Classic TV show books (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

That's the one.

 

[ScottRE]

Anyone who thinks the Marc Cushman TOS: These Are The Voyages books are good resources, please read this blog; Star Trek Fact Check. You'll be surprised just how much of his statements are BS.

Just as a sampler, they debunk he assertion that Star Trek had great ratings.

http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-truth-about-star-trek-and-ratings.html

I was hugely disappointed in his inaccurate reporting and actual fictionalizing of events. Had he just transcribed memos and had some interlinking passages, these would be great. Being a HUGE Trek fan, I wanted real facts.

Sadly, he's the go-to for these sorts of things and he'd screwing around with the Irwin Allen shows now. His Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea book is especially lazy and an obviously padded cash grab. Caveat emptor.

 

[MatthewA]

One thing I just realized about Star Trek is that its last season on NBC was the only one Paramount Television actually produced after the studio bought Desilu from Lucille Ball. That one was also fans' least favorite season.

There was also an I Love Lucy book by Bart Andrews from 1985. Its description of the original pilot, which wouldn't be found or shown for another five years, turned out to be inaccurate once they actually found a film copy. It claimed Ricky Ricardo was originally named Larry Lopez. Nope.

 

[bmasters9]

Anyone who thinks the Marc Cushman TOS: These Are The Voyages books are good resources, please read this blog; Star Trek Fact Check. You'll be surprised just how much of his statements are BS.

I was originally going to get all the books by that name about O-R NBC Trek (had originally gotten second-season edition), but I think you saved me some good money that I would have veritably wasted!

 

[B-ROLL]

One thing I just realized about Star Trek is that its last season on NBC was the only one Paramount Television actually produced after the studio bought Desilu from Lucille Ball. That one was also fans' least favorite season.

There was also an I Love Lucy book by Bart Andrews from 1985. Its description of the original pilot, which wouldn't be found or shown for another five years, turned out to be inaccurate once they actually found a film copy. It claimed Ricky Ricardo was originally named Larry Lopez. Nope.

Both Mannix and Mission Impossible were Desilu shows that became Paramount Television after the Merger ...
as per this fine book ...

...
I also recommend

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I always liked TV-related books, especially those with episode guides (or at least lists if not full guides). As an 80s kid, I tried to make my own episode guides/lists based on the brief episode descriptions in TV Guide, but TVG rarely included episode titles. And if your local stations skipped episodes or showed them out of order in the syndication package, it meant you weren't likely to have a complete, accurate list, especially for long running shows. So when I started finding show-related books in the library and bookstores, it was great. While I enjoyed the interviews and photos, I especially loved finally having solid episode guides for shows I liked. Of course eventually the internet came along and every show you know and don't know has an episode guide or list if you want it, allowing for much easier reference purposes..

I own a few of the books already mentioned here, including The Twilight Zone Companion, The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, and a hardback copy of The Columbo Phile: A Casebook.

Here are some of the other TV books I've owned and would recommend:
What's My Line?: TV's Most Famous Panel Show from 1978.

Archie & Edith, Mike & Gloria: The Tumultuous History of All in the Family from 1988.

Gunsmoke: A Complete History, a huge 800+ page hardcover from 1990.

America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati from 1993.

Lou Grant: The Making of TV's Top Newspaper Drama from 1996.

Booking Hawaii Five-O from 1997.

Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour from 1998.

A Reference Guide to Television's Bonanza from 2001.

The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion, a 600+ page book from 2001 that thoroughly covers both AHP and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

I've also owned some books that weren't about one specific show, including Alex McNeil's Total Television (80s version, which was huge and had a yellow cover).

Also, awhile back I got a book (on Kindle) from 2013 called Funny You Should Ask: Oral Histories of Classic Sitcom Storytellers, which has a lot of great stories.

Finally, while I never owned a copy, when I was away at college in the early to mid-90s, the local small-town library had a copy of a book I'd not seen before, The Complete Book of Dallas: Behind the Scenes at the World's Favorite Television Show. This hardcover was from 1986, so it was "complete" in covering discussion, photos, and episode summaries for the series through Season 9, which hadn't yet been classified as "the dream season". I checked that book out quite a few times back then. While another author eventually wrote a book in 2004 which was obviously more complete (I own a copy; it's good.), it would still be great to own a copy of that mid-80s book as well. (I'm sure there's a used copy on Amazon, but these days if I'm spending money on TV-related stuff, it's for shows on disc rather than books about the shows.)

​

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I was originally going to get all the books by that name about O-R NBC Trek (had originally gotten second-season edition), but I think you saved me some good money that I would have veritably wasted!

I would hardly consider Cushman's Trek books a waste of money (The Season Three volume alone is 736 pages, quite a lot of bang for your $25). No matter what, they are painstakingly detailed with a wealth of production information from not only Roddenberry and Justman's memos, but also interviews with many, many people involved in making the series, including actors (not only the main cast but supporting players), production crew, directors and writers, and offer an exhaustive look at the development and writing process for each episode. For me, the interviews alone are worth the purchase price.

Even the blogger Scott linked to above, "Trek Fact Checker," despite his many criticisms, in his review of the first edition of These Are the Voyages volume one, wrote that the book was "without a doubt the most detailed account of the making of Star Trek's first season that has ever been published. Including snippets of hundreds of production documents and interviews, These Are The Voyages offers Star Trek fans a wealth of new behind-the-scenes information."

http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-these-are-voyages-tos-season-one.html

And that was his view of the first edition of the book, not the revised edition which soon followed.
By all accounts, the first edition of the book had many proofreading and factual errors...the revised and updated edition, which I have, is purportedly a big improvement. Certainly some of Marc Cushman's assertions re: ratings and other internal politics between Roddenberry and the various studio personnel in the making of classic Trek are controversial and open to dispute. However, to discard this epic three-volume overview of Trek completely is, IMO, throwing out a very big baby with the bathwater.

If you have the second season volume already, Ben (which seems to be the case if I'm interpreting your post correctly), then I'd recommend you check the book out yourself, and make up your own mind on its relative quality. I can't speak to Cushman's Lost in Space or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea books, as I'm not interested in those series enough to have purchased said volumes, but I can attest that his I Spy book (written with Linda J. LaRosa) is excellent.

 

[Blimpoy06]

I would hardly consider Cushman's Trek books a waste of money

Totally agree. Reading the memos from Bob Justman alone is worth every penny spent on these books. This was the main interest for me. The errors made about what day was spent shooting what scene are very minor, and don't detract from the big picture of how the people making the show felt at the time. That's the big takeaway for me.

 

[bmasters9]

Finally, while I never owned a copy, when I was away at college in the early to mid-90s, the local small-town library had a copy of a book I'd not seen before, The Complete Book of Dallas: Behind the Scenes at the World's Favorite Television Show. This hardcover was from 1986, so it was "complete" in covering discussion, photos, and episode summaries for the series through Season 9, which hadn't yet been classified as "the dream season". I checked that book out quite a few times back then. While another author eventually wrote a book in 2004 which was obviously more complete (I own a copy; it's good.), it would still be great to own a copy of that mid-80s book as well. (I'm sure there's a used copy on Amazon, but these days if I'm spending money on TV-related stuff, it's for shows on disc rather than books about the shows.)

​

Was researching that on EBay just now, and although it only goes through the 9th go of O-R CBS Dallas (the show still being made at that time), it still looks like it has plenty for the money about the classic O-R CBS series. I think I'd like to have that one, and I'm sure I can find it on Amazon.

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

Another excellent reference book you want to check out, if you can find it, The Television Westerns Episode Guide: 1949-1996 by Harris M. Lentz, III. It's chock full of spelling errors, Guy Madison was erroneously listed as having played Zorro in the 1957-59 Disney-ABC series, when it was actually Guy Williams who played him, and MacKenzie's Raiders is left out of the book! Paid $97 to get that book from Captain Bijou in the late 90s!

 

[Bob Gu]

That Guy-Guy mix-up is almost understandable. The series listing before ZORRO, in the Lentz book, is ZANE GREY THEATER and the last episode listed guest starred Guy Madison. That episode was actually on yesterday morning on GRIT.

There are some good books on Disney's ZORRO:

ZORRO UNMASKED was published earlier, but it quotes much from the Dooley book which I guess the author had access to since her family owns the character. UNMASKED also covers the Duncan Regehr series and the cartoons.

I have not read the Dooley book in years, but I recall he had tremendous access to the Disney files and maybe original film ZORRO episodes. In his episode guide he even describes the scenes for next week and if they were punched up with more action clips from other episodes. The Dooley book is the one to get.

After reading the Guy Williams biography I could never watch BONANZA again. Hoss and Little Joe were not friendly to Guy.

There was a book on Universal Television. Just listing of series and movies with casts, , air times/ dates. No gossip. Intro by Roy Huggins.

 

[MatthewA]

I've also owned some books that weren't about one specific show, including Alex McNeil's Total Television (80s version, which was huge and had a yellow cover).​

I had two versions of that book. The first was the early 1990s edition with a blue cover that eventually got torn. After that, I upgraded to the new version with an orange cover around the turn of the century. In addition to that, I also had Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh's The Complete Guide to Prime-Time Network TV Shows. Each of them covered what the other didn't. Specifically, MacNeill's book covered exact dates of network changes and hiatuses while Brooks and Marsh's covered time slot changes. The former also had a list of TV specials through the years.

 

[ScottRE]

Even the blogger Scott linked to above, "Trek Fact Checker," despite his many criticisms, in his review of the first edition of These Are the Voyages volume one, wrote that the book was "without a doubt the most detailed account of the making of Star Trek's first season that has ever been published. Including snippets of hundreds of production documents and interviews, These Are The Voyages offers Star Trek fans a wealth of new behind-the-scenes information."

But he followed that immediately with

"Unfortunately, despite the author's years of diligent research, These Are The Voyages is a disappointing book, which is badly edited, clumsily written, and at times ethically dubious."

I have both editions of the first season book, the changes are minimal.

Totally agree. Reading the memos from Bob Justman alone is worth every penny spent on these books. This was the main interest for me. The errors made about what day was spent shooting what scene are very minor, and don't detract from the big picture of how the people making the show felt at the time. That's the big takeaway for me.

Hey, I bought them myself, even knowing they are filled with inaccuracies and guesswork because they have info that isn't found anywhere else. However, just know that he leaves out a lot of things in order to back up his own claims and he is an unreliable source of information. Take it all with a grain of salt. The Season 3 book, however many pages, is padded with interviews from people unconnected with the series (fans and filmmakers of Fan Films) . They have some historical value and are still better done than the Irwin Allen books (which are unnecessarily padded), but he even transcribes memos incorrectly. So unless he reproduces a copy of said memos (as Justman and Solow did a few times), I recommend not taking the man at his word.

 

[John Karras]

Just finished reading Steve Randisi's excellent new book on the history of The Merv Griffin Show:

 

[JohnHopper]

Espionage
Bowler Hats and Kinky Boots: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The Avengers by Michael Richardson
The Avengers Dossier: The Definitive Unauthorised Guide by Paul Cornell
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of a Television Classic by Jon Heitland
I Spy: A History and Episode Guide to the Groundbreaking Television Series by Marc Cushman
The Wild Wild West by Sue Kessler
The Mission Impossible Dossier by Patrick J. White

Science fiction/Horror/Fantasy
The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree
The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic by Martin Grams, Jr
A Dimension of Sound: Music in the Twilight Zone by Reba Wissner
Visions from Twilight Zone by Arlen Schumer
This is a Thriller by Alan Warren
The Outer Limits Companion by David J. Schow
We Will Control All That You Hear: The Outer Limits and the Aural Imagination by Reba Wissner
The Television Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who by David J. Howe, Stephen James Walker
About Time 3: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who (Seasons 7 to 11) by Tat Wood, et al
Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour by Scott Skelton
The Night Stalker Companion by Mark Dawidziak

Cop/Detective Story/Film Noir
Alfred Hitchcock Presents by Martin Grams, Jr
The Fugitive Recaptured : The 30th Anniversary Companion to a Television Classic by Ed Robertson

War
Combat! A Viewers Companion by Jo Davidsmeyer

Miscellaneous
Cult TV: The Golden Age of ITC by Robert Sellers
Quinn Martin, Producer: A Behind-the-Scenes History of QM Productions and Its Founder by Jonathan Etter
Who And Me: The Memoir of Barry Letts, Doctor Who Producer 1969-1974 by Barry Letts
Movies Made for Television: The Telefeature and the Mini-Series: 1964-1986 by Alvin H. Marill
The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: a loving tribute to the classic series by Michael Karol
Television Fright Films of the 1970's by David Deal
Unsold Television Pilots, Volume 1: 1955-1976 by Lee Goldberg

PS: I wish I had The Columbo Phile: A Casebook by Mark Dawidziak.

¶
¶ My wish has been fulfilled, on November 2019, they released a second edition of
¶ The Columbo Phile: A Casebook by Mark Dawidziak.
¶
¶ Columbo Phile 30th anniversary reprint available now!
https://columbophile.com/2019/11/27/columbo-phile-30th-anniversary-reprint-available-now/
¶ Order it at Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1948986124/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
¶

Oliver Nelson - The Greenhouse Jungle (1972)

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[Jeff Flugel]

Oh, yeah, saw this info elsewhere and was similarly excited...will order a copy pronto. Thanks for bringing it to people's attention here, John! Dawidziak's The Night Stalker Companion is excellent, so I expect he did a good job on this one...and it seems to have been revised and updated slightly (apparently the author added another 10,000 words to this new edition).

 

[bmasters9]

Bumping this up after a long while: I recently purchased this book about Emergency! from 2008; it's called Emergency!: Behind the Scene (not Behind the Scenes as you might expect). It's by Richard Yokley and Rozane Sutherland. I received it on Feb. 4, and from what I've read in it, it's very in-depth on anything one would want to know concerning that hit 1972-77 NBC medical/action series.