UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Tell It Like It Is: Television and Social Change, 1960-1980 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3019m0d1 Author Flach, Kathryn L Publication Date 2018 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Tell It Like It Is: Television and Social Change, 1960-1980 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Kathryn L. Flach Committee in Charge: Professor Rebecca Jo Plant, Chair Professor Luis Alvarez Professor Dayo F. Gore Professor David Serlin Professor Daniel Widener 2018 © Kathryn L. Flach, 2018. All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Kathryn L. Flach is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California San Diego 2018 iii DEDICATION For my family—Fred, Marylee, Ulices, and Emilio iv EPIGRAPH “It’s not what they said, it’s how they said it.” -Marie Petrucelli v TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page .................................................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Epigraph .............................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ ix Vita .................................................................................................................................... xv Abstract of Dissertation ................................................................................................. xviii Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Historiography .......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter Outline ...................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 1 The Moral Medium: Television and the New Frontier ................................... 19 “A Global Village in a Box” .................................................................................... 23 Television’s Nadir .................................................................................................... 32 Television’s New Frontier ....................................................................................... 38 Educational Entertainment ....................................................................................... 45 Chapter 2 Windows and Mirrors: Educating the Public Through Realistic Drama ........ 52 The War on Ignorance .............................................................................................. 57 The High School Dropout: Exile on Main Street ..................................................... 69 Authenticity vs. Realism: The Limits of Representing Race ................................... 78 The Not-So-Silent Dissuaders .................................................................................. 96 Chapter 3 “This is Education?”: Solving American’s Race Problems with Integration Television ..................................................................................................... 121 Who is Angela Davis and Julia? ............................................................................ 126 “Black Is The Color Of Our New TV” .................................................................. 132 Not in My Living Room!: Integration TV ............................................................. 136 Representation and Reverse Discrimination .......................................................... 149 Sponsoring Race .................................................................................................... 166 Chapter 4 “Think Real, Think Poverty, And Think Fun”: From Problem Solving to Problem Consciousness ................................................................................................... 172 vi Social Relevancy in the 1970s ............................................................................... 176 “Workshop Forges Ghetto Talent” ........................................................................ 188 Good Times in Moynihan’s Shadow ...................................................................... 199 A Ghetto Enlightenment ........................................................................................ 209 Chapter 5 Flippin the Script: Learning about Sexism Through Introspection ............... 222 Narcissism, Self-Help, and Cultural Psychology in the “Me Decade” .................. 227 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Between Feminist and Total Woman ................. 233 Consumer Consciousness and America’s Nervous Breakdown ............................ 244 Chairwomen and Househusbands in All That Glitters ........................................... 256 Epilogue ......................................................................................................................... 268 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 274 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Illustration from Jack to Hal Kanter .................................................................. 2 Figure 2: Newspaper article on Angela Davis torn out of the San Diego Union by a contemporary with Julia on the flip side ......................................................................... 123 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am fortunate to have received encouragement and support from family, friends, mentors, and colleagues throughout this long education journey. I can honestly say, though, that I would not have made it to this Ph.D. program if it were not for two people in particular. The first is George Farris, the trustee for the Dorothy Hassenflue Stein Scholarship who gave me a chance to go to college at the University of Akron. After graduating from high school I did not think that I was smart enough to go to college, so I am eternally grateful that he gave me the opportunity to prove myself wrong. The second person was my undergraduate mentor and M.A. advisor at the University of Akron, TJ Boisseau. She helped me get into a graduate program, spent endless hours helping me to become a better writer, and most importantly answered questions I did not even know to ask as a first-generation college student. At UCSD I have also received guidance and inspiration from numerous faculty members. My advisor, Rebecca Jo Plant, has been extremely supportive since I entered the Ph.D. program. I am grateful for all the thoughtful comments and critical feedback on my written work. But most of all, her encouragement over the last seven years has helped me see this project through to the end. In addition to the support she provided me when I was in San Diego, I am extremely grateful that she took the time to “meet” with me over the phone multiple times after I moved to Colorado. Graduate school can be isolating, but it’s even more so when you move away from your community during the last year of a Ph.D. program. At UCSD, I have also had the pleasure to work with Luis Alvarez. As a committee member, he provided me with guidance on my research and professional ix development, and his insightful questions throughout the years have pushed me to think about my project differently. I have also learned a great deal about teaching from watching him and I try to put this into practice when I teach my own classes. My meetings with Danny Widener at the Art of Espresso coffee cart were a great source of inspiration. His guidance, kindness, and advice on navigating the job market and life in general has been invaluable. I am also grateful for the overwhelming support I have received from David Serlin. He met with me regularly over the past few years, and his enthusiasm for my project has always been so reassuring—I always felt excited and motivated to forge ahead with this dissertation after we had a conversation. I would also like to thank Dayo Gore for her comments on my prospectus, which helped me to think about the possibilities of this dissertation leading into the research phase of this process. Other faculty members at UCSD and elsewhere have contributed to my intellectual, and professional trajectory. At UCSD, I would like to thank Nayan Shah and Rachel Klein for their thoughtful feedback in the seminars I took with them. At the 2017 American Historical Association, Natasha Zaretsky offered useful comments on an early draft of my fifth chapter and our conversations have always been fruitful in helping me to take a step back and think about the bigger picture of my research. I have also had productive conversations with Jessica Weiss and Alison Kibbler at multiple conferences. Their comments on my work and professional advice has always been extremely helpful. I am especially grateful for the archivists and librarians