Politics and the American television comedy : a critical survey from I love lucy through South Park / Doyle Greene.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greene, Doyle, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Television comedies--United States--History and criticism.

Television comedies.

Television and politics--United States.

Television and politics.

United States.

Physical Description:

ix, 265 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., [2008]

Summary:

"This work examines the unique and ever-changing relationship between politics and comedy through an analysis of several popular American TV programs"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Subverting the Medium 3

Part 1 Is Avant-Garde Television Comedy Possible?

1 American Comedy and the European Avant-Garde 9

Dada and Distraction: The Origins of Avant-Garde Comedy 9

"Nightmare Farces": Surrealism and Silent Film Comedy 13

The Other Marxism: Artaud and the Marx Brothers 19

Waiting for Buster: Theater of the Absurd and American Film Comedy 11

2 The Culture Industry and American Television Comedy 29

Camera, Cinema, Revolution: Benjamin, Artaud, and Adorno 29

Adorno: The Culture Industry and Television 31

The Dual-Character of Comedy and Drama in Early American Television 34

From "Comedy-Variety" to "Situation-Comedy" 36

Clash of the Titans: Lucy Ricardo versus Ralph Kramden 42

Part 2 Deconstructing Television: American Television Comedy, 1951-1966

3 The Humor of Anomaly: Ernie Kovacs 49

Ernie in Kovacsland 49

The Cockeyed World: Kovacs and Benjamin 52

Surrealism and Sight-Gags 56

"The Intimate Vacuum" 58

Poetry in Motion: Music, Montage, and "Sound to Sight" 62

Fanfare for the Modern Man: "Eugene," The Ernie Kovacs Show (ABC, 1961) 65

4 Say "Dada": The Soupy Sales Show 78

A Brief History of Children's Television 78

Soupy Sales: The WNEW Years 84

When Worlds Collide: On-Screen and Off-Screen Space 88

Part 3 From Bumpkins to Bigots: American Television Comedy, 1962-1971

5 The Idiocy of Rural Life: Green Acres 99

Barnyard Comedy 99

Class Struggle: The Beverly Hillbillies 101

Absurdist America: Green Acres 103

The Life of the (Capital L) Law: Oliver Wendell Douglas 108

Contradiction and Overdetermination: The Hooterville Order 112

6 Archie Bunker for President! The Crisis of American Television Comedy in the Counterculture Era 117

Monkee Business 117

The March on CBS: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 120

Culture Industry Counterculture: Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In 125

The Great CBS Purge and the Rise of the Political Sitcom: All in the Family 133

Part 4 Anti-Television: American Television Comedy, 1975-1983

7 Game Shows of Cruelty: Chuck Barris and The Gong Show 141

Disasters Waiting to Happen: The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game 141

Two Minutes of Fame: The Gong Show 144

The Process of Elimination 149

"The King of Schlock" 150

8 Situationist Comedy: Andy Kaufman 156

That's Entertainment: The World of Andy Kaufman 156

"I Don't Know if You're Laughing with Me or Laughing at Me": Saturday Night Live, 1975 158

"Maybe I Went Too Far": Pushing the Boundaries of Television 161

"I Was Just Teasing in Fun": Taking on the Talk Show 171

"Andy Kaufman Is Not Funny Anymore!": Revenge of the Culture Industry 177

Requiem for a Comedian: "The Andy Kaufman Show," Soundstage (PBS, 1983) 181

"A Sum of Spectacles": The Legacy of Andy Kaufman 190

Part 5 Is Avant-Garde Television Comedy Still Possible?

9 Damage Control: Comedy-Variety and Situation-Comedy After 1974 195

Now Ready for Prime-Time Players: Saturday Night Live 195

Happy Days Are Here Again 198

10 Fair and Balanced Satire: Against The Sympsons 200

A Franchise Is Born 200

Simpsons, Meet the Simpsons... 201

Biting the Fox That Feeds It? P 204

Parody, Pastiche, Politics 206

11 Comedy Is Not Pretty: In Praise of South Park 212

A Sore Sight for Eyes 212

"Friendly Faces Everywhere..." 215

Democracy Happens 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-253) and index.

ISBN:

9780786432356

0786432357

OCLC:

167513308