In this text, the author argues that television has indeed transformed history and supports his case with examples, such as: the way "I Love Lucy" profoundly influenced the feminist movement; and how John F. Kennedy reinvented his press conferences to imitate the success of "Meet the Press".
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Do you love TV? Do you want a way to silence those poor souls who chastise you for spending too many hours in front of the tube? Glued to the Set is what you've been looking for. NPR commentator, cultural critic, and unapologetic TV-watcher Steven Stark explores six decades of television to find the shows and the events that prove how important this medium has been in the shaping of modern American culture. From Milton Berle's invention of TV-comedy to "ER and the fight for health-care reform," Stark engages in serious, thoroughly researched analysis while occasionally moving his tongue towards his cheek.
He examines the subversive pleasures of The Monkees, and the ways in which sitcoms both reflect and create ideas about family. The book's serious premise is kept afloat by Stark's lively prose, and this allows his points to hit home with a force that would be lost in a more academic arena. After reading Glued to the Set, America's Funniest Home Videos will never seem the same again: "As the theme song says: 'America, America, this is you.'" --Simon Leake --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Imagine using a remote control to zap through television history, surfing from program to news event, catching provocative glimpses of American society over the past five decades. Journalist and pop-culture commentator for NPR, Stark provides such an experience in this collection of 60 essays on seminal television moments. He supplies a wealth of behind-the-scenes details and offers incisive commentary on topics as diverse as "Space Television" in the Sixties, "Masterpiece Theatre and the Failure of PBS" in the Seventies, "Dallas and the Rise of Republican Mythology" in the Eighties, and "How Wheel of Fortune Won the Cold War" in the Nineties. Stark demonstrates how each program or event influenced America in fundamental ways. His elegant prose is laced with wit and supplemented by a bibliography of sources for each essay, making this a sterling purchase for any library.?Neal Baker, Dickinson Coll. Lib., Carlisle, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Steven D. Stark is a former cultural commentator for CNN, National Public Radio, and the Voice of America, as well as the author of four books and one e-book. He has written frequently for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic Monthly, and both the Boston Globe where he was an op-ed columnist and the Montreal Gazette where he was a world sports columnist. His work often appears on the websites Real Clear Sports and Real Clear Politics. A former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, he is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. His website is at www.starkwriting.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Politics and Culture ... and TV,
By A Customer
This review is from: Glued to the Set (Hardcover)
The reviews here seem to conflict, but (aside from the Lucy corrections), they all say about the same thing and pretty accurately describe this book. It is not for people who don't want to hear about the relationship between what was on TV and what was happening in American politics and culture. And it will be an uphill read for anyone who wants to always agree with the author or who doesn't want the author to spin out some interesting speculations.Personally, I loved this book. I started browsing it in the bookstore. Had to sit down. Read for an hour. Put it back on the shelf. Picked it up again at the bookstore the next day. Got absorbed again. Had to buy it. I found it really readable and absorbing. I love the theories: maybe SNL isn't what it's cracked up to be. Stark seems like the sort of person I'd love to have around to have long conversations with... to argue with. I like the provocation! Don't go by how the star ratings averaged out. You can tell by these reviews whether you're the sort of person who likes this sort of thing. If you are, you'll probably love the book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An ideal essayist,
By
This review is from: Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us Who We Are Today (Hardcover)
Mr. Stark has managed to capture what the whole spirit of essay-writing is about: to spark debate and seamlessly incorporate the various (and often needlessly divorced) disciplines, be it sociology, psychology, design, media, education, etc.Many other reviewers on this democratic yet altogether newfangled 'Amazon' service have expressed displeasure at Stark's omissions and/or the marketing of the book. For those who expected a simple list of the Best Shows of All Time, you should not bother with books to begin with; yet if you persist in reading, I suggest you start with Ziauddin Sardir's essay about list and rank obsession in 'The A to Z of Postmodern Life'. Mr. Stark's cause, I believe (and teach my students) is to provoke the very debate and discussion that has prompted both 1 and 5 star rankings. He is perhaps one of the most effective essayists of our time, for he manages to incorporate opinion, research, and a broader historical view by referencing the very (and only) things that give our American culture its ballast. Most importantly, he manages to do this without falling into the academic sophism that describes much of the current film/video literature.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Supposed to be about the 60 GREATEST shows,
By Yarby "yarby" (Medina, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Glued to the Set (Hardcover)
This book is not meant to be about the 60 greatest shows ever to appear on television. It is not, in reality, a book about television at all, but rather about sociology. It analyzes the impact of television on American life, and, conversely, the impact of American life on television. Bravo to Mr. Stark for writing a book which gives us much more than so many other books do in discussing television. Mr. Stark actually makes us think about its impact.
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