They'Ll Never Put That On Air Pa

by Neuwirth,Allan

• ISBN13: 9781581154177
• ISBN10: 1581154178
• Edition: 00
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2006-02-17
• Publisher: FRWHEEL

Summary

In the 1950s, Lucille Ball couldn't even say the word "pregnant" on TV. But by the 1990s, Carrie Bradshaw and her posse could say everything there is to say about sexand demonstrate most of it. How have broadcast standards changed from the dawn of television till today? Through interviews with the creators of landmark shows, author Allan Neuwirth traces that history, revealing how the upheaval of the 1960s led to edgier fare such asThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour; how counterculture baby boomers madeSaturday Night Live-style satire possible; how stand-up comedians changed the sitcom landscape; how UPN and the WB raised eyebrows with comedies aimed at minorities; and much more. In this age of FCC crackdowns,They'll Never Put That on the Airis as timely as it is entertaining and informative. Firsthand accounts of life in the TV trenches from producers and writers Handy "genealogy chart" traces TV comedy from the 1950s to today Insider author is an award-winning producer, director, and writer of TV comedy

Author Biography

Allan Neuwirth is a producer, director, and comedy writer of TV shows, comic books, animation, and music videos. In addition to his award-winning work for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Fox Family, his syndicated comic strip, Chelsea Boys, appears bi-weekly in dozens of publications across the US, Canada, and the UK. The author of Makini Toons (Allworth Press), he lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	v
But First, a Word from Our Author	vii
Setting the Table . . . and Girding for Battle	1	(27)
Of Course, You Realize, This Means War!	28	(34)
Sockin' It to Us from Beautiful Downtown Burbank	62	(28)
I Am Woman, Hear Me . . . Meow	90	(32)
A Sitcom Holds Up a Mirror, and We See Ourselves	122	(34)
Birth of a Genre: The Dramedy	156	(28)
And Then There Was Maude	184	(16)
Soap Bubbles Up . . . and Pops in ABC's Face	200	(18)
A (Densely Plotted, Intricately Layered, Tightly Structured, Smartly Written) Show about Nothing	218	(29)
Bibliography	247	(2)
The Stars of Our Show	249	(4)
Photograph and Illustration Credits	253	(2)
Index	255