TV Land to Go: The Big Books of TV Lists, TV Lore, and TV Bests

This book does a great job of listing, describing and ranking the funniest TV shows, including some current shows and those from years past. I thought the effort to "quantitatively" rank the best episodes from particular shows based on a variety of "objective" factors was particularly novel and interesting -- as well as being very funny. The book is written by someone who obviously loves good TV and who appreciates what makes some things very funny. It is an authoritative account, but its both comical and accessible. I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who has ever laughed while watching a TV show!

TV LAND TO GO is a great mix of facts and fun. Tom Hill has managed to cram an incredible amount of information into one volume, and his breezy style makes for a very pleasant read. I found myself cracking up over entries like "The 10 Worst Shows Based on Movies" (anybody remember FERRIS BUELLER?) and "TV Land Haiku." But the detailed and loving analysis of the top 100 sitcom episodes is outstanding. Each episode is actually ranked on criteria like "Emotional Resonance," "Gimmickry," and "Writing, Story." There's a phenomenal amount of detail, including actor cross-referencing and plot "reality checks." Give this book to all the TV addicts on your list. Heck, give it to non-addicts and maybe you'll hook 'em.All this and a foreword by Adam "Batman" West...gotta love it.

Put down your remote control and pick up this book! The only thing better than watching TV is reading about it in "TV Land to Go." Most of the book is a funny, factual account of all-things TV, but the author also has a ball (as in Lucille) creating his own lists of clever, subjective observations. I could totally identify with "The Seven Lessons Sitcoms Teach Us" and I loved "The Worst Possible Men's Softball Team Composed of Classic TV Stars"...Tony Randall covering first-base? Just imagine it! At the heart of the book is an ambitious list of the 100 best sitcom episodes of all-time. Each episode gets a thorough, "scientific" examination as this list alone runs over 180 pages...there's some very funny stuff in the episodes and also in the observations by the author. (As for his list of the 100 best episodes, he has not included a couple of "Cheers" episodes that ABSOLUTELY should have made the list...at least in my opinion. I was also glad to see a "Get a Life" episode on the list. You're bound to have your own suggestions as well.)

In this handy, portable text, the author supplies a potent mixture of insightful perspectives and fun facts that are essential in making one fully conversant about the most powerful cultural force of the last century: American television. As we enter the age when this art form, and the way it is distributed and exhibited, appear to be transforming into something unrecognizable to a generation weened on afternoon re-runs of supernatural slapstick sitcoms, test patterns in the wee small hours of the morning, TV sets with dials, TV sets with vertical and horizontal controls, incredibly narrow viewing choices, and a strong division between the TV industry and the film industry, it is good to have an overview of the audio/visual ephemera that has influenced a good many of us more profoundly that we would probably care to admit in public. Yes, Mr. Hill has written an undoubtedly subjective text, (despite his implementation of a brilliantly conceived scientific formula to help him reach his mostly fair and balanced conclusions), and several of his entries in his list of the 100 greatest episodes can raise loud and often frenzied debates. But loud and frenzied debates can be fun. And besides, even if he does overlook a few masterpieces of the sitcom art (e.g., the episode of McHale's Navy where Captain Binghampton thinks that every person he meets is Ensign Parker, or the I Dream of Jeannie episode guest starring Don Rickles as a maniacal fitness expert), he more than makes up for it with the wealth of information he provides, and the unfailingly pithy and witty manner in which he provides it. I can't wait for the next volume.

I thought this book was very entertaining. It's obviously a labor of love -- something every TV fan should pick up.