Books About TV, Movies, and More

[Tom Holmberg]

A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up
Margaret Wappler
ISBN: 9781668006269

Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have been other deaths of 90’s stars, but this one hit different. Gen X was reminded of their own inescapable mortality, and robbed of an exciting career resurgence for one of their most cherished icons—with recent roles in the hit series Riverdale and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood bringing him renewed attention and acclaim. Only upon his death, as stories poured out online about his authenticity and kindness, did it become clear how little was known about the exceedingly humble actor and how deeply he impacted popular culture.

In A Good Bad Boy, Margaret Wappler attempts to understand who Perry was and why he was unique among his Hollywood peers. To do so, she uses an inventive hybrid narrative. She speaks with dozens who knew Perry personally and professionally. They share insightful anecdotes: how he kept connected to his Ohio upbringing; nearly blew his 90210 audition; tried to shed his heartthrob image by joining the HBO prison drama Oz; and in the last year of his life, sought to set up two of his newly divorced friends. (After his death, the pair bonded in their grief and eventually married.) Amid these original interviews and exhaustive archival research, Wappler weaves poignant vignettes of memoir in which she serves as an avatar to show how Perry shaped a generation’s views on masculinity, privilege and the ideal of “cool.”

Timed to the fifth anniversary of Perry’s death, A Good Bad Boy is a profound and entertaining examination of what it means to be an artist and an adult.

[krankydoodle]

I just finished Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matthew Baume and would definitely recommend it. It helped that I watched a lot of the shows he discusses (Golden Girls, Friends, Ellen, etc.), but it was also interesting to learn about the ones I wasn't as familiar with (All in the Family, Barney Miller). The author also has a YouTube channel, so some of the material might not be new to you if you've watched his videos.

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

I just finished Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matthew Baume and would definitely recommend it.

I have that on future hold at the library until I have some time to read. 

[Bookish Jen]

If you're looking for a book about stars of Hollywood's golden age, you might want to check out Joan Kramer and David Heeley's book "In the Company of Legends: 

https://thebookselfblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/book-review-in-the-company-of-legends-by-joan-kramer-and-david-heeley/

[Tom Holmberg]

"What Do You Mean, Murder?" Clue and the Making of a Cult Classic
John Hatch
ISBN: 9781949024609

When the film Clue came out in 1985, audiences were baffled. A movie based on a board game, with three different endings, and you had to pick which one to go see? Bad reviews compounded the problem, and instead of choosing one ending, most people stayed away entirely. Clue, outgrossed at the box office by films that had been released months earlier, quickly faded away. When it unceremoniously premiered on Showtime a year after its theatrical debut, there was no sign it was destined for anything other than obscurity, another flop bound to be forgotten. Instead, Gen Xers and millennials, raised on pop culture and cable TV in an era long before the streaming wars, discovered this zany farce about a group of six strangers locked in a remote house with a killer. The movie appealed to kids. The creepy mansion and eerie music contrasted with slapstick gags and double entendres, deflating the tension. Today, almost forty years later, Clue is the epitome of a cult classic, with midnight screenings, script readings for charity, cosplaying fans, and a stage play. “What Do You Mean, Murder?” dives deep into the making of Clue and walks fans through the movie they know and love. From producer Debra Hill’s original idea of Detective Parker bumbling around a mansion to Carrie Fisher’s casting as Miss Scarlet, from Madeline Kahn’s iconic “flames” ad-lib to the legendary deleted fourth ending, it’s all here. With asides on fandom, Gen X nostalgia, and at how movies were made in the 1980s, the book offers plenty to chew on for die-hard buffs and casual fans alike.

 

****

 

Cheers to TV: Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Television Characters
Will Francis
ISBN: 9783791388229

The perfect pop culture pairing, this collection of drinks inspired by iconic television characters blends old and new, spicy and sweet, strong and mellow.

Cheers to TV connects sixty cocktails to stars of the small screen. Some are invented specifically for that character, such as the Bloody Ending, inspired by Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, or the Stringer Bell, an ode to The Wire. Others deliver a TV twist to an established cocktail—a Rusty Nail for Better Call Saul’s titular hero, for instance. Some are cocktails created by the show itself—Absolutely Fabulous’ Stoli-Bolli is sure to outlive its boozy inventor Patsy Stone. There are mocktails like the Banana Stand (honoring George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development), coffee-tinged drinks such as the Central Perk (for Friends’ Rachel), and even a rainbow slushie inspired by Pose’s Blanca Evangelista.

Along with clever, original illustrations, straightforward recipes, and engaging texts about the shows and characters, the authors cover the mixology basics: bar equipment; types of spirits, liqueurs, juices, and bitters; garnishes and glassware.

Whether you prefer appointment television or an hours-long stream-a-thon, this book will up the enjoyment factor. Just remember: sip the cocktail, binge the show.

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch s Dune. an Oral History
Max Evry
ISBN: 9781948221290

“I see many things. I see plans within plans.”

Following his underground hit Eraserhead and critically acclaimed The Elephant Man, visionary filmmaker David Lynch set his sights on bringing Frank Herbert’s beloved sci-fi novel Dune to the screen. The project had already vexed directors such as Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) and Ridley Scott (Alien). But by the early ‘80s Universal Pictures was prepared to give Lynch the keys to the kingdom – and the highest budget in the studio’s history at the time – so that he could lend his surrealistic chops to this sprawling story of feuding space dynasties. They would also hopefully be creating a “Star Wars for adults” franchise-starter.

As the hot young filmmaker commanded a cast with 42 major speaking parts as well as a crew of 1,700 (plus over 20,000 extras) on 80 sets built on 8 sound stages in Mexico, what happened next became as wild, complex, and full of intrigue as Herbert’s novel itself.

Film writer Max Evry goes behind the erratic ride of David Lynch’s Dune like never before, with a years-in-the-making oral history culled from a lineup of new interviews with the film’s stars (Kyle MacLachlan, Sean Young, Virginia Madsen, etc.), creatives, film executives, and insiders – not to mention Lynch himself.

David Lynch’s Dune initially left many filmgoers and reviewers scratching their heads, most dismissing the film upon its release. However, four decades and a big-budget remake later, Lynch’s Dune is finally poised to find its rightful place alongside the director’s other masterpieces such as Blue Velvet and Mullholland Drive.

Max Evry’s A Masterpiece in Disarray takes you back to 1984 with the deepest dive yet into the cult classic that is David Lynch’s Dune.

[Tom Holmberg]

Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood: How One Film Almost Sunk the Studios
Patrick Humphries
ISBN: 9781803990187

The extraordinary story of the making of Cleopatra, the film that changed the face of Hollywood

Cleopatra has its place as one of the most fabled films of all time. While others have won more Oscars, attracted better reviews and taken more money at the box office, the 1963 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton stands alone in cinema legend. What began in 1958 as a $2 million vehicle for Joan Collins eventually opened five years later, having cost more than twenty times that amount.

The making of the film soon became a cautionary tale, for the lavish extravagance of Cleopatra all but bankrupted 20th Century Fox and almost singlehandedly set in motion the decline of the major studios. Actors and filmmakers were hired and fired at a breathtaking rate, and by the time the film was finally released, Hollywood could only watch in horror as it died at the box office.

This is an epic tale of love and lust; of gossip, money, sex, movie-star madness, studio politics and the birth of paparazzi journalism. Within the saga of Cleopatra lies the end of the era of Hollywood’s studio system, the seeds of the Swinging Sixties, and the stuff of timeless movie legend.

What early 1960s madness had a multimillion-dollar production convinced it could recreate the magnificent grandeur of a sunlit, ancient kingdom in a rain-sodden location west of London during the first chill of autumn?
By the third day of shooting, Elizabeth Taylor was still ill. Typically, with the health of this troubled star, the cold turned into a fever and for the ensuing five weeks, the star did not leave her suite. Already the future of the film was in the balance; without Miss Taylor, there simply was no Cleopatra.
Taylor had been dogged by illness for most of her adult life. By 1970, she was on her twenty-eighth operation. Among the health issues affecting her was a glandular condition, hypertrichosis, an ulcerated eye, ruptured spinal disc, phlebitis, pneumonia, Asian flu, laryngitis, meningitis and bronchitis.
On the night of the 4 March 1961, the star came perilously close to death. Gasping for breath in her Dorchester suite, she started to turn blue. Fortuitously, a doctor and specialist in respiration techniques was rushed to the room and brought her back to consciousness. Taken to the London Clinic (which was soon besieged by the media), she underwent a tracheotomy so she could breathe, leaving a 2in scar in her throat. The wound was like a medal, a symbol of her unerring ability to survive.
Within a week she had recovered and was swigging champagne with Truman Capote. ‘It was like riding on a rough ocean,’ she told the waspish author of her near-death experience. ‘Then slipping over the edge of the horizon. With the roar of the ocean in my head, which I suppose was really the noise of my trying to breathe.’…
 
The casting for Cleopatra is a tale in itself. There was fascinating documentation to be found. Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood wrote to their London office on 6 May 1959, announcing that their Cleopatra project would go into production in June and asking for London’s advice on casting. …
London responded to the Hollywood request with its usual thoroughness on 26 May 1959. In hindsight, it makes for fascinating reading. For the title role, Fox suggested a long list of lovely likelies, including Janette Scott, Lee Remick, Mandy Miller, Jean Simmons, Claire Bloom, Dana Wynter, Cyd Charisse, Kim Novak and Joan Collins. The future dame was a strong contender; she was another one under contract to Fox and let it be known that she was ‘dying to play it’. The studio were equally keen and screen tested the actress.

Producer Walter Wanger wrote witheringly in 1959, ‘Hermes Pan is working with Joan, trying to improve her posture and walk so she will have the grace and dignity of Cleopatra.’ As a flavour of the times, the biographer of Fox head, Spyros Skouras wrote that Collins had ‘eyes bigger than boobs’. …

And there, nestling at No. 17 on the original list, was Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor said she only took the role on as a whim. Newly independent and free from studio contracts for the first time in over fifteen years, the star admitted, ‘I was in my bath when my lawyer called and asked me what I wanted to do about the “Cleopatra thing”. I thought I would dispose of it by asking something impossible. “Tell him I’ll do it for a million against 10 per cent of the gross”.’

In his autobiography, Eddie Fisher claims the credit. ‘Elizabeth was in the bathroom brushing her teeth and I shouted in to her, “Elizabeth, you should do this for a million bucks”.’ It was an impossible demand – Marilyn Monroe only received $500,000 for 1959’s Some Like it Hot and Marlon Brando and William Holden had edged up to the magical million, but when they reached the mark, it included percentages of the gross.

Elizabeth Taylor was the first screen star to receive a million up front. Serious or not, when Taylor signed that seven-figure contract on 15 October 1959, it made headlines around the world.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

Fierce Females on Television: A Cultural History (The Cultural History of Television)
Nicole Evelina
ISBN: 9781538165652

A fascinating deep-dive into how shows from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Equalizer have changed the way women are portrayed on television.

The last three decades of television have been a formative and progressive time for female characters, as stronger, more independent women have appeared on screen to guide a new generation of viewers into their own era of power. These characters battle vampires, demons, corrupt government officials, and scientific programs all while dealing with the same real-world concerns their audiences face every day.

In Fierce Females on Television: A Cultural History, Nicole Evelina examines ten shows from the past thirty years to unveil the enormous impact they have had on the way women are portrayed on television. She reveals how Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Alias, Nikita, Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, Homeland, House of Cards, Orphan Black, and The Equalizer feature extraordinary lead characters who are at the same time utterly relatable, facing surprisingly familiar questions in their everyday lives regarding sexuality, gender, and how to fight back in a patriarchal world.

Fierce Females on Television shows how, even with their captivating mix of melodrama, mystery, magic, and martial arts, these shows nevertheless represent the audience’s own desires and fears. Finally, viewers of science fiction, fantasy, spy, and political shows have strong, modern women to watch, admire, and emulate.

 

 

[Tom Holmberg]

Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
Ed Zwick
ISBN: 9781668046999

This heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life, gives a dishy, behind-the-scenes look at working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

“I’ll be dropping a few names,” Ed Zwick confesses in the introduction to his book. “Over the years I have worked with self-proclaimed masters-of-the-universe, unheralded geniuses, hacks, sociopaths, savants, and saints.”

He has encountered these Hollywood types during four decades of directing, producing, and writing projects that have collectively received eighteen Academy Award nominations (seven wins) and sixty-seven Emmy nominations (twenty-two wins). Though there are many factors behind such success, including luck and the contributions of his creative partner Marshall Herskovitz, he’s known to have a special talent for bringing out the best in the people he’s worked with, especially the actors. In those intense collaborations, he’s sought to discover the small pieces of connective tissue, vulnerability, and fellowship that can help an actor realize their character in full.

Talents whom he spotted early include Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Claire Danes, and Jared Leto. Established stars he worked closely with include Leonardo DiCaprio, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Craig, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Connelly. He also sued Harvey Weinstein over the production of Shakespeare in Love—and won.He shares personal stories about all these people, and more.

Written mostly with love, sometimes with rue, this memoir is also a meditation on working, sprinkled throughout with tips for anyone who has ever imagined writing, directing, or producing for the screen. Fans with an appreciation for the beautiful mysteries—as well as the unsightly, often comic truths—of crafting film and television won’t want to miss it.

[Tom Holmberg]

I'm reading "No Crying in Baseball", it's pretty good. Interesting that none of the movie execs thought it would make back the cost to make.  Also that Madonna hates Chicago (the NYC snob!).

[Tom Holmberg]

Just started reading this. It's very good

"Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher--Television" by Foster Hirsch
ISBN: 9780307958921

A fascinating look at Hollywood’s most turbulent decade and the demise of the studio system—set against the boom of the post–World War II years, the Cold War, and the atomic age—and the movies that reflected the seismic shifts

Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, CinemaScope, and VistaVision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios; the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.

Here is Eisenhower’s America—seemingly complacent, conformity-ridden revealed in Vincente Minnelli’s Father of the Bride, Walt Disney’s Cinderella, and Brigadoon, among others.

And here is its darkening, resonant landscape, beset by conflict, discontent, and anxiety (The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Asphalt Jungle, A Place in the Sun, Touch of Evil, It Came From Outer Space) . . . an America on the verge of cultural, political and sexual revolt, busting up and breaking out (East of Eden, From Here to Eternity, On the Waterfront, Sweet Smell of Success, The Wild One, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Jailhouse Rock).

An important, riveting look at our nation at its peak as a world power and at the political, cultural, sexual upheavals it endured, reflected and explored in the quintessential American art form.

[bluegirl147]

On 9/26/2023 at 9:29 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

I'm reading "No Crying in Baseball", it's pretty good. Interesting that none of the movie execs thought it would make back the cost to make.  Also that Madonna hates Chicago (the NYC snob!).

I wanted to thank you @Tom Holmberg for alerting me to this book.  I read it and liked it so much it made me want to rewatch the movie which I did last weekend.

I also read Being Henry, Henry Winkler's new memoir. He wrote a lot about Happy Days which I found enjoyable.  He dropped a couple blind items that had me curious. One was there was a female guest star in one of the earlier seasons that copied his moves during filming.  I figured it had to be Roz Kelly who played Pinky Tuscadaro.  The second item was there was a male co star in the later seasons who was new to the show and was getting fan mail and was obnoxiously bragging about it. Henry said he was written out the next season.   I thought maybe Billy Warlock who played Flip, a Cunningham cousin.

[babyhouseman]

On 11/7/2023 at 2:41 PM, bluegirl147 said:

I also read Being Henry, Henry Winkler's new memoir. He wrote a lot about Happy Days which I found enjoyable.

I really liked the book. He's so personable and funny in interviews, and fans online say how great he is to meet. I knew the book would be good. He could've easily had a big ego on Happy Days and ruined everything, but Ron Howard is one of his good friends.

[Spartan Girl]

I too loved Henry Winkler’s book, but geez his parents were jerks! I get there was a lot of generational trauma from escaping the Holocaust and they didn’t know how to handle his dyslexia, but neither of those things are an excuse to emotionally abuse your child and only show pride in him after he became famous!

[Tom Holmberg]

Columbo: Make Me a Perfect Murder (Spin-Offs) 
Amelie Hastie
ISBN: 9781478025450

For decades, generations of television fans have been enraptured by Lt. Columbo, played by Peter Falk, as he unravels clues to catch killers who believe they are above the law. In her investigation of the 1970s series cocreated by Richard Levinson and William Link, Amelie Hastie explores television history through an emphasis on issues of stardom, authorship, and its interconnections with classical and New Hollywood cinema. Through close textual analysis, attentive to issues of class relations and connections to other work by Falk as well as Levinson and Link, Columbo: Make Me a Perfect Murder sees American television as an intertextual system, from its origins as a commercial broadcast medium to its iterations within contemporary streaming platforms. Ultimately, Hastie argues, in the titular detective’s constant state of learning about cultural trends and media forms, Columbo offers viewers the opportunity to learn with him and, through his tutelage, to become detectives of television itself.

_____________________

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

With Love, Mommie Dearest: The Making of an Unintentional Camp Classic
A. Ashley Hoff
ISBN: 9781641607681

When she died in 1977, Joan Crawford was remembered as an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age—until publication the following year of her daughter’s memoir, Mommie Dearest.

Christina Crawford’s book was an immediate bestseller, addressing the infrequently discussed topic of child abuse.

When Paramount Pictures released the film, starring Faye Dunaway as Crawford, it was critically panned, and remains one of the most legendary critical bombs in film history. The lavish, big-screen adaptation drew unexpected laughter in the scenes depicting life in the Crawford household. Rarely have such good intentions been met with such ridicule.

Despite this, the movie was a commercial success and remains, four decades later, immensely popular. With Love, Mommie Dearest details the writing and selling of Christina's book and the aftermath of its publication, as well as the filming of the motion picture, whose backstage drama almost surpassed what was viewed onscreen in the film.

Based on new interviews with people connected to the book and the film, Hollywood historian A. Ashley Hoff explores the phenomenon, the camp, and the very real social issues addressed by the book and film.

 

[bmasters9]

Everything you ever wanted to know about this hit 70s NBC medical/action series (a staple of mine on DVD); has some spelling and grammatical errors, but still well worth it

 

[Tom Holmberg]

"Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling through Hollywood" by Russ Tamblyn

ISBN: 9798212273312

A bold memoir of an extraordinary, singular life lived by one of the world’s most beloved and acclaimed figures: Russ Tamblyn.

With more than eighty years as a celebrated artist and actor under his belt, Russ Tamblyn has earned a cherished name among cinephiles and pop culture fans alike, working with such legendary directors as Robert Wise, David Lynch, and Quentin Tarantino. He tumbled through his acclaimed starring role in the original West Side Story as an actor and acrobatic dancer, taught Elvis Presley some signature dance moves, and became an unlikely visionary in the counterculture movement of the ’60s alongside peers and friends Ed Ruscha and Dennis Hopper.

Russ deftly guides readers through his star-studded life and his search for a deeper, more connected existence: attending school with Elizabeth Taylor, earning an Academy Award nomination for Peyton Place, dropping out of Hollywood at the height of his career to become a fine artist in Topanga Canyon, and forging a lifelong friendship with Neil Young. He shares the painful breakup of a twenty-year marriage and the joy of finding true love and inspiration as a husband, father, and mentor in his own right.

Perfect for old and new fans alike, Dancing on the Edge is an intimate and powerful story about the singular life of one of our most gifted storytellers, artists, and stars of the silver screen.

[Tom Holmberg]

Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Cultural History
MATT FOY AND CHRISTOPHER J. OLSON

This book examines the cultural impact and creation of the cult-hit television series Mystery Science Theatre 3000. It looks at the most famous episodes, creators involved, and analyzes why the series has resonated with so many viewers.

ISBN: 9781538173480

__________

Hanna and Barbera: Conversations
Edited by Kevin Sandler & Tyler Solon Williams

Hanna and Barbera: Conversations presents a lively portrait of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, the influential producers behind Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, the Smurfs, and hundreds of other cartoon characters who continue to entertain the world today. Encompassing more than fifty years of film and television history, the conversations in this volume include first-person accounts by the namesakes of the Hanna-Barbera studio as well as recollections by artists and executives who worked closely with the pair for decades. It is the first collection of its kind about Hanna and Barbera, likely the most prolific animation producers of the twentieth century, whose studio once outflanked its competitor Walt Disney in output and influence.

Bill Hanna fell into animation in 1930 at the Harman-Ising studio in Los Angeles, gaining skills across the phases of production as MGM opened its animation studio. Joe Barbera, a talented and sociable artist, entered the industry around the same time at the wild and woolly Van Beuren studio in Manhattan, learning the ins and outs of animation art before crossing the country to join MGM. In television, Hanna’s timing and community-oriented work ethic along with Barbera’s knack for sales and creating funny characters enabled Hanna-Barbera to build a roster of beloved cartoon series.

A wide range of pieces map Hanna and Barbera’s partnership, from their early days in Hollywood in the 1930s to Cartoon Network in the 1990s, when a new generation took the reins of their animation studio. Relatively unknown when they made over one hundred Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons at MGM in the 1940s and 1950s, Hanna and Barbera became household names upon entering the new medium of television in 1957. Discussions here chart their early primetime successes as well as later controversies surrounding violence, overseas production, and the lack of quality in their Saturday morning cartoons. With wit, candor, insight, and bravado, Hanna and Barbera: Conversations reflects on Bill and Joe’s breakthroughs and shortcomings, and their studio’s innovations and retreads.

ISBN: 9781496850447

[Tom Holmberg]

"Saturday Night Forever" by Stephen Tropiano and Steven Ginsberg
ISBN: 9781493072606

Television history was made on October 11, 1975, when Chevy Chase welcomed America to the first episode of a new late-night comedy and variety show. Featuring cutting-edge humor, an absurdist sensibility, and a scrappy cast of young, talented performers, Saturday Night Live would go on to become one of the brightest stars in the pop-culture firmament, launching such comedy legends as John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey.

Timed to coincide with the show’s Season 50 in fall 2024, Saturday Night Forever is the ultimate fan’s bible and a loving tribute to a TV institution. Covering everything from the show’s creation by Lorne Michaels to the celebration of its golden anniversary, it gives an in-depth look at SNL’s comedic highlights and nadirs, its memorable hosts and musical guests, and its many controversies, along with the characters, sketches, catchphrases, commercial parodies, and film shorts that have made it the epicenter of American comedy for five decades. Packed with photographs and rich with encyclopedic detail, this is the one-stop resource for all things SNL

_________

I wonder if the Star Wars Xmas show is included?

Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen by Herbie J Palato
ISBN: 9781493079704

For most of us, fond memories of the Christmas season are inseparable from the episodes, specials, and TV movies that have appeared on television, from the iconic cartoons above to less well-known fare such as A Bionic Christmas Carol, Christmas in Rockefeller Center, and the 1992 remake of Christmas in Connecticut directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Christmas TV Memories embraces it all, offering a tinsel-decked traipse down memory lane, chronicling animated classics, variety shows, made-for-TV features, and specific episodes of series like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Frasier. With celebrity commentary, historic quotes, and insight from entertainment journalists and archivists, this book will serve as the go-to retro literary companion to the small screen’s most cherished holiday programming.

 

 

Edited February 9 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

"Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV" 

Emily Nussbaum
ISBN: 9780525508991

The rollicking saga of reality television—an ambitious cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker writer

Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre? And why can’t we look away? In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary”—from its contentious roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump—Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it. At once gimlet-eyed and empathetic, Cue the Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.

In sharp, absorbing prose, Nussbaum traces the jagged fuses of experimentation that exploded with Survivor at the turn of the millennium. She introduces the genre’s trickster pioneers, from the icy Allen Funt to the shambolic Chuck Barris; Cops auteur John Langley; cynical Bachelor ringmaster Mike Fleiss; and Jon Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim, the visionaries behind The Real World—along with dozens of stars from An American Family, The Real World, Big Brother, Survivor, and The Bachelor. We learn about the tools of the trade—like the Frankenbite, a deceptive editor’s best friend—and ugly tales of exploitation. But Cue the Sun! also celebrates reality’s peculiar power: a jolt of emotion that could never have come from a script.

What happened to the first reality stars, the Louds—and why won’t they speak to the couple who filmed them? Which serial killer won on The Dating Game? Nussbaum explores reality TV as a strike-breaker, the queer roots of Bravo, the dark truth behind The Apprentice, and more. A shrewd observer who adores television, Nussbaum is the ideal voice for the first substantive history of the genre that, for better or worse, made America what it is today.

 

Edited February 20 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

The Rainbow Age of Television : An Opinionated History of Queer TV
Shayna Maci Warner
ISBN: 9781419762574

A fun and accessible blend of pop culture, entertainment, and queer history that celebrates LGBTQ+ television and examines the past, present, and future of queer representation on the small screen

The Rainbow Age of Television is a fun and accessible blend of pop culture, entertainment, and queer history that celebrates LGBTQ+ television and examines the past, present, and future of queer representation on the small screen.

From Abbott Elementary to The White Lotus to Yellowstone and the hundreds of other gems across a multitude of platforms in between, American audiences are being treated to a second Golden Age of Television. But something completely new is stirring, too—the first Rainbow Age. For the first time in the history of American television, we have queer women who fight the trope of inevitable on-screen death (Jane the Virgin, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Grey’s Anatomy); gay men who are more than just a flamboyant best friend (How to Get Away with Murder; Looking; OK, maybe we also still have Will and Grace); and trans people played by trans actors (The Fosters, Transparent, Pose, Euphoria,Tales of the City). But our screens certainly haven’t always been this colorful. How did we get to this veritable wealth of representation and sometimes glitter-strewn dimensionality? What sacrifices were made along the way?

The Rainbow Age of Television explores these questions and more as author Shayna Maci Warner tracks the evolution of LGBTQ+ icons across the televised ages and into the future of streaming—from the first queer kiss to rock the airwaves to the shows that are making household names and heroes of queer characters today. Through conversations with critics, creators, stars, and detailed historical reference, The Rainbow Age of Television examines the rise of today’s entertainment culture in which LGBTQ+ viewers are finally beginning to see themselves proudly on the screen and highlights the importance of such representation on television. Above all, it’s a proud celebration of the shows and their characters and creators that define this new age in television.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

________________

LOST: Back to the Island: The Complete Critical Companion to The Classic TV Series
Emily St. James
ISBN: 978-1419750502

A comprehensive and critical companion to the blockbuster TV show LOST, revisiting its core themes, lore, and impact on culture

Before it premiered in the fall of 2004, LOST looked doomed to be an expensive, disastrous plane crash of a TV show. Instead, LOST was a massive hit, debuting with the biggest audience for a new drama on ABC in over a decade, reaching heights of over 23 million viewers at its peak, and holding on to a hefty fan-base for its entire six-season run. The elements that made the series seem like a boondoggle proved, instead, to be a big part of its appeal. Audiences loved the exotic island setting, became invested in the morally compromised characters, and feverishly tried to unravel the show’s many mysteries.

In LOST: Back to the Island, TV critics and veteran LOST recappers Emily St. James and Noel Murray revisit what made the show such a success and an object of enduring cultural obsession, twenty years later. Through essays, episode summaries, and cultural analysis, they take us back to the island and examine LOST’s lasting impact—and its complicated, sometimes controversial legacy—with a clear-eyed and lively investigation.

For fans of one of the most successful and highly discussed shows in recent memory, LOST: Back to the Island is both a delightful time capsule and a rousing work of entertainment criticism.

[Epeolatrix]

 

The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television by Tricia Jenkins (ISBN: 9780292772465)

"The CIA in Hollywood offers the first full-scale investigation of the relationship between the Agency and the film and television industries. Tricia Jenkins draws on numerous interviews with the CIA’s public affairs staff, operations officers, and historians, as well as with Hollywood technical consultants, producers, and screenwriters who have worked with the Agency, to uncover the nature of the CIA’s role in Hollywood.

In particular, she delves into the Agency’s and its officers’ involvement in the production of The Agency, In the Company of Spies, Alias, The Recruit, The Sum of All Fears, Enemy of the State, Syriana, The Good Shepherd, and more. Her research reveals the significant influence that the CIA now wields in Hollywood and raises important and troubling questions about the ethics and legality of a government agency using popular media to manipulate its public image."

It sounds like more of a muckraking book than it is, and it was interesting to learn about the process of getting access or equipment in exchange for cooperation between studio and military/government.

Edited March 20 by Epeolatrix
Explaining why I liked it.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Runaway Train: or, The Story of My Life So Far" by Eric Roberts
ISBN: 9781250275325

In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.

Eric Roberts grew up in Georgia, spending most of his teens away from his mother and sisters, Lisa and Julia. Instead, he stayed with his controlling father, a grifter jealous of his early success. At age 17, Eric moved to New York to pursue acting, where he worked and partied with future legends like Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams.

His big break came when he was cast in King of the Gypsies. Eric became one of the hottest stars of the era, starting an affair with actress Sandy Dennis, working with Bob Fosse on the critically acclaimed Star 80, and earning an Oscar nomination for Runaway Train. But for Eric, Hollywood came with a dark side―an ocean of cocaine that nearly swept him away, culminating in a car accident that almost cost him his life.

Eric is open about the seriousness of his addictions and their devastating effect on his career. He reveals the reasons behind his complicated relationship with his sister, Julia, and his daughter, Emma, a successful actress in her own right. Now, happily married to actress and casting director Eliza Roberts, who helped him confront his demons, he is revered among his peers as the ultimate actor’s actor.

Written with New York Times bestselling author, for years a Vanity Fair contributing editor, and current Air Mail writer-at-large Sam Kashner, this is a powerful memoir of a Hollywood legend.

[JustHereForFood]

The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion, a behind-the-scenes book about making of Good Omens.

It's pretty big and heavy, 300 pages with lots of photographs so it doesn't take much time to get through. I usually don't read this type of books, but I'm obsessed with this show and I already have the original book and the script book, and the comic adaptation hasn't come out yet, so it was only a matter of time till I buy this one 😅. I think I've read most of the information already in various interviews so it doesn't have anything particularly new for me, but it's still fun to read it all again and I would recommend it to all the fans.

 

[Spartan Girl]

The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic by Daniel de Vise

I just got this for my birthday and I am enjoying it so far. It talks a lot about both John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s backgrounds and the rise of SNL before it gets to the actual movie. Lots of stuff I already knew, but still a good read, though reading about John’s spiral into drug addiction and death always makes my heart hurt.

[Tom Holmberg]

5 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic by Daniel de Vise

I just got this for my birthday and I am enjoying it so far. It talks a lot about both John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s backgrounds and the rise of SNL before it gets to the actual movie. Lots of stuff I already knew, but still a good read, though reading about John’s spiral into drug addiction and death always makes my heart hurt.

Got it out from the library.

 

__________________________________

 

Married… With Children vs. the World: The Inside Story of the Shock-Com that Launched FOX and Changed TV Comedy Forever
Richard Gurman
ISBN: 9781637588314

A rollicking account of the groundbreaking show from one of the show’s producers, featuring the voices of the stars, creators, and executives involved with bringing it to life.

“I had the pleasure of working with Richard Gurman for eleven years. When he sent me his new book Married… With Children vs. the World, I figured it would be a trip down memory lane. So I was stunned by some revelations I never knew. And reminded how brilliant much of the writing was. What a time that was. If you liked Married… With Children, then you should read this book. You’re in for a treat!” —Ed O’Neill

Married… With Children burst onto the airwaves with a full-frontal attack on the myth of domestic tranquility depicted in family comedies since the dawn of TV. The outlier series, created by two rebellious writers given carte blanche from a fledgling FOX, became one of the longest running live-action sitcoms in television history and forever changed the way married life was portrayed on the very networks it so scathingly satirized. But it was far from smooth sailing as the creators bucked up against Barry Diller—then CEO of FOX—on everything from casting to content and then butted heads with network standards as they sought to shatter traditional broadcast norms.

"Reading Married… With Children vs. the World jolted me right back into the mindset where our little show was the rock ’n’ roll of sitcoms fighting to get heard in an easy-listening world. Richard Gurman, who was there for the whole ride, digs deep into the joys and frustrations of the entire experience and turns it up loud.” —Katey Sagal

Married… With Children writer-producer Richard Gurman takes us behind the scenes of this boundary-breaking show to reveal how its inner workings were at times as disruptive and contentious—yet at other times, as hysterical and raunchy—as the Bundy family themselves. Featuring exclusive interviews with the cast, including Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal, media moguls, network executives, writers, directors, critics, and even the woman who was so offended by one episode she launched a sponsor boycott that almost got the series canceled, Married… With Children vs. the World celebrates the rebellious, satirical vision of the show and the battle to keep it alive that paved the way for the tremendous diversity in family comedy style we see today.

“Not only is this an accurate chronicle of both families, on either side of the camera, but what should also serve as a valuable lesson of never giving up on a dream.” —Michael G. Moye, Co-Creator

“I had almost as much fun reading Married… with Children vs. the World as I had working on the show. Almost. Richard Gurman chronicles, from his vantage point inside the writers’ room and the sound booth, how we broke the china in the family sitcom kitchen, and upended the television industry by doing so. What could be more fun than that?” —David Garrison

 

Edited March 25 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

You Never Know: a Memoir
Tom Selleck
ISBN: 9780062945761

There are many miles from the business school and basketball court at the University of Southern California to 50 million viewers for the final episode of a TV show called Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck has lived every one of those miles in his own iconoclastic and joyful way.

Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the highly personal story of a remarkable life and thoroughly accidental career. In his own voice and uniquely unpretentious style, the famed actor brings readers on his uncharted but serendipitous journey to the top in Hollywood, his temptations and distractions, his misfires and mistakes and, over time, his well-earned success. Along the way, he clears up an armload of misconceptions and shares dozens of never-told stories from all corners of his personal and professional life. His rambunctious California childhood. His clueless arrival as a good-looking college jock in Hollywood (from the Dating Game to the Fox New Talent Program to co-starring with Mae West and escorting her to black-tie social functions). What it was like to emerge as a mega-star in his mid-thirties and remain so for decades to come, an actor whose authenticity and ease in front of the camera connected with audiences worldwide while embodying and also redefining the clichés of onscreen manhood.

In You Never Know, Selleck recounts his personal friendships with a vivid army of A-listers, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Carol Burnett to Sam Elliott, paying special tribute to his mentor James Garner of The Rockford Files, who believed, like Selleck, that TV protagonists are far more interesting when they have rough edges.He also more than tips his hat to the American western and the scruffy band of actors, directors and other ruffians who helped define that classic genre, where Selleck has repeatedly found a happy home.  Magnum fans will be fascinated to learn how Selleck put his career on the line to make Thomas Magnum a more imperfect hero and explains why he walked away from a show that could easily have gone on for years longer.

Hollywood is never easy, even for stars who make it look that way. In You Never Know, Selleck explains how he’s struggled to balance his personal and professional lives, frequently adjusting his career to protect his family’s privacy and normalcy. His journey offers a truly fresh perspective on a changing industry and a changing world. Beneath all the charm and talent and self-deprecating humor, Selleck’s memoir reveals an American icon who has reached remarkable heights by always insisting on being himself.

[Tom Holmberg]

_______________

"The Time of My Life: Dirty Dancing (Pop Classics)"
Andrea Warner
ISBN: 9781770417410

An engaging exploration into the enduring popularity of Dirty Dancing and its lasting themes of feminism, activism, and reproductive rights

When Dirty Dancing was released in 1987, it had already been rejected by producers and distributors several times over, and expectations for the summer romance were low. But then the film, written by former dancer Eleanor Bergstein and starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as a couple from two different worlds, exploded. Since then, Dirty Dancing’s popularity has never waned. The truth has always been that Dirty Dancing was never just a teen romance or a dance movie ― it also explored abortion rights, class, and political activism, with a smattering of light crime-solving.

In The Time of My Life, celebrated music journalist Andrea Warner excavates the layers of Dirty Dancing, from its anachronistic, chart-topping soundtrack, to Baby and Johnny’s chemistry, to Bergstein’s political intentions, to the abortion subplot that is more relevant today than ever. The film’s remarkable longevity would never have been possible if it was just a throwaway summer fling story. It is precisely because of its themes ― deeply feminist, sensitively written ― that we, over 30 years later, are still holding our breath during that last, exhilarating lift.

Edited March 26 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches 
Tim Matheson
ISBN: 9780306832932

A “damn good” fun and revealing memoir from the acclaimed Hollywood actor, Tim Matheson
 
For the past seven decades, Tim Matheson has been an on-screen favorite in Hollywood. From nailing early roles in classic shows like Leave It to Beaver and delivering iconic lines like “Damn glad to meet you!” as rush chairman Eric “Otter” Stratton in National Lampoon’s Animal House, to landing a recurring role as Vice President John Hoynes in The West Wing and winning over viewers as Dr. Vernon “Doc” Mullins in Netflix’s smash hit Virgin River, Tim’s filmography speaks for itself—but he’s not content to leave it at that.
 
In this debut memoir, Tim takes fans behind-the-scenes of his illustrious career, which has also included such shows as Bonanza, Twilight Zone, Jonny Quest, St. Elsewhere, Suits, Covert Affairs, and Hart of Dixie, as well as celebrated films like Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry vehicle Magnum Force, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, the Chevy Chase comedy smash Fletch, and the role of Carol Brady’s “presumed-dead” husband in A Very Brady Sequel. Furthermore, he reveals what it was like to learn from and work alongside everyone from Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Dick Van Dyke, and Debbie Reynolds to Steven Spielberg, Chevy Chase, Mel Brooks, John Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, and Aaron Sorkin, among other greats. In addition to sharing his favorite stories from his most memorable projects, Tim also talks about how he transitioned from acting to directing, the time he bought (and then sold) National Lampoon with a business partner in the '90s, and how his recurring role as Vice President Hoynes on The West Wing nabbed him not just one, but TWO nominations for “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series” at the Primetime Emmy Awards—and so, so much more.
 
Filled to the brim with both riveting stories of the ever-changing entertainment industry and illuminating insight via “film school boot camp” sidebars, readers everywhere are going to be “damn glad” that they read this fascinating memoir.

[Tom Holmberg]

Home and Alone
Daniel Stern
ISBN: 9781632280930

Simply a must read for anyone who seeks a behind-the-scenes peek of some of Hollywood's classic films. . .

Beginning with his film debut in Breaking Away, Daniel Stern has grown up on-screen before our very eyes. His connection with audiences is cemented in movies like Home Alone and City Slickers, and in his debut memoir, Home and Alone, he is the Everyman narrator on a ride into the human side of Hollywood. Buckle up and experience what it’s like driving Robert Redford in his Porsche at 100 mph, or stripping down for a nude scene in front of a group of total strangers. Share the out-of-body moments of flying alone with Mel Gibson on his jet to Las Vegas and smashing a fake mustache onto Gary Busey’s face while cursing him out on the pitcher’s mound of Wrigley Field in front of a sellout crowd. Join him in his triumphant stories like conquering his dyslexia as the voice of The Wonder Years, and his terrifying ones like being sued for $25 million by CBS and Columbia pictures. Touching and hysterical, often at the same time, Stern gives readers a peek at the highs and lows of a Hollywood career, and a closer look at the movies they love and the people who make them.

Inspiring as it is humorous, Stern weaves a compelling tale of an artistic hippie-child of the 60’s, who by age thirteen had hitchhiked his way across the Eastern half of the U.S.A. By age seventeen he had dropped out of high school and was living on his own in New York, and by nineteen he was starting a family of his own. His insights into marriage, children, parents and parenting are not only hilarious, but packed with subtle wisdom. But the real surprises are in Stern's off-screen roles as a bronze sculptor, cattle rancher, avocado farmer and public servant. The hard work and commitment he has put into his on-screen successes are applied with the same intensity to every aspect of his life. From creating monumental public art projects and founding a Boys & Girls Club to visiting troops in Iraq and learning to birth a cow, he has lived it all. Home and Alone is for anyone who needs reminding that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it.

[Tom Holmberg]

One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg (Hollywood Legends Series) Herbie J Plato
ISBN: 9781496837974

One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg offers a sweeping portrait of the revered performer’s life and career. Deemed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, Diana Rigg (1938–2020) initially found fame as super sleuth Mrs. Emma Peel in the 1960s BBC/ABC-TV espionage series, The Avengers. A classically trained and multi-award-winning thespian, Rigg is known for her diverse body of work ― from her big-screen debut in 1969 as Countess Teresa di Vincenzo, wife of James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, to her Tony Award–winning, leading role in Medea on Broadway, culminating with her Emmy-nominated portrayal as Lady Olenna Tyrell on the heralded small-screen gem, Game of Thrones.

This eclectic volume traces Rigg’s career as a renowned star of television, film, and the stage. The author includes insights from rare, archived interviews, encompassing both video dialogues conducted by the University of Kent and Oxford Union. The meticulously curated archival material is further complemented by equally rare photos, and retrospections drawn from diverse media sources and hitherto unpublished accounts from the people who knew Rigg best, affording readers an unprecedented, all-encompassing glimpse into her private world.

With exclusive commentary from Rupert Macnee (son of Riggs’s Avengers costar and dear friend Patrick Macnee); the show’s stunt coordinator/director Ray Austin; actors Samuel West, Bernie Kopell, Barbara Barrie, Juliet Mills, John Schuck, and Damon Evans; director Bruce Beresford; and documentarian David Naylor, among others, One Tough Dame delivers an in-depth perspective of a beloved, brave, brilliant, and trailblazing actor.

[Tom Holmberg]

_____

Opening Weekend: An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops
Jim Fredrick
ISBN: 9781496853387

 

In a world where movie marketers are the stars of the story, Opening Weekend: An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops recounts Jim Fredrick’s journey through the realm of movie marketing. Fredrick offers readers exclusive access to behind-the-scenes anecdotes and firsthand accounts of working with studio executives and navigating relationships with famous movie stars and directors.

After starting his career in 1983 as a trailer editor and producer at famed advertising boutique Intralink, Jim Fredrick went on to serve as president of marketing at Castle Rock Entertainment; senior vice-president of creative advertising at Warner Bros.; and executive vice-president of marketing at Sony Screen Gems. In 2011, he founded his own company, Jim Fredrick Motion Picture Marketing.

Across a span of thirty-five years, Fredrick’s roles as a trailer maker and studio executive allowed him to craft advertising campaigns for a range of movies, from such iconic cinematic gems as The Shawshank Redemption to the widely beloved Harry Potter franchise, to commercial failures like The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Fired Up! Opening Weekend explores the intricacies of the lesser-known business of film distribution and marketing, unraveling the complex mechanisms through which movies are sold to discriminating audiences. Replete with triumphs, setbacks, and the relentless spirit that drives the creation and promotion of cinematic masterpieces, Opening Weekend promises an enthralling glimpse into the previously untold world of Hollywood movies.

[Tom Holmberg]

"Friends and the Golden Age of the Sitcom"
Joanna Hagan
ISBN: 9781399052856

Friends ran for ten years, beginning in 1994 and airing its final episode in 2005. The show is inarguably the peak sitcom of its era. It's the most remembered, most quoted and so essential that companies have spent hundreds of millions on the streaming rights to Friends in recent years. But why does Friends mean so much to so many? What did this sitcom have that the other giant shows of that era didn’t?

This is a deep dive into the history of Friends, but it’s also the history of ten years of network television. How did the world of sitcoms evolve through that decade? How much of a show’s success is down to small details like schedules and syndication, and how much of it is down to the content itself?

The landscape of television has changed drastically in the years since the end of Friends, but the biggest show of sitcom’s golden age has endured like no other. This look at the history of Friends, its legacy and the history of television in general will show you why. Both why the television industry has become what it is today, and why Friends has survived long beyond its decade. This is a celebration of Friends, an interrogation of its success, and a history of television that explains much of what’s on our screens today.

[Tom Holmberg]

Entrances and Exits
Michael Richards
ISBN: 9781637589137

The man who brought the kavorka to the Seinfeld show through one of the most remarkable and beloved television characters ever invented, Kramer, shares the extraordinary life of a comedy genius—the way he came into himself as an artist, the ups and downs as a human being, the road he has traveled in search of understanding.

“The hair, so essential, symbolizes the irrational that was and is and always will be the underlying feature not only of Kramer but of comedy itself. This seemingly senseless spirit has been coursing through me since childhood. I’ve been under its almighty influence since the day I came into this world. I felt it all within myself, especially the physical comedy, the body movements, so freakish and undignified, where I bumped into things, knocked stuff down, messed up situations, and often ended up on my ass.

“This book is a hymn to the irrational, the senseless spirit that breaks the whole into pieces, a reflection on the seemingly absurd difficulties that intrude upon us all. It’s Harpo Marx turning us about, shaking up my plans, throwing me for a loop. Upset and turmoil is with us all the time. It’s at the basis of comedy. It’s the pratfall we all take. It’s the unavoidable mistake we didn’t expect. It’s everywhere I go. It’s in the way that I am, both light and dark, good and not-so-good. It’s my life.”

 

[Tom Holmberg]

99 Episodes That Defined the '90s: Television Milestones from Arsenio to Homer to Yada Yada Yada
Chris Morgan
ISBN:  9781476694191

How can you define a decade? Through television, of course. The 1990s was arguably the best decade for TV, and you can get an interesting picture of what the decade was like through this particular medium. There are 99 episodes found within, one each from 99 different shows across all major television genres. Here, the '90s are explored through police procedurals, hangout sitcoms, cartoons, game shows, and so much more. Some of these episodes became iconic and helped define the '90s in and of themselves. Other episodes reflect what was going on in the world at the time.

[Tom Holmberg]

The Third Gilmore Girl
Kelly Bishop
ISBN: 9781668023778

A candid and captivating memoir from award-winning and beloved actress Kelly Bishop, spanning her six decades in show business from Broadway to Hollywood with A Chorus Line, Dirty Dancing, Gilmore Girls, and much more.

Kelly Bishop’s long, storied career has been defined by landmark achievements, from winning a Tony Award for her turn in the original Broadway cast of A Chorus Line to her memorable performance as Jennifer Grey’s mother in Dirty Dancing. But it is probably her iconic role as matriarch Emily in the modern classic Gilmore Girls that cemented her legacy.

Now, Bishop reflects on her remarkable life and looks towards the future with The Third Gilmore Girl. She shares some of her greatest stories and the life lessons she’s learned on her journey. From her early transition from dance to drama, to marrying young to a compulsive gambler, to the losses and achievements she experienced—among them marching for women’s rights and losing her second husband to cancer—Bishop offers a rich, genuine celebration of her life.

Full of witty insights and featuring a special collection of personal and professional photographs, The Third Gilmore Girls a warm, unapologetic, and spirited memoir from a woman who has left indelible impressions on her audiences for decades and has no plans on slowing down.

[Tom Holmberg]

Carson the Magnificent
Bill Zehme, with Mike Thomas
ISBN: 9781451645279

A much-anticipated biography—twenty years in the making—of the entertainer who redefined late-night television and reshaped American culture.

In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Zehme was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles, and the resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005 and urged on by many of those closest to Carson, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade—interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends and filling up a storage locker with his voluminous research—before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. When he died in 2023 his obituaries mentioned the Carson book, with New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman calling it “one of the great unfinished biographies.”

Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history: A man who brought so much joy and laughter to so many millions but was himself exceedingly shy and private. Zehme traces Carson’s rise from a magic-obsessed Nebraska boy to a Navy ensign in World War II to a burgeoning radio and TV personality to, eventually, host of The Tonight Show—which he transformed, along with the entirety of American popular culture, over the next three decades. Without Carson, there would be no late-night television as we know it. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also captures the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages, troubles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of a child.

In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer in the mid-80s for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.” Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.

[Tom Holmberg]

On a lesser note:

__________

Growing Up Urkel
Jaleel White
ISBN: 9781668068892

An incisive and insightful memoir by one of the most beloved icons of nineties television Jaleel White, the actor who portrayed Steve Urkel on the hit sitcom Family Matters.

At the tender age of twelve, Jaleel White auditioned for the role of Steve Urkel, the socially inept genius, who was in love with his next-door neighbor, Laura.

Though Steve Urkel was intended to be in only one episode, Jaleel’s indelible performance catapulted Urkel into the pantheon of American pop culture. But success can cost as much as it pays. After nine years on the popular sitcom Family Matters, Jaleel is twenty-one, a UCLA undergrad, and adjusting to a world and industry that sees him as the nasally nerd in high water pants, suspenders, and coke bottle glasses.

In this wise and witty memoir, Growing Up Urkel takes you on a memorable journey through the peaks, valleys, and plateaus of fame and fortune.

Edited April 12 by Tom Holmberg

[Tom Holmberg]

Watching TV: American Television Season by Season, Fourth Edition (Television and Popular Culture)
Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik
ISBN: 9780815611721

Castleman and Podrazik present a season-by-season narrative that encompasses the eras of American television from the beginning in broadcast, through cable, and now streaming. They deftly navigate the dizzying array of contemporary choices so that no matter where you start on the media timeline, Watching TV provides the context and background to this multi-billion-dollar enterprise. Drawing on decades of research, the authors weave together personalities, popular shows, corporate strategies, historical events, and changing technologies, enhancing the main commentary with additional elements that include fall prime time schedule grids for every season, date box timelines, highlighted key text, and selected photos. Full of facts, firsts, insights, and exploits from now back to the earliest days, Watching TV is the standard chronology of American television, and reading it is akin to channel surfing through history. The fourth edition updates the story into the 2020s and looks ahead to the next waves of change.

[Tom Holmberg]

The Sopranos: The Complete Visual History
Ray Richmond
ISBN: 9798886636383

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos with this definitive and intimate portrait of one of the most groundbreaking television shows ever made.

The Sopranos is widely regarded as one of the greatest television shows of all time. Now, in honor of its 25th anniversary, this expansive volume explores the seminal series and the stories behind the stories through a plethora of photographs, archival materials, and exclusive one-on-one interviews with show creator, David Chase, key crewmembers, and cast, including Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco, Steven Schirripa, and many more.

Follow along as The Sopranos: The Complete Visual History takes you on a rich photographic journey through the trials and tribulations of T.V.’s most celebrated antihero, Tony Soprano, while he attempts to balance the responsibilities of domestic life and life in the “family”—all while suffering through panic attacks, a toxic mother, and a power-hungry uncle who would rather see him dead than Boss.

Featuring an examination of the show’s influence on pop culture, a foreword by Rolling Stone’s chief television critic, Alan Sepinwall, and a touching tribute to the late James Gandolfini, The Sopranos: The Complete Visual History, is the ultimate companion to a television classic and required reading for serious fans of the show.

[Tom Holmberg]

 

I find the new trend of pop culture related cookbooks weird. Who is the market for these? I could see a Sopranos cookbook or Downton Abbey cookbook, as food was a element in both, but a Godzilla cookbook? How to cook Osaka?

Also the Gilmore Girls cookbook gave me a laugh, are all the recipes go to Luke's diner and order food?

 

Some actual upcoming examples:

Godzilla: The Official Cookbook

Stranger Things: The Official Cookbook: Recipes from Hawkins and Beyond

The Official Westeros Cookbook and Apron Gift Set: Recipes from House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones

Disney Frozen: The Official Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Through Arendelle

Marvel Studios: Ingredients Assemble!: An Official Cookbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Gremlins: The Official Cookbook

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Official Cookbook

The Powerpuff Girls: The Official Cookbook

The Official Wednesday Cookbook: The Woefully Weird Recipes of Nevermore Academy  (Addams Family)

Edited April 24 by Tom Holmberg

[annzeepark914]

Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli: the epic story of the making of The Godfather, by Mark Seal.

[bluegirl147]

10 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Leave The Gun, Take The Cannoli: the epic story of the making of The Godfather, by Mark Seal.

I read that and then watched the Offer on Paramount Plus which also told the story of the making of the Godfather.  I highly recommend both. And I'm not even a big Godfather fan.  LOL

[Tom Holmberg]

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Kimberly Potts
ISBN: 9781668008508

In the bestselling traditions of Seinfeldia and Top of the Rock comes a fascinating deep dive into the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history, from its humble beginnings to its evolution as a critically acclaimed cult classic comedy.

Charlie, Dennis, Mac, Sweet Dee, and Frank are deplorable characters. They will never mature, become more self-aware, or less self-involved. That is what the creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are committed to—and that’s why the show’s millions of devoted fans have stuck with the cult comedy hit for over sixteen seasons and counting.

Created in 2005 by stars Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day, unemployed actors with a pair of Law & Order guest appearances as the highlights of their collective resume, the frustrated trio drafted a homemade TV pilot. A few months and $200 later (the cost of videotapes, pizza for their friends who volunteered as extras, and a broomstick to tape their boom mic to), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was ready for its network debut. All major parties either passed or were interested but wanted creative control. And then came FX looking to shake up cable TV. Willing to allow McElhenney, Howerton, and Day complete freedom to deconstruct the traditional sitcom, new president John Landgraf agreed to take a chance. No one had any idea how big of a success it would be. With FX’s one creative note—the hiring of Danny DeVito—adding the final piece of the puzzle, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has enjoyed a steady climb to high ratings, critical acclaim, and a place in the cultural zeitgeist. Now, how the show and its creators have accomplished this is revealed with this in-depth, behind-the-scenes celebration.

As thoughtful, provocative, and engaging as the show itself, this book also explores how the show has pushed the envelope and used absurdist comedy to explore major societal issues, including the #MeToo movement, LGBTQ+ rights, racism, and more. It also asks, what does the future hold for The Gang? It certainly won’t include the characters’ personal growth, but the show itself continues to move forward, adding to its dynamic history with each season.

[Tom Holmberg]

Futurama Presents: Bender’s Guide to Life: By me, Bender!
Matt Groening
ISBN: 9780789345523

A hilarious how-to guide on being human by everyone’s favorite Bending Unit, Bender B. Rodriguez.

HEY MEATBAG! Are you a human or do you just want to be one? Do you think you’re good at being human? Well, you’re WRONG, pal! Get right with the info in Bender’s Guide to Life: By me, Bender!, and you too can be almost human! Here’s all the nitty-gritty detail on how to eat, drink, and be merry, in home life, work life, or any other kind of life that you might have.

From office pranks to how NOT to “Kill all humans!,” Bender’s Guide to Life features original art and questionable advice for the ages from all your Futurama favorites including Fry, Leela, Amy, and yes, Bender himself. And even some from no one’s favorite, Dr. John Zoidberg.

“A truly delightful book loaded with useful information.” —Me, Bender

“So smart, so helpful, essential reading for all humans.” —Also me, Bender

“Best book I’ve ever read. You’re a dummy if you disagree.” —Bender B. Rodriguez, Robot

“He’ll steal your heart . . . and your wallet.” —Professor Farnsworth or somebody

[Tom Holmberg]

The Taking of New York City: Crime on the Screen and in the Streets in 1970s Big Apple
Andrew Rausch
ISBN: 9781493078714

For a time in the 1970s, New York City seemed to many to be genuinely on the cusp of collapse. Plagued by rampant crime, graft, catastrophic finances, and crumbling infrastructure, it served as a symbol for the plight of American cities after the convulsions of the 1960s. This tale of urban blight was reinforced wherever one looked—whether in the news media (memorably captured in the infamous New York Daily News headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead”) or the countless movies that evoked the era’s uniquely gritty sense of dread.

The Taking of New York City is a history of both New York and some of the decade’s most definitive films, including The French Connection (1971), the first two Godfather movies (1972 & 1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and many more. It was also an era in which the city wrestled with the racial tensions still threatening the tear the nation apart, never more so than in “Blaxploitation” classics such as Shaft (1971) and Super Fly (1972). These films depicted the city that never sleeps as a grim, violent place overridden with muggers, pimps, and killers. Projected at drive-ins and inside their local movie houses, rural America saw New York as a nightmare: a vile dystopia where the innocent couldn't rely on the local law enforcement, who were seemingly all on the take. If one took Hollywood's word for it, the only way a person was able to find justice in 1970s New York City was by grabbing a gun and meting it out themselves.

Author Andrew Rausch meticulously separates fact and fiction in this illuminating book. Attentive to the ways that New York’s problems were exaggerated or misrepresented, it also gives an unvarnished look at just how bad things could get in the “Rotten Apple”—and how movies told that story to the country and the world.

[Tom Holmberg]

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The SNL Companion: An Unofficial Guide to the Seasons, Sketches, and Stars of Saturday Night Live 
Stephen Tropiano
ISBN: 9781493072606

Television history was made on October 11, 1975, when a new generation of young performers welcomed America to the first episode of a new late-night comedy and variety show. Combining cutting-edge humor with a satirical sensibility, Saturday Night Live would go on to become the longest-running series of its kind in television history, shining a light on pop culture as well as contemporary social and political issues. It also became a launching pad for many of the leading comedy performers of the last five decades, including John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Eddie Murphy, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, and Kate McKinnon.

Celebrating the show’s record-breaking 50 years on the air, The SNL Companion is a fun, fact-filled tribute to a television institution. From the show’s creation by Lorne Michaels through all of the seasons leading up to its golden anniversary, it provides an in-depth look at SNL’s comedic highlights and nadirs, its memorable hosts and musical guests, and its many controversies. Along with a complete episode guide, it explores the characters, sketches, politics, catchphrases, commercial parodies, and viral shorts that have made it a leader in American comedy for over five decades. Packed with photographs and rich with encyclopedic detail, The SNL Companion is a one-stop resource for all things SNL.