ior during the Reagan administration.
Lichter, S. Robert, Linda S. Lichter, and Stanley
Rothman.Prime Time: How TV Portrays American
Culture. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 1994. A com-
prehensive study on prime-time entertainment
from 1950 to 1990, focusing on how Hollywood
depicts changes in American society, with chap-
ters on private lives, crime and punishment, the
working class, and controversial issues.
MacDonald, J. Fred.One Nation Under Television: The
Rise and Decline of Network TV. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1990. Historical study of how the major
networks rose to power and shaped viewer ratings
until the introduction of cable television and
home video substantially weakened their power
in the 1980’s.
Montgomery, Kathryn C.Target, Prime Time: Advocacy
Groups and the Struggle over Entertainment Television.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Mont-
gomery demonstrates how various advocacy
groups shaped the messages and values found in
prime-time television from the early 1970’s to the
mid-1980’s.
Moorfoot, Rex.Television in the Eighties: The Total
Equation. London: BBC, 1982. Examines the tech-
nological advancements occurring in the televi-
sion industry in the early 1980’s.
Gayla Koerting
See also Brokaw, Tom; Cable tele-
vision;Cagney and Lacey;Cheers; Chil-
dren’s television; CNN;Cosby Show,
The; Craft, Christine;Dallas;Day After,
The;Designing Women;Dynasty;Facts of
Life, The;Family Ties; Fox, Michael J.;
FOX network;General Hospital;Golden
Girls, The;Hill Street Blues; Home shop-
ping channels; Infomercials; Jennings,
Peter; Journalism;L.A. Law; Letter-
man, David;Magnum, P.I.;Married...
with Children;MAS*Hseries finale;
Miami Vice; Miniseries;Moonlighting;
Murphy, Eddie; Murray, Bill; Network
anchors; Pauley, Jane; Rather, Dan;
Rivera, Geraldo;St. Elsewhere; Sitcoms;
Soap operas;Star Search;Star Trek: The
Next Generation; Tabloid television;
Talk shows;thirtysomething; Turner,
Ted; Williams, Robin; Winfrey, Oprah;
Wonder Years, The.
Tennis
Definition Racket sport played in singles or pairs
Tennis experienced tremendous growth in the 1980’s be-
cause of the influence of television coverage and the most
successful players, including Martina Navratilova and
John McEnroe. The professionals fueled the amateur popu-
larity of the sport, and there was a significant rise in sales of
tennis products.
The popularity of viewing top professional sports
players on television gave a significant boost to the
tennis industry in the 1980’s. Television networks
such as CBS, ESPN, HBO, NBC, and ABC provided
year-round coverage of the major professional tour-
naments, adding to the fame and wealth of champion
players. Amateur tennis players were influenced to
purchase tennis rackets, shoes, and clothing that
the champions used. In the early 1980’s, the tennis
racket itself underwent a transformation, as graphite,
boron, aluminum, and titanium were introduced to
make the rackets lighter and stronger than their
wood and steel predecessors. The two most popular
rackets were the Dunlop Max 200G, introduced in
1980, and the wide-body Wilson Profile, introduced
in 1987.
During the decade, advances in nutrition and no-
tions about physical conditioning influenced theThe Eighties in America Tennis 955
In 1981, tennis greats (from left) John McEnroe, Björn Borg, and Vitas Gerulaitis
particpate in Gerulaitis’s annual youth tennis clinic in New York City.(AP/Wide
World Photos)