Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows 1948-2004 [Paperback]

Wesley Hyatt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786423293 | ISBN-13: 978-0786423293 | Publication Date: February 21, 2006

Since the early days of television, well before most households had a set, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has been handing out honors for the industry’s best efforts. Now fans can read about their favorites—and perhaps rediscover some forgotten pleasures—in this reference to prime time and nighttime Emmy winners. Beginning with the heated charade contest known as Pantomime Quiz, which won Most Popular Program of 1948 in the first Emmy Awards ceremony (held in 1949), each of more than 100 winning shows gets star treatment with an entry that includes the year of award or awards, air times, hosts, guests, casts and a full discussion of the show's history and run. Many of the entries include original interviews with cast or crew members. With such rich information, each show’s entry constitutes a chapter in the history of television through the story of the show and the people who made it happen. The best of variety, drama, game shows, comedies, adventures and many more categories are featured. An appendix offers interesting facts and figures and ranks shows according to such statistics as longest run, longest delay from debut to win, and most Emmys won.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The first Emmy ceremony took place in 1949, when less than 2 percent of Americans owned television sets. The winner of the first Emmy for a TV series was a popular game show, Pantomime Quiz. Freelance writer Hyatt's guide to that and subsequent winners gives popular-culture fans and scholars the opportunity to rediscover favorite shows--and ponder the wisdom of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in some cases. Covering 100 nationally aired prime-time entertainment programs, the chronologically arranged entries include lists of all Emmy awards won, dates and times of broadcast, actors and their dates of appearance, producers, directors, and writers. The articles describe the programs in considerable detail and, in some cases, include information from cast and crew; Hyatt writes in his introduction that he was able to speak with people involved with more than half of the shows that are profiled. Reference to these interviews can be found in the bibliography that precedes the index of names and titles.

The book's appendix is particularly appealing for pure unadulterated trivia, including lists of award winners and one list entitled "Longest Delay from Debut until Emmy Series Win." (The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson, had a 30-year wait.) Thankfully, the author has left out the latest Emmy, that for Outstanding Reality Series, as he does not consider these programs to be entertainment. This well-written and researched book is recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries with communications, film studies, and popular-culture collections. Lisa Johnston
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Freelance writer Wesley Hyatt is also the author of A Critical History of Television’s The Red Skelton Show, 1951–1971 (2004) and Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978 (2003). He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 484 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786423293
• ISBN-13: 978-0786423293
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,465,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Must For TV Programming Fans, But...., May 10, 2011

By 

Mediaman "TVviewer" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emmy Award Winning Nighttime Television Shows 1948-2004 (Paperback)

This outstanding book gives in-depth analysis of the TV shows that won Emmy Awards for "Best Series" over the years (Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Game Show, etc.) and does it with large amounts of the author's blunt viewpoints. The three- to six-page chapters give the programs histories and provide unique perspectives on often-covered subjects (such as All in the Family was based on Life of Riley). It's a must-have for people that study TV programming, but...

Since the writer offers up so much opinion, it's going to frustrate many fans and historians. At times he provides the standard TV critic line, such as claiming The Phil Silvers Show is one of the greatest under-rated comedies of all time (go watch it--it's just a stupid war comedy that is basically the same plot week after week). At times he goes too far--saying Everybody Loves Raymond is equal to All in the Family and if you don't like Raymond you won't like most Best Comedy winners? Seriously? Raymond isn't even in the same class as most of the others.

Then there are other times when he stands up for a viewpoint that is different from others by saying a program was over-rated or on the air too long (he slams Sex and the City, saying it didn't deserve to win "outstanding comedy" because it wasn't outstanding and not funny!). He even inserts unrelated, obscure details with a pithy attitude (on the 50th anniversary of Disney's TV show, he says the network did a reunion of the "tepid" show Growing Pains and that it was a "crappy way" of marking the occasion!).

Some of his data is skewed to support his opinions--he claims some shows weren't "hits" when they placed in the top 15, while saying others were "hits" when they made the top 30. The basis of the book information appears to be its Emmy nominations, the ratings, a few books/research articles and interviews with often obscure people connected to programs. For instance, in the Wonderful World of Disney chapter, the inside information comes from a minor director of a few features on the program who barely knew Walt Disney.

So while he should be congratulated for reaching out to people associated with the shows, often they are lessor-knowns who contribute little. Otherwise there isn't much new factual material here--only the author commenting quite vocally on what he thinks are misconceptions about the series. It makes for an entertaining new spin on subjects that have been written about many times before.

Then there's the price--the book is absolutely worth probably $20 to $30. But the crazy pricing online ($75? $103?) will turn most buyers off. It is a really, really great book, nothing like the typical TV guidebooks that withhold perspective. It's not "just the facts" but instead is a commentary on favorite TV programs. Although you'll argue with some of his conclusions, it's refreshing to see someone willing to tackle television subjects from a new perspective.