WCC-LUTHER COMM 101 Chapter #8 TV Focus

1. Chapter 8
Television, Cable, and
Mobile Video

2. Television, Cable, and Mobile
Video
• Our textbook offers information about the
history and technology involved with
television, cable, and mobile video and is
covered in quiz material
• We’ll be spending our class time looking at
some examples of groundbreaking TV and
how it’s made and also talking about
examples of our own

3. Norman Lear-TV Pioneer
•Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and
producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family,
Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good
Times, and Maude. As a political activist, he founded the
advocacy organization People for the American Way in 1981
and has supported First Amendment rights and progressive
causes. Lear’s shows were known for directly dealing with social
and political issues of the day.
•TV in the 70’s was also where we see children’s education,
cable tv, and extensive television sports coverage become
major parts of the culture.
• TV in the 70’s also brings us groundbreaking programming like
the mini-series ROOTS which portrayed the history of slavery in
this country. ROOTS proved viewers would tune in even if the
subject matter was potentially upsetting and “real”
•THE 70’s: TELEVISION GETS REAL

4. THE 70’s: TELEVISION GETS REAL
•STUDY FOCUS QUESTION:
• We've seen some examples of the impact of TV on culture,
so now give us one brief example of how Television has
been important in your own life and why; consider
television shows you loved, television events you witnessed,
the way you’ve bonded with others over television, how
television changed your mind about something, etc.

5. Impactful Television
• 50’s sitcom “I LOVE LUCY” was impactful in many ways:
• The first to use a 3-camera setup so they could shoot
angles and close-ups simultaneously. Traditional sitcoms
are still shot this way to this day.
• The first to have an inter-cultural couple as the stars –
Desi Arnaz was Cuban and the network didn’t want him
cast as her husband Ricky (even though he was her real-
life husband) because they feared viewers would have
difficulty accepting the Cuban Arnaz as the husband of
the all-American redhead.

6. Impactful Television
• 50’s sitcom “I LOVE LUCY” was impactful in many ways:
• I LOVE LUCY was one of the first sitcoms to feature
an on-screen pregnancy as part of the plot, but CBS
would not allow the use of the word “pregnant” so
“expecting” was used instead. Additionally, each
episode about Lucy’s pregnancy had to be reviewed
by a minister, priest and rabbi in order to ensure that
they weren’t offensive to the television audience.
• The episode in which Lucy gives birth, "Lucy Goes to
the Hospital“, was watched by 44 million people,
more than any other television program up to that
time, with 71.7% of all American television sets
tuned in, topping the 67.7 rating for the presidential
inauguration coverage the following morning.

7. Impactful Television
• FIRST ON-SCREEN TOILET:
• 1957 – Leave it to Beaver (just the tank)
• FIRST LIVE 24-HOUR NEWS COVERAGE:
• 1963 - The assassination of President John F. Kennedy
• FIRST BLACK ACTOR IN A STARRING ROLE:
• 1965 – Bill Cosby, I SPY
• FIRST PRIME-TIME ANIMATED SERIES:
• 1966 – The Flintstones
• FIRST TIME THE WORD “HELL” IS SPOKEN ON TV:
• 1967 – Star Trek “City on the Edge of Forever”

8. Impactful Television
• FIRST INTERRACIAL KISS:
• 1968 – Star Trek (Kirk & Uhura)
• FIRST REALITY TV SHOW:
• 1973: An American Family (PBS)
• FIRST TIME RAP/HIP-HOP IS ON TV:
• 1981 – American Bandstand; Sugar Hill Gang
performs “Rapper’s Delight”
• FIRST TIME A CHARACTER WITH DOWN SYNDROME IS
A MAJOR CHARACTER ON TV:
• 1989 – Life Goes On
• FIRST GAY/LESBIAN KISS ON TV:
• 1991 – L.A. LAW

9. Impactful Television
• 1990’s – TV brings the topic of oral sex into people’s
living rooms amidst coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky
scandal
• 2003 – The invasion of Iraq involved unprecedented
U.S. media coverage, especially cable news networks.
The coverage itself became a source of controversy, as
media outlets were accused of pro-war bias, reporters
were casualties of both Iraqi and American gunfire,
and claims of censorship and propaganda became
widespread
• 2004 – The Super Bowl halftime show provides the
setting for Janet Jackson’s performance and her
bejeweled nipple

10. Impactful Television
• Moon Landing: 8/20/69 –
• 600 million people worldwide watched this historic event
live
• 9/11: September 11, 2001 –
• Impossible to know how many watched it live as it was
being shown so many different places – but the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center is the most
memorable moment shared by television viewers during the last
50 years, according to a recent study by Nielsen Ratings.
• Capital Riot: January 6, 2021 –
• Again, it is impossible to know how many watched it live
but the images resonated around the world and deeply
impacted all who saw them.

11. Impactful Television
• The Oscar Slap – 3/27/22
• What kind of cultural discussion topics came up after
this incident?

12. MASS MEDIA AS SOCIETY’S “NERVOUS
SYSTEM”
• The nervous system is a
complex network of nerves
and cells that carry messages
to and from the brain and
spinal cord to the body.
• Mass Media is a complex
network of technologies that
carry messages to and from
the brain to and from
various parts of society.

13. Impactful Television
•The impact of Television on culture was and
is magnified by several factors:
• The EXPOSURE of Television – for much of
the viewing audience, television provides
their formative exposure to cultures and
societies beyond their own.
• The EDUCATION of Television – for much of
the viewing audience, television provides the
basis for much of what we think and know
about the world and ourselves.
• TV = REPRESENTATION = REALITY

14. Behind The Scenes:

15. Behind The Scenes:
• “Showrunners” is the first ever feature length
documentary film to explore the fascinating world of U.S.
Television Showrunners and the creative forces aligned
around them. These are the people responsible for
creating, writing and overseeing every element of
production on one of the United State’s biggest exports –
television drama and comedy series.
• Often described as the most complex job in the
entertainment business, a Showrunner is the chief writer /
producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s
creator. Battling daily between art and commerce,
Showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s
development and production: creative, financial and
logistical.