Big World, Small Screen assesses the influence of television on the lives of the most vulnerable and powerless in American society: children, ethnic and sexual minorities, and women. Many in these groups are addicted to television, although they are not the principal audiences sought by commercial TV distributors because they are not the most lucrative markets for advertisers.

This important book illustrates the power of television in stereotyping the elderly, ethnic groups, gays and lesbians, and the institutionalized and, thus, in contributing to the self-image of many viewers....