Television

by


Required readings

Biancolli, D. (2016). The platinum age of television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead, how TV became terrific. Anchor.

Mitel, J. (2010). Television and American culture. New York: Oxford University Press

Assignment 1 – 1 ½ popes

Watch a situation comedy that includes at least one adult working woman in a major role (housework or office or other types of work all can count as work). Consult Biancolli on Family Sitcoms, Workplace Sitcoms, Sitcoms, or Single Working Women Sitcoms.

Here are some good specific choices of classic sitcom episodes that say something about race, class, or gender:

  • The Honeymooners, “A Woman’s Work is Never Done”
  • Mary Tyler Moore “Love is All Around”
  • Seinfeld “The Cigar Store Indian”
  • Friends “The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant”
  • All in the Family “Meet the Bunkers”
  • The Jefferson’s “A Friend in Need”
  • The Simpsons “Scenes from the Class Struggle”
  • black-ish “Pilot”

After you watch, complete the following for your initiating post:

  1. Explain which episodes of which shows you watched, and briefly outline the plot.
  2. Please quote and correctly cite the assigned Mitel or Biancolli readings in at least one of your postings.
  3. Find a critical online essay from the ESU Library on gender, race, or class and a specific show or genre—and incorporate that into one of your posts. [Link to it using a permanent link. Make sure it opens in a new window.]

You should be examining the various ways American culture is represented and reflected on television. You may also wish to bring current shows into your analyses, but do not neglect the older shows.

In at least one of your posts, you must incorporate at least one quote from each of the assigned textbooks reading and cite them correctly.

 

Assignment 2 – 1 ½ pages

Find an article from within the past month from one of the acceptable outlets (see list below) and post it. It may be about a show you watch, a genre, a TV technology, a personality, a controversy or something else. Explain why you think it is interesting, correctly cite it (including a link that opens in a new window), and ask the rest of the class an open-ended question about it (not yes/no but something that will prompt discussion). Answer at least two other students’ questions and try to keep the discussion going.

Acceptable outlets for non-scholarly articles include:

  1. The New York Times
  2. The Washington Post
  3. The New Yorker
  4. Entertainment Weekly
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
  6. Variety
  7. The AV Club’s TV Club (The Onion’s media discussion board)
  8. Slate