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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Television Studies
  5. Television through the decades

Television Studies

This guide is an introduction to library and internet resources for Television Studies.
  • Introduction
  • TV courses
  • Introductory resources
  • Finding books about television
  • Finding television shows
  • Journals & magazines about television
  • History of television
  • Censorship
  • TV criticism
  • TV theory
  • Writing for television
  • Television adaptations
    • Shakespeare on television
  • TV ratings
  • TV audiences
  • TV advertising
  • TV reviews
  • TV genres This link opens in a new window
  • Quality television
  • Children's television
  • Sports on TV
  • Racial & ethnic representation on TV
    • African American diaspora
    • Asian American diaspora
    • Hispanic American diaspora
    • Native American & Indigenous diaspora
  • Women on/in/creating Television
    • Examples of women on television
  • LGBTQIA+
    • Examples of LGBTQIA+ on television
  • Television broadcasting & networks
  • Global television
  • Television in Europe
  • Chinese television
  • Spanish language TV
  • Public access television
  • Television news
  • Mass media industry
  • Transcripts
  • Television through the decades
    • 1950's Television & Earlier
    • 1960's Television
    • 1970's Television
    • 1980's Television
    • 1990's Television
    • 2000's Television
    • 2010's Television
  • Streaming television
  • Streaming film services
  • Internet resources
  • Future of Media
  • Back to Film & Media Studies
  • Scholarly communication This link opens in a new window
  • Feedback

Subject Librarian

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Lucinda M. Hall
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies, Geography, Polar Studies

In the Library's collections

The following are subject headings you can use in the online catalog.

  • television history
  • television programs history
  • television broadcasting history
    You can add the name of a specific country to narrow your search.
  • television broadcasting united states history

Selected titles

Many of these titles look at Television historically. They also provide top 20 or 30 lists of television shows for each year or season.

  • Fifties television: the industry and its critics by William Boddy
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .U5 B64 1990
    ISBN: 9780252016998
    Publication Date: 1990-07-01
    Just a few years in the mid-1950s separated the "golden age" of television's live anthology drama from Newton Minow's famous "vast wasteland" pronouncement. Fifties Television shows how the significant programming changes of the period cannot be attributed simply to shifting public tastes or the exhaustion of particular program genres, but underscore fundamental changes in the way prime-time entertainment programs were produced, sponsored, and scheduled. These changes helped shape television as we know it today. ...
  • Cover art John Logie Baird: a pictorial record of television development 1924-1938
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry TK 6637 .J64 2001
    ISBN: 9781903053102
  • Cover art The revolution wasn't televised: sixties television and social conflict by Lynn Spigel; Michael Curtin, eds.
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.6 .R47 1997
    ISBN: 9780415911221
    Caricatures of sixties television--called a "vast wasteland" by the FCC president in the early sixties--continue to dominate our perceptions of the era and cloud popular understanding of the relationship between pop culture and larger social forces. Opposed to these conceptions, The Revolution Wasn't Televised explores the ways in which prime-time television was centrally involved in the social conflicts of the 1960s. It was then that television became a ubiquitous element in American homes. ...
  • Cover art Science fiction television: a history by M. Keith Booker
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.8 .S35 B66 2004
    ISBN: 9780275981648
    Science fiction series have remained a staple of American television from its inception: classic programs such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek, along with recent and current series including Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1, have been some of the most enduring and influential of all television shows. In this chronological survey, the author examines this phenomenon and provides in-depth studies of the most important of these series. Science Fiction Television traces the development of the genre as a distinct cultural phenomenon within the context of broader developments in American culture as a whole. ...
  • Cover art Seeing through the eighties: television and Reaganism by Jane Feuer
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780822316879
    The 1980s saw the rise of Ronald Reagan and the New Right in American politics, the popularity of programs such as thirtysomething and Dynasty on network television, and the increasingly widespread use of VCRs, cable TV, and remote control in American living rooms. In Seeing Through the Eighties, Jane Feuer critically examines this most aesthetically complex and politically significant period in the history of American television in the context of the prevailing conservative ideological climate. ...
  • Cover Art Television finales: from Howdy Doody to Girls by Douglas L. Howard; David Bianculli, eds.
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780815611059
    Today more than ever, series finales have become cultural touchstones that feed watercooler fodder and Twitter storms among a committed community of viewers. While the final episodes of The Fugitive and M*A*S*H continue to rank among the highest rated broadcasts, more recent shows draw legions of binge-watching fans. Given the importance of finales to viewers and critics alike, Howard and Bianculli along with the other contributors explore these endings and what they mean to the audience, both in terms of their sense of narrative and as episodes that epitomize an entire show. ...
  • Television series regulars of the fifties and sixties in interview by Dina-Marie Kulzer
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN1992.8 .S4 K84 1992
    ISBN: 9780899507224
    In this collection of 22 interviews, some of the biggest stars of 1950s and 1960s television reminisce about their experiences, look at the shows' impact on their lives, and provide insight into the creative process of those classic television shows.

Bibliographies on early Television

  • Cover art Early television: a bibliographic guide to 1940 by George Shiers
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry Ref. Z 7711 .S49 1997
    ISBN: 9780824077822
    Exploring the beginnings of the most influential communications medium of all time, this work covers the history of early mechanical and later electronic means of television. It takes a chronological approach to the subject, from its theoretical conception in the late 1800s, through important market experiments just prior to World War II. Coverage is global and multilingual, with material from French, German, Russian, and English sources. Each chapter begins with a historical essay that places the period in context. ...
  • Ethnic and racial images in American film and television: historical essays and bibliography by Allen L. Woll; Randall M. Miller
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry Z 5784 .M9 W65 1987
    ISBN: 9780824087333
  • Cover art Role portrayal and stereotyping on television: an annotated bibliography of studies relating to women, minorities, aging, sexual behavior, health, and handicaps by Nancy Signorielli; Elizabeth Milke; Carol Katzman
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry Z 7711 .S53 1985
    ISBN: 9780313248559
    This handy bibliography of research on stereotypical television portrayals abstracts studies published in a variety of popular and scholarly journals, books, and U.S. government publications.

Other library resource(s)

  • Resource logo History of television from Oxford Bibliographies Online by William Boddy
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199791286
    While journalists, cultural critics, technology writers, and industry figures have been writing about television for a surprisingly long time (going back at least to experiments with mechanical television in the late 1920s), the academic study of television history largely emerged only in the 1970s in the United States and the United Kingdom.
  • The story of film, TV and media by David P. Stone
    Call Number: Jones Media Video tape #4207 tapes 1 - 8
    This eight-part series traces the composite history of the mass media, industry by industry, from their roots as novelty attractions to their crucial role in society today. Tape 7 should be "Television history."
  • Television: window to the world by Joshua Hanig
    Call Number: Jones Media Video tape #4804
    ISBN: 0767001370
    This feature chronicles the incredible story of television, from the vision of Philo Farnsworth, a Utah farmboy who developed the first working system in 1925, to the latest technological breakthroughs that are transforming the medium.
  • Variety television reviews, 1923-1988: the first fifteen volumes of the series, including a comprehensive index by Howard H. Prouty
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry Ref. PN 1992.3 .U5 V36 1989 v.1-16
    ISBN: 9780824025878
    Television reviews originally published in two sister publications: Variety (New York, N.Y.), and Daily Variety.

Journals & magazines that cover early Television

Besides the titles listed below, you can see the tab  for "Journals & magazines on television" for more options and searching.

  • TV guide
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
  • Journal title logo Film quarterly by University of California Press
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    Film Quarterly publishes substantial, peer-reviewed writing on cinema and media.
  • Hollywood quarterly
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
  • Radio daily: The national daily newspaper of commercial radio and television
    • Book
    Call Number: Library Depository 384.505 R118, 1942 - 1948
  • Resource logo Film & television literature index
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This index covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
  • Resource logo The web of science citation databases by ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Newspapers

  1. Major metropolitan newspapers are a good source for television reviews and information.
  2. You can search using the search box at the top of the page and eventually limit your searches to "reviews" or use the interfaces for the Historical Newspapers or the Los Angeles Sentinel.
  3. Since these newspapers are historically in coverage, you can read about the evolution of television as you go through the time.
  • Resource logo Proquest historical newspapers by ProQuest
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    • Newspaper
    Call Number: Electronic resources
    A collection of major regional and ethnic newspapers from their beginning date to a date in the near past. The New York Times goes until 3 years ago, while the Boston Globe only goes to 1989. The Chicago Defender goes from 1905 to 1975.
  • Resource logo Los Angeles sentinel
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    • Newspaper
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The Los Angeles Sentinel is an African American owned and operated newspaper that puts emphasis on issues concerning the African-American community and it's readers. Its a highly regarded paper that significantly influences the perceptions, attitudes and buying decisions of it's readership.
  • Los Angeles Times logo Los Angeles times: Proquest historical newspaper
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    • Newspaper
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The major newspapers also published weekly chart for box office information. Usually on Mondays, you will find a short box office list. Then on Tuesdays, you will find a longer list usually located in the Arts/Entertainment/People sections of the papers.
  • New York Times: Proquest Historical Newspaper by ProQuest
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    • Newspaper
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    This covers the New York Times from 1851 through 3 years ago.
  • << Previous: Transcripts
  • Next: 1950's Television & Earlier >>
  • Last Updated: Jun 5, 2025 11:59 AM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/television
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies
Tags: censorship, children's television, chinese television, global television, humanities, LGBTQIA+, new_media, public-access television, quality television, radio, representation, reviews, sports, television ratings, television theory, tv, tv advertising, tv ratings, women, writing for television

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