Tag television

The cover of When Women Invented Television is set against a yellow background with black and white pictures of Betty White, Hazel Scott, Irna Phillips, and Gertrude Berg.

The Early Days of Television

Peter N. Leave a comment
The cover of When Women Invented Television is set against a yellow background with black and white pictures of Betty White, Hazel Scott, Irna Phillips, and Gertrude Berg.

By Peter N.

Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg! 

In Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s When Women Invented Television, she talks about the early days of television and the rise of popular TV programs that defined what America was watching for decades to come. But four women in particular were TV powerhouses who foretold the coming of modern-day television personalities we have come to love, such as Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah, and sitcoms such as The Golden Girls. They were among the first of television’s pioneers during the transition from radio to television as America’s most popular medium of entertainment. 

There once was a woman by the name of Gertrude Berg, and what a woman she was! She was the creator behind the much-lauded radio show The Rise of the Goldbergs, an NBC radio show showcasing the lives of a Jewish family living in the Bronx and cared for by their matriarch Molly Goldberg, as played by Gertrude Berg. After years of high ratings on radio, she worked tirelessly to bring her show to a fledgling new medium called television, and when she succeeded there was no stopping her. At its peak, The Goldbergs was dominating the airwaves, and much if not all the credit goes to the woman behind it all, Molly Goldberg…I mean, Gertrude Berg. She was creator, writer, and star behind her hit show and nothing could stop her. What she accomplished in a time when patriarchal views and traditional family values were taking hold is nothing short of astounding.  

It’s Time to Say Hello Again… 

Ah, Betty White. What can I say about Betty White that hasn’t already been said countless times? Sadly, at the time of this post, she will have gone to that great TV studio in the sky to join her husband, Allen Ludden. Betty White was made for television. From her early days on KLAC hosting with Al Jarvis for 5.5 hours a day, to being the main lead on the sitcom Life with Elizabeth, to hosting her own talk show, The Betty White Show, she was unstoppable. Her infectious smile, dimples, and radiant personality won over countless millions, and at one time she was having to turn jobs away because she was working too much! She loved to work and one could say that show business was the love of her life. She fought against prejudice against her during the early days of television as a single woman not trying to settle down and have a family. Through it all, she would continue to be invited into the living rooms of her legion of fans for years to come.  

The Guiding Light 

Irna Phillips was the guiding (pun intended) force behind The Guiding Light, the longest running soap opera on television. Its earliest incarnation was as a popular radio show, which is why Irna Phillips knew that it would be just what television needed. Working tirelessly for years along with raising two adopted children and doing the best that she could possibly do, she finally was able to bring her show to TV. She was not only a single mother of two children when it was believed families should have a mother and a father, but with the success of The Guiding Light, she became the figurative mother of the soap opera genre in a time when that genre was still very much maligned. Her works have reverberated through daytime television through her own shows as well as mentoring Agnes Dixon, creator of many other long-running soap operas. This was a woman who tried not to let anything stand in the way of bringing her creation to life. 

The Hazel Scott Show 

In a time when racial segregation was still running rampant, Hazel Scott managed to become one of the first African American people to headline their own show on network television. Already an accomplished musician and used to playing to large crowds, she brought her talent to The Hazel Scott Show to great reception and ratings. Her television career was cut short when she was targeted by the infamous publication Red Channels, which listed suspected communists in various areas of entertainment. She bravely defended herself, but she could not recover her TV career. However, she persevered and returned to her roots as a musician and touring. Her TV stint was brief but powerful all the same.  

These four women were astonishing and it was a pleasure to read about their accomplishments, their legacy, and the effects they’ve had on popular culture. One can only imagine what they could have done had they not been impeded by the politics of their era.

When Women Invented Television is available in print and as an eBook and an eAudiobook from Libby.  

Peter is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Miller Branch and is continually grateful to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz not only for pioneering methods of television production that enabled generations to experience the brilliance of early television, but also for taking the chance on a small sci-fi show that still endures 50 years later.  

The main characters from The Expanse television series are groped against a backgroup of an alien wold, with James Holden most prominently figured.

The Expanse: Book and TV series

Kristen B. Leave a comment
The covers of the first and last books in the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, Leviathan Wakes and Leviathan Falls. Both covers feature space ships: the first in blues and greys and the last in fiery yellows.

By Kristen B.

James S. A. Corey (pen name of writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) has written a nine-book sprawling science fiction series about humanity among the stars and first contact (and beyond!). It all begins in Leviathan Wakes, with James Holden and the crew of (eventually) the spaceship Rocinante. You could say it’s an apt name, as Holden has a tendency to tilt at metaphorical windmills.

In this far-future novel, humanity populates Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt beyond Mars where lucrative, dangerous mining takes place and people live mainly on ships and stations. Earth is ruled by the United Nations, which provides the bare basics to an overpopulated, under-resourced planet. Mars is still undergoing massive terraforming, so its population lives in a constrained and almost martial society. The Belters are the under-appreciated scruffy lower class of the solar system, and they are ready to change things – with revolution if necessary as the OPA (Outer Planets Alliance) flexes its muscles. The OPA’s politics walk the line between a new nationalism and terrorism, often depending on a character’s point of view.

In this strained atmosphere, the ice-hauling ship Canterbury, aboard which Holden is the executive officer, responds to an emergency beacon. To say nothing goes right about the situation is a massive understatement – as the Cant is destroyed, the Martian Navy is implicated, and its shuttle limps into Ceres Station with a crew of reluctant heroes. Meanwhile on station, Detective Joe Miller has been hired to locate Julie Mao, missing daughter of an interstellar magnate. Julie Mao is the thread that binds all the mysterious doings together, including the Cant‘s destruction, the OPA’s aggression, and a strange, deadly organism known as the “protomolecule.” This sounds complicated but is really just the set-up for the rest of the excellent, thrilling series.

Many smaller, personal stories held my attention within the larger framework, which helps make this massive undertaking worth the effort. Usually science fiction gives you a plot driven by big ideas or by identifiable characters to root for in strange situations – this has both! Naomi Nagata, Belter and engineer extraordinaire, stole my heart early and remained my favorite character with her deep backstory and good heart. I also love straightforward (blunt) mechanic Amos, who sees the world in simple terms of survival but who always has his crewmates’ backs. The list goes on as the world expands.

But wait … maybe you’re not ready to commit to nine books, all in excess of 500 pages? I mean, it’s a great way to lose track of time and what’s going on in the “real world.” Or maybe you’re a fan and want to experience the story via another medium? In that case, I highly recommend the TV series from SyFy channel and Amazon Prime, with the first four (of six) seasons available on DVD. The show follows the first few books to a remarkable degree, probably because the authorial team acts as producers. In some ways, the streamlined show moves even faster than the books, which is a feat. I love switching between Earth, Ceres Station, various ships, and other locales. Each separate set is completely realized and feels lived in. Also, the casting choices are, pardon the pun, stellar! There’s real chemistry among the Roci’s crew, as well as the folks who seem fully invested in the stakes of their individual story.

It’s a completely binge-able series, however you choose to interact with it – books, screen, or both.

Kristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, and make soup in the winter.

Title and author copy in big black block letters with a rainbow of drop shadow behind them.

I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum

Rebecca Wiest Leave a comment
Title and author copy in big black block letters with a rainbow of drop shadow behind them.

By Rebecca W.

I’m not sure if anyone else spent the end of summer comparing the lengths of their summer reading list to that of their Netflix watch history… but for me the latter is headed for a sweeping victory. In a last ditch effort to slightly even the scales, while not venturing too far from my comfort zone, I picked up I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution (also available as an eBook and an eAudiobook). In a collection of her own criticism, author and TV critic Emily Nussbaum reflects on her work from 2007 to the present. 

Nussbaum’s anthology, a personally curated selection of work from New York and The New Yorker, explores the revolution in how we view TV; from “it will rot your brain” all the way to “binge-worthy”. The book begins with an introduction by Nussman explaining how Buffy the Vampire Slayer turned her away from her doctoral studies in literature in pursuit of TV; a pursuit that, in 2016, earned her the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. Now this, a mere three pages in, was about the place in the book where I was hooked. As an avid Buffy viewer, anyone who places her on the same tier as Tony Soprano has my full attention. 

Throughout her work Nussbaum continually defends TV’s place among “high-brow” art. As Nussbaum recounts her first episode of Buffy in the mid 90s, she also recalls public opinion of TV watching as shameful, an opinion that Nussbaum writes “was true not only of snobs who boasted that they ‘didn’t even own a TV’; but was true of people who liked TV.” While this view has definitely changed since the 90s, I found myself comparing the thought to my own TV habits. In the current age of television, I can simultaneously feel shameful for clicking “next episode” on my latest soapy obsession, while at the same time apologize for not keeping up with the latest hard-hitting drama. I am able to rationalize this feeling through another major theme in Nussbaum’s work. While we find ourselves in a place where acclaimed TV can be found in the same space as acclaimed films, there are a number of people left out when determining what is great TV and what is guilty pleasure. 

What I truly enjoy about this book is how Nussbaum navigates the gender, racial, and cultural biases all too common in the television industry through strong arguments, humor, and, at times, contradictions to her own thought. In the end, this book gave me a perfect end to my guilt-free-TV-binging summer. 

Becky is an Adult Instructor and Research Specialist at the HCLS East Columbia Branch who enjoys art and everything science.