With the arrival of "American Gladiators" and "American Idol," I think we can safely declare this season of scripted television officially on life support.
So, in the meantime, I've chosen some TV-related books and DVDs, just out or coming out, that you might want to check out.
On DVD
“Presidential Libraries,” $49.95 (C-Span.org). At four bucks a disc, it's hard to beat this virtual tour of the nation's presidential libraries, shot in high definition and airing in 2007 on C-SPAN. The cameras were led on a leisurely guided tour of the Truman Library in Independence.
“Extras Gift Set,” $49.99 (HBO). In this entertaining British series that aired on HBO, Ricky Gervais played a hapless “extra” on movie sets. Eventually he became one of those sitcom stars unlucky enough to be associated with an annoying catchphrase, and that's where “Extras” flamed out. Now all 13 episodes are on DVD -- not exactly a C-SPAN value buy, but still cheaper than an HBO subscription.
“Planet Earth,” $49.99 (Discoverystore.com). State-of-the-art cameras brought the far regions of the planet into new focus in this wildly popular Discovery series. I wish American viewers had gotten to hear the world-renowned presenter David Attenborough narrating this 5-DVD set, as he did everywhere else in the world (we got Sigourney Weaver instead).
“Torchwood: Complete First Season” ($56, BBC Warner, on sale Jan. 22). This sexy spinoff of “Doctor Who” was bowdlerized by BBC America. If you didn't get to watch the uncensored episodes on HDNet, you can now.
“Slings and Arrows: The Complete Collection” ($41.99, on sale Feb. 5). This memorable series from Canada mixed light comedy and moving drama against the backdrop of a Toronto Shakespeare company. Airing on Sundance Channel, each of its three seasons used one of the Bard's plays as a season-long motif. Ambitious, witty and satisfying.
“Newhart: Season One” ($39.98, on sale Feb. 26). Yes, it's finally out, the second Bob, with Larry, Darryl and Darryl, in the sitcom that turned out to be nothing but a dream.
In print
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir, by Felicia “Snoop” Pearson and David Ritz ($22, Grand Central). You think the characters on HBO's gritty drama series “The Wire” are tough? Wait till you read the harrowing true-life story of Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, who was raised on the hard streets of Baltimore and its violent, drug-run culture, but escaped and now has an acting career thanks to “The Wire.” Excerpt: “(We) were hired by a dealer to go after some deadbeats. They went to the mall. They figured that with all those shoppers around, the mall had to be safe. They figured wrong.”
Truth And Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values, by Keith Olbermann ($24.95, Random House). A year's worth of sharply worded rants, full of sarcastic ripostes and unfiltered outrage over the government's (mis)handling of Katrina, Iraq and the war on terror. Excerpt: “You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions -- stop the war -- have traded your strength, your bargaining position and the uniform support of those who elected you for a handful of magic beans.”
Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction, by Pat Aufderheide ($9.95, Oxford University Press). In this pocket-sized guide, a leading authority takes us on a fast-paced, utterly engaging 100-year survey of nonfiction cinema. Aufderheide, a professor at American University, is that rare academic who can write in plain English and has a great ear for anecdotes, like the fact that much of “Nanook of the North,” the 1922 silent film about the Inuit, was heavily staged. Excerpt: “Cinema verite is no longer revolutionary. It is the default language for music documentaries … it is part of the DNA of cop shows and docusoaps and part of the credibility apparatus of reality TV shows.”
Mission Al Jazeera, by Josh Rushing ($24.95, Palgrave). At the start of the Iraq War, Rushing was a Marine from Texas working in Centcom, the information nerve center in Doha, Qatar. After an accidental encounter with a film crew, he wound up the star of “Control Room,” a widely-seen documentary about the Arab news channel al-Jazeera. In this compelling memoir, Rushing explains how he came to embrace the mission of the so-called “terror TV” network and went to work for its new English-language channel. Excerpt: “The people implementing the 'no comment' policy are the same ones who complain that Al Jazeera is one-sided. Of course they'll be one-sided on stories involving the U.S. government, if the government won't give its side.”
Generation on Fire: Voices of Protest from the 1960s, by Jeff Kisseloff ($34.95, Kentucky). Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Tom Brokaw's name-dropping, overhyped mess of a book about the Sixties. Kisseloff, whose oral history of the invention of television (The Box) is one of the great books about the medium, interviewed dozens of ordinary Americans who put their lives on the line for causes they believed in, and how their lives turned out. Excerpt: “For me, the 1950s were pizza places opening up and Elvis Presley on the jukebox …. How did I get from that to sleeping with a shotgun at the side of my bed and thinking I was never going to live past 35? The answer is one step at a time.”
