Demographic Vistas: Television in American Culture (Paperback)

~ (Author), Horace Newcomb (Foreword) "An unholy marriage of sociology and art-the shotgun is pointed at art-American television is a perplexing montage..." (more)
Key Phrases: presentational comedy, blackout sketch, viewer loyalty, New York, Saturday Night Live, The Honeymooners (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Quite simply, a tour de force--a wonderful synthesis of history and criticism."--Daniel Czitrom, author of Media and the American Mind

"A cooly sophisticated analysis . . . of American televsion."--American Studies International

From reviews of the first edition--

"Demographic Vistas analyzes television in the tradition of a Gilbert Seldes or Michael Arlen. Exhibiting fluency in television history, theories of culture, and American literature, the book offers a thoughtful, idiosyncratic interpretation of television's life so far in American culture."--Critical Studies in Mass Communication

"Marc does a good job of drawing links between the American literary tradition and television themes, which illustrate that television texts are not isolated from the critical mainstream of American creative efforts. . . . These links illustrate that television texts offer themselves to much the same analytical forms as any other literary endeavor."--Southern Speech Communication Journal

Product Description

In Demographic Vistas, David Marc shows how we can take television seriously within the humanist tradition while enjoying it on its own terms. To deal with the barrage of messages from television's chaotic history, Marc adapts tools of theatrical and literary criticism to focus on key personalities and genres in ways that reward serious students and casual viewers alike.

This updated edition includes a new foreword by Horace Newcomb and a new introduction by the author that discusses the ways in which the nature of television criticism has changed since the book's original publication in 1984. A new final chapter explores the paradox of the diminishing importance of over-the-air broadcasting during the period of television's greatest expansion, which has been brought about by complex technologies such as cable, videocassette recorders, and online services.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press; Revised Edition edition (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812215605
• ISBN-13: 978-0812215601
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,255,739 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Read This Twice, and Will Do So Again, September 20, 2005

By	Chris Ward (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was written in the 80s and revised in the 90s, but television has undergone such a revolutionary shift in its very nature (with hundreds of channels where there were only a few when this was first written) that Marc needs to do a complete rewrite. Even so, the book is still a goldmine of THEORY about how to think about TV: why we watch, what we're seeking when we turn on the tube. Yes, there's some academic jargon, but it's generally a clear and concise look at the dominant medium of our age. He dissects several popular shows and really gets inside the box. There's a little of everything here: history, theory, criticism, sociology. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand TV instead of just watching it.