《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评

Gr 4 Up-- A brief history of the television industry, starting with its invention and focusing on the major shows on the national networks. The 49 captioned photos, most of which are black and white, are alone worth the price of admission, as they span the years, and the hairstyles, of television and American culture. Some watersheds in the evolution of bigtime TV are noted, such as the switch from live to prerecorded programming. Embedded among the many names and dates are brief remarks on what distinguished TV in each decade. These one-liners are interesting, but insufficient in telling the whole story. Kent omits any mention of the soaps or animated cartoons that occupy so much daytime programming. Closed circuit TV and satellite transmission are accorded only scant attention, as the book stays narrowly focused on the major networks. Shulman and Youman's How Sweet It Was--Television: A Pictorial Commentary (Bonanza Books, 1966; o.p.) gives a fuller look at television's early years. A well-designed book dealing with how shows are put on the air is Leon Harris's Behind the Scenes of Television Programs (Lippincott, 1976; o.p.). --Gloria Amann, New York Pub . Lib . (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.