Five important issues in research on television violence are identified: definitions and counts, viewers' perceptions, potential for media effects, explanations for effects, and relationships between television and aggression. An assessment of research on television effects under natural conditions focuses on the 1982 longitudinal panel study conducted by Milavsky, Kessler, Stipp, and Rubens. This project found no evidence that television viewing was a factor in aggressive behavior. The paper criticizes the National Institutes of Mental Health report which stated the opposite view. The author cautions that no existing studies reflect changes in home entertainment available now as a result of cable television and VCRs and their possible effects on viewers. Approximately 60 references. (Author abstract modified)