History of Teddington Studios Remind Me History of Teddington Studios For close to a century, Teddington Studios has been an important source of production for the entertainment industry, with an output ranging from silent films to contemporary television shows. The studio, located in Teddington in South-West London, had its origins in the early 20th century when stockbroker Henry Chinnery, the owner of a property in Teddington called Weir House, permitted local filmmakers to use his greenhouse as an impromptu studio. Within a few years studio facilities had been built, and from 1916 to 1922 a company called Master Films produced full-length features at Teddington. In 1931 filmmaker E.G. Norman and actor Henry Edwards bought the property and renamed it Teddington Film Studios Limited. Facilities were expanded to include up-to-date cameras, lighting and recording equipment, along with workshops, dressing rooms and other amenities. The company had produced only one film, Stranglehold (1931), when Warner Bros. leased the studio as its British base later in 1931. Under the title Warner Bros.

First National Productions Ltd., the American company began producing "quota quickies," low-budget films with short shooting schedules that were made to meet the quota of British-made films required by the Cinematograph Films Act of 1927. (The act, created to diminish the dominance of American-made films in The United Kingdom, was modified by the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 and further acts, and eventually repealed by the Films Act of 1960.) In 1934 Warners bought the studio and initiated some major rebuilding. The facility thrived throughout the 1930s, producing a long line of thrillers, crime dramas and "women's pictures," along with occasional musicals. Among the actors who appeared in Teddington films of the period were Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood and Ida Lupino. Errol Flynn was featured in Murder at Monte Carlo (1934), a Teddington movie credited with bringing him to the attention of Warner Bros. executives back in the States.

The distinguished English director Michael Powell had some of his early experience in Warners' "quota quickies." Other directors, from both sides of the Atlantic, included Monty Banks, John Daumery, Leslie Hiscott, Ralph Ince, John Rawlins and Frank Richardson. Many of Britain's most accomplished scriptwriters worked on these cheaply made movies, including Guy Bolton, John Dighton, Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder, Reginald Purdell and A.R. Rawlinson. As one of the few British film studios that managed to continue operating during World War II, Teddington produced a series of patriotic films designed to help the war effort. In July 1944 a German rocket exploded on the property, destroying several buildings and killing three employees including the American studio manager Doc Salomon. At the war's end, reconstruction began, with some buildings being completely rebuilt. The studios were formally reopened in 1948 and attracted such noted film actors as Richard Burton, Joan Greenwood, Peter Lorre, Burgess Meredith, Kenneth More and Richard Todd.

After a decline in British filmmaking in the 1950s, Teddington rebounded when it was bought for use as a television studio by Associated British Corporation (ABC) in 1958. Among the studio's most famous television productions was The Avengers, which began filming at Teddington in 1960. In 1968, ABC merged with the London company Rediffusion to form Thames Television, which based itself at Teddington and, during the following two decades, created an impressive array of distinguished TV productions. Today Teddington is a part of the Pinewood Studios Group and, with its modern, multi-stage facility, provides a production site for various companies including the BBC. by Roger Fristoe History of Television - Mitchell Stephens History of Television Article by Mitchell Stephens Few inventions have had as much effect on contemporary American society as television. Before 1947 the number of U.S. homes with television sets could be measured in the thousands. By the late 1990s, 98 percent of U.S. homes had at least one television set, and those sets were on for an average of more than seven hours a day.

The typical American spends (depending on the survey and the time of year) from two-and-a-half to almost five hours a day watching television. It is significant not only that this time is being spent with television but that it is not being spent engaging in other activities, such as reading or going out or socializing. EXPERIMENTS Electronic television was first successfully demonstrated in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 1927. The system was designed by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a 21-year-old inventor who had lived in a house without electricity until he was 14. While still in high school, Farnsworth had begun to conceive of a system that could capture moving images in a form that could be coded onto radio waves and then transformed back into a picture on a screen. Boris Rosing in Russia had conducted some crude experiments in transmitting images 16 years before Farnsworth's first success. Also, a mechanical television system, which scanned images using a rotating disk with holes arranged in a spiral pattern, had been demonstrated by John Logie Baird in England and Charles Francis Jenkins in the United States earlier in the 1920s.

However, Farnsworth's invention, which scanned images with a beam of electrons, is the direct ancestor of modern television. The first image he transmitted on it was a simple line. Soon he aimed his primitive camera at a dollar sign because an investor had asked, "When are we going to see some dollars in this thing, Farnsworth?" EARLY DEVELOPMENT RCA, the company that dominated the radio business in the United States with its two NBC networks, invested $50 million in the development of electronic television. To direct the effort, the company's president, David Sarnoff, hired the Russian-born scientist Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, who had participated in Rosing's experiments. In 1939, RCA televised the opening of the New York World's Fair, including a speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was the first president to appear on television. Later that year RCA paid for a license to use Farnsworth's television patents. RCA began selling television sets with 5 by 12 in (12.7 by 25.4 cm) picture tubes.

The company also began broadcasting regular programs, including scenes captured by a mobile unit and, on May 17, 1939, the first televised baseball gameÑbetween Princeton and Columbia universities. By 1941 the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), RCA's main competition in radio, was broadcasting two 15-minute newscasts a day to a tiny audience on its New York television station. Early television was quite primitive. All the action at that first televised baseball game had to be captured by a single camera, and the limitations of early cameras forced actors in dramas to work under impossibly hot lights, wearing black lipstick and green makeup (the cameras had trouble with the color white). The early newscasts on CBS were "chalk talks," with a newsman moving a pointer across a map of Europe, then consumed by war. The poor quality of the picture made it difficult to make out the newsman, let alone the map. World War II slowed the development of television, as companies like RCA turned their attention to military production. Television's progress was further slowed by a struggle over wavelength allocations with the new FM radio and a battle over government regulation.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 1941 ruling that the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) had to sell one of its two radio networks was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1943. The second network became the new American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which would enter television early in the next decade. Six experimental television stations remained on the air during the warÑone each in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Schenectady, N.Y., and two in New York City. But full-scale commercial television broadcasting did not begin in the United States until 1947. THE BEGINNING OF COMMERCIAL TELEVISION By 1949 Americans who lived within range of the growing number of television stations in the country could watch, for example, The Texaco Star Theater (1948), starring Milton Berle, or the children's program, Howdy Doody (1947Ð60).

They could also choose between two 15-minute newscastsÑCBS TV News (1948) with Douglas Edwards and NBC's Camel News Caravan (1948) with John Cameron Swayze (who was required by the tobacco company sponsor to have a burning cigarette always visible when he was on camera). Many early programsÑsuch as Amos 'n' Andy (1951) or The Jack Benny Show (1950Ð65)Ñwere borrowed from early television's older, more established Big Brother: network radio. Most of the formats of the new programsÑnewscasts, situation comedies, variety shows, and dramasÑwere borrowed from radio, too (see radio broadcasting and television programming). NBC and CBS took the funds needed to establish this new medium from their radio profits. However, television networks soon would be making substantial profits of their own, and network radio would all but disappear, except as a carrier of hourly newscasts. Ideas on what to do with the element television added to radio, the visuals, sometimes seemed in short supply.

On news programs, in particular, the temptation was to fill the screen with "talking heads," newscasters simply reading the news, as they might have for radio. For shots of news events, the networks relied initially on the newsreel companies, whose work had been shown previously in movie studios. The number of television sets in use rose from 6,000 in 1946 to some 12 million by 1951. No new invention entered American homes faster than black and white television sets; by 1955 half of all U.S. homes had one. McCARTHYISM In 1947 the House Committee on Un-American Activities began an investigation of the film industry, and Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy soon began to inveigh against what he claimed was Communist infiltration of the government. Broadcasting, too, felt the impact of this growing national witch-hunt. Three former members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published "Counterattack: The Newsletter of Facts on Communism," and in 1950 a pamphlet, "Red Channels," listed the supposedly Communist associations of 151 performing artists.

Anti-Communist vigilantes applied pressure to advertisersÑthe source of network profits. Political beliefs suddenly became grounds for getting fired. Most of the producers, writers, and actors who were accused of having had left-wing leanings found themselves blacklisted, unable to get work. CBS even instituted a loyalty oath for its employees. Among the few individuals in television well positioned enough and brave enough to take a stand against McCarthyism was the distinguished former radio reporter Edward R. Murrow. In partnership with the news producer Fred Friendly, Murrow began See It Now, a television documentary series, in 1950. On Mar. 9, 1954, Murrow narrated a report on McCarthy, exposing the senator's shoddy tactics. Of McCarthy, Murrow observed, "His mistake has been to confuse dissent with disloyalty." A nervous CBS refused to promote Murrow and Friendly's program.

Offered free time by CBS, McCarthy replied on April 6, calling Murrow "the leader and the cleverest of the jackal pack which is always found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose Communist traitors." In this TV appearance, McCarthy proved to be his own worst enemy, and it became apparent that Murrow had helped to break McCarthy's reign of fear. In 1954 the U.S. Senate censured McCarthy, and CBS's "security" office was closed down. THE GOLDEN AGE Between 1953 and 1955, television programming began to take some steps away from radio formats. NBC television president Sylvester Weaver devised the "spectacular," a notable example of which was Peter Pan (1955), starring Mary Martin, which attracted 60 million viewers. Weaver also developed the magazine-format programs Today, which made its debut in 1952 with Dave Garroway as host (until 1961), and The Tonight Show, which began in 1953 hosted by Steve Allen (until 1957).

The third network, ABC, turned its first profit with youth-oriented shows such as Disneyland, which debuted in 1954 (and has since been broadcast under different names), and The Mickey Mouse Club (1955Ð59; see Disney, Walt). The programming that dominated the two major networks in the mid-1950s borrowed heavily from another medium: theater. NBC and CBS presented such noteworthy, and critically acclaimed, dramatic anthologies as Kraft Television Theater (1947), Studio One (1948), Playhouse 90 (1956), and The U.S. Steel Hour (1953). Memorable television dramas of the eraÑmost of them broadcast liveÑincluded Paddy Chayefsky's Marty (1955), starring Rod Steiger (Ernest Borgnine starred in the film), and Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men (1954). By the 1955Ð56 television season, 14 of these live-drama anthology series were being broadcast. This is often looked back on as the "Golden Age" of television. However, by 1960 only one of these series was still on the air.

Viewers apparently preferred dramas or comedies that, while perhaps less literary, at least had the virtue of sustaining a familiar set of characters week after week. I Love Lucy, the hugely successful situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, had been recorded on film since it debuted in 1951 (lasting until 1957). It had many imitators. The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason, was first broadcast, also via film, in 1955 (lasting until 1956 with the original cast). The first videotape recorder was invented by Ampex in 1956 (see video; video recording; video technology). Another format introduced in the mid-1950s was the big-money quiz show. The $64,000 Question (1955Ð58) and Twenty-One (1956Ð58) quickly shot to the top of the ratings. In 1959, however, the creator of The $64,000 Question, Louis C.

Cowan, by that time president of CBS television, was forced to resign from the network amid revelations of widespread fixing of game shows (see Van Doren, Charles). TELEVISION AND POLITICS Television news first covered the presidential nominating conventions of the two major parties, events then still at the heart of America politics, in 1952. The term "anchorman" was used, probably for the first time, to describe Walter Cronkite's central role in CBS's convention coverage that year. In succeeding decades these conventions would become so concerned with looking good on television that they would lose their spontaneity and eventually their news value. The power of television news increased with the arrival of the popular newscast, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, on NBC in 1956 (see Huntley, Chet, and Brinkley, David). The networks had begun producing their own news film. Increasingly, they began to compete with newspapers as the country's primary source of news (see journalism). The election of a young and vital president in 1960, John F. Kennedy, seemed to provide evidence of how profoundly television would change politics.

Commentators pointed to the first televised debate that fall between Kennedy, the Democratic candidate for president, and Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, the Republican's nominee. A survey of those who listened to the debate on radio indicated that Nixon had won; however, those who watched on television, and were able to contrast Nixon's poor posture and poorly shaven face with Kennedy's poise and grace, were more likely to think Kennedy had won the debate. Television's coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, and of the events that followed, provided further evidence of the medium's power. Most Americans joined in watching coverage of the shocking and tragic events, not as crowds in the streets, but from their own living rooms. A newscast that would soon surpass the popularity of Huntley-Brinkley, The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, debuted in 1962 (and was broadcast until 1981). By the end of the decade Cronkite had become not just a highly respected journalist but, according to public opinion surveys, "the most trusted man in America." His role in coverage of the Vietnam War would be important.

While the overwhelming majority of television news reports on the Vietnam War were supportive of U.S. policy, television news film of the fighting sometimes gave Americans back home an unfamiliar, harsh, and unromantic view of combat. Many believed it contributed to growing public dissatisfaction with the war. And some of the anger of those defending U.S. policy in Vietnam was leveled against television news. In 1965, CBS reporter Morley Safer accompanied a group of U.S. Marines on a "search and destroy" mission to a complex of hamlets called Cam Ne. The Marines faced no enemy resistance, yet they held cigarette lighters to the thatched roofs and proceeded to "waste" Cam Ne. After much debate, Safer's filmed report on the incident was shown on CBS. Early the next morning the president of CBS received an angry phone call from the president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, accusing the network of a lack of patriotism. During the Tet offensive in 1968, Cronkite went to Vietnam to report a documentary on the state of the war. That documentary, broadcast on Feb.

28, 1968, concluded with what Cronkite has described as "a clearly labeled editorial": "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out will be to negotiate," he said. President Johnson was watching Cronkite's report. According to Bill Moyers, one of his press aides at the time: "The president flipped off the set and said, `If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America.'" THE THREE NETWORKS AT THE HEIGHT OF THEIR POWER In 1964 color broadcasting began on prime-time television. The FCC initially approved a CBS color system, then swung in RCA's favor after Sarnoff swamped the marketplace with black-and-white sets compatible with RCA color (the CBS color system was not compatible with black-and-white sets and would have required the purchase of new sets). During the 1960s and 1970s a country increasingly fascinated with television was limited to watching almost exclusively what appeared on the three major networks: CBS, NBC, and ABC. These networks purchased time to broadcast their programs from about 200 affiliates eachÑstations in each of the major cities or metropolitan areas of the United States.

In the larger cities, there might also be a few independent stations (mostly playing reruns of old network shows) and perhaps a fledgling public broadcasting channel. Programming on each of the three networks was designed to grab a mass audience. Network shows therefore catered, as critics put it, to the lowest common denominator. James Aubrey, president of CBS television, doubled the network's profits between 1960 and 1966 by broadcasting simple comedies like The Beverly Hillbillies (1962Ð71). In 1961, Newton Minow, then chairman of the FCC, called television a "vast wasteland." Programming became a little more adventurous with the arrival of more realistic situation comedies, beginning with CBS's All in the Family in 1971 (broadcast until 1979). Along with situation comediesÑusually a half-hour focused on either a family and their neighbors or a group of co-workersÑthe other main staple of network prime-time programming has been the one-hour drama, featuring the adventures of police, detectives, doctors, lawyers, or, in the early decades of television, cowboys.

Daytime television programming consisted primarily of soap operas and quiz shows until the 1980s, when talk shows discussing subjects that were formerly taboo, such as sexuality, became popular. The three major networks have always been in a continual race for ratings and advertising dollars. CBS and NBC dominated through the mid-1970s, when ABC, traditionally regarded as a poor third, rose to the top of the ratings, largely because of shrewd scheduling. PUBLIC BROADCASTING A Carnegie Commission report in 1967 recommended the creation of a fourth, noncommercial, public television network built around the educational nonprofit stations already in operation throughout the United States (see television, noncommercial). Congress created the Public Broadcasting System that year. Unlike commercial networks, which are centered in New York and Los Angeles, PBS's key stations, many of which produce programs that are shown throughout the network, are spread across the country. PBS comprises more than 300 stations, more than any commercial network. Some of the most praised programs on PBS, such as the dramatic series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971), have been imports from Britain, which has long had a reputation for producing high-quality television.

Perhaps the most influential of PBS's original contributions to American television were the educational program for preschoolers, Sesame Street, which first appeared in 1969Ñand is still a popular programÑand a thoughtful news program called The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (1995; originally The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, first broadcast in 1975Ñsee MacNeil, Robert and Lehrer, Jim). Among the many special series produced for public broadcasting, The Civil War (1990), a five-part historical documentary, was particularly successful and won some of the largest audiences ever achieved by public TV. PBS funds come from three major sources: congressional appropriations (which suffered substantial cuts beginning in 1982), viewer donations, and private corporate underwriters. None of these types of contributions are problem-free. Government funding brings the possibility of government interference. Conservatives, dating back to the Nixon administration, have pressured PBS to make its programming less liberal. The search for viewer donations has led to long on-air fundraising campaigns. And some critics contend that the need to win corporate support discourages programming that might challenge corporate values.

THE RISE OF CABLE The force that would challenge the dominance of the three major television networks and offer Americans the choice of dozens and potentially hundreds of television channelsÑcable TVÑbegan quietly in a few geographically isolated towns. Large antennas erected in high places gave everyone connected the chance to receive all the channels available in the nearest city. By 1960 the United States had about 640 such CATV (community antenna television) systems. It soon became apparent, however, that the "television deprived" were not the only viewers who might want access to additional channels and additional programming. In New York City, cable operators contracted to broadcast the home games of the local basketball and hockey teams. By 1971 cable had more than 80,000 subscribers in New York. Then networks specifically designed to be distributed by the cable system began to appear: Time Inc.'s Home Box Office (HBO) in 1975; Ted Turner's "superstation," soon renamed WTBS, in 1976; C-SPAN (live broadcasts of the House of Representatives), ESPN (sports), and Nickelodeon (children's programming), all in 1979.

Turner followed with the Cable News Network (CNN) the next year. INTERNATIONAL GROWTH Television's development followed different patterns in other countries. Often government, not private corporations, owned some, most, or all of the major networks. In Great Britain the British Broadcasting Corporation, the country's dominant radio broadcaster, established and retained dominance over television. The BBC, funded by a tax on the sale of television sets, established a worldwide reputation for producing quality programming. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, also freed by government support from many commercial pressures, was praised by some observers for the seriousness of much of its news and public-affairs programming. France's major television networks were also supported by the government; however, in France that support was seen as encouraging a tilt in news coverage toward the side of whatever party happened to be in power. By the late 1980s and 1990s, as cable and direct-satellite television systems increased the number of channels, the hold of these government-funded networks began to weaken. Most countries around the world began moving more toward the U.S. model of privately owned, advertiser-supported television networks.

POLITICS ADAPTS TO TELEVISION By the 1980s politicians and government leaders were familiar enough with the workings of television to be able to exploit the medium to their own ends. This seemed particularly apparent during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, himself formerly the host of a television show (General Electric Theater, 1954Ð62). Reagan's skilled advisors were masters of the art of arranging flags and releasing balloons to place him in the most attractive settings. They also knew how to craft and release messages to maximize positive coverage on television newscasts. The Persian Gulf War in 1991 provided further proof of the power of television, with pictures of U.S. bombs falling on the Iraqi capital broadcast live in the United States. Both Iraqi and U.S. leaders admitted to monitoring CNN to help keep up with news of the war. However, the U.S. Defense Department, armed with lessons learned in Vietnam, succeeded in keeping most reporters well away from the action and the bloodshed. Instead, pictures were provided to television by the military of "smart" bombs deftly hitting their targets. NEW TECHNOLOGIES In the 1980s, home videocassette recorders became widely available.

Viewers gained the ability to record and replay programs and, more significantly, to rent and watch movies at times of their own choosing in their own homes. Video games also became popular during this decade, particularly with the young, and the television, formally just the site of passive entertainment, became an intricate, moving, computerized game board. The number of cable networks grew throughout the 1980s and then exploded in the 1990s as improved cable technology and direct-broadcast satellite television multiplied the channels available to viewers. The number of broadcast networks increased also, with the success of the Fox network and then the arrival of the UPN and WB networks. The share the broadcast networks attracted continued to erode, from well over 90 percent in the early 1980s to under 50 percent by 1997. Although the population of the United States has continued to grow, the Nielson Media Research company estimated that fewer people watched the highly publicized final episode of Seinfeld in 1998 (first aired in 1990; see Seinfeld, Jerry) than watched the final episode of MASH in 1983 (first aired in 1972).

The trial of former football star O. J. Simpson in 1994 for the murder of his wife (he was acquitted) further demonstrated the hold that cable networks had on American audiences. Some stations carried almost every minute of the lengthy trial live and then filled the evening with talk shows dissecting that day's developments. The effects of television on children, particularly through its emphasis on violence and sex, has long been an issue for social scientists, parents, and politicians (see children's television). In the late 1980s and 1990s, with increased competition brought on by the proliferation of cable networks, talk shows and "tabloid" news shows seemed to broaden further frank or sensational on-air discussion of sex. In response to government pressure, the television industry decided to display ratings of its programs in 1996. The ratings were designed to indicate the age groups for which the programs might be suitable: TV-G (for general audiences), TV-PG (parental guidance suggested), TV-14 (unsuitable for children under 14), and TV-MA (for mature audiences only).

In response to additional complaints, all the networks except NBC agreed the next year to add V (for violence), S (for sex), L (for course language) and D (for suggestive dialogue) to those ratings. Also, the "V-chip" imbedded in new television sets, in accordance with a provision of a telecommunications bill passed in 1996, gave parents the power to automatically prevent their children from watching television programs with inappropriate ratings. Critics of the ratings saw them as a step toward censorship and questioned whether a TV-14 rating would make a program seem more, not less, attractive to an inquisitive child. In 1997 the federal government gave each U.S. television broadcaster an additional channel on which to introduce high definition television, or HDTV. Initial transmissions of this high-resolution form of television, in which images appear much sharper and clearer, began in 1998. Standard television sets cannot pick up HDTV and will presumably have to be replaced or modified by 2006, when traditional, low-definition television broadcasts are scheduled to end and broadcasters are scheduled to return their original, non-HDTV channel to the government.

The HDTV format approved in the United States calls for television signals to be transmitted digitally. This will allow for further convergence between computers, the Internet, and television. In 1998 it was already possible to view video on the World Wide Web and to see and search television broadcasts on a computer. As computers become more powerful, they should be able to handle video as easily as they now handle text. The television schedule may eventually be replaced by a system in which viewers are able to watch digitally stored and distributed programs or segments of programs whenever they want. Such technological changes, including the spread of new cable networks, have been arriving slower in most other countries than in the United States. Indeed, according to one survey, it was only in the 1990s that the spread of television transmitters, television sets, and electricity made it possible for half of the individuals in the world to watch television. However, television's attraction globally is strong. Those human beings who have a television set watch it, by one estimate, for an average of two-and-a-half hours a day. Mitchell Stephens Bibliography: Barnouw, Erik, Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television, 2d ed.

(1990); Fisher, David E. and Marshall J., Tube: The Invention of Television (1997); Stephens, Mitchell, Broadcast News, 3d ed. (1993), A History of News (1996) and The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word (1998); Watson, Mary A., Defining Visions: Television and the American Experience since 1945 (1997). TV History | Archive of American Television HAL KANTER , Comedy Writer Television was never one person's vision -- as early as the 1820s, the idea began to germinate. Certainly by 1880, when a speculative article appeared in The Scientific American magazine, the concept of a working television system began to spread on an international scale. At the dawn of the twentieth century, there were a few American laboratories leading the way: Bell, RCA, and GE. It wasn't until 1927, when 21-year-old Philo T. Farnsworth , beat everyone to the punch by producing the first electronic television picture.

This historic breakthrough catapulted him into a decades-long patent battle against major corporations, including RCA and CBS. The battle took its toll on everyone and RCA’s David Sarnoff brilliantly marketed this invention to the public and became known as the father of television -- while Philo T. Farnsworth died in relative obscurity. Experimental broadcast television began in the early 1930s, transmitting fuzzy images of wrestling, music and dance to a handful of screen. It wasn't until the 1939 World's Fair in New York, where RCA unveiled their new NBC TV studios in Rockefeller Plaza, that network television was introduced. A few months later, William Paley’s CBS began broadcasting from its new TV studios in Grand Central Station. Now that television worked, how could these networks profit on their investment? Who would create the programming that would sell their TV sets? How would they dominate this new commercial medium, without destroying their hugely profitable radio divisions? Ready! Sets! Go! (1940s) “We had a rating of 80, a share of 83.9.

Of course I used to say there were only 83 sets, but there weren't.” MILTON BERLE , host Texaco Star Theatre Four months after NBC station W2XBS began regular programming in 1939, Red Barber announced the first televised major league baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even though television was still considered a fad, throughout the 1940s, the deep-pocketed television divisions of NBC and CBS -- and soon ABC – cashed in on the tastes of the American public. Networks expanded their reach as key cities built broadcast facilities. Television showed signs of becoming a commercial success, at least until the US entered World War II . The war interrupted its growth significantly, as personnel shortages forced stations to shut down. Only the DuMont network remained on the air. It wasn't until 1947 that television’s growth truly exploded. Some of the biggest shows premiered including: The Ed Sullivan Show , Candid Camera, Howdy Doody , Philco Playhouse, and Kukla, Fran & Ollie . Meet the Press began broadcasting out of the nation's capitol to become the longest-running news program ever.

Perhaps the brightest star of the era was Milton Berle , “America’s favorite uncle.” Berle brought his vaudeville sensibilities to NBC’s Texaco Star Theatre and made it an unprecedented success. City water levels dropped during commercials, stores closed early. Television set sales skyrocketed. As networks raced to provide content for the popular new medium, many radio stars and shows attempted to make the transition to television -- Burns and Allen, The Jack Benny Program, The Shadow, Fred Allen, and Fibber McGee and Molly. Television News Finds Its Way (1950s) “None of us had any ax to grind, none of us had any political ambitions. Our only real purpose in life, and in work, was to tell people what we knew to be true.” DAVID BRINKLEY , News anchor In 1949, a young girl named Kathy Fiscus fell into a Los Angeles-area well. Television provided continuous local coverage for over 27 hours. The unfolding tragedy proved that live television news coverage could not only inform, but also unite a community. At the dawn of the 1950s, with over seven million TV sets in circulation, the need to broadcast fresh news images was magnified.

The networks had initially offered short newscasts peppered with filmed newsreel footage – but that didn’t last long. Those who had built their careers in radio news ultimately provided television network news expansion. CBS News in particular established a protocol for television reporting - airing stories about topical, political and worldwide events that impacted its viewers. Plus, each night, viewers could see the newsmen they had trusted for years. One of the biggest national concerns of the decade, along with the Korean War , involved The Cold War and the national fear of communist infiltration. Senator Joseph McCarthy used his “Red scare” tactics to ferret out communism on every level. The networks were not immune to scrutiny – in fact, to keep in good graces with sponsors, they often enforced blacklists within their ranks. On a Sunday night in 1954, Murrow and his associates put their careers on the line to take on Senator McCarthy. The See It Now broadcast turned the tables on the Senator and acted as a political mallet. The indecency of McCarthy was further exposed when ABC and DuMont aired gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1955. There was another bright spot in the development of network news programs.

In 1951, NBC programming head Pat Weaver conceived Today as a news and entertainment wake-up show called Rise and Shine. It worked for the ratings. But the events that loomed on the horizon in the 1950s made the show into one of the most important news programs ever produced by that network. As the decade closed, the television industry was hit again with the quiz show scandals . The $64,000 Question, made its debut in 1955 and within a month had turned television on its ear. The opportunity to see everyday people win enormous cash prizes pushed that show past I Love Lucy and Ed Sullivan to become number one in the ratings. Other quiz and game shows followed the craze. It wasn't until Charles Van Doren won $129,000 on Twenty-One, defeating Herbert Stempel , that the machinations behind quiz shows were exposed. Van Doren was disgraced when it was revealed that he and other contestants were given answers in advance. The scandals caused viewers to question television practices, and it prompted the networks to take responsibility, and ultimately control, of their programming.

Instances like the Blacklist and the quiz show scandals placed the television news divisions in awkward positions – they had the delicate task of exposing their own networks’ dirty laundry. It was through the integrity of the broadcasters that television news survived virtually unscathed and was seen as a trusted, objective source. Storytellers to a Nation (1950s Entertainment) “There was gold dust in the air.” TAD MOSEL , Live Drama Writer Now that television had proved itself, the linking of both coasts by coaxial cable in 1951 meant that the same programs could be seen simultaneously nationwide. The new challenge was to feed a program-hungry nation. Television devoured more material than radio and motion pictures had ever done, and it was up to writers, performers, producers and directors to keep the ideas coming. LIVE DRAMA: First as children of the Depression, then as war heroes, they followed their dreams via the GI Bill to attend the colleges of their choice. As students of theatre, they were in the right place at the right time when television was in its infancy. Live drama showrunners like Fred Coe, Worthington Minor and Martin Manulis.

Writers like Paddy Chayefsky, Rod Serling, Tad Mosel, Horton Foote, JP Miller and Reginald Rose. Directors like John Frankenheimer, Delbert Mann and Arthur Penn. Actors like Rod Steiger, Paul Newman, Kim Hunter, E.G. Marshall, Jack Lemmon, Angela Lansbury, and James Dean. We will highlight the live television anthologies and explore the reasons why their era earned the moniker “The Golden Age of Television.” It will explore the challenges of presenting a live production using the emerging technology of television, and explore the influence of business interests on the creative process. Some of the live drama programs of the era include: U.S. Steel Hour COMEDY: Individuals from vastly different backgrounds, family trades, cultural heritages and varying interests came together and figured out how to make television work. They were curious, talented, brilliant, and determined to do something…really funny. As the decade took hold, the vaudevillian antics of the 1940s television gave way to more sophisticated sketch and variety comedy, and ultimately, sitcoms. NBC’s Your Show of Shows starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, was a prime example of the new variety trend.

Plus, due to coaxial cable, unknown comedians from local stations showcased themselves to larger audiences. Philadelphia's favorite comedian Ernie Kovacs’ zany mischief, as well as Chicago-based shows including Stud's Place and Garroway at Large found new audiences. As film studios relaxed their restrictions on their stars appearing on television, production moved west. With the premiere of CBS’ I Love Lucy and the subsequent rise of Desilu, situation comedies came to the forefront. In fact, on January 19, 1953, history was made as over 44 million Lucy fans tuned in to watch Little Ricky's birth. Some of the programs of the era include: Your Show of Shows FILMED DRAMA: Filmed shows began to replace live programming starting in the mid-1950s. The use of filmed drama increased the scope of expression of television, including many popular police, courtroom, hospital and mystery series. Suddenly the camera could change point of view or leave the studio, close-ups could be shot separately, and new stories could be told with budget as the only restraint. It also made syndication a viable option for independent producers, including the "father of syndication," Fred Ziv.

Early on, Hollywood motion picture studios usually refused to enter television. The tables turned when ABC’s Leonard Goldenson invested $500,000 into the completion of Walt Disney’s cash-strapped Disneyland, in exchange for Disney programming for ABC. In 1954, ABC premiered Davy Crockett , which became a goldmine and proved that television and studio collaborations could work. In daytime programming, although advertising was gaining momentum, writer Irna Phillips had to personally fund her Guiding Light pilot, because Procter & Gamble claimed that soap operas would never work on TV. They came aboard soon after. Guiding Light recently celebrated its 65th anniversary. On the darker side, television entertainment divisions did not escape the "Red Scare" and McCarthyism. Government regulators forced CBS to instituted a loyalty oath that it required all employees to sign. The Blacklist permeated all aspects of the industry, and many lives and careers were ruined by it.

Television News Come of Age (1960s News) “I went to CBS and said, in all those minutes of entertainment, couldn't you find 60 minutes of some kind of newsmagazine?” DON HEWITT , 60 Minutes Executive Producer By 1960, one third of all network programs were taped, a third were filmed, and the remaining shows were produced live. One vital example of the continued value of live television was the “Great Debate” between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy . Many believe it changed presidential politics forever – as it handed the presidency to John Kennedy. Technologically, 1962 was perhaps the watershed year for TV news: the Telstar and Relay satellites were launched. By 1963, those 15-minute news wrap-ups were now half-hour broadcasts featuring satellite images from around the globe. The field of long-form documentaries hit home in this decade. Many not only received critical acclaim, but also tested the political boundaries, reaching as high as the White House. They include, CBS Reports: Harvest of Shame, NBC’s series entitled White Paper, and The Tunnel, a documentary which showed German students escaping East Germany by tunneling under the Berlin Wall.

Producer David Wolper had his first hits, The Race for Space, and The Making of a President. He also introduced the underwater world of Jacques Cousteau to television. President Kennedy became the first U.S. President to embrace television as he invited cameras into his first press conference and allowed Jackie Kennedy to host a televised White House tour. But it was Kennedy's assassination, on November 22, 1963, that demonstrated the power of television, as all networks suspended entertainment programming for four days to cover the tragedy. Other significant images were the 1963 televised footage of Civil Rights demonstrators being attacked by police dogs and fire hoses. This disturbing footage helped to validate the existence of the Civil Rights movement for the American public. The Civil Rights Act was signed into law the following year. Considering the tumultuous events of the decade, trusted newsmen became a requirement for each of the networks as the acclaimed team of Huntley-Brinkley began reporting on NBC; Walter Cronkite began his reign as the anchor of the CBS Evening News ; and in 1968, the landmark newsmagazine, 60 Minutes debuted. In 1964, President Johnson addressed the television cameras for eight minutes.

He told the American people that he had ordered an air strike against North Vietnamese bases in the Gulf of Tonkin. This signaled the beginning of the Vietnam War . It was not until 1968, when Walter Cronkite broadcast a negative report on the Vietnam War, that the consensus of America's involvement in the war changed. Television was the window through which the public saw their sons and daughters returning home in body bags. Cronkite’s criticism forced President Johnson to state that if he had lost Cronkite, he had lost the entire country. Johnson declined to run for re-election. As coverage of the Vietnam War intensified, there was a bright spot in the news -- the Apollo 7 flight made the first televised transmission from space. Nine months later, in 1969, a worldwide audience witnessed Apollo 11's moon landing . As the words “…one small step for man” echoed through the airwaves, the world reveled in the moment. Sports on television made huge strides during the early 1960s. The landmark Wide World of Sports debuted on ABC, conceived by Roone Arledge. Also during this period, the instant replay became a standard in sports broadcasting.

Plus, ABC's major coverage of the 1964 Winter Olympics proved to networks and sponsors that the once-lackluster Games could produce significant revenue. By 1967, sports broadcasting joined the big leagues -- CBS and NBC agreed to simulcast Super Bowl One in color. As news events unfolded daily, technology advancements continued to prove that large corporations were in for the long haul. In 1965, COMSAT became the first commercial communications satellite. The same year, Sony introduced the VCR to the public. Also, at the beginning of the decade, FCC Chairman Newton Minow made headlines after he delivered a speech calling television a “vast wasteland.” Soon thereafter, because of his direct efforts, public television was born, as New York's Channel 13 was sold to educational broadcasters. By 1967, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was established -- public television was here to stay. “Mr. Ed, Dr. Kildare will see you in Room 222” (1960s Entertainment) “Short hair, long hair, dove, hawk or right wing, left wing.

Everything was extreme and we went to the other side, which was not being represented in network television, or any television.” TOM SMOTHERS , performer Now that television was no longer a seat-of-the-pants experiment, many more decisions were based in board rooms, rather than writers’ rooms. After the quiz show scandals of the late 1950s, television networks took production out of the hands of sponsors and became proactive in programming. As television news broadcast the stories of the evolving Civil Rights movement, many racial barriers were broken in television entertainment. With a few exceptions including Amos 'n Andy and Beulah, television would continue to feature white Americans until the 1960s. Ossie Davis made an appearance on The Defenders and a black woman became one of June Taylor’s dancers for Jackie Gleason. Later in the decade, Julia would become one of the first programs to feature a progressive African-American title character – and I Spy would pair Bill Cosby with Robert Culp in starring roles. The 1960s premiered some of the major series considered classic television today. It was also the decade that westerns and urban sitcoms flourished.

Some of the programs of the era include: Another format that capitalized on American culture was the talk show. Prime examples include: The Mike Douglas Show , The Phil Donahue Show , The 700 Club , and The Dick Cavett Show . Children’s television underwent its own revolution with the premieres of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street on PBS. These groundbreaking programs would hit their strides in the 1970s and become educational staples for years to come. In animation produced for television, Hanna-Barbera introduced Scooby-Doo Where Are You? and the prime-time series, The Flintstones. Meanwhile, Jay Ward produced the irreverent Rocky and Bullwinkle. And probably one of the strangest productions to come out of 1960s kids’ television was Sid and Marty Krofft’s H.R. Pufnstuf, a surreal live-action puppet show. Throughout the 1960s, game shows truly blossomed after the dark days of the late 1950s including Password , Match Game , Let's Make a Deal , Jeopardy , The Dating Game , The Newlywed Game , Hollywood Squares , and more.

Soaps continued their rise to the domination of daytime with new entries including Another World and Days of our Lives. As the tumultuous decade came to a close, television audiences had been barraged with everything from hard-hitting dramas to flights of fantasy and camp. In Watergate's Wake (1970s News) “Nixon made that speech saying ‘I want you to know that your president is not a crook.’ When it was over, there was Cronkite saying, ‘Dan, what do you think of his saying that?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, except the evidence indicates he is one, right?’ The White House called Paley and told him they didn’t like that ‘instant analysis.’” DANIEL SCHORR, CBS news correspondent/commentator By the early 1970s, a Roper poll found that the majority of Americans relied more on television than on newspapers for their news. The U.S. government also understood television to be a powerful tool. In fact, the 1970s became the decade where television news felt the true weight of government intervention, as embattled networks gallantly fought to preserve their independence.

The decade began with the government decision that cigarettes would never be on television again. The congressional ban on radio and television cigarette advertising caused broadcasters to lose $220 million in revenue annually. A documentary detailing the Defense Department's use of the media to gain public support, The Selling of the Pentagon, brought CBS President Frank Stanton’s lifelong stand on First Amendment rights to the forefront. The House committee asked for outtakes of the documentary, but CBS refused -- and won. When President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to China, television cameras accompanied him. It was the first time America saw for themselves, through the eyes of a news camera, life under Maoism. Throughout his career, Nixon had a love-hate relationship with television; during his presidency, it became his undoing. It may have begun when CBS Evening News devoted an unprecedented 14 minutes to recap the breaking Watergate scandal. Certainly by 1973, as the events led up to the Senate Watergate Hearings, which the networks rotated over 300 hours of coverage, it was clearly the endgame. After the House committee hearings called for impeachment, Nixon appeared on television to resign his presidency. Sports arrived in primetime as NBC aired the first ever World Series night game.

Tragically, ABC's coverage of the summer 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany turned grim as Palestinians held Israeli athletes hostage. Broadcaster Jim McKay covered the terrifying events live – even as the hostages were killed. In 1979, another hostage crisis hit the airwaves, this time, Americans in Iran. ABC's nightly coverage, America Held Hostage was renamed and became the basis of Nightline, anchored by Ted Koppel. In 1976, Barbara Walters made history by becoming television's first woman co-anchor as she joined Harry Reasoner on The ABC Evening News. Two years later, the newsmagazine 20/20 was launched on ABC. PBS joined ranks with serious television journalism when it premiered The Robert MacNeil Report on public television. It was later renamed The MacNeil-Lehrer Report, when newsman Jim Lehrer joined the program. Morning newsmagazine programs continued to sprout up. Originally entitled, A.M. America, Good Morning America, with hosts David Hartman and Nancy Dussault was launched to good ratings. And, the soft spoken, thoughtful newsman Charles Kuralt began his duties of hosting Sunday Morning, on CBS.

Other televised historic moments include: 1972 Olympic Games President Nixon's trip to China The Selling of the Pentagon hearings Three Mile Island accident The Watergate Scandal From Bradys to Bunkers (1970s Entertainment) “We saw All in the Family, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, because this thing was, compared to the crap that we were canceling, really setting new boundaries. And, to Bob Wood’s credit he said ‘I love the show, we’ve got to put this on the air. This is good for television and it’s good for the nation.’” FRED SILVERMAN , CBS executive One of biggest programming gambles in television history occurred in the early 1970s, as CBS cancelled The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and other "rural shows" the network considered unsophisticated. The gamble paid off as replacement programs including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple and All in the Family garnered high ratings and critical acclaim.

The 1970s could also be labeled, "The Decade of Norman Lear." Lear and his partner, Bud Yorkin, used situation comedy to encourage American society to see itself reflected in characters like Archie Bunker, Fred Sanford, and Maude Findlay. The shows covered new territory previously feared by the networks. Maude examined women's rights and abortion. Good Times explored poverty in America’s ghettos. One Day at a Time made heroes out of single moms. There was a passing of the baton as some shows were retired. On continuously since 1948, The Ed Sullivan Show was cancelled in 1971. By 1975, Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC and became the new generation’s showcase for popular performers. Some of the programs of the era include: Wheel of Fortune The 1970s also ushered in a spate of offbeat “reality” shows like The Gong Show and Real People. Wheel of Fortune , created by Merv Griffin also began its long run. Daytime's All My Children and Ryan's Hope premiered and became afternoon rituals for millions.

Dramatically, the 1970s launched America's love affair with the miniseries – with Rich Man, Poor Man being the first. In 1977, Roots , a monumental miniseries, traced the history of an African-American family on nine consecutive evenings. It broke viewing records and racial barriers. Dramatic series featuring quirky detectives in gritty settings lead the pack during this decade. Plus, contrary to hip cultural trends, family programs like Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons garnered respectable audiences. In the movies-made-for-television category, a young director named Steven Spielberg drove his first big hit to the television screen, with the TV movie, Duel. And, as cable continued to snake its way around the country, cable networks began to deliver. Home Box Office became the first pay cable network to go on the air. Billboard businessman Ted Turner made his first big move and introduced the WTBS Superstation to the masses. Cable networks Showtime, ESPN, and Nickelodeon debuted as well. Perhaps this would be the end of the “Big Three” networks’ domination. Stay tuned.

Some of the drama programs of the era include: The Waltons The Rise of CNN to the Fall of the Berlin Wall (1980s News) “I knew that our biggest challenge would be, other than to make a good news product, to get the cable systems to carry it. And I thought if we used the name Cable in there -- Cable News Network -- how could a cable system not be carrying the Cable News Network?” TED TURNER , CNN founder At the dawn of the 1980s, Ted Turner risked everything to build on the success of his Superstation. Ignoring the skeptics, he launched Cable News Network (CNN). Two years later, CNN Headline News premiered. By 1987, CNN was the only network providing live coverage of what turned out to be the tragic NASA Challenger space shuttle launch. It was moments like these that proved that CNN was making its mark as a leading news source. Also, at a huge risk to his fledgling operation, Turner sued the Reagan administration and the big networks, for access to the White House pool. CNN won and earned the respect of the industry.

Even with the proliferation of entertainment viewing choices, television continued to present world and national news events for a collective audience. Breaking transatlantic barriers, as well as television viewing records, over 750 million people watched live as Great Britain's Prince Charles wed Lady Diana. When President Ronald Reagan was hit by an assassin’s bullet, television vividly brought the news to the American public. The images of the failed attempt aired on the networks for years and helped make wounded White House Press Secretary James Brady a national hero and a symbol for gun control advocacy. The decade also marked changes for veteran newsmen. David Brinkley began hosting duties for ABC with This Week with David Brinkley. The “most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite, retired as CBS news anchor and passed the baton to Dan Rather. On the business side, new government regulations created complications as Congress passed the Cable Communication Policy Act of 1984. The Act deregulated much of the cable industry and caused subscriber rates to increase significantly. The groundbreaking "1984" Macintosh television commercial aired during the Super Bowl, justifying the record-breaking airtime costs of special event television spots.

Along with introducing feature film production values to television advertising, it signaled the beginning of the personal computer revolution. Another major news story of the decade was the Iran-Contra scandal and its subsequent hearings. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was a major player in secret transactions relating to the overthrow of the socialist government of Nicaragua while secretly financing the operation by selling arms to Iran. The televised hearings, where North admitted his guilt, made him an unlikely national hero. News coverage of the protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square reached around the world and shined a grim light on modern communism. CBS News correspondent Richard Roth was imprisoned because of his reporting. And the television image of a lone man defying an approaching tank remains a symbol of modern anti-government protest. The decade finished with the worldwide coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Newsman Tom Brokaw reported the momentous occasion live, as the symbol of the Iron Curtain was dismantled, piece by piece. A powerful way to end a decade. Who Watched J.R.? (1980s Entertainment) “We benefited from the fact that we were on NBC, which in the early eighties, if you wanted to hide from the FBI you’d go on NBC.” MICHAEL J.

FOX , actor Based on the significant success of the few cable networks from the 1970s, this decade saw the explosion of the cable industry. Successful cable networks launched during this period included: Black Entertainment Television, Music Television, Home Shopping Network, The Disney Channel, Lifetime Television, The Arts & Entertainment, Discovery Channel, VH1, QVC Network, Telemundo, E! Entertainment Television, Turner Network Television, and The Family Channel. In the beginning of the decade, new breakthrough sitcoms were scarce. Even an old standard like M*A*S*H aired its final episode in 1983 – garnering 107 million viewers – the largest U.S. audience for a single TV program. Some of the hits from the last decade began to lose their steam, including Taxi and Soap. Drama shows from the late 1970s continued their success into the 1980s. The 1980s signaled a shift in series themes as well. After years of watching shows that tackled tough issues of the Vietnam War, inflation and women's rights, the public’s interests shifted to escapist themes. One way to deliver that was to peek inside of the lives of the super-rich.

Shows such as Dynasty, Dallas, Hotel, and even Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous fed that appetite. Millions of loyal viewers watched as Luke and Laura exchanged vows in a storybook wedding on the daytime soap, General Hospital. The police drama again became popular with shows such as Hill St. Blues, Magnum P.I., and Simon and Simon. Some of the drama programs to be featured include: Wiseguy The dramas were working, but how about comedy? When Grant Tinker became the chairman of the third-rated NBC, he quickly greenlit Cheers and Family Ties, which slowly rose up the ratings ladder. Plus, it was Tinker's decision to air a groundbreaking Carsey-Werner sitcom called The Cosby Show which catapulted NBC back on top. The Cosby Show was the keystone of the network's Thursday night "Must See TV" mantra. Audiences became interested in comedies again. The other networks filled their slates with family sitcoms -- nuclear and nontraditional ones. The success of Cosby turned Carsey-Werner Productions into an independent powerhouse. They solidified their ability to deliver hit shows with the blue-collar family comedy Roseanne, which redefined the idea of a functional family.

Some favorite stars made their return to television throughout the decade including, Lee Majors, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Beatrice Arthur, and Tom Bosley. Programs which introduced the talents of individuals who would make their mark in television history included: Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I., Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies, Michael J. Fox in Family Ties, and Oprah Winfrey as The Oprah Winfrey Show became nationally syndicated from Chicago. Another daytime program The David Letterman Show premiered on NBC, but soon moved to nighttime. Although regular star-studded variety programs were long-gone, programs that showcased the talents of newer singers and dancers began their runs, including: Solid Gold, Star Search, It's Showtime at the Apollo, and the first annual Soul Train Music Awards. The variations of the comedy genre continued to evolve towards the end of the decade, including Moonlighting, which introduced the hour-long romantic comedy to the world. Thirtysomething soon followed. Some of the comedy programs of the era include: The Wonder Years In children’s television, the decade may be remembered for introducing us to The Smurfs and Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Toward the end of the decade, The Wonder Years became a nostalgic favorite, and the weekly real-life problems of Roseanne began directly competing with Bill Cosby's family dilemmas. And as the 1980s began to dim, the fledgling Fox network caught a hit with the controversial domestic show, Married…With Children, triggering a wave of irreverant series. Roseanne vs. O.J. Simpson (1990s through today) “I got a call from Barry Diller, who was the head of Fox, and he said, I’d like you to do a high school show and I said, ‘Barry, at my age, what the hell do I know about high school?’ And he said, ‘you have two kids idiot.’” AARON SPELLING , producer, Beverly Hills, 90210 If nothing else, American audiences in the economically booming 1980s had more choices than ever before. Cable expansion continued as The History Channel, Fox News Channel, and TV Land debuted. The upstart networks of Fox and the WB seriously challenged the Big Three. The competition remained intense for quality programs. Networks fought for pieces of the shrinking market share.

In comedy, the wry irony of Seinfeld, a “show about nothing,” and the racy humor of Friends made it abundantly clear that viewers, who grew up with television, would gather to watch young, hip characters work out everyday problems. Family shows subsided -- being single was all the rage. This trend changed the writers' room dramatically -- young writers became “hot,” as networks looked to cash in on the tastes of a new generation. Whether it was the end of the Reagan era or the end of the Cold War, sitcoms stopped being polite and started getting honest and true. As we reveled in the sarcasm of Roseanne, we enjoyed the humor and wit of shows such as Murphy Brown, Coach, Designing Women, Grace Under Fire, and Home Improvement. Another milestone occurred when both Ellen DeGeneres and her character Ellen Morgan on Ellen came out as a lesbian on national television. Some of the comedy programs of the era include: X-Files Prime examples of living in a postmodern world are clearly illustrated throughout the last decade of the century, and news divisions again took the lead. One key instance came in 1991, when Americans rushed home from work to watch the start of a war against Saddam Hussein.

The bombing runs, shown live on CNN, secured that network's foothold in world news coverage. Time magazine and daily newspapers couldn't keep up with the minute-to-minute updates that television coverage provided. With the proliferation of home video, news coverage took on a new dimension. When amateur video images of Rodney King being beaten by police were transmitted across the globe, it brought the reality of police brutality to light. And, in 1992, when a jury acquitted the officers involved in the beating, amateur videographers again preserved the horrific images of the riots that broke out on the streets of Los Angeles. Domestically, probably the most televised news story of the decade was the O. J. Simpson story. From the night Simpson’s Bronco raced down Los Angeles freeways, until his acquittal for the murder of his ex-wife, the story played out on television. Although the entire trial was televised, it was the verdict, read live, that initiated a worldwide debate on the fairness of the American justice system. Even syndicated talk shows reflected a controversial change in American tastes and values.

Shows that premiered in the 1990s include: The Jenny Jones Show, Jerry Springer, The Montel Williams Show and The Rosie O'Donnell Show. As the decade and millennium drew to a close, new challenges were on the horizon for everyone. The 21st Century promised new technologies that would change the way America used television. - Karen L. Herman

Question: Which commercial television company had its studios at Teddington?
Answer: Thames