Prime-time Television

Television is a unique medium in that both its dramas and its comedies have the ability to tell their stories over real time, with characters developing over years rather than just the two hours allowed in a movie or the few hundred pages of a book. Despite this, very few authors have attempted to look at television from this vantage point. "Prime-Time Television" provides an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of television. The focus here is on programming: the shows, their producers, the genres, the trends, and the influences. No one interested in the questions of why the programmes look the way they do, why they are scheduled as they are, why some shows air while others are cancelled, and what has shaped and influenced the shows we see, will want to be without it. The chapters are organised chronologically, beginning with an examination of radio's influence on early television, and cover all major developments - technological, aesthetic, and to some extent cultural - in the medium. Meanwhile, concise sidebars cover specific topics, such as the quiz show scandals, and the introduction of the three-camera filmed sitcom with "I Love Lucy", a model that has remained the standard for over 50 years.