Enjoy TV? Grow Up in the Cincinnati Area? If So, You Must Have this Book!
Written: Dec 24 '07 (Updated Dec 24 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Accurate and engaging text. Excellent photos. A wonderful journey into early TV!
Cons: Limited by publisher's strict format. Author would have written much more if he was permitted.
The Bottom Line: An excellent and accurate history of Cincinnati television. Good writing and wonderful photos make it a book you'll want to share--as in buying copies for friends and relatives!
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| oxfordmike's Full Review: Jim Friedman - Cincinnati Television |
One day in 1957 I was watching an afternoon kids' show called "Bean's Clubhouse." It was strictly local, put together and broadcast by WCPO-TV, Channel 9 in Cincinnati. The show's namesake, "the Bean" (so-named because he was tall and thin, like a string-bean) announced that he was going to send an imaginary sidekick to the Moon, and called for us kids to send in parts for the spaceship he intended to build. I scouted through a kitchen drawer and found a toggle switch. My mother helped me package and send it in with a note informing the Bean that this was a switch to start the rocket.
I was thrilled to see the Bean open my box on TV a few days later. He even read my letter to the audience (maybe that's why I like being on radio and TV programs so much today).
I was almost as thrilled recently when I paged through a book titled Cincinnati Television and found a still photo from and description of the program. Everything was just as I remembered it. Better yet, the rest of the book was just as fun--and accurate!
Filled with memories of Bob Shreve, the Cool Ghoul, Al Schottelkotte, Uncle Al, and so many others, this book is fun. So much fun, in fact, that I've bought five copies of it already (two for myself), and I'll be buying more as gifts.
What can inspire someone to buy so many copies of a book--at twenty bucks a shot? One reason was, of course, the subject matter. I've always held the opinion that those of us who watched TV in the early days (I was six years old in 1957) weren't as strongly affected by it as were later generations, because it was still a novelty to us. Maybe that is not as true as I thought, because I was drawn to this book even before it came out.
Along with my personal attraction to the subject matter, I had a professional interest. I am a writer and historian who has written extensively on the history of radio and television (including the biographies of radio pioneer Powel Crosley, Jr. and Ruth Lyons, the latter TPB in August). Hence, I was curious to see how accurate the book would be. Cincinnati newspaper reporters and feature writers have always done a great job of reporting the facts, but too many magazine writers and book authors seem to fall prey to embellished legends.
I'm happy to say that Jim Friedman, the author of Cincinnati Television, is an exception. He went to great lengths to make the book more than a simple chronicle of what happened when--which is what most books in this category seem to be. Jim contacted just about all of the TV legends still living, and talked with lots of professionals in the business to make sure he got the facts straight. The result is a gratifying chronicle of the development WLWT, WCPO, WKRC, WCET, and WXIX.
Jim's own experience in television production added even more to the book. (He has won more than 50 regional Emmy Awards for writing, directing, and producing TV shows.) The same is true of his writing. Rather than an expert dabbling in writing, he reads like a skilled writer who is also an expert in his subject.
If you grew up in Cincinnati, you must read this book. The same is true if you're into broadcast history, especially early television. Do yourself a favor and pick up several copies, because like me you'll want to share this!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
oxfordmike
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Member: Michael Banks
Location: OXD
Reviews written: 94
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Author of Blogging Heroes, Crosley, The eBay Survival Guide, etc.
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