Backstage With The Original Hollywood Square :

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book that's necessary for every fan of the show!!!
Review: "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Squares" is written by Peter Marshall himself, and he couldn't have made it any better. Firstly, it is very touching, because we get it first-hand from him as he looks back on his years with those great friends of his, all those celebrity panelists, and at times it's quite sad. Second, it's hilarious, because he complies so many of the best quotes, jokes, and one-liners that made the original Hollywood Squares as good as it was. Third, there is so much information here that any fan of the show needs this book! Peter gives you the inside scoop on his own life and the lives of the panelists. There is a HUGE list of every panelist who EVER appeared on the show. Peter tells you things you would never guess just by watching the show. He tells you who his favorites and least favorites were. He gives accounts of the various trips taken by the HS family, including a particularly disastrous Christmas vacation to Jamaica. He decribes the romances that blossomed on the show, the funny letters they received, and how it all finally ended. This book answers pretty much any question about the original Hollywood Squares that we're capable of asking it as fans. It's not one of those short, cheap, all-black-and-white books that hardly tell you anything. It's a 200-page total recount of the show's life. Good reading!

Rating:
Summary: Greta Garbo to block...
Review: ... is a phrase Peter Marshall admits he would have loved to hear on his hit television show "The Hollywood Squares". That fact, and a thousand others, come in a new and downright funny book, "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square", written by Peter Marshall and Adrienne Armstrong.

Part memoir, part fond walk down memory lane, "Backstage" provides insights to the creation and hosting of one of America's all time successful games. Peter Marshall recants many stories, some of which he told on the E! True Hollywood Story of the "Squares" and others are brand new.

He starts off with a quick summation of his early career, and how he was offered the emcee job of a lifetime. Then he delves in to all the people behind the scenes that were important to the show. The book starts running when he reminisces about all the stars we grew to love over the years: Paul Lynde, Wally Cox, Rose Marie. While each section of the star could have been longer, he sheds some light on each one admirably.

Throughout the book, Peter comes across very polite and respectful. It's almost his persona on the Squares. He allowed the stars to shine by taking a somewhat backseat approach to hosting, yet you realize after watching it he was the glue that kept them together. In this book, he is the mere storyteller, and showcases everyone else.

What's more fantastic about this book is the CD that accompanies it. From an album entitled "Zingers from the Hollywood Squares" that was released in the 70's, this CD holds some of the Squares funniest one liners. That alone is worth the cost of the book. I had the album as a kid, and listened to it constantly, and to this day, recalled many of the jokes still!

This book was a long time coming, and needed. For many people, The Hollywood Squares wasn't a showcase for has beens, but a welcome comedic relief during some of our nation's most turbulant times. Thanks to Peter Marshall for writing this, and bringing back all the laughter!

Rating:
Summary: Greta Garbo to block...
Review: ... is a phrase Peter Marshall admits he would have loved to hear on his hit television show "The Hollywood Squares". That fact, and a thousand others, come in a new and downright funny book, "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square", written by Peter Marshall and Adrienne Armstrong.

Part memoir, part fond walk down memory lane, "Backstage" provides insights to the creation and hosting of one of America's all time successful games. Peter Marshall recants many stories, some of which he told on the E! True Hollywood Story of the "Squares" and others are brand new.

He starts off with a quick summation of his early career, and how he was offered the emcee job of a lifetime. Then he delves in to all the people behind the scenes that were important to the show. The book starts running when he reminisces about all the stars we grew to love over the years: Paul Lynde, Wally Cox, Rose Marie. While each section of the star could have been longer, he sheds some light on each one admirably.

Throughout the book, Peter comes across very polite and respectful. It's almost his persona on the Squares. He allowed the stars to shine by taking a somewhat backseat approach to hosting, yet you realize after watching it he was the glue that kept them together. In this book, he is the mere storyteller, and showcases everyone else.

What's more fantastic about this book is the CD that accompanies it. From an album entitled "Zingers from the Hollywood Squares" that was released in the 70's, this CD holds some of the Squares funniest one liners. That alone is worth the cost of the book. I had the album as a kid, and listened to it constantly, and to this day, recalled many of the jokes still!

This book was a long time coming, and needed. For many people, The Hollywood Squares wasn't a showcase for has beens, but a welcome comedic relief during some of our nation's most turbulant times. Thanks to Peter Marshall for writing this, and bringing back all the laughter!

Rating:
Summary: Greta Garbo to block...
Review: ... is a phrase Peter Marshall admits he would have loved to hear on his hit television show "The Hollywood Squares". That fact, and a thousand others, come in a new and downright funny book, "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square", written by Peter Marshall and Adrienne Armstrong.

Part memoir, part fond walk down memory lane, "Backstage" provides insights to the creation and hosting of one of America's all time successful games. Peter Marshall recants many stories, some of which he told on the E! True Hollywood Story of the "Squares" and others are brand new.

He starts off with a quick summation of his early career, and how he was offered the emcee job of a lifetime. Then he delves in to all the people behind the scenes that were important to the show. The book starts running when he reminisces about all the stars we grew to love over the years: Paul Lynde, Wally Cox, Rose Marie. While each section of the star could have been longer, he sheds some light on each one admirably.

Throughout the book, Peter comes across very polite and respectful. It's almost his persona on the Squares. He allowed the stars to shine by taking a somewhat backseat approach to hosting, yet you realize after watching it he was the glue that kept them together. In this book, he is the mere storyteller, and showcases everyone else.

What's more fantastic about this book is the CD that accompanies it. From an album entitled "Zingers from the Hollywood Squares" that was released in the 70's, this CD holds some of the Squares funniest one liners. That alone is worth the cost of the book. I had the album as a kid, and listened to it constantly, and to this day, recalled many of the jokes still!

This book was a long time coming, and needed. For many people, The Hollywood Squares wasn't a showcase for has beens, but a welcome comedic relief during some of our nation's most turbulant times. Thanks to Peter Marshall for writing this, and bringing back all the laughter!

Rating:
Summary: Author, Author
Review: An interesting document, and ok in the absence of other records of the time. It's too bad that Bill Armstrong (Squares writer, producer, legendary wit, broadly reputed source of Paul Lynde's best lines, and co-author Adrienne Armstrong's ex-husband) didn't live to have his name on a better book about a period he knew and could have described better than anyone. Unfortunately, Bill Armstrong perished, and others published.

Rating:
Summary: A breezy trip back into the 70's
Review: Can it be that only a few decades ago every televised moment was not the life-or-death struggle it seems to have become? Almost; therein lies half the fun in this whimsical diary of one of television's many endearing but odd-ball institutions. The light, feel-good vibe gives one the sense that "Hollywood Squares" may have been a business proposition, but it became more like an extended family. The book (which includes tons of pictures and a hilarious CD) feels like a scrapbook, even as "Hollywood Squares" remains a television legacy whose staying power and influence cannot be denied. While Paul Lynde's departure from and later return to the show over salary disputes anticipated (and perhaps made possible) the "Cheers" and "Friends" contractual struggles that would follow, authors Marshall and Armstrong refrain from self-congratulation. Gossips may be frustrated by the easy, no-offense-intended style, but it is to the authors' credit that exploiting dead celebrities was not on the book's agenda. This was a time before such crudeness came into fashion (a simpler time, it would seem) and "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square" captures it nicely.

Rating:
Summary: Author, Author
Review: Game show host Peter Marshall sheds some light on the famous game show and you can't lose with this much information to draw on. However, there are some missing goodies.

We are treated to a somewhat humble biography about Peter Marchall, but it's mostly forgettable fluff. Every celebrity from the show is listed in the voluminous Index with a select handful being recognized with a page or two of biographical information. Most notable are Rose Marie, Dolly Parton, Vincent Price, Alice Cooper, Wally Cox, Milton Berle, Ruth Buzzie, Jonathan Winters and, of course, Paul Lynde. Marshall mentions tons of jokes that each celebrity has aired with some funny personal facts as well. The jokes are truly funny, but we learn that most of them were not written by the stars and no credibility is given to those that did. You might think that some interesting personal trivia would be exposed, but Marshall is very protective of his gang. Even Paul Lynde's widely known personal sexual life is ignored, covered by Marshall's proclaimed naivety and replaced with a story about Paul's devotion to his dog.

It's still a great quick read full of jokes and some vintage pictures form the sixties and seventies. One of the highlights is a CD included that has 45 minutes of jokes from the television show. It's not Dolby Surround Sound by any means, but the point is the jokes and delivery and they are real side-splitters.

Example: Q: What fictional character ran around screaming, "I'm late, "I'm late"? Paul Lynde: That was Alice, and her mother's sick about it.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Read, But A Bit Short
Review: Game show host Peter Marshall sheds some light on the famous game show and you can't lose with this much information to draw on. However, there are some missing goodies.

We are treated to a somewhat humble biography about Peter Marchall, but it's mostly forgettable fluff. Every celebrity from the show is listed in the voluminous Index with a select handful being recognized with a page or two of biographical information. Most notable are Rose Marie, Dolly Parton, Vincent Price, Alice Cooper, Wally Cox, Milton Berle, Ruth Buzzie, Jonathan Winters and, of course, Paul Lynde. Marshall mentions tons of jokes that each celebrity has aired with some funny personal facts as well. The jokes are truly funny, but we learn that most of them were not written by the stars and no credibility is given to those that did. You might think that some interesting personal trivia would be exposed, but Marshall is very protective of his gang. Even Paul Lynde's widely known personal sexual life is ignored, covered by Marshall's proclaimed naivety and replaced with a story about Paul's devotion to his dog.

It's still a great quick read full of jokes and some vintage pictures form the sixties and seventies. One of the highlights is a CD included that has 45 minutes of jokes from the television show. It's not Dolby Surround Sound by any means, but the point is the jokes and delivery and they are real side-splitters.

Example: Q: What fictional character ran around screaming, "I'm late, "I'm late"? Paul Lynde: That was Alice, and her mother's sick about it.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, the greatest game show I ever saw!
Review: I just bought this book a week ago and read it in two days. Now that Game Show Network has brought the show back, it's nice to also read about it. Peter Marshall has written a book not about his life, but his time on "The Hollywood Squares". He talks about what life was like with Paul Lynde, Rose-Marie, George Gobel and many others that I loved as a kid watching the show.

I gave this five stars because of the book. It also includes a wonderful CD with the zingers that we all loved to hear after a question was asked. The only drawback on this CD is hearing Buddy Hackett's laugh for much of the CD, and it's always the same laugh! It's irritating to listen to, but I can get past that.

The book answers many questions and gives many secrets of what went on in the heyday of this show. I won't spoil it for others, but it has information on the recently discovered thought to be destroyed episodes that GSN now airs. Plus, you can read about stars of today who were contestants on the show. One secret I'll give away is the fact that Naomi Judd was once a contestant!

Buy this book today. You'll find it's worth the money!

Rating:
Summary: IT'S HIP TO BE SQUARE
Review: I loved it when GSN started airing the original Hollywood Squares run. When Peter Marshall was coming up with this book, as a game show fan I HAD to get it. Am I glad I did. Funny, touching, a bit risque, but that's Hollywood. The original Squares is still the best, though Tom Bergeron's version has improved with Henry Winkler at the helm

Peter came back to host, and never lost a step. I may not have seen the show when it first came out, but Marshall still proves he is THE MASTER OF THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES. The book is a great light read, but chock full of memories! If you're a game show fan GET THIS BOOK! You'll "agree" it's one to have, and that's no bluff.