TV Babylon

"TV Babylon" by Jeff Rovin might be nothing more than Hollywood gossip, but it is certainly done in the style of an expose. The focus here is on the flip side of the money, fame, power, and adoration that television stars enjoy, although the idea that the stars we watch on the tube are adrift in a seas of sex, drugs, personal and professional backstabbing, domestic tragedy and suicide can certainly no longer be called a true revelation. Since we go into this book with our eyes wide open reading "TV Babylon" probably constitutes wallowing rather than true enlightenment. But is that really a surprise either? Actually, Rovin has dressed up his collection of tabloid as an object lesson (I am not sure if morality play really applies here, so I will refrain from characterizing the book as such). Dividing the world of TV Babylon into two kinds of people, the survivors and the dead, Rovin makes it clear his book is about the latter. But he begins with a brief profile of Joan Collins as the premier example of a survivor. The clear implication is that the stories of all that follow will be in contrast to Collins as stories of those who succumbed directly or indirectly to television, whether because they could not handle their celebrity or, in many cases, of losing it. The stories in this 1984 book are arranged by categories. We have suicides (Freddie Prinze) and accidental drug overdoses (John Belushi), murders (Bob Crane), stage fright (Farrah Fawcett), drugs (Mackenzie Phillips), booze (Dick Van Dyke), exploited kid stars (Anissa Jones) and children of stars (Richard Meeker), stars injured doing stunts (Ron Ely), scandals (Charles Van Doren), censored rebels (the Smothers Brothers), egocentric stars (Arthur Godfrey), prima donnas (Suzanne Sommers), big shots (Johnny Carson), and doomed couples (Sonny and Cher). Following in the tradition of comprehensive categories established by Aristotle, Rovin comes up everything that can go wrong for a star living in Hollywood. Of course, there is some overlap as issues of drugs, booze, egos, and sex cut across all boundaries."TV Babylon" will remind readers of the tabloids not only because of the subject matter but because of the brevity with which Rovin covers each story. Basically, if you have heard about Herve Villechaize causing trouble on the set of "Fantasy Island" or the stabbing of Sal Mineo, this book will acquaint you with the facts, along with editorial comments from Rovin with regards to his idea of what lessons are to be learned from such tales. Not all of these stories are necessarily stories of despair; Erik Estrada survived his motorcycle accident on "CHiPs" and Daniel J. Travanti enjoyed a successful run on "Hill Street Blues" after his drinking nearly destroyed his acting career. Rovin has authored several books about television and TV personalities, including "The Signet Book of TV Lists" and "In Search of Trivia." There is, of course, also a "TV Babylon II" that offers more "shockin