TV Inside-Out - Flukes, Flakes, Feuds and Felonies (hardback)
TV Inside-Out - Flukes, Flakes, Feuds and Felonies
by Randy West
502 pages
8.5x11
ISBN 9781629339313
THE BOOK THAT INSIDERS ARE ENJOYING.
TV INSIDE-OUT
READ EXCERPTS FROM THEIR INTRODUCTIONS
HOSTS...
Bob Eubanks: On The Newlywed Game I asked a woman, “What’s the one thing your husband wouldn’t want you to talk about?” She spilled the beans that her husband and cousin were going to kill their uncle for the insurance money! Then, the husband told the same story! They matched and got the points!! Randy’s TV INSIDE-OUT documents some of the most unpredictable and shocking moments that played out in front of and behind live TV cameras.
Wink Martindale: On my first radio job I played a Pabst Beer commercial transcription at 78 RPM instead of 33-1/3 RPM. With the microphone open I yelled, “God dammit! What the shit’s gonna’ happen next?!” I thought I’d just ended my career in broadcasting. When the phone rang with a complaint I played dumb and said, “I’ll notify the announcer!” In TV INSIDE-OUT Randy has captured the business as it really is, warts and all!
Marc Summers: NBC turned me down to play on their Scrabble “favorite game show hosts week.” But on the next phone call I heard “I have good news and bad news, which would you like to hear first?” I guess I picked correctly. My next stop was my first network gig: sub-hosting that Scrabble game show hosts week! Those of us who have been in the TV biz for years have a boatload of these stories. Somehow, Randy West knows a ton of them!
George Gray: I’ve known Randy West for long enough that it would make me sound really old, and I’ve even had the pleasure of working with him on multiple occasions over the years. Now he’s written a behind-the-scenes book about the industry, TV INSIDE-OUT. Just remember, if you read anything about me in it, he probably made it up—unless it makes me look good, then he’s totally telling the truth!
COMEDIANS...
Bill Kirchenbauer: Stepping in front of the cameras as a comedian is wildly unpredictable. Who could guess John Davidson would suddenly decide to heckle me by reading my jokes from my personal cue cards to the audience? How about Tonight Show guest host Bill Cosby repeatedly telling the audience that I was mispronouncing my own name? I got the last laugh calling him “Mr. cos-BEE!” If you have a weak heart, don’t read Randy’s TV INSIDE-OUT!
ACTORS...
David Ruprecht: We all knew Cloris Leachman was as eccentric as she was talented, but everybody backstage was absolutely shocked to see her perform an unthinkable act. It bears out everything that insiders say in TV INSIDE OUT about some of the strange people in the business. I can’t believe Randy convinced me to tell this story. Even though it’s true, everyone still loves and respects Cloris.
Jim MacKrell: I loved the stars I worked with and the crews that made it all possible. Now I have something more to love about TV, Randy West's TV INSIDE-OUT. I laughed; I cried; I loved the stories about those I admired, and those that didn't ring up my all-time list of faves. I can't recommend this book enough. Randy understands, honors and appreciates the love affair America has with television.
PRODUCERS...
Roger Dobkowitz: As producer of The Price is Right I was overwhelmed at the beginning of my career by the politics, egomania, and self-importance. I witnessed Bob Barker starting to walk off our show over a dispute about a game line-up. Then an entire episode had to be thrown out because of a scoring error made by a young man - that young man was ME! Randy’s book TV INSIDE-OUT is a treasure chest of many of these stories.
WRITERS...
Stone Wallace: Through his long and impressive career in broadcasting Randy West has explored the intriguing world behind the curtain where the TV stars, actors, hosts and crewmembers have kept their secrets hidden. He takes each TV INSIDE-OUT reader on a private guided tour of backstage mishaps that are guaranteed to open their eyes to an entire surprising world that's just out of frame.
“The dazzling 5,000 watts of carefully-focused incandescence bouncing off his porcelain-veneered smile blinds the public from any insight into his true painful existence. Part of the wonderful magic of television is its ability to disguise truth and electronically paint lifelike alternate realities. Behind the smiles, some stars are working through secret heartbreaking circumstances that are far more tragic than any soap opera subplot. Those who can keep it together under that daily stress are the real troupers.”
