What TV series should have a making of book? (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

If you like a new theatrical movie, you just wait about six weeks and then you watch it again at home. If you like a new TV episode, you can play it again the moment it ends.

The gap that the novelization used to fill basically doesn’t exist anymore.

Yep. And that makes it even wilder that the last four Star Wars novelizations didn't come out until around the time of the home video releases. Part of that has to do with the authors not having enough time to write a book once they're given access to the script & filmmakers, part of it has to do with deliberately not syncing it to the theatrical release because of fear of the entire movie leaking before its released, and part of that is the insanity of Star Wars fans (like myself) to still even buy novelizations.

 

[jcroy]

Yeah, the movie novelization is basically dead except that Star Wars movies can still be counted on to get a novelization. And I have to point out that Quentin Tarantino did just rewrite Once Upon A Time In Hollywood as a novel and it's #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list but that's obviously an anomaly and not a sign of a rebirth of the novelization.

One of the big reasons why I prefer to read the Star Wars movie novelizations, is that I always had a hard time remembering anything after watching a movie at the theater. I have this strange "memory blackout" when it comes to watching live shows/concerts/plays or movies at a theater.

Even when I purchase and watch a movie on dvd/bluray (such as the Disney era Star Wars films), in practice I've found that I have to watch it more than 3 or 5 times in order to remember much of anything. This is the same reason why I watch then-current episodes of some shows, as many as 10+ times during the week(s) between new episodes.


In contrast when I'm reading a book such as a Star Wars movie novelization, I've found that I can remember things in a clear manner after reading the book once.

 

[jcroy]

In a very weird roundabout manner, reading a movie novelization book over a few days was actually a much more efficient use of my time/effort than watching the same movie over 3 or 5 times in order to remember enough details.

 

[JamesSmith]

Movie novelizations were easy to read and entertaining. Sometimes the writers knew exactly what details to add to the film. GI Joe and the original Tron were my favorites. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was interesting because there was a plot development that went against the novelizer's convictions. Interesting, that.
===jthree

 

[LouA]

What happened to the discussion of TV -Show related books?

 

[jcroy]

Or like the Star Trek fotonovels....if those had existed for every show or film I liked I would have snapped them up.

Back in the day, I always wanted the Battlestar Galactica fotonovel. Though for some reason, I never came across it at the time. (As I got older, I lost interest in fotonovels).

Battlestar Galactica: The Photostory

Battlestar Galactica: The Photostory is a "photo-adventure" based on the Original Series' premiere, "Saga of a Star World".

en.battlestarwiki.org

The only fotonovel I had, was a "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" one. If I had come across the Star Trek ones in those days, I would have picked them up. But alas I never came across them at the time, and lost interest in them as I got older.

 

[JamesSmith]

Maybe there should be another collection on one season wonders. There's already been a book or two on some excellent forgotten short lived series (sorry I can't remember the name right now). Maybe some other writers should do some.
--jthree

 

[LouA]

Maybe there should be another collection on one season wonders. There's already been a book or two on some excellent forgotten short lived series (sorry I can't remember the name right now). Maybe some other writers should do some.
--jthree

Makes sense, since those one season shows usually are the ones with the least information available on them .

 

[jcroy]

One type of book which could interest me, would be something which compiles a lot of behind-the-scene details of short-lived sci-fi tv shows over the 20th century, which were not widely documented previously.


Basically stuff which is not star trek + roddenberry, outer limits, twilight zone, battlestar galactica + larson, babylon 5, irwin allen, doctor who, etc ....

U.S. television science fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[LouA]

I would have thought that a comprehensive guide to the Johnny Carson Tonight Show would have been published long ago.

 

[LouA]

I noticed that SOAP the satirical sitcom has a book!

 

[LouA]

I noticed that SOAP the satirical sitcom has a book!

Temple Houston, Time Tunnel, Carol Burnette Show, Lawman , Alias Smith And Jones: all those shows have books .
Bottom line: any show CAN have a book if someone cares enough to write it!!

 

[JamesSmith]

The Farmer's Daughter, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, The Governor and P.J., My World and Welcome to It, The fifties black and white anthology dramas, The Chrysler Theater starring Bob Hope, The Loretta Young Show, etc.

Any English Major can pick one, and start his or her project,

--jthree

 

[jcroy]

Temple Houston, Time Tunnel, Carol Burnette Show, Lawman , Alias Smith And Jones: all those shows have books .
Bottom line: any show CAN have a book if someone cares enough to write it!!

Especially if a (hypothetical) book is unauthorized and/or unlicensed, without violating any copyrights, trademarks, etc ..... (ie. No need to pay additional royalties).

Self-publishing is very easy nowadays via print-on-demand services on amazon, lulu, etc ....

 

[jcroy]

For example, back in the day there were plenty of unauthorized / unlicensed books about the X-Files. Most of them went out-of-print quite quickly.

 

[ScottRE]

I want a book about the making of T.J. Hooker. Almost nobody seems to talk about the show and I'd love to know the ins and outs of it. V: The Series also seems to get lost in the shadow of the mini series.

Other shows;

Logan's Run
The Immortal
The A-Team
Airwolf
SeaQuest

A lot of my favorite shows have books written about their making, but sadly most are out of print or just terrible.

I would love to see well-researched and fact checked books on

I Dream of Jeannie
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
I'd love to read a book focusing on each Irwin Allen TV series written by Jeff Bond. He did an amazing overview which I got more out of than all of the Marc Cushman books combined.

A lot of the books I have are written by fan authors who spend most of the page count on opinions and comparisons to other shows. Sadly, it's getting more and more difficult to put these things together as time goes on and those involved pass away.

 

[jcroy]

A lot of the books I have are written by fan authors who spend most of the page count on opinions and comparisons to other shows.

This type ^ of book would be doa nowadays, if it is not published as an academic research study.

Nowadays it is very easy to find opinion/analysis for many tv shows online.

 

[jcroy]

Yep. And that makes it even wilder that the last four Star Wars novelizations didn't come out until around the time of the home video releases. Part of that has to do with the authors not having enough time to write a book once they're given access to the script & filmmakers, part of it has to do with deliberately not syncing it to the theatrical release because of fear of the entire movie leaking before its released, and part of that is the insanity of Star Wars fans (like myself) to still even buy novelizations.

Earlier this week when I was doing my weekly grocery shopping, I also dropped by a nearby bigbox bookstore and decided to pick up the sequel trilogy (force awakens, last jedi, rise of skywalker) and solo novelizations books. It turned out the books were a few dollars less than buying the blurays (though not by much) at the wallymart next door to the bookstore. (I haven't went to any offline bookstores since last year).

Over the past few years, I have watched Solo and The Last Jedi on network/cable channels broadcasts, but I hardly remember much from these two films. (I haven't seen The Rise of Skywalker yet). I have watched The Force Awakens and Rogue One many times after purchasing the blurays, though not recently. I remember The Force Awakens somewhat clearer than Rogue One.

For now, I didn't buy the Rogue One novelization. From various reviews, the Force Awakens and Rogue One novelizations sound like they were mostly written closely to the final film scripts. The reviews of the subsequent film novelization books, suggests there are more details than the film scripts.

 

[his1]

I want a book about the making of T.J. Hooker. Almost nobody seems to talk about the show and I'd love to know the ins and outs of it. V: The Series also seems to get lost in the shadow of the mini series.

Other shows;

Logan's Run
The Immortal
The A-Team
Airwolf
SeaQuest

A lot of my favorite shows have books written about their making, but sadly most are out of print or just terrible.

I would love to see well-researched and fact checked books on

I Dream of Jeannie
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
I'd love to read a book focusing on each Irwin Allen TV series written by Jeff Bond. He did an amazing overview which I got more out of than all of the Marc Cushman books combined.

A lot of the books I have are written by fan authors who spend most of the page count on opinions and comparisons to other shows. Sadly, it's getting more and more difficult to put these things together as time goes on and those involved pass away.

I would like to write a book on The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room for Daddy as there's never been one. It was always in the top 10 or so and ran 11 seasons. I just sent a Tweet to Marlo to ask her interest. I tried contacting Angela Cartwright to no answer. I'm a self-proclaimed maven and was obsessed with it growing up!

 

[paste]

One type of book which could interest me, would be something which compiles a lot of behind-the-scene details of short-lived sci-fi tv shows over the 20th century, which were not widely documented previously.


Basically stuff which is not star trek + roddenberry, outer limits, twilight zone, battlestar galactica + larson, babylon 5, irwin allen, doctor who, etc ....

U.S. television science fiction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/science-fiction-television-series/

This is a great book that covers most of those shows from the late 50s to late 80s. Besides the episode guides, each show has a full chapter, usually with interview quotes from the people in front of and behind the camera.

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/science-fiction-television-series-1990-2004/

This is the follow up book that covers more recent sci-fi shows.