{"product_id":"the-big-picture-the-cold-war-on-the-small-screen-9780700632534","title":"The Big Picture: The Cold War on the Small Screen","description":"Capitalizing on thousands of feet of accumulated footage captured by combat camera crews during the early years of the Korean War, a small group of US Army officers conceptualized a film series that would widen viewers' understanding of the service and its mission. Their efforts produced the documentary television series that in late 1951 would become \u003ci\u003eThe Big Picture\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough it would take years to fully utilize the emerging technologies and develop the concept into a popularly recognized television series, \u003ci\u003eThe Big Picture\u003c\/i\u003e did evolve into a vehicle whose intention was to help the army tell its story, sell its relevance in the emerging Cold War, and inform and educate its audience about American ideals. Its messages captured the early post-1945 zeitgeist and reflected a national mood that was anti-Communist, steeped in foundational principles of American exceptionalism, and trusting of elite leadership. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn W. Lemza's \u003ci\u003eThe Big Picture\u003c\/i\u003e argues that the show, like others produced for television during that time by the armed forces, served as a vehicle for directed propaganda, scripted to send important Cold War messages to both those in uniform and the American public. In this first systematic study of its production and reception history as well as its themes and cultural impact, Lemza shows how the producers incorporated specific Cold War themes, such as anti-Communism, into episodes and deployed television's small screen as the intersection of propaganda and policy during the Cold War period. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn Lemza's study reveals that the longer \u003ci\u003eThe Big Picture\u003c\/i\u003e maintained those themes the more they began to lose their resonance, especially when the cultural and social environments of the United States began changing in the mid-1960s. The series producers chose to continue on a course that was set during the early Cold War years, and the credibility of the show began to suffer. Throughout the course of its two-decade production run, however, \u003ci\u003eThe Big Picture\u003c\/i\u003e cast a big shadow as the premier military program influencing viewing audiences through primetime television and syndication.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLemza, John:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Dr. John W. Lemza is an adjunct professor of history, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Military Communities in West Germany: Life in the Cold War Badlands, 1945-1990\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"University Press of Kansas","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50382325580050,"sku":"9780700632534","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bd9baae7-8c15-40aa-8cc2-153b7a488165.jpg?v=1728709349","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-big-picture-the-cold-war-on-the-small-screen-9780700632534","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}