In 1976 public television made an unprecedented appearance in some of the nation's college classrooms. Students at more than three hundred colleges and universities took final exams on courses based on thirteen episodes of The Adams Family Chronicles, a Public Broadcasting Service series that analyzed the influence of the Massachusetts family on the founding of the United States. Although for two decades television had been used in the classroom, this exemplary series became the centerpiece of many courses, not merely an aid to instruction. At Michigan State University a professor excited about the series said. "I'm able to interest non-traditional students through it. It represents history the way no lecture could." At Hunker Hill Community College in Boston, some other nontraditional college students, police, and firemen rook the course. At nearby Quincy Junior College a professor explained the interest this way: "There's...