Spielberg on the Small Screen

Investigates never-before-discussed areas of Spielberg’s career—including episodes of shows thought lost forever—allowing fresh insight into his development as a filmmaker.

For over half a century, Steven Spielberg’s filmography has inspired countless critiques. However, one aspect of his output has been ignored almost entirely: his works for television. This book argues that these productions have been vital in shaping Spielberg’s artistic development. From the avant-garde approach to Night Gallery (1969, 1971), to the dystopian satire of his first feature-length work in The Name of the Game (1971); from the molding of a beloved character in Columbo (1971), to the assured approach to horror in Something Evil (1972), close interrogation of these works will establish that his breakout success with Duel (1971) was just part of an ongoing pattern of growth, which continued later with his Amazing Stories anthology (1985). Not only will Spielberg on the Small Screen revive and analyse these underappreciated entries in the director’s canon, but it will demonstrate how they significantly influenced his more celebrated pictures too.