Television Books


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Television Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Television
You Watch Too Much TV: But Did You Know?
Published in Paperback by Taylor Trade Publishing (2005-09-25)
Author: Ken Kessler
List price: $12.95
New price: $7.50
Used price: $0.03

Average review score:

More than just a good book - Fun in a Cover!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-09
You Watch Too Much TV is more than just a television trivia book. It's fun you can share with your whole family! Each chapter has a short intro with interesting facts and TV history, followed by questions that range from simple to very difficult. (Depending on how much you watch tv...)

This book spans shows from The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy to Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends. It also includes an entire chapter of trivia questions about cartoons so your kids can play along too.

Even if you're not a trivia buff, or you don't watch quite enough TV, this book is sure to bring back fond memories of television shows we all used to love.

Great Book for any TV Trivia Fan!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-07
I just recieved this book and it really looks like it was done well! It has 50 sections with about 20 questions in each section. You Watch Too Much TV covers everything from Animation to Horror Related shows. The questions range anywhere from easy to Very Hard (atleast for me). I Highly Recommend this TV Trivia Book!

Fun and entertaining!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-29
I bought this book for my husband for Christmas. He absolutely loved it, it was the hit of Christmas Day. The trivia-quiz style is well organized - it is fun to quiz yourself on your favorite shows and to learn new facts about other shows. And the trivia is really cool and interesting. "What a cool book!" was repeated several times.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves TV, especially those of us who watch too much of it!!

Entertaining and fun read for the family
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-03
What a fun book to read. Not only did it bring back memories, it prompted conversations with our children about all the old shows. It was a great conversation starter and made our family trip this Thanksgiving a lot of fun.

It will be my gift of choice to give family and friends this year.

Should Be a Board Game!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-28
So you think you know TV huh? Well don't be so sure of yourself until you read the fun new television trivia book "You Watch Too Much TV" by newcomer Ken Kessler. Within the pages you'll find 50 chapters of TV trivia that spans over multiple generations from the early black and white days to the the latest fad-Reality TV. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of American Idol or Love American Style. There's something in this book from everyone.

Sure TV trivia books may come and go but what makes this book unique is the way it is categorized. While lots of TV trivia books focus on certain eras, this book divides each chapter by categories such as TV theme songs, single parent-themed shows, and even cop shows. What character on Gilligan's Island is named in the theme song besides Gilligan? Who played Cagney in the pilot episode of Cagney and Lacey? What was Eddie's father's name on The Courtship of Eddie's Father? Don't know? It doesn't matter. You'll have fun learning.

The only flaw with this book is the fact that it expands across so many generations of television that some people may feel left out. After all, there are people who never even heard of My Favorite Martian, Bonanza, or even Fear Factor. Still with this minor distraction it will still be difficult to put this well researched book down. In fact, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the board game. Pick it up, gather the family around and just have fun with this book. This one is definitely a winner.

Television
The Zenith Trans-Oceanic, the Royalty of Radios: The Royalty of Radios (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
Published in Paperback by Schiffer Publishing (1995-03)
Authors: John H. Bryant and Harold N. Cones
List price: $24.95
New price: $144.99
Used price: $44.56

Average review score:

A MUST for the Trans-Oceanic collector!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-14
If you're a Trans-Oceanic aficionado like myself, you need this book! These sets command a mystique like no other and this book is an excellent tribute to these outstanding receivers.

Tough to put down
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-03
As a collector of Trans-Oceanics, I found this to be the best book I have read in awhile. Couldn't put it down.

The book covers several areas: the history of the Trans-Oceanics, details of the various models, restoration and repair information, and accessories.

The history information is well worth reading, and told me a lot I didn't know about the radios.

The repair/restoration sections are excellent, whether you are experienced with electronics or not.

I would say this book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in Trans-Oceanics

Invaluable, Entertaining, Scholarly
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-07
This is easily the best written book for collectors that I've read. Not only are its 160 magazine-sized pages thorough and exhaustive in their presentation of history, key personalities, and technical data, but the book is thoughtfully structured to be as useful as a reference as it is an entertaining read. A wealth of pictures, many in color, come from ads, from Zenith archives, and from individual collections.

The book places the genesis and subsequent evolution of the TO clearly in historical context and explains the impact of the TO on the commercial development and acceptance of the portable radio. The authors provide practical advice for collectors, even citing restoration techniques and specific restoration products used by museums.

Especially gratifying is the use of endnotes that provide sources of historical information. More than just references, the endnotes contain enough interesting anecdotal data that you'll find yourself reading them in their entirety when you finish the main text.

If you are interested in the history of radio for any reason, you won't go wrong with this fascinating, authoritative work. I expect that it has already significantly increased interest in the collecting of Trans-Oceanics.

A must have authority for all Zenith Trans-Oceanic owners.
Helpful Votes: 19 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 1997-11-09
I recently acquired a 1956-57 model Y600 at a flea market. The Zenith Trans-Oceanic is clearly in a class by itself and I wanted to learn as much about the history of this model as possible. What a pleasant surprise when I received "The Zenith Trans-Oceanic, The Royalty of Radios" and found it to be extremely well documented, highly entertaining and it even includes a restoration guideline section. The print quality is first class with all the historical photographs of related personages and reproduction of Trans-Oceanic advertisements that a reader could want. The writing style is both scholarly and entertaining. In short this book has provided significant additional pleasure in owning, restoring and listening to a radio worthly of being known as a historical benchmark in radio history. Thanks to Amazon Books the finding and acquiring this book was made easy!

An excellent source-book for Trans-Oceanic Collectors.
Helpful Votes: 27 out of 27 total.
Review Date: 1997-01-12
Whenever radio-guys assemble to swap tales of great radios one name stands above the rest - the Zenith Trans-Oceanic. Considered the radio for listening to the world, Trans-Oceanic portables were one of the finest engineered and designed products made in America. I learned of the magic of the Trans-Oceanic from my foster Dad, who carried one (the R520\URR military version) in Korea. He told me it was the most reliable radio he had ever seen. A few years later I bought a 600 series and discovered for myself the joys of short-wave listening. I carried that Zenith from the States to Europe where, two years later, I bought a Royal 3000-1 which went back to the States and then on to Southeast Asia. The Zenith Trans-Oceanic - The Royalty of Radios, is one of the finest collector books I have ever seen. The author's spent more than two years researching the Zenith archives to bring this book to life. Page after page of beautifully produced color, combined with black and white photographs show each model inside and out, along with original magazine ads presented in their original format. Information covering the origin of the Trans-Oceanic and model changes through the years make for interesting reading. Also included are repair hints, as well as collecting information. The section on original cost compared to 1996 dollars demonstrates how expensive these sets were when new. The original Trans-Oceanic sold for $75 in 1942, which translates to $695 today. The most astounding price was on the first transistorized model, the 1000-D, introduced in 1958 at a 1996 price of over $1400! This is a book for anyone interested in the history of one of the finest products ever produced in the United States - the Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio. The authors, publisher and printer deserve a thank you for producing this fine volume. by Bob Moore The Roving Editor

Television
1000 Clowns : More or Less
Published in Hardcover by Taschen (2004-12-02)
Author: H. Thomas Steele
List price: $24.99
New price: $19.98
Used price: $15.90

Average review score:

1000 Clowns : More or Less
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-28
Brilliant. Easy and fast transaction. hope we can do business again.

"The Fool Is The Mask The Wise Man Wears"
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-11
Jim Heimann and H. Thomas Steele's definitive 1000 Clowns: More or Less: A Visual History of the American Clown (2004) offers abundant evidence that professional clowning may represent the ultimate in alternative lifestyles.

Though playful behavior is, of course, found in some higher animals, the human activity of professional clowning is always a highly artificial process enacted within a specifically structured framework, thus making the clown a legitimate, knowing, and complexly-organized insider who nonetheless often essays the role of eternal outsider.

Clowns are 'betwixt and between' liminal creations whose behavior simultaneously reflects experience and innocence, callousness and sensitivity, seductiveness and repulsion, sincerity and deception. Whether performing in the center spotlight or merely acting as a diversion for another act, the clown is always on stage and constantly negotiating the space between the objective world of his audience and his own very private channels of perception, spontaneity, insight, and response. The truly successful clown becomes an autonomous personage, a "demigod of the sawdust" who subtly persuades his audience to forget the unknown human factor beneath the facade.

The gorgeous visuals in 1000 Clowns--which are categorized under "Photography," "Film & Television," "Paintings," "Graphics," "America's Clowns," and "Clowns In Movies"--underscore the fact that those clowns that appear bizarre, repulsive, and grotesque, such as those that appear on pages 114-116, are typically those with badly designed or haphazardly applied makeup. The stronger the design, artifice, and illusion, the more attractive and desirable the clown; some historical examples presented here include Lou Jacobs, Harry Dann, Felix Adler, Emmett Kelley, "Chucko the Birthday Clown," and baby boomer favorite Bozo.

1000 Clowns wisely focuses on the classic high period of the American circus, which, uncoincidentally, also coincided with the high point of Twentieth Century American culture.

"Clowns work as well as Aspirin, but twice as fast" Groucho Marx
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-23
This book gives a very good sample of the clowns' wide appearance in America and art in general. The author writes one or two pages (in English, German, and French) about each of the topics of the book, including: Photography, Film & Television, Paintings, Graphics, America's Clowns, Clowns in Movies, and Clown Code of Ethics. The author's view is very interesting and unique, and the pieces chosen to appear in the book are wonderful. An excellent book on the subject. See below a quote from the introduction.

"Those with curious minds seek to decipher the soul that inhabits the body of the clown behind the facade of grotesque face makeup and colorfully outlandish costume. In equal parts comedy and tragedy, joy and pathos, practical joker and devilish prankster, the clown has long been a fixture, both embraced and feared, in American entertainment."

Great visual history!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-10
This book came out of left field for me, usually I keep abreast with current clown and/or circus offerings. But the pictures, photo's and images relating to clowns in America is well worth the price.

The author has done a wonderful job gathering a vast number of clown images from circus, film,TV and advertising to create a collection ranging from well-know circus legends like lou Jacobs and Emmett Kelly to TV clowns like Milton Berle and Red Skelton to obscure and unknown clown performers. The sections on clowns in media contain great retro grafics and a diverse number of related clown imagery.

The only downside would be the lack of ID on some of the circus clowns, and the inclusion of the clown creed, which seems unrelated to the images or the art form.

I'm looking foward to a second volume.

Television
101 Dalmatians (Little Golden Book)
Published in Hardcover by Golden/Disney (2007-12-26)
Author: Justine Korman
List price: $2.99
New price: $0.50
Used price: $0.39

Average review score:

101 DALMATION BOOK
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-10
this book was brand new, my granddaughter loves it as her old book has fallen apart from reading it so much. it arrived in record time, before i even thought "when will that book arrive?"

101 Dalmatians
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-23
Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians is a very good book. Its about 15 puppies that get kidnapped by a cruel Cruella Di Vil. They are tooken to her mansion where there were a lot more dalmatians. They then go through a lot of trouble getting home. I think that any age of kids would like this book. I really like how Pongo and Perdita save there kids. I think that this book teaches kids that if they steal that bad things will happen.

Great adaption of the movie, beautifully illustrated!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-08
This beautiful book is a full color adaptation from the disney movie of the same name. The illustrations captured my child's attention and made for great story time. Timeless tale of good vs. evil. A great read for any generation!

101 Dalmatians
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-22
Well i think that this book was GREAT it takes me back to 4th grade were this would have been my favorite book becaues it as exitment and love.It just was a wounderful story and i see why they make more of theses not alone dose it show right from wronge but it tell you about how the family love the doge weather there where 13 dogs or 101 dogs it was great!

Television
The 12 O'Clock High Logbook
Published in Paperback by BearManor Media (2005-09-30)
Authors: Allan T. Duffin and Paul Matheis
List price: $29.95
New price: $26.96
Used price: $27.34

Average review score:

Great Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-26
This is a really neat book. I like the way it has been set up and the information included as well as the order in which it was laid out. Very nice. My only complaint is the darknest of some of the photos. I do believe the publisher surely could have done better than that.

A Unique and Informative Book
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-09
An amazingly detailed analysis of EVERY version of 12 O'CLOCK HIGH. Whether or not you are a fan of the book, the movie or the TV series, this is a fascinating and informative look at how a single "property" was exploited across three different mediums. Just the section on the TV series is worth the purchase price for the inside glimpse at how the show was developed and produced, from pilot to cancellation. A must-read for students of television and the entertainment industry.

Definitive Guide to a Classic Novel/Movie/TV Show!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-10
"Twelve O'Clock High" is that rara avis -a bestselling novel turned into a hit movie turned into a successful TV series. This exhaustively researched, comprehensive and well-written book is what every fan of the book/movie/series was waiting for!

Written by two 8th Air Force veterans, "Twelve O'Clock High" the novel followed the trials and tribulations of General Frank Savage, a tough-as-nails commander, as he labored to salvage a demoralized Bomb Group that has suffered heavy losses to the Luftwaffe. Savage is successful in his efforts but at a great personal cost. In 1949 the novel became an Academy Award winning box office hit starring Gregory Peck. Frankly I have always enjoyed the movie more than the novel because it sliced away anything not related to Savage's struggle, turning it into a lean, mean chronicle of men at war. Then, in 1964, ABC and Quinn Martin Productions created a one-hour series starring Robert Lansing as General Savage. I rate Lansing's portrayal of Savage as THE BEST on film. Make no mistake about it; Lansing was MAGNIFICENT! A gifted actor, he turned Savage into a multi-dimensional, living, breathing, fascinating human being. Like many others I was appalled when ABC/Quinn Martin replaced Lansing with Paul Burke in season two. Burke simply wasn't the actor Lansing was and the series went down in flames after season three.

Duffin and Matheis' book chronicles the whole history of the "Twelve O'Clock High" saga, from the real-life World War II events and personalities that Beirne Lay and Sy Bartlett used to create the novel to the final episode of the TV show and what happened to the principals afterwards.

The depth of research is truly impressive; the book's bibliography alone runs to 23 pages. It's just a shame that Peck, Dean Jagger, Lansing, Frank Overton and others weren't alive when Duffin began his research. The book is illustrated with dozens of rare photos and, again, it's a shame the publisher, BearManor Media, didn't use the better quality paper such a quality manuscript deserved.

Whether you enjoyed the novel, movie or TV series - or all three - if you are a "Twelve O'Clock High" fan, you will want to buy this book! It is the definitive work on the subject and a good read as well. Highly recommended!



Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About 12 O'clock High - The Movie, Book, and TV Series!
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-29
You cannot classify this book as a real history book or even a work of non-fiction or a novel but it is about a novel and a little about the actual war and also about a movie and a TV series. I can say this much, it is a hoot to read. It was fun and entertaining. "12 O'clock High Logbook" has lots of insider information and background on the whole "history" of that beloved TV series and so much more.

This well researched book has many great posters, photos and tons of trivia about the whole 12 O'clock phenomenon. A true fan of the old TV show could not ask for anything better. I remember watching episodes of the old TV series while in Vietnam on the old Armed Forces TV station along with old reruns of "Combat." It was strange how enjoyable seeing these old shows where to those of us those were flying daily into our own combat missions.

If you are looking for something fun to read about WWII aviation exploits then this is your book! The author takes us through the whole history of 12 O'clock High from the original novel to the 1949 movie with Gregory Peck and eventually to the three year long TV series. This is good entertainment by any measurement--well worth buying and reading!

Television
1900 House
Published in Paperback by Channel 4 Book (2000-01-01)
Author: Mark McCrum
List price: $19.95
Used price: $19.46

Average review score:

Lovely, informative, evocative, the 1900 House...
Helpful Votes: 17 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-20
This lush book should do more than grace your coffee table. It is a magnificent companion to the PBS "reality" tv show. In a departure from the self-consciousness of the genre, this project was undertaken very seriously and turned out to be dynamic and enriching to all involved. The book supplements the program with a detailed history of the house and of turn-of-the-century society. More detail is given about the Bowler family's experiment in "time-travel", including "behind-the-scenes" tales and commentary that is by turns hilarious, moving, and sometimes, downright horrifying. (If you haven't seen the series, by all means buy the tapes)

The Bowler family is charming and intelligent -- a real family with flaws, but a lovable group of six who gamely and thoroughly threw themselves in this experiment. The book delves much more deeply into the gritty conditions lived, and the joyous lessons learned. (we also find how the "the shampoo dilemma" was resolved!). More is told of Joyce Bowler's ambivalence in being a "lady of the house" and how the emotional experience enlightened and edified her -- and affected her for life.

She wants to go back, and so will you -- and you can, through this hefty, glossy, handsome book.

Very interesting, doesn't completely follow along with book
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-24
It's been months since I've seen the program on PBS but I found this book to be very interesting and filled with detail. My complaint, minor, is that with the inevitable editing of material required by compressing three months of material into a small book or a few hours of video something is often lost. Some details in the program aren't even mentioned in the book and vice versa. I'm still waiting on my copy of the video, apparently it's on a long backorder, but I'd say get both because they make a fascinating combination.

A very interesting experiment.
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-17
I revisted this book very recently, it chronicles the tale of a 20th century British Family trying to live live life as it was lived a the end of 19th century. A good proportion of Britains housing stock hails from the Victorian to pre WW2 periods, so it was not difficult to find a house suitable to be transported back in time. The family had a real struggle with all aspects of daily life, cooking, cleaning, entertainment, peronal hygiene and worst of all for the females, the clothes (moreover the loathed and dreaded corset!). A marvellous historical resource for children, particularly if you can get hold of the TV documentry as well. It was originaly shown on Channel 4 in Britian to mark the the millenium. I am pretty sure Amazon uk has it on DVD, for the intersted.

THIS BOOK EMBODY A 1999 FAMILY, TIME TRAVELING TO 1900
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-02
Do you remember seeing this series on PBS earlier this year? This book is a conjuction to this series, but this series was orginally from England and the book too. The book embody a 1999 family, time traveling to the spring of 1900 to live three months as victorians. It's takes place in the south-east part of London, near the millenium dome. The book starts out with the history of late victorian britain and a timeline of 1900 in England. Then, you will read about how they started this project and etc. This book was a great read for me because I learned more than I learned watching this series or in history. This is a great read for anyone, I mean anyone.

Television
About Time 1: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who - Seasons 1 to 3 (About Time Series) (About Time Series)
Published in Paperback by Mad Norwegian Press (2006-02-10)
Authors: Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles
List price: $19.95
New price: $13.57
Used price: $13.53

Average review score:

The COMPLETE Dr. Who
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-28
They said complete and they mean complete. This is not a book for the novice. This is a highly comprehensive look at each episode, from the Unearthly Child and onwards. Each episode is examined for it's own issues, then looked at in how it fits the series, and how it fits the culture of the day. It's so detailed, this book only makes it through the first three seasons and there are a total of seven books covering the orignial series and I'm guessing we'll get the new series soon (he does mention the 2005 season).

If you are a detail junky, this is the book for you. The cross referencing of the culture of the day, BBC politics, actors issues, development of the story and so forth are facinating. It's kept me turning pages and running to order the next installment. It's a definite must for the hard core fan.

A great history...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-05
not only of the start of a great show, but also details British television history and pop culture to put it into a larger context. Sometimes academic, sometimes fanwankish, but never tiresomely pedantic or boring. Can't wait to pick up the next volumes.

Detailed
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-25
Lawrence and Tat continue their absolutely exhaustive review of the whole of Doctor Who. Yet again ther eis more information than you can shake a stick at. This time we explore the Hartnell era with emphasis on the cultural and political landscape at the time. Essential for the serious fan

Nearly definitive, practically essential
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-04
The "About Time" books are kind of like TV's Dr. Gregory House. He's smug, rude, disdainful, and in general a colossal pain the butt. On the other hand, he's RIGHT so much of the time, and just so darned interesting to be around that you just can't tell him to stuff it and leave. These books are the same way. "About Time 1" is the first volume of the series in terms of content, but the fourth to be published, and the weirdly two-faced attitude the authors have displayed since the beginning continues to assert itself pretty forcefully. They regularly take what can only be described as "potshots" at both the show itself and the show's fans. Almost every positive comment about one of the stories covered in this book is accompanied by a despairing, off-handed lament about how much worse the show became later on. Wood and Miles also frequently ridicule various examples of silly and/or obsessive fan behavior. Yet even while they're spending so much time slagging off both their subject matter and their intended audience, by creating such an exhaustive and erudite examination of "Doctor Who," they're implicitly showing both show and fans a substantial amount of respect.

And authorial biases aside, the books just keep getting better. Either by accident or by design, each successive volume seems to go deeper in its analyses, to be more insightful and, thus, more entertaining than the one before. "About Time 1" deals with the first three seasons of the show, from its 1963 inception to the 1966 story "The War Machines," so in this volume we get a hugely enlightening look at the cultural and technological environment in which the show was born and the various societal and literary contexts that informed each story. As an American born in the early 1970s, these informative "Where Does This Come From?" subsections were unfailingly interesting. We also get two dozen new sidebar essays explaining various tangential matters in great depth; some are literary, such as "What Kind of Future Did We Expect?"; some are somewhat scientific, such as "What Makes the TARDIS Work?", which touches on some rudimentary quantum physics; and some are metatextual, such as "What Are These Stories REALLY Called?"

So if you are anything more than a casual fan of "Doctor Who," I would honestly say that you owe it to yourself to own, or at least read, these books. Regardless of the aforementioned problems, when all is said and done I think the "About Time" series will stand as the definitive analysis of TV's longest-running sci-fi program. Like Dr. House, its personal shortcomings won't be able to disguise the fact that it's simply unbeatable in its chosen field.

Television
Absolutely Fabulous 2
Published in Paperback by Pocket Books (1996-09)
Author: Jennifer Saunders
List price: $12.00
New price: $4.99
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Jennifer Saunders has done it again...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-22
Another great book added to my collection.When I was reading this book,i kept thinking back to when I was watching the episodes and I laughed a lot.It all made a little bit more sense to me,(Im not all that good when it comes to understanding everything that they say)This book is a MUST HAVE for any AbFab fan!

One of the funniest books I have ever read
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-09
Having seen most of the episodes that are in script form in the book, it was really hilarious to read them and think back on the episode. Five+stars for this one!!!!!!!!

AbFab is Funny!!!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1998-11-18
Jennifer Saunders is one of the world's greatest comedy writers. If you are serious about comedy then you need to see Jennifer's show, "Absolutely Fabulous" on Comedy Central Cable TV. Airs on Saturday afternoon 4p.m. (Pacific time). This comedy was so succesful the American Networks rejected it for being "too funny!" Go figure. In any case, if you want to learn some great comedy buy this book, and watch the TV shows. You can also purchase Jennifer's movie, "The Last Shout" and her TV episodes. Jennifer Saunders is top notch professional comedy to the utmost. James Russell/California.

The best ABFAB episodes ever!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-28
Buy this book-PLEASE! Do everything you can to get your little hands on it. You will not regret your purchase. J. Saunders is a comedic genius. She writes with the talent and craft that all comedians-turned-tv stars in the US dream they could posess. No comedian--not Jerry Seinfeld, Rosanne Barr, Jim Carrey--can write anything remotely as entertaining, funny, and completely fresh as Saunders. Not even Friends is this funny--and I enjoy that show.

No American sitcom can touch the level of orginality, spunk, finese, and energy of this British television show. In fact, 90% of the things done and said on this show are not permitted on American television (save the cable channel Comedy Central) because the show would be so funny (in comparison to all other US sitcoms) that it would expose the Grand Canyon-esque gap between it's sublime quality and the bloody mess that is American sitcoms.

(If you do not believe me, that US shows have become, well, redundant bird droppings, just watch any show starring a one-time-stand up-comic and see if they don't do the "I killed/lost your pet and bought a new one that looks exactly the same to fool you" number). Pure, uninspiring wishy-washy tv. I'm 24 and I swear that I have been watching the same show over and over again, no matter who they get to star in it or try hide this fact under a new series name. Sounds like you? Enter . . . Abosultely Fabulous.

Absolutely Fabulous 2 is truly beyond hilarious. My gosh! I do not know how J. Saunders and J. Lumley are able to transform mere words on a page to the masterfully acted characters of Edina and Pasty that they inhabit on screen.

I will never grow tired of reading or watching these episodes. Although this collection lacks the episode "France" which is also another favorite, the book features the scripts for the best ABFAB episodes ever. I am talking "Poor" "Morocco" and "Hospital"--they are the series finest and showcase Eddie and Pats at their best.

Buy and read this book while watching the corresponding episodes to see what I am talking about. You will not be disappointed unless you were expecting God to appear--oh, wait, that happens, (in Absolutely Fabulous the Last Shout which is absolutely required watching). Bye, Sweetie Darlings.

Television
Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City (Music in American Life)
Published in Hardcover by University of Illinois Press (2007-11-05)
Author: Craig Havighurst
List price: $29.95
New price: $17.99
Used price: $15.75

Average review score:

An pleasure to read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-12
This book is a fascinating, engaging read. It feels more like a great story than a history book, but is a really interesting insight into the beginnings of WSM, the early history of radio, country music, the Opry, the start of many a famous name in broadcasting, and Nashville itself. Thoroughly enjoyable, I would recommend this to every reader I know.

Well Done!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-08
Havighurst has compiled a tremendous amount of information on this subject into a story which comes to life. I can't imagine any one writing a more definitive work on WSM and that era. He has succeeded, for this reader, into making WSM a living, breathing character unto itself within this story. I'm not even a huge country music fan but no matter, Havighurst's storytelling style and obvious passion for telling this story won me over early on. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. He made me feel as if I was right there in the early days of radio, watching and listening as all the early pioneers of the industry shaped the airwaves. Great read for anyone interested in how radio began and evolved and it's impact on not only country music but the world as well.

Clear Channel Illuminations
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-28
I believe Air Castle of the South is an important book, in that it goes far beyond the history of a musical genre. It sheds light on the mindset of those who first dabbled in a revolutionary new medium. The innocence, curiosity, and zeal of some of radio's brilliantly naive pioneers is painstakingly recorded, as is their evolution from enthusiastic hobbyists to full time broadcasters. But this accessible read is not just a nostalgic indulgence. It's full of insights for the era-changing times we are in now, where the Internet is opening new doors of opportunity for those willing to rethink the why, the what, and the how. As a performing artist who came up through the ranks playing on country music radio shows, including the Opry, Air Castle rekindled my affection for the charm and simplicity of those shows. As someone who grew up listening to a transistor radio in bed late at night with an earphone, it renewed my love of the medium of sound; where the absence of force-fed visual images allows one's imagination to create them in the theater of the mind. Thank you, Craig Havighurst, for this invaluable work. It is clearly a labor of love.

Bravo "Air Castle!"
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-24
Just finished Craig Havighurst's magnificent history of WSM. It's a read that you hate to see come to an end.

What a GREAT station WSM was in its golden age which extended into the TV era while other stations of its size threw in the towel and got rid of its live musicians and the stuff that made bigtime radio great.

The book comes to a sad ending--the rash sacking of TNN and Opryland--and I kinda felt like I was finishing the final pages of "Gone With the Wind."

Anybody with an interest in Bluegrass, Country, Nashville, big time radio, the Ryman and/or the roots of country music and broadcasting has to read this book.




Television
ALIAS 2006 WALL
Published in Calendar by Andrews McMeel Publishing (2005-08-01)
Authors: LLC Andrews McMeel Publishing and Hyperion
List price: $12.99

Average review score:

for the whole year
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-25
This calendar is awesome !! There are 12 pages with Alias stars and it is perfect for the walls. If you love ALIAS you should get this ASAP..

A MUST for all Alias fans!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-24
This calender has GREAT pics from season 4! If you are truely an Alias fan you should deff have this hanging on your wall. I love the pictures and its so exciting to see who it will be for each month =)

It's Alias. It's a Calendar. It's the Alias Calendar ;)
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-16
I am not going to go into explicit detail on so simplistic an item.

The actual day-to-day calendar aspect of this product is typical for wall-mounted calendars. The pictures this time are a little fresher, and there are more of them, which is a good thing. Nearly every shot is a promo shot from Season 4 (of course) and while I could wish for some perhaps more original stances and poses, if you're an Alias fan, it's always nice to see one of your favorite cast members when you need to check the date or your plans for the month. A smallish version of the photos is up on this site, so you can tell what you're getting before you buy.

Only fans would get a kick out of this, but if you're a fan, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Sydney and the rest of the "Alias" gang ready for the show's final season
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-17
What is great about the "Alias: 2006 Wall Calendar" is that it really is an "Alias" calendar and not a Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow calendar. After the month of January, which features a head shot of Garner as Sydney as the main photograph, with three candid shots of Sydney in disguise and one of her with Michael Vaughn, the star of the show never gets another photograph as big in the rest of the entire calendar. Yes, there are more pictures of Jennifer Garner than anybody else in the calendar, but the rest of the cast members in the ensemble each get their own pages (as a point of contrast and comparison, "The Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2006 Wall Calendar" has five pages for Buffy and only three other cast members get a month to call their own).

To name names the others getting the one big and four small shots are Ron Rifkin as Arvin Sloane, Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn, Carl Lumbly as Marcus Dixon, Kevin Weisman as Marshall Flinkman, Greg Grunberg as Eric Weiss, Mia Maestro as Nadia Santos, and Victor Garber as Jack Bristow. If there are interesting shots of any of the characters undercover (e.g., Marcus Dixon doing his island guy routine) those are usually included in the candid shots. But I also want to note that for most of these shots the actors certainly look like they are in character, which is a nice touch. As a result, this is one of the better calendars for a television show that is out there this holiday season.

The calendar part of the calendar gives you the phases of the moon and national holidays. If you actually want to write things down on the calendar to remember appointments, birthdays and the date of the final episode of "Alias." The show will end in 2006 but the calendars should continue for a while as a retrospective for the show. That is already true for the 2006 version given that Vaughn is dead, Nadia is in a coma, and Weiss has a new day job (not that death, lack of consciousness or new employment has prohibited any of the characters from appearing in episodes this last season). But when ABC started playing around which where "Alias" was in the schedule I figured it was going to be the end of the road for the series.


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