When Television Brought Us Together

Why do millions of people love classic television shows? One reason, certainly, is that many Americans have become disenchanted with the current TV landscape. The shows from decades past are more than a source of happy shared memories among millions of people; they are a common thread weaved through our culture. We're 50 years beyond most of their debuts now. Do they still mirror how we live? Should they? When Television Brought Us Together celebrates the era in television that came of age with the Baby Boomer generation, and how its most fondly remembered shows can still inspire us to emulate the ideals and ethics it portrays. "David Hofstede delves into the meanings of our favorite comforting classics and compares them with the TV fare of today. You'll be happy you stopped by to take a long breath of nostalgic fresh air and rediscover why these past shows are so classic. Totally recommended!" - Kathy Garver - Star of Family Affair and author of Surviving Cissy "Thanks to television, America was able to laugh together, cry together and love together, because we watched together. David reminds us how television united, rather than divided, a large and diverse country and how, even today, it has the power to provide valuable lessons for living in the real world. - Mitchell Hadley, author of The Electronic Mirror and founder of It's About TV blog "David Hofstede has encyclopedic knowledge and spot-on insight into TV shows of the past. I'm happy to know I'm not the only one looking back at the television series of my youth not just with nostalgia, but with longing for programs today that comfort, nourish, entertain and reflect who we are." ­- Kathryn Leigh Scott, star of Dark Shadows and author of The Dark Shadows Companion "David Hofstede's thoughtful takes on our favorite TV shows from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s-and the shared experience we often felt as we grew up watching them together, in a three-network, pre-DVR, pre-viewing on demand, pre-social media, pre-a lot of other things universe-are sometimes whimsical, sometimes analytical, but always absorbing to read." - Ed Robertson, Host of TV Confidential and author of 45 Years of The Rockford Files