Inspired by a real Jeopardy episode’s jokey category title, this week Jonathan and Steve discuss a hypothetical: what if The DuMont Network had survived past 1956? What would the channel have presented? Would we associate the NFL and DuMont like peanut and jelly? If it did survive for decades, what would its streaming service be showing us today?
In this episode Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan discuss the often forgotten DuMont television network. Innovative, with stations in key east coast major markets, the DuMont network was ultimately done in by a combination of forces — the least of which being its uncooperative partner, Paramount Studios. Join us as we discuss DuMont and its legacy upon others’ later attempts at establishing a fourth network.
This week join Jonathan as he discusses a famous example of politicians using television for marathon “sales” pitches (for themselves) – Thomas E. Dewey’s 1950 usage of the then-new medium of television.
This week join Steve as he leads Jonathan through a discussion of representations of The Myth of the Lost Cause on 1960s U.S. television. Shows discussed include: Dennis the Menace, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, The Americans, and The Rebel.
his week Steve, Andrew and Jonathan discuss the thinking behind CBS’s 1960s Rural Purge. Why did it happen? What types of content followed it? What does “the great man of history” have to do with it all? Was that the last time rural depictions ever graced the Tiffany network? So, give up your city livin’, grab a pitchfork, and don’t mind Uncle Joe (he’s just movin’ kinda slow) and join us down at the junction of 1960s ratings, demographics, and the network’s interpretation of Marshall McLuhan.
This week join Jonathan for a short topic on television female protagonists and when they’ve led or co-starred in a show that also featured a prominent vehicle. More importantly, why aren’t there more examples?
Two years later, Dr. Emil Steiner (Rowan University) returns to the program to discuss binge-watching with Jonathan and Steve. Whereas last time we primarily discussed sports documentaries, this time it is today’s popular mode of viewership, binge-watching – which is also the subject of Dr. Steiner’s new book Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution (McFarland).
This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they delve into one of Steve’s favorite subjects – the flow of TV. We discuss Raymond Williams, the traditional TV programming grid, the effect of DVRs, and the resurgence of in-program product placement. Plus, what the heck does Andy Griffith have to do with it all? [clue – Steve knows].
On this week’s mini-episode Jonathan discusses the current state of podcasts and how it connects to the pre-history of radio over one-hundred years ago.
Join us as Steve and Jonathan continue their conversation with Dr. Craig Coenen about the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss. Where does the mini-series fall within the context of Americans’ understanding of the Jewish Holocaust? How was the mini-series received? How does the late-1970s network context of big, prestige mini-series play into its creation? All this and a lot more in Part 01 of this two-part podcast story.