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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Television Studies
  5. 1950's Television & Earlier

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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Contact:
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies, Geography, Polar Studies

Other library resource(s)

  • Cover artPioneers of primetime
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6542
    ISBN: 9781415715413
    A tribute to the icons of early television and an entertaining retrospective on the golden age of television comedy. Includes footage from shows such as The Milton Berle Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Benny Show, The Red Skelton Show, I love Lucy, and The Honeymooners. Six years in the making, the program features exclusive in-depth interviews with an unprecedented collection of TV's early stars.
  • Cover artPioneers of television. Season 1
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6105
    ISBN: 9781415727508
    This four-part series features sitcoms and archival clips to offer a fresh take on the first celebrities of television.
    Late night -- Sitcoms -- Game shows -- Variety.
  • Pioneers of television. Season 2
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #12275
    ISBN: 9781608834037
    Celebrates the visionaries behind science fiction, crime dramas, local kids' TV, and westerns.
    Science fiction -- Crime dramas -- Westerns -- Local kids' TV.
  • Cover artPioneers of television. Season 3
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #16560
    ISBN: 9781608838370
    This season includes an episode on "Primetime Soaps" and mini-series.
  • Cover artPioneers of television. Season 4
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #17746
    ISBN: 9781608830626
    Acting funny -- Breaking barriers -- Doctors and nurses -- Standup to sitcom.

Books on early Television

  • Cover artThe citizen machine: governing by television in 1950s America by Anna McCarthy
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.6 .M3775 2010
    ISBN: 9781595584984
    The Citizen Machine is the untold political history of television's formative era. Historian Anna McCarthy goes behind the scenes of early television programming, revealing that long before the age of PBS, leaders from business, philanthropy, and social reform movements as well as public intellectuals were all obsessively concerned with TV's potential to mold the right kind of citizen. ...
  • Cover artThe days of live: television's golden age as seen by 21 Directors Guild of America members by Ira Skutch
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .U5 D38 1998
    ISBN: 9780810834927
    A fascinating account of the era of live television. Compiled from the first-hand accounts of 21 members of the Directors Guild of America who were instrumental in shaping the medium during this formative phase, the book covers the development of network programming, technical advances, sponsor relations, and the blacklist.
  • Cover ArtEntertaining television: the BBC and popular television culture in the 1950s by Su Holmes
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.63 .H67 2008
    ISBN: 9780719077913
    Entertaining television challenges the idea that the BBC in the 1950s was elitist and 'staid', upholding Reithian values in a paternalistic, even patronising way. By focusing on a number of (often controversial) programme case studies - such as the soap opera, the quiz/ game show, the 'problem' show and programmes dealing with celebrity culture - Su Holmes demonstrates how BBC television surprisingly explored popular interests and desires. She also uncovers a number of remarkable connections with programmes and topics at the forefront of television today, ranging from talk shows, 'Reality TV', even to our contemporary obsession with celebrity. ...
  • Cover artFrom daytime to primetime: the history of American television programs by James Roman
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .U5 R64 2005
    ISBN: 9780313319723
    The 20th century might be accurately described as the television century. Perhaps no technological invention in recent history has so vastly affected the American public. An involving mixture of scholarship and nostalgia, this volume offers an intelligent examination of the many ways that American society has shaped_and been shaped by_television. Roman provides thematic chapters on all of television's major genres. James Roman, author of Love, Light, and a Dream: Television's Past, Present, and Future (Greenwood, 1996), traces the evolution of American television programming from its beginnings as an experimental spinoff of radio broadcasting to its current role as an omnipresent and, some would say, omnipotent force of media and culture.
  • Cover artGlobal TV: new media and the Cold War, 1946-69 by James Schwoch
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .U5 S32 2009
    ISBN: 9780252075698
    James Schwoch presents a unique retelling of the Cold War period by examining the relationship of global television, diplomacy, and new electronic communications media. Beginning with the Allied occupation of Germany in 1946 and ending with the 1969 Apollo moon landing, this book explores major developments in global media, including the postwar absorption of the International Telecommunications Union into the United Nations and its impact on both television and international policy; the rise of psychological warfare and its relations to new electronic media of the 1950s; and the role of the Ford Foundation in shaping global communication research concepts.
  • Cover artHollywoodTV: the studio system in the fifties by Christopher Anderson
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780292704572
    The 1950s was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of motion pictures and television. During the decade, as Hollywood's most powerful studios and independent producers shifted into TV production, TV replaced film as America's principal postwar culture industry. This pioneering study offers the first thorough exploration of the movie industry's shaping role in the development of television and its narrative forms. Drawing on the archives of Warner Bros. and David O. Selznick Productions and on interviews with participants in both industries, Christopher Anderson demonstrates how the episodic telefilm series, a clear descendant of the feature film, became and has remained the dominant narrative form in prime-time TV. ...
  • Cover artLost laughs of '50s and '60s television: thirty sitcoms that faded off screen by David C. Tucker
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.8 .C66 T82 2010
    ISBN: 9780786444663
    Originally broadcast on American television between 1952 and 1969, the 30 situation comedies in this work are seldom seen today and receive only brief and often incomplete and inaccurate mentions in most reference sources. Yet these sitcoms (including Angel, The Governor and J.J., It's a Great Life, I'm Dickens ... He's Fenster and Wendy and Me), and the stories of the talented people who made them, are an integral part of television history. ...
  • Cover artSame time, same station: creating American television, 1948-1961 by James L. Baughman
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780801879333
    Ever wonder how American television came to be the much-derided, advertising-heavy home to reality programming, formulaic situation comedies, hapless men, and buxom, scantily clad women? Could it have been something different, focusing instead on culture, theater, and performing arts? In Same Time, Same Station, historian James L. Baughman takes readers behind the scenes of early broadcasting, examining corporate machinations that determined the future of television. ...
  • Cover artSmall screens, big ideas: television in the 1950s by Janet Thumin, ed.
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.2 .S63 2002
    ISBN: 9781860646829
    Small Screens, Big Ideas brings together specially commissioned writings from British and American contributors to explore themes of diversity in the formative period of the 1950s. With radical changes taking place in terrestrial television, this is a timely moment to revisit the decade when television's very novelty was its most striking feature. ...
  • Cover artTelevision series of The 1950s: essential facts and quirky details by Vincent Terrace
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9781442261044
    Often regarded as the first golden era of television, the 1950s was a decade when many classic programs from I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke to The Honeymooners and Perry Mason, among others made their debuts.
  • Cover artA word from our viewers: reflections from early television audiences by Ray Barfield
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.3 .U6 B35 2008
    ISBN: 9780275998707
    Tracing public and critical responses to TV from its pioneering days, this book gathers and gives context to the reactions of those who saw television's early broadcasts_from the privileged few who witnessed experimental and limited-schedule programming in the 1920s and 1930s, to those who bought TV sets and hoisted antennae in the post-World War II television boom, to still more who invested in color receivers and cable subscriptions in the 1960s. ...

1950's Television programs in the collection

This is a small selection of television shows we have produced in the 1950's or earlier. For more details about the individual shows listed below, check the record in the online catalog. If you are looking for a specific title, do a title search in the online catalog or contact Reference for assistance.

  • 1950s TV's greatest detectives
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #1332 discs 1 - 3
    This collection includes 12 episodes from television programs that originally aired in the 1950s.
  • Cover artAlfred Hitchcock presents. Season one by Alfred Hitchcock
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #3393 discs 1 - 3
    ISBN: 9780783270791
    Master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock presents several short stories. The stories are invariably surprising, often containing elements of horror, comedy, suspense, and the supernatural. From 1955.
  • The essential Ozzie & Harriet collection
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6686 discs 1 - 12
    One hundred episodes from the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet television show from 1952-1966.
  • Cover artFather knows best. Season one
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7492 discs 1 - 4
    Television series about a "typical" mid-century, middle-class, Midwestern American family living in Springfield, Ohio: Jim Anderson, insurance salesman and father, his wife Margaret, and their children Betty, Bud and Kathy.
  • Golden age theater
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #11733
    A collection of damatic, anthology television shows aired during the 1950's, originally made by a variety of production companies with generally one named star leading the cast.
  • Cover imageGunsmoke. The first season
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6608 discs 1 - 6
    Recapture the spirit of the American frontier with plain-talking Marshal Matt Dillon, kindly saloon-keeper Miss Kitty, irascible Doc Adams and tender-hearted but gullible Deputy Chester Goode as they uphold the law and bring respectability to the rough and tough town of Dodge City, Kansas.
  • Cover artH.G. Wells' Invisible Man, the original series. Season one by Ralph Smart
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8072 discs 1 - 2
    ISBN: 9780788607141
    H.G. Wells' classic tale of suspense and murder. A scientist accidentally makes himself invisible, then, deciding to make the best of his mishap, becomes the ultimate crimestopper for British Intelligence.
  • Cover artI love Lucy. The complete second season on DVD
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #2319 discs 1 - 5
    ISBN: 9780792197188
    Contains gems such as "Job switching" in which Lucy and Ethel do unforgettable battle with a chocolate factory conveyor belt; and "The operetta" in which Lucy's money problems bring down the curtain on her role as "Queen of the gypsies". This collection also includes the groundbreaking "pregnancy shows", including the touching moment at the Tropicana when Lucy breaks the news to Ricky that they are going to have a baby, and "Lucy goes to the hospital" the record-setting episode that garnered the highest ratings in 1953.
  • Cover artLeave it to Beaver. The complete first season by Joe Connelly; Bob Mosher
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #3003 discs 1 -3
    ISBN: 9781417072651
    Join the Cleavers, America's quintessential family. Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver can't seem to avoid trouble, and his older brother Wally and his pal Eddie Haskell, aren't any help.
  • Lost TV pilots
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #15325
    Different television pilots from the 1950's and 1960's.
  • Cover artMy little Margie collection. no. 1
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6681 discs 1 - 2
    ISBN: 9781557393357
    Twelve episodes of "My Little Margie," the 1950s television series about a father and daughter.
  • Cover artThe original amateur hour
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8911 discs 1 - 2
    ISBN: 9780769779010
    Long before TV's American Idol became a mega-hit, there was one radio and television series that started the talent competition craze. It was called The Original Amateur Hour. Almost 50 major stars of movies, records, stage, screen and television got their start on this series.
  • Cover artPerry Mason. Season 1, vol. 1
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #4417 discs 1 - 5
    ISBN: 9781415719909
    In every episode, defense attorney Mason matches wits with his courtroom adversary D.A. Hamilton Burger. Every time, Mason--aided by devoted secretary Della Street and loyal private eye Paul Drake--uncovers evidence that clears his client of murder.
  • Cover artRawhide. The complete first season
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8046 discs 1 - 7
    ISBN: 9781415722527
    The tale of Gil Favor, the trail boss, as he drives cattle across the old West. Along the way they meet up with adventure and drama.
  • Cover artThe restless gun
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8844 discs 1 - 3
    ISBN: 9780741116697
    Follows the exploits of Vint Bonner, a retired gunfighter and restless drifter who wanders the Southwest in search of adventure.
  • Shokus Video presents vintage television: current events 1950s style
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8257
    A compilation of television programs from the 1950's. The first program is Nixon's "Checkers" speech. The second program is the 1951 Christmas show of See It Now. In the third program, Edward R. Murrow interviews Senator Keefauver from his Washington home and interviews a Chinese-American man who was chased from his San Francisco home by white bigots. In the final episode, Dwight Eisenhower is interviewed and there is a simulated Russian attack on an American skyscraper.
  • Cover artStudio One Anthology
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7853 discs 1 - 6 + booklet
    ISBN: 9781417230761
    ... Studio One presented a wide range of memorable dramas and received 18 Emmy nominations and five wins during its prestigious 9-year run on CBS. Showcasing some of the greatest talent of the era, this groundbreaking series created an enormous impact and still remains a treasured part of America' broadcasting history.
  • Cover artThe untouchables. Season 1, vol. 1
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #7215 discs 1 - 4
    ISBN: 9781415730225
    Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptable agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.
  • Cover artWhat makes Sammy run?
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8610
    ISBN: 9781417231072
    Sammy Glick is a Jewish boy born in New York's Lower East Side. He decides to climb the ladder of success by any mean necessary. Through backstabbing and double-crossing, Sammy fights to become the motion picture industry's top screenwriter. A rags to riches story about the world of 1930s Hollywood.

Internet resources for 1950's TV shows

  • Classic TV Database - 1950s
    • Link
    A list of some of the best shows that were on television.
  • Crazy about TV - 1940's
    • Link
  • Crazy about TV - 1950's
    • Link
  • FiftiesWeb
    • Link
    Scroll down this page and see a list of 1950's shows. There are short descriptions, cast information, theme song lyrics and more. Also see the Pop History link. You get a list of happenings for each year in the Fifties.
  • The Golden Age of Television, Act III
    • Link
    An article by Ron Simon of the Paley Center for Media about the Golden Age of Television offerings.
  • Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
    • Database
    • Link
    One of the most comprehensive sites for film and television.
  • Retro TV
    • Link
    A television network that specializes in showing classic television shows from 1950's to the early 1990's.
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  • Next: 1960's Television >>
  • Last Updated: May 20, 2025 4:52 PM
  • 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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