Television beyond the Networks: First-Run Syndication of Original Content in the 1970s

Abstract

This article offers historical case studies of Winters/Rosen’s Story Theatre and Norman Lear’s Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, first-run scripted programs that endeavored to address a national audience through the syndication marketplace during the 1970s in the United States. Despite the programs’ efforts to operate outside network distribution circuits, both series faced profound challenges that spotlight a range of factors that reinforced the dominance of CBS, NBC, and ABC during the network era. Positioned within larger cultural shifts, this consideration of first-run syndication charts the growing importance of independent stations and alternative modes of distribution, examines obstacles in the path of producers of innovative content, and discusses how these programs complicated traditional notions of televisual quality and value.