
Rumpole is married to Hilda (played at various cial issues such as gay rights, censorship, and the
times by Joyce Heron, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, and Mar- treatment of children in court are quite serious, Mor-
ion Mathie), to whom he refers as “She Who Must Be timer never allows the issues to get in the way of the
Obeyed.” Hilda—whose father was head of cham- story. Meticulous attention to detail, well-written
bers—aspires for a more prestigious position for her scripts, and top-notch actors contribute to have made
husband and a bit more luxurious lifestyle for herself, Rumpole fine television without the formula-driven ac-
but she continues to support her husband’s brand of tion/adventure genres typically associated with drama
justice rather than that sought by egotistical or social- programming.
climbing royal counsels. Rumpole revels in lampoon- The program’s charm is particularly enhanced by
ing his fellow colleagues, whom he believes to be a the superb casting of Leo McKern, who was the very
group of twits. They include the dithery and pompous embodiment of the fictional Rumpole. Robert Gold-
Claude Erskine-Brown (Julian Curry), the full-of- berg, a television critic from the Wall Street Journal,
himself Samuel Ballard (Peter Blythe), and the variety compares this match to other strokes of casting genius:
of dour judges who preside in court—the bumbling “Every once in a while a character and an actor fit to-
Justice Guthrie Featherstone (Peter Bowles), the blus- gether so precisely that is becomes hard to imagine one
tering “mad bull” Justice Bullingham (Bill Fraser), the without the other (Sean Connery and James Bond,
serious and heartless Justice Graves (Robin Bailey), Jeremy Brett and Sherlock Holmes).” McKern’s jowls,
and the almost kindly Justice “Ollie” Oliphant (James bulbous nose, and erratic eyebrows were made to fit
Grout). Among Rumpole’s colleagues, he favors the eccentric, irrepressibly snide barrister who is, in
Claude’s wife, the savvy and stylish Phillida Neetrant Goldberg’s words, as “lovable as a grumpy old panda.”
1976
See also British Programming; McKern, Leo
Cast
Horace Rumpole Leo McKern
Guthrie Featherstone Peter Bowles
Erskine-Brown Julian Curry
Phillida Patricia Hodge
George Frobisher Moray Watson
Uncle Tom Richard Murdoch
Hilda Rumpole (1975) Joyce Heron
Hilda Rumpole (1978–83) Peggy Thorpe-Bates
Hilda Rumpole (1987–92) Marion Mathie
Justice Bullingham Bill Fraser
Fiona Allways Rosalyn Landor
Henry Jonathan Coy
Diane Maureen Derbyshire
Marigold Featherstone Joanna Van Gysegham
Nick Rumpole David Yelland
Liz Probert Abigail McKern
Judge Graves Robin Bailey
Samuel Ballard Peter Blythe
Producers
Irene Shubik, Jacqueline Davies
Programming History
44 episodes
BBC 1
As an installment of Play for
Rumpole of the Bailey, Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, Today December 16,
1978–92. 1975
Courtesy of the Everett Collection Thames
April 1978–May 1978 six episodes
May 1979–June 1979 six episodes
December 1980 special: Rumpole’s
Return
Rumpole of the Bailey is a cherished series in the October 1983–November
United States. According to Boston public television 1983 six episodes
station WGBH’s senior producer Steven Ashley, January 1987–February 1987 six episodes
Rumpole has enjoyed solid ratings and can be regarded November 1988–December 1988 six episodes
as one of the most popular titles in the Mystery! sched- October 1991–December
ule, having attracted a healthy audience even when 1991 six episodes
faced with stiff competition from commercial net- October 1992–December
works. Approximately 300 public television stations 1992 six episodes
have carried the Rumpole series on an ongoing basis,
representing 95 percent of all PBS stations. In the San
Further Reading
Francisco Bay Area, some of the show’s more active
fans formed the “Rumpole Society” with over 450 Gussow, Mel, “The Man Who Put Rumpole on the Case,” New
York Times (April 13, 1995)
members; they have featured principal actors or John
Mortimer, John Clifford, The First Rumpole Omnibus, Har-
Mortimer as guest speakers at their annual fete and mondsworth, England, and New York: Penguin, 1983
have visited the Rumpole studios in London. Mortimer, John Clifford, The Best of Rumpole, New York:
Lynn T. Lovdal Viking, 1993
1977
Rushton, William
Rushton, William (1937–1996)

British Author, Actor, Artist
A versatile cartoonist, broadcaster, author, and actor, part in the television show Up Sunday (1975–78) and
William Rushton’s range of talent emerged early, entertained the viewers in Celebrity Squares
while a student at Shrewsbury School. There he edited (1979–80), a popular game show based on the idea of
the school magazine, The Salopian, and regularly il- the U.S. syndicated program Hollywood Squares. In
lustrated its issues. The public school friendships and addition, he did voice-overs for the BBC’s Jackanory
joint contributions for The Salopian led to the idea of a and Asterix series. On radio he appeared in 27 series of
satirical publication, The Private Eye, cofounded by the popular anarchic game show, I Am Sorry I Haven’t
Rushton and first published in 1962. With its compre- a Clue.
hensive attack on the establishment, who were pre- As a stage actor, Rushton made his debut in Spike
sented as running England in the manner of a private Milligan’s The Bed-Sitting Room in Canterbury in
club, The Private Eye pioneered a style of satire that 1961. After a number of smaller parts, he returned to
was to become fashionable in the early 1960s. stage in a full-length role in Eric Idle’s play Pass the
In 1962, Rushton moved on to television to take part Butler (1982). This witty black comedy, written by a
in BBC’s satirical program, That Was the Week That member of the offbeat Monty Python team, played suc-
Was (TW3). Under director Alasdair Milne and pro-
ducer Ned Sherrin, the crew put together their best
work to express doubts about the old order in Britain.
In an even more practical step, The Private Eye team,
upset by the possibility of Sir Alec Douglas Home’s
further career in politics, posted Rushton to run against
him in the Kinross by-election. Rushton’s failed candi-
dacy and his Macmillan impersonation on TW3 made
his name, but the irreverent show, anchored by David
Frost, deeply divided the public, and the resulting con-
troversy led to its removal from television screens.
In the 1964–65 season, Rushton cohosted the
follow-up to TW3, called Not So Much a Programme,
More a Way of Life. This show had less clear direction
and was at its most successful when it approached the
impertinence of TW3. Even this milder satirical pro-
gram, however, faced political criticism that put an end
to its existence.
The success of TW3 opened the way to the cinema
for Rushton. Director Clive Donner incorporated three
of the show’s presenters into Nothing but the Best
(1964). The film featured a young opportunist and pro-
vided a brash criticism of affluent Britain through a
mocking celebration of its values. Rushton also played
a role in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Ma-
chines (1965), a humorous take on the early days of
aviation.
The slightly overweight Rushton, who described his
hobbies as “gaining weight, losing weight, and park-
ing,” served as presenter for Don’t Just Sit There William Rushton.
(1973), a BBC series on healthy living. He also took Courtesy of the Everett Collection/CSU Archives
1978
Rushton, William
cessfully in Britain. Later, he returned to stand-up 1965; The Mini-Affair, 1968; The Bliss of Mrs.
comedy, presenting “Two Old Farts” with Barry Cryer Blossom, 1968; The Best House in London, 1969;
on nationwide tours. Monte Carlo or Bust/Those Daring Young Men in
Rushton wrote and illustrated a number of books, Their Jaunty Jalopies, 1969; Flight of the Doves,
including William Rushton’s Dirty Book (1964), Su- 1971; The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, 1972;
perpig (1976), The Filth Amendment (1981), and Keep It up Downstairs, 1975; The Chiffy Kids,
Marylebone Versus the Rest of the World (1987). He 1976; Adventures of a Private Eye, 1977; Adven-
also provided illustrations and cartoons for many oth- tures of a Plumber’s Mate, 1978; The Blues Band,
ers, including a number of children’s books. 1981; The Magic Shop, 1982; Consuming Passions,
After his early success in the 1960s, Rushton contin- 1987.
ued to work for The Private Eye and drew cartoons for
the Literary Review and the Daily Telegraph’s “Way of
Radio
the World” column until his death in December 1996.
I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, 1976– ; Trivia Test
Known particularly for his humorous cartoons and
Match.
funny personal presentations, he was a fine performer,
a versatile and interesting artist for whom television
provided a continuing opportunity for comic inven- Stage
tion. The Bed-Sitting Room, 1961; Gulliver’s Travels,
Rita Zajácz 1971, 1979; Pass the Butler, 1982; Tales from a
Long Room, 1988.
See also That Was the Week That Was
William George Rushton. Born in London, August Publications (selected)

18, 1937. Attended Shrewsbury School, Shropshire.
Married: Arlene Dorgan, 1968; children: Tobias, William Rushton’s Dirty Book, 1964
Matthew, and Sam. After National Service, worked as How to Play Football: The Art of Dirty Play, 1968
solicitor’s articled clerk, freelance cartoonist, and The Day of the Grocer, 1971
satirist; cofounder and editor, The Private Eye, 1961; The Geranium of Flüt, 1975
stage debut, 1961; made television debut as one of Superpig, 1976
That Was the Week That Was team, 1962; comic per- Pigsticking: A Joy for Life, 1977
former on radio, film, and television, appearing on nu- The Reluctant Euro, 1980
merous panel shows. Died December 11, 1996. The Filth Amendment, 1981
W.G. Grace’s Last Case, 1984
Willie Rushton’s Great Moments of History, 1985
Television Series (selected) The Alternative Gardener: A Compost of Quips for the
1962–63 That Was the Week That Was Green-Fingered, 1986
1964–65 Not So Much a Programme, More a Marylebone Versus the Rest of the World, 1987
Way of Life Spy Thatcher (editor), 1987
1969–72 Up Pompeii! Every Cat in the Book, 1993
1975–78 Up Sunday
1979–80 Celebrity Squares
1980 Rushton’s Illustrated
Further Reading
Marnham, Patrick, The Private Eye Story: The First 21 Years,
Films London: Andre Deutsch, 1982
It’s All Over Town, 1963; Nothing but the Best, 1964; Murphy, Robert, Sixties British Cinema, London: British Film
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Institute, 1992
1979
Russell, Ken
Russell, Ken (1927– )

British Filmmaker
Ken Russell is best known in the United States as di- ther, allowing Elgar to be seen (but still not heard).
rector of such feature films as Women in Love (1969), Five different actors, mostly amateurs, portrayed the
The Music Lovers (1970), Tommy (1975), and Altered composer at various stages of his life. Most of the
States (1980). Although his television work is less well scenes with the actors were shot in medium-shot. Ac-
known outside the United Kingdom, it has had a major cording to Russell, the viewer was “not aware of a per-
impact on the development of the television genre of sonality; just a figure.” Russell skillfully combined
fictional history, described by historian C. Vann Wood- silent footage of the actors, stock footage of English
ward as the portrayal of “real historical figures and life at the turn of the century, and photographs of Elgar
events, but with the license of the novelist to imagine and his family, all of which were enhanced by Elgar’s
and invent.” Russell’s special province in the genre (a compositions. Russell focused his interpretation on El-
psycho-biographical form he terms the “biopic”) has gar’s reverence for the English countryside—his “re-
been music composers and other artists such as turn to the strength of the hills” (a theme of great
dancers and poets. His imaginative interpretations of importance in Russell’s own life). That theme would
the lives of artists have, on occasion, outraged both reemerge in many subsequent Russell biopics. Elgar
critics and the general public. was extremely popular with the audience, in large
After a brief career as a ballet dancer, and later as a measure because of Russell’s romantic use of Elgar’s
successful commercial photographer, Russell turned music; the show was repeated at least three times. As
his attention to film directing. On the basis of a portfo- John Baxter points out, this work launched Russell’s
lio of three low-budget short films, he was hired by the national reputation.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1959, at After an unsuccessful feature film, French Dress-
the age of 32, to work as a director on its arts series ing, Russell returned to the BBC to direct The De-
Monitor. Most of the Monitor pieces (10- to 15-minute bussy Film: Impressions of the French Composer
short subjects) focused on contemporary artists work- (1965). Here, Russell broke through the BBC’s last re-
ing in British music, dance, and literature. Russell maining prohibition against using actors in speaking
noted that, at the time, there was no real experimental roles in historical drama. According to Russell, as
film school in Britain, except for Monitor. Monitor quoted in Gene D. Phillips’s Ken Russell, Wheldon
producer Huw Wheldon, who later became managing thought the film “a bit esoteric” and insisted on begin-
director of BBC-TV, encouraged experimentation ning the film “with a series of photographs of Debussy
(within limits), and Russell took full advantage of this. along with a spoken statement assuring viewers they
The two most important productions from Russell’s were about to see a film based on incidents in De-
Monitor period were Elgar (1962) and The Debussy bussy’s life and incorporating direct quotations from
Film (1965). Elgar, Russell’s attempt to counter Debussy himself.” The BBC feared that viewers
British music critics’ negative assessments of the might believe they were watching newsreels of real
British composer Edward Elgar, was his first full- people. To circumvent this potential problem, Russell
length Monitor film, lasting 50 minutes. It also marked created an intriguing “film-within-a-film,” in which
the celebration of the 100th Monitor program. In El- the framing story depicts a French film director com-
gar, Russell advanced the idea of using actors to im- ing to England to shoot a film on Debussy. In the
personate historical characters, which he had script, actors were clearly identified as actors playing
introduced the previous year on Monitor in the short the various historical figures. Russell, and writer
film Portrait of a Soviet Composer, on the life of Melvyn Bragg (who would collaborate with Russell
Sergei Prokofiev. Prior to this, the BBC had prohibited on several films and later become the editor and pre-
the use of actors in the portrayal of historical person- senter of The South Bank Show), conceived Debussy
ages. In the Prokofiev film, Russell used an actor to as “a mysterious, shadowy character”—an unpre-
show the composer’s hands, a so-called anonymous dictable and sensual dreamer. This is accentuated by
presence. In Elgar, Russell took the concept a step fur- Russell’s evocative use of macabre physical comedy.
1980
Russell, Ken
Isadora Duncan: The Biggest Dancer in the World drown out the screams of a Jew being tortured in the
(1966) is the most celebrated and least factual of Rus- audience by SS men, who were carving a Star of David
sell’s BBC biopics. The film used a mix of classical on the man’s chest with a knife; and the playing of
music and popular tunes (from Beethoven to “Bye, Strauss’s “Domestic Symphony” over shots of Strauss
Bye, Blackbird”) and featured a nude dance, suicide and his wife making love, their climax being mirrored
attempts, and wild parties to depict Duncan’s sensa- by the orchestra. The film concludes with Russell him-
tional life and her death wish. Excerpts from Leni self portraying a wild-haired orchestra conductor bow-
Riefenstahl’s Olympia were intercut with original ing and walking away from the camera as his
footage, Ken Hanke reports, to convey the “ideal of director’s credit appears on the screen (perhaps signal-
German perfection” Duncan sought to emulate. Dun- ing his own farewell to the BBC). The film aired once,
can was at once “sublime” and “vulgar,” if not leading to mass protests and questions raised in Parlia-
grotesque. Interestingly, some of Russell’s more hos- ment. As Russell put it, “all hell broke loose.” Huw
tile critics have accused the director of the same ten- Wheldon, head of BBC-TV, defended Russell. At the
dencies. same time, the BBC tried to placate critics, including
Song of Summer (BBC, 1968) chronicles the last Strauss’s family and his publisher, by presenting a
years of the life of composer Frederick Delius, who, roundtable discussion in which music critics and con-
blind and crippled with syphilis, is living in a French ductors denounced both Russell and the film. By the
village with his wife, Jelka, and his amanuensis, Eric time The Dance of the Seven Veils aired on the BBC,
Fenby. Fenby, who advised Russell on the film, is por- Russell’s feature film Women in Love had assured him
trayed as a young man who sacrificed his own career a reputation in feature-film circles, and the BBC expe-
out of love and respect for Delius. In the end, accord- rience convinced him it was time to abandon the small
ing to Russell, as quoted by Phillips, Fenby feels screen.
“robbed of his own artistic vision” (see Phillips). The Russell would return to television, but not to the
ultimate irony, says Russell, is that much of Delius’s BBC. In 1978, Russell directed Clouds of Glory for
music is second-rate. In Song of Summer, Russell is British independent television’s Grenada-TV. This
able to express an understanding and even compassion program was actually two one-hour episodes. The first,
for a composer whose basic personality and music he William and Dorothy, was a biopic on the love of Wil-
clearly dislikes. The theme, evident in Isadora, of liam Wordsworth for his sister Dorothy. The second
what Hanke refers to as “the artist’s unfortunate need episode, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was a biopic
to debase himself and his art,” reemerges here. As in on the life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Elgar, Russell highlights the artist’s obsession with na- In the 1990s, Russell continued to make television
ture. According to Hanke, in Song of Summer, Russell films about composers and music: The Strange Afflic-
exhibited his “ability to work in a restrained manner if tion of Anton Bruckner (1990), The Secret Life of Sir
the subject matter calls for it.” Arnold Bax (1992), The Mystery of Doctor Martinu
The last film Russell would make for the BBC, the (1993), Classic Widows (1995), and In Search of the
infamous The Dance of the Seven Veils: A Comic Strip English Folk Song (1997). Other television projects by
in Seven Episodes on the Life of Richard Strauss Russell in this decade included a historical drama
(1970), exhibited no such restraint. The complete title about the Dreyfus case, Prisoners of Honor (1991); lit-
reveals Russell’s intention to create a satirical political erary adaptations (the miniseries Lady Chatterley
cartoon on the life of the German composer, whom [1993] and Ken Russell’s Treasure Island [1995]), and
Russell saw as a “self-advertising, vulgar, commercial a prison drama, Dogboys (1998). He also directed a
man . . . [a] crypto-Nazi with the superman complex un- television documentary on Russia and Russians enti-
derneath the facade of the distinguished elderly com- tled Alice in Russialand (1995), and in 2001 he offered
poser.” Although, according to Russell, “95 percent of a TV documentary on women soccer players, The
what Strauss says in the film he actually did say in his Brighton Belles, which aired as part of the BBC 2 se-
letters and other writings,” many critics and viewers ries Southern Eye. Russell also remains active as a fea-
found Russell’s treatment of the venerated composer ture filmmaker and director of operas.
itself to be vulgar. Hanke’s assessment is that in the Hal Himmelstein and Elizabeth Nishiura
film, Russell contends that Strauss “betrayed himself
See also Bragg, Melvyn; British Programming;
and his art through his lack of personal responsibility,”
Wheldon, Huw
which included his currying favor with the Nazis dur-
ing World War II. The most objectionable sequences in
the film were Strauss conducting “Der Rosenkavalier,” Ken (Kenneth Alfred) Russell. Born in Southampton,
and exhorting his musicians to play ever louder to Hampshire, England, July 3, 1927. Educated at Pang-
1981
Russell, Ken
bourne Nautical College, 1941–44; Walthamstow Art 1966 Don’t Shoot the Composer
School; International Ballet School. Married: 1) 1966 Isadora Duncan: The Biggest Dancer in
Shirley Ann Kingdon, 1957 (divorced, 1978); five the World
children; 2) Vivian Jolly, 1984 (divorced, 1991); chil- 1967 Dante’s Inferno
dren: Molly and Rupert; 3) Hetty Baines, 1992; 4) Lisi 1968 Song of Summer
Tribble, 2001. Served in Merchant Navy, 1945, and 1970 The Dance of the Seven Veils: A Comic
Royal Air Force, 1946–49. Dancer, Ny Norsk Ballet, Strip in Seven Episodes on the Life of
1950; actor, Garrick Players, 1951; photographer, Richard Strauss
1951–57; amateur film director; documentary film- 1978 Clouds of Glory, Parts I and II
maker, BBC, 1958–66; debut as professional film di- 1983 Ken Russell’s View of the Planets
rector, 1963; established reputation on television with 1984 Elgar
series of biographical films about great composers for 1984 Vaughan Williams
the arts program Omnibus, from 1966, and the South 1988 Ken Russell’s ABC of British Music
Bank Show, from 1983; freelance film director, also 1989 Ken Russell: A British Picture
staging opera and directing pop videos, since 1966. 1990 Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner
Recipient: Screen Writers Guild Awards, 1962, 1965, 1992 The Secret Life of Sir Arnold Bax
1966, 1967; Guild of Television Producers and Direc- 1993 The Mystery of Doctor Martinu
tors Award, 1966; Desmond Davis Award, 1968; 1995 Classic Widows
Emmy Award, 1988. 1995 Alice in Russialand
1997 In Search of the English Folk Song
2001 Brighton Belles
Television Series
2002 Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a
1993 Lady Chatterley
Bicycle
Television Documentaries
1959 Poet’s London Made-for-Television Movies
1959 Gordon Jacob 1991 Prisoners of Honor
1959 Variations on a Mechanical Theme 1995 Ken Russell’s Treasure Island
1959 Robert McBryde and Robert Colquhoun 1996 The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch (short shown
1959 Portrait of a Goon as part of Tales of Erotica)
1960 Marie Rambert Remembers 1998 Dogboys
1960 Architecture of Entertainment
1960 Cranks at Work
Films (director)
1960 The Miners’ Picnic
Amelia and the Angel, 1957; Peep Show, 1958; Lour-
1960 Shelagh Delaney’s Salford
des, 1958; French Dressing, 1963; Billion Dollar
1960 A House in Bayswater
Brain, 1967; Women in Love, 1969; The Music
1960 The Light Fantastic
Lovers (also producer), 1970; The Devils (also
1961 Old Battersea House
writer and co-producer), 1971; The Boy Friend
1961 Portrait of a Soviet Composer
(also writer and producer), 1971; The Savage Mes-
1961 London Moods
siah (also producer), 1972; Mahler (also writer),
1961 Antonio Gaudi
1974; Tommy (also writer and co-producer), 1975;
1962 Pop Goes the Easel
Lisztomania (also writer), 1975; Valentino (also co-
1962 Preservation Man
writer), 1977; Altered States, 1980; Crimes of Pas-
1962 Mr. Chesher’s Traction Engines
sion, 1984; Gothic, 1986; Aria (episode), 1987;
1962 Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill
Salomé’s Last Dance, 1988; The Lair of the White
1962 Elgar
Worm, 1988; The Rainbow, 1989; Whore, 1991; The
1963 Watch the Birdie
Russia House (actor), 1991; Mindbender (also co-
1964 Lonely Shore
writer), 1995; Lion’s Mouth (short), 2000; The Fall
1964 Bartok
of the Louse of Usher, 2002; Charged: The Life of
1964 The Dotty World of James Lloyd
Nikola Tesla, 2003.
1965 The Debussy Film: Impressions of the
French Composer
1965 Always on Sunday Radio
1966 The Diary of a Nobody The Death of Scriabin, 1995.
1982
Russia
Stage (operas) Dempsey, Michael, “The World of Ken Russell,” Film Quar-
The Rake’s Progress, 1982; Die Soldaten, 1983; terly (Spring 1972)
Dempsey, Michael, “Ken Russell, Again,” Film Quarterly
Madame Butterfly, 1983; La Bohème, 1984; The (Winter 1977–78)
Italian Girl in Tangiers, 1984; Faust, 1985; Farber, Stephen, “Russellmania,” Film Comment (November/
Mefistofoles, 1989; Princess Ida, 1992; Salomé, December 1975)
1993; Weill and Lenya, 2000. Fisher, Jack, “Three Paintings of Sex: The Films of Ken Rus-
sell,” Films Journal (September 1972)
Gilliatt, Penelope, “Genius, Genia, Genium, Ho Hum,” The
Publications New Yorker (April 26, 1976)
Gomez, Joseph, “Mahler and the Methods of Ken Russell’s
A British Picture: An Autobiography, 1989 Films on Composers,” Velvet Light Trap (Winter 1975)
Fire over England: British Cinema Comes Under Gomez, Joseph, Ken Russell: The Adaptor As Creator, London:
Friendly Fire, 1993 Muller, 1976
Hanke, Ken, Ken Russell’s Films, Metuchen, New Jersey:
The Lion Roars: Ken Russell on Film, 1993 Scarecrow, 1984
Directing Film: From Pitch to Premiere, 2000; pub- Jaehne, Karen, “Wormomania: Ken Russell’s Best Laid Pla-
lished in United States as Directing Film: The Di- naria,” Film Criticism (1988)
rector’s Art from Script to Cutting Room Floor, Kolker, Robert, “Ken Russell’s Biopics: Grander and Gaudier,”
2001 Film Comment (May/June 1973)
Phillips, Gene D., Ken Russell, Boston: Twayne, 1979
Rosenfeldt, Diane, Ken Russell: A Guide to Reference Sources.
Further Reading Boston: Hall, 1978
Woodward, C. Vann, The Future of the Past, New York: Oxford
Atkins, Thomas, Ken Russell, New York: Monarch, 1976 University Press, 1989
Baxter, John, An Appalling Talent: Ken Russell, London: Yacowar, M., “Ken Russell’s Rabelais,” Literature/Film Quar-
Joseph, 1973 terly (1980)
Russia
Russia was the largest and the culturally predominant 1991. Because of its size, the Soviet Union was a pio-
republic of the U.S.S.R., and the history of Russian neer of satellite transmission: by the mid-1980s both
television up to the disintegration of that country in national channels were broadcast in four time-shifted
1991 is inseparable from that of Soviet television. variants to eastern parts of the country, while the first
Moreover, in spite of the changes that have taken place channel was among the earliest television programs to
since then, Russian television remains the principal in- be made available worldwide. Regular color transmis-
heritor of the traditions (as well as the properties) of its sions began in 1967, using the SECAM system.
Soviet predecessor. Administratively, television was the responsibility
Regular television broadcasting began in Moscow of the All-Union Committee for Television and Radio
in 1939, although the service was interrupted for the (generally known as Gosteleradio), the chairman of
duration of World War II (1941–45). Broadcasting was which was a member of the Council of Ministers and
always given a high priority by the Soviet authorities, of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist
and television expanded rapidly in the postwar years, Party. Equivalent committees existed in the constituent
so that by the late 1970s there were two general chan- republics, with the exception, owing to a quirk of the
nels that could be received over most of the country system, of Russia itself. Only in May 1991, after sus-
and two other channels (one local and one educational) tained pressure from the Russian Parliament, did a sep-
in certain large cities. There were also television sta- arate Russian organization start its own television
tions in the constituent republics and studios in most transmissions; its programs, broadcast for six hours
large cities. Apart from a gradual extension of the cov- per day on the second channel, were in the summer of
erage of the two national channels until the first, at that year a focus of opposition to President Mikhail
least, could be received in virtually the whole of the Gorbachev. Broadcasting was financed out of the state
country, this situation remained little changed until budget, the receiving license having been replaced in
1983
Russia
1962 by a notional addition to the retail price of televi- popular student cabaret KVN was taken off the air in
sion sets. the 1971 for being too daring, and a high proportion of
The social, political, and economic upheavals that the nonpolitical programs consisted of high culture
accompanied the collapse of the Soviet system have (opera, ballet, or classical drama), films made for the
led to major changes in Russian television. The period Soviet cinema, and sport, all of which could be guaran-
since 1991 has been characterized by a rapid growth of teed in advance to be inoffensive.
commercialization and a continuing debate concerning Because of television’s importance as a means of
the roles of both the state and private businesses in propaganda, the effects of glasnost were felt more
owning, financing, and controlling the content of the slowly in that medium than in the print media. By the
electronic media. There has also been continuous dis- late 1980s, however, a certain liberalization could be
agreement between the executive and legislative discerned: KVN returned to the screens, and previ-
branches of power over which of them should exercise ously taboo topics began to be discussed in programs
control over broadcasting. Up to now, this question has such as Vzgliad (View) and Do i posle polunochi (Be-
invariably been resolved in favor of the former, and the fore and After Midnight). These were followed by a
entire structure of Russian television has in effect been range of lively and innovative productions originated
put into place by a series of presidential decrees. by the semi-independent production company ATV, as
As in most of Europe, Russian television is provided well as by attempts to liven up news presentation.
by a combination of publicly and privately owned or- However, as late as the 1990–91 season, all of these
ganizations. The All-Russian State Television and Ra- programs were liable to suffer cuts imposed by the
dio Company (VGTRK), founded in 1991 and wholly censors or even to disappear altogether; the suspension
owned by the state, operates two channels: RTR (gen- of Vzgliad in January 1991 was a particular cause
eral interest) and Kul’tura (more “highbrow”). A sec- célèbre. Under the circumstances, it is not surprising
ond state company, Ostankino, which was created out that the removal of all restrictions after the collapse of
of the former Gosteleradio when the Soviet Union dis- the August 1991 putsch led to a brief flowering of cre-
integrated, was abolished in 1995. Its functions were ative talent (and the emergence of long-forbidden pro-
taken over by Obshchestvennoe rossiiskoe televidenie grams) that may prove to have been something of a
(Russian Public Television, known as ORT), owned 51 “golden age” for Russian television.
percent by the state and 49 percent by private interests. The 1990s and 2000s have witnessed a gradual
ORT is largely a commissioning company. Publicly Westernization of Russian television with the appear-
owned broadcasting organizations continue to exist in ance of genres hitherto eschewed. Among these are
each of the regions of Russia; one of these, TV-Tsentr, game shows, such as Pole chudes (Field of Miracles),
mostly owned and financed by the Moscow city gov- which is based on Wheel of Fortune and which is one
ernment, uses franchising arrangements to have its of Ostankino/ORT’s most popular programs; more re-
programs broadcast in other large cities. In the private cently, the Russian version of Who Wants to Be a Mil-
sector, there is one national company, NTV, while an- lionaire has attracted many viewers. Other newly
other, TV-6, is available in many large cities, thanks to adopted genres include talk shows, such as Tema
franchising agreements; both NTV and TV-6 com- (Theme) and My (We), which likewise have clear an-
menced operations in 1993. There are also several hun- cestral links with their American counterparts, and
dred local stations, and cable television exists in many soap operas. These are almost invariably imported
cities. Most national channels have international ver- from the United States or Latin America; home-grown
sions, aimed principally at Russian-speaking audi- versions have been few in number and short-lived.
ences in Israel. One genre to which Russian television has remained
The changes since 1991 have had an equally pro- immune is situation comedy, although in the area of
found effect on programs and their content. In Soviet satire it is worth mentioning NTV’s Kukly (Puppets),
times, television was first and foremost an instrument which uses the format of the British program Spitting
of propaganda, serving the interests of party and state, Image and which has occasionally succeeded in an-
and this purpose was reflected in all news bulletins and noying the authorities. Films made in the United States
political programs. The main evening news program, and other Western countries are now widely shown, al-
Vremia (Time), was shown simultaneously on all chan- though since the mid-1990s, presumably in response to
nels and often ran far beyond its allotted 40 minutes (a complaints from viewers, there has been a marked in-
cavalier attitude toward the published schedules has crease in the number of Russian/Soviet films being
been a characteristic of both Soviet and Russian televi- broadcast. There is a limited amount of religious
sion). All programs were in effect, if not formally, sub- broadcasting, mostly in connection with festivals of
ject to censorship, and caution usually prevailed: the the Russian Orthodox Church. Literature, classical
1984
Russia
music, and serious drama, which at one time had al- established Soviet practice of “telephone law”
most totally disappeared from the screens, have re- (whereby a person in power uses that instrument to
gained a tenuous foothold on the Kul’tura channel. convey his or her wishes/instructions) continued to
This Westernization has by no means met with uni- prevail, and Ostankino and its successor ORT acquired
versal approval, although it is not only a reaction to a reputation for being “pro-presidential,” but this was
Soviet isolationism but also a response to commercial principally because of the perceived slant of their news
pressures. The financing of Russian television is heav- coverage. At the same time, however, certain programs
ily opaque, but it may be assumed that the state makes produced for these channels by independent produc-
a modest contribution to the running costs of VGTRK, tion companies were accused, somewhat contradicto-
though not to ORT. This means that all channels except rily, of giving opponents of the president too much air
Kul’tura are now heavily dependent on advertising, time, and it is generally considered that the demagogic
and with the relationship between audience ratings and nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovskii largely owes his po-
the prices charged for advertising becoming as sophis- litical career to television. In the 1996 presidential
ticated as in the West, there is a requirement to show election, self-interest and political pressure ensured
programs that will attract viewers. Advertising is that all television channels supported the re-election of
lightly regulated and takes many forms, including Yeltsin; NTV was rewarded for its support by signifi-
spots between and during programs and sponsorship. It cant improvements to the terms of its license, albeit at
tends to be unpopular, partly because of the unfamiliar some cost to its reputation for independence and lack
intrusiveness (the amount of advertising is much of bias.
greater than in most European countries), but also be- The period after 1996 saw the growth of informal
cause in the early days a high proportion of the ads power networks involving politicians and businessmen
were either for foreign goods not widely available or and the appearance of “oligarchic television,” where
(especially from 1992 to 1994) for disreputable finan- channels were controlled by tycoons with political am-
cial institutions that subsequently collapsed. Neverthe- bitions. In particular, ORT was controlled by Boris
less, while some transnational companies have Berezovskii, its main financier, while NTV was run by
preferred to recycle advertisements previously used in Vladimir Gusinskii, alternately Berezovskii’s ally and
their older markets, the best Russian-produced exam- rival. During the 1999/2000 elections, the two chan-
ples of the form will bear comparison to anything nels were on opposite sides: ORT supported Vladimir
shown in the West. The rapid growth of advertising has Putin and his allies; NTV displayed a demonstrative
led to widespread allegations of corruption, and the coolness toward the future president. Campaigning
murkier side of Russian television received promi- methods were remarkably robust, and this period saw
nence in March 1995 with the still unsolved murder of the emergence of the phenomenon of the “telekiller,”
Vladislav List’ev, originator and presenter of several presenters of news-analysis programs (notably NTV’s
popular programs and director-general-designate of Sergei Dorenko), who indulged in vicious character
ORT. In some cases additional financial support for assassinations of their patrons’ opponents.
television may come from owners or patrons. How- With Putin safely elected, a reckoning followed, the
ever, the costs of running the national channels have results of which were not entirely predictable. If the
for some years exceeded income, and all the main series of legal and extralegal measures taken against
channels, whether public or private, are heavily in NTV and Gusinskii had a certain obvious logic, the
debt. In 2001, the Duma approved a law banning for- easing-out of Berezovskii was more surprising. The
eign citizens or companies from owning more than 50 latter sold, or was made to sell his shares, in ORT, and
percent of a national television company; given the fi- in April 2001 NTV came under the effective control of
nancial and political uncertainties, it is perhaps not Gazprom, the partly state-owned gas monopoly, which
surprising that there has been little or no foreign in- had previously been a minority shareholder in NTV.
vestment in Russian television. The ostensible reason for the takeover was the inability
Commercial pressures have not, however, entirely of NTV to repay its debts, but it seems clear that the in-
succeeded in supplanting political pressures, although cident was engineered by the presidential administra-
until recently the latter have been incomparably more tion to reign in an increasingly recalcitrant broadcaster.
subtle than in Soviet times. The mass media under The events of 2000–01 were carried out with a curious
Boris Yeltsin were by historical standards surprisingly mixture of scrupulously observed legal procedures and
free and pluralistic, partly because the president was naked blackmail. The result has not been a re-
himself relaxed about criticism, but partly because the Sovietization of Russian television, but a certain suc-
ramshackle nature of the state made effective control cess in resetting the boundaries of pluralism rather
problematic. Nevertheless, in both areas the long- more narrowly than in Yeltsin’s time.
1985
Russia
Russian television operates in a climate where the Further Reading

structures of a civil society have been only partially Graffy, Julian, and Geoffrey A. Hosking, editors, Culture and
created and where politics in terms of being the deter- Media in the USSR Today, London: Macmillan, 1989
mining factor both in interchannel rivalry and in McNair, Brian, “From Monolith to Mafia: Television in Post-
viewer affections plays a role similar to that played by Soviet Russia,” Media, Culture, and Society (July 1996)
association football in western Europe. In the absence McNair, Brian, Glasnost, Perestroika, and the Soviet Media,
London: Routledge, 1991
of a clear legal framework and of an agreed definition Mickiewicz, Ellen, Split Signals: Television and Politics in the
of “public service broadcasting,” commercial pres- Soviet Union, Oxford and New York: Oxford University
sures may offer the best available guarantees of main- Press, 1988
taining some degree of freedom of speech. With the Mickiewicz, Ellen, Changing Channels: Television and the
problems and opportunities associated with digitiza- Struggle for Power in Russia, Oxford and New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997; 2nd edition, Durham, North Car-
tion still destined to have a significant impact, the cre- olina: Duke University Press, 1999
ation of a stable and financially secure structure of Paasilinna, Reino, Glasnost and Soviet Television, Research Re-
broadly based channels aimed at a national audience is port 5, Helsinki: Ylesradio (Finnish Broadcasting Com-
likely to remain the main issue in Russian television in pany), 1995
the near future. Siefert, Marsha, editor, Mass Culture and Perestroika in the So-
viet Union, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press,
J.A. Dunn 1991
1986

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M U S E U M O F B R O A D C A S T C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Encyclopedia of television / Museum of Broadcast Communications ; Horace

ISBN 00-203-99783-2 Master e-book ISBN

Robert C. Allen Mary Jane Miller

Abbensetts, Michael American Women in Radio and Television

Australian Programming Boys from the Blackstuff

Canadian Specialty Cable Channels Cock, Gerald

Da Vinci’s Inquest Daly, Tyne

Danny Kaye Show, The East Side/West Side

Food Network Goodyear Playhouse

Homicide Kellner, Jamie

License Local Television

Magic Roundabout, The Mercer, Rick

Murphy, Thomas S. Ohlmeyer, Don

Pool Coverage Reality Television

St. Elsewhere Sandford, Jeremy

Sarnoff, Robert Some Mothers Do ’ave ’em

Tabloid Television in the United States Turner Broadcasting Systems

Magid, Frank N. See Frank N. Magid Associates

deed, the private investigator’s abhorrence of disci- Cast

Malone, John C. (1941– )

volve some kind of commodity purchase, not surpris- Cast

Throughout its history, the show has consistently

American interview. He had declined previous re- Hosts

The Man from U.N.C.L.E./The Girl from

nary concerns, it also demonstrated that ordinary peo-

Mann, Abby (1927– )

tice, by refusing to reopen cases in which innocent per-

Report to the Commissioner, 1975; War and Love, Further Reading

Mann, Delbert (1920– )

Mansbridge, Peter (1948– )

chief correspondent and anchor of the ﬂagship CBC

Marchant, Tony (1959– )

Marcus Welby, M.D.

incredibly solicitous and loyal bedside manner was

used its small staff—relying on independent labora- Hosts

Married . . . with Children

Marshall, Garry (1934– )

ily Matters, became staples of ABC’s lineup in the

See also Comedy, Domestic Settings; Happy Days;

Garry Marshall. Born in New York City, November

Made-for-Television Movie Stage

Martin, Quinn (1922–1987)

The successes of QM and Martin continued well

tin Chair of Drama, Warren College, University of Made-for-Television Movies (selected)

Marx, Groucho (1890–1977)

The show’s idiosyncratic production methods had as

Mary Tyler Moore Show, The

mander, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake (McLean

Sgt. Zale (1977–79) Johnny Haymer January 1978–September 1983 Monday

pernatural element (Bewitched and I Dream of Jean-

their repertoire for evading difﬁcult moments was the

ical advertising, televangelism, news coverage, and Edwards Lee Wilkof

McDonald, Trevor (1939– )

McGovern, Jimmy (1949– )

Television Series Further Reading

McGrath, John (1935– )

1970; Sharpeville Crackers, 1970; Unruly Ele- Publications

McKay, Jim (1921– )

der of Merit, bestowed by the former West German

McKern, Leo (1920–2002)

formed a TV guest appearance McKern made some