San Antonio College Library

"This book tells the story of how television became popular in the United States following the medium's debut at the 1939 New York World's Fair. You'll learn about the people, events, and performances that were televised - or influenced what was being televised - from 1939 to 1953. In addition to the entertainment and cultural aspects of this newborn medium, The Magic Window also explores the business, politics, and technology of early television."--Jacket....

"Nearly fifty years after the first commercial television show aired, American TV viewers have begun in large numbers to reject the monopolistic offerings of the networks. With viewers now exercising greater choice in what to watch and when to watch it, the era of network television is coming to an end. One Nation Under Television is a timely history of network television and of the decisions taken by ABC/CBS/NBC to create an America forever safe...

Based on the classic History of Broadcasting in the United States, Tube of Plenty represents the fruit of several decades' labor. When Erik Barnouw--premier chronicler of American broadcasting and a participant in the industry for fifty years--first undertook the project of recording its history, many viewed it as a light-weight literary task concerned mainly with "entertainment" trivia. Indeed, trivia such as that found in quiz programs do appear...

"Media-jaded Americans, especially younger ones, would be surprised to know how eagerly their forebears anticipated the arrival of television. Tracing public and critical responses to TV from its pioneering days, this book gathers and gives context to the reactions of those who saw television's early broadcasts - from the privileged few who witnessed experimental and limited schedule programming in the 1920s and 1930s, to those who bought TV sets...

In this entertaining and informative book, journalist and political commentator Steven Stark takes us on a guided tour of the tube, and charts with unique wit and intelligence how America came of age, so to speak, in a box - watching everything from I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Brady Bunch, and Saturday Night Live, to the CBS Evening News, Roots, MTV, and ER. Glued to the set asks the simple question - What has TV done to us? - and answers...

Television is a form of media without equal. It has revolutionized the way we learn about and communicate with the world and has reinvented the way we experience ourselves and others. More than just cheap entertainment, TV is an undeniable component of our culture and contains many clues to who we are, what we value, and where we might be headed in the future.

Window to the Future is a nostalgic, humorously prescient look at the ads and graphics that introduced TV to a consumer public who would make it a fixture in the home within a few short years. From fanciful visions in early radio magazines to the lifestyle ads in the heyday of the "talking picture box," Window to the Future brims with images that projected idealized scenarios of the television as a treasured addition to the household. Celebrities...

This title transports readers to the early days of radio, when the new medium allowed innovative and optimistic scientists the opportunity to broadcast serious and dignified presentations over the airwaves. The book goes on to chronicle the work of these science pioneers on radio and television into the 1950s.