television

The Writers' Strike Opens Old Wounds

by Kate Fortmueller

The plot of each sequel of negotiations between the producers and writers has followed a formula of compromise for mutual self-preservation. Technological advances have convinced studio heads that they no longer need the labor of writers enough to keep compromising. 

Who's Afraid of a Black Cleopatra?

by Gwen Nally and Mary Hamil Gilbert

The controversy over the portrayal of Cleopatra by the Black British actress Adele James highlights the difficulty of reading modern ideas of race and identity back onto the past. But more interesting questions arise around why people in the present seek commonality with past figures. 

"Generation Connie": A News Anchor and Her First-Generation Namesakes

The practice of choosing American names for immigrant children coincided with the peak of Connie Chung's career as the national face of CBS News. Adopting her name symbolized mobility and potential for a generation of Asian American women recently come of age. 

Newton Minow, Hugely Influential FCC Chair, Dies at 97

While he famously called television programming a "vast wasteland" in 1961, Newton Minow shaped the mass media landscape for decades. 

Kate Strasdin Breaks Down Authenticity on Bridgerton and other Costume Dramas

A fashion historian examines the accuracy of costuming and other design elements of historical dramas like "Bridgerton." 

When Mississippi Banned Sesame Street

As Mississippi prepared to launch a state-run educational television network in 1970, its members voted 3-2 that images of a multiracial group of children at play on "Sesame Street" would antagonize conservative politicians and jeopardize the network's funding.

How Should Popular Culture Convey History?

by Walter G. Moss

A recent plot point in Netflix's "The Crown" was based on a falsification of historical events. Historians who want to influence public knowledge of history need to be able to match the narrative appeal of television with a commitment to telling the truth. 

"A League of Their Own" Update Engages Lives of Queer Women in the 1940s

by Lauren Gutterman

"The series’ portrait of queer life amid World War II might seem unrealistic to some, but history reveals that queer women and trans men — from butch to femme and married to unmarried — often found opportunities to act on their desires and build queer communities."

Does Ken Burns's Holocaust Doc Face Thorny Questions about U.S. Actions?

by Olivia B. Waxman

Historians involved with the PBS project wrestle with the question of whether the United States could reasonably have done more to offer asylum to Europe's Jews or to stop their mass-scale murder. 

"Rings of Power" Speaks to a War-Hungry Audience

by Daniel Bessner

Inspired by Tolkien's experiences in the Great War, his fantasy books have been taken as allegories for the fight against Nazism, the Cold War, and the War on Terror. The new series reflects the anxieties of an American empire with neither a clear enemy nor the imagination to abandon militarism. 

Stories of Women's Comeuppance Expose Cruelty at Heart of Modern Society

by Sarah Horowitz

Like Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes today, the 1909 trial of Marguerite Steinheil in Paris focused on an ambitious woman as a villain, but revealed a wider climate of impunity and self-dealing among elite men. 

The Real Medieval Civil War that Inspires "House of the Dragon"

by Gillian Brockell

The Anarchy, an English war of succession that lasted from 1138 to 1153, is part of the narrative inspiration for the new fantasy series. 

At 100, Norman Lear's Transformative Influence is Still Felt on TV

by Oscar Winberg

"All in the Family" capitalized on the culture wars of the 1960s to show that television networks could depart from safe, inoffensive programming and acknowledge social divisions. 

Professor Discusses the use of Asylum Scenes in "Stranger Things"

Troy Rondinone's expertise on cultural portrayals of mental health facilities connects with two key plotlines in the latest season of the Netflix horror series. 

Ukraine's Eurovision Victory Not the First Time Politics Has Been on Stage

by Tess Megginson

Since its beginnings in 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest has been a stage for statements about the politics of the continent, from the Cold War to the growth of the EU to the invasion of Ukraine. 

"Gaslit" Recalls Martha Mitchell's Role in the Watergate Scandal

The outspoken and media-friendly wife of Attorney General John Mitchell had warned reporters of CREEP "dirty tricks" before the infamous burglary. After, keeping her from talking to reporters was the first battle of the coverup.

"Pachinko" Tells History of Korean Women in Mid-20th Century Japan

The Apple+ series, based in a fictionalized narrative of Korean immigration to Japan, concludes with interview footage of eight women, now all more than 90 years old, who lived this history. 

"Under the Banner" Improves, but Doesn't Sanitize, Book's Reductive History of Mormonism

by Benjamin E. Park

The new series raises questions about America's homegrown faith, and shakes off some of the source book's post-9/11 concerns with extremism and religious violence to show the complexity among different tendencies and branches of the faith. 

New TV Shows Reduce "Black Excellence" to Materialism

by Tanisha C. Ford

Equating excellence with opulence, and portraying the Black wealthy as champions of progress, ignores many of the ongoing concerns of Black Americans and highlights historically significant class divisions among African Americans. 

"Is It Cake?" is Brain Candy for Pandemic-Weary, but also Part of Long History of Visual Illusion

by Maggie Cao

"At a time when we often don’t know if what we encounter on our screens can be trusted, it feels good to alleviate those anxieties with a show in which the only consequence of being fooled is cutting into a shoe that we assumed was a cake."