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Coming after Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show
 
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Coming after Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show [Hardcover]

Vicki Abt (Author), Leonard Mustazza (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)


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Book Description

June 15, 1997

More than just a commentary on the aesthetics of the genre, this book looks at the evolution and cultural significance of these programs, disputing claims that they are nothing more than harmless entertainment. In the work’s revealing first half, Vicki Abt and Leonard Mustazza uncover the mechanics of the talk-show game. The second half examines the behind-the-scenes economic games and their implications, revealing a web of complex commercial and political interests that influence their production. A detailed description of the corporate players and the revenues they are generating is also provided. The study concludes with suggestions for what we as a culture might do to protect ourselves from its inherent deceptions and misinformation.


Editorial Reviews

Review

The first book-length study assessing a decade of talk that makes the quiz-show scandals of the 1950s look innocuous by comparison.

About the Author

Dr. Vicki Abt is professor of sociology and American studies, and Dr. Leonard Mustazza is professor of English and American studies, both at the Pennsylvania State University's Abington College in suburban Philadelphia. Dr. Abt is the author of numerous scholarly articles on controversial social issues and co-author with James F. Smith and Eugene Christiansen of a landmark study of gambling, The Business of Risk. Dr. Mustazza is the author of many articles on literature and popular culture and of four books, one on poet John Milton, two on popular writer Kurt Vonnegut, and one on singer Frank Sinatra.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: Popular Press 1; 1 edition (June 15, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0879727519
  • ISBN-13: 978-0879727512
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,826,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant expose of cultural corruption, July 27, 1997
By A Customer
The disturbing anomie of "trash TV"
and its connection to
multi-billion dollar corporate media
consolidation are given a brilliantly-argued
treatment in this concisely-written book.
The authors have produced a clarion call-to-arms
warning us of the dangers of
coagulating media moguldom.

While occasionally marred by
ideological partisanship, the authors' description of the
interconnected web of toxic TV talk shows
and the desolate value-vacuum of a society ravaged
by a culture war is dead-accurate.

Worth the price of admission alone
is the chapter on the rules of the trash talk
show game wherein millionaire "hosts"
act as tabloid ringmasters, flogging
pathetic, often desperate "guests"
into a confessional frenzy.

The diagnosis is clear, but what
is the cure? Abt and Mustazza quixotically call for
government re-regulation, licensure of media
professionals and taxation.
But the sickness outlined here goes beyond
any political solutions.

All told, a classic illustration of
Marshall McLuhan's prophetic vision of the media
as extensions of the human sensorium
and the way new media effect changes
that are never value-neutral

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