Backstage With The Original Hollywood Square :

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.

Rating:
Summary: Mosat entertaining book
Review: If you loved Hollywood Squares you will love this book. Peter Marshall did an excellent job writing it. It was fun reading about all those stars and what they were really like behind the scenes. It was not one of those long drawn out books. It really was fun entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: A trip down memory lane
Review: In the days when tv emcees were over-emotive, phony-sounding or even grumpy, Peter Marshall always came across as one of the "regular, nice" ones. His book, "Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square" is chock full of the show's anecdotes and the stories of what happened not only on the set but behind it, too. I read it from cover to cover without even thinking of putting it down for a second.

Marshall, who was host of the show for seventeen years, spares no one. He tells of the stars he liked and disliked. It's hard to read that the favorite star of many fans, Paul Lynde, was difficult, hard to please and drank so much of the time. But Marshall has kind words for Paul Lynde as he does for so many of those with whom he worked. I was particularly interested to find out how the stars "developed" their answers so quickly and so comically. That revleation was worth the whole book.

And Marshall delves into the inner workings of how the show came about, its producers and all those who made the show such a success. The book is written in a breezy style and it keeps the reader interested at every level. The icing on the cake is the CD which is included. Forty-five minutes of "outtakes" from the show are recorded and had me in hysterics the whole time.

Thank you, Peter Marshall, for helping us to remember what a great show "Hollywood Squares" was. I'm glad you're still having fun with it all these years later!

Rating:
Summary: NOTHING BUT FUN!
Review: Like watching the show itself, reading Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square was nothing but fun. I loved hearing the little-known stories about people I felt I'd visited so often in the past. I almost felt I knew them then, and now I feel like I know them even better.

I enjoyed learning how the game was constructed and how the stars came up with all those funny lines. The color photos were so beautiful, I'm almost tempted to cut up my book and create a photo album, but I'm going to resist the impulse (unless I get another one for Christmas.)

Of course, the CD is priceless. I've been listening to it in my car and it keeps me laughing through traffic.

I recommend this one highly.

Rating:
Summary: FUNNY! FUNNY! FUNNY!
Review: OK, so the title of this review is redundant, but there is a reason for this. In my teens, and beyond, I had a ball reading books about the goings on in Hollywood. I read HARPO SPEAKS!, George Kauffman's autobiography, W. C. FIELDS AND ME, etc. On the cover of HARPO SPEAKS! are three blurbs from three different reviews and they all say "Funny."

The Hollywood Squares was the modern equivalent of the Algonquin table that had Alexander Woolcott, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and other glitterati of the 1920's and 1930's trying to "top" each other with their words and phrases. This book gives you true insight into what went on during the show, and also tells you about many things that happened away from the TV studio. In BACKSTAGE, just when you get to thinking that Peter Marshall is holding back on some of what went on, then on the next page he tells about an older regular panelist hooking-up with call girls, or the choice words that Alice (wife of George) Gobel said to President Nixon.

What makes this book even better is an audio CD of some of the answers given by the stars. And speaking of "stars," that is another facet about the book that makes it so endearing. Many times Peter Marshall tells about how he was star struck, especially when he got some of the "A" actors, e.g. George C. Scott, on the show.

If you're "star struck," too, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: FUNNY! FUNNY! FUNNY!
Review: OK, so the title of this review is redundant, but there is a reason for this. In my teens, and beyond, I had a ball reading books about the goings on in Hollywood. I read HARPO SPEAKS!, George Kauffman's autobiography, W. C. FIELDS AND ME, etc. On the cover of HARPO SPEAKS! are three blurbs from three different reviews and they all say "Funny."

The Hollywood Squares was the modern equivalent of the Algonquin table that had Alexander Woolcott, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and other glitterati of the 1920's and 1930's trying to "top" each other with their words and phrases. This book gives you true insight into what went on during the show, and also tells you about many things that happened away from the TV studio. In BACKSTAGE, just when you get to thinking that Peter Marshall is holding back on some of what went on, then on the next page he tells about an older regular panelist hooking-up with call girls, or the choice words that Alice (wife of George) Gobel said to President Nixon.

What makes this book even better is an audio CD of some of the answers given by the stars. And speaking of "stars," that is another facet about the book that makes it so endearing. Many times Peter Marshall tells about how he was star struck, especially when he got some of the "A" actors, e.g. George C. Scott, on the show.

If you're "star struck," too, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Exceeds expectations
Review: Peter doesn't hold back. He gives honest stories about the stars that populated his Squares from 1966-82, and they're all fascinating reading. Any fan of game shows or celebrities in general will greatly enjoy this book. The CD of "zingers" is icing on the cake; dozens and dozens of the best joke answers from Lynde, Weaver, Hackett, Rose Marie, etc. Classic comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book by Joanne Dru's Brother!!
Review: Peter Marshall(Joanne Dru's Brother) did a superb Job writing his book along with a small biography of his life and career as a game show host.Hopefully,he might someday write or encourage a biography of his sister, the beautiful and reknowned actress Joanne Dru.It would be a labor of love and a beautiful tribute!!So spread the word!!I'm sure that a publisher somewhere, especially in her home state of West Virginia would love to publish it!!

Rating:
Summary: Paul Lynde to block!
Review: Peter Marshall: Why do Motorcyclists wear leather jackets?

Paul Lynde: Because Chiffon Wrinkles.

For quite some time now, I have been listening to Peter Marshall on the radio every weekday morning as he hosts "the Music of Your Life" on KLOA a.m. His knowledge of music from that era is extensive and he always adds interesting comments and stories about the songs that he plays. Every once in a while he mentions the Hollywood Squares and you can hear in his voice how he cherishes that part of his life. With his new book, "Backstage With the Original Hollywood Square", he has a chance to reminisce fondly of the much beloved game show that brought joy to lives of so many.

The tone of the book is mostly fun, and even when he briefly mentions those few things that are perhaps less than pleasant, he does so with an honest, human candor that puts things in perspective. We get a quick glimpse of Peter's life before, during and after Squares, however, the majority of the book is about all of the celebrities that took part in the show, both those that were regulars like Paul Lynde and the many brief appearances by stars throughout the years as diverse as George C. Scott to Alice Cooper. The inner workings of the show are also presented for our enlightenment, as well as the pleasant announcement that the videos of the show that were once believed lost have recently been uncovered and are now playing on the Game Show Network.

My favorite story in the book concerns an amazing letter that Pete received from none other than the Duke himself: John Wayne!

As if this fabulous photo packed book were not enough, it comes with a CD of the long out of print album, "Zingers from the Hollywood Squares"! If you liked Hollywood Squares, then you will not be let down by this bargain package.

Rating:
Summary: "Of course that's just a guess on my part"
Review: The title of my review may be a mystery to those who haven't read the book. It's part of an off-camera punchline uttered by Paul Lynde that cannot be repeated in a family-oriented review, but almost worth the price of the book alone. I watched the original squares and consider it one of the funniest programs on TV, period. Here, Marshall recalls many of the funniest moments, and the ones he doesn't repeat are on the included CD, "Zingers from the Hollywood Squares."
If the book itself doesn't quite measure up to five stars, the CD brings it up to that stratosphere.
My only suggestion is it might have saved time and paper if Marshall listed only the people who've NOT appeared on the show. The show's guests were the Who's Who of Hollywood, and if Marshall missed naming one, I don't see how.
For a fan of any TV show, backstage info is always welcome. While it is no Show Biz secret that many of the funny "adlibs" were in fact written for the guests, it was the attitude and timing of the stars delivery that made it all work.
Lots of pictures, good show biz anecdotes, and a CD to boot? What's not to like?
I can't wait for Master Tom Bergeron to unveil the secrets of the current version. Like the fact that Whoopi--no longer producer/Center Square--seemed to know almost every question asked when she was in the booth, but was almost no help whatsoever when she came down for the lightning round, or if she was asked a "secret Square" question. Could it be that she didn't want to be embarrased, but King World would not risk the integrity of the "contest" by giving her (or allowing her to guess) the answers to critical questions in advance? Tom?