1. Films about screenwriting or screenwriters: SUNSET BLVD., IN A LONELY PLACE, THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE FRONT (blacklisted screenwriters), WHITE HUNTER, BLACK HEART, MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE 2. TV films: A FACE IN THE CROWD (Kazan-Schulberg, 1957). IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (Kelly, Donen, 1955) has some sharp parody of early TV, as does THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Frankenheimer, 1962). Of that late 70s-early 80s cycle you mention, the best are probably Cronenberg's VIDEODROME (1983) and Scorsese's THE KING OF COMEDY (1983). Also James Brooks's BROADCAST NEWS (1987) and the Italian THE ICICLE THIEF (1990). As for your last question, the U.S. film industry has been deeply involved in TV since the late fifties, and several studios tried unsuccessfully to get in on television at the very beginning, when government antitrust bloodhounds (the Paramount Decrees) were quick to squelch such attempts. Now however, with the Paramount Decrees quietly having been overturned by judicial appointees of that old friend of the vertically integrated studio system, Ronald Reagan, American entertainment companies are so intermeshed with each other that good old independent lampooning of TV by the film industry is probably impossible. With four studios owning TV networks in the U.S. (Fox, Warners, Paramount, and Disney), a FACE IN THE CROWD or NETWORK-style attack probably would be unconvincing if not hypocritical. Indeed Kazan and Schulberg tried throughout the 80s to remake A FACE IN THE CROWD and got nowhere--and I don't think it's simply because no one wants to remake a flop! Besides TV and cinema in the U.S. increasingly seem to have switched their historic roles, with serious topics having a much greater chance of airing on the omnivorous tube and the big screen seeming a "vast wasteland" of cheap (actually super-expensive) thrills and dumbed-down formula fare--and I write this in the heat of a blockbuster-sated summer. For instance, Spielberg and Michael Crichton produce vacuous JURASSIC PARKS for the cinema, meatier ER's for the networks. ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]