From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole: A Life with Television

by Kathleen Collins

For the past several years, critics have been describing the present era as both "the end of television" and one of "peak TV," referring to the unprecedented quality and volume and the waning of old technologies, formats, and habits. Television's projections and reflections have significantly contributed to who we are individually and culturally. From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole: A Life with Television reveals the reflections of a TV scholar and fan analyzing how her life as a consumer of television has intersected with the cultural and technological evolution of the medium itself. In a narrative bridging television studies, memoir, and comic, literary nonfiction, Kathleen Collins takes readers alongside her from the 1960s through to the present, reminiscing and commiserating about some of what has transpired over the last five decades in the US, in media culture, and in what constitutes a shared cultural history.

In a personal, critical, and entertaining meditation on her relationship with TV--as avid consumer and critic--she considers the concept and institution of TV as well as reminiscing about beloved, derided, or completely forgotten content. She describes the shifting role of TV in her life, in a progression that is far from unique, but rather representative of a largely collective experience. It affords a parallel coming of age, that of the author and her coprotagonist, television. By turns playful and serious, wry and poignant, it is a testament to the profound and positive effect TV can have on a life and, by extrapolation, on the culture.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2021

About the author

Kathleen Collins’s nonfiction books include Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows, Dr. Joyce Brothers: The Founding Mother of TV Psychology, and a memoir, From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole: A Life with Television. Study in Hysteria is her first novel. She is a professor and librarian at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Her first novel will be published by Vine Leaves Press in February 2024.

Reviews

[Elaina Battista-Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up on TV in the 1980s and early 1990s. Like not just TV blaring in the background. I’d arrange myself on the blue family room carpet, snack at my side, excitement in my brain, love in my heart for all of my favorite protagonists like Jack Tripper and antagonists like Nellie Olsen. It was a sacred pasttime, and honestly, not much has changed, except now I crave British Detective drama and documentaries about unsolved murders and the like.

Kathleen’s book was like a self help book more than anything. She affirmed, validated, and connected to me, like we were having an extended coffee meet up. This book is so factually sound, well researched, but more than anything, truly overflowing in voice. Her voice is what makes this book a winner—-she sees you, you TV addict. She explains the art and how it fits into pop culture, and makes me realize how lucky I was to grow up when I did.

It’s not easy to write a nonfiction book with a seamless narrative flow. She did it! Not a beat is missed, nor a TV treasure neglected in her pages. I want all of my friends to read this masterpiece!