Tara King: The Worst Of All?
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b) Is Television An Art Form?

Launched in the 1930s, popular by the 50s and still young in the 60s, television entered a new scene at that time, wherein everything considered banal till then, was to receive a new aesthetic dimension under the glance of Pop. The popular, massive and even commercial thing, burst in suddenly into a territory that until then was only frequented by the "sublime."

No matter whether this style is considered artistic or not, it undoubtedly had a marked influence on the visual conception of The Avengers season 6—we must bear in mind that Pop is a British-born fashion which later emigrated to the US. Nevertheless, it is possible that many readers will turn their nose up at the thought of evaluating a TV show in terms of a true artistic creation; in fact, to some, it could be a bit of an overstatement to say that The Avengers, and in particular Tara King, can be worthy of this ultra-modest essay. If so, we face the purism problem again. For these people, art is conceivable only in absolute terms; any commercial interference within its dominion turns it immediately into spuriousness.

I'm not interested in discussing here the significance these appreciations may have. I only intend to separate the wheat from the chaff, and go back to commonplaces, emphasizing the existence of favorable paths for creative driving, in means still governed by parameters other than those of artistic creations. Sure, The Avengers was impelled from the beginning by the considerations of ratings, commercial demands and market strategies. But also, if not by "art," it was characterized by an authentic, extraordinary creativity, which through its originality of approach and its treatment of as traditional a genre as cops-spy, left a worldwide landmark in the history of TV series, even if this is considered artistic or not.

The profits an authentic work can make, do not represent a threat to creativity or talent. The problem of money affecting art, begins when the market, resenting a success achieved without its patronage, blocks up those hollows by which art flows, trying to stifle its free development. At this point, collapse is just around the corner. And the new Avengers show launched in 1968, would suffer this tragic fate.