I find this curious, given that the entire history of TV, film and pop music is available on YouTube, iTunes and various streaming services, mostly for free. My question is, in 2017, how far back can one go for pop culture references when writing for a mass general audience?Īfter polling friends, colleagues and an assortment of younger people, the answer is: Yikes, not far.
#Gladys kravitz tv
I've had similar experiences lately with Fonzie and Marcia Brady, TV icons who elicited knowing chuckles well into the '90s, but now spark puzzled looks in anyone under 40. The problem is, if you're under 50, you probably not only have no idea who Gladys Kravitz is, you may never have heard of "Bewitched," which ran from 1964-72 and portrayed the comedic tribulations of a suburban witch and her dopey, ad man husband. Gladys Kravitz, the middle-aged hausfrau peering nosily through her curtains to spy on neighbours while her oblivious husband Abner read the evening paper. This, of course, was a reference to the busybody neighbour on the '60s sitcom "Bewitched" I had strategically inserted into a recent column on the assumption everyone would comically remember who she was. Musical niches - fuelled by the Internet - fragmented the audience, movies began targeting specific demographics, the proliferation of specialty channels and cutting-edge content saw older reruns sidelined for eternity.Īnd then it happened: Last week, a friend approached me and asked "Who the hell is Gladys Kravitz?" Then, at some point between then and now, the climate shifted. With old TV shows recycled endlessly in reruns, radio stations playing hits from the entire history of rock and tent-pole movies designed for a multi-generation audience, pop culture's reach was unsurpassed, and inescapable. POW!!! Right in the kisser! Where were you in '62? You're gonna need a bigger boat! Oh, my nose! Missed it by that much! My, what a lovely dress you're wearing today, Mrs. Sit on it! Up yer nose with a rubber hose! Watchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? One of these days. "The Flintstones," "Gilligan's Island," "Happy Days," "The Brady Bunch" - all were fair game for a readership attuned to the same TV shows, movies and pop acts, even if we weren't all the same age. When I started writing arts journalism in the mid-'80s, I often employed pop culture references from the '50s, '60s and '70s to make a satirical point, confident a general audience would relate.
0 kommentar(er)
