eBook The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present download

February 2012 Addendum: I just read a comment made by one of the authors, Tim Brooks, which is from an interview he did shortly after this editions publication in October 2007. He stated there that this edition may be the last one. The article can be found here: [...] I can't describe how disappointed I am at this, now belated, news! This is one of my all time favorite books, and I've purchased every edition since around 1988. The tenth edition should have come out nearly four months ago now. I contacted the publisher and they informed me that this book is not on their schedule for publication for the next 12 months. It seems that his comment has now come true. Unless someone else takes it over, we've likely seen the last edition of this outstanding publication.

I have been purchasing this book since the fourth edition, which was Published in approximately October 1988 or so. I love this book! It tells you pretty much ever wanted to know about a TV show and its cast! I am constantly referring to it when watching my favorite reruns, and often just browse through it, and seem to always across and old favorite that I'd not thought about for some time! I also love the grid section in the back that tells you what each Networks' schedule was like season by season.
This book is revised every three (3) or four (4) years. This current edition came out in the Fall of 2007, so the tenth edition should be out within the next couple of months if they follow their previous publication pattern. You can learn not only about the shows, but who was in them, what other shows they did, and occasionally some information about noteworthy guest stars.
For the next and/or future editions, though, here are some improvements I would like to see included (in no particular order:

The next edition is likely to grow by at least a few hundred pages with all the new shows that have come out since the last edition, so I'd like to see a new, wider page format, similar in size to what the Golden Retriever Movie Hound book is published in. This would also allow them to make the font just a bit larger, too.

Some of the synopses seem to end rather abruptly, leaving the reader hanging; it would be good to fix this. If there were some interesting facts behind the show, i.e., ratings issues, and what they did to try improve ratings, or some other controversy or news-worthy event, mention that as well. I'd also like to know what lead to a show being cancelled. Did they decide they'd reached their creative end, like in M*A*S*H? Was it due to declining ratings? Was it some other reason, such as the death of the series lead? Whatever it was, I'd like to see this information included in the synopsis.

I also love to have some photographs, perhaps for those historically significant or noteworthy shows. Not tons of photographs, necessarily, just enough to lend some pictorial history.

In addition to a larger size font, I'd like to see perhaps a new, more easy-to-read font as well.

Nonetheless, this book is a great addition to your library. And don't ever through your old editions away! Pass them on to a friend or colleague!

11/29/2013 2:33pm The Complete Directory to Prime Time
I have been buying this book for 30 years and it sits right next to me on my shelf, as I always need to look up another series.I wish they would list the number of episodes produced, they do that for syndicated series, cable but not for the main network series. I like this book but I do need say to the authors they should not list the final episode air-date when the network chooses to bring the series back as filler for the summer or an empty time-slot. Another quibble, the book has taken remakes of successful series and combined their histories as one series, including final air-dates, for example "The Odd Couple" 1970-1975 with "The New Odd Couple" 1982-1983. I find the extensive cast credits, timeslot changes, original debut and final air-dates, and the series format/plot/summary and for long-running series, a history, very helpful.

It's like a trip down memory lane!
The only other edition of this book I owned was the version published in 1987. So this edition is a quantum leap forward.

I challenge you to find a more thorough guide to prime time TV. This book has everything - down to the minutest detail. Even if you just scan through this book you'll see in-depth references to shows you've long forgotten about. It really is like flipping through an old family album that has been lost to time or stashed away for years. The memories just come flooding back to you.
Special enhanced bonus: the appendixes at the back that break down the shows by longest-running, spin-offs, etc.
No kidding: the last time I sat down to read through this book, I let SO MUCH time go by that by the time I put it down I had to shave again.
Absolutely worth picking up, but nearly impossible to put down!!
Don't believe me? Read some of the other reviews listed here for this simply fantastic reference book. There's a reason everyone gives this book 5 stars!

Sadly seems is the last edition... suthors passed or retired? But well passed the past update cycle.
When they started it inb the late 70's they were seasoned TV people.

Plus now with online first run stuff the whole mix has gotten much more complex.

Still a historical reference well worth having.

This is the ninth edition of this masterwork television directory, and if rumors are true, it will also be the last print edition. (If there is to be a tenth print edition, it is greatly overdue given the spacing of the first nine editions.) I bought the first edition of this book, and I have bought most of the others too. I keep this book next to the TV and consult it very often. If a series appeared on network or cable television, even briefly, it is in here. The cast lists are very thorough and complete.