Groove Tube, Intro and Ch. 1-4

 Introduction:

What is the book’s thesis or purpose?

How does the author define “60s youth” in her study and why is this necessary?

How does she reconstruct (i.e. what evidence base does she use) youth audience perceptions of TV during this period? What weaknesses are evident in her reconstruction?

Ch. 1

How did early observers and commentators see the relationship—positive and negative--between children and TV in the 1950s?

How did you use or see TV in its early years as partial cause of their alienation and generation gap?

How did critics of youth in the late 60s blame TV for apparent problems of youth?

How did youth use medium of TV to their own ends?

Why was this TV generation’s use of TV in 60s a paradox?

Ch. 2

Why did TV shift to focus on the youth more by mid 60s? Why did TV struggle to fulfill desires of the “youth audience” or market as the networks defined it?

How did the public respond to the TV show The Monkees?

What was the significance of Monkee episode dealing with the girl and her father the general?

Why did early 60s TV shows struggle to portray hippies and the drug scene?    

What themes or concepts stood out in various episodic TV shows’ (Dragnet, Hawaii 5-0, etc) portrayal of hippies and counterculture?

How did Star Trek and Bonanza tackle hippies and why might have this been effective and less threatening or controversial?

Why were hippies concerned about increasing TV representations of the counterculture?

Ch. 3

How did the Yippies see TV differently than other radical youth?

How successful were the Yippies at the Chicago convention?

Why did radical youth see TV interview shows as place to better present their message? What factors affected youth success in controlling and exporting message via talk shows?

Ch. 4

How did Smothers Brothers first season seem to balance the concerns of youth and the older conservative audience?

How did Smothers Brothers interject drug side of counterculture that other shows avoided or kept out?

Why did Smothers Brothers shows changed in 2^nd and 3^rd seasons?

How did CBS officials justify cancellation of Smothers Brothers show? Why was there a debate about the show’s cancellation in the underground press?  What different opinions did the underground press express?