Understanding Television 1601 Full Midterm Guide and Lecture Notes
8 overall ideas -
1. National -> consensus
2. Advertising -> commercialisation -> Radio format and Magazine format
3. Stars
4. Gender -> Leisure / Work
5. TV format/genre
6. Race/Class
7. Ideology -> encoding/decoding
8. Media
Murray, “Radio and the Saliency of a Broadcast Star System”;
Mid 1950’s - TV becomes national
New York-centred media apparatus
⁃ increase in consumerism
⁃ atmosphere in need of regulation
⁃ nationalisation - NBC - CBS - a national consensus
⁃ a new national consensus - a new culture/attitude - ends up allowing for
commercialisation and advertising
⁃ moments of the highest tension are moments where these two things are
not perfectly aligned
⁃ tensions spill out into something else
⁃ this is how you produce a culture and the very basis of tv as technology
⁃ development of indirect advertising
⁃ moments of plugging in a product - a singular product and one sponsor -
throughout the episode, coming in and out = radio format
⁃ magazine format = minute long ads that break up the show
⁃ we moved from radio format to magazine format = your show relied upon
the stability provided from a singular sponsor, now you have to gain numerous
new sponsors and risk instability
⁃ you don’t have national tv yet - especially not in rural markets and people
of the lower class
⁃ stars = become bigger than the show
⁃ your show can get an audience based on one star
⁃ stars might not transition from radio to tv too well = people became their
fans bc of radio and then didn’t like them on tv
Spigel, “Women’s Work”
⁃ Labor / Leisure
⁃ https://muse.jhu.edu/article/365354
⁃ television as a site of ideological division between family unity and
division
⁃ men = labor; women = leisure
, ⁃ daytime tv centred around shows that are based around domesticity,
implying women are home doing domestic tasks and watching
⁃ example: the today show - the show is not tailored to an individual
sponsor, but different sponsors that serve the purpose of a particular segment
(cooking, cleaning, etc.)
⁃ division of sex roles/gender roles = kitchen is the woman’s space,
basement is the man cave, etc.
⁃ tv = stationary, not movable like our phones or laptops = domesticated
⁃ tv can reach into our homes, intruding upon our personal space
⁃ men in the home adapt inactive poses - on the couch, reading a magazine
⁃ women adapt active poses - vacuuming, cooking, etc.
screenings for these readings: I Love Lucy, “Job Switching; Clips from The Dick
Van Dyke Show, The Goldbergs
I Love Lucy
⁃ Lucy wants to get a job and wants her husband, who thinks it’s easy to
cook and clean to stay at home and do those chores
⁃ quickly finds out she does not have any good job skill and cannot even
work at the chocolate factory
⁃ her husband cannot complete one home task
⁃ typical family stereotype: woman cooks and cleans while husband goes to
work and makes money for the family (breadwinner)
⁃ ultimately succumbs to the stereotype and realizes she’s better as a
housewife
⁃ humour from her not being able to wrap chocolate properly and husband
struggling at home making a mess
The Goldbergs
⁃ white family sitcom
⁃ not too unrealistic or overly dramatised
⁃ again, stereotypes with mom taking care of her “perfect children” and
dad making money
⁃ each episode has a strong realism moment - shows a clip from Goldberg’s
family video, which the episode was loosely based on
⁃ done for the comedic and dramatic effect but results in added realism of
the sitcom
⁃ initial appeal of the show: “80’s nostalgia, childhood memories”
The Dick Van Dyke Show
⁃ a comedy family sitcom designed to show what happens when Daddy
goes to work
⁃ lead actor is a stereotype of a working man - suit and tie, goes to work,
makes money for the family, college-educated
⁃ wife breaks stereotype by wearing capri pants around the house instead
of dresses, which was expected
Chayefsky, “Author’s Note”;
8 overall ideas -
1. National -> consensus
2. Advertising -> commercialisation -> Radio format and Magazine format
3. Stars
4. Gender -> Leisure / Work
5. TV format/genre
6. Race/Class
7. Ideology -> encoding/decoding
8. Media
Murray, “Radio and the Saliency of a Broadcast Star System”;
Mid 1950’s - TV becomes national
New York-centred media apparatus
⁃ increase in consumerism
⁃ atmosphere in need of regulation
⁃ nationalisation - NBC - CBS - a national consensus
⁃ a new national consensus - a new culture/attitude - ends up allowing for
commercialisation and advertising
⁃ moments of the highest tension are moments where these two things are
not perfectly aligned
⁃ tensions spill out into something else
⁃ this is how you produce a culture and the very basis of tv as technology
⁃ development of indirect advertising
⁃ moments of plugging in a product - a singular product and one sponsor -
throughout the episode, coming in and out = radio format
⁃ magazine format = minute long ads that break up the show
⁃ we moved from radio format to magazine format = your show relied upon
the stability provided from a singular sponsor, now you have to gain numerous
new sponsors and risk instability
⁃ you don’t have national tv yet - especially not in rural markets and people
of the lower class
⁃ stars = become bigger than the show
⁃ your show can get an audience based on one star
⁃ stars might not transition from radio to tv too well = people became their
fans bc of radio and then didn’t like them on tv
Spigel, “Women’s Work”
⁃ Labor / Leisure
⁃ https://muse.jhu.edu/article/365354
⁃ television as a site of ideological division between family unity and
division
⁃ men = labor; women = leisure
, ⁃ daytime tv centred around shows that are based around domesticity,
implying women are home doing domestic tasks and watching
⁃ example: the today show - the show is not tailored to an individual
sponsor, but different sponsors that serve the purpose of a particular segment
(cooking, cleaning, etc.)
⁃ division of sex roles/gender roles = kitchen is the woman’s space,
basement is the man cave, etc.
⁃ tv = stationary, not movable like our phones or laptops = domesticated
⁃ tv can reach into our homes, intruding upon our personal space
⁃ men in the home adapt inactive poses - on the couch, reading a magazine
⁃ women adapt active poses - vacuuming, cooking, etc.
screenings for these readings: I Love Lucy, “Job Switching; Clips from The Dick
Van Dyke Show, The Goldbergs
I Love Lucy
⁃ Lucy wants to get a job and wants her husband, who thinks it’s easy to
cook and clean to stay at home and do those chores
⁃ quickly finds out she does not have any good job skill and cannot even
work at the chocolate factory
⁃ her husband cannot complete one home task
⁃ typical family stereotype: woman cooks and cleans while husband goes to
work and makes money for the family (breadwinner)
⁃ ultimately succumbs to the stereotype and realizes she’s better as a
housewife
⁃ humour from her not being able to wrap chocolate properly and husband
struggling at home making a mess
The Goldbergs
⁃ white family sitcom
⁃ not too unrealistic or overly dramatised
⁃ again, stereotypes with mom taking care of her “perfect children” and
dad making money
⁃ each episode has a strong realism moment - shows a clip from Goldberg’s
family video, which the episode was loosely based on
⁃ done for the comedic and dramatic effect but results in added realism of
the sitcom
⁃ initial appeal of the show: “80’s nostalgia, childhood memories”
The Dick Van Dyke Show
⁃ a comedy family sitcom designed to show what happens when Daddy
goes to work
⁃ lead actor is a stereotype of a working man - suit and tie, goes to work,
makes money for the family, college-educated
⁃ wife breaks stereotype by wearing capri pants around the house instead
of dresses, which was expected
Chayefsky, “Author’s Note”;
