< Conversation with a Curator Main Page

From Page to Screen: A Tale of Two Worlds

Thursday, June 5, 2025 
4:00 pm
The Paley Museum, 25 West 52 Street, NYC
Curator: Ron Simon

From the beginning, television aspired to bring the best of literature to a larger audience. In the early 1950s TV regularly adapted live the works of Shakespeare, Dickens, and Jane Austen. The advent of the miniseries allowed television to develop more complex themes and deeper character exploration, undertaking such masterworks as The Forsyte Saga and Brideshead Revisited. Head curator Ron Simon will examine the evolving relationship between books and television, illustrating how television tackled such early classics as Moby Dick and The Scarlett Letter, while also giving such authors as William Faulkner and James Baldwin a platform to understand the roots of their artistry. Simon will discuss why many critics consider the best of contemporary TV as the New Novel, while literary adaptations abound on TV, from The Handmaid’s Tale to Game of Thrones.

Free for Paley Members, included in General Admission.
Become a Member for this and many other benefits.

 

Get Tickets   Become a Paley Member

 

Visit Us:
25 West 52 Street, New York City

Events and participants are subject to change.​

Back to Top

More Paley Events Calendar

PaleyScreenings23 Banner Mobile
PaleyScreenings
Ongoing—Daily Screenings from the Paley Archive
The Paley Museum, 25 West 52 Street, NYC

Upcoming Screenings at The Paley Museum

THT Exhibit CRM Feature Thumb
PaleyExhibit
Friday, April 4, 2025 – Sunday, June 8, 2025
The Paley Museum, 25 West 52 Street, NYC
Free for Paley Members I Included in General Admission

The Legacy of The Handmaid’s Tale: June’s Evolution from Handmaid to Rebel 

Thumb 1200 x 675 PE25 ClassicTV
PaleyExhibit
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 – Sunday, June 1, 2025
The Paley Museum, 25 West 52 Street, NYC
Free for Paley Members I Included in General Admission

Classic TV Comes to Life
Television Treasures from the Dr. Stewart Berkowitz Collection