Nostalgic Yearnings for Bygone Times

Writer David Marc. He's the co-author of the new book, "Prime Time Prime Movers," about how TV's producers are the ones who most influence its creative and ideological direction. They cite such examples as Stephen Bochco, the creator of "Hill Street Blues," and "L.A. Law," and "Cop Rock." (published by Little, Brown & Co.)

David Marc considers his new book about classic sitcoms as a kind of autobiography: each show he reviews reminds him of the time in his life when he first watched it. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the history and politics of television comedy, especially in how it restricted the roles of women and people of color.

David Marc is a television critic for The Village Voice and Atlantic magazine, and also a professor at Brandeis. Marc thinks that it is important to analyze television with more depth than is currently done. His new book , "Demographic Vistas: Television in American Culture," plays on the title of a Walt Whitman essay "Democratic Vistas." Marc views television and its demographic analysis as an "ironic" fulfillment of Whitman's call for an American art that focuses on the "average, democratic, and popular."