The purpose of this study is to trace the development of the American television docudrama from its roots in other communication forms, and to perform a content analysis on data collected on approximately 1,400 docudrama programs aired during prime-time on ABC, CBS, NBC, and public television between 1966 and 1982. Docudrama's influences on television as well as its criticism and ethical and legal responsibilities are also noted. A docudrama program is defined as the accurate recreation of events in the lives of actual persons. / Docudrama antecedents are traced through the combination of fact and fiction in literature, journalism, theatre, motion pictures, radio, newsreels, and early television. These provided the means and environment for the development of docudramas into the unique forms that exist today. / In order to perform the content analysis, a ninestep docudrama classification system devised by Thomas W. Hoffer and Richard Alan Nelson was used. This categorized docudramas as: monologues, historical, biographical, contemporary, religious, documentarized-fiction, aberrations, partial docudramas, or fictionalized-documentary. The partial docudramas and aberrations were exempted from the content analysis. / The content analysis revealed that during the census period, the majority of docudrama quarter hours broadcast were in the biographical category, followed in order by documentarized-fiction, historical, fictionalized-documentary, contemporary, religious, and monologues. The rank by network was: public television first, followed by NBC, then CBS, and ABC broadcast the least. The greatest number were telecast from 1975-76 to 1980-81. The study's final season showed a decline in quarter hours. Sunday was the most popular day and Friday the least. The most popular start time was nine o'clock. Approximately one-third of the docudramas were telecast in the series format; another third in mini-series; and the final third in the made-for-television movie/special format. / The major conclusions reached by the study are: the docudrama evolved from a variety of communication forms and techniques; the form's development was influenced by and reflects changes in the broadcast industry; there is a need for a common set of guidelines in the promotion and criticism of docudrama to prevent the form from suffering from negative criticism of individual programs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 0980. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75303 |
| Contributors | MUSBURGER, ROBERT BARTLETT., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 359 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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