Recently, I'm trying to learn a little more about Television history, from the All-time Greats, most popular shows. To that obscure series from the 60's, that only lasted half a season.
So i started looking for books that would give me a complete review on tv shows history, and i want your help to decide wich one should i get (feel free to add any other book suggestions).

TV Guide The Official Collectors Guide: Celebrating An Icon

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0977292711.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V55978549_.jpg

It's a new book with thousands of pictures of every Tv Guide cover from 1953 until 2005 (when the digest sized magazine ended).
It seems that you have a lot more to see than to read here, but i think you can learn a lot just by looking at the pictures. It's a illustrated review at tv history.

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present, Eighth Edition

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0345455428.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

It seems that this is a much more informative book, with 1616 pages of tv shows descrpitions and more than 6 thousands series listed.
This book is from 2003, so it may contain out of date information.

Nick at Nite's Classic TV Companion from 1996 is great too.

BTW welcome to Sitcoms Online :)

Nick at Nite's Classic TV Companion from 1996 is great too.

BTW welcome to Sitcoms Online :)

Thanks for the welcome and the book suggestion

Recently, I'm trying to learn a little more about Television history, from the All-time Greats, most popular shows. To that obscure series from the 60's, that only lasted half a season.
So i started looking for books that would give me a complete review on tv shows history, and i want your help to decide wich one should i get (feel free to add any other book suggestions).

TV Guide The Official Collectors Guide: Celebrating An Icon

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0977292711.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V55978549_.jpg

It's a new book with thousands of pictures of every Tv Guide cover from 1953 until 2005 (when the digest sized magazine ended).
It seems that you have a lot more to see than to read here, but i think you can learn a lot just by looking at the pictures. It's a illustrated review at tv history.

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present, Eighth Edition

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0345455428.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

It seems that this is a much more informative book, with 1616 pages of tv shows descrpitions and more than 6 thousands series listed.
This book is from 2003, so it may contain out of date information.
Welcome to SO. The Complete Directory book is a great book. I've been getting each new edition since it started. They usually come out with a new edition about every 4 years. .

well, I reccomend:


"THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW"-ANATOMY OF A CLASSIC
"THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES" by Steven Cox (it first came out in 1988, but was updated and rereleased in 2004)
AMERICAS FAVORITE RADIO STATION-W.K.R.P IN CINNCINATTI

Welcome to SO. The Complete Directory book is a great book. I've been getting each new edition since it started. They usually come out with a new edition about every 4 years. .


I have the Complete Directory Book and I think it has a lot of errors in it and some tv shows are not listed in the book. There is a show called future cop that was a midseason addition in March of 1977 and it's not inside the Complete Directory Book

I have the Complete Directory Book and I think it has a lot of errors in it and some tv shows are not listed in the book. There is a show called future cop that was a midseason addition in March of 1977 and it's not inside the Complete Directory Book
It has a few errors but it's the best book I've seen of tv yet. The Harvey Korman Show isn't listed either. I really don't know why. I remember Future Cop aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the early 90's.

It has a few errors but it's the best book I've seen of tv yet. The Harvey Korman Show isn't listed either. I really don't know why. I remember Future Cop aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the early 90's.


One major error they have Sonny is Good Times being a ..........................-LOL

One major error they have Sonny is Good Times being a ..........................-LOL
:lol:

Recently, I'm trying to learn a little more about Television history, from the All-time Greats, most popular shows. To that obscure series from the 60's, that only lasted half a season.
So i started looking for books that would give me a complete review on tv shows history, and i want your help to decide wich one should i get (feel free to add any other book suggestions).

TV Guide The Official Collectors Guide: Celebrating An Icon

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0977292711.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V55978549_.jpg

It's a new book with thousands of pictures of every Tv Guide cover from 1953 until 2005 (when the digest sized magazine ended).
It seems that you have a lot more to see than to read here, but i think you can learn a lot just by looking at the pictures. It's a illustrated review at tv history.

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present, Eighth Edition

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0345455428.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

It seems that this is a much more informative book, with 1616 pages of tv shows descrpitions and more than 6 thousands series listed.
This book is from 2003, so it may contain out of date information.
I have the TV GUIDE COLLECTOR'S EDITION and the 1999 edition of THE COMPLETE DIRECTORY ... I enjoy both very much. I would also recommend
(although they're out of print and therefore harder to find): THE GREAT TV
SITCOM BOOK by Rick Mitz, HOW SWEET IT WAS: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF
TELEVISION, TV GUIDE: THE FIRST 25 YEARS, TV GUIDE: FIFTY YEARS OF
TELEVISION, SATURDAY MORNING TV by Gary Grossman, and THE WONDERFUL
WORLD OF DISNEY TELEVISION by Bill Cotter.

I have the TV GUIDE COLLECTOR'S EDITION and the 1999 edition of THE COMPLETE DIRECTORY ... I enjoy both very much. I would also recommend
(although they're out of print and therefore harder to find): THE GREAT TV
SITCOM BOOK by Rick Mitz, HOW SWEET IT WAS: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF
TELEVISION, TV GUIDE: THE FIRST 25 YEARS, TV GUIDE: FIFTY YEARS OF
TELEVISION, SATURDAY MORNING TV by Gary Grossman, and THE WONDERFUL
WORLD OF DISNEY TELEVISION by Bill Cotter.



Where can I get the TV guide Edition?

I got the 50 years of TV Guide book for Christmas in 2002. The list price is $50.00 and I can't believe it's out of print and that someone is selling a copy for $3.00 at Amazon. It's a nice book because it has some personal thoughts from Henry Winkler and a few others but I don't think its the best TV book overall. It's a big advertisement for TV Guide. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400046858/sr=8-2/qid=1145926169/ref=sr_1_2/002-0912921-4347222?%5Fencoding=UTF8

The new book TV GUIDE OFFICIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION: CELEBRATING AN ICON (which is neat if you want to see every single cover from all the national
digest-sized issues from 1953 to 2005) can be ordered from the website
bangzoomstore.com (that's where I got mine). I found TV GUIDE: FIFTY YEARS
OF TELEVISION at Waldenbooks a few years ago. TV GUIDE: THE FIRST 25
YEARS I found on eBay. Each one has a cover gallery, but only the new
book (... CELEBRATING AN ICON) has EVERY national cover (plus some quotes
and interesting tidbits of info).

I love reading about TV's history and finding out more about the shows that I love. If you can find it at your local library, there's a book called "Television Comedy Series" by Joel Eisner that has complete episode guides to sitcoms that had been in syndication up to the mid-80s and covers them in great detail.

If you're looking to learn about more recent history, like from about 1994 to the present, there are a couple of books that I would recommend, both by the same author, Bill Carter.

The first is called "The Late Shift", which tells the story of the battle between Jay Leno and David Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show". The book was so popular that it was turned into a TV movie, which featured Kathy Bates as Leno's agent. My favorite part was when a couple of NBC executives were meeting in a men's room talking about Leno, mainly discussing his weaknesses as a host, while, unknown to them, he was hiding in one of the stalls listening and taking notes.

The other book is brand new and is called "Desperate Networks". It talks about how the networks decide what shows will make it in their schedules, and the tough decisions that have to be made to stay ahead of their competition in the fierce battle for ratings supremacy. You'll hear the stories behind such popular shows as "Lost", "Desperate Housewives", and "Survivor", among others, and a few mistakes as well, like "Joey", "Coupling", and "Titans". I was surprised to find out how close some of these shows were to not even getting on the air. One of them, a perennial Top 20 hit, was almost yanked for :eek: a new Tony Danza sitcom! To find out more, read the book. It's excellent!

I love reading about TV's history and finding out more about the shows that I love. If you can find it at your local library, there's a book called "Television Comedy Series" by Joel Eisner that has complete episode guides to sitcoms that had been in syndication up to the mid-80s and covers them in great detail.

If you're looking to learn about more recent history, like from about 1994 to the present, there are a couple of books that I would recommend, both by the same author, Bill Carter.

The first is called "The Late Shift", which tells the story of the battle between Jay Leno and David Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show". The book was so popular that it was turned into a TV movie, which featured Kathy Bates as Leno's agent. My favorite part was when a couple of NBC executives were meeting in a men's room talking about Leno, mainly discussing his weaknesses as a host, while, unknown to them, he was hiding in one of the stalls listening and taking notes.

The other book is brand new and is called "Desperate Networks". It talks about how the networks decide what shows will make it in their schedules, and the tough decisions that have to be made to stay ahead of their competition in the fierce battle for ratings supremacy. You'll hear the stories behind such popular shows as "Lost", "Desperate Housewives", and "Survivor", among others, and a few mistakes as well, like "Joey", "Coupling", and "Titans". I was surprised to find out how close some of these shows were to not even getting on the air. One of them, a perennial Top 20 hit, was almost yanked for :eek: a new Tony Danza sitcom! To find out more, read the book. It's excellent!im glad to hear that desperate networks is worth reading i buoght it on ebay and im wating for it in the mail now also i agree with you about the late shift its a great book