Currents of comedy on the American screen
Subtitle: how film and television deliver different laughs for changing times
By: Nicholas Laham.
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers; McFarland & Co.
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Jefferson, N.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780786442645
Subjects: Comedy films -- United States -- History and criticism; Television comedies -- United States -- History and criticism
Description: "This book analyzes the evolution of comedy, defining five distinct periods and discussing the dominant comedic trends of each: screwball comedies, offering distraction from the Great Depression; suspense comedy, reflecting America's darker worldview during World War II; 1950s battle-of-the-sexes comedy; the shift from the physical, exaggerated comedy of 1950s to more realistic plotlines"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Laughing during troubled times: the art of screwball comedy; title: Film comedy highlights the dark side of American life; title: Film and television comedy takes a feminist perspective on American life; title: The ultimate reality-based television; title: Sitcom? The Dick Van Dyke Show revisited; title: The resurrection of suspense comedy since the 1980s.