Rapture TV

* See also TVs_in_Rapture (the electronics technology)
* See also Rapture Technologies
* See also Entertainment_In_Rapture
* See also Advertisement_In_Rapture
* See also Artists in Rapture
* See also Radio_In_Rapture
* See also Rapture Society
* See also Public_Announcements
* See also Free_Press
TV Was A Fairly New Phenomenon in The Real World And Would Be In Rapture.
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Golden Age TV In Rapture :
There would be TVs all over Rapture ( we saw them commonly in public places and private residences ) paralleling consumer mass adoption on the Surface ( in the First World, and Rapture on average was far more affluent ). To fill those TVs with content (and with the required paying sponsors ) the Stations might be more willing to push the boundaries and experiment with things the Surface would lag implementing. Lack of Censorship would bring things faster which took decades up above to become common. Technology advancements (in Rapture and the Outside World) also might have enabled advances - Portable Cameras, Cheaper Recording and Broadcast Equipment, Remote Transmitting, a Consumer Color TV ).
One problem with TV over most previous media (besides Radio) was the constant need for new content. Stage shows and movies had to be shown repeatedly to saturate the much larger Surface audiences. Entertainment groups would even then stay local for only short time, then move on, reusing/refining the same material in different cities while on a circuit. Whereas TV largely had to have unique material broadcast to the majority and be showable once (or infrequently). So, the material writers had to constantly write/create to keep up ( a supply of hack writers to fill such a demand ), which often led to standards dropping.
Artists in Rapture would in general be Second Rate or worse. For who else would leave The Surface to work in such a small venue ( 20000 - 40000 people - a rather limited audience ) ? Few successful achieving artists would do that. Yes, there would be some 'End of the Worlders', or aging artists who might have retirement in mind. More than a few might be following their Patrons ( their meal ticketFollowing Patron - Perhaps like Sander Cohen did with Ryan ). In the World at the Time Rapture was taking immigrants, certainly in 'The West', there WAS alot of artistic freedom ( if not monetary compensation ) -- allowing for artists to produce all kinds of 'edgy' stuff ( though social sensitivities might curtail display in public places ). So they had not much 'Freedom' reason to escape. Those from places like the Eastern Bloc, they would simply go to the West - IF they could manage to escape, and that generally would not be TO the bottom of the Ocean. 
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News shows, Talk shows, Dramas, Soap Operas, Children's shows, SitComs, Movies, Live Performances, Infomercials, Reality TV, Educational/Adventure shows, all would likely be developed to fill the airtime.
You can "Bet Ryan Dollars to Cigarette Butts"""Bet Ryan Dollars to Cigarette Butts"" - sounds like a Sinclair saying... that there would be Commercials.
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TV Commercial ( New Rapture Public Service Announcement ) : 
Announcer Voice: 
: "This is Rapture" ( views of nice clean original magnificent City of Rapture ).
: "This is Rapture on ADAM" ( pictures of mass death and destruction, insanity ).
: "Any Questions ???????"
: "Don't do ADAM."
: "Brought to you by your Rapture Colony Council"
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Note - various shows had promotional picture done in color, but Rapture TV system was all Black and White
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Clownsplicer.jpg|Adventures of Dingus and Mr Bat
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RaptureTVMuch2BWished4.jpg|TV was a big thing in those days
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Character.jpg|The Ole Coot - A popular "Mr Bean"-like TV show
Tinyclownscooter.jpg|The Scooter Races ( Sunday Sunday Sunday !!! ) - With some demolition derby like rules
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Note - The special effects in many of these look too good for what likely would be produced in Rapture ( limited budgets for a population of only 20K - 40K and only a fraction of that as watchers ).
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TV Shown Movies in Rapture (Rerun Over the Years) :
Films from the Surface let in before 1952 (The Isolation) were controlled.
Westerns have too much Surface nature/scenery and such, which Rapture people might start to miss (though it is rather difficult to locally recreate the exteriors for new (Rapture) made movies. Even in Hollywood, much was 'backlot' staged ( with independent 'sweeping' exterior scenes inserted ). 
Ancient history (except Bible epics) are OK (epic event production values a bit hard due to 'scale').
Realistic War movies make good Anti-Surface content. Documentaries showing the state of the 'rest' of the world ( all reminders about 'the Antmen' ). Concentration Camp documentaries are probably shown in schools ( Murderous Parasites at Work ).
Comedy 'Silents' usually were fairly innocuous.
How many immigrants/people would bring films from their previous Surface lives ( versus commercial imports ) ? Vacation films wouldn't likely be censored out. Personal/Family films could afflict countless acquaintances, when shown.
Rapture Space stories (mostly interiors) could be created. 
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"Rise Rapture Rise" Played at (some) TV Stations' Nightly 'Sign-Off'
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Sinclair Presents Playhouse 8 (On Channel 8)
TV Show with drama performances, and of course this was the age of 'live dancing cigarettes' on TV shows.
Sinclair would know the advantages of proper advertising and having some compelling content to draw viewers for his commercials. TV could be done on a decent budget to reach many potential customers.
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TV Game Show on the Rapture Broadcasting Corporation network (RBC) :
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Game Show "Name That Parasite" ( Brought to you by Ryan Industries ) :
Many Wonderful Prizes ... Wonderful prizes for the contestants : A Months supply of Beef-E ..., DELUXE washer and Dryer, Vacation Trips, Ryan Amusements Tickets ...
It might get a little esoteric, after you use up the obvious material ( covered in questions to the contestants ) you get more into history/social information.
Sorry, no reruns. Recording on tape is very expensive ( and with only 20000 people to re-show it to ... )
'Build a Better Mousetrap' ... ( part of the show is some inane 'skill' activity, as it would be too tediously boring if it was all talk ). "See by using the sharks teeth pointed backwards the little buggers are slowed down enough for the trap to spring" 
Made using the cheapest possible production. If you've seen footage of early local shows it has to be like that or even cheaper. The viewership numbers provide scant advertising dollars to pay for it all AND still have a profit. 
NAME - THAT - PARASITE !!!
: Tick !!
: Mugger !!
: Communist !!!
: Union Thug !!!
: Cult Leader !!
: Smuggler !!
: Round worm !!
: Cuckoo Chick !!
: Politician !!
: Amoeba !!
: Lawyer !!
: Another Lawyer !!!
: Sofia Lamb !!
: ( ***Contest for more Here*** )
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Diver Gent ('divergent' ?) :
A campy Batman-like superhero ( with a secret identity, of course ). Series Show with lots of cameo appearances by celebrities as 'badguys' ... Probably shown first as 'film' in theaters if recorded in color, and later on TV (which was B&W). Would probably have some running 'joke' of 500 plastic fish falling ontop of the bad guy with some like motto/statement 'Parasites don't Prosper" or somesuch.
Toby the Tuna (sidekick character) was added later when the plots started repeating too much.
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"My Mother The Bathysphere" (Rapture TV Series 'Sitcom' 1955) :
You don't have to be a crazy Splicer to come up with ideas like that ( ie - That's the name of real world TV series "My Mother, the Car", 1965-1966 ).
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Popular Rapture Movie Serial : The King of the Submariner (Torpedo ?) Men :
( Google "The King of the Rocket Men" )
Evildoers Beware !!! Whoooooshhhhhhh !!!!
Such Serials might be shown in Movie Theaters first then be used as reruns on TV forever after.
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TV in Multiplayer Apartment is Set to Channel 8 :
Golden age Rapture -- Technology advancements would make many additional TV stations possible. Then the Players would have to deal with the later 'Cable Era' problem -- "So many Channels !! and NOTHING GOOD ON ANY OF THEM !!!!" Transmission is similar to our Cable TV, as radio waves don't go far thru water too well at all. Many places in the US you were lucky to receive (with an antenna) half that many Channels.
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We saw TVs all over Rapture, so there MUST have been something to watch ...
* Sander Cohen Mystery Theater ( Popular TV Show Format in the 1940s/1950s )
* "The Aquarium", with Hercules Parrot ( became the longest running Stage Show in Rapture )
* "Harvey" redone as a dark horror mystery ( a man cursed by a rabbit spirit )
* Baron Barracuda and his 'Henchfish' Trigger ... ( from a REAL children's TV show in early 1960s )
* Sea Hunt 1958 to 1961 ( Starring Lloyd Bridges - Seems to Fit ... ) : "OMG. THERE'S A CITY DOWN HERE !!!!"
* "The Kelp Show"
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"The Adventures of Captain Rapture" - Saturday Morning TV Cartoon Character :
Now that New Rapture Children again are (hopefully) safe from the Chaos brought by 'The Parasites'... Reruns of old recovered cartoons.
Super Hero - Tirelessly saving Rapture from "The Parasites"
His arch-enemy "The Leech" ( 'The Tick' was already taken ... )
"Remember Children - 'A gain for yourself is a gain for all.' "
"When you compete hard, everyone benefits -- what if Edison had said "I give up !!!" ?
"A happier Parasite-Free tomorrow"
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Rapture Saturday Morning Cartoon Comic Characters :
* Peter the Parasite ( always thwarted and dies in the end )
* Ryan the Lion 
* Diver Gent ( The Dapper Diver )
* Marvin the Marlin ( and his School )
* Squiggles the Crazy Sea Slug ( so funny ) 
* Pope Poo Poo ( an atheistic Mocking - only a short run for this)
* Murderous Commie Mouse ( King of the Parasites ) - who always dies horribly at the episode end
* "Cecil The SeaSick Sea Serpent" ( a real show being cloned )
Puppets are easier ( cheaper to produce ) than animations ( huge amount of manual labor )
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Rapture TV Movie :
"Murder on the Atlantic Express" ... ( Mystery Series - It is always "The Parasites who 'done it' " )
Objectivism wins out over criminals and tyrants.
Cameo by Sander Cohen and even Andrew Ryan ( As a shadow or someone in the background - Like Alfred Hitchcock did in most of his movies )
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Kidee Shows for Rapture :
Puppet/marionette style children's shows - cheaper than animation ( which required more skill/effort and are labor intensive, only practically offset by mass distribution, which Rapture isn't large enough for - perhaps with ADAM-enhanced Rhesus monkeys drawing or something, but otherwise ... ).
The usual sponsors for toys/sugary-cereals and 'vacation'/entertainment venues/recreational drugs for children??
Not likely to have the 'After School Special' type stuff ( Who would pay for it ? )
Sander Cohen may have had his own show on his own 'channel' ( imagine what the stuff he continued to turn out when his madness took full hold on him -- PlasterCrafts with Sander Cohen ... ).
Other Kidee Shows :
* Mr Roger's Factory ... "Hey Boys and girls, can you say 'Assembly Line" ???"
* Hephaestus Fun Time Theater ...
* Andrew Ryan Presents, "The Wonderful World of Ryan" ...
* Captain Koala Bear ( 'Kangerroo' is just too stupid ... )
* THE ADVENTURES OF J. P. FARNSWORTH AND Dr. FRISKEY (his cat)
* The Wizard Of Columbia - Telsa and His Bioluminescent Submarine
* MR SCIENCE and/or MR ENGINEER
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Game Shows, Rapture's Cheaply Produced TV shows :
Problem - Limited markets and advertising by viewership. What good is TV without shows to watch (public information/educational TV is usually horrendously inane), and doesn't work well in getting viewers to SEE the advertisements.
Creating TV shows cheaply, and with minimum staff and equipment ... That would be needed in such a small/limited place as Rapture. ( NOTE - Most small towns of the era couldn't afford to run a TV station profitably ).
Monstrous TV cameras would be replaced with smaller cheaper units and portable cameras ( an outgrowth of the TV cameras used in the Remote Control machinery used in Rapture's undersea construction - mentioned in the Bioshock Novel. )
The One Man TV Stations could become common in Old (Golden Age) Rapture and actually stay in business with the lowered expenses.
SO there is Lots of opportunities to create 'less than outstanding' TV for the Player Creators to keep New Rapture's TVs humming.
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 'Bum Fights' The Rapture TV Show :
Gladitorial Combat equivalent ( probably closer to 'Big Time Wrestling' ) ??? Win Prizes !!!
Match of the Eeek : Hobo Joe vs The Guttersnipe. The "Windmill of Death" tactic of one well known contestant became a byword amongst the fans.
Exhibition 'Wrench Fighting' ...
Little Sister 'cat fight' (kitten ???)
Columbia would have Televised Executions ( If they ever had TV ), but no doubt many could be filmed and put into Kinetoscopes for edification of the public good.
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The Cable Company :
TV cable bills in Rapture ?? The system LIKELY would be installed from the start ( cable infrastructure VERY hard to retrofit otherwise ) and pooled with all the stations. This would be a 'utility' type situation', but perhaps with 'rented space' for 'independent' cables running through the city's utility conduits ( just like there might be for the telephone system ).
"Community Access" - more a channel for general City notifications/announcements
Real Problem - How do you keep people from Tapping Into Cables (to steal without paying). Modern World systems had Encoding systems and Decode Boxes. That requires significant (expensive) technology advances. 
Only plausible system would be Free access ( like original air broadcasts ), and Channel Broadcasts Paid for via Sponsors advertising.
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Dancing Plasmid Bottle Commercial :
I could just see a live commercial appearing on TV just like the ones from the late 1940s, with the dancing packages of cigarettes done between live drama segments of Playhouse 20000 Leagues.
Remember that TV recording machines were still in their infancy up in the Surface World. So recorded commercials would be difficult and thus LIVE Commercials would be used.
With many small TV channels, production values might not rise as they did when there were only 3 main TV Networks and millions of viewers for the advertisers.
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Fred Feltman - The Bitingly Sarcastic Comic :
'Social Commentary' as a freedom/art
( Name just came to mind - something like Red Skelton ? )
Now all you have to do is actually write his act ( seen in Golden Age Rapture, and later as 'found' recordings in New Rapture - comedians did that in those days - sold their 'schticks'/acts as records ).
Ryan would likely tolerate criticisms as long as it was about "Oiling the Great Chain" ( things don't get better unless people know there is a problem, and sometimes 'not my problem' is ignorance when it actually IS YOUR Problem ).
"Fred Feltman doesn't work Blue." - Fred Feltman ( He doesn't call people 'dumb-asses' - out loud, let alone use '4-letter-words ).
AGAIN WHY WOULD SOME BIGTIME COMEDIAN GO TO RAPTURE ? Libertarians weren't being 'Red-Balled' in Hollywood yet. SO such performers showing up in Rapture likely would not be 'Bigtime' quality ... Amateur/2nd-rate... Even in Rapture most performers need a 2nd job. 
Performers would/could be seen on a regular TV show and/or a guest on Rapture's Talk Show(s) -- anything even halfway good would be needed in the local talent vacuum.
Real TV comics had a problem : They had to come up with good new material constantly, because once the mass TV/Radio audience heard a set of jokes/saw the skits, they couldn't soon be repeated ( unlike Surface-World 'Shows' done in theaters in a 'show circuit', which allowed many repetitions with each to a small audience. ) Real Radio/TV Comedians suddenly needed a large staff of joke writers, AND did not have the time to refine a joke before an audience got it ( where previously with much repetition on a 'circuit' the performer could adjust and play the improvements to later audiences ).
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Moonbase Rapture 2000 (Show on Rapture TV) :
Not quite the production values of that like-named TV show in the 70s. ( Back to Models hung on barely hidden strings/wires, and rather lame plaster terrain and stage props ). Kids shows of a particularly lame quality were popular - if the bulk of the show was a sufficient number of cartoons to show (over and over).
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TV - The Sander Cohen Hour ( on Nico-Time Theater Presents ) :
But since Sander Cohen has been in Rapture from quite early, and has largely missed what Surface World TV had to show, how might that warp what is shown here in Rapture ??
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Sander Cohen's Fort Frolic Follies of 1958 :
I could imagine a whole choreographed show created using the MMORPGs Fabrication tools ( a collaboration of many Players content ).
Films would probably exist (by New Raptures time) of the event ( And previous Follies, 1957 ... ), so the filmtography tools distort-o-rama features would be put to good use to present films surviving 10+ years in Rapture. ( Distort-o-rama - Yet another Plug-in expansion for offline editing tools the creative Players could create/develop and apply. )
Sander was attempting to run a business there. It Is not really that likely he would last (no handouts from Ryan, who didn't believe in that). You can own theaters, but they don't do too well unless there is something to see in them. TV in Rapture would be eating into the audience ( The TV programming has to be more limited than current era people expect today out of TV ).
In my 'Head Canon', I have Sander Cohen having TV shows, so well before 1958 these 'Follies' would be something video recorded and played back later to 'fill-in' airtime, as would various stage productions. With the dearth of talent in Rapture, just about anything might be used.
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Freedom For The Artist - That means TV Too :
What is effectively Cable TV in Rapture and Advances in small affordable TV equipment ...
Can you imagine what kind of TV programming there could be on those 'other' TV channels ? Technology advanced Rapture had to have a cable system ( radio signals go poorly thru water ) to deliver TV transmissions. Thus, you likely had the equivalent of what we got later - Cable Television - likely with 'Pay' channels (certainly in Rapture), and unusual programming which would not have been overly restricted in Rapture's freer environment.
I would expect alot of ad hoc programming, as with so many channels with so small a viewer population meant that advertising monies were quite less that what we saw with the real world 3 National Networks (ABC NBC CBS) and affiliated and independent local stations.
'The Sander Cohen channel' ?? ( gives all new meaning to 'Rabbit Ears' for the TV DO millenials even know what that term means ??? - http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rabbit+ear+tv+antenna&qpvt=rabbit+ear+tv+antenna ).
"Playhouse Fontaine" with live commercials of dancing Plasmid Injectors The Cliche of 'live' commercials in early television ( 1940s/early 1950s - particularly on local TV stations ) with dancers dressed as packs of cigarettes - http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=dancing+packs+of+cigarettes&qpvt=dancing+packs+of+cigarrets...
The Nightly News, with Walter Crankcase (on the RBS Station - Rapture Broadcasting System)
Children's cartoons... ( Terry and the Parasites.. based on a popular Newspaper 'funnies' cartoon )
It is too bad in the BioShock games they didn't do more with the TV aspects. Maybe with the MMORPG and with employing Player imagination and creativity you can get ALOT more interesting TV stuff. Consider : The 17+ rating for this MMORPG game gives you a little more leeway of what could be created and shown in the game. For the BioShock game's setting ( Rapture with 20000-40000 people at its height ), the advances of technology had BETTER be able to eliminate most of the difficulties/costs of producing TV shows, or the TV viewing possibilities might be rather meager.
In the MMORPG setting of post-Chaos Rapture, it would be the case of mostly showing old materials ( still need to be created reflecting the 'old days' Rapture ) with some new stuff created by individuals - encouraged by the New City as a sign that things are getting better - beyond mere survival.
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Seeing the Vid of this '1955 TV Christmas Show' google it and the vids are there online for many things like this ( it being an expensive high-end Network production ), it is apparent how primitive the medium still was ( and how WE take ordinary TV content with so much higher/complex 'Production Values' for granted these days ).
Rapture TV would likely have shows like this, as it is usually done Live, with performers/celebrities doing their 'hits' with minimal extra producing work needed ( but being recorded for later reuse ).
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Adventures of Diver Dan :
Add story about a Big Daddy ( the City's Maintenance Cyborgs existing BEFORE 'Protectors' -- need to be called something like 'Diver Dans' for public labeling ), who accidentally drops into the Abyss 'Trench' and finds the Mermaid City ... ( And look !!! : MerPonies !!! )
One of those 'made for TV' children's stories ? There is a problem with promoted 'toys' which can't really be mass produced the way they are up in America (of that time) - They would cost several times the equivalent price due to being made in shorter runs ( or just be of less quality & expense - As seen in the gift shop at Ryan Amusements which had really low quality stuff ).
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Doogey and Dipshit : Rapture's Answer to "Dimwit & Duke" :
Application for similar public societal lessons ( except not Fascist-like as Ken Levine thinks 1912 America was ). Venue would likely be on TV ( or VERY "Shorts" in the Movie theaters ). Those stupid retro Kinetoscopes seen in BaS would likely only be for Porno, and the puppet games might ONLY work if the Player got to shoot things ( a good idea for another palmtop runnable Mini-Game ).
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Should Have Sander Cohen Complaining About TV Ruining the Theater Show Industry in Rapture :
This historic World period is when that happened ( a great deal, in America, at least ) up on The Surface world ( like the 50s, when TV ownership explodedHalf of all U.S. households had television sets by 1955 ). Tech advances had brought TV costs down, and the multiplication of stations (and networks) and shows (particularly News) distributed nationally.
The public had wanted Movies (had on average gone to movie theaters several times a week) and now TV is throttling that ...
Rapture didn't/couldn't have a large film industry ( the production costs for anything WE think of as a big-time studio produced movie just cannot be recouped with only 20000 potential customers, and thus the business isn't viable ). Art films with low budgets have limited appeal. Film Serials and newsreels could still be done, but what else could get customers for movie theaters ? Ryan COULD have let in an selection of *appropriate* Surface movies ( before 1952, and even after that ) to fill this need. Definitely materials about the Wars/Cold Warhttps://www.conservapedia.com/Cold_War would serve his purposes, and there might be alot of benign subjects which wouldn't work against Raptures Philosophy.
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How soon in Rapture did TV become commonplace ?? 1946 it was still in its infancy, but lots of additional people emigrated to Rapture upto 1952 when TV was well on its way up on The Surface.
Live television can work in Rapture, but for the same reasons have to be fairly crude/of limited "production values". Some Rapture 'Tech' advances might help a little ( ex- more portable TV cameras ). By BS1 (~1960) we saw TVs everywhere in Rapture.
Vaudeville died because of Radio (a similar pattern - 'stay at home' convenience).
TVs crushed much of the Film industry in the 1960s ( when many of the big studios abandoned the part of their business where they ran Theaters ).
No color TV ( might have been eventually in Rapture if not for the civil war/chaos ).
TV dinner adverts ...
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Too bad the Twilight Zone Was Made Too Late :
Might Ryan have arranged to import certain 'selected' media items to show to the population to reinforce his ideas ( like why people probably wouldn't want to go back to the surface world ). Some entertainment might be neutral enough to fill in for the limited local production ( TV repeats are bad enough Up Here ). It would all be heavily vetted for content, unlike the items the smugglers brought in ( films ... TV recordings would be all but non-existant if even obtainable ). The Twilight Zone ( 1959 - so possibly slated for acquisition ) usually had a disturbing Quality to it which might be quite effective dissuading 'Back To The Surface' thoughts.
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1984... a Little Early :
Rapture could be a little more 1984-ish if the (at least public) TVs we see everywhere also had a TV camera embedded in them. It would explain how Ryan/Atlas/Lamb seem to see what you are doing alot of the time in BS1/BS2. If you can run wires one way to transmit TV shows, then you could run a TV camera feed back the same way to be tapped into by various people -- and possibly by The Thinker/Central Computing to monitor City status. TV cameras using ADAM-modified Fish and Sea Slug (another variety) eye technology, could be very small and possibly cheap. ( They would also applicable to the Security Scanners/Turrets/Flybots and various other uses ).
RYAN IS WATCHING YOU - Scrawled on walls all about Rapture ...
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Papa Benjamin and Squiggly :
At one time a Ventriloquist and his Sea Slug puppet were the most popular entertainers in Rapture TV , which Sander Cohen became jealous of, resulting in Squiggly's mysterious end in a vat of plaster ( the effect was quite 'pleasing' which gave Cohen an idea for further "art" ... His "TV covered in Lime-colored Plaster" was one of his earlier acclaimed works (by some) representing a commentary upon that relatively new media ).
At least (while it lasted) it wasn't as lame as a Ventriloquist act being the subject of a Radio show.
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The Zebo and Rooty Hour :
A dramatic TV show where Zebo and Rooty did the introduction ala Hitchcock. Originally a comic and magic act, they came to Rapture after having been 'red balled' in the US for making cutting jokes about leftist politics ( FDR, New Deal, kidgloving of Soviet Threat, etc ... ) and their degenerating of the stilted 'culture' in the US in the late 1940s. Later were murdered by thugs paid by Sofia Lamb, when they began to suggest on their show 'what she was actually up to'. ( Google 'Rebo and Zooty' )
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"Live" Plasmid TV Commercials :
I could just see a live commercial appearing on Rapture TV ( one of many channels - they have the equivalent of cable TV since radio waves don't travel far enough through water ), just like the ones from the late 40s with the dancing packages of Cigarettes done between live drama segments : Playhouse 20000 Leagues ...
Dancing ADAM syringe ? Roller-skating Beef-E tins - Live broadcast commercial ? 
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Strange TV Movie (Produced in Rapture) :
Tesla and Edison fighting with big mechanical suits back in 1900, but finally team up to defeat invading Martians. - Low budget ( cheap costumes and special effects - Rapture's market wasn't that large and even in OUR larger world such cheap productions were common ).
This Particular Movie probably fed the rumors of Ryan wandering the mean streets of Rapture in an 'Ironman' suit, thwarting Criminals and Parasites ( Ironman wasn't invented til 1963, unless it happened in Rapture earlier ??? Possibly some vision brought on by a combination of BrainBoost and 'Bad Clams' ... )
Heh - "Bad Clams" - sounds like a good name for an Underground Rock-N-Roll band ( underground not because it was illegal, but because it would have the element of 'misbehaving'/illicit for teenagers by being "underground" ... ). The impact on teenagers of Rapture's "Freedom" wasn't really touched upon ( more meat for the MMORPG ).
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From this I assume that Ryan gave periodic 'State of Rapture' broadcasts, if not a more regular schedule of 'Deskside Chats' ...
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 "Columbia To Infinity" was a Novel-based Film Made in Rapture :
Written around 1955 ... A Later much used/rerun TV Movie. 
A Rapturesque fictional 'allegory' about the poisonous effects of Parasitism upon people and society. It is set in a warped mythical city state, in the manner of urban America in the earlier part of the 20th century, but really with little real resemblance to the Historic America ( low production values ... hack writing ).
There is absurd religious extremism ( a very bad parody of Christianity as a State Religion ), with the city being founded around it. Grotesque metaphysical beliefs are displayed and portrayed as used to reinforce the allegiance of the ruling population. The City's leaders misuse the images of some American Founding Fathers as religious idols, men who had themselves sought freedom from state religions in their time, but whose image are in the story's city, ironically named "Columbia", being misused as tools for tyranny, to somehow justifying actions in the name of patriotism and religion.
Racism is used as a catalyst to implement a regimented class system within the community, with 'pure' Whites as the rulers, and non-Whites, Mediterraneans, Orientals, non-believers as the Serfs.
There is Crony Capitalistic Monopolization of the City's industry, manufacturing and businesses, with unsubtle pretended 'competition', which forms a trap for unfortunate 'Have-Nots' being limited to low bidding in a 'buyers' labor market. The fantasy businesses presented in the story ignore/distort all the commercial/legal components which would be needed to make an economic system work. Technological advancements are largely turned to ways to control the population and to make war against the world. It is never explained/shown how raw materials manage to get to the City or how the City formed and survived.
A extensive secret police/police state suppresses not just the lowly serf-like workers, but everyone else into a state of fear - that of not conforming sufficiently. Countless informants keep 'tabs' on loyalty expressed via thoughts and deeds of the populace, including a hierarchy of serfs.
Lickspittle Journalism is just an organ of the government ruling class, and regurgitates whatever the tyrants require to pretend to justify themselves.
The 'Twist' to the Film's story is that the City itself is a delusion contrived by a bunch of self-serving 'evil' charlatans ( shown pretending to create great scientific advancements for humanity's betterment ), who by using hallucinogenic drugs and people's gullibility, enable a complex charade, which is simply a proving ground - part of a bigger plan to eventually do the same to control the entire world.
Self-serving anarchists ( who have no solutions like most anarchists ) exist as 'the dangerous other', who violently oppose the despotic situation, but are easily manipulated. They become the pawns of the ruling party to create crisis and fear amongst the population, which in turn is all being used by the charlatans to further their goals. Those who disagree with the rigid 'class' arrangements, even if belonging to the higher classes, are ferreted out and dispose of.
Bizarre magic like events take place in the Film's story ( weren't in the book ), which do little but confuse the purported theme ( apparently they were added as an excuse to have better 'Special Effects' -- Many of the "clay-mation"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_animation techniques weren't too bad... ). Some of the 'floating' aspects hinted at, but not really elaborated upon, in the Film were some kind of reference to the "Raising of Chicago", but only as heard and misinterpreted by an idiot.
A murderous thug sent on a mission into Columbia is part of a plan to 'stir the pot' at a time when the city had been made into a 'powder keg' ( You see not quite clever symbolistic objects of these repeatedly throughout the story ) as a pretext for culling out all "undesirables" to facilitate the adoption of a mechanical revolution ( whom the charlatan masters will have even greater control over ).
In the end, the whole fake city crashes in flame and burns, taking all with it - both the innocent and the guilty, leaving only one who managed to escape it early, to relate the tail to the viewers ( Call me Ishmael ... " Call me Ishmael" - Moby Dick reference ). The lesson of the story being that layers of parasitism and expected/fostered parasitism leads to degeneracy and eventual catastrophe for the World's peoples.
Music, songs and dance scores by S. Cohen.
The work was much criticized in Rapture's press for its crude/absurd distortions, in alluding that it represented the social ills of 1900 America, and the author's feeble argument that the exaggerations were "justified to make a point". The Rapture Times Movie Reviewer said : "I thought it was a farce comedy, until I was told it wasn't ... still a greater farce then, in another way. I give it Three Dead Fish."
Ryan's comments upon the work were : "There are more than enough real situations in the World ( now and in the past ) where Parasitism and Altruists have dragged down Mankind without having to create some Absurd Fantasy place to illustrate it. A new wing of Ryan Amusements is NOT expected to be added using the film as its theme."
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Less than Great Costumery and Props - reminiscent to the Early Dr Who BBC TV Show ( and even that had access to decades of pre-existing BBC assets ).
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Puppets for Kids TV Shows (& Film Serials) :
Instead of animated cartoons ( which take ALOT more work ( expense/labor/time) unless they are really really awful/appalling quality - Even worse than American made ones in the 1960s-70s ). Unfortunately, it is largely "amateur time", with only some few technological advances.
* Chermit the Carp 
* Sergeant X of the Rapture Constables 
* Moby the Moose ( ??? a whale with moose antlers ??? )
* Captain Platypus
* The Wild Adventures of Darwin Presence of Darwin and Evolution is part of the anti-religion aspect which seems to have existsed in Rapture. 
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How Rapture Came To Be (TV Series) :
A documentary showing (MMORPG) how Rapture was built (shown on Rapture 3 TV) -- A bit more detailed than that 'Rapture Memorial Museum' in Ryan Amusements.  Doable since we have the Assets ( buildings themselves are 'Objects' ), and the ability to script choreographed NPC movements and interactions.  Nice murky lighting effects ( since this would be from before the City Lighting, which allows us to see anything out there ( like the CityScape ) of more than a few dozen feet away in the complete darkness of Raptures ocean depth ).
"A Documentary that can Inspire" - Ryan
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Rapture Public TV - Fred Frimboe's Swimming Aardvarks :
Obviously a 'Monty Python' takeoff ( long before it existed in 1968 ) ...
Must be at least a few Cambridge and Oxford graduates to tap into for this satirical flavor of British humor.
The Usual weird skits and animations and weirdness ( can serve as a general clearinghouse for Player Creations that didn't quite make it to 'PrimeTime' ).
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"Captain What" - A Takeoff on Dr Who :
Yet another allusion seen as bits of evidence in the Ruins of things that once existed in old Rapture ( ie - various TV shows - with even a lower budget than those Early Dr Who episodes. ) Many only need to be partial/incomplete to show/hint their concept.
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On of the Most Popular TV Show in Rapture :
: "Oh Rochester ..."
: "Yezz Missah Benny ?"
: "There's a sale on Fish at Neptune's Bounty. Go down and get the cheapest fish there ... Or better yet, if you can just catch one flopping around on the dock ..."
: "Yessir" (To self) : My My My, Ah do wish there wazza Tonic to cure Stingyness. Ah is gettin tard of eatin boiled barnacles and kelp salad everyday. Maybe that Mr Ryan, He maht be needin a Butler ? ?
...
: "... AND KOOK-A-MUNGA !!!" *Audience Laughs* ( Rochester gets off the Trolley )
: "Missah Benny ain't gonna be too happy, that Fontaine raised them prices almost double !!!"
: (Sometime Later)
: "Oh Rochester ... Get my Elephant Gun out of the Attic, will you ..."
: *Applause*
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 "Name That Tumor" - A Splicer Gameshow :
Some Splicers got a hold of one of the dozen TV studios ( most small facilities with the new cameras and taping units ).
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 "House of Screaming Skulls" :
What is it ? Horror Movie ? ( Late Night TV )
Sofia Lamb's Obsessive Collection ( or just what some of the inmates call some of Sofia's drug treatments ?? )
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"Amusing and Innovative" - Rapture Tribune
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Humor :
Maybe to Sell to Rapture ( for fun money ) : Suchong's (Now A Quantum Engineer) Tear machine really was used to extract 1965 TV Shows : like Gilligan's Island ... 
"SEE, Short Skinny Stupid One and Great Fat Stupid One, Sooo Fun nee !!!" 
"Suchong Laugh So Hard ..." 
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This is from a (redo of 1920) 1938 movie called R.U.R. RUR https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261938/ 
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