FMS 300 US Television & Cultural Studies

Instuctor: Dr. Megan Biddinger Email: mbidding @ asu .edu Office Hours: By Appointment

I. DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to provide an overview of American television (from the 1940s to the present) through the lens of cultural studies. While television programs will be surveyed in terms of genre (sitcoms, dramas, etc.), this course also endeavors to examine them as cultural artifacts and industrial products that reflect and refract issues of ideology, class, ethnicity, gender and/or sexuality.

This course demands “active learning”– please understand that you are going to be expected to utilize a variety of analytical skills (in addition to those that may have been honed with a bag of Doritos at your side and a remote control in hand). Expect to spend at least five hours per week including lecture and screening time, to stay current with readings and concept review as well as learning and reviewing course materials – and more hours during take home exam and paper weeks. This course prioritizes critical thinking and the establishment of a thoughtful intellectual community of learners in all aspects of the course. All students in this course are required to participate in the online discussion (e-board). Through active involvement in this course students should learn how to articulate critical opinions and ideas about television and larger socio-political issues.

II. COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. Introduce students to the study of television programming as cultural, industrial & commercial product. 2. To gain a rudimentary understanding of the field of cultural studies, which incorporates various disciplines including communication, sociology, social theory, media theory and media studies. 3. Help students to discern how technological advancements have impacted and continue to impact the medium. 4. Explain the relationship between television and other medium (radio, film and digital media internet) aesthetically, culturally and industrially. 5. Examine television programs as reflections and refractions of attitudes about class, ethnicity, gender, race and sexuality in the era in which the series were produced. 6. Teach students to formulate critical arguments about television programming and to perform textual analysis as well as socio-cultural, socio-historical and industrial contextualization to support their theses. 7. Encourage students to understand that thinking critically can enrich the pleasures of their spectatorial experiences.

II. REQUIRED TEXTS: The textbook, U.S. Television & Cultural Studies, is available for purchase at the ASU bookstore. Additional readings may be provided online and will be noted with an asterisk (*) on the class schedule.

1 III. REQUIREMENTS 1. PARTICIPATION (25 pts.): You are expected to have completed the assigned reading for class on the day listed on the syllabus and to be prepared to discuss all aspects of the material in a coherent manner. To help encourage a sense of accountability, participation in class discussions will be factored into your grade

Participation is based on e-board (Blackboard) posts. If a student is unable to complete posts for a given week due to illness, a Doctor’s notes must be received within a week of absence for permission to be given to “make up” posts. This course is brief and there are two lessons per week—each of which requires a minimum of two posts. Missing two posts equals one absence; three absences results in the grade being lowered by one full letter grade. If you have more than five absences, you will not pass the class.

ALL POSTS FOR EACH WEEK ARE DUE BY 11PM AZ ON THE LAST DAY OF THAT WEEK (e.g. Week 1’s posts are due by 11PM AZ Time on Tuesday, 10/23).

2. PAPER PROPOSAL (10 pts.): A 1-2 page proposal for your research paper which includes the following: A) The set of issues you want to explore in this paper (your research question) B) The names and running dates of the two series that you will be analyzing as well as a brief discussion of the relevant elements of the series and C) a list of at least 4 sources you will use for your final paper (at least 3 must be academic/critical sources).

PAPER PROPOSAL DUE TUESDAY 10/30 BY 11 PM AZ TIME

3. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (15 pts.): A 4-6 page list of 4 sources for your final paper (at least 3 of these must be critical/academic) in either MLA or Chicago style (as you would in a bibliography or works cited page) that also includes, for each entry, a summary of the source’s point or argument and a discussion of how you will use the source to support your argument. Uses for your sources include a conceptual framework for your discussion (e.g. an approach to a genre or the construction of identity), historical or industrial context, analysis of similar texts on which you can build (or critique).

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE TUESDAY 11/13 BY 11PM AZ TIME.

4. FINAL PAPER (25 pts.): Students are expected to formulate individual paper topics that utilize textual analysis, industrial history and socio-cultural contextualization of TWO television programs, one before 1969 and one from after 1969. The two programs should have aired at least a decade apart so you can compare historical moments. The programs should be examined as both cultural artifacts and industrial products. The analysis must include textual analysis used to reveal how these particular televisual texts speak to both the historical moment in which they were produced as well as the issue and/or topic in the question that you formulate.

The central research question can focus on any one of the following areas: 1. Industrial Concerns—broadcasting/narrowcasting, network/netlet; cable/premium cable, and/or technological change within the era in which the three series were produced; 2. Representational Analysis focusing upon issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sex orientation, class and/or region and how these constructions reflect and/or shape societal views; 3. Topics that combine 1 or more of previous categories such as the rise and fall of “reality” stardom (and/or villainy) or audience studies.

2 The 8-10 page final paper must be a typed, double-spaced, analytical term paper with a minimum of SIX references (a minimum of THREE must be critical/academic references). You may use either MLA or Chicago as your citation method. The key is to be thorough and consistent.

FINAL PAPER DUE WEDNESDAY, 11/21 BY 11PM AZ TIME

5. FINAL EXAM (25 pts.): This cumulative test will consist of a mixture of identification and short-answer essay questions drawing from readings, screenings and lecture throughout the semester. You are allowed to use your materials and notes. FINAL EXAM EMAILED MONDAY, 12/10 BY NOON and DUE TUESDAY 12/11 BY 11PM AZ TIME.

IV. GRADING: Grade Point Breakdown Grade Scale Proposal 10 pts. 100 A+ 79.5 – 78 C+ Annotated Bibliography 15 pts. 99.5 – 95 A 77.5-- 74 C Final Paper 25 pts.. 94.5 -- 90 A- 73.5 – 70 C- Final Exam 25 pts 89.5 – 88 B+ 69.5 – 68 D+ Participation 25 pts. 87.5-- 84 B 67.5-- 64 D Total Points Possible 100 83.5 – 80 B- 63.5 – 60 D-

All work must be submitted via email as a MS Word document attachment. You must include your full name in the document title (e.g. megan biddinger.paper proposal.doc). INCORRECTLY SUBMITTED WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Late Work Policies: Late discussion posts will receive no credit. Late written assignments will lose a full letter grade each day. I will not accept papers more than 3 days after the due date. Late exams will not be accepted.

V. CLASS POLICIES: Disability Accommodations: Qualified students with disabilities who will require disability accommodations in this class are encouraged to make their requests to me at the beginning of the semester either during office hrs or by appt. Note: Prior to receiving disability accommodations, verification of eligibility from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is required. Disability info is confidential.

Establishing Eligibility for Disability Accommodations: Students who feel they will need disability accommodations in this class, but have not registered with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) should contact DRC immediately. Their office is located on the first floor of the Matthews Center Building. DRC staff can also be reached at: 480-965-1234 (V), 480-965-9000 (TTY). For additional information, visit: www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc. Their hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.

Academic Dishonesty: You are expected to turn in original work for this course. Quotations or ideas paraphrased from other work must be properly cited. Taking credit for another’s ideas or writing is plagiarism, which is a serious violation of the University’s Code of Academic Integrity. In the “Student Academic Integrity Policy” manual, ASU defines “‘Plagiarism’ [as] using another's words, ideas, materials or work without properly acknowledging and documenting the source. Students are responsible

3 for knowing the rules governing the use of another's work or materials and for acknowledging and documenting the source appropriately.” Academic dishonesty, including inappropriate collaboration, will not be tolerated. There are severe sanctions for cheating, plagiarizing and any other form of dishonesty.

VI. SCHEDULE OF CLASSES Week 1 10/17-10/23 Lesson Reading Television, Reading Culture 1 The Moment of Television Reading: Gould, “Television: Boon or Bane, Screening: Excerpts from Texaco Star Theater Starring Milton Berle, The Honeymooners, “TV or not TV,” and The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show

Lesson Back When Ethnic Was Funny, Part 1 2 Reading: G. Lipsitz, “The Meaning of Memory,” T. Cripps, “Amos ‘n’ Andy and the Debate Over American Racial Integration” Screening: Beulah, Molly, Amos ‘n’ Andy

Week 2 10/24-10/30 Lesson Constructing Femininity in the Post War Era 3 Reading: Mann, “Spectacularization of Everyday Life,” B. Friedan, “The Feminine Mystigue” Screening: Clips from The Martha Raye Show, Queen for a Day I Love Lucy “Lucy Does A Commercial,” The Donna Reed Show

Lesson Liveness, Spectatorship and Commerce in The First Golden Age of Television 4 Reading: C. Anderson, “Disneyland,” W. Boddy, “Live Television: Program Formats & Critical Hierarchies,” Recommended Reading: “Sid Caesar” Encyclopedia of Television (online) http :// www . museum . tv / eotvsection . php ? entrycode = caesarsid Screening: Marty, The Disneyland Story, Clips from Your Show of Shows

PAPER PROPOSAL DUE TUESDAY 10/30 BY 11 PM AZ TIME

Week 3 10/31-11/6 Lesson The Creeping Red Menace & The Electronic Hearth 5 Reading: T. Leab, See It Now, M. McLuhan, “The Medium is the Message,” McCarthy’s Reply [Transcripts], Red Channels Screening Homework: Good Night & Good Luck (Clooney, 2005) [Available on Netflix]

Lesson Transforming the Wasteland, Transforming the Country 6 Screening: Clips from Kennedy/Nixon Debate, A White House tour w/ Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Atomic Café and Harvest of Shame Readings: Excerpts from Newton Minow’s “Vast Wasteland” Speech* Williams, “Flow”

Week 4 11/7-11/13 Lesson Cold Warrior TV/Camelot TV (Pt. 1) 7 Reading: Sconce, “Outer Limits…” D. Bernardi, “Star Trek in the Sixties,” Screening: The Twilight Zone, “The Shelter,” Outer Limits, “The Bellero Shield,” Star Trek, “Let This Be Your Last Battlefield”

Lesson Cold Warrior TV/Camelot TV (Pt. 2)

4 8 Reading: Hall, “Encoding/Decoding,” M. Harolovich, “I-Spy’s Living Postcards…” A. Bodroghozy, “Is This What You Mean By Color TV?” Screening: I-Spy, “It’s All Done With Mirrors” and Julia,“The Unloneliest Night of the Year”

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE TUESDAY 11/13 BY 11PM AZ TIME.

Week 5 11/14-11/20 Lesson Counter Culture & Containment 9 Reading: A. Bodroghozy, “We’re the Young Generation” Screening: Clips from Laugh-In and Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Mod Squad, “A Short Course in War”

Lesson Conflicting Object Lessons, Containing Relevancy & Jiggling All The Way 10 Reading: Fishbein, “The Docudrama & the Interpretation of History,” Charlie’s Angels http :// www . museum . tv / archives / etv / C / htmlC / charliesang / charliesang .htm Screening: Clips from Get Christie Love and Police Woman, Charlie’s Angels, “Blue Angels”& and Color Adjustment

Week 6 11/21-11/27 Lesson Welcome to the Social Sitcom 11 Reading: G. Oguss, “Whose Barrio is it?,” M. Arlen, “The Media Dramas of Norman Lear” The Mary Tyler Moore Show http :// www . museum . tv / archives / etv / M / htmlM / marytylermo / marytylermo .htm M*A*S*H http :// www . museum . tv / archives / etv / M / htmlM / mash / mash .htm Screening: Clips from All in the Family, “Sammy’s Visit,” Good Times, “Getting Up The Rent,” Chico & The Man, “Pilot,” The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Love Is All Around,” M*A*S*H, “Dear Dad”

Lesson The New Faces of Quality: Earnestness & Excess 12 Reading: B. Haggins, “No Place Like Home,” J. Feuer, “The MTM Style,” J. Caldwell, “Excessive Style” Screening: Hill Street Blues, “Pilot” Clips from The Cosby Show, “Pilot” & Roseanne, The Simpsons “Behind the Laughter,” Dynasty, “Enter Alexis” and Miami Vice, “Smuggler’s Blues”

FINAL PAPER DUE WEDNESDAY, 11/21 BY 11PM AZ TIME

Week 7 11/28-12/4 Lesson Commodify, Contain & Co-opt: Gender, Sexuality, Class & Race in the Post Network Era 13 Reading: L.S. Kim, “Sex and the Single Girl,”* R. Becker, “Gay Themed Television…” A. McCarthy, “ Ellen…” Recommended Readings: A. Lotz, “In Ms. McBeal’s Defense,” Screening: Clips from Murphy Brown, Ally McBeal, Will & Grace, Ellen, “The Puppy Episode Pt. 1 & 2”

Lesson What is this Thing Called Reality? 14 Reading: Mehl Chapter 3: The Public on the Television Screen, Screening: “Man in the Box - Reality TV,” Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe – “Reality TV Editing, The Moment of Truth”

5 Week 8 12/5-12/11 Lesson Taste Cultures and Questions of Quality 15 Reading: B. Haggins, “In The Wake of the Nigger Pixie”*, J. Feuer, “HBO and the Concept of Quality” Screening: Clips from Chappelle’s Show, The Sopranos, The Wire

FINAL EXAM EMAILED MONDAY, 12/10 BY NOON and DUE TUESDAY 12/11 BY 11PM AZ TIME.