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On “Television Criticism”: The Pursuit of the Critical Examination of a Popular Art

“Television criticism” occupies an uncertain place relative to other critical traditions and the sociological frameworks through which critics' roles have been studied relative to cultural production. Those who write daily columns about television play an important role in cultural production despite the differentiation of the television critic, the outlets in which they write, and the challenges of writing about a predominantly commercial form. This article examines the historical development of journalistic television criticism in the United States, including the establishment of the Television Critics Association (TCA), which has served as a significant organization in countering networks' efforts to control critical assessments of television. The article draws from a rich early literature that examined the work of critics in television's initial years as well as interviews with critics who have written about the medium for the past two decades, and a three-week participant observation of the TCA press tour.