Veronica Glover 

Senior Staff Writer 

James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. Image courtesy HBO  

The Golden Age of Television, the period from roughly 1948 to 1959, has been recognized as one of the most important TV eras in the U.S. The early period featured many live broadcasts, including the anthology drama Kraft Television Theatre, which ran from 1947 to 1958. Another anthology drama, Playhouse 90, transitioned from live to filmed during its four-year run that ended in 1960, reflecting the overall shift away from live television. The Golden Age produced some of America’s most beloved programs, such as I Love Lucy and Father Knows Best. Comedic, family-oriented programs were popular, along with dramatic anthologies derived from theater. Major networks competed to produce substantial, highly respected television dramas.  

By the end of the Golden Age, which coincided with wider availability of affordable TV sets, the TV audience was beginning to prefer comedy, westerns, late-night talk shows, and more relatable dramas over stylized anthological productions. James Aubrey, the CBS president from 1959 to 1965, began to introduce sitcoms and other genres alongside well-established programs. Aubrey later admitted, “We made an effort to continue purposeful drama on TV, but we found out that the people just don’t want anthology. They would rather tune in on Lucy.” 

By the late 1950s, most of America’s film production companies had moved to Hollywood. Television broadcasts originating there had a noticeable contrast to the New-York-based networks from which most Golden Age programs had emerged. The network era followed and lasted until the multi-channel transition in the mid-1980s, during which television providers began to offer a wider range of channels. The big three networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—saw their dominance of American television begin to change. Most American households obtained color television sets during this era, and networks grew their working-class audiences with game shows, family sitcoms, and police procedurals. However, major networks continued to produce programs directed to their primary audience of white, middle-class Americans. 

Technology continued to advance, and cable television sets, programmable remote controls, and videocassette recorders (VCRs) allowed viewers to more easily access a wider selection of media and ignore TV schedules since they could record programs. Consumers having the freedom to experience entertainment at their leisure made broadcast networks compete to produce popular content. Technological advancements continued to surge, and eventually, DVDs, premium cable, and streaming television would become the norm.  

This evolution paved the way for the Second Golden Age of Television, which introduced a groundbreaking era of television, bringing us critically acclaimed programs such as The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, and Girls. There is some disagreement, but many people point to the 1999 debut of The Sopranos as the contemporary golden age. Whether it ended in the 2010s, early 2020s, or is still going is a matter of debate. Many critics blame the current state of streaming services and countless mid-season departures as catalysts for the television industry’s decline, arguing that the era of Peak TV has ended. As the effects of the pandemic, labor disputes, and streaming services competing through their spending and production value, it remains to be seen if and when the next era of television production will begin.