Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: It's a fun look at the past and the book has a few interesting moments as well. I just felt that it needed some more polish and depth.
Rating: 
Summary: A TV book for the rest of us
Review: Finally a TV history book that's more like a history book and less like a trivia book. I know this book is well-researched because I only spotted one mistake, and that was Pam Dawber's name was mis-spelled. Forgiveable when you see the depth of knowledge contained here. Tvparty! covers television from the forties through the eighties, cherry picking the subjects and people covered without trying to cover everything at once. As this is the first book in a series, I'm eagerly awaiting another volume. I especially liked the chapters on Tallulah Bankhead and the Super Hero shows of the 1960s. Wonderama? Run Buddy Run? 1980s wrestling matches with Ric Flair and Baby Doll? Shenanigans with Stubby Kaye? This is too rich!
Rating:
Summary: Leftovers for the book?
Review: I am a big fan of Billy's internet website, TV Party. I purchased the book because of the reputation and quality of his website. To make a long story short, the book seems to have articles and stories that are second rate. I think this is because there would be a conflict of interest if all the goodies found on the website were transfered to the book. As a result, the book contains much of the lower quality articles. People have to pay a fee to see the entire website, so if much of the good web-content were in the book, that would have brought down the subscriptions to his website. At least that is my theory. The book wasn't terrible, but neither did it meet my expectations. I think that with all the feedback that is here about how the book could be improved, I am hoping that the second edition, if there is to be one, will be much better.
Rating: 
Summary: Uninspired and confusing
Review: I'm not quite sure what happened to TV Party. The book starts out with a BANG and ends with a whimper. The first story about George Reeves is very interesting as I didn't know that there were suspicious circumtances revolving around his suicide. The book goes downhill from there. TVP starts to lose direction by dedicating a very large segment of the book to kiddie television programs and commercials. Not only is this stuff esoteric, it has nothing to do with the mainstream television era of the 1950's. The book is disorganized. The CD included with the book has very little information on it also. I really wanted to like this book, but ended up feeling that I had been taken by the glitzy packaging and offer of the free CD. My criteria for a good book is if I can see that at least 50% of the book is useful or entertaiing in some way. I would say that TV Party is in the low 20 percentile.
Rating:
Summary: Biased reviews for TV Party
Review: I've read all the reviews here and I cannot help but notice that the people who liked this book are skewing the "was this review helpful to you" poll against those who did not like the book and in favor of those who did like it. This, in itself, must say something about the crowd who are supporting this title by Billy Ingram. Nothing is as bad or as good as most people feel about things, and TV Party in no different. TV Party has a few good inside articles about the old stars of television and the book does bring back a few memories for us old timers. My main objection to the book, and for that matter, the people who swear by this book, is the unrealistic light this book is reviewed under. Yes, TV Party has a few good moments and yes, it does have a few good articles, but the bottom line about TV Party is that it is over rated and poorly done. I wish I could give it a three star rating for some of the interesting treatments of some of the tv personalities, but the rest of the book is clearly written to just take up space to fill blank pages. Books aren't cheap now-a-days, and spending this much money on so little is quite unnerving, to say the least. Perhaps Mr.Ingram could pay more attention to the valid points that are raised against this book to produce a better volume of TV Party in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly conceived and written
Review: Billy Ingram claims to give his prospective readers "Untold Tales" from the golden era of television. Why then, does he spend so much time and effort on stories related to obscure film stars? Some would argue that the book has interesting "minutia", but this is a big stretch of one's imagination in trying to cover the fact that the book is very unfocused and not very entertaining. Billy Ingram may have the best website on old television shows, but his book, TV Party, is a tremendous failure.
Rating: 
Summary: Weird and wonderful
Review: Has there ever been another book like this one? I think not. I half-way expected it to be like the Joe Garner books, that come with a CD and DVD. Instead, I found this book to be the opposite. But I still enjoyed it. I especially like the CD-ROM which has a stream of deteriorated video clips strung together from the 50s and 60s era of TV. It has very little meaning, but the old toy gun commercials, and the bit with Bette Davis telling her kids they can't have Christmas presents because of the war are flat out funny. Wait til you see the commercial with the 1950's supermodel that has radioactive dirt smeared on her face to test a cold cream cleanser! What were they thinking? There was even a fall preview from my favorite TV show as a child, Captain Nice! The book has tons of pictures and the way the book is layed out is unusual to say the least. It's both charming and disturbing, I laughed and I cried. What more do you want for 20 bucks?
Rating:
Summary: Attention Broadcasters
Review: If yore in broadcasting like I am,you will love this unique TV history book that focuses on some of the great but not as well known TV personalities. We had theauthor Billy Ingram on our morning radio show, and my co-host got to take the book home with him - so I bought my own copy. And I've loved everyminute of reading it - truly a one of a kind item that my fellow broadcasters will love!
Rating:
Summary: I want more of this!
Review: Are you looking for a book that covers the subjects and stars that other books don't? I sure I was. That's why I was so excited to see this book profiled in Genre magazine, so I ordered it immediately. I was not disappointed. Sonny and Cher, The Smothers Brothers, The Golddiggers, Shrimpenstein(!!!), the death of Paul Lynde, Brett Somers, this book is fantastic! There is exstensive coverage of the long gone local children's show era of television, which is a trip in itself. Younger people today just can't believe there were ever such shows. TVPARTY! effectively demonstrates just how much television has changed over the years. The format is really unique as well, with bits of information at the bottom of the pages that are a treat unto themselves. And I loved the biographies of the movie stars like Bette Davis, Ida Lupino and Tallulah Bankhead's TV careers. I've read a dozen books on Bete Davis, but this is the first to tell her story from the standpoint of her TV career. If you're looking for something out of the ordinary that will keep you reading for hours and hours, this is the book for you. Not to mention the bonus CD-ROM thaty has clips from the people and shows profiled in the book. TVPARTY! is great!
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the negative reviews!
Review: This is a fantastic book! Anyonew who loves the more obscure TV shows from the past will love it. Obviously there is one guy who's writing the bad reviews on this page - they all read the same. Apparently there is someone who hates the author, because this is one of the most unique books on the market - really different from the common TV books. Whoever is being so negative should get a life!
| 
