Rating: 
Summary: Steverino Strikes Again!
Review: This remarkable man keeps on going, even after he's gone! Steve Allen cared, and he never stopped trying--more than you can say about grumpy critics who simply take shots and offer no solutions. Steve Allen did us all a favor: in this book he printed the lyrics to popular songs that our kids listen to, words we never take time to examine. The Taliban would be proud to know that American pre-pubescent children are hearing such astonishingly vile stuff. Read this book BEFORE you criticize it. This man really, really cared about you!
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: When I first saw this book, I was immediately interested because I agree with the author that much of what is broadcasted as part of the "shock" radio and "schlock" television phenomena is pure garbage. Unfortunately, Mr. Allen spends a lot of time whining endlessly about the use of foul language on contemporary radio and television programs. He also seems to have concluded that things were somehow much better back in the "good old days" of the 1950's and 1960's. The fact is that television was garbage back then too; remember "The Munsters" or "Green Acres"?. He holds up the work of Jackie Gleason, among others, as a shining example of good, old-fashioned taste. Married couples slept in separate beds on "The Honeymooners" television show and Jackie Gleason never used profanity, but no television actor has ever managed to behave more like a vulgarian than Jackie Gleason regardless of the profanity they use. Gleason's Ralph Cramden was an obnoxious, loud-mouthed bully who got laughs by abusing his wife. Is this Mr. Allen's idea of what constitutes quality programming? Sure, kids (and adults) should be protected from the (garbage) on television. The best way to accomplish this is to get rid of your television set. I have friends who did just that before their first child was born and have reaped the benefits of a television-free home ever since. This book is very poorly organized. It meanders from one topic to the next in a sort of random fashion frequently repeating the same statements several times over in the course of only a few pages. Aside from the unrealistic nostalgia and the lack of proper editorial review, Mr. Allen has a few good points to make and they could have all been made in a book less than one-third the length of this one.
Rating: 
Summary: grumpy old man
Review: With "Vulgarians at the Gate," fifties TV fossil and self-proclaimed genius Steve Allen attempts to explain why he has not had a job for 30 years. It can't be a lack of talent, after all this a man who authored over 1000 songs,(name two), countless books, (name one besides this one), and hosted several failed TV shows, (remember the one where he sat around with actors dressed as Jesus, and Freud?) Allen blames the demise of his career and Western civilization on Howard Stern, Madonna, and David Letterman. Allen cannot stand the fact that these show-biz powerhouses whom Allen, of course, views as far less talented than he, are successful and he is not. Allen makes a case for the criminalization of off-color entertainment that is about as convincing as his toupee. For Lawrence Welk fans only.
| 
