Using program content, industry contextualization, and archival materials, this article analyzes The Gypsy Rose Lee Show (ABC, 1965–68) in terms of its complex relationship to labor and the consequences of labor practices for television workers. Hosted by famed performer Gypsy Rose Lee, this syndicated program utilized the celebrity and performance skills of its host and guests to both express and mask the labors required of television production. While the feminized and queer qualities of such labors created progressive performances around marginalized workers and invisible work, in some aspects the show acceded to the economic demands of capital against the rights of labor. Lee as a television celebrity and worker thus warrants consideration for her contributions to a transitional moment in American culture and television history.
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Fall 2016
University of California Press