Inside the Box: The TV History Podcast

This week join Andrew, Steve, and Jonathan as they hangout, chat, and close out this season's worth of episodes of Inside the Box: The TV History Podcast. They'll probably also talk a little bit about holiday TV programming and make a few New Year's resolutions as well.

An old-school style Inside the Box episode. No guests, just Steve and Jonathan discussing the 1984 pilot episode of the cop show, Hunter (1984-1991) starring Fred Dryer, Stepfanie Kramer, and Brian Dennehy. A mixture of lighthearted poking fun at some of well-worn tropes combined with serious talk that attempts to contextualize the series within the larger issue of representations of police in U.S...

Join as Steve continues his interview with TV producer, Joe Gannon, in part two of this two-part episode about his experiences working with actor Carroll O'Connor on In The Heat of the Night (1988-1995) and how the industry has changed from Gannon's perspective.

Join Steve as he interviews TV producer, Joe Gannon, in part one of this two-part episode about his experiences working with actor Carroll O'Connor and the significant effect O'Connor had on Gannon's career as a producer.

This week join us for a truly Steve-centric episode as Steve Voorhees welcomes longtime CBS Manager of Prime Time Feature Films, Steve Besserman to the program. If you love the nuts-and-bolts of late-20th Century network television practices as Steve Voorhees does, you'll dig this episode. Learn about how the network chose, edited, scheduled, and promoted certain feature films to achieve the highe...

This week join Jonathan in conversation with Dr. Kendall Phillips about his recent book, Kolchak, The Night Stalker, a part of Wayne State University Press's Milestones series. Don't worry, Steve Voorhees is here too to comment on our conversation that includes ideas including: "Where was horror at in the U.S. by the late 1960s / early 1970s?", Kolchak's trio of creatives behind the scenes, Kolcha...

This week join Jonathan and Steve in conversation with fellow academic, David Brokaw to discuss his new book, Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream. We discuss the false dichotomy between "good writing" and "bad television" during the 1950s, the psychology of advertising within 1950s culture, the effect Rod Serling's service during World War II had on his later...

This week join Steve and Jonathan in conversation with television writer and producer, Stan Zimmerman. Listen as Stan talks about writing for the first season of The Golden Girls, writing that VERY famous episode of Roseanne that got the country talking, and what it was like to work for his friend, Amy Sherman-Palladino, writing on Gilmore Girls. Stan also discusses what it takes to make it in a t...

This week join Jonathan and Steve as we commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks by speaking with Dr. Paul Arras (SUNY: Cortland) about his new book, American Television's Live Coverage of the 9/11 Attacks: Journalism on the Screen (Rowman & Littlefield).

Join Jonathan for a short episode that explains the end of this podcast season and what to look forward to in the future and when.

This week join Steve and Jonathan as they continue their discussion of the groundbreaking US sitcom, All In The Family. We discuss it's transition from All In the Family to Archie Bunker's Place, what other shows tried to fill the void, what shows today attempt to take on its themes, and whether the show could be re-done today to address our newest president…

This week join Steve and Jonathan as we usher in the holidays by discussing Christmas TV shows with author and expert, Joanna Wilson. Be sure to check out Joanna's website: http://www.christmastvhistory.com/p/about-joanna-wilson.html for all the information you need about her multiple media appearances, articles, and books on the topic of Christmas on TV!

This week Jonathan, Steve, and Andrew attend the All-Star Party for Ronald "Dutch" Reagan. Do you like barely warmed over jokes? Do you love generic sound stages in Burbank? Want to see Sinatra struggle through a song that should be an easy home run? Want to see a group of aged genuine Hollywood stars pretend Reagan was a star? Well, rent your tux, call your driver, let us know whether you'd prefe...

As a way to pay tribute to recently passed television producer Norman Lear (1922-2023), this week join Steve and Jonathan as they discuss the groundbreaking US sitcom, All In The Family. Why it worked, in what ways is it a product of the 1970s and in what ways is it timeless? We'll even tip-toe toward whether the show could be re-done today to address our newest president…

This week join Steve in conversation with welcomed returned guest, Dr. Craig Coenen as they discuss the current state of Regional Sports Networks in the U.S.

This week join Steve, Jonathan, and Andrew as they discuss the pros and cons of increased regionalization of sports TV networks, and their histories.

In this episode Andrew, Steve, and Jonathan discuss David Sarnoff’s introduction of television for RCA at the 1939 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows NY. Tune in to listen to this story about hope, the future, and looking for the “World of Tomorrow” during a time between economic depression and the cusp of world war. You might just learn something and have a few laughs along the way. Be sure to chec...

Inspired by a real Jeopardy episode's jokey category title, this week Jonathan and Steve discuss a hypothetical: what if The DuMont Network had survived past 1956? What would the channel have presented? Would we associate the NFL and DuMont like peanut and jelly? If it did survive for decades, what would its streaming service be showing us today?

In this episode Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan discuss the often forgotten DuMont television network. Innovative, with stations in key east coast major markets, the DuMont network was ultimately done in by a combination of forces -- the least of which being its uncooperative partner, Paramount Studios. Join us as we discuss DuMont and its legacy upon others' later attempts at establishing a fourth ne...

This week join Jonathan as he discusses a famous example of politicians using television for marathon "sales" pitches (for themselves) - Thomas E. Dewey's 1950 usage of the then-new medium of television.

This week join Steve as he leads Jonathan through a discussion of representations of The Myth of the Lost Cause on 1960s U.S. television. Shows discussed include: Dennis the Menace, Rawhide, The Twilight Zone, The Americans, and The Rebel.

his week Steve, Andrew and Jonathan discuss the thinking behind CBS's 1960s Rural Purge. Why did it happen? What types of content followed it? What does "the great man of history" have to do with it all? Was that the last time rural depictions ever graced the Tiffany network? So, give up your city livin', grab a pitchfork, and don't mind Uncle Joe (he's just movin' kinda slow) and join us down at...

This week join Jonathan for a short topic on television female protagonists and when they've led or co-starred in a show that also featured a prominent vehicle. More importantly, why aren't there more examples?

Two years later, Dr. Emil Steiner (Rowan University) returns to the program to discuss binge-watching with Jonathan and Steve. Whereas last time we primarily discussed sports documentaries, this time it is today's popular mode of viewership, binge-watching - which is also the subject of Dr. Steiner's new book Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution (McFarland).

This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they delve into one of Steve's favorite subjects - the flow of TV. We discuss Raymond Williams, the traditional TV programming grid, the effect of DVRs, and the resurgence of in-program product placement. Plus, what the heck does Andy Griffith have to do with it all? [clue - Steve knows].