Special Friday Review of The Great Book: Sitcoms of Norman Lear by Sean Campbell

Friday, November 24, 2006

Special Friday Review of The Great Book: Sitcoms of Norman Lear by Sean Campbell

Welcome to a special "Black Friday" edition of mini-reviews. Today on Black Friday, we will give you a bargain. A review of a great book that looks at the classic sitcoms of legendary producer Norman Lear. We have given you a few news items on the blog on this book before, so I'm sure some of you are familiar with it already. 17-year-old Sean Campbell has written a truly wonderful book and now skees53 has a review for us on The Sitcoms of Norman Lear:

The Sitcoms of Norman Lear by Sean Campbell

The Sitcoms of Norman Lear (McFarland, $35) is exactly what it sounds like--a book about the sitcoms of one Norman Lear, the man that changed television forever. Written by Sean Campbell, the book isn't just typical fluff; instead, it is a rather complete history of the successes (and sometimes even failures, believe it or not) of the television mogul and never casts any important details aside as being insignificant.
The book follows Lear's career from just before the days the hit sitcom All in the Family premiered on CBS, and covers all of his other major successes from the 1970s, including Sanford & Son, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and One Day at a Time. Not a detail is missing about these shows. In fact, there is a chapter for each one of these shows and includes all of the details of the shows (as well as a chapter dealing with the failures of Lear, even if it is hard to believe that a genius such as Lear could have any failures!), much like an E! True Hollywood Story, including the good things and the bad things that happened on the set. The book extensively covers the background of the show (such as what was going on in the world at the time of the show and how that may have influenced the show), the lives and attitudes of those involved with the show, the important episodes of the shows, and even how these sitcoms have changed the world (and television) into the 21st century. Whether it be Norman Lear writing an episode of All in the Family where Archie dies or CBS demanding that 26 lines be removed from the first episode of One Day at a Time, none of the important details are missing. Everything is well-researched too, with literally hundreds of citations from resources such as articles (from newspapers, magazines, and journals), statistics derived from opinion polls, books, interviews, and of course one of the best primary sources of all--the episodes of the sitcoms of Norman Lear!
The level of coverage varies for each show (All in the Family and Good Times seem to have the most extensive coverage, but that makes sense, because one All in the Family was the show that started it all and Good Times is a pop-culture legend in its own right), but regardless, each and every show seems to be covered rather thoroughly and this book is a must-own for anybody that appreciates the greatest sitcoms of all-time!
-- Reviewed by skees53

(5/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
Official Website of The Sitcoms of Norman Lear by Sean Campbell

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, January 22

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Will and a Dead Man’s Wife" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie’s not ready for his mother to start dating again. Meanwhile, Jim and Audrey struggle to make their wills.

Ghosts - "Kyle" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam and Jay’s relationship is tested when Kyle (Ben Feldman), a handsome living who shares Sam’s ability to see ghosts, arrives at Woodstone B&B.

Animal Control - "Dragons and Dognappers" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rob Gronkowski returns and asks the team for help rehoming a zebra; Emily and Shred's first date goes awry when they unexpectedly run into Daisy and Patel on their night out; Frank must defend Templeton when Templeton is accused of dognapping.

Going Dutch - "Farmer's Mark-tet Offensive" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a messy breakup, the Colonel and Katja find themselves going to war between the town and the base; Capt. Maggie tries to de-escalate the tension between the two ex-lovers and negotiate a truce.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 19)

Thursday, January 22

Mike Epps (The Upshaws/Uncle Buck/Survivor's Remorse) - Catch Mike on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. NBC's Today catches up with Anthony in the 10am hour.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - Sean is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jessica Williams (Shrinking/Love Life/Just for Kicks) - Jessica talks about Shrinking on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael talks about Shrinking on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Craig Robinson (Killing It/Ghosted/Mr. Robinson/The Office/Lucky) - Craig talks about Broadway' All Out on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Deon Cole (grown-ish/Angie Tribeca/black-ish) - Deon joins Sherri to discuss hosting this year's NAACP Image Awards on BET on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Heidi Gardner (Shrinking) - Heidi tells Sherri about her star turn in the new Broadway comedy All Out: Comedy About Ambition on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kyle MacLachlan (Carol's Second Act/Sex and the City) - Kyle tells Drew about the latest season of his thrilling hit show Fallout and plays a round of memory bank dishing on his biggest moments and roles revealing which Sex and the City character he identifies most with on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jackson White (Mrs. Fletcher) - Jackson tells Drew about the newest season of the hit show Tell Me Lies, how he started dating co-star Grace Van Patten, growing up on set with his actress mom and more on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - Howie talks about Netflix's Best Guess Live on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.