The Amazing History of American Television

On a cool spring afternoon in 1946, a small truck pulled up in front of the Ross house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Eight-year-old Karen Ross hurried outside with her parents. They watched with excitement as two men lugged a massive box through their front door. The Ross family was the first in the neighborhood to own one of the most amazing inventions of all time: a television set.

“It was an incredible night,” Karen Ross recalls. “My mother made fancy snacks and set up chairs in the living room. My father turned the set on. The picture was terrible, but we didn’t care. We were thrilled.”

In the early days of  television, a set could cost more than $400—nearly three months’ salary for the average American. TV sets were big and bulky but with screens often no larger than a paperback book. White dots of static, or “snow,” obscured the black-and-white picture. There wasn’t much to watch either—mainly wrestling, boxing, and variety shows featuring dancers, singers, and comedians. Sometimes, the picture would cut out; the technology wasn’t reliable, and even a simple storm could disrupt TV service.

But soon, the quality of television improved. TV sets became cheaper, with larger screens and sharper pictures. Color sets came along in the mid-1950s. By 1956, there were three big national TV networks—ABC, NBC, and CBS—competing for viewers with new and increasingly entertaining programs.

Families like the Rosses would rush through dinner so they could sit together for their favorite shows. Karen’s dad loved Westerns like Bonanza, with tough-as-nails cowboys taking on cruel outlaws. Karen’s little sister was entranced by The Howdy Doody Show, which starred a 2-foot-tall puppet. Karen loved the star of Lassie—a big collie dog with glossy fur. Sometimes Karen wished her own mother were as patient as June Cleaver, the mom on Leave It to Beaver.

As Americans’ love for TV grew, so did concerns about the impact of television on American life. People were reading less. Kids weren’t playing outside as often. Commercials for cigarettes and junk food encouraged bad habits.

At the same time, TV was becoming a powerful cultural force that brought Americans together. Whether you lived in a big city or a tiny town, you watched the same shows. Everyone learned the day’s news from the same nightly broadcasts. Children sang their ABCs along with Big Bird from Sesame Street. Teens obsessed over the latest Star Trek episode. On Saturday mornings, kids across the country tuned in to watch cartoons.

As technology improved, TV was able to bring live news events into American homes. In 1963, Americans watched as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed “I have a dream” from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Later that year, America’s most trusted news anchor, Walter Cronkite, held back sobs as he broke the news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. In 1969, nearly 125 million Americans watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. These moments of national triumph and tragedy helped unite the country, connecting people from different backgrounds through heartbreak or pride.

In the coming decades, TV would continue to evolve. Those original three networks would soon be joined by hundreds of cable channels. The rise of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu would make it possible to watch shows whenever viewers wanted.

Yet even today—more than 70 years later—Karen Ross still remembers when that fuzzy TV screen lit up her family’s living room for the first time: “It seemed miraculous,” she says.

It’s Friday night at Ella’s house in New Jersey, and each member of her family is enjoying a favorite show. Ella, 13, is downstairs studying YouTube baking videos on her iPhone. Her 10-year-old brother, Elijah, is in his room on his laptop, watching the New York Knicks get crushed by the Golden State Warriors. Their parents are upstairs streaming a movie on Netflix.

Only one set of eyes in the house is not glued to a screen: those of Snowy, the family cat. Perhaps Snowy doesn’t know that she could be binging on an endless number of  YouTube bird videos made just for kitties like her.

Not so long ago, when Ella’s parents were her age, such a scene would have been unimaginable. Back then, computers sat on desks and were mainly for doing work, and phones were just for talking. If you wanted to watch a show, you had to watch it on a TV set—at the time it was aired. Plus, there were a limited number of shows to choose from.

In the mid-1980s, however, television in America began to transform.

First came cable TV, which brought hundreds of new channels and shows. Some of these new channels were dedicated entirely to one subject. There was ESPN for sports fans, CNN for people who wanted news 24 hours a day, and MTV for music lovers. Nickelodeon took Saturday-morning cartoons and aired them every day of the week.

After cable TV came the internet, faster computers, and smartphones. These new technologies changed the way we live—and the way we watch TV.

Today, we can choose from thousands of shows, videos, and movies whenever we want. And we can watch our favorite programs on a variety of devices—from just about any place we want.

There is no doubt that TV has improved in many ways since Americans started watching in the 1940s. The number of quality shows is higher than ever, with far more diversity in casting. Families no longer have to fight over what to watch because individual family members can watch what they want on their own devices.

But what do these changes mean for our culture?

Decades ago, people of different backgrounds and beliefs would come together through their shared love of a particular show. No matter where you lived or for whom you voted, you trusted news anchor Walter Cronkite. Families spent their evenings together watching “must-see” shows.

Studies have found that today, few shows are popular everywhere. While people in rural areas are watching The Voice and Duck Dynasty, city dwellers are more likely to tune in to The Simpsons and Modern Family. And there are dozens of news shows on TV and online, each with a different point of view.

Could all these choices be making our nation—and our families—more divided?

Ella isn’t sure.

But she admits that her family is worried about their habits. Watching their favorite shows alone means Ella’s family spends less time together, even though they are all in the same house. That’s why they committed to a once-a-month family movie night. They’ll take turns choosing what to watch.

“I didn’t like the idea at first,” Ella says. “But it’s more fun than I expected.”

_{Copyright ©2017 Lauren Tarshis}

_{This play was originally published in the April 2017 issue.}