The Big Three

In the 1980s, America’s three television networks changed hands. ABC to Capital Cities.  NBC to General Electric.  CBS to Loews. Ken Auletta documented the decade in his 1991 book Three Blind Mice:  How the TV Networks Lost Their Way.  It is, indeed, a fantastic...

The Gentleman Giant

Leader.  Visionary.  Gentleman. Leonard Goldenson.  The founder of ABC. In the early years of television, NBC and CBS had dominance, prestige, and history. ABC had Leonard Goldenson. NBC and CBS had A-list talent. ABC had Leonard Goldenson. NBC and CBS had their...

“L.A. Law” Retrospective (Part 6 of 8)

In Teleliteracy is Here…So Telefriend, Chapter 14 of his 1992 book Teleliteracy, television critic David Bianculli raises the issue of television programming rivaling literature for intelligence. “Authors of written literature reveal their own enthusiasms...