Silverman, Mary, 59
Silverman, Sarah, 304
Silvers, Phil, 23–24
Simon, Bert, 347
Simon, Neil, 23, 91
Simpsons, The, ix, x, xi, 8, 12, 47, 57, 61, 87, 134, 135–38, 143, 151, 316
Singer, Abby, 58
single motherhood, 49, 53, 131, 139–41
Skelton, Red, 227
Smith, Anna Deavere, 55–56
Smith, Buffalo Bob, 315, 316
Smothers Brothers, 34, 37, 42, 43, 97–99, 106, 245, 286
Soap, 39–40, 78, 83, 118–21, 251, 265–66, 274, 277, 279
soap operas, 39, 44, 52, 119, 162, 163, 180, 181–83, 197, 205–6
social messaging, x, xi, 2, 3, 6, 14, 23–24, 25, 30, 32–38, 45–47, 53, 61, 83, 97, 111–14, 164–81, 198–201, 226; ABC and, 39, 61, 118–21, 225; ABC Family and, 83; cable TV and, 41–43, 296–300; CBS and, 28–29, 36, 37, 49, 97–99; children’s TV and, 313–33; entertainment vs., 225, 226, 253; NBC and, 36–37, 45–47, 49, 60, 271; TV as transformative and, 78–81; TV comedy and, 86–160; TV drama and, 161–223. See also specific issues; specific producers; specific shows
social realism, 8–9, 78, 81–85, 95, 173, 191, 192, 328, 334
Something About Amelia, 178–79, 192
Sopranos, The, 61, 304
Sorenson, Theodore, 284
Sorkin, Aaron, 208, 209–12, 213, 225
Southland, 58, 229
South Park, 252, 350–51, 352
Spears, Jamie Lynn, 326
Special Bulletin, 46
Spelling, Aaron, xvi, 32, 33, 39, 57, 154, 163–65, 172–74, 178–81, 197
Spielberg, Steven, 126, 304
Spike TV, 11, 246, 248, 325
Spin City, 80, 124, 128–29, 149, 225, 303
SpongeBob, 331, 332
Stanley, Jerome, 187, 267
Stanton, Frank, 22, 28, 29, 261
Star, Darren, 57, 152, 180
Starsky & Hutch, xvi, 39, 178
Star Trek, 168–72
Star Trek: Next Generation, 171–72
Stein, Ben, 115, 193
Steinem, Gloria, 31
Steinfeld, Jesse L., 273
St. Elsewhere, 45, 46, 57, 64, 70, 71, 84, 108, 162, 189–92, 207, 225, 250, 251
Step By Step, 41
Stern, Leonard, 32, 37, 80, 91–93, 96–97, 109, 242, 262
Stevens, Ted, 291
Stewart, Jon, 43, 61, 64, 307–8, 309, 310
Stewart, Michael, 91
Stoddard, Brandon, 45, 49, 133, 193–95, 196, 225, 251, 253
Stone, Jon, 318
Stone, Matt, 252, 253, 350
Strauss, Carolyn, 61
Strickland, Ted, 300
Stringer, Howard, 50
Sullivan, Larry, 39
Summers, Larry, 319–20
Super Bowl, 232, 291, 338
Surnow, Joe, 76, 355
Survivor, 52, 255, 335
Susskind, David, 29
S.W.A.T., 178
Sweeney, Anne, 82, 296, 327–28, 329
Sweeney, Mike, 306
Tankersley, William, 253
Tartikoff, Brandon, 15, 46, 49, 82, 130, 131, 141–42, 186, 202, 250, 251–52
Tassler, Nina, 267
Taylor, Arthur, 276
TBS, 42, 247, 296, 332, 337
Teletubbies, 330, 332
television, 2, 10–12; as addictive, 2, 255; apolitical programming on, 6, 52, 255; children’s television, 7, 313–33; comedy, 7, 52, 57, 86–160, 161, 162; commentators as left-wing, 4–5; as corporate, business, 228–30, 247–49; death of networks, 51–53; diversity lacking, 231–32, 245–49, 256; drama, 161–223; as entertainment vs. education, 5–6;
television (continued)
government and, 12, 13, 257–63, 335, 343; growth, 24–25; history, xv, 17–54; how to fix, 334–48; industry (see Hollywood); major genres, 198; market argument, 9–13, 223, 224–56; metamorphosis faced by, 335–38; as oligopoly, 248–49, 282; political orientation, xv–xix, 1–16 (see also specific issues); spectaculars, 21; three reasons for liberal bias, 8–13; top ten shows, 1960–1961, 263; transformative power, 1–2, 81–85, 86, 130–31, 151, 192–95, 257. See also specific persons; specific shows
Television Code, 261, 262
Tellem, Nancy, 296
That Certain Summer, 34, 121, 192
That ’70’s Show, 39, 84, 135
That Was the Week That Was (TW3), 5, 31, 32, 43, 112
3rd Rock from the Sun, 39, 49, 135
30 Rock, 157–58, 159, 255, 271
thirtysomething, 49, 123, 125, 143, 196, 196–98, 212–13, 279
Thomas, Clarence, 139
Thompson, Fred, 202, 203
Thoren, Terry, 325
Three’s Company, 44, 117–18, 125, 278
Time Warner, 247, 249, 289, 296
Tinker, Grant, 31, 45–47, 50, 57, 95, 108, 109, 110, 121, 184, 186, 190, 191, 229, 250, 251, 278
Tinker, John, 251
Tinker, Mark, 57, 251
Tisch, Lawrence, 49, 50
TiVo, 53, 234, 335
TNT, 246, 247, 336, 337
Tolkin, Mel, 90
Tomlinson, Kenneth, 314–15
Tour of Duty, 244
Treyz, Ollie, 23, 27, 237, 265
True Blood, 53, 58
Truman, Harry, 283–84
Turner, Ted, 42, 43, 61, 247, 332
TV Nation, 49–50
TV Watch, 292
24, 12, 52, 76, 169, 255, 268–69, 272, 354–55
Twilight Zone, The, 166–68
Two and a Half Men, 57, 155–56, 255
Unnatural Causes, 46
Unsolved Mysteries, 251–52
Untouchables, 27, 265, 273
V, 255
vanguardism, 2–3, 4–5, 79–80, 95, 136, 189, 261
Viacom, 53, 248, 249, 296, 327
Vietnam War, 31, 32, 34, 38, 44, 46, 68, 96, 98–99, 100, 105, 114, 115–16, 168, 286
Vonnegut, Kurt, 124
WAFF, 323
Wagon Train, 263
Walker, Texas Ranger, 350
Waller, Judith, 259
Wal-Mart, 347
Walters, Barbara, 21
Waltons, The, 12, 41, 174–78, 226, 255, 279, 303, 337, 352
Wanted: Dead or Alive, 263
Ward, Jay, 108
Warner Brothers, ix, xv, 50, 144, 207, 213, 241, 247, 293
Warren, Michael, 115
Wasserman, Lew, 288, 289, 304
Waterston, Sam, 203, 311
Waxman, Henry, 296
Weaver, Pat, 21, 236
Weeds, 53
Welch, Jack, 290
Wells, John, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212
Werner, Tom, 46, 129, 155, 324
Westerns, 236, 274–75, 352–53
West Wing, The, 179, 208, 209–12
White, Betty, 110
White Shadow, The, 190–91
Wildmon, Donald, xii, xiii, 44, 278, 279, 280, 291
Will & Grace, xi, 12, 56, 57, 84, 150–51, 152, 341
Williams, Clarence, III, 173
Winfrey, Oprah, 305, 324
Wire, The, 162
Witt, Paul Junger, 265–66
Wolf, Dick, 69–70, 201–3
Wood, Robert, 10, 34–35, 36, 40, 229, 243, 251
Workout, 53
Writers Guild of America, xvi, 59, 69, 117, 124, 277, 336
Wyman, Thomas, 279
Young, Elaine, 55–56
Young Lawyers, The, 34
Your Show of Shows, 32, 89–91, 95, 104, 159
Zarghami, Cyra, 326
, 327
Zlotoff, Lee David, 195
Zucker, Jeff, 1, 53, 61, 248, 249, 271, 290, 296
Zuiker, Anthony, 204
Zwick, Ed, 196–97
About the Author
BEN SHAPIRO is a graduate of UCLA (which he entered at the age of sixteen) and Harvard Law School. At seventeen, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. Shapiro is the author of the national bestsellers Brainwashed, Porn Generation, and Project President, and hosts The Ben Shapiro Show in Orlando, Florida. He is married and lives in Los Angeles.
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Also by the Author
Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth
Credits
Cover photograph © Shutterstock
Cover design by theBookDesigners
Copyright
PRIMETIME PROPAGANDA. Copyright © 2011 by Ben Shapiro. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition June 2011 ISBN: 9780062092106
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shapiro, Ben.
Primetime propaganda : the true Hollywood story of how the left took over your TV / by Ben Shapiro.
p. cm.
Includes index.
Summary: “The story of how the most powerful medium of mass communication in human history became a propaganda tool for one side of the political spectrum: the left side”-- Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-193477-3 (hardback)
1. Television programs—United States—History—20th century. 2. Mass media and propaganda—United States—History—20th century. 3. Popular culture—United States—History—20th century. 4. Liberalism—United States—History—20th century. I. Title.
PN1992.3.U5S534 2011
791.450973--dc22
2011006275
11 12 13 14 15 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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