Demographic Vistas: Television in American Culture

By David Marc

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812215605
• ISBN13: 9780812215601
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

I've Read This Twice, and Will Do So Again

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.