TV's Biggest Hits


Book Description

Everybody loves TV themes - from the silly "Mr. Ed" and "The Addams Family" to the intense "Mission: Impossible" and "Peter Gunn" to the atmospheric "Hill Street Blues" and "The X-Files". But few people know how this music is made, or the stories of the men and women who have worked tirelessly (and often anonymously) to create it. This book offers the complete story of this important musical style, giving it the serious, and colorfully anecdotal, history it deserves. Divided into chapters on each genre, Burlingame provides the real stories of the composers who worked behind the scenes to create the memorable music we all love. Among those who have written and performed for television include many famous musicians - like jazz pianists Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington, arranger/producer Quincy Jones, film music giant John Williams, Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, and classical composer Morton Gould. Illustrated throughout with rare photos of the composers at work, this is a fascinating story of how a new genre of musical artistry was created.







Gleeful - A Totally Unofficial Guide to the Hit TV Series Glee


Book Description

It's the smash hit, all signing, all-dancing phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. This in-depth guide reveals all you need to know about the happiest show on TV - be prepared to fall head over heels for Glee. Also includes detailed recaps of all of the first 13 episodes, mini biographies of all the cast, a sneak peek behind-the-scenes on set at William McKinley High, complete song title listings...and so much more!







The Big Bang Theory: Behind the Scenes of the Hit TV Show


Book Description

This book is part of Hyperink's best little books series. It's close to 3,000 words of fast, entertaining information on a highly demanded topic. Based on reader feedback (including yours!), we may expand this book in the future. If we do so, we'll send a free copy to all previous buyers. ABOUT THE BOOK Who knew that a show about nerds would be so unspeakably cool? That a UCLA particle physics professor would be hired to ensure scientific accuracy throughout a 30 minute CBS sitcom? Apparently, the producers and creators of the smash hit The Big Bang Theory did, and the show now boasts some 12 million viewers a week. And it seems that the show is also inspiring would-be and current physicists (and other scientists, too); according to the show’s science consultant, Dr. David Saltzberg of UCLA, emails are received from both high school and graduate students asking him about certain scientific aspects of the show. He also notes that there was a lot of background work that the writers did prior to shooting, such as following graduate students around and exploring what a physicist’s apartment might actually look like. According to Saltzberg, a real physicist’s apartment was a bit too boring, so the producers had to dress up Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment a little. But, the science itself was spot on. MEET THE AUTHOR Chris St-Jean is a Canadian teacher who has enjoyed American literature for as long as she can remember. Her daughters, ages three and seven, seem to have inherited her appreciation for books as well. She spends her free time writing short stories, hanging out with her husband and children, and working toward a black belt in karate. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz: One of Helberg’s biggest passions was music until he hit the 11th grade. That’s when he played a delivery part in an all-female production. Since then, he’s appeared in shows like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Joey, often being typecast as the geek. He got the role of Wolowitz in 2007, prior to the show’s start. Kunal Nayyar as Raj Koothrappali: Nayyar is the newest to the small screen; he was born in London, England and grew up in India. He decided to pursue educational opportunities in the United States and majored in business at the University of Portland in Oregon while taking some acting classes. From there, he went to Temple University in Philadelphia and earned his Masters of Fine Arts. He is a cricket fan and had a guest starring role on NCIS before snagging the part on The Big Bang Theory... Buy a copy to keep reading!




The Greatest Cult Television Shows of All Time


Book Description

Reaching back to the beginnings of television, The Greatest Cult Television Shows offers readers a fun and accessible look at the 100 most significant cult television series of all time, compiled in a single resource that includes valuable information on the shows and their creators. While they generally lack mainstream appeal, cult television shows develop devout followings over time and exert some sort of impact on a given community, society, culture, or even media industry. Cult television shows have been around since at least the 1960s, with Star Trek perhaps the most famous of that era. However, the rise of cable contributed to the rise of cult television throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and now, with the plethora of streaming options available, more shows can be added to this categorization Reaching back to the beginnings of television, the book includes such groundbreaking series as The Twilight Zone and The Prisoner alongside more contemporary examples like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Hannibal. The authors provide production history for each series and discuss their relevance to global pop culture. To provide a more global approach to the topic, the authors also consider several non-American cult TV series, including British, Canadian, and Japanese shows. Thus, Monty Python’s Flying Circus appears alongside Sailor Moon and Degrassi Junior High. Additionally, to move beyond the conception of “cult” as a primarily white, heteronormative, fanboy obsession, the book contains shows that speak to a variety of cult audiences and experiences, such as Queer as Folk and Charmed. With detailed arguments for why these shows deserve to be considered the greatest of all time, Olson and Reinhard provide ideas for discussion and debate on cult television. Each entry in this book demonstrates the importance of the 100 shows chosen for inclusion and highlights how they offer insight into the period and the cults that formed around them.




The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 9th Edition


Book Description

The Essential Reference Guide to America’s Most Popular Songs and Artists Spanning More than Fifty Years of Music Beginning with Bill Haley & His Comets’ seminal “Rock Around the Clock” all the way up to Lady Gaga and her glammed-out “Poker face,” this updated and unparalleled resource contains the most complete chart information on every artist and song to hit Billboard’s Top 40 pop singles chart all the way back to 1955. Inside, you’ll find all of the biggest-selling, most-played hits for the past six decades. Each alphabetized artist entry includes biographical info, the date their single reached the Top 40, the song’s highest position, and the number of weeks on the charts, as well as the original record label and catalog number. Other sections—such as “Record Holders,” “Top Artists by Decade,” and “#1 Singles 1955-2009”—make The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits the handiest and most indispensable music reference for record collectors, trivia enthusiasts, industry professionals and pop music fans alike. Did you know? • Beyoncé’s 2003 hit “Crazy in Love” spent 24 weeks in the Top 40 and eight of them in the #1 spot. • Billy Idol has had a total of nine Top 40 hits over his career, the last being “Cradle of Love” in 1990. • Of Madonna’s twelve #1 hits, her 1994 single “Take a Bow” held the spot the longest, for seven weeks—one week longer than her 1984 smash “Like a Virgin.” • Marvin Gaye’s song “Sexual Healing” spent 15 weeks at #3 in 1982, while the same song was #1 on the R&B chart for 10 weeks. • Male vocal group Boyz II Men had three of the biggest chart hits of all time during the 1990s. • The Grateful Dead finally enjoyed a Top 10 single in 1987 after 20 years of touring. • Janet Jackson has scored an impressive 39 Top 40 hits—one more than her megastar brother Michael!




Music in Television


Book Description

Music in Television is a collection of essays examining television’s production of meaning through music in terms of historical contexts, institutional frameworks, broadcast practices, technologies, and aesthetics. It presents the reader with overviews of major genres and issues, as well as specific case studies of important television programs and events. With contributions from a wide range of scholars, the essays range from historical-analytical surveys of TV sound and genre designations to studies of the music in individual programs, including South Park and Dr. Who.




What Price Fame?


Book Description

In a world where more people know who Princess Di was than who their own senators are, where Graceland draws more visitors per year than the White House, and where Michael Jordan is an industry unto himself, fame and celebrity are central currencies. In this intriguing book, Tyler Cowen explores and elucidates the economics of fame. Fame motivates the talented and draws like-minded fans together. But it also may put profitability ahead of quality, visibility above subtlety, and privacy out of reach. The separation of fame and merit is one of the central dilemmas Cowen considers in his account of the modern market economy. He shows how fame is produced, outlines the principles that govern who becomes famous and why, and discusses whether fame-seeking behavior harmonizes individual and social interests or corrupts social discourse and degrades culture. Most pertinently, Cowen considers the implications of modern fame for creativity, privacy, and morality. Where critics from Plato to Allan Bloom have decried the quest for fame, Cowen takes a more pragmatic, optimistic view. He identifies the benefits of a fame-intensive society and makes a persuasive case that however bad fame may turn out to be for the famous, it is generally good for society and culture.




The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits


Book Description

All the information since the earliest Billboard charts were originally compiled in 1942 is gathered into this one essential reference on country music that has been updated and expanded to capture today's top recording artists and their biggest songs. Original.