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Summary: Behind-the-scenes struggles at ABC between writers
Review: Alfred Schneider served as the American Broadcasting Company's head of standards and practices from 1960 to 1990. His thirty year stint as ABC's chief "censor" gave him a unique vantage point as he strove to manage issues of evolving tastes, sensibilities and moralities of the American viewing public. With the assistance of Kaye Pullen, Alfred Schnieder's The Gatekeeper: My 30 Years As A TV Censor is essential and informative reading for students of television as a cultural medium in general, and the behind-the-scenes struggles at ABC between writers, producers, directors, and actors with the corporate administrators, programers, and executives in particular.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring rehash of uninteresting stories
Review: Alfred Schneider served as the American Broadcasting Company's head of standards and practices from 1960 to 1990. His thirty year stint as ABC's chief "censor" gave him a unique vantage point as he strove to manage issues of evolving tastes, sensibilities and moralities of the American viewing public. With the assistance of Kaye Pullen, Alfred Schnieder's The Gatekeeper: My 30 Years As A TV Censor is essential and informative reading for students of television as a cultural medium in general, and the behind-the-scenes struggles at ABC between writers, producers, directors, and actors with the corporate administrators, programers, and executives in particular.
Rating:
Summary: Boring rehash of uninteresting stories
Review: This book had the potential of being an inside expose of what happened in the TV business over three decades. Instead, it's an incredibly self-censored, lawyer-like (the author's first profession) approach to the subject of television censorship. Each chapter has only two or three examples of what he censored and most of them are NOT interesting, such as a Woody Allen movie or a controversial made-for-TV from the '80s that turned out to be not so controversial. Here is the man who was the head censor for shows like Charlie's Angels, Roots, Three's Company, Steven Bochco and others, yet he boringly focuses on a few minor movies or shows that are almost meaningless today. How about the inside scoop and specific details on what exactly he had to tangle with in the hit series? The book is not worth reading unless you enjoy the writing style of legal briefs, where much is written but little is actually said.
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