See No Evil: The Backstage Battle over Sex and Violence in Television

by Geoffrey Cowan

From Simon & Schuster, See No Evil is Geoffrey Cowan's fascinating exploration of the backstage battle over sex and violence in the television medium.

In See No Evil , Cowan offers a probing investigation into the history, impact, and politics of television censorship, examining network programming, and such controversial practices as the Family Hour.

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Steven M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1980 I took Professor Cowan’s Communications class at UCLA (he’s now a professor at USC) and read the book as part of the course. I re-read this book and found it an excellent read. It brought back a lot of memories regarding the TV shows broadcast in the 1970s/1980s. The story of the battle over the “Family Hour” was historically fascinating. It also contrasted how far content has come from the days when broadcasters worried about what they then thought was racy…things that today might seem mundane.

[Cynthia Bemis Abrams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured upon this book as research for a writing project. The entire story and lessons learned from the Family Viewing Policy and the lawsuit that ensued is fascinating and relevant to all that's going on in 2025. Cowan wrote this for a non-legal reader and in doing so, literally wrote a history book.

It's thorough and based on first-hand access to meetings and documents that it would be difficult to find today.

The copy I bought through Thriftbooks had an original price tag from KMart, for $.97. This history, 45 years later, is priceless!