A great book: Sitcoms: The 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time

[peter may]

Heres a terrific book I just bought that some of your sitcom fans may be interested in, well worth a buy http://www.amazon.com/Sitcoms-101-Greatest-Comedies-Time/dp/1579127525/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i :)

[TVFactFan]

Heres a terrific book I just bought that some of your sitcom fans may be interested in, well worth a buy http://www.amazon.com/Sitcoms-101-Greatest-Comedies-Time/dp/1579127525/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i :)


well would you mind giving us your own personal review of the book that may lead someone to buying it?

[peter may]

well its a great coffee table style bookm listing the best sitcoms from the 40s to the present day, interesting reading, read some of the reviews on the amazon site

[TVFactFan]

well its a great coffee table style bookm listing the best sitcoms from the 40s to the present day, interesting reading, read some of the reviews on the amazon site


Does the book have any information on TV Ratings?

[Pavan]

I have the book...it basically gives 1-2 pages on each of the 101 greatest sitcoms, with time slot info, years of air, network, etc. No ratings.

[TVFactFan]

I have the book...it basically gives 1-2 pages on each of the 101 greatest sitcoms, with time slot info, years of air, network, etc. No ratings.


any TV book with ratings is useless to me-lol

[JulieSomoski]

Could you say what some of the top sitcoms were?

[TVFactFan]

Could you say what some of the top sitcoms were?


Mash,


LOL

[dawsongirl]

Could you say what some of the top sitcoms were?
Well, if you look at the cover of the book, you see Fraiser, Everybody Loves Raymond, All In The Family, Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, and one I can't tell.

[Ireneparalegal]

any TV book with ratings is useless to me-lol
With ratings or without ratings? I thought you wanted ratings in the book?

[rebafan1]

and one I can't tell.
Seinfeld?

[TVFactFan]

With ratings or without ratings? I thought you wanted ratings in the book?


With Ratings, Any Book that doesn't have it is a book I can't use-lol

[peter may]

With Ratings, Any Book that doesn't have it is a book I can't use-lol

how peculiar!

[TVFactFan]

how peculiar!


Well that's why My screen name is what it is, I love to dig up old ratings-lol

[robby76]

I found and bought this book today! It's like the bible of popular sitcoms! I wish it was solely on retro shows, but I can take the new with the old.

Some shows have at least 4 - 6 pages dedicated to them. Each show also has numerous colour pics of the cast and scenes from episodes.

Amongst my personal faves included...

Good Times, Three's Company, Family Ties, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Jefferson, One Day At A Time, Brady Bunch, Cosby Show, Diff'rent Strokes, Golden Girls, The Nanny, Perfect Strangers etc.

Best money I've ever spent. I also love how it's a stylish coffee table book with glossy pages - makes it a nice collectors piece.

http://www.perfectstrangers.tv/pictures/artwork/sitcomsbook.jpg

[comedyfreak]

I have this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Directory-Prime-Network-1946-Present/dp/0345497732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233139138&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Directory-Prime-Network-1946-Present/dp/0345497732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233139138&sr=1-1

[dakert]

My favorite book is "THE GREAT TV SITCOM BOOK" by Rick Mitz which came out in 1980. An oversized book with lots of great pictures, cast info, ratings from the 50s-70s

You can probably find a copy on eBay

[MrRetro_08]

That sounds like a very interesting read. For those who have the book is "Taxi" in there?

[robby76]

That sounds like a very interesting read. For those who have the book is "Taxi" in there?

Yep - it devoted 5 full pages to Taxi with 7 colour photos. If you want I could take pics with my phone so you can decide whether it's worth getting.

[dawsongirl]

I got this book for Christmas. It's very interesting, but my favorite part is just looking at all the pictures. Very nicely done.

[Jude The Obscure]

My favorite book is "THE GREAT TV SITCOM BOOK" by Rick Mitz which came out in 1980. An oversized book with lots of great pictures, cast info, ratings from the 50s-70s

You can probably find a copy on eBay


There's also a lot of mis-information in this book as well.

[Pus$y Galore]

There's also a lot of mis-information in this book as well.


such as...........?

[catlover79]

It sounds interesting - I'll have to check it out one of these days.

[robby76]

...but my favorite part is just looking at all the pictures. Very nicely done.

Totally agree! It's the big pictures that made this a 'must buy'. It's just nice to look at stuff on something other than a computer screen. :lol:

[MrRetro_08]

Yep - it devoted 5 full pages to Taxi with 7 colour photos. If you want I could take pics with my phone so you can decide whether it's worth getting.

Thanks for the info robby76, I'll order it as soon as I can.

[Jude The Obscure]

Referring to Cathie's question about my stating The Great TV Sitcom Book had lots of mis-inormation:

Such as the information on The Lucy Show, stating that it was set in San Francisco (it was L.A.) during the second format. It stated Mr Mooney was president of the bank in the new location--he wasn't.

The article on Three's Company quotes Joyce DeWitt as stating that she owed her job on the sitcom to her having got a perm. Joyce landed the role in the second pilot with a straight bob and even sported a Dorothy Hamill type look during the first six episodes.

There's others but I haven't read the book in so long, due to the fact i donated my copy to the library EONS ago :lol:

[Classicshowsgurl15]

I got the book for Christmas and I love it. There are some shows that I wish they had included that they didn't though.

[jehobden]

Referring to Cathie's question about my stating The Great TV Sitcom Book had lots of mis-inormation:

Such as the information on The Lucy Show, stating that it was set in San Francisco (it was L.A.) during the second format. It stated Mr Mooney was president of the bank in the new location--he wasn't.


I read somewhere that the misinformation about The Lucy Show relocating to SF instead of LA originated in Brooks/Marsh otherwise-great book "The Complete Guide to Primetime Network TV Shows". It has been repeated in several books since then. I scraped together the $9.95 + tax for the first edition of this book when I was nearly 14, and it's certainly been a great source of usually-accurate info otherwise.

[ekkostar]

Looks a lot like that TV Guide: 50 Years of Television book that I picked up used a few years ago.

[MrRetro_08]

The book came yestaday. I've been reading it since.

[catlover79]

I just checked this book out of the library. So many of my favorite shows are in there. Whatever small faults it may have, I just have one thing to say:

Any book that includes TWO color photos of Gregory Sierra is fine by me!!!! :grineyes: :eyes: :heart: :drool: ;)

[Marvo301]

I just checked this book out of the library. So many of my favorite shows are in there. Whatever small faults it may have, I just have one thing to say:

Any book that includes TWO color photos of Gregory Sierra is fine by me!!!! :grineyes: :eyes: :heart: :drool: ;)
When you finish reading it you'll have to give us a review. I for one would be interested.

[catlover79]

According to this book, the 101 Greatest Sitcoms are (from A-Z):

Addams Family
Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
Alice
All in the Family
Amos & Andy
Andy Griffith Show
Barney Miller
Beverly Hillbillies
Bewitched
Bob Cummings Show
Bob Newhart Show
Brady Bunch
Car 54
Cheers
Coach
Cosby Show
Curb Your Enthusiasm
December Bride
Designing Women
Dick Van Dyke Show
Diff'rent Strokes
Donna Reed Show
Ellen
Evening Shade
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Family Affair
Family Ties
Father Knows Best
Flinstones
Flying Nun
Frasier
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Friends
George Burns & Gracie Allen Show
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island
Goldbergs
Golden Girls
Good Times
Green Acres
Growing Pains
Happy Days
Hazel
Hogan's Heroes
Honeymooners
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
I Married Joan
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Jack Benny
Jeffersons
Julia
Laverne & Shirley
Leave it to Beaver
Life of Riley
Lucy Show/Here's Lucy
Make Room for Daddy
Malcolm in the Middle
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
Married With Children
Mary Tyler Moore Show
M*A*S*H
Maude
Mr. Ed
Monkees
Mr. Peepers
Munsters
Murphy Brown
My Favorite Martian
My Little Margie
My Three Sons
Nanny
Newhart
NewsRadio
Odd Couple
One Day at a Time
Our Miss Brooks
Partridge Family
Patty Duke Show
Perfect Strangers
Petticoat Junction
Phil Silvers Show
Private Secretary/Ann Sothern Show
Real McCoys
Roseanne
Sanford & Son
Saved by the Bell
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Simpsons
Soap
Taxi
That Girl
That '70s Show
3rd Rock from the Sun
Three's Company
Topper
Will & Grace
Wings
WKRP

They also have tons of color photos, and little asides about famous character actors, sitcom pets, sitcoms based on movies, etc. It's a great read!!

[Marvo301]

Thanks Monika!

[catlover79]

No problem!!

[bencasey]

Sounds like the are going by how successful shows were instead of whether of not they were any good. Gilligan's Island is unwatchable to anyone over the age of 8 or with a three-digit IQ. Meanwhile, a show like He and She is one of the funniest shows to ever air.

[Adamantium]

I'll check this book out. To be honest, if it didn't have "NewsRadio" I wasn't going to give it another thought. But it DOES! Not only that, but it includes "Wings"!!! That's a show that gets no respect. I'm all for getting this book.

[Adamantium]

Okay, I just bought it!

It'll be a great bathroom read.
.
.
.
Um, did I say too much? lol

It'll go along with all my other TV books. Those books, were of course what I used for information BEFORE we got the internet, lol.

[robby76]

Okay, I just bought it!

It'll be a great bathroom read.

Have you seen the size of it? :lol:

[catlover79]

Sounds like the are going by how successful shows were instead of whether of not they were any good. Gilligan's Island is unwatchable to anyone over the age of 8 or with a three-digit IQ. Meanwhile, a show like He and She is one of the funniest shows to ever air.
Mark, He & She did get a mention in a section of the book called "Brilliant But Cancelled", along with Arrested Development and Best of the West. I'm still stymied that Saved by the Bell and Diff'rent Strokes made the Top 101, but that's just me. :eek: :lol:

[catlover79]

Have you seen the size of it? :lol:
It is pretty bulky. :lol:

[Adamantium]

It is pretty bulky. :lol:

You'd be surprised how long I can go to the bathroom. ;)

[Marvo301]

You'd be surprised how long I can go to the bathroom. ;)
Now that's too much information! :lol:

[Adamantium]

Now that's too much information! :lol:

I had a feeling. :crazy:

[Jude The Obscure]

Is it just me or does it smell in here?

*gets out a can of Airwick*

whew!!!!!!! that's better......

:brent

[catlover79]

You'd be surprised how long I can go to the bathroom. ;)
OK, that I didn't need to know...:eek: :lol: