The Influence Of Television In The 1950's

As one of the largest forms of pop culture, TV shows in Australia have had a massive impact on the things we buy, our job preferences, and hobbies that we could take up. In the 1960’s this was very much the case. It was the beginning decade for Television

The introduction of television casted a wave of change in the lives of the American public. In Gary Edgerton’s The Columbia History of American Television, he described the uprising of television, “involved the most extensive and ballyhooed series of public relations events ever staged around any mass medium in American history. “ (Edgerton, p.1) The first presentation of television played a pivotal role on how the American public adopted the new medium of technology and communication. I will explore the grand manner of how television was presented to the American public during the early years by the direction of David Sarnoff, and televised special of the 1939 World’s fair. In addition, how this presentation of television generated the acceptation

Today, Film and Television are among the most internationally supported commodities. Financially, their contributions are enormous: both industries are responsible for the circulation of billions of dollars each year. Since their respective explosions into the new media markets during the mid-twentieth century, film and television have produced consistently growing numbers of viewers and critics alike. Sparking debate over the nature of their viewing, film and television are now being questioned in social, political, and moral arenas for their potential impact on an audience. Critics claim that watching films or television is a passive activity in which the viewer becomes subconsciously

How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontz's "What We Really Miss about the 1950s", she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasn't the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Father knows Best", families watched them to make sure they were living correctly. It was like guidance and somewhat reassurance. However, values of families have changed, and this is shown on sitcoms today. We watch sitcoms today for

The television gave much of the country something to do. It reflected the homogenization of the United States. People began to envision a futuristic nuclear world after the start of the Space Race between the United States and Russia to land on the moon. The United States launched Alan Shepard into space after the Soviets launched “Sputnik” in 1957 as we launched our first man in 1961. Meanwhile, computers were developed into large room size machines to do simple computations and made things portable. One of the characteristics of the mass media during the 1950’s, as the T.V., was that the sitcoms was directed to make viewers think about the idea of the perfect family living the American dream. The only problem with those T.V sitcoms was that not every American family fitted into that mold. For example, Jews, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and other minorities were not portrayed as part of that image that most people wanted to imitate because these T.V. families were white-collar, middle class, and Caucasian.

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

The 1960’s was and important time in American history. Television became popular. John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president and a few years later was assassinated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced. The psychedelic movement 1960’s. The Vietnam War. Despite all the things that was happening in the 1960’s it was still a great and bad time of that era.

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 1950s had many impacts in the United States that changed the ways things are now. In the 1950s there was many inventions that were made but the one that changed america was The TV. The TV allowed people to catch up with things that were happening in the world and they were able to watch TV shows such as "I love Lucy", "Leave It To Beaver", "Father Knows Best", and " The Honeymooners". These shows were "entertainment" but however some of the TV shows were inappropriate for kids and even adults. Intersections and highways were the next attraction to the folks in the 1950s. This changed many ways for them to travel and go places, get there fast and it changed the transportation of cars in general. A very important war that is not talked about

While much of the power of television in the 1960’s can be attributed to the mainstream availability and shear increase in ownership, the delivery format also contributed to its influence. One of the biggest

In the 1950s the most popular products was the TV. At the starting the TV owner

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

By the end of the 1920s, almost every household owned a radio. Radios were one of the many new particular consumer goods being purchased in the modern era. The first commercial radio station also hit the air in the 1920s. The lifestyle in terms of leisure had shifted dramatically from the Victorian era. Victorianism defined worthy uses of leisure. It was seen that play should be purposeful and edifying, not merely for amusement. For the people in the 20s, it was more acceptable for it to be just about fun. Jazz struck a resonant chord with many Americans in the 20s. Jazz is a symbol of break from the Victorian past and spoke to even deeper yearning for freedom among blacks. It mirrored frenetic pace and unpredictability of modern life (Lisa Jacobson, Lecture). Jazz was heard at nightclubs/speakeasies and it defied rules. It was a revolt against Victorianism and it was a refreshing alternative to culturally uplifting music. People were optimistic about starting new lives and it expressed new optimism about future, new black assertiveness, and yearnings for unrestrained freedom (Lisa Jacobson, Lecture). People enthusiastically embraced jazz but some felt troubled by it because of sexual morale. The middle class thought it as vulgar and connected it to loose morals. A jazz party could help those who couldn’t afford to pay rent by having a “rent party” where an admission fee would be charged. This helped with those who could barley afford living in the city. Gangster films

One part of television that has always been a constant in a lot of programs is family. More particular, the family sitcom and family dramas have been around for years and are still around today. Family television shows are great programs for everyone due to the fact of being very family-oriented. However, the way families were portrayed when television first started out has changed drastically with how some families are portrayed now. The evolution of the way families are viewed on screen and off screen can be portrayed throughout the years on television.