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Discuss how you see two of John Caldwell’s five elements of convergence television (outlined on page 46 of his essay) applying to the television you consume today. 

Please post a webisode, TikTok, or YouTube video that’s entertained you lately. Don’t worry about commenting much on it in introduction, but please use your 200 words to comment on a clip that another class member uploads. 

Discuss one or more of the major effects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on technology, content, or industrial policy.  Why do you think the FCC enforced more regulation on content at the same time that they ushered in less regulation on media corporations? What seems similar and/or different in today’s media environment concerning these issues? 

According to Anna McCarthy, ABC’s president, Robert A Iger, said of Ellen that it “became a program about a character who was gay every single week, and… that was too much for people.”  McCarthy describes this perspective as maintaining the “fantasy of queer identity as something that can be switched on for special occasions” along with a “fear of a quotidian, ongoing lesbian life on television.”  Since Ellen’s coming out episode in 1997, a number of queer characters, generally secondary characters, have appeared on both broadcast and cable television.  Choose a program with a queer character from the 2000s or 2010s that you are familiar with and examine whether or not that character’s relationship to their sexuality is truly serialized or only focused on occasionally.

What is synergy?  How does it operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomerates?  Give one example of synergy. How does product integration act as a synergistic strategy?

Why does Elana Levine title her chapter on sex in 1970s TV the way she does? How does network television attempt to capitalize on the so-called sexual revolution? Briefly summarize the TV trends of the era, especially where sexuality was concerned. How would you compare the shows Levine describes to network TV fare today?

Considering the way Julia does (or doesn’t) signify race and racial discrimination, compare its representations to those in one of Norman Lear’s 1970s sitcoms.

From your viewings of All in the Family, Good Times, Maude and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and your reading of Kirsten Lentz’s essay, how do you think Norman Lear’s shows differed from MTM’s?  Why do you think the term “quality” was often used to refer to MTM’s shows and “relevance” to label Lear’s programs?  How does Lentz see these productions as differing?  

Why do you think that Thomas Streeter titles his essay the way he does?  What do “blue skies” and “strange bedfellows” have to do with 1960s discussions about the possibilities of cable television?  Does the language used around cable at that time sound similar to the way new media technologies are discussed today? Explain. 

How did the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour reflect or channel social changes happening in the US at the time? Why did CBS censor The Smothers Brothers? What taboo topics did the show engage with and what contributed to the show becoming a battleground around issues of tradition—both social and industrial? How did The Smothers Brothers respond to CBS’s attempts at censorship?