A Brief History of Classic Television: From Lucy Ricardo to Tony Soprano
Overview
With Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and the rest, it is impossible for anyone to keep up with all the TV—even just the good TV—that is now being released on an almost daily basis. Once upon a time, however, practically everyone was watching the same shows at the same time. The characters, catch phrases, theme songs, and stories provided a common culture that we all shared and that both reflected and distorted our image of the national soul.
With some quick analyses of five TV shows — from the 1940s (when TV was still being broadcast live from New York) to the 1990s (when cable was providing a higher quality of programming to a lower quantity of viewers) — we’ll examine the evolution of what was once truly a mass medium in the days before streaming.
A very good, if maybe too brief, look at the issues driving TV from its beginnings, put in historical perspective. Each example picked out by the author epitomized the time in which it was produced.
1940’s – Texaco Star Theater and Milton Berle
1950’s – I Love Lucy
1960’s – The Andy Griffith Show
1970’s – All in the Family
1980’s – Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere
1990’s – The Sopranos