“Important reading for anyone who takes television seriously.”
— Los Angeles Times
“Cowan does an excellent job of conveying the flavor of backstage network machinations, and his ear for networkese is impeccable.”
— Joel Swerdlow, Washington Post
Sex and violence on prime-time television and the complex question of censorship – these are issues that have polarized the TV medium and created some unprecedented alliances among members of Congress and special interest groups. What kinds of programs are truly inappropriate for television, and how should the government and the sponsors play? What has determined television programming in the past and what can be expected in the future?
In See No Evil, the reader is given insight into the usually secret inside world of network politics with the immediacy and dramatic flair of a “sit-com.” The book also reveals the interplay of such personalities as Norman Lear, Arthur Taylor, William Paley, Lee Grant, Fred Silverman and David Rintels. And Goeffrey Cowan shows how a circle of men continues to dominate television programming with an eye on the ratings rather than on the content of their shows.
