Desperation in the Vast Wasteland

In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow decried television as a vast wasteland.  Nearly a half-century later, Bill Carter analyzed the landscape, coalescing his findings into the 2006 book Desperate Networks. A television show reaching the prime time airwaves is a...

“Lost in Space” (Part 2 of 3)

Lost in Space aired soon after the Space Family Robinson comic book’s debut, leading one to conclude that the theme of Space Family Robinson and the usage of the Lost in Space indicates a nexus between the comic book and the television show.  Such is not the...

“L.A. Law” Retrospective (Part 2 of 8)

An attempt to list all of the outstanding moments, accomplishments, and cases in L.A. Law would not do it justice (pun intended).  But a few, select pieces evidence a television show consisting of multi-layered characters, compelling story lines, and crisp writing....

Lessons of “The Brady Bunch”

Like most television shows, The Brady Bunch is a fantasy.  How many families have superstar athletes and iconic entertainers visiting their homes?  Unlike most television shows, The Brady Bunch is a tremendous instructor of life lessons. Premiering on ABC in 1969 and...

James Bond: The Beginning

When President John F. Kennedy declared Ian Fleming to be a favorite author, he unknowingly triggered a popular culture trend.  Kennedy’s statement established Fleming’s creation of fictional spy James Bond as the standard against which spy genre...