'This excellent study reveals the little-known story of the taste-makers, commentators and pundits who have evaluated television outside of the specialised world of academic writing. The book charts the shifts in journalism and reviewing from the beginnings of television criticism when a new discourse had to be invented to deal with the emerging medium, into developed commentary about television by figures such as Raymond Williams, Dennis Potter and Clive James. Feature columnists and specialist television critics are now facing the new challenges posed by online viewer comment, blogging and virtually instant response to programmes. Rixon's book takes the reader through this cultural history with assurance and insight... The book shows how comment about television shapes the ways viewers come to programmes, how hierarchies of taste and value are constructed, and how critics function as mediators in national debates about television culture. Referring to a wide range of well-known and lesser-known writers and programmes, Rixon weighs the significance of television criticism as a cultural practice and asks how media convergence promises to change our relationships with what we watch. This study is an essential contribution to histories of British television, popular culture and media analysis.' - Jonathan Bignell, Professor of Television and Film, University of Reading
