vis-à-vis

Annotated Bibliography

Baughman, James L. Same Time, Same Station: Creating American Television, 1948-1961. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins UP, 2007. Print. This book examines the history of American television and the debate between high and low brow tastes that would eventually govern the medium.

Butsch, Richard. “Class and Audience Effects: A History of Research On Movies, Radio, and Television.” Journal of Popular Film and Television XXIX.3 (2001): 112-20. Print. Explores the relationship between class structure and media viewership. Explains that early studies from the 1930′s-50′s were mostly unfounded and biased works that arbitrarily claimed women and children were more susceptible to the dangerous effects of television.

Carini, Susan M. “Love’s Labors Almost Lost: Managing Crisis During the Reign of I Love Lucy.” Cinema Journal XLIII.1 (2003): 44-62. Print. An article about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’ marriage and business relationships. It explores the contrast between the librated form of Lucy on-screen versus the “stick-to-your-man” ideology off-screen.

Desjardins, Mary. “Gender and Television.” The Museum of Broadcast Communications. MBC, 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. <http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=genderandte>. An essay exploring the representation of women in television in all arenas of television. It additionally analyzes the reasons behind some of the representation and gaps in representation of women.

Eagan, Eileen. “Television: Our Town In Cold War America: “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show”" Film & History XXVI.1-4 (1996): 62-70. Print. This article discusses The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in the context of the Cold War. It details the exploration of home life and inward issues over politics and news of the day. Specifically to my topic, it explores Gracie Allen’s role on the show and it’s interpretation of the “feminine mystique”.

Gamman, Lorraine, and Margaret Marshment, eds. The Female Gaze: Women as Viewers of Popular Culture. Seattle: The Real Comet, 1989. Print. Examines the idea of the “female gaze” in film and television and female presence in popular culture. Even though this covers a little later than my era, it covers the idea of women looking.

Gibberman, Susan. “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.” The Museum of Broadcast Communications. MBC, 2008. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. <http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/G/htmlG/georgeburns/gerogeburns.htm>. This article is essentially a small biography of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, covering the birth of the show from radio to the show’s format and actors.

Kalas, Andrea, and Rhona Berenstein. “Woman Speaks: Representations of Working Women In Postwar America.” Journal of Film and Video XLVIII.3 (1996): 30-45. Print. Article analyzing Women Speaks, a series on the representation of working women in postwar America. This article includes a lot of historical and contextual background on women ideologies through the late 40s and early 50s.

Kaplan, Peter W. “A Happier Life Through Television.” Film Comment XV.4 (1979): 49-52. Print. This article examines how life is portrayed on television programs during the fifties in context of what the ideological beliefs and values each show espoused. It also connects the idea of fun television. It pulls examples from The Honeymooners, George Burns, and I Love Lucy.

Levine, Elana. Wallowing In Sex: the New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television. Durham: Duke UP, 2007. Print. This book covers the sex, gender, feminism, and representation on television and how it reflects on culture primarily during the 1970s, where reinvention of the female character type towards female empowerment started to make way. In particular to my topic, it also covers the transitionary period before the 70s, where in the 60s, a tricky reinvention of the character type occurred.

Meehan, Diana M. Ladies of the Evening: Women Characters of Prime-Time Television. Metuchen, N.J., & London: The Scarecrow, Inc., 1983. Print. Meehan analyzes various female television characters from the 1950s to the 1980s, such as the Goodwife, the Imp, the bitch, the harpy, the victim, the witch, the matriarch, etc. She provides script and tv-stills as examples. Meehan also discusses the role that the female gender has played over the course of thirty years and juxtaposes it to the voyeurism of television’s audience. In relevance to my study is her references to various character types of women, especially information about Bewitched and “the witch” character.

Morowitz, Laura. “From Gauguin to Gilligan’s Island.” Journal of Popular Film and Television XXVI.1 (1998): 2-10. Print. This article deconstructs and explores Gilligan’s Island, the popularly syndicated allegory from the 1960′s. Additionally, this article explores the cultural norms of the period and how they were often subverted through experimentation in the media.

Press, Andrea L. Women Watching Television: Gender, Class, and Generation in the American Television Experience. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1991. Print. Press addresses the idea of “postfeminism” in present female culture in regards to television. In this study, she interviews women about their memories and interactions with television. This serves my study of the reflection of the industry on women and vice versa and how context dictates how female character types are received (such as working class v. middle class women).

Pribram, E. D., ed. Female Spectators: Looking At Film and Television. New York: Verso, 1988. Print. This book contains a collection of essays discussion feminism, representation, gaze, and power in film and television. Of particular interest to my study is Jackie Byars’ essay, “Gazes/Voices/Power: Expanding Psychoanalysis for Feminist Film and Television Theory.”

Sholle, D. “Reading the Audience, Reading Resistance: Prospects and Problems.” Journal of Film and Video XLIII.1-2 (1991): 80-89. Print. A theoretical paper on the interaction between audience and mainstream. It examines the idea of what “popular culture” is and what dictates it in relation to the idea of “resistance.” This contributes foundation to my stance on how female representation continued the way it does due to “resistance.”

Spigel, Lynn. TV By Design: Modern Art and the Rise of Network Television. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2008. Print. This book explores modernism and network television convergence during the cold war. It also examines televisions place in the “art” world.

Walsh, Kimberly R., Elfriede Fursich, and Bonnie S. Jefferson. “Beauty and the Patriarchal Beast: Gender Role Portrayals in Sitcoms Featuring Mismatched Couples.” Journal of Popular Film and Television XXXVI.3 (2008): 123-32. Print. Explores sexism and gender portrayal in situation comedies featuring mismatched couples. This article focuses mostly on the more recent trend of “fat guy with a hot wife” shows while adding historical context for the phenomenon.

Wexman, Virginia W. “Returning From the Moon: Jackie Gleason, the Carnivalesque, and Television Comedy.” Journal of Film and Video XLII.4 (1990): 20-32. Print. An article examining Jackie Gleason, especially in “The Honeymooners, and his use of the body and physical comedy. It also covers the gender relation between the main character and his wife.