TV junkies and basic couch potatoes will love this book, unusual in its focus on classic TV shows. The editor has picked nine shows and provided episode synopses, cast lists, and interesting trivia, classic quotes, or classic scenes from those episodes. The shows included are Bewitched, The Bob Newhart Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Munsters, Taxi, and Welcome Back Kotter. The book nicely jogs one's memory of TV history, just as watching Nick-at-Nite does. The only flaws are the failure to include the original broadcast dates (for both the original network and Nick-at-Nite), to identify the original networks that aired these shows, and to indicate how each episode ended. Considering the age of the shows, it wouldn't be giving anything away. Still, this book is fun to read and will serve as a good reference in public libraries.?Judy Hauser, Oakland Schs. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Situation comedies have been a major element in TV programming from the medium's inception, but the cable channel Nick at Nite has made the genre its mainstay. Its programming consists almost entirely of reruns of fondly remembered sitcoms. This well-researched guide to the nine vintage series currently airing on the network is the perfect couchside companion for Nick-addicted viewers. It provides plot synopses and lists casts, directors, and other credits, such as guest appearances that have become renowned--for instance, Raquel Welch, prestardom, as a stewardess in an I Dream of Jeannie episode. Editor Hill is responsible for Nick's on-air promos, and he adopts their smart-alecky yet affectionate tone here, especially in sidebars on such topics as the variations of the Dick Van Dyke Show's opening sequence. Unfortunately for sitcom connoisseurs, the book's scope is limited to Nick's current schedule, featuring as many schlock shows (The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter) as classics. It is entertaining and useful, nonetheless, for reference purposes as well as circulation. Gordon Flagg
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