MICHAEL V.

TUETH

in the Living Room

Television Comedy and the American Home Audience

PETER LANG
New York Washington, D.C./Baltimore Bern Frankfurt am Main Berlin Brussels Vienna Oxford

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tueth, Michael V. Laughter in the living room: television comedy and the american home Audience / Michael Tueth p. cm. (Popular culture and everyday life; vol. 8) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Television comediesUnited States. I. Title. II. Series: Popular culture & everyday life; vol. 8. PN1992.8.C66T84 791.45617dc22 2004018131 ISBN 0-8204-6845-2 ISSN 1529-2428

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 1. They Also Serve Who Only Sit and Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 2. A Night on the Townat Home? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 3. Survival of the Nicest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 4. . . . As Long as We Both Shall Laugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 5. Ozzie & Harriet and Rock & Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 6. Looking Out the Picture Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii 1 19 34 53 72 86

Chapter 7. Keeping It in the Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Chapter 8. Theres No Place Like Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Chapter 9. Playtime for the Grown-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Chapter10. Movin On Up? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Chapter11. Fun City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Chapter12. Back to the Drawing Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Chapter13. Breaking and Entering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235