4th Week - Graphical Representation of Early TV

http://www.wannabeswede.com/dfl_009_Senator_Joe_McCarthy.jpg

I chose the above image to represent my overall feeling about early television for a few different reasons. The main reason is, I feel like McCarthy and his "red list" played such a huge role in the development of early TV programming and the way in which shows were broadcast. I feel like this was very well portrayed through the movie "Good Night, and Good Luck", and the fear felt by Americans around the world was obviously very real, and for good reason. Many actors, actress', set crew, etc. were fired due to McCarthy's false communist accusations, and therefore it couldn't help but not to make a difference in what was shown on TV, and by whom. McCarthy used his reputation, his beliefs, and the manipulation of this grand communication tool to try and force people to conform. Even such popular shows as "I Love Lucy" became threatened due to his allegations of Lucille Ball. It seemed to many I'm sure, that no one, nor any TV program was safe from his opinionated allegations.
I also felt this picture, being in B&W, best portrayed early TV due to filming of early programming being filmed in this manner. I think it also provides a good overall feel of the era through the camera equipment shown being used.

Week 3 - What I've learned thus far...

This class so far has been full of extremely interesting, surprising, and new information. I found it to be very interesting that TV evolved from another communication tool such as radio. Radio had such a profound effect on people then as it does now. The history of radio is extensive, with many peoples innovative thoughts contributing greatly to where we are today. It was surprising to me that there was so many amateurs creating this new invention. The excitement over this invention seemed to lead to a great interest in it's abilities by numerous people within society. It seemed to be a snowball effect of creative thoughts and creations over this new harnessed power. It really shows what Americans have the ability to do when they put there mind to something. New information I've learned thus far has been unmeasurable. On top of everything listed above, the ethical issues which began so quickly after the radio was invented definitely made me think about where we are with media censorship and ownership today. Although it wasn't surprising to me that people began to fight about whom should have control over such a powerful communication tool, it was not something I've ever really given a whole lot of thought about, and it was interesting to see the views expressed by both sides back then and the reasons why we are where we are today.

Second Week - "Old" TV vs. "New" TV

This week I watched two "old" TV episodes; One was "Leave it to Beaver" which originated in 1957, and the other being "The Andy Griffith Show" which became televised in 1960. As far as "new" TV is concerned, I watched many parts of various shows, along with an episode of

"Fringe".

http://www.loti.com/fifties_TV/images2/Leave_it_to_Beaver_html_4319f57d.jpg

A quick synopsis of each episode includes a B&W comedic episode of "Leave it to Beaver", where Beaver has a poem due for a class assignment. Beaver's father goes a little too far in helping him with his assignment by ultimately writing the entire poem for him. Beaver wins an award for "his" poem and his Dad feels guilty. His father has a meeting with his teacher to explain the circumstances, and Beaver's teacher is very understanding allowing Beaver a second chance. Beaver writes his poem and shares it at the dinner table believing it's good enough to hold on to that award:) It was a pretty funny poem...

http://www.tcf.ua.edu/classes/Jbutler/T311/AndyGriffith/images/AndyGriffith19_jpg.jpg

"The Andy Griffith Show" came a few years after "Leave it To Beaver" and is a color TV series. In this episode Andy's family asks if they can watch their baby for a week while they are away. Andy is EXTREMELY hesitant, however Aunt Bea is very persistant about not letting down family, and is overjoyed about the possibility of caring for a baby. Andy reluctantly gives in stating he doesn't want to have to take care of the baby at all during it's stay, and Aunt Bea graciously understands. There's only one small problem that gets in the way when the child is dropped off, the child cries hysterically whenever Aunt Bea holds it. Aunt Bea does everything to try and cover this issue up as she is torn up inside, and doesn't want Andy to know she doesn't have everything under control. After numerous insane attempts to cover up the problem, Andy finally figures everything out as Aunt Bea is unable to hide it anymore. Andy feels bad for her as he sees how badly she's upset by this issue, and tries to be helpful. The children however, end up sneaking upstairs and feed the baby blueberry pie filling when no one is around. When Aunt Bea sees the baby's blue mouth, she panics and scoops the baby up to try and get help. After she's made aware of what happened, as she's in hysterics, Andy brings to her attention that the baby is in her arms and not crying. He points out that she was so worried about making sure the baby was comfortable when it arrived vs. now when she's holding it confidantly to protect it, the baby was able to tell the difference. Therefore, the baby didn't hate Aunt Bea after all. As I'm sure you all can guess, Aunt Bea was just ecstatic about this realization which came conveniently before the childs parents came to pick her back up to go home.

http://www.fringetvseries.com/images/fringe-tv-header-mini.jpg

"Fringe" is a relatively new dramatic science fiction TV series. In the episode I watched, there was a bio-terrorist threat which could potentially cause a horrific death to all exposed. Exposure to the chemicals would mutate a human being into a grotesque monster which was ultimately it's demise, along with all that encountered it. A booked airline flight were the first victims which fell to the chemical weapon, becoming an alert for what was to come if not stopped. A team of FBI agents, along with other's, all whom have their various pro's and con's about them make it their responsibility to see to it that this doesn't occur.

As far as differences go between "old" TV and "new" TV go, this is what I noted:

* Clarity of picture - Whether it's B&W or color, "new" TV shows are very crisp in comparison to the fuzzy pictures shown in both "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Andy Griffith Show".

* Dress code and setting - All are representative to their timeframes and the genre they were televised in.

* Dialogue - The English language and the way it's used has continuously changed, and this change is greatly seen between the TV series watched. Again, it is relevant to the timeframe televised, and the audience targeted.

* TV series motive - I don't really think "motive" is the correct word, however, the complexities of TV shows today and what the "drama" is that creates them is so different. Instead of having a TV show about human beings morphing into monsters through bio-terrorism, we had shows about homework assignments, and taking care of babies. Life through a TV just seemed so much simpler back then, as was life in many ways.

* Audio - The Audio in the older shows seemed to have a bit of an echo to it.

This is all I could think of as far as vast distinctions I noticed between the two, but I'm sure there are plenty more. It is amazing how far TV has come in such a short time!

First Week - What did I watch on TV and why?

This week I didn't get to watch too much television. I never really do, however there are some shows that I just absolutely love and try not to miss. I am a huge reality TV junkie so I definitely had to make sure I watched "The City". "The City" is a spin-off of "The Hills", which in itself is a spin-off of Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach was a reality series about a group of highschool students lives as they finished high school, and ultimately went about their futures very separately. A very real, bittersweet TV series about what it's like being a kid and growing up. "The Hills" became a TV series about one of the students, LC, from Laguna Beach, and her journey into the "real" world in LA. "The City" is a brand new series, which is now mainly about one of LC's co-workers, Whitney, and her journey through life as she pursues her professional career, and makes a huge leap moving to New York City to follow her fashion dreams. Reality TV for me is just so easy to relate to whether it's played up or not, many of the situations are very real experiences that we go through in our lives every day. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I've obviously watched this show way too long now to know the history of it as well as I do, but it has so many similarities to things I deal with at times that I can't help but wonder how they'll handle the situation. I'm just easily entertained by these types of shows, and the drama that so similarly occurs...or maybe it's just the drama period, who really knows?

http://extratv.warnerbros.com/images/news/1229port.jpg

Another show I definitley do everything I can to not miss is "House". However, with a DVR it's not too hard to do:) House is a drama series about a pessimistic, sarcastic, pain-killer addicted, and ultimately hilarious doctor whom is naturally talented with solving the most difficult patient cases. He has a set staff of doctors whom work under him as a team, whom he agitates as much as possible every chance he gets. He also has a boss whom he finds very attractive, yet irritating. He can't stand the fact that she has "control" over his practices, and therefore puts her to the test in every situation he can. This show, although repetitive in nature with it's storyline, is well worth the watch. Through the character that Dr. House plays, comes one of the best TV performances on today, and I guarantee that you'll get hooked after one episode. It's not too common that you can enjoy a good laugh about such a serious based subject, but this is definitely one of them!

http://scottking.info/Pics/house.jpg