Develops an analytic scheme for identifying and discussing major forms of the long-lived game show genre. Finds that recent generic refinements have been instituted to take advantage of the economic and regulatory conditions governing fringe television. (NKA)

Reports results of part of a long-range project studying cultural indicators. Suggests that television viewing is associated with a cultural "mainstream" that tends to absorb or assimilate groups that otherwise diverge from it, and that the salience of certain real-life circumstances is likely to boost television's cultivating potential. (JMF)

Explores how the formal television elements that constitute the ritual space of the talk show establish and contextualize the socio-centrality of the star host--specifically examining the comedy of Johnny Carson and David Letterman, examples of the Yankee character as a champion of common sense and cultural consensus. (NKA)

Examines attempts to provide cultural programing on cable in the early 1980s. Identifies misconceptions about television's cultural audience and suggests limits on the model of "narrowcasting." Indicates that the basic factor for the commercial shortfall of the cultural networks was their striking inability to attract viewers. (JD)

Examines the differences in how Black and White viewers process messages based on the race of television characters representing five occupations. Notes that findings from male college students suggest that Black viewers have better recall of Black occupational characters than White characters on television. Reveals evidence that both Black and…

Discusses how critics of 60 Minutes have tried to account for the meaning of the popular news show. Argues that embedded in its news is the power of metaphor and formula to both transform and deform experience, to secure a middle ground for audiences, and to build unified meanings in and for a pluralistic culture. (JK)

Examines differences in how viewers from five distinct cultural groups retell an episode of Dallas and how these differences reflect their perceptions of the program and their backgrounds. Results reveal correlations between ethnicity and choice of narrative form. (RAE)

Examines how postwar women's magazines introduced television to the American housewife. Reveals the way television was imbricated in the gendered division of labor and leisure at home by exploring how the magazines deliberated on the problems television posed for women's domestic chores and the efficient functioning of the household. (KEH)