BearManor Media News — tv

Q&A with Ashely Phipps, author of the new, definitive Laverne & Shirley book: The Belles of Bottle Capping 1. If your book could permanently retire one tired story people keep repeating about Laverne & Shirley, which would you choose, and what would you want people to understand instead? “Too bad Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams hated each other in real life.” Nothing could be further from the truth. While they, like all friends and co-workers, sometimes had their creative differences and disagreements (especially as the final season approached), they were very much friends and remained so for life. 2. What’s...

Why did you decide to write a book about Romper Room? I have two daughters and as I watched children’s television shows with them, I thought back to my own childhood. I found a letter my mother had saved that I had written to the Romper Room teacher I used to watch. I was too old to be on the show but wanted to let her know that I was a “good Do-Bee.” I originally thought that the show was only on in my hometown but found out it was actually almost everywhere. As a journalist used to sharing information...

  https://classicgold.ca/exclusive-interview-fred-grandinetti-on-the-enduring-legacy-of-popeye/

What made you want to write about 80s TV specifically, and what did that decade do that TV hasn't quite replicated since? One of the things I talk about in the book is how disappointing my family life was when I was a kid.  Between divorce and the allure of multilevel marketing schemes, my folks were rarely around, so television became a de facto friend…maybe even a parent.  I learned adulting from folks like Michael Knight, Tony Micelli, and ALF.  But I digress.  What did 80s television do that hasn’t been replicated since (besides raising me)?  Appointment viewing. That's the...