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The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
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The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present is a trade paperback reference work by the American television historians Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, first published by Ballantine Books in 1979.
The 1979 book publication was by Tim Brooks at NBC, who was then head of that network's research, and Earle Marsh of CBS, who was a manager there of special research projects, and it was the book's first edition.[citation needed] According to Aaron Barnhart (as told to him by author Tim Brooks), the original volume "almost didn't get printed... because publishers were worried 'that it was too big'" (covering 3,000 shows). Between the sixth and ninth editions, Brooks and Marsh expanded an already "hefty" paperback from 5,000 to 6,500 shows covered ("adding about half an inch to the spine"). According to Barnhart, "no listing has ever been deleted or edited for space in the 30-year history of [T]he Complete Directory".
The title of later editions[clarification needed] include the words "and cable".[citation needed] The ninth edition came out in 2007; in it, co-author Tim Brooks said that the ninth edition may be the last one released.
The 1979 publication won a 1980 U.S. National Book Award, then known as the "American Book Awards", in the category of General Reference Books—Paperback, as the work was published direct to paperback.[citation needed] (This is why the tag, "American Book Award Winner!", appears on the book cover beginning with the second edition.)
As television reporter and critic Aaron Barnhart notes, Brooks and Marsh's work appeared alongside existing references by the acclaimed Erik Barnouw (Tube of Plenty) and by TV writer Les Brown of The New York Times (Encyclopedia of Television); despite these, The Complete Directory was "immediately hailed as the best of the bunch, more comprehensive and a more enjoyable read".[who?] Barnhart's praise is uniformly high, referring to it as "one of the seven wonders of show business", and noting that the comprehensive nature of the work is "a testament to the vision of [the] two men who [took] great pride in handcrafting American TV's greatest single reference guide, online or offline".
According to the authors, the book is an attempt to list all commercially broadcast network series ever shown in the evening or nighttime hours (defined as 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or later) in the United States (i.e., prime time and the two hours preceding it).[citation needed] It also lists programs which were widely syndicated in the U.S., and, effective with the sixth edition in 1995, cable television series if, at the time they were aired, the cable network carrying them was available in at least 50% of U.S. homes.[citation needed]
Other criteria for inclusion from the original design of the book are:[verification needed]
Thus, specials and miniseries presented on consecutive nights are excluded, with an exception being made for the seminal miniseries Roots,[citation needed] and miniseries like North and South, Book II, which was originally presented in a nightly format but then subsequently rerun on a weekly basis.[citation needed]
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The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present is a trade paperback reference work by the American television historians Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, first published by Ballantine Books in 1979.
The 1979 book publication was by Tim Brooks at NBC, who was then head of that network's research, and Earle Marsh of CBS, who was a manager there of special research projects, and it was the book's first edition.[citation needed] According to Aaron Barnhart (as told to him by author Tim Brooks), the original volume "almost didn't get printed... because publishers were worried 'that it was too big'" (covering 3,000 shows). Between the sixth and ninth editions, Brooks and Marsh expanded an already "hefty" paperback from 5,000 to 6,500 shows covered ("adding about half an inch to the spine"). According to Barnhart, "no listing has ever been deleted or edited for space in the 30-year history of [T]he Complete Directory".
The title of later editions[clarification needed] include the words "and cable".[citation needed] The ninth edition came out in 2007; in it, co-author Tim Brooks said that the ninth edition may be the last one released.
The 1979 publication won a 1980 U.S. National Book Award, then known as the "American Book Awards", in the category of General Reference Books—Paperback, as the work was published direct to paperback.[citation needed] (This is why the tag, "American Book Award Winner!", appears on the book cover beginning with the second edition.)
As television reporter and critic Aaron Barnhart notes, Brooks and Marsh's work appeared alongside existing references by the acclaimed Erik Barnouw (Tube of Plenty) and by TV writer Les Brown of The New York Times (Encyclopedia of Television); despite these, The Complete Directory was "immediately hailed as the best of the bunch, more comprehensive and a more enjoyable read".[who?] Barnhart's praise is uniformly high, referring to it as "one of the seven wonders of show business", and noting that the comprehensive nature of the work is "a testament to the vision of [the] two men who [took] great pride in handcrafting American TV's greatest single reference guide, online or offline".
According to the authors, the book is an attempt to list all commercially broadcast network series ever shown in the evening or nighttime hours (defined as 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or later) in the United States (i.e., prime time and the two hours preceding it).[citation needed] It also lists programs which were widely syndicated in the U.S., and, effective with the sixth edition in 1995, cable television series if, at the time they were aired, the cable network carrying them was available in at least 50% of U.S. homes.[citation needed]
Other criteria for inclusion from the original design of the book are:[verification needed]
Thus, specials and miniseries presented on consecutive nights are excluded, with an exception being made for the seminal miniseries Roots,[citation needed] and miniseries like North and South, Book II, which was originally presented in a nightly format but then subsequently rerun on a weekly basis.[citation needed]