Intense Anxieties

Based on your viewing of The Outer Limits episode “The Bellaro
Shield” and understanding of Jeffrey Sconce’s essay on the show,
explain how The Outer Limits expresses and potentially
intensifies particular anxieties prevalent during the early 1960s.

The Sound of Silence: Section Prompt Oct. 2

Hello Section!

Here are some questions for discussion this week that focus primarily on Spigel’s “Silent TV” article and our screenings. 

1.) What different definitions of “noise” does Spigel give us? What about definitions of “silent”? What are these words actually referring to with regards to the political/cultural context surrounding TV in the late 50’s and early 60’s? 

2.) How did Ernie Kovacs (supposedly?) create TV art? How is the “Silent Episode” artistic? What about our other screenings? Make a case for and/or against Kovacs or another screening as artistic. 

3.) How was TV art still enmeshed within commercial interests? 

Please keep in mind that this week is our last section and set of office hours before your first paper is due! Be prepared with any questions you have about the essay topics and writing for Wednesday. I’m going to leave time for them in section, but if you don’t come with questions, then we won’t have anything to talk about. 

Cheers,

Josh

Watch out for Communists!

Hello sections,

Here's a fun video that one of your peers shared with me that is a great anti-"communist" propaganda piece from the '60's. If you're interested in the time period, check it out.

Extra Credit--Counts as TWO Blog Posts

Extra Credit--Counts as TWO Blog Posts:

View one of the following films: Quiz Show (1994) OR Good Night, and Good Luck (2005).  Both are available at Askwith Media Center or on reserve at the Donald Hall Collection.

Keeping in mind that both of these films offer fictionalized renderings of historical circumstances, write a minimum of 400 words explaining how either the quiz show scandals (as depicted by Quiz Show) or Edward R. Murrow’s exposé of McCarthyism (as portrayed in Good Night, and Good Luck) had political results during the 1950s and shifted ideas about the medium of television and its specific genres (quiz shows or news programs). 

The Kovacs Way

Using this advertisement or the screening from class as an example, discuss how Ernie Kovacs’ artistic experiments with television sound (or silence), aesthetics, and timing dialogue with growing concerns about television’s noisiness and commercialism? 

NY vs HW, Live vs Telefilm

1950s television critics characterized New York-based live broadcasts as superior to Hollywood-based program forms for a variety of reasons.  Considering these reasons (discussed in lecture and in "Live Television"), compare a live program to one of the telefilms we've viewed in class, to make an argument with or against the critics. 

TV (mis)remembers - Section Prompt Sept. 25

Hello Sections!

This week I’d like you to come to section prepared to discuss these questions, along with any other questions you have about our readings or screenings. 

1.) What are the differences and similarities between Cripps’ and Lipsitz’s discussions of Amos ‘n’ Andy? Using them and your own observations from screening, what arguments can you make both for and against the show as a vehicle for African-American inclusion in television, American culture, and consumer culture? 

2.) How is class depicted in the various ethnic sit coms we watched and the readings discussed? What tensions do we witness between class position, ethnic and class identity, and consumerism? 

3.) How is tradition both upheld and subverted in Mama? What does this reveal about the role of sentimentality and ideology in 1950’s television and consumer culture? (Hint: Lipsitz will be helpful to this discussion...)

Finally, be sure to review the prompts for the first essay before section, and bring any questions you have about them to section. 

Happy reading,

Josh

PS: Did anyone recognize Mama from a more famous movie role?

Amos 'n' Andy

Based on Thomas Cripps’ article and your viewing of Amos ’n’ Andy this Thursday, how did the television show portray middle class African Americans?  Discuss why the sitcom became the center of a hot public debate as well as the arguments offered by each side.  

On Liveness

What are some of the advantages of live television and why do you think it was the prevailing format during TV's first decade?  What are its disadvantages?  How is "liveness" (or the illusion thereof) used by TV today?

Consumerist Morals

What does George Lipsitz mean when he suggests that working class ethnic sitcoms of the 1950s put the borrowed moral capital of the past at the service of the values of the present?  Based on his essay and your viewings this Thursday, how did these sitcoms demonstrate how "wise choices enabled consumers to have both moral and material rewards"?  

Mugging for America - Section Prompt Sept. 18

Section Prompt September 18

Hello!

Here are some questions I’d like to you think about while you prepare for section this week:

1. What are some key ways that our readings so far have shown the ways that early TV was integrated into the social fabric of American life in the 40’s and 50’s, especially in the home and in relation to gender norms? (clue: Spigel and Mann will help you a lot with this question)
2. What was happening in this moment in American history that influenced the development of TV networks and programming? (clue: think about commercialism and business interests)
3. What did you notice in our screenings so far that reflects the historical and social context of the time? Do these screenings connect/relate to any contemporary TV shows that you watch? 
4. What techniques for engaging the audience did you notice in the screenings this week? How were they similar or different from Hollywood/filmic conventions? (clue: lecture and Hilmes could supplement your own observations here)

I am looking forward to seeing you all in section this Wednesday!

Cheers,

Josh

Window on the World

How was television figured as a “window on the world” during the period of 1948-1955, according to Lynn Spigel?  Do you think television fulfills (or is portrayed as fulfilling) a similar role today? 

Clues from the Past

In the last paragraph of Lynn Spigel’s “Installing the Television Set,” Spigel quotes historian Carlo Ginzburg, who writes: “Reality is opaque; but there are certain points—clues, signs—which allow us to decipher it.”  Why do you think Spigel closes her analysis of post-war television’s role in American domestic spaces with this quote?  How does she describe her historical approach/methodology? What types of “traces” of the past does she examine in this essay and how does she use them?  Do you agree with her approach to history?

First Section Assignment

Students! Welcome to your SAC 355 TV History discussion section blog! Each week you should check out this blog where I will post a prompt for what to prepare for section. These prompts will be posted no later than Monday at noon each week. Please be sure to check them, as completion of these tasks will count towards your participation grade.

For our first section on September 11, please bring the following:

1. Your completed question sheet from last week’s screening of A Face in the Crowd - be ready to discuss your thoughts at the end of section. Don’t worry if you didn’t get something filled out for every question: I’m looking to see you engage, not try to find every answer. 
2. The following three pieces of information for our ice breaker: 
1. Your favourite TV show of all time
2. A TV show that you think had great social impact
3. A TV show that you think helped change the shape of TV technological or generic conventions 

Thanks everyone! I am very excited to see you in section and get this semester rolling.

Josh

SAC 355: American Television History

SAC 355 offers an historical survey of American television from the late 1940s to today.  Taking a cultural approach to the subject, this course examines shifts in television portrayals, genres, narrative structures, and aesthetics in relation to social and cultural trends as well as changing industrial practices.  Reading television programs from the past eight decades critically, we interrogate various representations of consumerism, class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, lifestyle, and nation in the smaller screen while also tracing issues surrounding broadcasting policy, censorship, sponsorship, business, and programming.