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Logics of Television
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Logics of Television: Essays in Cultural Criticism is Volume 11 in the series THEORIES OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE Center for Twentieth Century Studies University of WisconsinMilwaukee General Editor, KATHLEEN WOODWARD
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Logics of Television Essays in Cultural Criticism edited by Patricia Mellencamp INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis BFI PUBLISHING, London
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First published in the United States of America by Indiana University Press 10th and Morton Streets Bloomington, Indiana and Published in Great Britain by The British Film Institute 21 Stephen Street London WIP IPL © 1990 by The Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.481984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Logics of television: essays in cultural criticism / edited by Patricia Mellencamp. p. cm. (Theories of contemporary culture; v. 11) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0253336171 (alk. paper). ISBN 0253205824 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Television broadcastingSocial aspects. 2. Television broadcastingUnited States. I. Mellencamp, Patricia. II. Series. PN1992.6.L64 1990 302.23'45'0973dc20 8946004 CIP British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Logics of television: essays in cultural criticism (Theories of contemporary culture v.2) 1. Television services. Social aspects I. Mellencamp, Patricia II. Series 302.2345 ISBN 0851702783 2 3 4 5 94 93 92
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Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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Patricia Mellencamp Prologue Meaghan Morris
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Banality in Cultural Studies John Caughie
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Playing at Being American: Games and Tactics Charlotte Brunsdon
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Television: Aesthetics and Audiences Lynn Spigel
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Television in the Family Circle: The Popular Reception of a New Medium William Boddy
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The Seven Dwarfs and the Money Grubbers: The Public Relations Crisis of US Television in the Late 1950s Eileen R. Meehan
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Why We Don't Count: The Commodity Audience Andrew Ross
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TechnoEthics and TeleEthics: Three Lives in the Day of Max Headroom Lynne Joyrich
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Critical and Textual Hypermasculinity Jane Gaines
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Superman and the Protective Strength of the Trademark Margaret Morse
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An Ontology of Everyday Distraction: The Freeway, the Mall, and Television Mary Ann Doane
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Information, Crisis, Catastrophe Patricia Mellencamp
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TV Time and Catastrophe, or Beyond the Pleasure Principle of Television Stephen Heath
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Representing Television
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CONTRIBUTORS
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NAME INDEX
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SUBJECT INDEX
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Acknowledgments This volume and a year's worth of research on television resulted from a collaboration with Kathleen Woodward, Director of the Center for Twentieth Century Studies. At the Center, 1987/88 was referred to as "the year of television." All of our theories were beautifully put into practice