Who Shot the Sheriff?: The Rise and Fall of the Television Western (Media and Society Series) [Hardcover]

J. Fred MacDonald (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275923266 | ISBN-13: 978-0275923266 | Publication Date: December 9, 1986

This intriguing book is a study of the rise and fall of an American genre of entertainment and communication whose symbols and rhetoric helped define American society for decades. Flourishing in the 1950s and 1960s, the television Western has deteriorated to the point where it is now irrelevant and meaningless. Tracing the evolution of the Western from the late 1940s to the 1980s, the author ties the genre to the political innocence and confidence of the Cold War years and suggests that the social reevaluations that began in the 1960s undermined the believability of Westerns and their entertainment value. Seeking to understand the demise of the TV Western, the book offers an analysis of the interrelationships between popular culture, television, and sociopolitical development in the United States during the past four decades.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (December 9, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275923266
• ISBN-13: 978-0275923266
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,264,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whatever Happened to the Television Western?, September 14, 2002

By 

HarryChrishop-CPC (Mississauga, Ont.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Shot the Sheriff?: The Rise and Fall of the Television Western (Media and Society Series) (Hardcover)

Take a ride down Memory Lane and relive all those favorite Western television programs that once ruled the airwaves. Ever wonder whatever happened to them? Author Fred MacDonald has written a comprehensive guide to their popularity, and has introduced theories as to the reasons for their decline and eventual death. It is kind of a historical/sociological study into the era when television westerns flourished. Citing societal upheavals and socio-political trends to explain his hypotheses, MacDonald unravels the reasons for the disappearance of the western from television today. Remember Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Big Valley, The Virginian, and Have Gun Will Travel? In 1960, there were over 30 westerns airing weekly. Today, there are none. What happened? This book explains the popular phenomenon and gives reasons for the death of the western genre. Immensely entertaining and invaluably educational.