When Television Was Young

September 15, 2007
Books come no cozier or more superficial than this skim over TVs golden age by one of its most familiar remaining figures. McMahon, longtime announcer sidekick to Johnny Carson, says that his strong suit is selling and that he couldve made lots more his first summer out of the marines by hawking gadgets on seaside boardwalks but couldnt resist diving into TV aborning in Philadelphia. Ere long he was commuting to Gotham and eventually pitching product much more lucratively on the new medium, which he learned how to work in on-the-job. His anecdotes about that learning curve light up the opening pages here. When he settles into reviewing a different kind of programming (sitcoms, sports, westerns, cops n robbers, etc.) in each chapter, things go hurriedly south. The stories still amuse, but the misinformation (e.g., Fulton Sheen wasnt archbishop of New York; Cardinal Spellman was) and too-perfunctory treatment of programs and performers proliferate. Good bathroom reading, but dont try winning any bar bets on its info.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)