This week join Jonathan and Steve in conversation with fellow academic, David Brokaw to discuss his new book, Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream. We discuss the false dichotomy between “good writing” and “bad television” during the 1950s, the psychology of advertising within 1950s culture, the effect Rod Serling’s service during World War II had on his later writing, and where Twilight Zone-style social commentary can and can’t be found today.
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 Jonathan as he discusses the origin of the television remote control, how it worked and works, and […]
This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they discuss the early show trials of McCarthyism and how quickly US […]
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