THE GOLDEN YEARS OF BROADCASTING: A Celebration of the First 50 Years of Radio and TV on NBC

by Robert Campbell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1976

About as predictable as any nightly sitcom is this tribute to the NBC programs and personalities of the past and present. Although there is a chapter on the days of radio (and Bob Hope's assertion of its appeal to the imagination, especially from sound effects), this is really a rerun of 25 years of television from the first fuzzy image of Felix the Cat to last season's serials. A photo album of familiar faces--radio star smiling at microphones, TV celebrities in costume or in posed portrait--it includes token reference to simultaneous developments on competing networks and no comments at all on the absence of black faces in the early years, the influence of sponsors, the supremacy of Nielsen ratings, the ""wasteland"" charge and other criticisms. Mostly public relations, then, in an unobtrusive running patter with lots of pictures for viewers, arranged according to format--sports, soaps, news, dramas, documentaries, specials. The Golden Days in the rosy, undemanding glow of recollection.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION