Gatekeeper: My 30 Years as TV Censor FROM THE PUBLISHER
"The former chief censor for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) chronicles the battles, controversies, and changes in taste and acceptance of network entertainment programs of three decades." "From 1960 to 1990, Alfred R. Schneider served as head of standards and practices, or "chief censors," for the ABC television network. From his unique vantage point, Schneider managed issues of taste and morality that determined what millions of U.S. viewers watched. During his tenure the nation's attitudes changed drastically, as did the content shown on American airwaves. Controversies arose about TV's influence on children, its portrayal of violence, and its introduction of once taboo subjects. Schneider fought on the shifting, subjective front lines of the cultural battle-front; even as his own standards evolved, he embraced emerging trends."--BOOK JACKET.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Whatever sex, violence, colorful language and other racy behaviors TV audiences glimpsed on ABC between 1960 and 1990, they have Alfred R. Schneider, the former head of "standards and practices," to thank or to blame. In The Gatekeeper: 30 Years as a TV Censor, written with Kaye Pullen, he discusses firsts like The Day After, All in the Family, The Twilight Zone and That Certain Summer, an early '70s show on which a man tells his son that he's gay. Alternately businesslike and juicy, Schneider's revelations are the nuts and bolts of a powerful if thankless task. ( Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Booknews
In the wake of the payola scandal of 1955, Schneider became overseer of ABC televisions's Standards and Practices department. He continued his career by becoming the senior member of the Television Code Review Board in the early 1970s and remained so until its demise in the 1980s. His account, he says, is not about him, but about his experiences balancing interests in an era of change. The co-writer is Kaye Pullen, a speech writer for President Gerald Ford, and sometime editor for ABC. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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