1. “The first thing we have to do is to separate out the things that are pleasant from the things that are unpleasant”: Gary Ross’ Pleasantville and the Classic Era of Television HUM 3085: Television and Popular Culture Spring 2015 Dr. Perdigao January 21, 2015

2. Pleasantville (1998) Fin de siècle mentality? Twenty-first century: 1950s culture Normative identities for women, men Social constructedness

3. The End of the World…? Film begins with 20 th century contexts, famine, poverty Escapism through the show (from familial problems) Geography class End of Main Street is its beginning Overemphasis on order

4. Television History 1950s programming Clip from Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963)when David and Jennifer are first in Pleasantville, self-conscious reference to the types of shows being watched at the time, contemporaries of Pleasantville Don Knotts as repairman ( Andy Griffith Show [1960-1968], Three’s Company [1976-1984]) Dick Van Dyke originally to play television repairman in script—Rob’s TV Repair (named after Van Dyke’s character in his own show [1961- 1966]) Jukebox—from Happy Days (1974-1984) “Mary-Sue” as character that inserts self into the show, fixes problems— originating in fan fiction as plot device

5. Don Knotts in Television History The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM6ecC1jf9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM6ecC1jf9E Three’s Company (1976-1984; Don Knotts in 1979-1984): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4stdMIqjsSc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4stdMIqjsSc

7. Television History Twin beds— Mary Kay and Johnny (1947), I Love Lucy (1951-1957), The Brady Bunch (1969-1974) Most special effects in a film until Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, capturing characters in color alongside those in black and white Set in Burbank, CA—façade of their house for the film but others in neighborhood recognizable from 1960s television series: Gidget (1965-1966), Hazel (1961-1966), and Bewitched (1964-1972). Margaret’s house is the family’s house in The Partridge Family (1970-1974).

9. Utopia in TV Land? Shifts with rock and roll, rebel culture Books filled in when remembered: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye Book burning, censorship Garden of Eden, loss of paradise Eve offering apple, replayed, “go on, try it.” “You don’t deserve this paradise.” Question of values, “holding onto those values that made this place great”

10. “Across the Universe” Civil Rights in 1950s “Whitey” “colored girlfriend,” “no coloreds” Now violence, threat of rape, looting, mob, book burning—dystopic Non-changes view of history in classes, favoring continuity over alteration, new rules Mural on wall: woman, kiss, records, bowling, town hall into water, Catcher in the Rye, Huck Finn, Moby Dick burning Now court system, first trial After court case is resolved, color tv, images of world, history Multiple possibilities at end? Multiple universes?