Target: Prime Time

Offering the first book-length exploration of network television's relations with advocacy groups, Kathryn C. Montgomery presents a comprehensive picture of the impact of organized pressure on prime-time TV. She vividly describes, for example, how the Catholic Church campaigned against Maude's abortion on the TV show, Maude; how outraged actors mobilized a national protest against the portrayal of blacks in the TV miniseries, Beulah Land; and how the Moral Majority waged a sophisticated campaign to "clean up TV," by threatening to boycott advertisers. Exposing the inner workings of network television as no other book has done, Montgomery's study demonstrates how behind-the-scenes struggles have shaped the images, messages, and values that enter people's homes every night. The book also raises critical questions about television's role in our society and its responsibility to the American public.