Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV

Probably not. The writing and performance were extremely bland.

Much of the book were transcripts of interviews, and Balaban's performance did nothing to help the listener discern who was speaking. For example:

Warren Littlefield: It was a terrific time for us at NBC.
Jennifer Aniston: Yes, we felt we could really get into our roles without too much network interefence.

Bland, bland, bland.

A really good history of the TV industry during the go-go years. Great fun if you were there and illuminating for anyone in the industry at the time.

Hearing about the exciting events of the time from my favorite writers and stars.

Live From New York (the SNL book). EXCEPT this book is much, much better to listen to because it (a) is not as long and boring, and (b) only has one narrator. The SNL book had too many narrators, which was really distracting.

He did a good job of reflecting the meaning of the words behind the quotes, without trying to imitate Seinfeld, for example.

It's not that kind of book. But I guess the most impressive thing was all the moving parts that went into the successful spinoff of Frasier, especially considering how many things could have gone wrong, and how many spinoff disasters there have been before and since.

Really awesome book for anyone that loves TV.

I enjoy Bob Balaban, television history and comedy.

This book is just a collection of quote after quote after quote. Perhaps reading it is ok, but listening to it is so disjointed and annoying.

This is how it is presented..."Sean Hayes. We got to the set on the first day. It was nerve wracking. Debra Messing. I couldn't believe how great everyone was. I was so excited. Warren Littlefied. I knew this cast had something special from day one." Etc. Imagine an entire audio book of that.

I enjoyed the SNL book that was a lot of quotes. I also enjoyed The Late Shift and its sequel. This was just not compelling.

Also upon reaching the ending, it is nothing but Warren Littlefield saying how great he was and how amazing his era of must see tv was. How his being fired was a huge mistake and they will never have anything like that again and his greatness is to be remembered. It's a bit much. Another reviewer mentioned they heard him in an interview and ran out and got the book. I also heard him on a radio show and he seemed nice and interesting. But this is a terrible book.

I do not recommend. Thanks.

This behind the scenes book is a light, quick read. If you remember watching ER, Frasier, and Friends, you'll like the book.

You will really love this book. Full of details and inside stories about the rise of Friends, Seinfeld, Will and Grace and many other shows. A great listen!

I lived during the age of must see TV. i was one of those people who watched Seinfeld, ER, etc. religiously. And yes we would discuss the shows next day at work. The book is a behind the scenes look at how the process worked. I found it fascinating.

The best part of this is the sort of business school-like case studies about managing creative ventures in the totally irrational marketplace of show business. It's a series of brief interviews from different vantage points.

It's not deep, nor thorough, slightly self serving, but I was entertained and it went by really quick. I recommend it.

Bob Balaban does a really solid read.

No.

This is the first book that annoyed me enough to write a review.

I heard an interview with Mr. Littlefield discussing the book and immediately bought it. I was horribly disappointed. The book is a compilation of quotes from dozens of people, many of which I'm sure are important but I have never heard of, that fail to cohesively tell stories. It is a horribly lazy way to relay stories that people would otherwise love to hear. I suspect it would be slightly better in book format, but still annoying. After the first hour of listening, I couldn't take any more; I tried to skip through the rest, only to give up after realizing it is just as bad throughout.

Interesting, Want More

N/A

IN/A

N/A

I didn't feel like he sugar-coated anything when it came to Don Ohlmeyer. They are definitely not friends and he did not hold back in sharing what kind of boss he was. It amazes me that Don Ohlmeyer made it as far in his career as he did. It was nice to hear about how different shows came to fruition...who they tried to get for the characters of Friends, who passed, etc... For me that was the best. When it got to the business part of things (stock options, etc...) I would find my mind trailing off. When it came to the celebrities, he held them more with kid gloves, but it was still interesting to hear about the behind the scenes activities and what could have happened and what did happen. If you are interested in how Friends, Cheers, Frasier, Seinfield, ER, and all of those shows how they got off the ground, you should find this a good listen.