Quality TV in America

Dr. Stacy TakacsAssociate Professor of American Studies

Oklahoma State University

Course descriptionThis course examines the history of “quality television” in America. I put the phrase in quotation marks because the meaning of the term “quality” is quite slippery. Sometimes “quality” refers to the technological and artistic aspects of a TV series—the superiority of its audiovisual design, narrative construction, or mode of delivery—at other times, it refers to the way a series has been marketed (as “prestige programing”) or consumed (by educated audiences, or active fan communities). Acknowledging this slipperiness, we will begin with two assumptions: (1) “quality TV” is a historically specific construct, unique to a particular time, place, and space (2) designations of “quality” serve to create, and police, distinctions within American society, distinctions of race, class, gender, and education, among others. Rather than debating the relative artistic merits of different TV programs, then, we will use the concept of “quality TV” as a lens through which to examine history and society. Specifically, we will track some of the important changes in American society from the 1950s to today.

Learning objectivesBy the end of this course, students should be able to:

Explain how American television worked differently—as a technology, industry and cultural form—in different time periods

Summarize the debates about the nature of “quality” on US TV and describe how they have developed over time

Understand “quality” as a social construction (rather than an inherent property of a text)

Explain how notions of “quality” work to shape human relations (not just reflect them)

Provide a careful and critical written analysis of specific television texts

Meetings Monday April 16 1 hour (if no virtual meeting, then 9-5)

Wednesday, May 23: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PMThursday, May 24: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PMFriday, May 25: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Requirements:

Participation: Students are expected to come to class prepared each day, having read the assigned materials and taken careful notes. You should bring your notes and texts with you to

class and be ready to share your thoughts and perspectives. To improve your comprehension and recall, I would take a moment after reading to identify 3-5 keywords from each piece and compose a one sentence summary of the argument. Keep these notes with you and bring them to class for reference.

Comprehension Exercises: Twice each day, I will ask you to work in groups to answer some questions related to the readings or screenings. You may be asked to write up and submit a collective response, or to discuss your answers and then elect a spokesperson to report the group’s findings to the class. If a member of your group is unprepared or not contributing, please let me know at the first opportunity; I will also be circulating to check on the groups and answer questions; if I notice you are not participating, or suspect you are unprepared, you will receive a 0. You must pass at least 5 of these exercises to pass the course.

Short Essay 1: Due at the Start of Class on May 23. Read Elana Levine and Michael Newman’s essay “Legitimating Television.” Take note, in particular, of their definition of “taste” and the techniques that can be used to attach an air of “quality” or “prestige” to a text. Then, write a short essay (500-700 words) that analyzes how a recent film or television show of your choice uses (or fails to use) some of the same techniques to confer value on the text. For example, I could write a short essay discussing Netflix’s marketing of the program Babylon Berlin in the US: how has Netflix attempted to draw an upscale audience to the series, using what techniques?

Short Essay 2: Due at the Start of Class on May 25. Write a short essay (500-700 words) that explains the key differences between “quality” programs of the 1980s and “quality” programs of the 1990s and beyond. Use the essays by Robert Thompson (“From the Golden Age of Television to ‘Quality TV’”) and Todd Gitlin (“Make It Look Messy”), on the one hand, and J.T. Caldwell (“Excessive Style”) and Jason Mittell (“Narrative Complexity”), on the other, to inform your response. What’s new or different about “quality TV” in the 1990s and beyond?

Formatting: The essays are formal writing assignments. They should be typed, double-spaced, written in a legible font size and style (no less than 12 pt), and use 1 inch margins on all sides. Each essay should have a title, and include your name and course info in the upper-left corner of page 1. Essays should be relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors. Any source materials should be cited using MLA style, including a Works Cited listing the TV programs and any course texts used to develop the argument.

Academic Integrity: You are expected to understand and follow the codes of academic integrity. All work submitted for this class must be your own and must contain proper citations when material from another source has been referenced in any way (whether summarized, paraphrased or quoted).

How to Avoid Plagiarism: Attribute borrowed material to the source whenever you use wording, arguments,

examples, etc., belonging to someone else (According to TV scholar Jason Mittell, “…”)

Whenever you summarize, paraphrase or quote from a source, include a complete, properly formatted citation at the end. It is better to overcite than undercite.

Make sure quotations include BOTH quotation marks AND a citation.

Make sure your summaries are rendered in your own words and phrasing and include a citation.

Where to get help with citations: Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/)

Reading Requirements BEFORE Class Each Day (see schedule for due dates)

May 23 1950s-1960s The First Golden Age

Elana Levine and Michael Newman, “Legitimating Television,” Legitimating Television: Media Convergence and Cultural Status. Routledge, 2012, pp. 1-11.

Gary Edgerton, “The Halcyon Years.” The Columbia History of American Broadcasting, Columbia University Press, 2007, pp. 156-169.

May 24 1970s-1980s The Second Golden Age Paul L. Klein, "The Men Who Run TV Know Us Better Than You Think," The Mass

Media Book, ed. by Rod Holmgren and William Norton, Prentice Hall, 1972, pp. 326-329. Josh Ozersky, “Green Acres is the Place to Be: America and TV 1968.” Archie Bunker’s

America: TV in an Era of Change, 1968-1978, Southern Illinois University Press, 2003, pp. 1-25

Aniko Bodroghkozy, “Make It Relevant: How Youth Rebellion Captured Prime Time.” Groove Tube: Sixties Television and the youth Rebellion, Duke UP, 2001, pp. 200-204.

Dan Menaker, “Don't Look Now, But TV Is Growing Up,” New York Times, 20 May 1973 Robert Thompson, “From the Golden Age of Television to ‘Quality TV.’” Television’s

Second Golden Age: From Hill St. Blues to ER.” Continuum, 1996, pp. 11-16. Todd Gitlin, “Make It Look Messy: Striking a New Note with Hill Street Blues.” American

Film, Sept. 1981, pp. 45-48+.

May 25 1990s-2000s The Platinum Age of TV

JT Caldwell, “Excessive Style: The Crisis of Network Television.” Television: The Critical View, sixth ed., edited by Horace Newcomb, Oxford UP, 2000, pp. 649-657.

Bill Carter, “At ABC, Several Motives for Keeping Twin Peaks,” New York Times, 21 May 1990, p. D1.

Jason Mittell, “Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American TV.” Velvet Light Trap, no. 58, 2006, pp. 29-40. [edited; read full version as option]

Kate Warner, “Why I don’t like Breaking Bad.” Flow TV, 11 February 2014, https://www.flowjournal.org/2014/02/why-dont-i-like-breaking-bad/. Accessed 1 April 2018.

Listen: Vulture TV Podcast, “What Does Peak TV Mean,” 18 May 2016, https://www.panoply.fm/podcasts/vulturetvpodcast/episodes/5pmsxZsjNC2g8cKaQeYkwW (36 min.)

Ian Leslie “Watch It While It Lasts: Our Golden Age of TV” The Financial Times, 13 April 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/68309b3a-1f02-11e7-a454-ab04428977f9. Accessed 14 April 2018.

Josef Adalian “Roseanne Revival Shows How Network TV Can Survive the Streaming Age.” Vulture, 30 March 2018 http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/roseanne-march-has-been-great-for-network-tv.html. Accessed 14 April 2018.

Optional Reads (for easy reference) Pierre Bourdieu, “Introduction.” Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste,

Harvard UP, 1987, pp. 1-8. Amanda Lotz, “Situating Television Circa 2014.” The Television Will Be Revolutionized, NYU

Press, 2014, pp. 7-16 Robert Thompson, “The Golden Ages of Television.” Television’s Second Golden Age: From

Hill St. Blues to ER.” Continuum, 1996, pp. pp. 18-35. Jane Feuer “The MTM Style.” MTM: Quality Television, edited by Jane Feuer, Paul Kerr,

and Tise Vahimagi, BFI Publishing, 1984, pp. 32-47, 56-59. Jason Mittell, “Narrative Complexity,” pp. 29-40, unedited. Michael Kackman, “Quality TV, Melodrama & Complexity.” Flow TV, 5 March 2010,

https://www.flowjournal.org/2010/03/flow-favorites-quality-television-melodrama-and-cultural-complexity-michael-kackman-university-of-texas-austin/. Accessed 1 April 2018.

May 23 1950s-1960s First Golden Age9:00-12:00 Introduction

Quality as a form of social distinction

Quality as a function of technology and industry

Quality as a matter of aesthetics

Screening: Honeymooners, “TV or Not

TV” (CBS, 1955-1956) The Ernie Kovacs Show

(NBC, CBS, Dumont, ABC)

Short Essay 1 Due

Read Before Class: Elana Levine and Michael Newman,

“Legitimating Television,” pp. 1-11

Optional: Pierre Bourdieu, “Introduction,” pp. 1-8 Amanda Lotz, “Situating Television Circa

2014,” pp. 7-10.

12:30-3:30 “The Golden Age of TV” Life in the 1950s

o Cold War Anxietyo Gender Anxietyo Racial Anxiety

Screening: The Alcoa Hour, “Tragedy in

a Temporary Town” (NBC, 1956-1957)

Have Gun Will Travel, “Ella West” (CBS, 1957-1963)

Read Before Class: Gary Edgerton, “The Halcyon Years,” pp.

156-169

Optional: Robert Thompson, “The Golden Ages of

Television,” pp. 18-35.

3:30-5:00 Tarnish on the Golden Age

Screening: Newton Minnow, “Television in the Public Interest” (aka the “Vast Wasteland” speech), YouTube, https://youtu.be/9dGRgLfaGwo

--Clip from Captivated: Finding Freedom in a Media Captivate Culture (2012)--See Optional Readings for the full transcript of the speech.

May 24 1970s-1980s 2nd Golden Age9:00-12:00 Lowest Common Denominator

Programming Youth Revolts . . . . . . Not on TV Screening: Color Adjustment (Marlon

Riggs, 1992) [partial] Green Acres “I Didn’t Raise

My Pig to Be A Soldier” (CBS 1965-1971)

Read Before Class: Paul L. Klein, " The Men Who Run TV Know Us

Better Than You Think," pp. 326-329Josh Ozersky, “Green Acres is the Place to Be:

America and TV 1968,” pp. 1-25

12:30-3:30 Television Revolution? Norman Lear MTM Productions

Screening: All in The Family, “The Draft

Dodger” (CBS, 1971-1979) Mary Tyler Moore Show,

“Pilot” (CBS, 1970-1977)

Read Before Class: Aniko Bodroghkozy, “How Youth Rebellion

Captured Prime Time,” pp. 200-204. Dan Menaker, “Don't Look Now, But TV Is

Growing Up,” New York Times, 20 May 1973

Optional: Jane Feuer “The MTM Style,” pp. 32-47, 56-

59

3:30-5:00 Revolutionary Television?

Screening: Hill St. Blues, “Pilot” (NBC, 1981-1987)

Read Before Class: Robert Thompson, “From the Golden Age of

Television to ‘Quality TV,’” pp. 11-16. Todd Gitlin, “Make It Look Messy: Striking a

New Note with Hill Street Blues,” pp. 45-48+

May 25 1990s – 2010s The Platinum Age 9:00-12:00 Complex Style

Screening: Twin Peaks, “Zen, Or The

Skill To Catch A Killer" (ABC, 1990-1991)

Frontline: “Anatomy of a Homicide” (PBS, 1998)

Writing Assignment 2 Due

Read Before Class: JT Caldwell, “Excessive Style: The Crisis of

Network Television,” pp. 649-657. Bill Carter, “At ABC, Several Motives for

Keeping Twin Peaks,” New York Times, 21 May 1990, p. D1.

12:30-3:30 Complex Narrative

Screening: Scrubs, “My Life in Four

Cameras” (NBC, 2001-2008) Arrested Development “Pilot”

(Fox, 2003-2006; Netflix 2013)

Breaking Bad, “Pilot” (AMC, 2008-2013)

Read Before Class: Jason Mittell, “Narrative Complexity in

Contemporary American TV,” pp. 29-40. [edited]

Kate Warner, “Why I don’t like Breaking Bad.” Flow TV, 11 February 2014, https://www.flowjournal.org/2014/02/why-dont-i-like-breaking-bad/. Accessed 1 April 2018.

Optional: Unedited version of: Jason Mittell, “Narrative

Complexity,” pp. 29-40.

Michael Kackman, “Quality TV, Melodrama & Complexity.” Flow TV, 5 March 2010, https://www.flowjournal.org/2010/03/flow-favorites-quality-television-melodrama-and-cultural-complexity-michael-kackman-university-of-texas-austin/. Accessed 1 April 2018.

3:30-5:00 Peak TV

Screening: Transparent, “Pilot” (Amazon,

2014-2018)

Listen: Vulture TV Podcast “What Does Peak TV Mean,” 18 May 2016, https://www.panoply.fm/podcasts/vulturetvpodcast/episodes/5pmsxZsjNC2g8cKaQeYkwW (36 min)

Ian Leslie, “Watch It While It Lasts.” https://www.ft.com/content/68309b3a-1f02-11e7-a454-ab04428977f9

Josef Adalian “Roseanne Revival Shows How Network TV Can Survive,” http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/roseanne-march-has-been-great-for-network-tv.html

Reference Works on Quality TVAkass, Kim and Janet McCabe, editors. Quality Television: Contemporary American Television

and Beyond. I.B. Tauris, 2007Bianculli, David. The Platinum Age of Television. Doubleday, 2016.Caldwell, John Thornton. Televisuality: Style, Crisis and Authority in American TV. Rutgers UP,

1995.Curtin, Michael. Redeeming the Wasteland: Television Documentary and Cold War Politics.

Rutgers UP, 1995.Feuer, Jane, Paul Kerr, and Tise Vahimagi, editors. MTM: Quality Television. BFI Publishing,

1984.Gitlin, Todd. Inside Prime Time. U of California Press, 2000. Jancovich, Marc and James Lyons, editors. Quality Popular Television. BFI Publishing, 2008.Kackman, Michael. “Quality TV, Melodrama & Complexity.” Flow TV, 5 March 2010,

https://www.flowjournal.org/2010/03/flow-favorites-quality-television-melodrama-and-cultural-complexity-michael-kackman-university-of-texas-austin/. Accessed 1 April 2018.

Levine, Elana and Michael Newman, Legitimating Television. Routledge, 2011. Newcomb, Horace. “Toward a Television Aesthetic.” TV: TheMost Popular Art. Anchor Press,

1974, pp. 243-264.Sconce, Jeffrey. “What If?: Charting Television's New Textual Boundaries.” Television After TV,

edited by Lynn Spigel and Jan Olssen. Duke UP, 2004, pp. 93-112. Staiger, Janet. Blockbuster TV: Must See Sitcoms in the Network Era. NYU Press, 2000. Thompson, Robert. Television’s Second Golden Age: From Hill St Blues to ER. Continuum,

1996.