From Father Knows Best to Desperate Housewives: Suburban Television Shows, 1950-2007

• In Event: 034 - Regular Session. Media Sociology: Mass Media and Popular Culture

Abstract

The majority of Americans live in suburbs and a number of scholars have highlighted the influence of suburban television shows in promoting suburban ideals. However, analyzing the top 30 Nielsen rated shows from 1950 to 2007, a period of rapid suburbanization, reveals that suburban television shows did not dominate popular television. This was related to a variety of factors including popular genres that are not often set in the suburbs, shows featuring families in single-family homes but located in city neighborhoods, and disproportionately few shows set in Sunbelt cities where suburban growth was high. These findings suggest a need for further research into why relatively few shows were set in suburbs compared to big cities, how the popular memory of suburban television influences current perceptions of such shows, and collecting better data that allows for more direct analysis between television consumption and suburban aspirations and behavior.

Author

• Brian J. Miller, Wheaton College