From School Library Journal
YA?A history of television mainly in North America, but also in Europe during the years 1920-1948. Its strength is in the descriptions of early program production, specifically the physical conditions of the cramped, crowded studios; the extreme heat of the lights (Betty Furness kept a thermometer in her studio during her 15-minute show and it regularly registered 130 degrees Fahrenheit); the lack of rehearsals; and the often-sketchy scripts. Ritchie also chronicles the advent of televised sports and advertisements and the effects of World War II on broadcasting. The index is good on names of persons and companies, but weak on subjects.?Clodagh Lee, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Written by the director of such movies as The Candidate, Downhill Racer, and The Bad News Bears, this interesting and readable book is about the "prehistoric" days when television was in its birth and infancy. Included are all sorts of firsts from the 1920s to 1940s, such as the first TV systems and their inventors, the first TV shows (even before shows were scheduled to appear regularly), the first TV celebrities, the first commercial, and the first TV networks. Chapters on the race to build a workable TV system and difficulties producing the early TV shows in the minuscule, hot studios are especially interesting. Ritchie writes in an entertaining manner and bases his book largely on personal interviews with a number of men and women who were there. Recommended for public libraries.
Judy Hauser, Oakland Sch. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Judy Hauser, Oakland Sch. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
