This morning while getting ready for work, I was discussing the book with my brother-in-law's wife. She does not share my enthusiasm for everything related to the events in the book, but I explained that I was through Chapter 4. "How are you enjoying it?" she asked. "I feel like it's almost too basic for me." We decided that there should've been a note at the end of Chapter 1: "If you already really know the backstory, skip to page XXX."
"Landscape At Late Night" is, at its core, a tale-of-the-tape between Jay and Dave, with a bio of Jon Stewart thrown in there and a very light backstory of how Craig Kilborn melted down at Daily Show. Yes, Dave eschews publicity and promotion while Jay eats it up; yes, Jay was beating Dave by every considerable measure except for "love from the intelligentsia"; yes, Kilborn managed to insult the upper management leading to his ouster.I know we as a group know this like the back of our hands, so our prisms are completely corrupted, but I wonder how much other people already kinda know the stuff that's delivered here. Clearly Carter wrote this for people who did not read Late Shift. But I'd turn the question around and say, "Do you think anyone would buy this book who wouldn't have read Late Shift?" And that's what's frustrating me. When the hell are we getting to the fireworks factory? On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 7:51 PM, Joe Hass <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm not sure why I'm going to do this, or how, but seeing as I still > can't believe I did not walk down to Borders to pick up the book the > moment I hit the office this morning, I am going to go in the realm of > redemption and do a basic chapter-by-chapter breakdown as much as > possible without really giving away the book (not that you don't know > how it ends). If anyone else is reading and wants to chime in, please > feel free to do so. > > One of the great things about being around her for so long plus being > on Google is that I can quickly jump back and see a certain point in > time. "Comedy Tonight" focuses entirely on the events of May 19, 2009. > (If I remember Late Shift correctly, Carter's first chapter there was > solely about the 1991 NBC upfront that Carson announced his retirement > from) The conversation around here was primarily on the ABC upfront > that afternoon. I could not find a reference at all what NBC did that > night: basically make this pseudo-upfront show based primarily on the > comedy chops of the network. It featured Leno, O'Brien, Fallon, Jerry > Seinfeld (your unannounced guest star), and Brian Williams (who hosted > the event). > > This, it becomes clear, was the first instant when NBC could've had > their GOB "I've made a huge mistake" moment. Every single person > listed above except one killed. Leno (who was the closing act) didn't > just bomb, but spectacularly died, in a manner that, even if you're in > the "Leno can DIAF*" camp, will make you wince. Carter mentions Lorne > Michaels thought that Leno was effectively "singing for his supper," > but even if you discount that (and I completely do), it's just...it's > wow. The story of the NBC execs who are trapped in the front row > watching this and getting messages is excellent. But most of all, it's > watching a moment where everyone could've > > That something this utterly traumatic happened without anyone > mentioning a word about it in at the time this environment is > unbelievable. > -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
