Mark Evanier, one of the biggest writing talents in TV, comic books, and blogging is writing a series of articles on the comic book industry, which – no surprise here – it turns out is very much like the TV biz as well.
Here’s Mark’s latest installment on the subject. (I couldn’t find all of the previous parts, but here’s one.)
For many, the 1950s is considered television’s “Golden Age.” But as far as I’m concerned, that era expanded in the 1960s and 1970s, during which time I was born and raised in my hometown of Rochester, New York.
As fate would have it, Rochester was one of the test market areas for TV Guide. Who knew, right? I certainly didn’t, not while I was reading and loving every page of the latest edition of that magazine, every week.
I very much looked forward to buying TV Guide every seven days. And I would run, not walk, but RUN to the corner store every end-of-summer to purchase the special, expanded FALL PREVIEW issue.
We’re always happy to bring you articles by TVWriter™ Contributing Editor Emeritus Herbie J Pilato, but now we’re even happier to present the latest article (that we’ve seen) about him.
“I love classic TV,” says Herbie J. Pilato. His passion for television history is unmistakable. In writing his book, Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story, he approached the life and legacy of an icon with deep respect, compassion and attentiveness. When he discusses the book, there’s such a genuine understanding of the significance fans and admirers would attribute to the task of creating the record of a life story as stunning as Mary’s.
Herbie is a historian above everything, therefore he spares no effort when it comes to chronicling the details of Mary’s life and work, his knowledge coming through clearly as he tells us about the development and trajectory of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. He’s an ardent supporter of Mary who is keenly insightful as to her desires, her insecurities, her hopes and disappointments, and when he speaks about these things one gets the sense that he’s extraordinarily well-suited to be her surrogate and her voice.
It was 2004, and I was working as one of the producers on Bravo’s hit five-part series, The 100 Greatest TV Characters.
As the author of The Kung Fu Book of Caine and The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom, companion books to the 1972–75 ABC-TV series. This legendary “Eastern-Western” starred David Carradine as fugitive Asian-American-Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine, a.k.a. “Grasshopper,” who I suggested be included in the Bravo series.
A Shining New Documentary about the Legendary Lucille Ball Hits All The Right Marks
There is an elegance in the story-telling of Lucille Ball: We Love Lucy, which premiers on the Reelz Channel Saturday night, September 12th.