Describes a ten-category evaluation list designed to allow students to make an educated guess on whether a new television program or series will be successful or why a program has become popular. Student predictions are compared with what actually happens at the three television networks. (JMF)

Reviews research related to the effects of television on children. The topics of imitation, distraction and television violence are addressed. (RAO)

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…

Television is one of the most pervasive forms of communication and one of the most influential and visible forms of popular culture. Some researchers believe that the mass communication capability of television has increased cultural homogeneity in all but a very few places. This paper contends that the American, National, and Columbia…

Studies the success of Music Television (MTV), the only cable "narrowcaster" that has survived and prospered. Claims that the promotional power of rock music has altered the marketing and revised the nature of contemporary music. Finds that "music you don't have to watch" is becoming a record industry rarity. (NKA)

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…

Describes how the jokes of Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Joan Rivers explore, support, and disrupt different elements of the American social experience. Argues that joking is one strategy for encouraging and sustaining resistance to ideological control. (NKA)

Although they are normally ignored by schools, popular television shows can provide valuable opportunities for instruction. Ideas for making educational use of television include instruction in critical viewing, teaching with television, and history lessons from reruns. (TE)

A critical analysis of the time, space, and language of television soap operas. (DD)

Views "The Wizard of Oz" as a yearly media ritual, performing the psychological and socializing functions of traditional fairy tales, yet containing contemporary political orientations and social values. Sees its rhetoric as therapeutic insofar as the story's rationale describes psychological problems and offers prescriptive remedies…

Investigated effects of "The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" on aggression. Found that children in a group exposed to a televised Power Rangers episode committed seven times more aggressive acts in a subsequent two-minute play period than did a control group, boys moreso than girls. Results corroborate the causal link between television…

The author admits that he has watched Jerry Springer on occasion. It is a guilty pleasure. The Springer show has come to represent the extremes in the society--perversion, unlikely pairings, lying, and cheating. Liberal Hollywood has been roundly criticized, and justifiably so, over the direction it has taken with much of the entertainment to the…

Comparisons of television shows along genre lines suggest significant elements of aural/visual richness as well as valuable categories of comparison for future use in other comparisons. An examination of two sitcoms and two police shows produced roughly 25 years apart--"Make Room for Daddy" with "The Cosby Show" and "Naked…