When we talk about the importance of TV in older times (namely, here, the 70's and prior) we are able to comprehend to an extent, but are we really able to grasp the importance of television in the lives of people back then?
Shows such as "That 70s Show" and "F is For Family" are set in the 1970's United States, and they not only provide good comedy, they also bring into view the social aspects, and problems of daily life.
One element that is prominent in these shows (which is still present in some shows today) is the importance of a television set in the house, and the notion of TV itself.
In the latter show that I mentioned, which is an animated series, the main character is a father of 3, who works in a meager job and has a lot of dull and frustrating responsibilities, whose purest pleasure, and best way of letting off some steam is coming home at the end of the day, cracking open a beer, and watching TV.
During the course of the show, he buys a color TV set that he can barely afford (to compete with his neighbor and to host a football party), acts like it is the end of the world when his son breaks the TV...
In an episode he screams at the TV and throws an empty beer can at it, and claims it's his way of relaxing.
There's also a fictional TV show within the show that is the most popular thing on said TV. He places this show over all his other responsibilities, and is reluctant to miss it even in the expense of missing important social obligations.
"That 70s Show" is does not have a fictional realm of TV and thus it reflects the entertainment medium of the time accurately. TV playing a big role in all the characters' lives, and their references to each other being often about 1970's television programming, one can visually get a glimpse of the importance of TV at those times.
In an episode where the television set is demolished by boys being boys with a bowling ball, the father states his desire that the TV be replaced by a much bigger and superior one , with the top qualities of a television in the 70s, with such passion that one emphasizes with the mindset of older times.
They watch reruns, get latest technology (such as Betamax),, and the show really reflects the experience of wathicng television in the 70s, especially with the presence of an incredibly large TV remote bith gigantic, but few, buttons.
The show also has scenes, in which the characters - to explain something - are set in the clothes of, and talk like the TV content that they're parodying. These include a wide range, from 1950's social responsibility ads to shows of that era. The scenes are made masterfully, as the costumes, diction, and even the camera and visual styles are perfectly on point, allowing modern viewers a very true glimpse into now begotten forms of visual content.
All in all, I feel these shows give a very realistic depiction of those times, and just how prominent TV was in the lives of humans back then, and being in an entertaining visual form, I feel it works much better than historic articles referring to those times.
When I watch these show with my parents, I can see the nostalgia in their eyes.
I think this is an interesting way of looking at shows about earlier times. And I realized I was also trying to understand the era of the movies by looking at TV sets in the show or movie. And I think it is often used by the producers to show the audience about past, because a TV set is a thing that most people can relate. I think today we are starting to have the same feeling with the mobile phones.
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