TV has become a partner — and sometimes a catalyst — in the discussion of major political and social issues

When Americans sit down at night to watch “C.S.I.” or “American Idol,” chances are they’re unaware that their program choices speak volumes about our modern society and culture. But when San Diego State University professor Lee Marshall was asked to develop a new television programming course, that’s exactly what he discovered.

Though television has only been around for a fraction of U.S. history, during the last century it has become one of the most influential mediums in telling the story of the country.

Marshall’s course reviews television’s first 50 years, beginning with NBC’s first scheduled broadcast in 1941, and covering five decades of shows like “I Love Lucy” and “Hill Street Blues.” It not only chronicles the evolution of television, but also connects the dots between TV and the history of the country.

“Take any traditional modern U.S. history class and you’ll learn the important facts and figures of America’s rich history and background, take this class and you’ll discover the heart of the country,” said Marshall, lecturing professor in SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television and Film.

Small screen, big issues

The small screen tackled some big issues during the last half of the 20th century, repeatedly setting the stage for debate in this country. Over time, TV has become a partner — and sometimes a catalyst — in the discussion of major political and social issues by positioning them at center stage. From the civil rights movement, to the turmoil over the Vietnam War, to the increase in violent crime in America’s cities, TV has been there.

“The Amos 'n Andy Show”

“Television has served two purposes over time,” Marshall said. “It has recorded history but it’s also been a part of it.”

As the civil rights movement began to heat up, television made history of its own by putting black actors in leading roles for the first time. In 1951, “The Amos 'n Andy Show” adapted a popular radio program for the small screen, but it was cancelled after 78 episodes, in part, because the NAACP claimed it negatively portrayed African-Americans. It would take the movement’s most defining moment before television would put a black man in a leading role again. (See Marshall’s mini-lecture on the subject and a clip from “Sanford and Son.” Quicktime file. Text only.)

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was seen in the home of nearly every American with a television. It reminded white America of the ongoing struggle for civil rights, but also planted the seeds for change in television, Marshall said.

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his landmark "I Have a
Dream" speech.

Starting with Bill Cosby’s “I Spy” in 1965 and later with shows like “Sanford and Son” and “Good Times” in the 1970s, television slowly began to reflect the racial diversity of its viewers. It hit a high mark when “Roots” became the most successful miniseries in TV history, though many would say TV still has a long way to go.

“For what seemed like the first time, television viewers didn’t see ‘Roots’ as an ‘African-American’ show,” Marshall said. “They saw it as a story of ‘family’ and it changed the American civil rights landscape tremendously.”

From stay-at-home-mom to working woman

Similarly, the role of women on television progressed at pace with the women’s rights movement in the nation.

Lucille Ball, one of television’s most famous leading ladies, portrayed Lucy Ricardo, who was always looking to become famous like her bandleader husband.

“I Love Lucy”

“I Love Lucy” remains one of the most popular shows in TV history, but when students in Marshall’s class take a critical look, they identify a staggering difference between the way women were portrayed then and now.

“In the early years of television, women characters — like Lucy — were always the butt of the joke,” said Megan Blanchard, who is majoring in television and film writing. “We watched an episode of ‘The Honeymooners’ when the wife got in a car accident and every joke suggested women weren’t good drivers.”

By the 1970s, when women’s rights were at the forefront, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” took the small screen by storm. Moore played a 30-year-old, single career woman, a far cry from her role as stay-at-home mom, Laura Petrie, on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

“You can really see through television the way society has changed,” Blanchard said.

The miracle of television

Vito Catanearo, a double major in history and television, film and new media production, was surprised by how much he took away from the class.

“I learned more about American history in this course than I did in any of my history classes,” Catanearo said. “We learned about what regular people were doing during these critical times in our history, not just the generals and the politicians.”

The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team celebrates the
winning goal against Russia.

One example is a lecture called “Miracle at Lake Placid: The Winter of Discontent,” which addressed the broadcast of the historic 1980 Olympic U.S. hockey team win over Russia.

“There’s this huge international crisis in Iran, a gasoline shortage in the U.S. and the entire country stopped to watch this David vs. Goliath hockey match on TV,” Marshall explained. “America wasn’t feeling so good about itself, but this game seemed to turn it all around. It was sixty minutes of hockey, but it was an hour of television that truly was a vehicle for change in the country.”

The story, which was adapted into a feature film in 2004, is just one example of how television has melded with history.

So much the same

For retired SDSU librarian Chuck Ditrone, who audited the class in 2006, it’s critical for students to see the medium from that historical perspective but he said it’s more important to see how it influenced lives.

“Television is at the heart of every person’s life,” Ditrone said. “For a while it just seemed to be entertainment, but we now see it’s so much more.”

So much more, but also so much the same.

It’s no longer black and white, and there are definitely more commercials, but the formulas for programs that worked 25 years ago still work today, Marshall said.

"Hill Street Blues"

Older shows from previous generations are gaining a new audience.

“I rented a few more episodes of ‘Hill Street Blues’ after seeing it in class because I liked it so much,” Catanearo said.

When “Hill Street Blues” aired, it bucked the trend of previous cop dramas by delving into the personal lives of its characters. For “Hill Street Blues” that meant showing the good, the bad and the ugly of being a police officer, not just good guys versus bad guys. It took the audience some time to get used to, Marshall said.

“‘Hill Street’ was the lowest-rated show ever to be renewed for a second season,” Marshall said. “You could put the pilot episode on today and it would look very current, but it never even broke the top 20 in the ratings.”

We are what we watch

Popularity of any show truly depends on the viewers’ state of mind.

“During the Vietnam War era, it was evident that Americans were attracted more to programs that allowed them to ‘escape’ from the reality of the devastating events of that time,” Marshall said. “It was ‘escapist television’ as we like to call it, and shows like ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ were must-see TV.”

Lee Marshall

Today’s television, full of “reality” programming and few scripted shows, might also be seen as a form of escapism, according to Marshall. So, when future generations look back on the current decade of television programming, what might they learn about us?

“I think they will see it as an escapist time, when people were overwhelmed, everything traveled as fast as your wireless and everyone had to work,” Marshall said. “Maybe they’ll think we didn’t have time for a drama and we simply would rather go home and watch ‘American Idol’ and vote for our favorite singer.”

Television not only reflects our collective beliefs, hopes, flaws and neuroses, but also shapes them — which may explain the popularity of SDSU’s history of primetime television. But more likely, it’s Marshall’s exuberance and passion for telling the story of television. After all, when he’s not teaching, he’s pitching story ideas and his own scripts to Hollywood producers.

“I would love to say it’s my teaching,” Marshall said. “But when it comes to this class, students feel like they are already a part of the history.”

Related information

• About Lee Marshall
• Department of Television, Film and New Media
• Lee Marshall Lecture: TV and Civil Rights
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Credits

• Story by Gina Speciale
• Graphics by John Signer and Sherry Shopoff
• Multimedia by Mark Pastor, Instructional Technology Services
• Edited by Coleen L. Geraghty