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Those were the days? Dimensions of nostalgia in media coverage of the Norman Lear reboots
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Those were the days? Dimensions of nostalgia in media coverage of the Norman Lear reboots

Ronald Bishop and Maggie Fedorocsko
The communication review (Yverdon, Switzerland), v 24(4), pp 275-296
02 Oct 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10714421.2021.1981121
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

1970s All in the Family Norman Lear nostalgia Television
A narrative analysis was performed on a group of print and online news stories, along with accompanying pictures and videos, from the lead-up to and reviews of the reboots of Norman Lear's revered series All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. Coverage of the reboots furnished a compelling opportunity for media critics, reporters, and the audience to engage in nostalgia for the significance of Lear's work. The narrative that emerges from coverage of the specials asks the reader to believe that the only character not experiencing nostalgia for Norman Lear's shows is Norman Lear. The impact of his shows has been reduced to a list of social issues and resigned acknowledgment that those issues persist. The critics' experience of nostalgia became a central narrative theme. Their narrative toggles between insight and fetishism as viewers are directed to go off on their own nostalgic journey. Where the audience might have been provoked or made more aware by Lear's shows, the narrative instructs us to watch them now to be comforted as the nation is tested.

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1 citations in Scopus

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Web of Science research areas
Communication
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