NONFICTION

Television: A Biography

by David Thomson
Thames & Hudson. Oct. 2016. 416p. photos. notes. index. ISBN 9780500519165. $34.95. TV
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In the 1960s, communication theorist Marshall McLuhan famously declared that the "medium is the message," recognizing that the media formats used to distribute content are as influential as the content's messages. Film critic Thomson (How To Watch a Movie; Moments That Made the Movies) certainly prescribes to McLuhan's theory as he turns away from his usual medium of choice, the big screen, and tackles the history of the "elephant" in our living rooms—television. This is not an appraisal of hit TV shows and their players, although there is some of that, but rather a sharp analysis of its impact on collective consciousness. Thomson also provides valuable insight into the different organizational and philosophical structures of British and American TV, i.e., socialized vs. commercial productions and how that affects programming.
VERDICT Thomson's discussion of a "crowded medium" can feel haphazard at times, and frequent references to current political figures seem tacked on in an otherwise readable examination of this pervasive medium over the past 60 years.
Reviewed by Amanda Westfall, Emmet O'Neal P.L., Mountain Brook, AL , Aug 01, 2016
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