2024 the best of times tv show review

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AMERICA’S #1 BESTSELLING TELEVISION BOOK WITH MORE THAN HALF A MILLION COPIES IN PRINT–
NOW REVISED AND UPDATED!

PROGRAMS FROM ALL SEVEN COMMERCIAL BROADCAST NETWORKS, MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED CABLE NETWORKS, PLUS ALL MAJOR SYNDICATED SHOWS!

This is the must-have book for TV viewers in the new millennium–the entire history of primetime programs in one convenient volume. It’s a guide you’ll turn to again and again for information on every series ever telecast. There are entries for all the great shows, from evergreens like The Honeymooners, All in the Family, and Happy Days to modern classics like 24, The Office, and Desperate Housewives; all the gripping sci-fi series, from Captain Video and the new Battle Star Galactica to all versions of Star Trek; the popular serials, from Peyton Place and Dallas to Dawson’s Creek and Ugly Betty; the reality show phenomena American Idol, Survivor, and The Amazing Race; and the hits on cable, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Top Chef, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Project Runway, and SpongeBob SquarePants. This comprehensive guide lists every program alphabetically and includes a complete broadcast history, cast, and engaging plot summary–along with exciting behind-the-scenes stories about the shows and the stars.

MORE THAN 500 ALL-NEW LISTINGS from Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy to 30 Rock and Nip/Tuck
UPDATES ON CONTINUING SHOWS such as CSI, Gilmore Girls, The Simpsons, and The Real World
EXTENSIVE CABLE COVERAGE with more than 1,000 entries, including a description of the programming on each major cable network
AND DON’T MISS the exclusive and updated “Ph.D. Trivia Quiz” of 200 questions that will challenge even the most ardent TV fan, plus a streamlined guide to TV-related websites for those who want to be constantly up-to-date

SPECIAL FEATURES!
• Annual program schedules at a glance for the past 61 years • Top-rated shows of each season • Emmy Award winners • Longest-running series • Spin-off series • Theme songs • A fascinating history of TV

“This is the Guinness Book of World Records . . .
the Encyclopedia Britannica of television!”
–TV Guide

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000WJSAJ2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books; 9th edition (June 24, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 24, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 24906 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 5977 pages
Reviewer: John S Harris
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Indispensible and FUN to read
Review: It's like a trip down memory lane!The only other edition of this book I owned was the version published in 1987. So this edition is a quantum leap forward.I challenge you to find a more thorough guide to prime time TV. This book has everything - down to the minutest detail. Even if you just scan through this book you'll see in-depth references to shows you've long forgotten about. It really is like flipping through an old family album that has been lost to time or stashed away for years. The memories just come flooding back to you.Special enhanced bonus: the appendixes at the back that break down the shows by longest-running, spin-offs, etc.No kidding: the last time I sat down to read through this book, I let SO MUCH time go by that by the time I put it down I had to shave again.Absolutely worth picking up, but nearly impossible to put down!!Don't believe me? Read some of the other reviews listed here for this simply fantastic reference book. There's a reason everyone gives this book 5 stars!

Reviewer: Jim Boy C
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best argument stopper book on TV
Review: If you are a Trivia nut like myself, this is a must for your shelf and best argument stopper reference book. I havesettled many a debate and curious questions. This has it all date of when aired, the network history and of course the cast, year time lines and more. Sure you could look it up on the Net but it's so much better to have this on your coffee table ready at a moment notice to find out who the original Mr. Wilson was on Dennis the Menace at a moments notice. It was Joseph Kearns. Impress your friends and get needed sleep and buy this must have book.

Reviewer: Sean
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Complete Directory To Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
Review: I gave this 5 stars! I had an earlier edition of this book. It is stolen. I fortunately found a new and improved one. The condition was like new! Not one single bent corner and a solid spine. I am very happy.

Reviewer: Mr. Dana
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Must Have for all TV Fans - Sadly, It's also the Final Edition!
Review: February 2012 Addendum: I just read a comment made by one of the authors, Tim Brooks, which is from an interview he did shortly after this editions publication in October 2007. He stated there that this edition may be the last one. The article can be found here: [...] I can't describe how disappointed I am at this, now belated, news! This is one of my all time favorite books, and I've purchased every edition since around 1988. The tenth edition should have come out nearly four months ago now. I contacted the publisher and they informed me that this book is not on their schedule for publication for the next 12 months. It seems that his comment has now come true. Unless someone else takes it over, we've likely seen the last edition of this outstanding publication.I have been purchasing this book since the fourth edition, which was Published in approximately October 1988 or so. I love this book! It tells you pretty much ever wanted to know about a TV show and its cast! I am constantly referring to it when watching my favorite reruns, and often just browse through it, and seem to always across and old favorite that I'd not thought about for some time! I also love the grid section in the back that tells you what each Networks' schedule was like season by season.This book is revised every three (3) or four (4) years. This current edition came out in the Fall of 2007, so the tenth edition should be out within the next couple of months if they follow their previous publication pattern. You can learn not only about the shows, but who was in them, what other shows they did, and occasionally some information about noteworthy guest stars.For the next and/or future editions, though, here are some improvements I would like to see included (in no particular order:The next edition is likely to grow by at least a few hundred pages with all the new shows that have come out since the last edition, so I'd like to see a new, wider page format, similar in size to what the Golden Retriever Movie Hound book is published in. This would also allow them to make the font just a bit larger, too.Some of the synopses seem to end rather abruptly, leaving the reader hanging; it would be good to fix this. If there were some interesting facts behind the show, i.e., ratings issues, and what they did to try improve ratings, or some other controversy or news-worthy event, mention that as well. I'd also like to know what lead to a show being cancelled. Did they decide they'd reached their creative end, like in M*A*S*H? Was it due to declining ratings? Was it some other reason, such as the death of the series lead? Whatever it was, I'd like to see this information included in the synopsis.I also love to have some photographs, perhaps for those historically significant or noteworthy shows. Not tons of photographs, necessarily, just enough to lend some pictorial history.In addition to a larger size font, I'd like to see perhaps a new, more easy-to-read font as well.Nonetheless, this book is a great addition to your library. And don't ever through your old editions away! Pass them on to a friend or colleague!

Reviewer: S. Borrelli
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: More info than you can imagine
Review: This book is huge! It's the thickest book I have. Everything you need or want to know is in this book! If you are interested or have questions about television programming, this has your questions covered.It amazed me some of the shows that came on the air over the years. Especially the stars that were on these programs. It makes you stop and say, " what were they thinking!"I complement the author as this had to be time consuming work. It's amazing when you see how many shows have been on TV. Especially how many failed.If you are a vintage TV fan, you'll probably going to enjoy this book.

Reviewer: Stefano Montinino
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Complete Directory: A History of Television
Review: 11/29/2013 2:33pm The Complete Directory to Prime TimeI have been buying this book for 30 years and it sits right next to me on my shelf, as I always need to look up another series.I wish they would list the number of episodes produced, they do that for syndicated series, cable but not for the main network series. I like this book but I do need say to the authors they should not list the final episode air-date when the network chooses to bring the series back as filler for the summer or an empty time-slot. Another quibble, the book has taken remakes of successful series and combined their histories as one series, including final air-dates, for example "The Odd Couple" 1970-1975 with "The New Odd Couple" 1982-1983. I find the extensive cast credits, timeslot changes, original debut and final air-dates, and the series format/plot/summary and for long-running series, a history, very helpful.

Reviewer: Christopher Fabris
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great book for TV lovers
Review: I had the earlier version of this book, and it was a great resource for me. Though this one only covers up to 2007, it features profiles for so many more series, like "the Office," "Everybody Hates Chris" and others. If you like TV, this is a good book for you, though again, rather outdated.

Reviewer: barral
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Livre indispensable pour les fans de séries us. Fait l'historique des séries us depuis 1946. Absolument génial. Quasi toutes les séries sont répertoriés par ordre alphas, avec la liste des acteurs, une étude plus ou moins approfondie de la séries. Très facile à utiliser. Faut lire en anglais. Mine d'informations incomparable.

Reviewer: Franck Nebeker
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: topnotch time delivery. the rest has nothing to do with service - but more with book contents.Highly recommended service

Reviewer: colin boardman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: very good

Reviewer: Keith Raymond Beard
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A good book to causally browse through. It's very in-depth and smartly written with a good in-sight to TV. Its also fun to discover some shows which had a very small shelf life but actually might be worth checking out or revisiting. The only shame is that the writers don't actually review some of the shows beyond the odd comment. A fun read anyway. I think I will check out further editions.

Reviewer: lynn murden
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Not very good. Hasn,t even got Dr Who in it.