Television was invented in the late 1920’s however it was not popularized until the age of consumerism in the 1950’s. During that time television programs were basically experimental. The new medium allowed for creative thinkers to broadcast their ideas to a nationwide audience for the first time. It also allows advertisers to reach these nation wide  audiences in between programs. Essentially, television was a tool used to sell products during the age of consumerism and conformity. Previously, visual entertainment was only available through attending a theater or other live performances. Advertisements were only seen in newspapers or were received through the radio. Television changed the way we consume entertainment and advertisements. 

One of the most impactful influences in the medium was Rod Serling.

Before watching the piece in class on Serling, I had only known him as the man who hosted The Twilight Zone. I have watched a variety of episodes from the classic series beforehand, and I always thought they contained timeless themes that dealt with qualities that differentiate humans from beasts. Regardless of how dated the show was, I still thought the themes of ethics, moral concepts, and mortality were universal and still relevant today. It is not uncommon for creative minds like Rod Serling to believe the work they produce is worthless or not well done. For example, Van Gogh did not sell a single painting during his lifetime and suffered from a plethora of mental illnesses; but he is one of the most iconic painters of all time. With Serling, who originally began writing to deal with the trauma of being a war veteran, I sympathize heavily with his story. For creative minds, the best work originates from the darkest places. He had so much success from the series because his stories were well thought out and contained relatable tales of death and misfortune. His downfall came when he was overworked and practically burning the candle from both ends. As a writer, he felt that he had to constantly prove that he was a master of his time. To simply have a handful of successes was not enough, he needed to confirm that his best was not behind him. Rod Serling was one of the most influential minds in the history of television, The Twilight Zone is the timeless work of a genius and went on to inspire horror films and other thought provoking television shows. 

The popular television shows of the 1970’s were created as a direct response to social issues that presented themselves in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. More women began to enter the workforce in the 70’s. It had been an uncommon occurrence for a woman who was not single to work since World War II. The Mary Tyler Moore Show complimented this social shift by showcasing a single woman, who lived alone, with a job that kept her financially independent. 

Shows like The Jeffersons or Good Times were a direct response to the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s. The United States citizens needed to realize that the African Americans they live amongst deal with the same problems and experience the same joys as White Americans. Some groups such as the Black Panthers, critiqued the show Good Times because it was based on the stereotype that all African American families were poor and resided in the projects of urban cities. 

Television shows from the 70’s dealt with controversial topics in a situational comedy format, so that it was easy for the everyday American to digest. 

In 1927, a wooden box with a black and white screen gave birth to the television. The first picture and sound amazed audiences and advanced us into a new age. Television is a unique creative art form and a delivering device for consumerism. Prior to the radio and before other advancements in technology, TV was one of the main influences on the American public. Americans tuned in daily to television to receive important updates and information from news broadcasts. The news topics could vary from local to national headlines and change by the day. In the 1970’s, television was at a turning point. Hit shows such as M*A*S*H, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angels,The Jeffersons and many more shows alike would captured massive audiences. These shows would relate and reflect important political stances or social issues in the 70’s. The shows inspired people and also informed certain individuals on perspectives they were unaware too.

Throughout this week, we also discussed and observed the career of Rod Serling. Rod was born on December 25,1924 in Syracuse New York. As a young man, Serling served in the United States Army and fought in World War II. After his service, Rod was attracted to the elements of writing live television scripts. Rod was a screenwriter, television producer, and narrator. He loved the idea of creating characters and giving them certain attributes depending on the story line. I believe two of his greatest accomplishments were Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone. Playhouse 90 was a television drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1961. One of the most popular episodes that every aired was Requiem for a Heavyweight. The TV drama encapsulate the fall of a professional boxer and his journey after fighting. The boxer played by Anthony Quinn, struggles to adjust to life after boxing and feels lost and betrayed by the real world. The only man that sticks by his side through thick and thin is his trainer Mickey Rooney. Mickey guides the boxer threw his new life and helps him adjust accordingly. Serling’s other successful television series was The Twilight Zone. The Twilight Zone aired from 1959 to 1964 and shocked the world for 5 seasons. The episodes had a strange mixture of horror, science-fiction, drama, realism, and superstition. The first episode aired was called “Where Is Everybody?”. The episode started Earl Holliman, who was stranded and isolated in a town all by himself. There is evidence that shows people were recently there but he can’t find anyone. He starts to panic and lose his mind in a way. In the end, the audience finds out it is a governmental space program testing the effects of isolation on the mind in space. This ending shocked viewers and opened a whole new era of entertainment to Serling. Rod Serling was a fantastic writer of his time but was extremely self-conscious. Towards the end of his life, he found that his actually work did not amount to much and was too hard on himself. In my opinion, Serling was an extremely gifted writer and had an amazing natural talent in this field. He died of a heart attack on June 28, 1975. Serling left this world too young, but his incredible work within television will never be forgotten.

This week in class, we started to discuss how television was broadcasted. The 1970’s was when all sorts of different shows were introduced. Roots became one of the first shows depicting an all black cast of actors, representing the way life was when the main character was taken and sold into slavery, eventually making his way to America. Other shows that came out were M*A*S*H, Happy Days, The Partridge Family and more. This was the decade where sitcoms were introduced, setting time aside to watch the family’s favorite show together. Saturday Night Live was introduced in this decade as well. The show broadcasted improv actors performing multiple skits making fun of real life events, or simply original skits to performed at that time. With the Vietnam War going on in this time period, Americans looked for an escape and found it through TV. M*A*S*H was a show that depicted the Korean War in a more humorous sense and became a hit instantly.

Another big part of the 1970’s and television was the involvement of Rod Serling and his use of screenwriting and more. He often portrayed ideas to the public that were seen as political but also controversial. His ideas included shows that included racism, censorship, war and more. One of his famous tv shows was The Twilight Zone, a science-fiction tv series. Rod was a WWII veteran and often portrayed what he experienced through his screenwrites. His involvement in WWII however, took a negative toll on himself. He often had nightmares and flashbacks of his time in the war. It was said that it kept happening up until his death. Rod’s career had tremendous accomplishment though. He was the winner of six Emmy awards, and even helped write roughly 250 scripts for screenplays and shows.

In today’s society, everyone waits until the weekend to go out, party with friends and enjoy societal events. Back in the 70’s, people waited until the weekend for something more simple: To watch the new episode of their favorite show with their families. This was a time where a different style of tv was broadcasted compared to previous years. It became more cutting-edge, in the sense that people weren’t used to shows that showed political events of current and past times. Women got more involved. The Mary Tyler Moore Show showed a single woman as the star of the show, struggling in the workplace. The Walton’s was show that depicted how days were during the Great Depression. TV used to be really simple and not so controversial. The 70’s showed that it’s okay to broadcast events that happened in real life whether they were good or bad.

Jason Berardicurti

TV has been used throughout history but many people would debate that TV in the 70’s was an all time high. There was a Saturday night line up so good that it kept people staying inside binging TV instead of going out. Historical shows like All In The Family, Happy Days, M*A*S*H among others brought in watchers.

Archie Bunker was a character that broke stereo types, he used language that wasn’t appropriate and that would never be shown nowadays. Racist remarks were shown in the show. On some stations the show is still being screened which I’m almost surprised considering how sensitive Americans are to what is on TV. I think that is what drew in so many watchers. Mary Tyler Moore Show drew in watchers because it was a show with female writers staring females. It talked about more taboo stuff similar to how All in the family.

Happy Days broke away instead of talking about divorce. There was more happy things and it showed a happy family. Shows that featured families gave watchers something to watch and relate to.

Charlies angels brought in viewers because of the attractive females. There was just enough sexy while not going too overboard for TV. M*A*S*H was a cinematic sitcom about war which was something that had not been shown because it still had heart even though it was about war. It had emotions and comedy and everything needed to make a great TV show.

TV in the 70’s was a glorious time and so many people would agree. Monday Night Football arouse bringing in viewers to watch sports for entertainment. It wasn’t just a sport for dudes, the whole family could watch and enjoy. During this time there was a peak on broadcasting children shows too. PBS had breakthrough shows including Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. I grew up watching these shows even though they were from the 70’s. I think it is important to point out the impact that TV in the 70’s had because I have heard of many TV shows that aired in the 70’s. My parent’s still watch All In The Family. I have heard many Charlie’s Angels references even though the show was before my time. There is no doubt in my mind that the 70’s were an extremely influential period for TV in history!

This week our focus was on television and I find it fascinating how much has changed about our society in such a short amount of time. Simply the dynamic of television and media in general in a household has changed dramatically. What used to be about bringing family and friends together seems to now separate us more than ever. For example, in the episode of The Seventies that we watched, we learned about a family hour and Saturday Night Live, I think it is so interesting to see how people lived their lives around these airings of shows. 

To go off of that, we learned about how the government wanted to monitor family hour, claiming that Television could not show certain things prior to what they deemed an appropriate time. I think it is interesting about how angry this made both the consumer as well as Hollywood, what’s even more interesting is how now are media seems to control us even more, yet we don’t seem to care about these effects. 

In my art history discussion this week we always referenced the use of television, however, from the point of view of an artist. We talked about how in the later 60s, and early 70s broadcast networks would allow the artist to play around in their television studios during the day, or what was known as “dead time” (where no program was scheduled to play). Many of these art pieces would be a variety of colors, designs and flickers-therefor many individuals with TVs in their homes were deeply concerned because they thought the TV was broken, it freaked many our that this “private” TV that was in there holme could be accessed and changed by the artist. I thought this was both very interesting and referenced what we talked about in Mass Media. 

“The Medium is the Medium” by Fred Barzyk is one example of this: (not exact clip, but the similar idea) 

Finally, I found the Rob Sterling documentary very interesting, in a time which I feel there are an influx and high variety in both television shows and movies, I think it is fascinating how hard of a time he had getting producers to believe in his fantasy scripts. I think his impression on television and media, in general, was a lot more lasting and significant that he believed. Changing both what producers created and the consumer/viewer wanted to see.

-Grace Hanlon

This week we started talking about television and how it has changed a lot of media and how we see it. Television has changed in many ways since it has first started. One thing that was said in the book is that television is a delivery device for consumerism. Many people watch television to learn about things happening in the world or just for entertainment. We often see shows made and people become interested in them because they are good at pertaining to a certain audience. It was also said that television can be an advertising medium. Many people advertise their products or business on television. This can help with the company and its promotion. It all comes back to it being this device for consumerism though. If someone is interested in something they see on television they will probably go look for it. The same goes for shows on tv, if someone likes a show they will continue watching it.

We also watched a documentary on Rod Serling. Rod Serling was a great writer who wrote and created the Twilight Zone. Many people know about the Twilight Zone and how it changed the way some people looked or watched television. Rod Serling started off with writing very controversial content for the Twilight Zone. Much of it was horror and different than the normal. It was unsure if people would like it but people started to latch on and love the show. The Twilight Zone went out of the box for what was typically seen on television. Rod Serling also liked to write about his life and what he experienced before writing. One episode he did was based off his life in Binghamton. The episode was called Walking Distance and the main character goes back in time and talks about how he tells him younger self to enjoy his life now. He also did episodes and wrote for other things based off when he was in the army. He took his own life experiences to help relate to other people, therefore drawing more people in. Rod Serling changed television and how people started to write and draw in an audience.

We also watched an episode of the Seventies. In this we learned about how the 70s were a time of change for television. Many important things happened such as the growth of Saturday Night Live. It introduced us to many influential people in television and eventually went to movies. We also learned about family hour and how there were shows that the government wanted played at certain times. Stations ended up going to court with them as it is not possible to say what a station has to show. HBO also got big during this period too because of the Ali vs Frazier fight which was aired. 

Television is the 70s. TV was living large with popular shows like Happy Days, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H. Saturday nights were the best nights because they had the best line up of shows. It was a great night to sit inside with a TV dinner trey, a cold one, and the family for some quality bonding. Huddling around the TV for good entertainment and some good memories. During this time, TV had such a large influence on the American people that the government decided they were going to step in and tell these companies what they can and can’t say. At the time this was a very big deal because our government decided to infringe upon the first amendment right of these companies. Obviously the American people aren’t going to stand for that one, and that could be why we have the shows and movies that we have today.

The man, the myth, the legend, formally known as…Rod Seriling. What a guy he was. Died at the age of 50 from a heart attack, but in my opinion his shows live on. I have for sure kicked back to a couple episodes of the Twilight Zone. Serling was a very talented screenwriter and very critical of his own writing. When it came to TV shows, well lets just say not many could compete. At the time this was all live TV, so everything had to be acted out in one go, perfectly. Serling liked the fame he was getting and wanted to get himself on the big screen as well, and so he did. When Serling became more popular he wanted to send a message with the material he was putting out in which people reacted to negatively. So, Serling being the bro we all know and love, he had to work is way around that. The Twilight Zone was actually the first fantasy style show to air because fantasy at the time wasn’t really accepted on TV. Within each episode there was a different story, with a different message that he was trying to portray to his audience. He’d also get away with calling out things like the government as long as the words were leaving the mouth of the antagonist within the episode, like an alien or a Nazi. What led to Serlings downfall wasn’t because his shows were bad or his screenwriting was bad, he was still very talented. It was when he was a star in advertisements for beer and for socks. Why? you ask, well let me handle that question for you. People saw this and at the time, thought that Serling was selling out because he did it for the paycheck. Nowadays companies need ads to make some money, but it was different times when Rod Serling was alive. This led Serling to work for a company that really didn’t give him any artistic freedom. So, these episodes could be bad with Rod Serling’s name on it and there was nothing really he could do about it. That’s pretty sad given how talented the man was, it’s not like his talent went anywhere either. He just slowly fell off. He may be gone but he wont be forgotten, i’ll have to watch a few more episodes of the Twilight Zone.

Brandon Parker

This is a goofy little youtube video that talks alittle about what the twilight zone is!

“What does America do? We watch television.” 

Invented in the late 19th and early 20th century, television has been very popular in society ever since. People have enjoyed spending their time watching television, becoming an important part of people’s lives. In the United States, television is known for being capitalist and is a delivery device for all consumers. However, television is often referred to as “a unique creative art form,” and “ a mirror of our own world.”

By the late 1950s, one of television’s brightest and most influential writers was Rod Serling. Serling was a screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator known for his live television dramas and his science-fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen, and helped form television industry standards.

The Twilight Zone ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964, making the show one of Serling’s best pieces of work. Each episode presents a stand-alone story in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as entering “the Twilight Zone,” often with a surpise ending and a moral. Although predominantly science-fiction, the show’s paranormalevents leaned the show towards fantasy and horror. The phrase “twilight zone,” inspired by the series, is used to describe surreal experiences. Serling often found himself writing the majority of the episodes from his own past experiences dealing with his service in the United States Army. He liked to write stories to help him deal with his trauma and frustration. However, at some point in his career, Serling could not find himself writing any more scripts so he decided to cancel his show and sold all his rights to CBS. Serling thought himself as a terrible writer that would leave no footprint behind, but that simply was not true. Serling is the most honored writer in television history. The show, alone, won two Primetime Emmy Awards, out of four nominations. 

The Seventies saw significant changes in television programming in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The trends included the decline of the “family sitcoms” and rural-oriented programs to more socially contemporary shows and “young, hip and urban” sitcoms in the United States and the permanent establishment of color television in the United Kingdom. There were now black people on television, women having superior roles, homosexuality being addressed, and game shows increasing. The Seventies were a time to be alive and had plenty of socially accepted shows including Charlie’s Angels, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times, Happy Days, The Love Boat, M.A.S.H, Saturday Night Live, and Laverne & Shirley.

In the United States, television is known as a capitalist industry, like most if not all industries. Television, however, has a special way that it is able to “sell” consumers on these different products. TV is a delivery device for companies to show off their products to consumers, even if they are unaware that they are being exposed to these products.

One of the most influential writers for television in its early years was Rod Serling. Serling was a World War II veteran who would write stories to help with the traumas that he was left with after the war. He would get his big break into tv with the script for the show “Patterns”, which was an overnight success for him. This opened the door for him to be hired on for another script, for a show called “Requiem for a Heavyweight”. This was a huge success for him, with the show winning a total of 5 Emmy’s. Serling wanted to be able to write about topics that were considered controversial for the time. He had to change the scripts for many of his works to please the network sponsors, which upset him. To get around changing his scripts, Serling would write about controversial topics in a science fiction way. This launched his very successful series on CBS, “The Twilight Zone”. “The Twilight Zone” was a way for Serling to be able to show the horrors and fears of man without coming out and explicitly saying what he was talking about. It lasted for five seasons before being cancelled in 1964. After the cancellation, Serling would try to write scripts that would be able to do the same thing for him, allow him to write as therapy and show the flaws of man at the same time. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to do this successfully due to network sponsors. Rod Serling died on June 28th, 1975 at 50 years old after suffering a heart attack.

In the 1970’s, television began to take shape with programs that aimed to show the real life of families with shows like “All In the Family” and the multiple spin offs that would come from it. Shows like these would lead to the U.S. Government trying to censor the programs that networks could put out during a specific time slot. This led to networks and actors protesting these “family hours”, claiming that it was a violation of their first Amendment rights, which was backed up by the court system.

Television is a newer concept but it has changed the way our world works so much. It has not existed the same way as it has forever. I am surprised one format has not managed to stay around as long as I would have thought. The live action drama movies have died. From the concept I would have thought it would have stuck around much longer than it did, it is almost like being at a play from your own home. Similar to a play there are no safety nets no second tries everything is live. There is something to that that makes it seem like it would have stuck around longer to me.

With the chapter on Rushkoff it is hard to believe how hard it was to get the science fiction off of the ground as well. Our best selling movies now or highest rated shows are often times not the ones based in reality but the ones that are not realistic but fantasy. Rod Serling was a writer who had to really push the envelope, he can almost be credited as the father of these new fascination with the supernatural, being the first author to ignore his directors to write what he wanted to. This is not anything that would be unbelievable to write about now. If we look at the most popular shows, other then the news we will see them as purely fantasy, superheroes, zombies or the supernatural. From my understanding this never would have passed as acceptable in the time he was alive. He was a true innovator for his field in  his time. 

If I had to define the 70’s up in a single word from the documentary we watched in class it would be spin off. In the documentary by CNN time over time we saw how more of the most popular shows come to flourish. It was a spin off of a handful of characters from another show following their life apart from the show they originally appeared in. This is something that is less common now I feel like. Now spin off TV series are less likely to be popular with us now and often times fail in their first season on the air. Sitcoms are in general less popular than they have been in the past taking a turn to more of a fantasy or reality tv. The way things have changed, I feel like we will never come back to the way things used to be