TV: The Interruptible Medium

Criticism of commercial television seems to increase each year. Educators complain that it has not lived up to its potential. Political scientists, who expected TV to increase communication between citizens and government—to enhance democracy—now complain that it has deteriorated into an advertising service for politicians.

Most notable of all, television is accused of failing even as entertainment. It has failed, according to critics, not only because it does not broadcast the great classics of drama, but because it has not developed an art form of its own. Early innovative uses of television, such as Studio One, were quickly eliminated. There is a feeling that the early 1950s, when such programs flourished, represented telev...