History of Television News Parody in America - by Curt Hersey (Paperback)

About the Book

This book provides the first history of the television news parody genre, analyzing how these shows have functioned as critiques of television news, politics, culture, and American society, while entertaining and informing audiences. Each chapter features a case study and di...

Book Synopsis

This book provides the first history of the television news parody genre, analyzing how these shows have functioned as critiques of television news, politics, culture, and American society, while entertaining and informing audiences. Each chapter features a case study and discussion of the genre during a particular decade.

Review Quotes

Hersey provides an exhaustively researched history of news parody shows, a television genre offering insight into political affairs to a large, faithful audience. Since the 1950s, television news broadcasts have knitted themselves into the national fabric and been both praised and lampooned. Hersey details the limits of network news parodies revealed in the 1960s with the 1964 cancellation of the popular British show TW3, or That Was The Week That Was, and follows the expansion of news parody into the late-night schedule, including the fresh challenges it faced in the multichannel era. Hersey includes intricate histories of cornerstone parody programs and their surprising and sometimes ironic successes, such as Jon Stewart's winning a national opinion poll with 49 percent of the votes naming him the most trusted US newscaster. Students and researchers of this aspect of American communications history will appreciate the book's extensive bibliography and index. This book is highly recommended for undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

About the Author

Curt Hersey is associate professor of communication at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.