Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of event television, Margolis is not only a technical ringmaster but also a confidante and sage to the stars who headline the shows.Students of television will savor the "how-to" of event television while fans will love the intimate stories of beloved stars like Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Cher, Sammy Davis Jr., Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, and Oprah Winfrey. While not a sordid t...

In this dazzling Hollywood memoir, Jeff Margolis takes us on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of television’s most memorable variety series and specials spanning the past fifty years—from the most iconic variety shows of the 1970s to the Oscars.Introduced to showbiz by his uncle Monty Hall, legendary host of Let’s Make a Deal, Jeff Margolis quickly forged his own path with natural talent, charisma, and bar mitzvah money. Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of ...

The definitive biography of John Candy—a heartwarming portrait of one of comedy’s most beloved and enduring stars.INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Vulture's #1 Comedy Book of 2025 • A Globe and Mail, National Post, and CBC Best Book of 2025"Reading this book was like reconnecting with an old friend. I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end.” —Judd Apatow“A thoughtful, thorou...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show“The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)“Readers are treated to the Holy Grail for any journalist hoping to crack the show: a warts-and-all week in the life of SNL, where Morrison gets to see the...

The rollicking saga of reality television, a “sweeping” (The Washington Post) cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker writer—“a must-read for anyone interested in television or popular culture” (NPR)“Passionate, exquisitely told . . . With muscular prose and an exacting eye for detail . . . [Nussbaum] knits her talents for sharp analysis and telling repor...

**“Being directed by the Jimmy Burrows, while on Friends, was like hitting the jackpot. I’m delighted that everyone can now share in his incredible insight with this book.”—JENNIFER ANISTONFrom the director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, and Will & Grace comes an insightful and nostalgic behind-the-scenes memoir that’s “as difficult to put down as a Friends marathon is to turn off” (The Washington Post).**

“Magisterial. ... A must read for anyone who wants to work in Hollywood or just know how Hollywood works.”— The Hollywood ReporterA New York Times bestseller, now updated with an afterword and exclusive new materialFrom the #1 bestselling author behind acclaimed oral histories of Saturday Night Live and ESPN comes "the most hotly anticipated book [in decades]" (Variety): James Andrew Miller's irresistible i...

The first-ever biography of the legendary comic and the most improbable rise to fame in the history of American comedy. Getting there wasn’t always a laughing matter.Rodney Dangerfield’s fidgety delivery, self-deprecating humor, and catchphrase “I don’t get no respect” made him a comedy icon in nightclubs, on television, and in movies. But Rodney’s long road to stardom was as rocky as his real life. Born Jacob Cohen in 1921 to a coldhearted mother and absentee fath...

Based on extensive research and original interviews, this intimate biography reveals the complexities of Gandolfini's character, his rise to fame, and his lasting impact on television and film.“A riveting look inside the mind of a towering talent, this is a must for Sopranos **fans."―**Publishers Weekly**"A fast-moving, entertaining bio of a Hollywood mensch."―**Kirkus...

More like Holly weird, right? Unearth fun facts from Bryan Cranston's body hair double to the Martha Stewart vs. Gwyneth Paltrow Goop feud, and much more.Hollywood stars may be accustomed to the limelight, but there are some things they may wish had never seen the light of day. Scandals, stunts gone wrong, off-camera feuds, eccentric lifestyles, it's all here in Strange Hollywood. Dozens of entertaining articles about the world of showbiz will amus...

It’s like a plot from a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. But for many, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment—including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz— started their dazzling careers in the lowly mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, David Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution—in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliat...

Tinderbox tells the exclusive, explosive, uninhibited true story of HBO and how it burst onto the American scene and screen to detonate a revolution and transform our relationship with television forever.The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, The Wire, Succession…HBO has long been the home of epic shows, as well as the source for brilliant new movies, news-making documentaries, and con...