Television in the United States: Media
broadcasting
Videos
A 1954 episode of The Buick-Berle Show (1953â55) featuring star Milton Berle...
Video: Public Domain video
An episode from the pioneering television game show You Bet Your Life (1950â61),...
Video: Public Domain video
âThe Honeymooners,â a 1951 sketch from Cavalcade of Stars, evolved into...
Video: Public Domain video
A 1963 episode of the classic rural comedy The Andy Griffith Show (1960â68).
Video: Public Domain video
The first episode of the television comedy The Beverly Hillbillies (1962â71).
Video: Public Domain video
A clip from a 1967 episode of The Lucy Show (1962â68) featuring star Lucille...
Video: Public Domain video
Images
A mother watching television with her children, c. 1950s.
© H. Armstrong RobertsâRetrofile RF/Getty Images
American comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen, 1952.
CBS Television
Buddy Holly on an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show, January 26, 1958.
© Steve OrozâMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Actors Jay Silverheels (left) as Tonto and Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger in The...
American Broadcasting Company
(From left to right) Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, and Joyce Randolph...
Paramount PicturesâArchive Photos/Getty Images
U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy (center) during an investigation into alleged communist...
© APAâHulton Archive/Getty Images
Ken Curtis (left) in the role of Festus Haggen and James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon...
© Columbia Broadcasting System
(Clockwise from far left) Jerry Mathers, Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, and...
© American Broadcasting Company
Host Jack Barry standing at the podium while contestant Charles Van Doren (right)...
NBC Television/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Robert Stack in the role of Eliot Ness in a scene from the television series The...
© American Broadcasting Company
Richard Nixon (left) and John F. Kennedy during a live television broadcast of their...
© Hulton ArchiveâArchive Photos/Getty Images
(From left) Ron Howard as Opie, Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee, and Andy Griffith as...
© Columbia Broadcasting System
Alfred Hitchcock's talent as both filmmaker and storyteller is abundantly evident...
BaronâHulton Archive/Getty Images
(From left) Pernell Roberts, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, and Lorne Greene, the stars...
© National Broadcasting Company
Big Bird reading a storybook during a taping of Sesame Street, 2008.
Mark Lennihan/AP Images
(Clockwise from top right) Carroll O'Connor, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, and Jean...
© Columbia Broadcasting System
(From left) Actors McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers, Gary Burghoff, and Alan Alda in...
© Columbia Broadcasting System
Cicely Tyson (left) and Maya Angelou (right) in a scene from the 1977 television...
RGR Collection/Alamy
Ted Turner being interviewed at the Cable News Network (CNN) studio in Atlanta, June...
Cynthia JohnsonâHulton Archive/Getty Images
Michael Jackson dancing in the music video for âBillie Jean,â which debuted on MTV...
Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock.com
The cast of The Cosby Show: (standing, from left) Bill Cosby and Phylicia...
© NBCUniversal
(From left) Michael Conrad, Veronica Hamel, and Daniel J. Travanti, stars of the...
© National Broadcasting Company
Cast members of The Sopranos: (from left) Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt,...
© 1999 HBO
(From left) Steve Kanaly, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes,...
© Columbia Broadcasting System
Bette Midler kissing Johnny Carson during his penultimate appearance as the host...
Courtesy of Carson Entertainment
Actor Alec Baldwin (left) and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne.
PRNewsFoto/Turner Classic Movies/AP Images
Scene from the television series Seinfeld, with actors (from left) Jason...
© Castle Rock Entertainment; all rights reserved
The Simpsonsâ(from left) Lisa, Maggie, Marge, Homer, and Bartâfleeing Springfield...
The Simpsons TM and © 2007 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in the television series Sex and the...
© Home Box Office