'On Television' is a comprehensive collection of articles and essays published in periodicals and books between 1956 and 2015, devoted to television—its sign system and aesthetics, its forms of communication and technologies, its 'strategies of persuasion,' and its critical defenses against them. Tracing television's path from the first live broadcasts of the 1950s to the reality shows of the 2010s, the author reflects on its role in shaping the cultural and social environment, and on what it might have been like if its powerful energy had been directed toward serving society.