This comprehensive reference to TV cartoon shows covers some 75 years. In the decade or so since the first edition, the industry has grown and expanded to previously unimagined heights, thanks in great part to the upsurge of cable TV services catering to animation fans. In the ten-year period since the first edition, nearly 450 new cartoon series premiered in the U.S. Alphabetically arranged by title, the book discusses each cartoon show in detail, providing full production credits and offering commentary on such elements as development, characters, style, and the show's significance in the overall scheme of television animation.

Beginning with Charlie Chaplin's Shoulder Arms, released in America near the end of World War I, the military comedy film has been one of Hollywood's most durable genres. This generously illustrated history examines over 225 Army, Navy and Marine-related comedies produced between 1918 and 2009, including the abundance of laughspinners released during World War II in the wake of Abbott and Costello's phenomenally successful Buck Privates (1941), and the many lighthearted service films of the immediate postwar era, among them Mister Roberts (1955) and No Time for Sergeants (1958). Also included are discussions of such subgenres as silent films (The General), military-academy farces (Brother Rat), women in uniform (Private Benjamin), misfits making good (Stripes), anti-war comedies (MASH), and fact-based films (The Men Who Stare at Goats). A closing filmography is included in this richly detailed volume.

Prolific American film producer Amedee J. Van Beuren (1879-1938) did not start out in the film industry. After decades spent in business and advertising, Van Beuren turned his intellect and creativity towards acquiring a foothold in film and began building his empire. He is best known to animation fans for his bizarre cartoons of the 1920s and 1930s, featuring such zanies as Molly Moo Cow, Cubby Bear and Tom and Jerry (not the cat-and-mouse duo). But the majority of the 1,499 films produced by Van Beuren between 1918 and 1937 were live-action short subjects--travelogues, comedies, musicals, sports reels and more. His roster of star performers included Bert Lahr, Shemp Howard, Ethel Waters and (indirectly) Charlie Chaplin. Van Beuren also made several feature films starring legendary big-game hunter Frank Buck, and a 12-episode serial headlining horror icon Lon Chaney, Jr. Capped by a complete list of his films, this engrossing chronicle of Amedee Van Beuren's vast output is the first all-inclusive history of one of moviedom's most successful and least-known filmmakers.

When media coverage of courtroom trials came under intense fire in the aftermath of the infamous New Jersey v. Hauptmann lawsuit (a.k.a. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case,) a new era of fictionalized courtroom programming was ushered in to satiate the public's appetite for legal drama. This book is an alphabetical listing of the nearly 200 'courtroom', 'lawyer' and 'judge' shows telecast in the U.S. from 1948 through 2008, complete with cast and production credits, airdates, detailed synopses and background information. Included are such familiar titles as ""Perry Mason"", ""Divorce Court"", ""Judge Judy"", ""LA Law"", and ""The Practice"", along with such obscure series as ""They Stand Accused"", ""The Verdict is Yours Sam Benedict"", ""Trials of O'Brien"", and ""The Law and Mr. Jones"". The book includes an introductory overview of 'law'-oriented radio and TV broadcasts from the 1920s to the present, including actual courtroom coverage (or lack of same during those years in which cameras and microphones were forbidden in the courtroom) and historical events within TV's factual and fictional treatment of the legal system. Also included in the introduction is an analysis of the rise and fall of cable's Court TV channel.

Most film buffs know that Citizen Kane was based on the life of publisher William Randolph Hearst. But few are aware that key characters in films like Double Indemnity, Cool Hand Luke, Jaws, Rain Man, A Few Good Men and Zero Dark Thirty were inspired by actual persons. This survey of a clef characters covers a selection of fictionalized personalities, beginning with the Silent Era. The landmark lawsuit surrounding Rasputin and the Empress (1932) introduced disclaimers in film credits, assuring audiences that characters were not based on real people-even when they were. The 220 entries and 80 short essays cover screen incarnations of Wyatt Earp, Al Capone, Bing Crosby, Amelia Earhart, Buster Keaton, Howard Hughes, Janis Joplin and Richard Nixon, along with the inspirations behind perennial favorites like Charlie Chan and Indiana Jones.

Here is an excellent reference book on "first run" syndication--the distribution of programs either made exclusively for non-network play, or of programs intended for network telecasts but ultimately making their debuts in syndication. Bringing together information not easily found, this work covers the classics such as Sea Hunt, Highway Patrol, The Merv Griffin Show and the Muppet Show, as well as such once-popular but now obscure productions as China Smith, Ripcord and The Littlest Hobo. Coverage goes back to 1947 and the book includes a number of series ignored in other works. The first section is an overview of the concept of syndication from its earliest application in the newspaper world to the attempt by Fox Television to become a fourth network. The next four sections each cover ten years of syndication, listing the shows (with full background--who produced them and why, who liked them and why, etc.) alphabetically by title under the following genres: Adventure/Mystery, Childrens, Comedy, Drama, Game/Quiz, Informational, Music/Variety, Religious, Sports, Talk/Interview, Travel/Documentary, Westerns, and Womens.

There was a time when "American popular entertainment" referred only to radio and motion pictures. With the coming of talking pictures, Hollywood cashed in on the success of big-time network radio by bringing several of the public's favourite broadcast personalities and programmes to screen. The results, though occasionally successful, often proved conclusively that some things are better heard than seen. Concentrating primarily on radio's Golden Age (1926-1962), this lively history discusses the cinematic efforts of airwave stars Rudy Vallee, Amos 'n' Andy, Fred Allen, Joe Penner, Fibber McGee & Molly, Edgar Bergen, Lum & Abner, and many more. Also analysed are the movie versions of such radio series as The Shadow, Dr. Christian and The Life of Riley. In addition, two recent films starring contemporary radio headliners Howard Stern and Garrison Keillor are given their due.

Rowan and Martin's ""Laugh-In"" was one of the quirkiest and most unusual programs on television, defying definition as simply comedy, variety, or burlesque. The show had audiences laughing for six seasons and continues to make appearances in revivals, reunions, and salutes. Even with corny and now dated humor, the show's signature lines and gags are ingrained in popular American culture.This critical history of ""Laugh-In"" is arranged chronologically and includes background details on the show's creators and the events leading up-to ""Laugh-In's"" creation. In addition to an analysis of the original six seasons, the text includes information on lookalike shows that emerged after ""Laugh-In's"" success, and on the various resurgences of the show that continued up into the nineties. An appendix contains a complete program history with principal production credits and episode guides.

H.R. Pufnstuf, ""Lidsville"", ""Sigmund and The Sea Monsters"", ""Land of the Lost"": For a generation of children growing up in the late sixties and early seventies, these were some of the most memorable shows on Saturday morning television. At a time when television cartoons had lost some of their luster, two puppeteers named Sid and Marty Krofft put together a series of shows that captivated children. Using colorful sets and mysterious lands full of characters that had boundless energy, the Kroffts created a new form of children's television, rooted in the medium's earliest shows but nevertheless original in its concept. This work first provides a history of the Kroffts' pretelevision career, then offers discussions of their 11 Saturday morning shows. Complete cast and credit information is enhanced by interviews with many of the actors and actresses, behind-the-scenes information, print reviews of the series, and plot listings of the individual episodes. ""The H.R. Pufnstuf"" feature film, the brothers' other television work, and their short-lived indoor theme park are also detailed.