Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy

(Hardback)

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Description

Since late evening cartoons first aired in 1960, prime-time animated series have had a profound effect on American television and American culture at large. The characters and motifs from such shows as The Flintstones and The Simpsons are among the best-known images in world popular culture; and tellingly, even series that have not done well in prime timeseries like The Jetsons, for instancehave yielded similarly iconic images. The advent of cable and several new channels devoted exclusively to animated programming have brought old series back to life in syndication, while also providing new markets for additional, often more experimental animated series. Even on the conventional networks, programs such as The Flintstonesand The Simpsons, not to mention Family Guy and King of the Hill, have consistently shown a smartness and a satirical punch that goes well beyond the norm in network programming. Drawn to Television traces the history of prime-time animation from The Flintstones initial extension of Saturday mornings to Family Guy and South Park's late-night appeal in the 21st century. In the process, it sheds a surprising light on just how much the kid inside us all still has to say. Drawn to Television describes the content and style of all the major prime-time animated series, while also placing these series within their political and cultural contexts. It also tackles a number of important questions about animated programming, such as: how animated series differ from conventional series; why animated programming tends to be so effective as a vehicle for social and political satire; what makes animated characters so readily convertible into icons; and what the likely effects of new technologies (such as digital animation) will be on this genre in the future.

Reviews

Booker provides a detailed description of animated television shows from the The Flintstones (which first aired in 1960) to Family Guy (which appeared 1999). He focuses on prime-time television but includes a history of all animated series, from morning shows to late-night cable. Primarily descriptive, the book includes every character, all the activities, and the history of the rise and fall of each series.Booker makes a good case for the appeal of animated television to viewers raised on animated programming and advertising. He also points out that the animation format allows for more critical irony and outrageous behavior than traditional prime-time broadcast series can offer.This is a book for those who need to know what happened in every animated series from 1960 to the present. * Choice *
Booker has taken on an ambitious topic in this book. Exploring the progression of our most watched animated programs is a difficult task, but Drawn to Television does an admirable job of surveying the last 40 years or so of prime-time animation, while highlighting how these programs have served as sounding boards for their creators and reflections of society. * Frames Per Second *
The history of prime-time animation from Flintstones to modern times examines not only individual shows and their evolution and influences, but the changing nature of childhood and the social and political influences of children's programming as a whole. From the technical specifications of how animated children's programming differs from others to how it's used to impart social commentary, this guide is key for university level Media Studies programs. * Midwest Book Review - Internet Bookwatch *

Author Bio

M. Keith Booker is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of many Greenwood and Praeger volumes, including most recently Science Fiction Television (2004), Alternate Americas: Science Fiction Film and American Culture (2006) and From the Box Office to the Ballot Box: The American Political Film.