Hitch Your Antenna To The Stars: Early Television and Broadcast Stardom
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Hitch your Antenna to the Stars is a tour de force. In tracing the centrality of TV stars for the economic and aesthetic development of the early medium, Susan Murray breaks important new ground for media studies. Masterfully researched and written in a lucid, intelligent style, this book is required reading for media scholars, cultural historians, and anyone interested in understanding the origins of today's celebrity culture.."
-Anna McCarthy, New York University
"Susan Murray's path-breaking history of early television in the USA should be a must- read for anyone interested in media studies. She skillfully integrates analysis of broadcast networks, sponsors, advertising agencies, talent unions, talent agencies, and the audience to help us fully understand the meanings generated in 1950s broadcast stardom. I learned something new from every page."
-Douglas Gomery, Library of American Broadcasting, University of Maryland
"Hitch Your Antenna to the Stars makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the era of network television in the United States. Susan Murray's carefully researched and engagingly written examination of the early history of TV stardom brings together issues of industry form, media audiences, and social context in original and highly productive ways."
-William Boddy
Book Description
Hitch Your Antenna to the Stars! is the first cultural and industrial history of early television stardom. Susan Murray argues that television stars were central to the growth and development of American broadcasting. They were used not only to promote programs and the sale of television sets and advertised consumer goods, but also to established network identities. Through profiles of well-known performers including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason, and Lucille Ball, she shows how the television industry gave birth to the idea of TV stars and established a system of star production and management notably different from the Hollywood star system of the studio era.
Hitch Your Antenna To The Stars: Early Television and Broadcast Stardom
Hitch Your Antenna To The Stars: Early Television and Broadcast Stardom,Susan Murray,Routledge,0415971306,Biography,History,Modern - General,Pop Arts / Pop Culture,Science/Mathematics,Technology,Television & Video,Television - General,Television actors and actresse,Television actors and actresses,Television broadcasting,Television programs,United States,Television technology
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