American Television New Directions in History and Theory

This work brings together writings on television published in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, from essays by Nick Browne and Beverle Houston to the latest historical and critical research. It considers television's economics, technologies, forms and audiences from a cultural perspective that links history, theory and criticism. The authors address several key issues: the formative period in American television history; the relation between television's political economy and its cultural forms; gender and melodrama; and new technologies such as video games and camcorders. Originally published in 1993.

Introduction Part 1: The Establishment of American Television: Industrial Organization and Social Meaning in the 1950s 1. The Rise of the Telefilm and the Network’s Hegemony Over the Motion Picture Industry Robert Vianello 2. Failed Opportunities: The Integration of the US Motion Picture and Television Industries Douglas Gomery 3. The Meaning of Memory: Family, Class, and Ethnicity in Early Network Television George Lipsitz Part 2: Cultural Theory and Network Television: Mapping Economy and Subjectivity 4. The Political Economy of the Television (Super) Text Nick Browne 5. Viewing Television: The Metapsychology of Endless Consumption Beverle Houston 6. TV Through the Looking Glass Thomas Elsaesser Part 3: Television Formats and the Inscription of Gender 7. Speculations on the Relationship Between Soap Opera and Melodrama Christine Gledhill 8. The Return of the Unrepressed: Male Desire, Gender, and Genre Robert Deming 9. On Commuting Between Television Fiction and Real Life Elihu Katz, Tamar Liebes and Lili Berko Part 4: Video Transformations: Gaming, Pictorialization, Surveillance 10. Performing Style: Industrial Strength Semiotics and the Basic Televisual Apparatus John Caldwell 11. Surveying the Surveilled: Video, Space and Subjectivity Lili Berko 12. Playing with Power on Saturday Morning Television and on Home Video Games Marsha Kinder

Nick Browne