Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show (Texas Film and Media Studies Series)

Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show (Texas Film and Media Studies Series) by Erler, Robert J.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780292781764.

A CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Flip through the channels at any hour of the day or night, and a television talk show is almost certainly on. Whether it offers late-night entertainment with David Letterman, share-your-pain empathy with Oprah Winfrey, trash talk with Jerry Springer, or intellectual give-and-take with Bill Moyers, the talk show is one of televisions most popular and enduring formats, with a history as old as the medium itself. Bernard Timberg here offers a comprehensive history of the first fifty years of television talk, replete with memorable moments from a wide range of classic talk shows, as well as many of todays most popular programs. Dividing the history into five eras, he shows how the evolution of the television talk show is connected to both broad patterns in American culture and the economic, regulatory, technological, and social history of the broadcasting industry. Robert Erlers "A Guide to Television Talk" complements the text with an extensive "whos who" listing of important people and programs in the history of television talk.