FILM TV 10A
American Television History
Description: (Formerly numbered 110A.) Lecture/screenings, five hours; discussion, one hour. Critical survey of American television history from its inception to present. Examination of interrelationships between program forms, industrial paradigms, social trends, and culture. Starting with television's hybrid origins in radio, theater, and film, contextualization, viewing, and discussion of key television shows, as well as Hollywood films that comment on radio and television. Consideration of television programs and series in terms of sociocultural issues (consumerism, lifestyle, gender, race, national identity) and industrial practice (programming, policy, regulation, business). Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - If you are not an FTV major, I do NOT recommend you take this class to satisfy a GE. I'm a very studious person, but this class was a ridiculous time drain (Many students took it for a GE but it was definitely designed as a pre-req in TFT). First, the lectures were anywhere from 30min to 3 hours, and were pre-recorded so students could not engage with the professor and ask questions (he did have office hours.) Despite their length, the lectures gave us ~30% of the material we were actually tested on, so our knowledge came mostly from readings. We were usually assigned 2 or 3 readings each week (from textbook and academic articles); be prepared to read 70-100 dry textbook pages each week. Third, be ready to watch about 4 hours of television each week - while this might sound fun, it will get boring very fast if you don't love old tv shows. Next, the midterm was ridiculously long. It ended up being about 10 pages single spaced for most students; the professor made the midterm span over three days because of remote instruction, taking advantage of the circumstances in a manner wholly unsympathetic towards students. The first paper was easy, but be prepared to write the final paper while studying for the final exam. Because of nationwide protests, he made the final exam shorter than the midterm (that's not saying much.) Again, I do not recommend taking this class for a GE - you will find easier, less stressful, and more engaging classes than this. The grade: Discussion participation and weekly homework prompts ~ 1 page (25%) short 3-4 page paper (10%) midterm (20%); final paper (7 pages) (25%) final exam (20%).
Spring 2020 - If you are not an FTV major, I do NOT recommend you take this class to satisfy a GE. I'm a very studious person, but this class was a ridiculous time drain (Many students took it for a GE but it was definitely designed as a pre-req in TFT). First, the lectures were anywhere from 30min to 3 hours, and were pre-recorded so students could not engage with the professor and ask questions (he did have office hours.) Despite their length, the lectures gave us ~30% of the material we were actually tested on, so our knowledge came mostly from readings. We were usually assigned 2 or 3 readings each week (from textbook and academic articles); be prepared to read 70-100 dry textbook pages each week. Third, be ready to watch about 4 hours of television each week - while this might sound fun, it will get boring very fast if you don't love old tv shows. Next, the midterm was ridiculously long. It ended up being about 10 pages single spaced for most students; the professor made the midterm span over three days because of remote instruction, taking advantage of the circumstances in a manner wholly unsympathetic towards students. The first paper was easy, but be prepared to write the final paper while studying for the final exam. Because of nationwide protests, he made the final exam shorter than the midterm (that's not saying much.) Again, I do not recommend taking this class for a GE - you will find easier, less stressful, and more engaging classes than this. The grade: Discussion participation and weekly homework prompts ~ 1 page (25%) short 3-4 page paper (10%) midterm (20%); final paper (7 pages) (25%) final exam (20%).
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