A History of U.S. Television as Told by an Unrepentant Viewer

Since 1946, American television has been a cultural phenomenon that has given us a window into the great events of the world and brought high and low culture and serious and silly entertainment to us all. While it has been decried as “Vast Wasteland,” there is no doubt it has both influenced and been influenced by the country that created it.

In its early “Golden Age” of Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, and Lucille Ball it borrowed both the genius and foolishness of radio, vaudeville, and the movies. The 50s kids’ shows that trained the Baby Boomers went from the banality of Rinky Dink and You to the genius of Mr. Wizard. Westerns, steeped in the “Cowboy and Gunfighter” mythology dominated the 50s and early 60s but were outgunned and replaced by silly rural comedies like The Beverly Hillbillies and influential doctor shows such as Ben Casey and Marcus Welby M.D. The profound cultural changes of the 60s and 70s were reflected in the provocative and seriocomic M*A*S*H and Norman Lear comedies of the 70s.  With extensive use of vintage videos, this course will review the invention of television, some, but not all, of the many low and high points of its first four decades, and how it has profoundly affected its viewers.