Television's Moment

Christina von Hodenberg is Professor of History at Queen Mary, University of London. She has taught at Berkeley and Freiburg and received a Humboldt Research Award in 2014. Her previous books include Konsens und Krise: Eine Geschichte der westdeutschen Medienöffentlichkeit, 1945 bis 1973 (Wallstein 2006) and Wo ‘1968’ liegt: Reform und Revolte in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik (co-edited with Detlef Siegfried, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2006).

“Television scholars of all stripes will find much that is interesting in this book. Hodenberg blends thorough industrial history, textual analysis, and audience research in her examination of three iterations of a single television show…This book operates at the methodological intersection of cultural studies, social science, and television history, and the research is the better for it. This is a thoughtful work of television scholarship written in an accessible style…Highly recommended.” · Choice“Christina von Hodenberg succeeded in writing a study that is not only convincing and interesting substantially and methodically but also very readable not least because she arrives at clear and in some cases also provocative judgments. Her work makes very clear once again the value of comparative studies. Finally, her work shows to what extent it is possible and necessary to combine media history with overarching  questions of social and cultural history and to answer the question of the effects of the media wisely and convincingly.” · H-Soz-Kult“…a monograph that is just as innovative as it is enjoyable..'Christina von Hodenberg has written an original and important book which can in no way be avoided by all those studying the history of the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the contemporary history of the media. In the course of her investigation she disproves numerous established narratives.” · Sehepunkte“…there is a rich mine of information and ideas contained in this book…[It] offers a fascinating insight into a particular moment in television history, an era when public service and the networks dominated….what I truly valued was the story of a travelling narrative, from the UK to West Germany via the US.” · Janet McCabe, University of London“… A very interesting analysis of how sitcoms negotiated the ‘culture wars,’ paying particular attention to discussions of gender, race, and sexuality. Particularly effective here is the ability to set the text—the sitcom—into the larger context of politics, culture, and society in the three national cases the author compares… The book makes an important methodological contribution … it will make a splash with historians … and students of film and media studies.” · Robert Moeller, University of California, Irvine

• List of Illustrations, Charts, Graphs and TablesPrefaceList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Negotiating the SixtiesChapter 1. Three SitcomsTill Death Us Do PartAll in the FamilyEin Herz und eine SeeleComparisonChapter 2. Three SettingsBritainUnited StatesWest GermanyComparisonChapter 3. The Era of Limited ChoiceBritainUnited StatesWest GermanyComparisonChapter 4. Alf Garnett and the British Lifestyle RevolutionChapter 5. Archie Bunker and the American Lifestyle RevolutionChapter 6. Disgusting Alfred and the West German Lifestyle RevolutionChapter 7. Comedy Against RacismBritainUnited StatesWest GermanyComparisonChapter 8. Trading TV Bigots: Transnational TrajectoriesConclusion: Television’s Social ImpactBibliographyIndex