Beating a Dead Horse: "The History of Television"

The reviews are in, and The Mayor of Television’s magnum opus “The History of Television (A History of Television)” is a hit!

Well, they can say it about crummy movies and barely-watched TV shows, so why can’t I say it about my little labor of love?

“The History of Television (A History of Television)” was written in response to PBS’s announcement that it was producing a multi-part documentary about television. It was Your Mayor’s (bafflingly unsuccessful) attempt to get hired as a talking head on the project. Several of the facts within my history were true.

Behold these raves:

From a fellow TV critic: “This History of Television thing is fantastic. I want to co-write that book with you, as I love piggybacking on those who already have done the early heavy lifting and idea-creating.”

From someone who’s worked in TV: “I enjoyed your history of television; the not-so-heavy irony, of course, is that your series says much, much more about the current state of the medium than anything that will materialize on PBS.”

From a literary agent: “This is funny material.”

Oh, wait, there’s more, dammit.

From the same literary agent: “Unfortunately, I don't have confidence that it would work in book form, at least to the degree of commercial success that major publishers are looking for to take on a new project.”

Hey, I didn’t say I was looking for a major publisher. Just one that’d pay me in cash, under the table.

Just in case you missed it (it ran in August, so you might’ve been on vacation and therefore too busy being leisurely to consult this blog, for which you’re forgiven), here it is in its entirety.

Chapter One: Origins and Afterbirth of a New Medium.

Chapter Two: A Nation Chuckles: The ’50s.

Chapter Three: A Nation Continues to Chuckle: The ’60s.

Chapter Four: A Nation Doesn’t Chuckle So Much: The ’70s.

Chapter Five: It’s Just One Damn Golden Age After Another.

Chapter Six: Nothing is Ever the Same Again.

Chapter Seven: The Terrorists Win: Reality TV.

Chapter Eight: TV in the Naughts – and Nowhere Beyond, Because We’ll All Soon Be Dead.

A pathetic, last-ditch effort to get PBS to hire me: Supplemental Chapter: PBS: Television’s Savior.

PBS, it’s not too late: I’ve already gotten a head start on that coffee-table book that’ll inevitably accompany your production. Give me a call. I’m sure we can do business and, more importantly, make great Television together!