Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

History  of  Radio
&  Television  Page

Current Filmmakers
XXth Century Directors
Early Filmmakers
Foreign Auteurs
Favorite Films (and Why)
Film Genres
Actors: Stars & Unknowns
Movies: Great & Unsung
Film Festivals & Orgns
Reference & Technical
Film Businesses Page
       classic test pattern for black & white TV       
Pioneers of Radio & TV
Links
Videos & DVDs

Important Dates

Non-Fiction Books
Fiction Books

Old Time Radio
Early TV Programs
Music

"When television is bad, nothing is worse. You will observe a vast wasteland."
—  Newton N. Minow  (9 May 1961)

"There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful. Stonewall Jackson, who knew something about the use of weapons, is reported to have said, 'When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard.' The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival.”
—  journalist
Edward R. Murrow [1908-65]

"Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television."
—  Woody Allen

"Time has convinced me of one thing: Television is for appearing on – not for looking at."
—   Noel Coward [1899-1973]


History of Cinema Page
Books About Hollywood & Cinema History

Old Time Radio at Spirit of America Bookstore

Air America Radio Network Page at Working Minds



Radio  &  Television  Pioneers

Pioneers of Television PBS miniseries   "Pioneers of Television" [P.B.S. Jan 2008]
4-episode mini-series: Late Night, Sitcoms, Game Shows, Variety
Directed by Steve Boettcher; written by Mike Trinklein
P.B.S. Paramount widescreen color DVD [1/2008] for $22.49
full credits from IMDb
official P.B.S. program site


Abbott & Costello

see Abbott & Costello on the Movie Series & Comedy Teams Page

browse Bud Abbott on DVD
browse Lou Costello on DVD


Milton Berle  [1908-2002]
browse Milton Berle on DVDIMDb listingWikipedia

Milton Berle Collection  
"The Milton Berle Collection" [2004]
from the 'Milton Berle Buick Show' [1953-55]

Passport b&w DVD [2/2004] 5 disks for $26.99


Walter Cronkite
browse Walter Cronkite on DVDIMDb listingWikipedia

Walter Cronkite autobio A Reporter's Life  
"A Reporter's Life" [1996]
by Walter Cronkite

Ballantine Books 8¼x5½ pb [10/97] for $12.44
Knopf 9½x6½ hardcover [11/96] for $19.80


Philo T. Farnsworth  [1906-71]
The Inventor of Modern Television


Ernie Kovacs  [1919-62]
browse Ernie Kovacs on DVDIMDb listingWikipedia

"Ernie Kovacs: Between The Laughter" [1984 TV movie] starring Jeff Goldblum
"The Ernie Kovacs Phile" [Simon & Schuster 1987] by David Walley
"Kovacsland: A Biography of Ernie Kovacs" [HB&J 1990] by Diana Rico
"The Importance of Being Ernie" stage play [2004] by Sean Sanczel

Best of Ernie Kovacs DVD  
"The Best of Ernie Kovacs" [1977 P.B.S. series]
White Star b&w DVD [11/2000] 2 disks for $44.99


Groucho Marx [1890-1977]

see The Marx Brothers on the Movie Series & Comedy Teams Page

browse Groucho Marx on DVD at Amazon


Edward R. Murrow  [1908-65]  Page

Edward R. Murrow Quotations Page at Working Minds Philosophy website


Jack Paar  [1918-2004]
IMDb listingWikipedia
Jack Paar Collection DVD  
"The Jack Paar Collection" [2004]
Shout Factory color DVD [3/2004] 3 disks for $26.99
includes the documentary "Smart Television: The Best of Jack Paar" [P.B.S. 2003]
and 3 episodes of the prime-time "The Jack Paar Program" [1962-65]


Nikola Tesla  [1856-1943]
The Inventor of Radio



Television  &  Radio  Links

Museum of Broadcast Communications [est. 1987] in Chicago, IL
"TV History: The First 75 Years" website
Early Television Museum/Foundation in Hilliard, OH
F.C.C. History of Television pages
ArtLinksList.com - arts directory / TV
Television Station Index
Radio Locator station listings website
50 Years of Western Australia TV

Museum of TV & Radio TVLand Store: 'I Love Lucy', 'Brady Bunch', 'The Honeymooners', 'Three Stooges', 'I Dream of Jeannie', 'Andy Griffith', 'Get Smart', 'Munsters' and more...


Videos  &  DVDs

"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"
[Apatow/DreamWorks July 2004] /tt0357413/

"Broadcast  News"  [Gracie/Fox Dec 1987]
Broadcast News   A love triangle – between a female news producer who falls for the new pretty-boy anchor and the plain-looking news reporter who loves her – parallels the network's move from substance toward style. Co-produced, written & directed by James L. Brooks; starring William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Robert Prosky, Lois Chiles, Joan Cusack, Peter Hackes, Christian Clemenson, Jack Nicholson, Robert Katims, Ed Wheeler & Stephen Mendillo; Oscar nomina- tions for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Hurt), Best Actress (HH), Best Supporting Actor (AB), Best Cinematography & Best Editing; noms for DGA & WGA Awards
Fox widescreen color DVD [10/99] for $9.98
Fox color VHS [1/96] out of prodn/many used
full credits from IMDb
Oscar-nominated movie script by James L. Brooks
Vintage pb [2/89] out of print/used

"Good  Night,  And,  Good  Luck"
[Warner Independent Oct 2005]
Good Night, and Good Luck poster   TV newsman Edward R. Murrow airs a story about a man discharged from the Navy without a trial. Murrow is accused of being a 'Communist sympathizer', and the C.B.S. news team goes on the offensive. "See It Now" airs a series of shows detailing the lies and un-Constitutional tactics of Senator Joe McCarthy, leading to McCarthy's censure by the U.S. Senate.
Co-written & directed by & co-starring George Clooney; starring David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Frank Langella, with Joseph McCarthy via archive footage; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Script, Best Actor {DS, of course), Best Cinematograpy & Best Art Direction
Warner widescreen b&w DVD [3/2006] for $14.99
full credits from IMDb; official moviesite

"The  Man  In  The  Gray  Flannel  Suit"
[Fox April 1956]
Man In The Gray Flannel Suit movie   A WWII veteran takes a temporary job at a New York tv network for the increase in pay, but is soon miserable. Adapted & directed by Nunnally Johnson, from the 1955 novel; music by Bernard Hermann; starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, Fredric March, Marisa Pavan, Lee J. Cobb, Ann Harding, Keenan Wynn, Gene Lockhart, Gigi Perreau & Portland Mason
Fox widescreen color DVD [8/2005] for $10.99
Fox color VHS [10/97] for $18.98
Bernard Hermann soundtrack CD [9/99] for $17.98
full credits at IMDb
Man In The Gray Flannel Suit novel  
classic novel [1955] by Sloan Wilson [1920-2003]
Four Walls Eight Windows 8¼x5½ pb [9/2002] for $11.58
Buccaneer Books hardcover [12/91] out of print/used
"The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit II" [1984 sequel]
Arbor House hardcover [3/84] out of print/used

"Modern Marvels: Television - Window To The World"
[History Channel undated]
History Channel / Modern Marvels / Television  
A&E Home Video b&w/color DVD [4/2005] for $21.99
not listed at IMDb

"My Favorite Year" [1982]
Directed by Richard Benjamin; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084370/

"Network"  [M.G.M. Nov 1976]
Network 1976 movie poster   An aging network news anchor is fired, and his on-air tirade – "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" – causes a sensation among his viewers, so he is rehired and given his own show. Directed by Sidney Lumet; written by Paddy Chayefsky; starring Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall & Ned Beatty; won Oscars for Best Script, Best Actor [Finch], Best Actress [FD], Best Supporting Actress [BS], nominated for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actor [WH], Best Supporting Actor [NB], Best Cinematography, Best Editing; won BAFTA for Best Actor [Finch], nominated for 8 more; won W.G.A. Award for Best Original Script
Warner widescreen color DVD [2/2006] 2 disks for $23.99
M.G.M. color VHS [5/96] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb
novelization by Sam Hedrin
Penguin movie tie-in mass pb [11/76] out of print/used

"Quiz Show" [1994]
Directed by Robert Redford; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110932/

"Soapdish" [1991] /tt0102951/

"Television: The First 50 Years"
Television / First 50 Years  
Passport Video 100-min. b&w/color DVD [4/2003] for $12.99
not listed on IMDb

"Tootsie" [1982] /tt0084805/

"The  TV  Set"  [ThinkFilm April 2007]
The TV Set poster   A comedy about the stressful process of getting a television series sold and aired.
Written & directed by Jake Kasdan; starring David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Fran Kranz, Lindsay Sloane, Justine Bateman & Lucy Davis
Fox widescreen color DVD [9/2007] for $17.99
full credits from IMDb

"U.H.F." [Orion Pictures July 1989]
U.H.F. movie starring Weird Al Yankovic   A compulsive gambler wins a near-bankrupt UHF TV station in a poker game and hires his loser nephew to manage it. But Channel U62 becomes a success, and when the uncle decides to sell to a competitor to pay off new gambling debts, the station staff rebel. Co-written & directed by Jay Levey; co-written by & starring 'Weird Al' Yankovic; also starring Michael Richards, Kevin McCarthy, Victoria Jackson, David Bowe, Stanley Brock, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Fran Drescher, Anthony Geary & Trinidad Silva
M.G.M. widescreen color DVD [6/2002] for $7.99
Orion Home Video color VHS [6/94] out of prodn/used
Volcano Records soundtrack CD [7/89] 12 tracks for $11.98
full credits from IMDbofficial movie site

movies with background of old time or modern radio
at Spirit of America Bookstore


Important  Dates  in  the  History
of  Radio  &  Television

  • 1877 June 4: Patent application for the variable resistence carbon microphone filed by Emile Berliner.
  • 1893 Feb: Genius inventor Nikola Tesla lectured on the principles of 'wireless telegraphy' [broadcast radio] at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.
  • 1896: Genius inventor Nikola Tesla built his first working radio transmitter & receiver devices (five years before Marconi).
  • 1900 Dec 23: Reginald A. Fessenden of Canada broadcast the first known transmission of the human voice over the radio, for a distance of about one mile.
  • 1901 Dec 12: First transmission of a radio signal across the Atlantic, sent from Poldhu, Cornwall, U.K. and received by Guglielmo Marconi at St. John's, Newfoundland.
  • 1902 Dec 17: First eastward transmission of a radio signal across the Atlantic, sent from Marconi's transmitter station at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • 1906 Dec 24: Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden made the first trans- mission of pre-recorded music over the radio, from Brant Rock, MA – the potential audience was radio-telegraph operators aboard ship in the Atlantic Ocean – and is considered the first 'disk jockey'.
  • 1911 March 24: Birthday of animator Joseph Barbera.
  • 1919 Oct 17: Creation of the Radio Corporation of America.
  • 1921 Oct 5: First broadcast of baseball's World Series on radio.
  • 1922 June 14: Warren G. Harding became the first U.S. President heard on radio, as Baltimore station WEAR aired his speech dedicating the Francis Scott Key Memorial at Fort McHenry.
  • 1923 Dec 6: The first radio broadcast of a presidential address, of President Coolidge speaking to a joint session of Congress.
  • 1924 Feb 8: First coast-to-coast radio broadcast.
  • 1924 Feb 12: The first radio speech broadcast by a U.S. presidant, by President Coolidge.
  • 1924 Feb 22: President Coolidge delivered the first radio speech broadcast from the White House.
  • 1926 Sept 9: The National Broadcasting Company was founded by Radio Corporation of America.
  • 1926 Nov 15: Debut of the National Broadcasting Company, with a network of 24 radio stations.
  • 1926 Dec 25: Prof. Kenjiro Takayanagi of Japan displayed a rough image transmitted electronically on a cathode ray tube.
  • 1927 April 7: First successful public transmission of a long-distance television image, that of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.
  • 1927 Sept 18: Debut of the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System [later CBS] with a network of 16 radio stations.
  • 1927 Sept 23: Invention of television by Philo T. Farnsworth.
  • 1928 Dec 23: National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent coast-to-coast radio network.
  • 1932 Dec 25: The British Broadcasting Company inaugurated the Empire Service {forerunner of B.B.C. World Service). King George V gave the first royal broadcast to the Empire, written by the author Rudyard Kipling.
  • 1933 Jan 30: First broadcast of the "Lone Ranger" radio program, over station WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan; the radio series ended 3 September 1954.
  • 1934 June 19: The Federal Communications Commission was created, replacing the Federal Radio Commission.
  • 1934 Aug 25: First public demonstration of electronic scanning television by Philo T. Farnsworth at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.
  • 1935 Dec 19: First public demonstration of F.M. radio, by American inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong.
  • 1936 Nov 2: The British Broadcasting Corp. began 'high definition' television service from Alexandra Palace in London.
  • 1938 Oct 30: Orson Welles's notorious "War of the Worlds" radio hoax, aired over the C.B.S. Network.
  • 1939 July 18: First broadcast from a commercial FM radio station, in Alpine N.J.
  • 1939 Aug 16: First major league baseball games shown on television, over experimental station W2XBS – a double header between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
  • 1941 July 1: First ever TV ad, for Bulova Watches, on W.N.B.T. New York City.
  • 1943: The U.S. Supreme Court found that Nikola Tesla was the inventor of wireless radio, based on the 1893 publication of his lecture at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.
  • 1943 Oct 14: Radio Corporation of America completed sale for $8 million to businessman Edward J. Noble of its NBC Blue Network, soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company.
  • 1946 Oct 30: R.C.A. publicly demonstrated an all-electronic system of color TV, on a 15x20-inch screen.
  • 1947 Jan 22: Station W6XYZ in Los Angeles, CA changes call letters to KTLA-TV 5, the first commercial TV west of Chicago.
  • 1947 Oct 5: President Truman delivered the first televised White House address.
  • 1948 Feb 16: First nightly television news broadcast, "The Camel Newsreel Theatre" on NBC-TV, showing Fox-MovieTone newsreels narrated by John Cameron Swayze.
  • 1948 June 8: Debut of "Texaco Star Theater" on NBC-TV starring Milton Berle.
  • 1949 Sept 15: First broadcast of the "Lone Ranger" television program, over the A.B.C. network; the last new episode of the TV series aired 6 June 1957.
  • 1951 June 25: First commercial color television broadcast - CBS transmitted a one-hour special program from New York City to four other cities.
  • 1951 Sept 4: First live, coast-to-coast television transmission – President Truman addressed a peace conference in San Francisco, CA.
  • 1952 Sept 6: Canadian television broadcasting began in Montreal, PQ.
  • 1953 March 19: Academy Awards ceremony televised for the first time.
  • 1953 Dec 17: First national broadcasts of R.C.A./N.T.S.C. color television, on C.B.S. at 6:15 pm and on N.B.C. at 6:30 pm.
  • 1954 Jan 1: N.B.C. broadcast the Pasadena Rose Parade in color on 21 stations.
  • 1954 April 6: Four weeks after on-air expose by Edward R. Murrow, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy delivered a filmed response on "See It Now" (CBS News) charging that Murrow had in the past "engaged in propoganda for Communist causes".
  • 1954 Sept 27: Debut of NBC's 'Tonight!' show, hosted by Steve Allen.
  • Fall 1956: First wireless remote control for televison sets introduced - the "Zenith Space Command".
  • 1956 Oct 29: "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" news program premiered as NBC's nightly tv news broadcast, replacing "The Camel News Caravan" (which began in Feb 1948).
  • 1961 May 9: Television programming condemned as a 'vast wasteland' by F.C.C. Commissioner Newton N. Minow in a speech at the National Association of Broadcasters.
  • 1962 April 24: Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, between Camp Parks, CA and Westford, MA.
  • 1970 Sept 21: "NFL Monday Night Football" debuted on ABC-TV.
  • 1980 June 1: Debut of C.N.N. {Cable News Network}.
  • 1996 Oct 17: Launch of the Fox News Channel.
  • 2009 Feb 19: The end of analog television broadcasting in the U.S., the final switch-over to digital broadcast TV.
JM's detailed chronology of U.S. television history



Non-Fiction  Books

Television History & Criticism books category at Amazon

History of Wireless book by Ira Brodsky  "The History of Wireless: How Creative Minds Produced Technology For The Masses" [2008] by Ira Brodsky
Part I covers Volta, Faraday, Maxwell, Lodge & Hertz; Part IIA covers the tele- graph, the telephone, Marconi, Fessenden, de Forest & Armstrong {not Tesla?}; Part IIB covers the birth of broadcast radio & TV, Sarnoff, Farnsworth & Zworykin; Part III is a comprehensive history of mobile radio, cellular & digital cellular.
Telescope Books 8¾x6 pb [1/2008] for $17.95
Television Will Be Revolutionized   "The Television Will Be Revolutionized" [2007]
by Amanda D. Lotz

N.Y.U. Press 9x6 pb [11/2007] for $19.80
N.Y.U. Press 9x6¼ hardcover [11/2007] for $70.00
NBC America's Network   "N.B.C.: America's Network" [2007]
Edited by Michele Hilmes

Univ CA Press 8¾x5¾ pb [8/2007] for $18.21
Univ CA Press 9x6¼ hardcover [8/2007] for $60.00
Creating American Television   "Same Time, Same Station: Creating American Television,
1948-1961" [2007]
by James L. Baughman

Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6¼ pb [2/2007] for $25.55
TV Wonderland / Early Television  "TV Wonderland: The Enchantment of Early Television"
[2006] by Brad & Debra Schepp

Collectors Press 6½x5½ pb [1/2006] for $11.66
Amusing Ourselves To Death   "Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse In The Age of Show Business" [orig 1985, rev 2005]
by Neil Postman; 20th Anniversary Introduction by Andrew Postman

Penguin 7¾x5 pb [12/2005] for $11.20
Viking hardcover [11/85] out of print/used
Forgotten DuMont Network   "The Forgotten Network: DuMont & The Birth of American Television" [2004]
by David Weinstein

Temple Univ Press pb [3/2006] for $19.95
Temple Univ Press 9x6¼ hardcover [5/2004] for $37.49
Television History Book   "The Television History Book" [2004]
by Michele Hilmes

British Film Institute 9½x7¼ pb [3/2004] for $27.95
British Film Institute 10x7½ hardcover [3/2004] out of print/rare
Television, McCarthyism & American Culture   "Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism & American Culture" [2003]
by Thomas Doherty

Columbia Univ Press 8¾x5¾ pb [2/2005] for $23.00
Columbia Univ Press 9x6¼ hardcover [10/2003] for $71.00
Television Animation & American Culture book edited by Carole Stabile & Mark Harrison   "Prime Time Animation: Television Animation & American Culture"
[2003] Edited by Carole A. Stabile & Mark Harrison

Routledge 9x6 pb [4/2003] for $32.53
Routledge 9½x6¼ hardcover [4/2003] for $120.00
Encyclopedia of American Television   "The Encyclopedia of American Television: Broadcast Programming Post World War II to 2000" [2002]
by Ronald W. Lackmann

Checkmark Books pb [10/2002] for $21.95
Facts On File {4.2 pounds} hardcover [10/2002] for $75.00
DuMont Television Network   "The DuMont Television Network: What Happened? - A Significant Episode In The History of Broadcasting" [2002]
by Ted Bergmann & Ira Skutch

Rowman & Littlefield / Scarecrow 8¾x6¼ hardcover [4/2002] out of print/used
75 Years of Television & Radio from N.B.C.   "Brought To You In Living Color: 75 Years of Great Moments In Television & Radio From N.B.C." [2002]
by Marc Robinson

Wiley & Sons 10¼x10¼ pb [10/2003] for $29.95
Wiley & Sons 10¾x10¾ hardcover [3/2002] for $0.00
The Classic Serial On Television and Radio book by Robert Giddings & Keith Selby   "The Classic Serial On Television and Radio" [2001]
by Robert Giddings & Keith Selby

The mini-series based on classical literature was invented by B.B.C. Radio, then adapted to television.
Palgrave Macmillan 8½x5½ pb [2/2001] for $43.28
Palgrave Macmillan 8½x5¾ hardcover [2/2001] for $110.00
African Americans on Network Television book by Donald Bogle   "Prime Time Blues: African Americans On Network Television"
[2001] by Donald Bogle

FS&G 8½x5½ pb [2/2002] out of print/used
FS&G 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2001] out of print/many used

and more on the Afro-American Film Festival Page

The Days of Live {TV} book edited by Ira Skutch   "The Days of Live: Television's Golden Age As Seen By 21 Directors Guild of America Members" [1998]
Edited by Ira Skutch

Scarecrow Press 8½x5½ pb [8/98] for $29.81
Scarecrow Press 8¾x5½ hardcover [8/98] for $65.00
CBS First 50 Years  
"C.B.S.: The First 50 Years" [1998]
by Tony Chiu

Stoddart 11¾x10 hardcover [5/98] out of print/used
Age of Broadcasting / Television   "The Age of Broadcasting: Television" [1997]
Edited by Wim Coleman

Tandem Library 7½x5¼ econoclad [3/97] for $15.25
Discovery Enterprises 7¾x5¼ pb [9/98] out of print/used
Encyclopedia of Television   "Encyclopedia of Television" [1997]
Edited by Horace Newcomb

Taylor & Francis {17 pounds!} 2nd edition
hardcover 4-volume set [10/2004] for $620.00

online 1st edition at Museum of Broadcast Communications

Invention of Television   "Tube: The Invention of Television" [1996]
by David E. Fisher & Marshall Jon Fisher

Harvest Books 9x6 pb [11/97] out of print/used
Counterpoint hardcover [9/96] out of print/many used
Persistence of History, Cinema, Television book by Vivian Sobchack   "The Persistence of History: Cinema, Television and The Modern Event" [1995]
by Vivian Sobchack

Routledge/A.F.I. 9¼x6 pb [12/95] for $29.95
Routledge/A.F.I. 10x8 hardcover [12/95] out of print/used
Television International History book by Anthony Smith & Richard Paterson   "Television: An International History" [1995]
Edited by Anthony Smith & Richard Paterson

Oxford Univ Press 2nd edition 9¾x7½ pb [9/98] for $24.46
Oxford Univ Press 10x7½ hardcover [11/95] out of print/used
Oral History of Television book by Jeff Kisseloff   "The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961" [1995]
by Jeff Kisseloff

Penguin 8½x5½ pb [1/97] out of print/used
Viking hardcover [11/95] out of print/many used
As Seen On TV   "As Seen On TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life In The 1950s" [1994]
by Karal Ann Marling

Harvard Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [3/96] for $20.50
Harvard Univ Press 9½x6.4 hardcover [9/94] for $27.50
Please Stand By   "Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television" [1994]
by Michael Ritchie

Overlook 9¼x7 pb [9/95] for $15.95
Overlook hardcover [9/94] out of print/many used
Broadcast Century & Beyond   "The Broadcast Century and Beyond: A Biography of American Broadcasting" [orig 1992]
by Robert L Hilliard & Michael C. Keith

Focal Press 4th edition 10¼x7¼ pb [10/2004] for $39.56
Unsilent Revolution   "Unsilent Revolution: Television News & American Public Life,
1948-1991" [1992]
by Robert J. Donovan

Cambridge Univ Press pb [3/92] for $28.99
Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/92] out of print/used
Beating the Odds / The Rise of ABC  "Beating The Odds: The Untold Story Behind The Rise of A.B.C. - The Stars, Struggles & Egos That Transformed Network Television"
[1991] by Leonard H. Goldenson, with Marvin J. Wolf

Scribner hardcover [2/91] out of print/many used
Fifties Television   "Fifties Television: The Industry and Its Critics" [1990]
by William Boddy

Univ IL Press 9x6 pb [8/92] for $21.00
Univ IL Press hardcover [7/90] out of print/used
I Remember Television memoir book by Ira Skutch  "I Remember Television: A Memoir" [1989]
by Ira Skutch

part of the D.G.A. Oral Histories series; covers Skutch's years as a network radio director, at a Madison Avenue ad agency, and at the Goodson-Todman TV game show production company
Scarecrow Press 8¾x5½ hardcover [1/89] for $48.00
Great Television Race   "The Great Television Race: A History of The American Television Industry, 1925-1941" [1982]
by Joseph H. Udelson

Univ AL Press 9¼x6 pb [11/90] for $18.95
Univ AL Press 9¼x6 pb [6/89] for $35.00
Total Television   "Total Television: Revised Edition" [orig 1980]
by Alex McNeil

Penguin {2.63 pound} 4th edition pb [9/96] for $20.70
Penguin 4th edition book & CD [10/97] out of prodn/used
Complete Directory / Brooks & Marsh   "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present" [1979]
by Tim Brooks & Earle F. Marsh

Ballantine 8th edition pb [10/2003] for $18.45
New York Times Encyclopedia of Television   "The New York Times Encyclopedia of Television" [orig 1977]
by Les Brown

Visible Ink Press 3rd edition 9x7¼ pb [2/92] out of print/used
Gale Group 3rd edition 9¾x7¾ hardcover [2/92] out of print/used
Random House hardcover [11/77] out of print/many used
Stay Tuned / Sterling & Kittross   "Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting" [1978]
by Christopher H. Sterling & John M. Kittross

L.E.A. 3rd edition hardcover [11/2001] for $64.35
Tube of Plenty   "Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television" [1975]
by Erik Barnouw

Oxford Univ Press 8x5¼ pb [5/90] for $19.95
Oxford Univ Press hardcover 10/75] out of print/used
Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control   "Due To Circumstances Beyond Our Control ..." [1965]
by Fred W. Friendly, former president of C.B.S. News

Three Rivers Press 8¼x5¼ pb [3/99] out of print/used
Vintage pb [2/68] out of print/used
History of Broadcasting In The U.S.   "A History of Broadcasting In The United States"
by Erik Barnouw

Vol. 1: "A Tower In Babel, To 1933"
Oxford Univ Press hardcover [12/66] for $60.00
Vol. 2: "The Golden Web, 1933-1953"
Oxford Univ Press hardcover [12/68] for $60.00
Vol. 3: "The Image Empire, From 1953"
Oxford Univ Press hardcover [11/70] for $60.00


Fiction  About  Radio  &  TV

Zoomar novel by Ernie Kovacs   "Zoomar: A Sophisticated Novel About Love and TV" [1957]
by Ernie Kovacs

A comic romp, (loosely) based on the life & career of television pioneer Pat Weaver
Bantam mass pb [1959] out of print/scarce
Doubleday hardcover [1957] out of print/scarce
WLT: A Radio Romance novel by Garrison Keillor   "WLT: A Radio Romance" [1991 bestseller] by Garrison Keillor
Two brothers set up radio station WLT ('With Lettuce and Tomato') in Minneapolis in 1926 to draw crowds to their wilting sandwich restaurant. The station is a success, and they are soon hiring local talent whose on-air personalities are not exactly the same as in real life: winsome child star Little Becky is a chain-smoking practical joker, the sports announcer is blind, and the always-cheerful songstress is confined to her wheelchair by polio and fat. The novel's hero is young straight man Francis White, who comes of age at the station and, as the station's success fades, goes on to greater things in television.
Penguin 7½x5 pb [11/92] for $10.20
Viking 8½x5¼ hardcover [11/91] out of print/many, many used
Highbridge ABR auduio CD [10/2006] for $20.48

New York TV exec Matt Cobb mystery series by William L. DeAndrea   New York TV exec Matt Cobb mystery series [1978-96]
by William L. DeAndrea [1952-96]

"Killed In The Ratings" [HBJ 1978]
hardcover out of print/many usedpb out of print/used
"Killed In The Act" [Doubleday 1981]
hardcover out of print/usedpb out of print/used
"Killed With A Passion" [Doubleday 1983]
hardcover out of print/used
"Killed On The Ice" [Doubleday 1984]
hardcover out of print/usedpb out of print/used
"Killed In Paradise" [Mysterious Press 1988]
hardcover out of print/usedpb out of print/used
"Killed On The Rocks" [Mysterious Press 1990]
hardcover out of print/many usedpb out of print/many used
"Killed In Fringe Time" [S&S 1995]
hardcover out of print/used
"Killed In the Fog" [S&S 1996]
hardcover out of print/used

Old  Time  Radio

Old Time Radio Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

Old Radio Programs Dept.
on Old Time Radio Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

Nikola Tesla  [1856-1943] - The Inventor of Radio

browse Old Time Radio books & audio & CDs at Amazon
radio drama shows {some modern} on audio CD at Amazon

Radio & the American Imagination  
"Listening In: Radio and The American Imagination - From Amos 'n' Andy & Edward R. Murrow To Wolfman Jack & Howard Stern"
[1999] by Susan J. Douglas

Univ MN Press 9x6 pb [2/2004] for $13.57
Crown 9½x6¾ hardcover [4/99] out of print/used

Early  Television  Programs

"Amos 'n' Andy"
Bob Clampett's "Time For Beany"
"Engineer Bill"
"Howdy Doodie & Buffalo Bob"
"Kukla, Fran & Ollie"
Laurel & Hardy
"Little Rascals" {syndication of 'Our Gang' shorts}
"Perry Mason" tv series [1957-66]
"Sheriff John"
'The Three Stooges' {syndication from 1958}
"The Twilight Zone"
"Watching Mr. Wizard" [1951-65]
"Webster Webfoot"

at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Western Bookstore
Cisco Kid & Pancho Page
Hopalong Cassidy Page
The Lone Ranger Page

1950s tv Westerns box set   "1950s TV's Greatest Westerns" [2002]
indep 5-hour DVD set [7/2002] 3 disks for $24.99
contains 12 TV eoisodes, 1949-1960: "The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956 episode) starring Scott Forbes; "Annie Oakley" (1956 episode) starring Gail Davis; "Bat Masterson" (1958 episode) starring Gene Barry; "The Cisco Kid"
(1951 color episode) starring Duncan Renaldo & Leo Carillo; "Death Valley Days" (1953 episode) hosted by Stanley Andrews; "Fury" (1956 episode) starring Peter Graves; "Judge Roy Bean" (1955 episode) starring Edgar Buchanan; "The Lone Ranger" (1949 episode) starring Clayton Moore; "The Roy Rogers Show" (1955 episode) starring Roy Roger & Dale Evans; "Sergeant Preston of The Yukon" (1957 episode) starring Richard Simmons; "Sky King" (1958 episode) starring Kirby Grant; and "Tate" (1960 pilot) starring David McLean
1950s TV's Greatest Detectives DVD box set  "1950s TV's Greatest Detectives" [2002]
remastered b&w DVD [7/2002] 3 disks for $24.99
includes 12 TV episodes, 1951-1959: "Martin Kane, Private Eye" (1951) with William Gargan; "Dick Tracy"
(1952) with Ralph Byrd; "Dragnet" (1952) with Jack Webb; "Man Against Crime" (1952) with Ralph Bellamy; "Mr. & Mrs. North" (1952) with Richard Denning & Barbara Britton; "Mystery Theatre Presents" (1952) with Tom Conway; "I Am The Law" (1953) with George Raft; "The Lone Wolf" (1954) with Louis Hayward; "Sherlock Holmes" (1954) with Ronald Howard; "Gangbusters" (1955) with Myron Healey; "Treasury Men In Action" (1955) with Charles Bronson; and "Peter Gunn" (1959) with Craig Stevens
Best of TV Detectives DVD box set  "Best of TV Detectives" 150-episode DVD Box Set [2007]
Mill Creek Ent. b&w/color DVD [6/2007] 12 disks for $19.99
includes 150 episodes from: "The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu" [1956]; "The Adventures of Ellery Queen"
[1950]; "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" [1955] hosted by Alfred Hitchcock; "Bulldog Drummond" [1957 pilot]; "Burke's Law" [1963] starring Gene Barry; "The Cases of Eddie Drake" [1952]; "Checkmate" [1960]; "Code 3" [1957] hosted by Richard Travis; "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" [1956] starring Boris Karloff; "The Court of Last Resort" [1957] created by Erle Stanley Gardner; "Decoy" [1957] starring Beverly Garland; "Dick Tracy"
[1950] 6 episodes starring Ralph Byrd; "Dragnet" [1951-59] 25 episodes starring Jack Webb; "Federal Men"
[1950] 5 epiosdes; "Follow That Man" [1949-54] 6 episodes starring Ralph Bellamy; "Front Page Detective"
[1951] starring Edmund Lowe; "Gang Busters" [1951]; "I'm The Law" [1953] starring George Raft; "The Lawless Years" [1959] 6 episodes; "Lock Up" [1959] 8 episodes starring Macdonald Carey; "Lone Wolf" [1955] starring Louis Hayward; "The Man Behind the Badge" [1953] 6 episodes; "Man With A Camera" [1958] starring Charles Bronson; "Mannix" [1967-75] starring Mike Connors; "Martin Kane, Private Eye" [1949] 6 episodes; "Miami Undercover" [1961]; "Michael Shayne" [1960] starring Richard Denning; "Mr. & Mrs. North" [1952] 16 episodes starring Richard Denning & Barbara Britton; "The Public Defender" [1954-56] starring Reed Hadley; "Racket Squad" [1951] 7 episodes starring Reed Hadley; "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" [1957-60] starring David Janssen; "The Shadow" [1954 pilot]; "Sheriff of Cochise" [1956-58] starring John Bromfield; and "U.S. Marshal"
[1958-60] starring John Bromfield


Music

All-Time Top 100 TV Themes audio CD set   "All-Time Top 100 TV Themes" [2005]
includes themes from current/recent shows all the way back to the "Leave It To Beaver", "Gilligan's Island", "Dragnet", "The Twilight Zone" & "I Love Lucy" era
T.V.T. audio CD [8/2005] 2 disks for $18.99



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