The literature of film and literature of television are, to a large extent, two separate entities. The major film theorists have not had much to say about television, and television has inspired few theorists of its own--few, that is, whose major concern, like the film theorists', is aesthetics. One of the earliest forms of commentary on television is the production manual, most of which are elementary surveys covering technology, program types, basic principles of perception, composition and camera movement. Drawing on 31 production manuals--bur four of these in particular (Hubbell's "Television Programming & Production"; (Millerson's "The Technique of Television Production") Royal's Anthology, "Television Production Problems"; and Zettl's "Sight-Sound-Motion")--a study examined the treatment of film and video theory. Two areas in particular were concentrated on: (1) specific references to film theory and conventional filmic practices, as they are applied to television; (2) discussions of television's unique, essential properties. In "Television Programming and Production," Richard Hubbell goes to greater pains than most in comparing television to its antecedents; he poses four striking questions that probe the essential nature of television. The manuals that contrast television with film, on the other hand, identify such distinct characteristics as its live/immediate/spontaneous/simultaneous nature, and its relatively small image size. These manuals show scholars what areas deserve the greatest attention in future books on television theory. Major issues on television's image quality have gone almost completely uninvestigated. (Contains 67 notes.) (TB)