Radio Live! Television Live!: Those Golden Days When Horses Were Coconuts [Hardcover]

Robert L. Mott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000 | ISBN-10: 0786408162 | ISBN-13: 978-0786408160

During the "golden age" of live radio and television, writers, performers, and producers created their programs in an environment far different from the studios of today. With live programming, anything could happen, and often did. Robert L. Mott, a veteran writer and Emmy-nominated sound effects creator of the live era, recreates the days when television and radio programs were performed live. He includes personal reminiscences as well as a forthright look behind the microphones: horses' hooves were played by coconuts, African-American women were played by white males, and television actors might ad lib an entire program that didn't go as planned. Celebrities like Red Skelton and Jackie Gleason, as well as the unsung heroes in the sound booth and backstage, step up to the mike here. Behind-the-scenes photographs are also included in this account of the exciting-but not always glamorous-world that was "live on the air."

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Libraries with active media collections will want to add this entertaining, anecdotal description of life behind the scenes of commercial radio and television to their shelves. Mott was that rare entity, a World War II vet who used his GI Bill benefits to earn a degree in radio writing. CBS hired him as a sound effects (sfx) specialist in 1951, and he worked on dozens of radio and TV shows over subsequent decades. In some chapters, Mott aims to instruct, describing the steps in a production process, the responsibilities of different staffers, or the functions of a key piece of equipment. Other chapters detail the challenges of producing sfx in venues awash with competing sounds (e.g., street noise, subways, and commuter trains). What most readers will enjoy most about this book, however, are its chatty descriptions of folks with whom Mott worked, as writer or sfx man, over the years: Garry Moore and Durward Kirby, Captain Kangaroo, Red Skelton, Henry Morgan, Dick Van Dyke, and plenty of others. A charming memoir and oral history. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"detailed...‘inside’ stories that are not generally available from other sources...lots of fun" -- North American Radio Archives

"entertaining...a charming memoir and oral history" -- Booklist/RBB

"interesting as well as readable" -- Communications Booknotes Quarterly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786408162
• ISBN-13: 978-0786408160
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,540,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Come to Life, April 10, 2008

By 

Anne M. Hunter "Anne Hunter" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Radio Live! Television Live!: Those Golden Days When Horses Were Coconuts (Hardcover)

I found this book too much about the author, with too much name-dropping,
and not enough well-researched story of early radio and television. It's more of a biography and less about the general history of these shows. It
was interesting to learn how briefly the flowering of radio dramas really was.

5.0 out of 5 stars A humorous historical review of early T.V shows, October 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Radio Live! Television Live!: Those Golden Days When Horses Were Coconuts (Hardcover)

Finally, a historical,yet humorous look back at the makings of the T.V shows so fondly remembered by all baby boomers. Taken for granted as produced according to modern day methods, I now have a new appreciation and profound respect for the talent and sheer guts of those early T.V pioneers. Thanks to Mr. Mott's unique position of both an eye witness and participant in the making of the shows that shaped a generation,this most fondly shared American experience has been preserved for all time. Bravo! And please Mr. Mott don't stop now. Give us more!