Deconstructing the Simpsons

Analyze two examples of postmodern style in the Simpsons episode "The Front" (April 15, 1993; available on Paley) using terms from John Caldwell's essay.  (Responses of 200 words will count as one blog post, 400 words as two blog posts; due 11/25):

https://www-paleyicollection-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/Library.aspx#/Details/T:45330

Synergetic Practices (Extended Deadline--Due before Section 11/20)

What is synergy?  How does it operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomorates?  Give one example of synergy (you can use an example from the present if you wish). 

Class in 1980s TV (Worth 2 blog posts)

Watch one of the three 1980s television episodes linked below and write 400 words on the representations of class within Roseanne, LA Law, or COPS.  This post will count as two blog posts.  

LA LAW, s.1, ep.1

Roseanne, s.1, ep. 1

COPS, pilot (please watch all of the parts on youtube)

Yuppie Guilt

Based on your viewing of our screening of Thirtysomething as well as Feuer's analysis of the program--what role do you think yuppie guilt plays on the show and how is it represented?  

MTM vs. Lear

From your viewings of All in the Family, Good Times, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and your reading of Kirsten Lentz’s essay, how do you think Norman Lear’s shows differed from MTM’s?  Why do you think the term “quality” was often used to refer to MTM’s shows and “relevance” to label Lear’s programs?  How does Lentz see these productions as differing?  

Why did CBS censor The Smothers Brothers? How did The Smothers Brothers respond to CBS’s attempts at censorship?  How did questions of what constitutes appropriate content for network TV play out in the late 1960s and early 1970s and how do they play out today?