View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
"Staiger's" Blockbuster TV" artfully balances formal analysis,
inflected with and informed by various theoretical perspectives, of
four different sitcoms with an examination of their reception.
"JUMPCUT"
"Staiger offers a radical counter-approach to traditional
film-centered analysis."
--"Jump Cut"
Archie Bunker. Jed. Laverne and Shirley. Cliff Huxtable.
Throughout the entire history of American prime-time television
only four sitcoms have been true blockbusters, with Nielsen ratings
far above the second- and third-rated programs. Weekly, millions of
Americans of every age were making a special effort to turn on the
set to see what Archie, Jed, Laverne, and Cliff were doing that
week. The wild popularity of these shows--"All in the Family," "The
Beverly Hillbillies," "Laverne & Shirley" (and its partner
"Happy Days"), and "The Cosby Show"--left commentators bewildered
by the tastes and preferences of the American public. How do we
account for the huge appeal of these sitcoms, and how does it
figure into the history of network prime-time television?
Janet Staiger answers these questions by detailing the myriad
factors that go into the construction of mass audiences. Treating
the four shows as case studies, she deftly balances factual
explanations (for instance, the impact of VCRs and cable on network
domination of TV) with more interpretative ones (for example, the
transformation of "The Beverly Hillbillies" from a popular show
detested by the critics, to a blockbuster after its elevation as
the critics' darling), and juxtaposes industry-based reasons (for
example, the ways in which TV shows derive success fromplacement in
the weekly programming schedule) with stylistic explanations (how,
for instance, certain shows create pleasure from a repetition and
variation of a formula).
Staiger concludes that because of changes in the industry, these
shows were a phenomenon that may never be repeated. And while the
western or the night-time soap has at times captured public
attention, Blockbuster TV maintains that the sitcom has been THE
genre to attract people to the tube, and that without understanding
the sitcom, we can't properly understand the role of television in
our culture.
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