Today, television has claimed its spot as the dominant past time in society. Whether it is informative, dramatic or comedic shows of all types are tuned in daily. Before television asserted its popularity, years were spent being shaped and reshaped by social, cultural and political context changes. However, television discovered a way to embed itself in the domestic life and transform this new phenomenon of technology into an acquainted social custom within the household. In Lynn Spigel’s chapter “The People in the Theater Next Door” she discusses and answers how the emergence of television into the home is defined by its responsibility to the audience through the creation of the rising popular genre, family sitcoms. Through a combination of
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However, toward the 1950s television began to merge the diverse entertainment styles of live performances with stories about wholesome American families. Story lines began to encompass an emphasis on character relationships as seen in anthology dramas and films, while at the same time using vaudeville aesthetics of simple comedic narratives. Programs began to use the integration of theatrical tradition of legitimate theater and society’s interest in vaudeville to tame and redefine the elements of theater, while simultaneously eradicating the audience’s fear opening the home up to unwanted elements of the public sphere. Legitimate theater “promised genteel respectability with polite, quiet audience who sat in sublime contemplation of the story” while vaudeville “presented itself as a respectable family entertainment,” but through “zany antic of comics” (Spigel 143). Through the blend of style, the premise of television networks most staple genre, family sitcoms developed. With the combination of the two kinds of theater, Spigel states television was “perceived as suitable for the family audience” (144). There was a uniqueness being transmitted through this new genre. Based on immediacy, intimacy and spontaneity this distinctiveness of entertainment gained the approval and respectability sanctioning television to insert itself into the …show more content…
Audiences feared television programs would expose the private sphere of the home, a place of moral sanctity and family to the public sphere, which was considered crass and sinful. Vaudeville shows were notorious to be boorish and outlandish, therefore was refined to the public, a place conceived to be masculine. Conversely, the home was an area of rest, family and femininity, implicating entertainment was more muted consisting of card playing and music. However, family sitcoms provided a method of generating intimacy through binding the private and public spheres of entertainment (Spigel 139). Audiences were provided the sensation of being transmitted to the theater as televisions incorporated theatrical realism through the convection of immediacy and spontaneity. Yet an essence of intimacy was established through the new concept of “close-ups” and characters directly looking into the camera. These new techniques captured the trust of the audience and secured their belief that the characters were their friends and were acting in the best interest to sell them to a product. Programs such as, Texaco Star Theater featuring Milton Berle is an example Spigel provides to display shows attempt to work in immediacy as well as intimacy. The program set was designed to consist of a stage and a
However, toward the 1950s television began to merge the diverse entertainment styles of live performances with stories about wholesome American families. Story lines began to encompass an emphasis on character relationships as seen in anthology dramas and films, while at the same time using vaudeville aesthetics of simple comedic narratives. Programs began to use the integration of theatrical tradition of legitimate theater and society’s interest in vaudeville to tame and redefine the elements of theater, while simultaneously eradicating the audience’s fear opening the home up to unwanted elements of the public sphere. Legitimate theater “promised genteel respectability with polite, quiet audience who sat in sublime contemplation of the story” while vaudeville “presented itself as a respectable family entertainment,” but through “zany antic of comics” (Spigel 143). Through the blend of style, the premise of television networks most staple genre, family sitcoms developed. With the combination of the two kinds of theater, Spigel states television was “perceived as suitable for the family audience” (144). There was a uniqueness being transmitted through this new genre. Based on immediacy, intimacy and spontaneity this distinctiveness of entertainment gained the approval and respectability sanctioning television to insert itself into the …show more content…
Audiences feared television programs would expose the private sphere of the home, a place of moral sanctity and family to the public sphere, which was considered crass and sinful. Vaudeville shows were notorious to be boorish and outlandish, therefore was refined to the public, a place conceived to be masculine. Conversely, the home was an area of rest, family and femininity, implicating entertainment was more muted consisting of card playing and music. However, family sitcoms provided a method of generating intimacy through binding the private and public spheres of entertainment (Spigel 139). Audiences were provided the sensation of being transmitted to the theater as televisions incorporated theatrical realism through the convection of immediacy and spontaneity. Yet an essence of intimacy was established through the new concept of “close-ups” and characters directly looking into the camera. These new techniques captured the trust of the audience and secured their belief that the characters were their friends and were acting in the best interest to sell them to a product. Programs such as, Texaco Star Theater featuring Milton Berle is an example Spigel provides to display shows attempt to work in immediacy as well as intimacy. The program set was designed to consist of a stage and a