Television Science

NATIONAL BESTSELLER An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art...

Since long before the spaceships' fleeting presence, Blaine has been content to go along with the whims of his supermom wife and half-feral, television-addicted children. But when the kids blithely ponder skinning people to see if they're aliens, and his wife drags them all on a surprise road trip to Disney World, even steady Blaine begins to crack. Half a continent away, Heather floats in a Malibu pool and watches the massive ships hover overhead. Maybe her life is finally going to start.

In this eloquent and persuasive book, Neil Postman examines the deep and broad effects of television culture on the manner in which we conduct our public affairs, and how "entertainment values" have corrupted the very way we think. As politics, news, religion, education, and commerce are given less and less expression in the form of the printed word, they are rapidly being reshaped to suit the requirements of television.

This modern classic of social history and media traces the precipitous decline of childhood in America today, and the corresponding threat to the notion of adulthood. Deftly marshaling a vast array of research, Neil Postman suggests that childhood is a recent invention. But now the division between child and adult is eroding under the barrage of television, which turns the adult secrets of sex and violence into entertainment and pitches news and advertising at the intellectual level of 10-year-olds.

The aliens didn't conquer Earth. They negotiated exclusive streaming rights instead. Unbeknownst to humanity, the powerful Voltaxians controlled the galaxy, their vast empire fueled by their monopoly on mana. Humanity feared invasion, only to find out the godlike aliens had something far different in mind. The Voltaxians offered a simple deal. Allow them to set up dungeons controlled by living intelligent dungeon cores on Earth to generate mana, and they'd share the wealth.

This book unravels the personal intrigues, hidden tensions, power plays, and cultural twists behind the media empire now known as Univision, and reveals how its programming —including telenovelas, soccer, news, and music—defined an identity and won over an audience that grew at the same pace as the network.

In the summer of 1921, Philo T. Farnsworth was not all that different from any other farmer's son in rural Idaho, until he came up with an idea that would change the world–and thrust him into a titanic struggle with one of the most monolithic monopolies in the world. Farnsworth's story of divine inspiration facing off against corporate avarice is a compelling–though seldom told–saga from the 20th century that is still relevant in the 21st.

Following in the footsteps of the New York Times bestselling graphic novels and the record-breaking new television show, this debut novel in a trilogy of original Walking Dead books chronicles the back story of the comic book series greatest villain, The Governor. In The Walking Dead universe...

Few American television series are as deeply entrenched in twentieth-century popular culture as M*A*S*H, a Korean War medical comedy characterized by its dark tone and finesse in tackling serious social and political issues. By the end of its run, M*A*S*H had been a mainstream hit for several seasons and won fourteen Emmys, leading it to be called, "the most popular pre-Seinfeld series in television history." In this comprehensive study of M*A*S*H, David Scott Diffrient analyzes the series' contextual issues such as its creation, reception, and circulation as well as textual issues like its formal innovations, narrative strategies, and themes.

Step into a dimension of imagination, morality, and unforgettable storytelling with Entering the Twilight: Rod Serling, Creativity, and the Birth of Television’s Most Iconic Series. This book explores how Rod Serling, a decorated World War II veteran turned visionary writer, transformed television with The Twilight Zone. Through censorship battles, creative breakthroughs, and a relentless drive to reveal truths about human nature, Serling reshaped what the small screen could achieve. Inside you’ll discover how Serling’s early life, wartime experiences, and passion for social justice ...

Friday night, and you can’t decide whether to learn a new instrument, phone a friend, overcook a pizza or watch a horror film. But what to watch? Which witch to watch? You’ve seen all the Jasons, the Freddies, Michaels, Chuckies and Nuns. You’ve had your fill of multi-million-dollar schlock-busters. What about something a little different, something that might have slipped under the radar? A terror-packed excursion made by those who may not have obscenely high budgets to spend, but instead have the freedom to put real chills on the screen. Or those strange and sometimes lurid pictures...

This book introduces important concepts in philosophy through the vast array of provocative issues raised by the series, such as the ethics of the Prime Directive, Star Trek's philosophy of peace, Data and Voyager's Doctor as persons, moral relativism and the Federation's quest for liberation, the effect of alternate universes on reality and identity, the Borg as transhumanists, Federation Trekonomics, Star Trek's secular society, and much, much more!

This audiobook tells the story of how Philo Farnsworth came up with the idea for electronic television at age 14, and later developed his idea into the technology for television that is still used today.

'Never fear, Smith is here!' Lost in Space is a hugely popular science fiction adventure series which tells the adventures of the Robinson family and their ship, the saucer-shaped Jupiter 2. For many young viewers, Lost in Space was their first introduction to science fiction. Now this new book brings a fresh look at all three seasons of this iconic and unforgettable show, discussing, reviewing and rating each episode.

Long before the era of the news anchor, the pundit, and the mini-cam, one man blazed a trail that thousands would follow. Reporting live from the streets and rooftops of London as Nazi war planes rained terror from the skies during the Battle of Britain, Edward R. Murrow brought the stark horror of war and the shock of breaking news events directly into American living rooms for the first time, and that was just the beginning.

Dive into the enigmatic realm where science meets spirituality in "Jesus & The Flower of Life: The Bridge Between Science & Spirituality." This groundbreaking book navigates the intricate relationship between the empirical discoveries of science and the profound mysteries of spirituality, offering listeners a comprehensive exploration of how these two domains intertwine to enhance our understanding of the universe.

What do we see when we watch reality television? Sociologist and TV lover Danielle J. Lindemann takes a long, hard look in the “funhouse mirror” of this genre, from countless rose ceremonies on The Bachelor to the White House and more (so much more!). Beginning with the first episodes of The Real World, reality TV has not only remade our entertainment and cultural landscape—it also uniquely refracts our everyday experiences and social topography.

This audiobook explores how the award-winning NBC drama offered a space for vibrant conversation about US politics, identity, and culture.

Discover the brilliant life of Hedy Lamarr. This talented film actress became an influential scientist with her invention of a secret radio system in the early 1940s, a building block of today’s wireless communications.

In the future, true love is something that can be created to a person's specifications. Meet Denise Merritt - the perfect woman. She is beautiful, caring, emotional, sensitive, smart, friendly, and has the best personality a person could possibly have. She is also not real. Denise is an android (model) and she was made for the man, Steven Adams (mate), who wants to spend the rest of his life with someone special. Once he finally meets her, he had hoped to live out the rest of his life with the only person in the world he truly loves, but he gets swept into an unwelcome adventure when he ...