Television is uniquely 20th century form of entertainment. No other culture during no other time in history has had the opportunity to enjoy the magical tube. If you were born after 1950, chances that television has been your primary source of in – home, mass communication entertainment and information. Because the images came into familiar and intimate home settings, the characters are more easily recognizable, seem friendlier, and become more a part of our life than characters presented in any other media.1
Television is a centralized system of storytelling. Its drama, commercials, news, and other programs bring a relatively coherent system of images and messages into every home. That system cultivates from infancy the predispositions and performances that used to be acquired from other “primary” sources and that are so important in research on other media. …
