Finding Horror on Early Network Television: <i>Lights Out</i> and the Business of Genre

This article examines the forms and formats of early network television horror using a case study of the prime-time NBC series Lights Out (1949–1952). Lights Out , which began on radio, has been variously categorized as noir, suspense, horror, and/or pulp programming. This generic confusion is indicative of the broader troubles attending scholarly analysis of American classic network era television horror, including its elision in broadcast and genre histories. To address these scholarly issues, this article offers three interventions. First, it argues that analysis of commercial practices like programming and advertising is useful for understanding the construction of television horror during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Second, it details how intermediary discussions around Lights Out provide a clear view of broadcasting limits such as sponsor profitability and content regulation that affected television horror during the period. Finally, it articulates the protean shapes of early television horror programming.