Best Television History & Criticism

This touching and hilarious memoir is 100 percent Carol Burnett -- funny, irreverent, and irresistible. In her second book, comedy legend Burnett looks back fondly on her long and successful career in short, easily digestible chapters that part the curtain on her private life. She also dishes about her famous costars and friends, including Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Julie Andrews, and, of course, Carol Burnett Show regulars Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. Fans of both the show and the actress will enjoy this mostly lighthearted though sometimes poignant look back at Burnett’s career. --Kathleen Hughes "These short memories, of the people Burnett met and interviewed over the years, on- and off-camera, bring it back — the golden age of variety shows....Burnett has a writer's eye for the moment, the detail, the slip that reveals character. — Los Angeles Times "Carol was a huge star on television because she was funny, daring, and always genuine.

"A truth-riot of a book!" She has been hailed by Bono and Shonda Rhimes for her singular voice and stinging political commentary...You may not have heard her name yet. But you probably will, because Luvvie Ajayi, a Nigerian-born "professional shade thrower," as she calls herself, is offering incisive, hilarious commentary on polarizing issues (race and gender in particular), and she has found her audience. "This truth-riot of a book gives us everything from hilarious lectures on the bad behavior all around us to razor sharp essays on media and culture. ―Shonda Rhimes, New York Times bestselling author of Year of Yes and executive producer of Scandal and Grey's Anatomy. "I don't know how Luvvie Ajayi got so smart so young about so many things, from feminism to social media, from the pervasiveness of rape culture to the excellence of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits. "You will love Luvvie Ajayi's I'm Judging You , and you will argue with it, laugh hysterically at it, shout "AW HELL YES" at it, and carry parts of it in your heart to dissect or inspire...Perfect for starting important and meaty discussions about all of the topics your mama told you never to bring up at polite dinner parties...religion, race, relationships, reality tv. "A smart, vividly humorous handbook...Overall, [Ajayi's] “do-better” calls for us to reclaim common sense, compassion, and critical thinking, in both personal and online interactions. ―Booklist, starred review "By exposing the uncool, unwashed underbelly of American society, Ajayi's essays force readers to reconsider their stances on a variety of issues, including social media and the public airing of everything, celebrities, sex tapes, the various types of friendships one might have, feminism, religion. ―Mallory Ortberg, bestselling author of Texts from Jane Eyre " I'm Judging You is a brilliant, laugh-out-loud manual for the generation that can configure a wireless router but still hasn't realized social media is not the place for child support issues. Luvvie Ajayi is an award-winning writer, pop culture critic, and professional troublemaker who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology and activism. She is also a digital strategist, noted speaker and Executive Director of The Red Pump Project, a national HIV/AIDS organization.

For almost seventeen years, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brilliantly redefined the borders between television comedy, political satire, and opinionated news coverage. "[A] substantial, many-faceted oral history....This superbly well-edited choral work illuminates the enormous effort, creativity, collaboration, and hustle required for producing a hilarious, news-focused, four-times-a-week comedy show and the chutzpah necessary for taking on the powers-that-be. "Deftly recount[s] the way Stewart's sensibilities, political realities (and unrealities), defining events like 9/11, advances in technology and changes in the television news landscape moved the show from spectator to player. Fortunately, most every one interviewed-from Stephen Colbert to longtime showrunner Ben Karlin to Sen. John McCain-possesses an A-plus wit...it doesn't flinch from digging into the show's most contentious moments... in the Age of Trump, the time has never been better to delve into the minds of the masters who became a vital part of our democracy. "Smith gives readers sound bites from some smart, funny and self-aware people waxing rhapsodic about their 'let's put on a show' adventures...the seeming candor of Stewart in particular gives the book a refreshing amount of depth, particularly regarding backstage drama...the real measure of the show and the book that bears its name is, did it have a point, and, moreso, was it funny in making it. Jon Stewart is a comedian, writer, actor, producer, director, bestselling author and former host of The Daily Show .

The Hollywood Standard describes in clear, vivid prose and hundreds of examples how to format every element of a screenplay or television script. The book's strength lies in its ability to combine important specifics (e.g., the proper use of punctuation) with broader aspects of scriptwriting (e.g., how to describe what's being seen and heard within a shot or sequence). Riley, who's also written screenplays for Touchstone Pictures, Paramount and Mandalay, supplies what may be the first accurate, complete and practical guide to standard script formats, a reference that writers of film would do well to keep handy as they work.

It was only a matter of time before Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander saga made the leap from book to hit TV series, and the millions of readers captivated by the epic romance of Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser have eagerly followed.

A complete catalogue of motion picture techniques for filmmakers. Film Directing Shot by Shot offers a good introduction to the rudiments of film production. Steven Katz's book gives a great breakdown of the fundamentals of film directing.

It was only a matter of time before Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander saga made the leap from book to hit TV series, and the millions of readers captivated by the epic romance of Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser have eagerly followed.