Parody and Taste in Postwar American Television Culture

181 Pages·2010·2.124 MB·English

by  Ethan Thompson

Parody and Taste in Postwar
American Television Culture
Routledge Advances in Television Studies
1. Parody and Taste in Postwar
American Television Culture
Ethan Thompson
Parody and Taste in Postwar
American Television Culture
Ethan Thompson
New York London
First published 2011
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the UK
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thompson, Ethan.
Parody and taste in postwar American television culture / by Ethan Thompson.
p. cm. — (Routledge advances in television studies ; no. 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Television broadcasting—Social aspects—United States. 2. Television
broadcasting—United States—History—20th century. 3. Parody. 4. Popular
culture—United States—History—20th century. I. Title.
PN1992.3.U5T48 2010
302.23'45—dc22
2010029422
ISBN 0-203-83293-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN13: 978-0-415-88638-3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-83293-6 (ebk)
To Maria
Together, anything is possible.

Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Parodic Impulse in the (Not-So) Fabulous Fifties 1
1 The New, Sick Sense: The Mediation of America’s Health and
Humor at Midcentury 15
2 What, Me Subversive? MAD Magazine and the Textual
Strategies and Cultural Politics of Parody 45
3 The Parodic Sensibility and the Sophisticated Gaze: Masculinity
and Taste in Playboy’s Penthouse 76
4 Ernie Kovacs and the Logics of Television Parody and Electronic
Trickery 98
5 Black Tie, Straightjacket: Oscar Levant’s Sick Life on TV 125
Conclusion: Television for People Who Hate Television? 146
Notes 153
Index 163

Figures
1.1–1.4 Real-life comedian Shelley Berman walks onstage as
fi ctional (and murderous) comedian Danny Holland
for one fi nal performance. Though he verbally and
physically manifests his mental illness, his antisocial
routine meets with unanimous laughter from the
audience. (Frame Grab, Peter Gunn, “The Comic.”) 16–17
1.5 Shelley Berman’s performance as a homicidal
comedian in Peter Gunn drew upon the content and
style of Berman’s actual routines. Here an outwardly
“well” Holland performs atop a stool on a nightclub
stage. (Frame Grab, Peter Gunn, “The Comic.”) 29
2.1 “The Countynental” attempts to romance the
television audience in MAD’s fi rst Television Dept.
parody, but fails due to technical glitches and an
unreceptive male viewer. 57
2.2 MAD’s parody of Disneyland’s supposedly wholesome
family entertainment portrayed the show as nothing
but a marketing boondoggle. 63
3.1 Hugh Hefner welcomes the viewer into the television
party in Playboy’s Penthouse. 77
3.2 Lenny Bruce and Hefner enjoy champagne with a
couple of the magazine’s “Playmates” before sitting
down for a proper chat. 78
3.3 Hefner looks on approvingly as Bruce talks about TV
standards, sick comedy, and the vagaries of good and
bad taste. 84
3.4 Hefner, Nat King Cole, Bruce, and author Rona Jaffe
smoke, drink, and talk showbiz in Playboy’s Penthouse. 85