Prime Time Prime Movers: from I Love Lucy to L.A. Law -America's Greatest TV Shows and the People Who Created Them - Hardcover

Marc, David; Thompson, Robert J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316545899 ISBN 13: 9780316545891

Publisher: Little, Brown US, 1992

Synopsis

This is a guide to the most important creators of big-time TV over the past 45 years. For dominant performers like Jackie Gleason and Carol Burnett to powerhouse producers like Norman Lear and Stephen Bocho, the book reviews the style, story and impact makers of prime-time TV and their influence on the largest industry of all the mass media. Covering the old-time variety shows and sit-coms, the book's cast of characters includes Milton Berle, Jack Webb and Red Skelton.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Television is the most maligned of the modern media. Critics and even viewers casually call it the "boob tube" or the "idiot box" or even "bubble gum for the eyes". But in the hands of certain individuals it can become a creative canvas, a dramatic art that opens a distinctive window on our culture. There is a growing argument--an auteur theory--that despite all the commercial constraints, the television producer is capable of using TV as a medium of personal expression. Prime Time, Prime Movers is an entertaining and informative guide to the major creators of televisual art who have emerged over the past forty-five years. From dominant performers such as Jackie Gleason and Carol Burnett to powerhouse producers such as Norman Lear and Steven Bochco, it reviews the stories and styles of the most important architects of the airwaves. Milton Berle brought a "hellzapoppin'" vaudeville aesthetic to TV. Gleason used it as an autobiographical medium. Red Skelton was the classic clown from the heartland. Paul Henning, who created, wrote, and produced The Beverly Hillbillies, was himself a kid from Missouri who grew up to become a millionaire in Los Angeles. Norman Lear modeled Archie Bunker after his own cantankerous father. Steven Bochco productions, such as Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, made TV watching respectable for yuppies. Authors David Marc and Robert J. Thompson are the most outspoken proponents of the auteur argument. Covering a broad spectrum of TV programming formats, from old-time variety shows to sitcoms, from action/adventure shows to documentaries, from gameshows to soap operas, they challenge the tastes and interests of television viewers--a group roughly equivalent to theAmerican population at large.

About the Author:

David Marc is a writer and editor who teaches at Syracuse University and Le Moyne College. He is the author of "Demographic Vist"as (1984; 1996), "Comic Visions" (1989; Blackwell, 1997) and "Bonfire of the Humanities" (1995).

Robert J. Thompson is a Professor at Syracuse University, where he heads the Center for the Study of Popular Television at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His books include "Adventures on Prime Time" (1990) and "Television's Second Golden Age" (1996).

ROBERT J. THOMPSON is an Associate Professor at the State University of New York, at Cortland.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown US
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0316545899
• ISBN 13: 9780316545891
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304