Primary Contributions (1)
Television in the United States, the body of television programming created and broadcast in the United States. American TV programs, like American popular culture in general in the 20th and early 21st centuries, have spread far beyond the boundaries of the United States and have had a pervasive…
READ MORE
Publications (2)
Television's Second Golden Age From Hill Street Blues to ER (October 1997)
By Robert J. Thompson
Fans of 'quality TV drama series' will have a field day with Syracuse University professor Thompson's multidisciplinary examination of 'the return of the seri-ous, literary, writer-based drama' over the past 15 years. Allotting full chapters to breakthrough series Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, Thompson reviews a bit more briefly the histories of 1980s classics Cagney & Lacey, Moonlighting, L.A. Law, thirtysomething, and China Beach and their 'quirky' 1990s successors Twin Peaks, Northern...
Prime Time, Prime Movers From I Love Lucy to L.A. Law—America's Greatest TV Shows and the People Who Created Them (June 1995)
By David Marc, Robert J. Thompson
From dominant performers such as Jackie Gleason and Carol Burnett to powerhouse producers such as Norman Lear and Steven Bochco, this book 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...
READ MORE
