Customer Reviews

TV Party (Television's Untold Tales!)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Wow! Buy this book! It is an amazing collection of stories, facts, and folklore surrounding TV.
Note to those who disliked the book: Reviews that say "I was disappointed in such-and-such a book because it should've addressed this, but instead only dealt with that" puzzle me. Ingram wrote a "fun book about TV,"--not an historical treatise on television. If you want a book to discuss additional topics or issues, write your own. Ingram did an excellent job covering the shows and performers he chose to highlight. No book could cover ALL of television--but this book sure covers a lot of it.
Any book which shines a spotlight on the Smothers Brothers AND Dirty Dragon is alright by me.

I am always haunting the bookstores looking for new products about classic TV and this is the best I've seen in a long time. It really is like a party between two covers. I don't have a lot of friends that I can talk about my TV passions with, and this book is like hanging out with the coolest TV addicts around. I especially liked the coverage of local children's programming, I thought I was the only one who remembered Gigglesnort Hotel and Tom Terrific from Captain Kangaroo. The update on the Sitcom Houses was a trip down memory lane, and now I know the history of the TV Laugh Track. Being a Variety show fan, I've waited forever for someone to write anything about those great shows and I devoured that section.

There are even mini-biographies of stars like Bette Davis and Redd Foxx - I can't wait for another TV Party book. Every time I picked up the book I discovered something new. I don't want the party to end!

This is my kind of book. I prefer to read about the more obscure aspects of popular culture, so this book and CD is right up my alley. The History of the Laugh Track, The Murder of Alfalfa, the Super Hero shows of the 60s, Wrestling matches of the 80s, this is the most fun I've had reading in a long, long time. Everywhere you look there are little treats and surprises.

The CD is a wonderful, lightweight way to sample the subjects the book covers. It really is a TV Party, and I didn't want it to end. I bought this along with the Saturday Night Live book, and I'm looking forward to reading them both again one day. Excellent - I recommmend TVparty highly for anyone who want to explore the arcane and unusual.

I have been a fan of the TVparty website for many years and have seen it grow from being a cult collection of insider articles and film clips on the web to being a source I constantly see being referred to on television. I have to admit, tho, nothing prepared me for the book! I am thrilled to finally have something to show my friends who aren't on the web, and it has kept me entertained since Christmas on the train (and I have read it through easily more than once!) I only watched the CD this week, tho, and I was screaming with laughter at the model with radioactive material on her face, and the obnoxious 60s children... it is my sister's birthday coming up and I can't wait to give it to her! You will not be disappointed in this book!!!

The Tvparty book is so unique and unusual,I would swear it was written just for me. It's like a time capsule of my years growing up in front of the television set. The author grasps at various moments in time, then tosses them back with a rye wit that is usually missing in these types of books.

For instance, there's a section on Playboy After Dark with Hugh Hefner which no one I know remembers but me. Extensively detailed and researched, I usually can spot errors in classic TV books, but not this one. From Winky Dink to Irwin Allen, it's all here.

The CD that comes with the book is hilarious. I was crazy about Quisp cereal as a youngster, and the Quisp vs Quake commercial was priceless, as were the clips of fall previews from the sixties (like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies blowing her lines). The film of Bette Davis telling her kids there will be no Christmas presents because the country is at war only underscores how much times have changed!

I bought this book because I heard the author on the radio and I'm sure glad I did. If you love living in the past as much as I do, buy this book!

I travel quite a bit and I loved this book. I could stop and start without losing my place. Flop on the motel bed and open it up. It's great plane reading and people start conversations when they see something they recognize. I didn't know there were so many kids shows out there but everyone watched them it seems. The wrestling bit was pretty interesting because it didn't editorialize about fake vs real. It just told the story. I lost the CD immediately so I don't know if it was worth anything.

The writer is funny and easy to read. He doesn't overdo the stories. It's a quick read and then he moves on. It reads like a web page without the eye strain. I wish he had covered more games shows but that could be an entire book itself.

It has assumed an honored place on my "throne" now. It's not Dickens but it's fun to read.

TV Party is the ultimate bedside companion. I got this book for Christmas and I just loved it. It's not the same old tired TV shows like you find in most books. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of these slick books with the same old stories. I enjoy reading about the obscure and unusual, and the unsung heros of the early days of TV, and this book does it better than any other I've found.

I never even heard of Tallulah Bankhead or Bob McAllister but now I want to know more! The inside story on the mystery behind the deaths of George 'Superman' Reeves and Alfala was facinating. My definition of a good book is one that makes me want more and I want MORE TV PARTY!

I bought this book for one reason only. The chapter on the NWA wrestling matches of the 80s. This was the classic wrestling I grew up with in South Carolina. With Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Magnum, Jim Cornett and Baby Doll. No one has ever written about this stuff as far as I know. For that alone it earns my 5 star rating. I just wish the CD had clips of those matches!

I also liked the guy's story about growing up as a child actor in 60s Hollywood, the chapter on Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo. The story of what happened to the local kid show hosts in Minneapolis was evocative, funny and a bit sad. This is a great book for the nightstand - breezy, easy and a little bit bit sleazy.

TVPARTY! is the ultimate bedside companion, a book you'll pick up and read a little or a lot, and still come away satisfied. OK. This book is different. It doesn't try to be the last word on anything. If anything, TVPARTY! left me with the feeling that I want to know more. Now I'm reading a book on Tallulah Bankhead now because I laughed so hard at the article in this book.

Where this book REALLY got me was in the article on 'Read All About It' - a show we watched in high school on the school TVs! Now that's obscure! In addition, my family used to vacation in North Carolina and I remember watching The Old Rebel Show - and here it was in the TVPARTY! book. Now that's cool.

Like others have said, this thing is like a party, with voices coming from all different directions. I'll be watching for another TVPARTY! book, I hope it comes soon.

TVPARTY! brings together many of the best written and most interesting articles originally published on Billy Ingram's phenomenally popular TVPARTY website. What a fun book this is! I love it, and everyone I've shared it with gets a huge kick out of it. TVPARTY!: The Book is everything from a "Whatever Happened to..." guide to a "Hollywodd Babylon" of vintage television. If you love baby-boomer pop culture, you will adore TVPARTY!.