Rating: 
Summary: Best book ever printed. A must have!
Review: I have three editions of this, I upgrade about every 5-10 years.Just want to say that this is a required reference for trivila, facts, solving crossward puzzles, and most of all, settling arguments at the office, home, or other work place. Along with Leonard Maltin's movie book, it is all one needs to watch TV correctly.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent resource, but could be better
Review: I love this book, and I use it as a resource freqently. However, this book has flaws. First, there are missing shows like "The Six O'Clock Follies" from 1980. Next, some shows are covered from begining to end with every plot twist, cast change, etc., and some just cover the basic premise and essential plotline(s). Also, some of the plot information is incorrect. According to the book, in the 84-85 season of Dallas, Bobby is shot by an assassin gunning for JR. This is just a theory explored on the show. The shooter eventually admits she was trying to kill Bobby. The book is also too long between updates. You'll find little problems along the way, but otherwise it's a terrific resource.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate TV information book
Review: I use this book on an on-going basis. It is full of facinating information. The book is updated around every three years. It's been almost four years since the last edition, so we should be getting an update soon. I've been circling Barnes and Noble waiting for the new one to come out. It is truly an indespensible part of my library.
Rating:
Summary: The real TV Guide
Review: I've owned every edition of this book and it just keeps getting better and better. Now they even include all the 'minor' networks (A&E, Nickelodeon, BET, ...) and some of those networks' first run shows. Every prime-time show through the 1998 season is covered with cast lists and air dates. The appendices have expanded the yearly ratings to include the Top 30 shows. About the only thing missing would be highest and lowest rated episode of each show, and that might be asking for too much.
Rating:
Summary: The real TV Guide
Review: I've owned every edition of this book and it just keeps getting better and better. Now they even include all the 'minor' networks (A&E, Nickelodeon, BET, ...) and some of those networks' first run shows. Every prime-time show through the 1998 season is covered with cast lists and air dates. The appendices have expanded the yearly ratings to include the Top 30 shows. About the only thing missing would be highest and lowest rated episode of each show, and that might be asking for too much.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible and FUN to read
Review: It's like a trip down memory lane! The only other edition of this book I owned was the version published in 1987. So this edition is a quantum leap forward.
I challenge you to find a more thorough guide to prime time TV. This book has everything - down to the minutest detail. Even if you just scan through this book you'll see in-depth references to shows you've long forgotten about. It really is like flipping through an old family album that has been lost to time or stashed away for years. The memories just come flooding back to you. Special enhanced bonus: the appendixes at the back that break down the shows by longest-running, spin-offs, etc. No kidding: the last time I sat down to read through this book, I let SO MUCH time go by that by the time I put it down I had to shave again. Absolutely worth picking up, but nearly impossible to put down!! Don't believe me? Read some of the other reviews listed here for this simply fantastic reference book. There's a reason everyone gives this book 5 stars!
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible and FUN to read
Review: It's like a trip down memory lane! The only other edition of this book I owned was the version published in 1987. So this edition is a quantum leap forward.
I challenge you to find a more thorough guide to prime time TV. This book has everything - down to the minutest detail. Even if you just scan through this book you'll see in-depth references to shows you've long forgotten about. It really is like flipping through an old family album that has been lost to time or stashed away for years. The memories just come flooding back to you. Special enhanced bonus: the appendixes at the back that break down the shows by longest-running, spin-offs, etc. No kidding: the last time I sat down to read through this book, I let SO MUCH time go by that by the time I put it down I had to shave again. Absolutely worth picking up, but nearly impossible to put down!! Don't believe me? Read some of the other reviews listed here for this simply fantastic reference book. There's a reason everyone gives this book 5 stars!
Rating:
Summary: More missing shows
Review: Missing is an NBC show, "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" which aired in 1954-1955 (39 episodes, filmed in France) and which starred Ronald Howard, son of Leslie Howard of "Gone With the Wind" fame, as Sherlock. H. Marion Crawford played the good doctor. The producer was Sheldon Reynolds. The series has been occasionally shown in the NYC area on PBS channel WLIW. Tapes of the shows are available. It definitely should be listed in the next edition. The shows are classic 50s TV genre.
Rating:
Summary: A valuable reference work --- we reach for it often.
Review: PRE-DELIVERY COMMENTS: This is the latest edition of a big fat guidebook to everything that is or was television in the US. Previous editions have been so thorough in their content that I can't imagine what will be added to this one I am a trivia nut-case and I'm sure there will be more lists and more cross-indexes than ever before! I have been buying this book every time it's revised since the 3rd edition, when I first discovered it. In addition to listing all TV shows in alphabetical order, it gives the cast members' names and the years they played their characters. It gives a synopsis of each show's plotline and the roles the characters played in the plot development. Cast changes are explained, where necessary. Every listed actor is cross-indexed in the back of the book to all the shows he/she played on, no matter how many shows there were. Various appendices give fascinating insight into television history and trivia, like top 20 shows each year, theme music that became hit records and shows that hopped from one network to another in the search for success. Special shows, like The Tonight Show, get special treatment. A history of the development of the TV networks is also presented. If enthusiasm qualified me for a free book, I'd have a carton of them on my doorstep, but I'll be buying mine, just like everybody else and doing it eagerly.
Rating:
Summary: Cool, but has some errors
Review: Since I'm a science-fiction fan, the first thing I did after receiving this book was read the descriptions of the scifi programs I've watched (misidentifying characters' races, etc.). In the first two descriptions I read, I found blatant factual errors about plot lines and characters. Admittedly, these errors probably are significant to a small fraction of the book's audience, but it colored my perception of how reliable this information is. After all, I could pick out Trek errors, but if I'm reading about a show I've never seen, how am I to know if the info is correct or not? Having said that, the book does collect an impressive amount of information, and I plan on keeping it next to my video and movie guides, always within easy reach.
| 
