Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television (Paperback)

by Erik Barnouw (Author) "Long before television, long before the broadcasting era, some of their possibilities were glimpsed..." (more)
Key Phrases: network newsmen, noncommercial television, presidential television, United States, New York, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"On of the better texts on the history of TV. The writing is emotive and well informed. Students read this text with interest and many comment on its excellence."--William Prior, Ramapo College

"Tube of Plenty has established itself as a book that every student of communications must read. It is also a book that every American citizen should read."--David Marc, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California

Praise for previous editions:

"A major achievement."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"By condensing his scholarly three-volume History of Broadcasting in the United States into a revised and updated paperback...Barnouw has produced an authoritative, well-informed, and highly readable account of the growth and present status of radio and television."--Backstage

"A master of the on-point anecdote, Barnouw has provided us with an eminently readable guide to the forces and personalities, both on and off the air, that developed this nation's system of broadcasting. It is well worth turning off the set for three hours to read."--Fred Friendly, former President, CBS News

"One of the most complete works on [television], a true history in the exact meaning of the word, thorough, and remarkably up-to-date."--Film Library Quarterly

"Still the finest, most readable history of early TV we have."--Richard Gross, University of Wyoming

"An excellent historical introduction to television's emergence in modern American life and culture. Useful for the undergraduate student interested in media/culture studies."--Mark Kosinski, Bradford College

"The best single-volume history of radio and TV in this country."--The New York Times Book Review

Product Description
Based on the classic History of Broadcasting in the United States, Tube of Plenty represents the fruit of several decades' labor. When Erik Barnouw--premier chronicler of American broadcasting and a participant in the industry for fifty years--first undertook the project of recording its history, many viewed it as a light-weight literary task concerned mainly with "entertainment" trivia. Indeed, trivia such as that found in quiz programs do appear in the book, but Barnouw views them as part of a complex social tapestry that increasingly defines our era.

To understand our century, we must fully comprehend the evolution of television and its newest extraordinary offshoots. With this fact in mind, Barnouw's new edition of Tube of Plenty explores the development and impact of the latest dramatic phases of the communications revolution.

Since the first publication of this invaluable history of television and how it has shaped, and been shaped by, American culture and society, many significant changes have occurred. Assessing the importance of these developments in a new chapter, Barnouw specifically covers the decline of the three major networks, the expansion of cable and satellite television and film channels such as HBO (Home Box Office), the success of channels catering to special audiences such as ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) and MTV (Music Television), and the arrival of VCRs in America's living rooms. He also includes an appendix entitled "questions for a new millennium," which will challenge readers not only to examine the shape of television today, but also to envision its future.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (May 31, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195064844
• ISBN-13: 978-0195064841
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an exceptional telling of the story of television., September 29, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Watertown, New York) - See all my reviews

Erik Barnouw tells the story of television from the beginning. It does not begin with Uncle Miltie and I Love Lucy, in fact Milton Berle doesn't appear until page 117. This is a story of television which begins seven decades earlier, when the first piece of the puzzle which would become television was unveiled: the telephone. This, Barnouw recognizes, is the birth of television, because it fired the imaginations of scientists and engineers, artists and entrepreneurs, and, perhaps most importantly, boys plowing fields with their horse teams.

The stories of the young geniuses like Marconi and Farnsworth capture the imagination, and Barnouw highlights these heros' struggles in the wars waged by RCA against each of them. Greater attention is due Edwin Howard Armstrong, another young genius who was crushed by the monstrous corporation, but Barnouw gives Armstrong more than most. By the time RCA premieres television service in 1939, the reader understands that television has already had a tremendous impact on America.

Television's greatest moments are here, and Barnouw does a excellent job of devoting appropriate amounts of time to each. The author recognizes how interwoven television has become in our society and some chapter breaks are measured by historical events, rather than by eras of television. The end of World War II and the assassination of JFK not only marked shifts in our nation's history, but in television as well. What followed were not historical events, as before TV, but media events.

The book also features a very useful and interesting 11-page chronology, an excellent biographical notes section, and an exceptional indexes, all of which make this tremendously accessible. It is tremendously compelling reading. Don't pick it up before your favorite show, because you won't be able to put it down in time!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for understanding the development of TV as a business and technology, August 8, 2006

By	Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a generous single-volume condensation of Erik Barnouw's seminal three-volume HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN THE UNITED STATES. It is not a perfect book--took much is left out for that--but it does provide any student of American TV with an essential overview of many aspects in the birth and development of the medium. Despite the great length of the book, even in the single-volume abridgment, there are some curious omissions, but the strong points of the book are very strong indeed and make the book one of the crucial volumes for any personal library on television.

Barnouw tells in wonderful (and wonderfully entertaining) detail the development of the technologies that allowed the existence of radio and television, as well as the economic realities that turned it into the massive business that it has long been. He also explores the political aspects of the medium, both in terms of serving as part of the Fourth Estate by providing oversight to government actions and policies, and the erosion of that role as right wing groups have undermined that role (Barnouw anticipates the ultimate melding of right wing politics and corporate owned media, while at the same time crying crocodile tears over the mythical liberal media). He is also exceptional at detailing what kinds of shows arose at what time and what the constituent factors were. Even if one has a pretty decent idea of what was happening on TV at what time, Barnouw will both broaden and deepen one's understanding of the medium.

Nonetheless, while this is an outstanding book, one can't help but be struck by what was left out. For instance, there is no mention of a large number of seminal television shows. Although one of the most popular shows on TV in the fifties, THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW with Silvers as Sgt. Bilko got no mention at all. THE TWILIGHT ZONE was one of the best-written and iconic shows of all time, yet it is not discussed at all. Though I was never a fan of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, it was nearly as popular as THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, which receives extensive notice. One recognizes that there are time restrictions, but these omissions are significant. There is also an amazing neglect of British Television shows. SECRET AGENT MAN aka DANGER MAN received no mention nor did the massively influential MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS.

This all highlights the book's strength. It is far weaker in discussing the aesthetics of TV than examining it as an industry and as a technology. The cut off point for the book is the late eighties, yet not a single word deals with the enormous growth of television as an art form in that decade. The most important show that decade by far was HILL STREET BLUES. Virtually every series (what Barnouw would call a telefilm) in the history of prime time television prior to HILL STREET BLUES adhered to the episodic format, each series consisting of a series of self-contained segments that would resolve all of that week's action and then be forgotten by the next week and the next episode. Some prime time soap operas did use the serial format, with the action spilling over from week to week, but none of these enjoyed any critical acclaim and were at best contained rather simplistic plots. HILL STREET BLUES, on the other hand, though it tried to resolve one story arc each week, contained multiple story arcs and possessed a remarkably complex narrative style. This revolutionized television narrative and made possible subsequent shows as various as ST. ELSEWHERE, THE X-FILES, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 24, THE GILMORE GIRLS, FARSCAPE, ER, THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, LOST, and VERONICA MARS (the list could go on and on and on). In other words, almost everything good on TV can be said to have evolved out of what HILL STREET BLUES wrought. Yet, Barnouw does not mention HILL STREET BLUES even once. The development of the multiple story arc series was the greatest aesthetic development not merely of the eighties, but one of the two or three most important developments ever, yet Barnouw simply doesn't notice.

But for understanding the history of television as a business and the technology it is rooted in, Barnouw's book stands alone. Most people imagine the story of television beginning in the fifties or perhaps the late forties, but Barnouw begins in the late 19th century with Marconi. This isn't just a book that any more-than-casual student of TV ought to read; it is one they MUST read.