The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years

The Kennedy era began with a groundbreaking moment in television--a debate between the presidential candidates, one that left little doubt about who was attuned to the new medium: Kennedy looking sharp and calm in dark blue; and Nixon fading into the set in his grey suit, looking nervous, sweating. And it ended with another kind of television landmark: a traumatized populace--still trying to comprehend the unthinkable death of its President--united electronically in a national ritual of mourning. In the Kennedy years, television not only recorded history, it made history. The Expanding Vista offers an engaging and insightful look at American television in the Kennedy years. Mary Ann Watson demonstrates how television was woven into the events and policies of John Kennedy's presidency, not only in his unprecedented use of the medium in campaigning and image projection, but in the vigorous efforts of his administration to regulate and improve the content of network programs. She shows Kennedy making himself accessible to the public by appearing on the Tonight Show as a candidate in 1960, allowing documentary cameras to follow him in the Oval Office, and supporting Jacqueline's televised tour of the renovated White House. She examines FCC Chairman Newton Minow's campaign to uplift network programs (including his famous Vast Wasteland speech), and the outstanding documentaries, controversial dramas, and other innovative offerings that followed. In addition, The Expanding Vista offers an inside look at television's role in the epic events of these years, from the civil rights struggle, to the space race, to the Cuban Missile Crisis--when Kennedy broke diplomatic tradition by announcing on television that nuclear weapons were in Cuba, and when the Soviets transmitted their offer for a compromise through a television reporter. And Watson expores how television in the 1960s emerged as the medium we know today, from the new technology (including videotape and the first communications satellite) to the shows (such as The Wide World of Sports and The Jetsons) to the racial integration of programs and commercials. The Expanding Vista offers a compelling look at a great moment in the history of broadcasting and American society, when television demonstrated its vast potential under Kennedy's imaginative and concerned leadership. Extensively researched and deftly written, it provides absorbing new insight into a legendary President and the evolution of American television.

Biographies & Memoirs

Watson, Mary Ann

Arts & Literature

Oxford University Press

My Sexuality Workbook

Self-Help

Kendall/Hunt Publishing

Your Sexuality Workbook

Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co.

As American politics and television became more closely intertwined in the early 1960s, each underwent enormous and long-lasting changes. In The Expanding Vista, originally published in 1990 (Oxford University Press), Mary Ann Watson looks at how television was woven into the events and policies of John Kennedy’s presidency, not only in his unprecedented use of the medium in campaigning and image projection, but in the vigorous efforts of his administration to regulate and improve the content of network programs. Examining the legacy of the New Frontier and its relationship to the new medium, she traces the Kennedy influence across a spectrum of programming that includes news, documentary, drama, situation comedy, advertising, children’s shows, and educational TV. Through extensive archival research and oral histories Watson reconstructs key moments of an extraordinary time in the television age. The Expanding Vista’s analysis and interpretation of that era continue to enlighten our understanding of culture and communication as the themes sounded in the 1960s resonate in today’s complex media marketplace.

Humor & Entertainment

Television

Duke University Press Books

Defining Visions is a powerful narrative social history that examines television’s rise as the great “certifying agent” in American life. This newly updated and fully revised edition extends its coverage to the end of the 20th century. It defines the “Television Age” as a discrete period in American history bracketed by monumental events―the triumph of the Allied victory of WWII and the devastation of 9/11. <ul>
<li>A powerful narrative social history that examines television’s rise as the great 'certifying agent' in American life</li> <li>Extends its coverage to the end of the twentieth century, and defines the 'Television Age' as a discrete period in American history that is bracketed by the end of WWII and 9/11</li> <li>Includes discussions of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton impeachment; the massacre at Columbine High School; the 2000 presidential election; and the tragic events of September 11, 2001</li> <li>Considers the cultural impact of recent prime-time programs such as Seinfeld, CSI and Will &amp; Grace
</li> <li>Presents a sweeping account of the connections between TV and American culture</li> </ul>

Defining Visions: Television and the American Experience in the 20th Century

Movies

Wiley/Blackwell

Defining Visions: Television and the American Experience in the 20thy Century

It all started with two youngsters. The one wanted the girl; the girl didn't wanted him. He pursued her so bad I believe she gave up. I'm talking about my parents. I guess it must have been like that. There's so little information I have. I know they were living together, and then she thought that was not for her. And boom, that's when she realized she was pregnant with me and she stuck around. The rest is just my part of the story--the part I lived and I remember, which is painful with a lot of sorrow to get me to the place I am now, the place I shouldn't be though it is where I am forever.

Girl Interrupted

Xlibris

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Books by Watson, Mary Ann