Best Selling Books by Tom Shales

WHEN A YOUNG WRITER named Lorne Michaels talked NBC executives into taking a chance on a new weekend late-night comedy series, nobody really knew what to expect-not even Michaels. But Saturday Night Live, launched in 1975 and still thriving today, would change the face of television. It introduced brash new stars with names like Belushi, Radner, Chase, and Murray; trashed taboos that had inhibited TV for decades; and had such an impact on American life, laughter, and politics that even presidents of the United States had to take notice. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Shales and bestselling author James Andrew Miller bring together stars, writers, guest hosts, contributors, and craftsmen for the first-ever oral history of Saturday Night Live, from 1974, when it was just an idea, through 2002, when it has long since become an institution. In their own words, dozens of personalities recall the backstage stories, behind-the-scenes gossip, feuds, foibles, drugs, sex, struggles, and calamities, including personal details never before revealed. Shales and Miller have interviewed a galaxy of stars, including Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, Chevy Chase, Will Ferrell, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin, Jon Lovitz, Jane Curtin, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Dana Carvey, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Garrett Morris, Molly Shannon, Damon Wayans, Chris Elliott, Julia Sweeney, Norm Macdonald, and Paul Simon-plus writers like Al Franken, Conan O''Brien, Larry David, Rosie Shuster, Jack Handey, Robert Smigel, Don Novello, and others who got their big breaks as part of the SNL team. The Coneheads, the Blues Brothers, Buck-wheat, Wayne and Garth, Hans and Franz, the Cheerleaders, Todd DiLaMuca and Lisa Loopner, "Cheeseburger cheeseburger," Mango, the Church Lady, Ed Grimley-they''re all here. And for every fabulous character on-screen there was an outrageous maverick, misfit, or rebel behind the scenes. Live from New York does what no other book about the show has ever done: It lets the people who were there tell the story in their own words, blunt and loving and uncensored.

"A rollicking oral history of ESPN" (Boston Globe)—an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the network that changed how we watch sports. "A serious, impressive piece of work." — Entertainment Weekly It began, in 1979, as a modest idea of starting a cable channel to televise local sporting events throughout the state of Connecticut. Today, ESPN is arguably the most successful network in modern television history, spanning eight channels in the Unites States and around the world. But the inside story of its rise has never been fully told-until now. Drawing upon over 500 interviews with the greatest names in ESPN''s history and an All-Star collection of some of the world''s finest athletes, bestselling authors James Miller and Tom Shales take us behind the cameras. Now, in their own words, the men and women who made ESPN great reveal the secrets behind its success-as well as the many scandals, rivalries, off-screen battles and triumphs that have accompanied that ascent. From the unknown producers and business visionaries to the most famous faces on television, it''s all here. "A treat for sports fans." — New York Times " Those Guys Have All the Fun delivers a hell of a narrative . . . [and] an outstanding work of journalism." — Fortune "A revelation: what foes onto the TV screen turns out to be just the glossy tip of an iceberg of ugly backstage drama. Miller and Shales must be extraordinarily talented interviewers, because their subjects are surprisingly uninhibited and frank and willing to dish." — TIME

Publishers of this collection of essays and 182 photos, the American Film Institute, was established in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts. Film Institute associates, plus Tom Shales, Leonard Maltin, Kevin Brownlow and others, provide dozens of interesting articles on specific motion pictures, prominent (and some nearly-forgotten) film makers, studios and genres. All of these are enriched by many unique illustrations, photos and in some cases, celluloid enlargements. The Foreword is by Gregory Peck.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning, nationally syndicated columnist of The Washington Post gives charming and revealing profiles of America''s greatest entertainers--the likes of Fred Astaire, Cary Grant and Rita Hayworth. Photos.

This article previews a television special, "Violence in the News: Helping Children Understand," in which Fred Rogers will explain how children react to seeing violence on the news and other television programs. He will offer advice to parents about how to calm and comfort children when they are exposed to shocking images.