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TELEVISION CRITICS

News Coverage

The development of television as a new entertainment medium was news in the 1950s: coverage of television in newspapers increased by 500 percent from 1953 to 1955. Along with this increased coverage came the rise of the television critic. Writing in both newspapers and magazines, these men—there were few female critics in the 1950s (Janet Kern of the Chicago Tribune was the most prominent)—debated and commented on not only the content of television shows but the nature of the medium itself.

The Elite

The two most respected television critics of the 1950s were Jack Gould of the New York Times and John Crosby of the New York Herald Tribune. Their careers have paralleled each other. In the manner of newspapermen of the time, neither Gould nor Crosby graduated from college, though Crosby did attend Yale University for two years. Both men trained on the Herald Tribune by covering Broadway theater. In 1945, the beginning of the end of the radio era, Gould was hired by the Times as radio editor. A year later Crosby became radio columnist for the Herald Tribune, With the relative decline of the importance of radio and the meteoric rise of television, the direction of both men turned toward television.

Gould's Viewing

Being a television critic involved watching a lot of television. Gould and Crosby developed different strategies of viewing. Gould watched twenty-five to thirty hours of television per week from his home in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. His viewing room contained two television sets, one color and one black and white. A third set was available when needed. Most of his work was reviews of television shows phoned into New York in time for the early editions of the Times.

Crosby's Viewing

Crosby, on the other hand, did not concern himself with timely reviews for the early editions. His viewing in preparation for writing his syndicated column—his pieces were carried in 103 newspapers in 1956—took place at his New York apartment on a single television set. Crosby did not attempt to be an objective reporter, as did Gould, but instead used a highly personal style to reflect his own opinions and tastes.

The Role of the Critic

As with all genres of criticism, debate raged about the importance or effectiveness of the critics. Both men saw their role as instructing the producers rather than the consumers of television. In Gould's words, "the critic's function is to bring to top management the ideas that an underling is not able to bring up from below." While unsure about the importance of the work performed by television critics, Crosby thought that "television is damn lucky that it has two guys like Jack Gould and myself."

CRITIC JOHN CROSBY'S APPEARANCE ON TELEVISION

John Crosby, the television critic of the New York Herald Tribune, made what many called a fool-hardy decision in 1957: to host the CBS program "The Seven Lively Arts," an anthology series featuring dramatizations of literary works and historical events.

In addition to creating questions of conflict of interest—would Crosby be more kind to CBS shows now that he was employed by the networks?—Crosby subjected himself to the same criticisms he himself mercilessly applied in his syndicated column. Except for his self-selected stand-in at the Herald Tribune, George Axelrod, the critics were unrestrained in their negative notices of the 3 November premiere. Typical of the reviews was that of Jack O'Brian of the New York Journal-American:

He seemed to smile as if in constant pain. Close-ups did him few favors, for they presented his face with a seemingly endless mouth … which when speaking seemed to be pulled vertically apart as if with unseen strings.

Despite the criticism Crosby remained on the program through the end of its run on 16 February 1958. His reputation as a fair and impartial critic was unsullied, and he continued to attack bad programming, regardless of the network on which it appeared.

Sources:

"Dual Role," Time, 69 (10 June 1957): 46, 48;

"Turning the Tables," Newsweek, 49 (18 November 1957): 78.

Sources:

"Big Men on the Papers," Newsweek, 49 (15 April 1957): 104, 107;

"Out of the Blue," Time, 68 (20 August 1956): 71-72;

Christopher H. Sterling and John M. Kitross, Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting (Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth, 1978).