Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable, if dated, look at television in the 1980's
Review: This is the 1992 autobiography of the late Frank Tartikoff, the head of programming for NBC in the 1980's. He is credited for masterminding the network's return to glory with programs like The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, and Cheers. The book is filled with humorous anecdotes and commentary on the business of television.By most accounts, this book is woefully out of date. Most of Tartikoff's shows have been off the air for years. However, I found his stories very enjoyable because these were the shows I watched growing up. Mr. Tartikoff was a family man with a keen business sense, a down-to-earth guy who knew when to laugh at himself and who did not take the entertainment world too seriously.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable, if dated, look at television in the 1980's
Review: This is the 1992 autobiography of the late Frank Tartikoff, the head of programming for NBC in the 1980's. He is credited for masterminding the network's return to glory with programs like The Cosby Show, Miami Vice, and Cheers. The book is filled with humorous anecdotes and commentary on the business of television. By most accounts, this book is woefully out of date. Most of Tartikoff's shows have been off the air for years. However, I found his stories very enjoyable because these were the shows I watched growing up. Mr. Tartikoff was a family man with a keen business sense, a down-to-earth guy who knew when to laugh at himself and who did not take the entertainment world too seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Entertainment Industry Insider Account
Review: While Brandon Tartikoff went on to become chairman of Paramount Pictures, he achieved his greatest success while programming NBC during the days when that network dominated the prime time schedule. He notes, "TV is a populist medium, and so the challenge comes down to finding ideas that will capture the zeitgeist." This book is part biographical, but more weighted toward giving an inside view of the system and personalities that comprised the entertainment industry during Tartikoff's career. A visit he made to Bob Hope's home illustrates the "inside" type information found in the book. He talks about coming upon a vault. "Inside were rows upon rows of alphabetized file cabinets," he says. It was his collection of jokes. He mentioned to Hope the possibility of putting the material on computer, to which the comic genius responded, "Now why would I do something like that? Everything I need, I know where to find--right now." If you're interested in television of the mid 1980s to mid 1990s you'll find this book a match for your tastes. It's written, like the TV shows produced on network television, for the mass market and consequently is easy to follow.
| 
