Friday, November 24, 2006
Special Friday Review of The Great Book: 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
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Amazon.com
Related links:
Official Website of The Sitcoms of Norman Lear by Sean Campbell
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, October 21
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 20)
Tuesday, October 21
- Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Catch Kumail on a repet of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Reneé Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Reneé is a musical guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Michael J. Fox (Family Ties/Spin City/The Michael J. Fox Show) - Michael appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Larry David (Curb Your Entusiasm/Seinfeld) - Larry stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Allison Williams (Girls) - Andy Cohen interviews Allison on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie talks about Party People: A Cookbook for Creative Celebrations with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) - Jackie dishes on Nobody Wants This on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This/Burning Love) - Adam talks about Nobody Wants This on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Angela Kinsey (The Office/The Hotwives of Orlando) - Angela and her husband Josh Snyder talk about You Can Make This in the 9am hour.
- Brittany Snow (Ben and Kate) - Brittany is telling Drew about her new crime series Murdaugh Murders and her hit show The Hunting Wives on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
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