An Analysis of the Portrayal of Catholicism on Prime-Time Network Entertainment Television, 1950-1980

Representations in popular culture entertainment both reflect popular thought about various subjects, and simultaneously influence perceptions of those same subjects. This dissertation proposes a twofold thesis: firstly, that the representation of the Catholic priest in American popular culture -- particularly film and prime-time broadcast network entertainment television -- was shaped by various real-life individual priests; and secondly, that such representations fell into a number of identifiable and frequently repeated tropes, which themselves served to influence later representations.;With the rise of mass popular culture in the 1920s (largely originated by the increasing influence of film and the rapid and widespread adoption of radio broadcasting), the image of the Catholic priest in America shifted from that of the effeminate, licentious, and sexually depraved predator which was widespread during the nation's era of domination by traditionally anti-Catholic Protestants to that of the "heroic priest": a tough, dynamic, manly individual dedicated to social reform, particularly involving battles against entrenched civic corruption and crime. The major model for the "heroic priest" was the famed "radio priest," Father Charles Coughlin, who in the early years of his fame was a far more populist and reform-minded individual than he was to become subsequently. Several other real-life priests, such as Boys Town founder Father Edward Flanagan and World War I chaplain Father Duffy also contributed to the image of the "heroic priest," which was reflected in such films as Angels with Dirty Faces, Boys Town, and others. Post-World War II, the image of the "heroic priest" acquired a heavily anti-Communist cast, influenced by such real-life resistance to tyranny as that offered by Hungarian Cardinal Joszef Mindszenty, which was reflected throughout the television programming of the era, from the early Studio One to programs like Mission: Impossible and The Outer Limits. The image also softened somewhat into that of the "man of piety," dedicated priests who continued their devotion to social uplift though in less obstreperous ways, seen on programs ranging from Dragnet to The Loretta Young Show. .;The 1962-63 ABC television series Going My Way (based on the famed 1944 movie) offered a unique picture of Catholic clergy and the Church on the eve of the Second Vatican Council. While overtly reflecting an older, traditionalist portrait of the "Catholic ghetto" of the 1930s, in its subtext the series uneasily confronted the Church's internal tensions over such issues as marriage, atheism, ecumenism, and race.;Finally, influenced by such real-life radical priests as Philip and Daniel Berrigan, media began portraying priests as radical reformers in such programs as The Mod Squad. This image soon softened into a portrait of Catholic clergy as "fully human," well-meaning but possessed of the full range of human foibles, as reflected on such television portrayals of priests as Father Francis Mulcahy on M*A*S*H and comedian Don Novello's humorous character Father Guido Sarducci -- thus tracing a perceptual arc of the Catholic priest from depraved to heroic to fully human.