Television Has Made A Major Impact On Today 's Society

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, television quickly emerged into a popular and greatly desired entertainment system in America. Although expensive, the television was still found in over fifty million American homes. Socially, the television not only embellished what the time period believed to be the “ideal” family, but the new technology also helped pull women closer to a world vacant of sexism and stereotypes, while also drawing African Americans closer to a society without racism, segregation, and prejudice. As well as social benefits, the television substantially impacted the world of politics by airing the platforms of political candidates and broadcasting important news concerning America. Additionally, the fields of advertising and

Television is so popular that it is almost a vital part of life to most people. According to the article “The Real Golden Age of Television”, the first successful demonstration of electronic television was introduced on September 7, 1927. (Handy & William). It was designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Charles Jenkins is also an important person to the creation of television because he created the first mechanical TV on June 23, 1925. (D’Addiro). These two men are responsible for what we have today; good quality television. Since then television has brought tears, laughter, joy, and many other memorable moments to the lives of people. Television came to its own in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time period television began to emerge into the households many families. This was something new to people. Never would they have thought of being able to sit in watch entertainment out of a TV screen. Then in the 1964 was the beginning of the “old” golden age of television. The reason for this claim is for the invention of color television made it more popular (Clapp). All television programs were in black and white before this unbelievable creation. This gave television viewers a better experience than the past because they were able to see things differently. Though the era was magnificent there was more to come. Time advanced into the 2000’s and so did television. Many

Americans’ everyday life. The Golden Age of television was a period of intense growth and expansion of

The advent of television also caused a great impact in the American society that brought huge changes in the economy. American families during the 1950s started to replace radios, newspapers, and magazines as the leading media entertainment with televisions. They became common for families to unite and watch TV shows at noon. “Television as a product itself influenced the economy, creating what quickly became an essential household item. By 1957, over 40 million TVs were in American households”. Fundamentally, television altered how Americans utilize their free time, but economically there was even a major impact. Businesses around the country started to use the TV for advertising and marketing to sell their products easier. TV commercials

Television shows would not be as accomplished as they are today without the power of mass media. After the second world war ended in 1945, television set sales boomed. Because of this, the 1950s was known as the “Golden Age of Television.”

     What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The

The negative effects of television are huge. To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what the impact of television can be on children.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that the television became an everyday commodity in society. To go along with the already popular dramas and comedies, tv became a major outlet for news as CBS evening news and 60 minutes debuted (Herman). Sports broadcasting also made huge strides during the early 1960s as Wide World of Sports aired on ABC, instant replay became a standard in sports broadcasting, CBS and NBC both broadcasted Super Bowl one in color (Herman). As television gained popularity the range of the topics presented on television shows went to more controversial and relevant topics in hopes to relate with the typical viewer. The subjects of the television shows for the most part have stayed the same over the past 40 years, but some have

World War II ended on September 2, 1945, and citizens in America were dwelling in the postwar booming economy. Thus, people had a hole burning in their pocket and many entrepreneurs found a means in which they could supply their products to consumers. Therefore, television became a method of communication, rather than the radio, the television allowed individuals to watch events in the comfort in their living room. In the 1950’s a television could be found in almost every American’s home becoming known as the dawn of the television age. A famous sitcom in the 1950’s which first aired on October 5, 1951 is I Love Lucy. This particular show is the building blocks of the beginning of television, exposing viewers of the society in the 1950’s, along with the minimal similarities and mass differences when compared to today’s shows.

“Many in the 1950's strove for the comfort and conformity depicted reality TV shows (“Voices Against Conformity.”1).” One of the biggest things to come out of the 50's was the global sensation known as television. Everybody was watching TV, families would gather around and just sit for hours watching television. “They would watch popular sitcoms (such as “I Love Lucy”), and later in the decade, westerns ("Gun smoke,” “Wagon Train,” “Have Gun Will Travel,” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”) (1950's TV Turns On America.”6).” Before the growing popularity of TV many Americans got their fill of entertainment from the movie business which included going the movie theater or going to the newly popular drive in theater. With all of its acclaimed popularity “TV threatened the movie business, and studios and theaters tried to attract crowds by introducing novelty technologies such as 3D, Stereoscope and CinemaScope (1950's TV Turns On America.”6).” TV was popularized so much that the biggest selling periodical of the decade was the TV Guide. Although television was used largely for entertainment, it too was used very commonly for advertising purposes. Think for just a moment. The best place to advertise or push a product to Americans would be where they spend most of their time, and most of their day; at home watching the television. With the invention of television, suburban life became not only enjoyable and peaceful, but very informative as

Stronger bonds of affection and shared interests would form whenever the family gathered around the television sets. Media Historian Lynn Spigel states that,” Not only was it shown to restore faith in family togetherness,” Spigel notes, but TV did it “in splendors of consumer capitalism.” (Edgerton, p. 92) Postwar television promoters pushed the new “family togetherness” that TV viewing would generate within the family. The era of viewing TV in public setting did influence stations' early programming decisions and civic discourse about the new medium and its audience but it was brief. As stated by Edgerton, “By 1950, 45 percent of families who lived in those areas in which TV was available had purchased television sets. The camaraderie of watching in a bar was outweighed for many men by the convenience of watching it at home.” (Edgerton, p. 97) This supplements the social change of family togetherness in the early period of

The ‘Golden Age of Television’ is what many refer to as the period between the 1950s and 60s when the television began to establish itself as a prevalent medium in the United States. In 1947, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Du Mont Network were the four main television networks that ran stations with regular programming taking place. (Television, 2003) While regular television programming was a new innovation, the television itself had been commercially available for over twenty years prior to the 50s. It was conceived by many worldly innovators and went through several testing stages before it was finally completed in the late twenties. The

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language

Over the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the “idiot box” and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend their hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. From this perspective, they claim that the development of the structure of the programs now requires one to intellectually participate in watching television. Essentially, the argument is whether TV is a beneficial societal force or is it simply a

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