Television history was made on October 11, 1975, when Chevy Chase welcomed America to the first episode of a new late-night comedy and variety show. Featuring cutting-edge humor, an absurdist sensibility, and a scrappy cast of young, talented performers, Saturday Night Live would go on to become one of the brightest stars in the pop-culture ......
Youth Horror Television and the Question of Fear presents nine essays that explore why youth horror television both scared children and invited them to reshape social boundaries of the adult world. This volume argues that televised youth horror left an indelible mark on the minds and memories of current horror creators and critics, and the ......
The Dean Martin Show, with its big-name stars--such as Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, and John Wayne--glitzy production number, and often risque skits, for nine years owned Thursday nights at ten o'clock on television. But nothing about the show was as big a draw as its inimitable host, the breezy, roguishly handsome Dean Martin. Now ......
A fun and fascinating deep dive into the impact and creation of the cult-hit television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Few television shows can boast the long-term cult popularity and cultural influence of Mystery Science Theater 3000--or MST3K to its legions of devoted fans, known collectively as MSTies. Created by quirky standup comic ......
Reading Rainbow is one of the most successful PBS children's series in television history, earning numerous national and international awards including 26 Emmy's and a Peabody Award. But perhaps more important than anything else, Reading Rainbow helped generations of children cultivate a love for books. The brainchild of co-author Tony Buttino, ......
The tales of early ESPN people who gambled their careers while critics carped that "all-sports television will never work" are full of guile, luck, fear, fun, and unbridled optimism. As ESPN's founding executive producer, Peter Fox was privy to some spectacular professional efforts by a cadre of Connecticut locals who made the dream real. The ......
Science fiction has hosted some of the greatest minds and most innovative thinkers in human history. From Orson Wells to Octavia Butler, Star Trek to Star Wars, in books, on television, and at the movies, science fiction has shaped our future, pushed the limits of human imagination, and guided us within ourselves to examine the universal truths of ......
Catholic Horror on Television: Haunting Faith explores the significant intersection of horror media and the Catholic Church. Religious themes enjoy a long history in film and television, with narratives featuring the supernatural, science fiction, and horror making use of Roman Catholicism in particular. The horror genre frequently tells fantastic ......
