Analyzed episodes of "All My Children" and "General Hospital," as reported in the 1980 issues of "Soap Opera Digest." Found that moral violations tended to be resolved consistently with traditional moral standards. Suggests that criticisms of soap operas' effects on morals may not be totally warranted. (PD)

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)

Describes three varieties of metatelevision: audience awareness and intertextuality or medium-reflexive structure; metagenericism or genre-reflexive structure; and autodeconstruction and ilinx or text-reflexive narrative. Metatelevision relies on the ability of the viewers to recognize artifice. (NKA)

Describes a study measuring the amount and kind of violence and sex presented in prime time music videos during a seven-week period. Compares sex and violence on music television to known data on conventional TV. (MS)

According to a new myth in the television broadcasting industry, the producer has become the representative of the show business side of news production, while the reporter has remained the protector of the more noble goals of journalism in the television newsroom. To explore the dimensions of this myth, a study examined data, available from a…

To examine how the contents of Korean television serial dramas have changed and to determine trends of their portrayals of male and female characters' lifestyles, a study analyzed Korean television dramas of 1977 and 1987. A sample of three channels' video--22 daily and 14 weekly episodes of 18 different television dramas during weekday prime time…

Even though television scholar Herbert Zettl singlehandedly created the term "television aesthetics" by proclaiming that TV is an art, television studies are still excluded from the respectable divisions and disciplines of knowledge. Television is considered the epitome of mass culture/kitsch, and the very idea of a TV…

Suggests that mass communication studies accept the critical challenges posed by fringe television--the programing that surrounds the prime-time domain of the three major networks. Identifies and maps various fringe sectors appearing on today's broadcast and cable schedules, and surveys critical imperatives involved in future studies of fringe…

The mass media appear to have an influential role in the socialization of children by exposing them to a world far beyond the limits of their immediate experience. Because children must depend on mass media models for learning about adult sexual intimacy, a content analysis of daytime soap operas, to which many children are exposed daily without…

Television situation comedies have been criticized for their portrayal of dysfunctional family behavior. An exploratory content analysis study assessed the extent of relationship-enhancing communication skills in family-oriented, prime-time situation comedies, a genre frequently targeted for both scorn and praise. Three episodes each of five shows…

A study analyzed six prime-time television shows--"The Cosby Show,""Cheers,""Dear John,""Designing Women,""Golden Girls," and "Roseanne"--to examine group communication as it is portrayed on a daily basis in these shows, or how groups interact in the sitcom genre. One episode of each of…

Anger is a public health issue because it can lead to medical, psychological and social problems. However, anger can be beneficial when specific anger management skills are used. This study examined the portrayal of anger on daytime dramas (soap operas). Thirteen commercial television programs, airing in March and April 1986, were selected for…

Although anger is associated with risk of coronary heart disease, failed marriages, and suicide, angry exchanges are not always negative experiences but can be beneficial. Recently experts on anger concluded that television could portray anger constructively by using television characters who listened to the angry person, integrated anger and…

Examines audience perceptions of which values characterize soap operas in general and which values distinguish daytime from prime-time offerings. Indicates meaningful differences between daytime soaps and prime-time serial dramas. Considers the implications of the empirical method guided by critical concerns and results for media scholars of…

Examines the structural rules governing the presentation and resolution of problems that serve as premises for prime-time fictional programs. Offers demographic data on character types and matching problem types. (MS)