A great article for fans, pros, writers, actors, students – oh hell, for anybody who loves TV and wants to know more, more, more about it.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re absolutely sure that Larry Brody’s classic Turning Points in TV would have been on this list, but, sadly, it’s out of print. Why didn’t you guys all buy it while you could!?
by Erik Adams, Les Chappell, Danette Chavez & Noel Murray
Among its 100-plus lists, the 2009 Inventory book (now available for the low, low price of a penny!) contains “TV Guides: 5 essential books about TV.” The books it highlights—The Late Shift by Bill Carter, Live From New York by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales, Total Television by Alex McNeil, The Glass Teat by Harlan Ellison, and The Simpsons: A Complete Guide To Our Favorite Family—are undisputed classics of the genre, but they’re not the only worthwhile small-screen reads. TV has been celebrated and decried in print since its inception; the medium’s ongoing Golden Age has fostered an audience eager to read about its favorite shows after the credits roll—and a cohort of critics, authors, and scholars prepared to satisfy that appetite. That means there might be more vital books about TV on the shelves by the end of 2016—until then, try supplementing The A.V. Club’s previous TV reading list with the 19 titles that follow.