T. V: Showing Life, Love And True Friendships

The television shows from 1950 to the present are connected in many ways. The characters showed in the 1950s television show called Leave It To Beaver all have white coloured skin and portrayed as a happy, perfect family. As the decades increased, the nuclear families turned into blended families, and the television shows started to have coloured characters. The families started to have problems and social situations. The viewer sees the conflicts inside the family begin as the years progress. For example, in the 2000's we examined a television show called Arrested Development. The show portrays the characters as if they are troubled and have problems. The children do not listen to their parents but instead have

Television has been criticized as “a vast cultural wasteland”. Tv is supposed to be something that people use for fun and entertainment not a way to get away from your problems. Now with that being said this quote is trying to say that tv is useless. I think the reason that some people think that tv is useless is because of shows like SpongeBob and family guy. Sponge bob is a very popular kids show that has been around for years but doesn’t benefit the people watching it in anyway. In fact, watching a cartoon like SpongeBob can damaged the mind of many people and children with the stupidity that’s done on the show. Then you have a show like family guy where the things done can be called stupid but at the same time the things done are realistic but the only problem with a show like that is that it’s very inappropriate for kids to watch because of all the inappropriate behavior and violence that that is shown in a show like that. Another problem with tv isn’t the tv it’s the people. The shows are there to watch and to enjoy but it’s up to the person to watch it or the parent to allow their child to watch that. I don’t think that tv is a vast cultural wasteland because there are many different thins to see and watch and learn you just have to watch the right shows and use the right channels. Sometimes watching tv can even be fundamental.

Most relationships, whether they are romantic or not, usually start off harmoniously. Then as time passes conflicts arise. When these conflicts arise, one feels and expresses a variety of emotions that result in positive or negative relationship behaviors. When negative behaviors erupt, the relationship becomes threatened if positive behaviors do not form. This was the situation between Leonard and Penny on The Big Band Theory. I will discuss the conflict, how they began to handle it, how they ended up handling the conflict, and my opinions of

The Television is often the centerpiece of typical American house. TVs are now a representative the American dream. TVs are even used to measure finical wellbeing. Huge flat screen TVs symbolize success, while smaller TVs represent modesty. People crowd around the TV to watch the big game, to catch up on the news and keep up with pop culture. Is there something wrong with this so-called wonder device known as the Television? Marie Winn, author of book Unplugging the plug-in drug, argues this point in the chapter “The Trouble with Television” claiming that the television negatively affects families and specifically children. Marie Winn is an author and journalist who is known for her write ups on wildlife and television. The book was published in 1987 and describes eight ways in which the television is damaging. Winn makes it a point not to argue against the content of television, but rather how the television effects family relationships and is a detriment to children’s development. While I agree with some of Winn’s, overall, I disagree with her assessment of television. The points that Winn made that I disagree with include, TV allows kids to grow up less civilized, TV keeps family from doing other things, TV makes children less resourceful, TV has a negative effect on children’s school achievement and TV has a negative effect on children’s physical fitness.

In the media, reality TV stars like Snooki and Kim Kardashian are on the rise. Most channels on television have at least one reality show, from following housewives to remodeling homes of real life families. However, there are some reality programs that display bad examples, especially for young audiences that are keeping up with each episode. On MTV people see girls being drunk in public, addicts doing drugs, and young girls raising babies at young ages; these are situations seen on reality TV shows. Jeremy W. Peters’ “When Reality TV Gets Too Real” and James Poniewozik’s “Why Reality TV is Good for us” inform readers about what the general public can view on television and how it affects the minds of children. Reality TV shows such as

Today’s society has become a visually based culture and, as a result, people learn and act from what they see. With the advent of television, many programs have been aired ranging from news programs to sitcoms and from game shows to talk shows, but talk shows, today, have the most effect on the public. Daily, viewers turn on their televisions and many are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on the talk shows. Unfortunately, many people are either disturbed or affected by what they see. As Vicki Abt and Leonardo Mustazza point out in their article, “Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show,” “Surely long-term exposure to this genre has consequences for the

After viewing only a few hours of television I asked myself, “How is it that people can spend as many as 20 hours watching television per week?” A whole day wasted, and what has come out of it? More garbage that will further distort any real comprehension held about what it means to be a male or a female. What it means to be male or female in the American culture cannot be defined with simple words, but yet can be easily distorted when viewing any commercial on television. It is amazing how a story about an entire culture’s views about sexuality can be told in only a small portion of the day. This story about sexuality was unraveled as I forced myself to watch something I have absolutely no interest in and

Neil Postman, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, discusses the harmful effects television in a society that is saturated by it (Postman, 29). As I read Neil Postman’s book, I was given a new point of view on the role of television in my search for news and entertainment. Through Postman’s writing I found that the consequences of television are not in the information presented, but rather in how the information is presented. In addition, after watching “Conspiracy Theory Rock”, a video presented on the television show “Saturday Night Live”, this problem of unfair presentation from corrupt television corporations was made clear through the depiction of untold controversies, such as presidential assassinations (“Conspiracy Theory Rock”). I contest that the problem with the corrupt presentation of television cannot be solved by revising the corporate control, because it is unlikely to occur due to the financial power the corporations hold. Instead, the way that television is consumed must be changed. The solution for the biased and inaccurate presentation of television involves changing the way that the viewer consumes the entertainment by critically considering the source and the circumstance that the information is being presented in.

There is no television show that doesn’t challenge our concept of a “normal” life or family in some way or another. Reba is a prime example of challenging our concept of a “normal” family. Reba, the star and single mother of the show, goes through many difficulties but always works through them and does not let them get her down. The television show, Reba, challenges our concept of “normal” family as she deals with her ex-husband and his new wife, with her pregnant teenage daughter, and with her daughter and son-in-law living with her.

The television sitcom Friends has the six main characters involved in many relationships throughout each season. Since season one, Ross and Rachel have been referred to as the power couple, the glue that holds everyone together, and according to television critics as CBS they are, “probably the most iconic TV couple in recent memory” (“The Best TV” 3). This being said, the couple was a known favorite and attracted many people to the sitcom. This relationship is the favorite because it has what an audience wants from a relationship. According to award winning, New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra, audiences want relationships to have, “physical attraction, emotional conflict, and scenes that foster emotional intimacy” (Kantra 1). The relationship that Ross and Rachel have is a prime example of this all. It is known that Ross has a physical attraction to Rachel since grade school, but Rachel also sitcoms her attraction to Ross with various flirtatious acts. Even though Ross and Rachel seem to be the perfect couple, they have had their fair share of emotional conflict. The well-known “we were on a break” fight causes comical scenes between the two. Rachel will always make it clear that Ross cheated on her, but Ross claims that they were on a break. The couple has an on and off relationship throughout the sitcom because of these many conflicts. When the couple finally gets together at the end of season ten, everything felt complete. As many Friends fans know, Phoebe

The 1980s saw a shift in the presentational style of television. John Caldwell termed this new style televisuality. Televisuality presents a type of television that flaunts style rather than just using it to communicate ideas and content (Caldwell, 5). There is more value placed in the excessive style of television programs. Through televisuality, many shows have come to establish signature production styles that set them apart from other programming on the air. Changes in the television industry brought about this new style of television.

In one episode, he wanted to show his friends that he knew how to flirt so he was going to flirt with the pizza delivery girl. Instead Ross ended up talking about different smells of gas with her. All of the characters have different personalities, but that makes their friendship

It seems that you can’t turn on a television set anymore without a reality show being on. All networks have recently started to pump out reality shows left and right. And why wouldn’t they? Reality shows are highly rated, with three of them being in the top ten on the Nielsen ratings chart. In fact, these shows are becoming more popular than the sitcoms and dramas aired. New sitcoms and dramas struggle to get attention of the public when going against a reality show. Programs such as The Beast and Go Fish, which critics loved and raved about, are victims of the wrath of reality shows. These shows are now cancelled.

The television is also a very important aspect of popular culture that affects the American Identity. Watching television is such a common part of contemporary society, that most Americans adopted it as a part of their daily routine and watch television for at least an hour a day. Stanley Crouch, a poet, music and cultural critic, writes that whenever people pretentiously and proudly announce, “I don’t watch television,” they should follow it up with “I don’t look at America either” (Masciotra 79). Television has become a part of many people’s lives. When the mass population watches the same TV shows, movies, etc. they can all relate to each other, and thus unite them as an American. We look to TV shows to see how other people like us act

Television, a telecommunication medium some may not survive without. Today’s generation may refer to television as a technological norm; delusional of a world where television was non-existent. Notably, television unites the nation through local or world events, politics, education, and entertainment. Philo Farnsworth, “Father of Television,” invented the television; the electronic transmission of fixed or mobile images. Furthermore, Farnsworth’s invention influenced a new form of media. Young Farnsworth’s scientific, technological imagination as well as, competitive battle with a major-league corporation, RCA, enticed the growth of one of the most popular media mediums; television.