A Brief History of Classic Television: From Lucy Ricardo to Tony Soprano – clip

Robert Thompson / Syracuse University

With Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and the rest, it is impossible for anyone to keep up with all the TV—even just the good TV—that is now being released on an almost daily basis.  Once upon a time, however, practically everyone was watching the same shows at the same time.  The characters, catch phrases, theme songs, and stories provided a common culture that we all shared and that both reflected and distorted our image of the national soul.