Dallas

Doubleday & Co. rolled out this book, in association with Lorimar Productions, about halfway through the run of the show, deep into its the massive popularity. Very heavily illustrated with black-and-white stills from the show, and some color, the book focuses entirely on the characters and the action. There's no mention of the actors, which of course is not a fault -- it's just the focus of this particular book. There is a separate chapter for each one of the major characters, even little John Ross and Christopher, highlighting the events of that character's life up until 1985. It's too bad the book captures only half of the show's history, but I still appreciate the back story it shares, with even the 1800s history of Southfork Ranch. Leonard Katzman gives the book's introduction.

This book is going to shock Dallas fans like myself...it is really really really stretching the base storyline by adding lots of sometimes explicit subplots, but that just adds to the fun. For die-hards and nostalgic types, a very entertaing read!