Halliwell's Teleguide

the long version

Television is a vast and frightening wasteland in which occasional treasures are to be found by the keen explorer: This book is intended to be a catalogue of the treasures. What is not covered? Foreign-speaking programmes unless they have been well exposed in Britain or America. News and magazine items. Sports coverage. Music and arts compilations. Live or tape shows which have not been preserved: pointless, usually, to record something which the student can no longer consult, when so much else is pressing for inclusion. (This last consideration means that many programmes are recorded simply because they are on film, not because they are any worthier than the thousands of programmes the reader will seek for in vain. Sorry.) It's a start. Approximately four thousand items about a new art (all right, craft) which has had little written about it beyond fan effusions and technical text books. Yet it must be important enough for a book because it affects so many of our lives. If the attitudes to it in this volume are not by general consent the right ones, hopefully so many people will write to the author and say so that he will do better in the second edition. If a programme is well enough documented, its details are set out in a form similar to that of my Film Guide. Some long-running shows, however, change their personnel and length so frequently that a simple descriptive paragraph must suffice. As in the Film Guide, up to four asterisks are used to denote historical interest/general worthiness; contributions of especial merit are printed in small capitals in the programme entries (but not under people, where the description should give sufficient emphasis). I have tried to make sure that all series or single items which have genuinely widened the boundaries of television are included, but of course I have failed at this first attempt. I know that film series and TV movies are the best covered items, light entertainment and arts probably the least: the balance will improve next time. There isn't much cross-referencing. If you are looking up a programme, most of the important contributors will have their own items. If you are looking up a person, the more important television productions in which he has appeared will also be separately treated. If a contributor has also had an extensive film career, I have not given details as these are covered in other reference books, in particular my *Filmgoer's Companion*. Under programmes, I have intended to show only the contributors who are constant throughout the series. *Wagon Train* probably employed forty different directors: I have not even tried to indicate them. On the other hand, in television the producer is usually the most important, and constant, creative force, so I have given his name wherever possible; also that of the 'creator', the man who devised the format. The cut-off date for entries is roughly June 1978, i.e. the end of the 1977-8 season, though I have added brief indications of many programmes due to begin in the autumn of 1978. Archives in America and Britain have been steadily collecting and preserving television programmes for many years now. I trust that this book may be of value not only to the general viewer in search of instant nostalgia but to the student who pores over cassettes of those programmes in the year 2000 and after. What is included TV movies: hopefully all which have been produced. A TV movie is something which fills a slot of 90 minutes or more. I give the actual length, not the slot length, and the main lengths (74m for a 90m slot, 96m for a 120m slot) are standardized even though some films may vary by a minute or two. TV series: virtually all which have been preserved (which usually means they're on film) or of which episodes at least will be found in archives. Individual programmes if they have historic or artistic significance. People who have made significant creative contributions to television. (Executives don't normally count.) The people entries are deliberately brief, mainly because the subjects tend to have been involved in so many programmes that it is impossible to finalize an accurate list or to find space for it if one did. Work in TV series only has therefore been noted (unless a single performance is especially distinguished). Reference is made to a film career, if any, so that the reader can look it up himself in my Film-goer's Companion or other reference book. Technical and trade terms of interest How the information is presented The items are in strictly alphabetical order. The arrangement of facts for TV movies and series is similar to that of the Film Guide (from which all the TV movie entries have been transferred). Special merit/artistic or historical interest is denoted by one to four asterisks. First line: Alternative title, if any (aka). Country and year of origin. For series the end date is that of the last September season start. For single items I aim to give the year of first transmission. Running time. (Note that 'one-hour' slot programmes have been rationalized at 50m, though they may run as much as 52m or as little as 46m. 'Half-hours' are normally given as 25m, though if they are made for prime access time or Saturday morning there will be more commercials and the actual running time will be 22m.) Colour or black-and-white. If a TV movie (TVM). Second line: Production credits. 'Jones/Bloggs' indicates equal partnership; a producer in brackets is an employee. Executive producers are often shown, as in some cases they are the people with the real influence; but situations vary immensely. Production companies are shown rather than distributors, as the latter tend to vary from continent to continent. In the case of American programmes I have had to show the network (CBS, ABC, NBC) commissioning the production. Then: Synopsis. Appraisal. Writer (tv), director (d), photographer (ph), music (m), musical director (mjd), art director (a/d), where available. In the case of series they often vary so much that there is no point in trying to give them. 1 have tried however always to give the creator (cr), i.e. the fellow who put the format together. Selected cast. Again, in series, only the regular cast is shown. Critical quotes, if any can be found. Additional notes of interest (t).