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

[Detour (1945)]

A prominent example of what was viable back in the day, slightly before such books became superfluous/nonviable, were the X-Files "official guide" books from the mid-late 1990s.

The Official Guide to The X-Files Series by Brian Lowry

The Truth Is Out There (The Official Guide to The X-Files, #1), Trust No One (The Official Guide to The X-Files, #2), I Want To Believe (The Official Gu...

www.goodreads.com

There were six "official guide" books which were episode guides compiled with behind-the-scenes type information for each season. (The first book cover seasons 1 and 2). The fact that these "official guide" books stopped publishing new volumes after season 7 of the show, is highly suggestive when this type of book became no longer viable for a big publisher (Harper Collins) after 2001.

And, being a huge X-FILES fan at the time (that passion being extinguished as Seasons 6-9 progressed) I picked up the first volume of this series.

I don't remember much about it, but I rated it 2/5, so didn't bother to continue picking them up.

 

[jcroy]

And, being a huge X-FILES fan at the time (that passion being extinguished as Seasons 6-9 progressed) I picked up the first volume of this series.

I don't remember much about it, but I rated it 2/5, so didn't bother to continue picking them up.

I never picked up these books back in the day.

I only ever picked them up when I saw them in dump bins or book fairs for $1 a pop, more than a decade later. The first three volumes I saw quite often in bargain bins and thrift shops. I have never seen the final 6th volume. Volumes 4 and 5 I have rarely ever seen.

 

[Purple Wig]

I read “The Fugitive Recaptured” back in the 90’s but don’t recall much of it. The 2 Dragnet related books, “Just The Facts Ma’am” and “The Name’s Friday” were both worthwhile. Wish I hadn’t sold them when downsizing for a cross country move, seems they’re fairly pricey nowadays.

 

[jcroy]

On the other hand, the types of tv/movie books which still have a viable market today, are in-universe novels of franchises like: Star Wars, Star Trek, etc ....

ie. The usual suspects.

Unfortunately nothing to do with behind-the-scenes type stuff the OP has in mind, unless you're into "West Wing" style political intrigue + gossip in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes. (ie. The federation, jedi council, etc ....).

 

[jcroy]

Perhaps a coffee table book on Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Pinky and the Brain, and other animated series.

Thinking about this more.

Could a book of conceptual artwork from these 90s era cartoons, be viable today? Perhaps if it is sold through the comic book channels?

I'm guessing the audience for such a title, might be the hardcore comic book collector types.

 

[TravisR]

And, being a huge X-FILES fan at the time (that passion being extinguished as Seasons 6-9 progressed) I picked up the first volume of this series.

I don't remember much about it, but I rated it 2/5, so didn't bother to continue picking them up.

I think any of the TV books that were made year by year and had access to the people who worked on the show are invaluable to fans of those series. Even though it's sanitized by a corporation, those books contain details that have been long forgotten and that are unlikely to be found anywhere else.

I haven't looked at them in years and years but my memory is that the first XF book was written more after the fact and is relatively short so it's not as in-depth but the others had the author conducting interviews on the set or shortly thereafter so there's info in them that would otherwise be lost to time. The second XF book (looking at the third season) tracked the making of that season's finale. In 1996, there was nowhere else that you would find such an in-depth look at the making of an episode of a TV show.

All that being said, the internet and behind-the-scenes featurettes have basically made those kinds of books irrelevant.

A prominent example of what was viable back in the day, slightly before such books became superfluous/nonviable, were the X-Files "official guide" books from the mid-late 1990s.

The Official Guide to The X-Files Series by Brian Lowry

The Truth Is Out There (The Official Guide to The X-Files, #1), Trust No One (The Official Guide to The X-Files, #2), I Want To Believe (The Official Gu...

www.goodreads.com

There were six "official guide" books which were episode guides compiled with behind-the-scenes type information for each season. (The first book covers seasons 1 and 2). The fact that these "official guide" books stopped publishing new volumes after season 7 of the X-Files, is highly suggestive when this type of book became no longer viable for a big publisher (Harper Collins) after 2001.

I don't know if the public's appetite for books on TV shows diminished as much as the popularity of The X-Files began to drop as it went on. Personally, I think Season Eight is one of their best years (losing Duchovny for most of the season seemed to really motivate the writers and they made some great monster episodes and the mythology episodes had a great goal of finding Mulder) so I wish they had done a book on S8.

 

[JamesSmith]

Thinking about this more.

Could a book of conceptual artwork from these 90s era cartoons, be viable today? Perhaps if it is sold through the comic book channels?

I'm guessing the audience for such a title, might be the hardcore comic book collector types.

There have been coffee table books for Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men: The Animated Series, and even the original Star Trek: Animated Series. Maybe. . .

james

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

Bear Manor Media still publishes books for relatively obscure TV shows and old stars (recent books from them are on Spike Jones, Paul Picerni, Joe E. Brown, Max Linder, and W.C. Fields). While I'm sure they don't sell a ton of copies, they've been in business for about 20 years now so there must still be a small audience for those type of books.

I have Riverboat: The Evolution of a Television Series that would interest you guys and gals out there!

 

[MatthewA]

Been watching Disney's 80's Gummi Bears. I've been enjoying. No violence, No sex. A great deal of comedy that probably flew over the little kids heads. I enjoy hearing the voices of June Foray and others. In the latter seasons, the show also began to build to a climax a bit. Would appreciate a making of The Disney Afternoon series.

--james

I'm not sure how much that particular show gets covered but there's this book that covers Disney's entry into TV animation after years of resistance.

 

[jcroy]

There have been coffee table books for Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men: The Animated Series, and even the original Star Trek: Animated Series. Maybe. . .

The type of "artwork" book I'm thinking of, might be something like the books which compiled tons the artwork from rpg game books like Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, or more recently Pathfinder. Somewhat different than a tv show or cartoon, the companies which made Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder either licensed or commissioned tons of artwork for the book covers and figures in the book content. (ie. Tons of artwork on almost every second page).

A book of artwork of this similar type, might be a book which compiles the life's work of Frank Frazetta (for example).

Frank Frazetta - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jcroy]

I don't know if the public's appetite for books on TV shows diminished as much as the popularity of The X-Files began to drop as it went on.

In parallel, I noticed there was a gradual decline/demise of the movie tie-in novel.

FAVORITE MOVIE-TIE-INS (NOVELIZATIONS) (248 books)

248 books based on 74 votes: 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, Alien by Alan Dean Foster, Aliens by Alan Dean Foster, Star Wars: Revenge of the ...

www.goodreads.com

Best Film Novelizations (208 books)

208 books based on 67 votes: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by James Kahn, Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut, Star Wars: A N...

www.goodreads.com

I remember back in the 1990s reading then-current movie tie-in novels, such as: Johnny Mnemonic, Independence Day, Total Recall (by Piers Anthony), Stargate, etc .... These are the tie-in novels which all read like a novelization of earlier script drafts with some embellishments and/or parts which were not used in the film. So these are not "original source" type of novels like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Da Vinci Code, etc .... which the latter were not written originally as movie scripts.


Fast forward over the next two decades to the present day, even Star Trek stopped doing novelizations for the third reboot film Beyond.

 

[TravisR]

In parallel, I noticed there was a gradual decline/demise of the movie tie-in novel.

FAVORITE MOVIE-TIE-INS (NOVELIZATIONS) (248 books)

248 books based on 74 votes: 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, Alien by Alan Dean Foster, Aliens by Alan Dean Foster, Star Wars: Revenge of the ...

www.goodreads.com

Best Film Novelizations (208 books)

208 books based on 67 votes: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by James Kahn, Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut, Star Wars: A N...

www.goodreads.com

I remember back in the 1990s reading then-current movie tie-in novels, such as: Johnny Mnemonic, Independence Day, Total Recall (by Piers Anthony), Stargate, etc .... These are the tie-in novels which all read like a novelization of earlier script drafts with some embellishments and/or parts which were not used in the film. So these are not "original source" type of novels like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Da Vinci Code, etc .... which the latter were not written originally as movie scripts.


Fast forward over the next two decades to the present day, even Star Trek stopped doing novelizations for the third reboot film Beyond.

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.

 

[ian McLachlan]

Many thanks for all your replies. About 6 months ago LULU published a book all about Thriller The Brian Clemens series which was shown in the USA. It was excellent. Then we have the series of books called What the Fans Think of Blake's 7, Torchwood and UFO also available from LULU. There is also going to be a glossy book about Space 1999 called The Vault getting released in September in addition to another Space 1999 book. So there is definitely still an interest in such books here in the UK. A reprint of the I Dream of Jeannie book might go down well when the bluray set is released. Similarly The Mission Impossible book deserves as reprint to go along with the new movie. And what about a reprint of the Green Acres book too?

 

[JamesSmith]

Many thanks for all your replies. About 6 months ago LULU published a book all about Thriller The Brian Clemens series which was shown in the USA. It was excellent. Then we have the series of books called What the Fans Think of Blake's 7, Torchwood and UFO also available from LULU. There is also going to be a glossy book about Space 1999 called The Vault getting released in September in addition to another Space 1999 book. So there is definitely still an interest in such books here in the UK. A reprint of the I Dream of Jeannie book might go down well when the bluray set is released. Similarly The Mission Impossible book deserves as reprint to go along with the new movie. And what about a reprint of the Green Acres book too?

You know, the major franchises have been done to death. Perhaps some of the least known (but still good) tv series that have a hook could stand a book or two. Some of the Disney Afternoon series might qualify, other animated shows. I can see the one season series My World and Welcome to It would be interesting for James Thurber fans. The original Land of the Lost from the seventies also comes to mind. Most of the stars are still alive, and could stand an interview or two.

--jthree

 

[ian McLachlan]

JamesSmith, I would be happy to puchase a book about either series.

 

[MatthewA]

I'm surprised an Animaniacs book wasn't already in the works to tie in with the reboot.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

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.

I get that if you step back and look at the big picture - the novelization used to be the only way to revisit those stories on demand after the films played in theater, in the days before home video and streaming. Stuff disappeared then. Heck, as a kid, I had books that were frame enlargements of comedy scenes from old Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields films, because that was the only way for the individual to revisit those films in the absence of a home entertainment market.

Almost nothing goes away anymore.

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.

 

[Purple Wig]

I get that if you step back and look at the big picture - the novelization used to be the only way to revisit those stories on demand after the films played in theater, in the days before home video and streaming. Stuff disappeared then. Heck, as a kid, I had books that were frame enlargements of comedy scenes from old Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields films, because that was the only way for the individual to revisit those films in the absence of a home entertainment market.

Almost nothing goes away anymore.

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.

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

 

[jcroy]

Almost nothing goes away anymore.

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.

(From a very different perspective).

Back in the day, I use to read novelizations of then-current movies BEFORE seeing the actual movie at the theater. This was my way of figuring out whether a particular movie was any good. I largely avoided movies which didn't seem to have a good story or execution, such as Johnny Mnemonic (for example).

I didn't read movie magazines, and didn't follow reviewers like Siskel & Ebert.

 

[jcroy]

Nowadays in lieu of movie novelization books, I just read detailed reviews of movies with tons of spoilers.

As another example of this to the extreme, I just read the detailed episode synopses/summaries of recent/current episodes of shows like: Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc ... on the various wikis dedicated to such shows. Sometimes I don't have the patience to watch through dozens of episodes piling up on the dvr.