Book picks similar to
Only Fools and Horses: The Peckham Archives by Rod Green


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the little book of SITCOM


John Vorhaus - 2011
    So much of what you need to know is already defined for you. You know that your script needs to be a certain short length, with a certain small number of characters. You know that your choice of scenes is limited to your show’s standing sets and maybe one or two swing sets or outside locations. You know how your characters behave and how they’re funny, either because you invented them or because you’re writing for a show where these things are already well established. Sitcom is easy and sitcom is fun. Sitcom is the gateway drug to longer forms of writing. It’s a pretty good buzz and a pretty good ride, a great way to kill an afternoon, or even six months. And now, thanks to comedy writing guru John Vorhaus (author of THE COMIC TOOLBOX: HOW TO BE FUNNY EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT), writing situation comedy is easier than ever. In THE LITTLE BOOK OF SITCOM, you'll find a whole trove of tools, tricks and problem-solving techniques that you can use -- now, today -- to be the sitcom writer of your wildest dreams. Ready to write? Ready to have fun? THE LITTLE BOOK OF SITCOM is the big little book for you.

Script Doctor: The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986-89


Andrew Cartmel - 2005
    For fans, this book is a unique insight into an area of the show's history that has previously been shrouded in mystery. For those with a wider interest in the creative processes of television drama, it is a fascinating account of the individual's creative vision at odds with the machinery of broadcasting. It features a foreword by the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

How To Look Good Naked


Gok Wan - 2007
    TV fashion guru Gok Wan shows women of all shapes and sizes how to look great with their clothes on and off! The book is packed with expert health, beauty and styling advice to make you look and feel fabulous without cosmetic surgery or drastic dieting.

My Idols - Journey of a Cricket Crazy


Pankaj Agrawal - 2013
    Cricket and Bollywood. So there are only two kinds of people, who have unconditional fan following in India. That is Film actors and Cricket players. There are millions of Indians, who are huge fan of Cricket and cricketers. The book is all about collection of memoirs of the author in regard with his idols in the game. Book gives inside in to career span of few of the most prolific Indian cricketers in contemporary Cricket and few of greatest in international Cricket. The career path of them is embedded with most splendid performance of these players and interesting anecdotes (few of them are untold). All in all, a full sketch of these players in a very concise and interesting manner. There are chapters on:- Sachin Tendulkar Kapil Dev Kris Srikkanth Javagal Srinath Mohd. Azharruddin Ajay Jadeja Rahul Dravid Viv Richard Wasim Akram Shane Warne Author – Pankaj Agrawal

Behind the Curtain: An Insider's View of Jay Leno's Tonight Show


Dave Berg - 2014
    Jay and his long-time producer Dave Berg would welcome me to the Green Room, and these moments before the show gave us a chance to laugh. Jay and Dave brought a great spirit and a lot of dignity to late-night television."-Mrs. Laura Bush, former First Lady of the United StatesExperience the wacky antics and ground-breaking appearances of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from a backstage perspective. Gain an insider's view of how Leno changed the face of late-night, inviting not just actors but also journalists and politicos to the show. What happens behind the scenes is sometimes even more revealing than what happens in front of the camera. Serious and shocking, author Dave Berg proves that these memorable moments can still surprise and entertain.Called "the best booker in the business" by Bill O'Reilly, Berg delivered a vast array of high-profile guests, including Barack Obama as the first sitting president to ever appear on a late-night program. Berg tells what really happened during the show's most legendary moments-Hugh Grant's mea culpa, the live Boston show with an inebriated Cheers cast, Jerry Seinfeld's appearance with John F. Kennedy Jr., and Arnold Schwarzenegger's surprise political announcement.

Eddie: The Life and Times of America's Preeminent Bad Boy


Ken Osmond - 2014
    When child actor Ken Osmond stepped onto the set of Leave it to Beaver in 1957, he not only entered our living rooms, he homesteaded a permanent place in the American pop culture. The poster child for sneaky, rotten kids everywhere, he was the reference point for cautious mothers to warn their children about. And everyone in America knew an Eddie Haskell at some point in his or her lives. The amazing phenomenon of Ken Osmond’s character is still going strong, over half a century after the show’s cancellation. Even today, the name Eddie Haskell remains firmly entrenched in the American lexicon. Political foes from both sides of the ideological spectrum love to accuse their opponents of, “acting like Eddie Haskell,” and when Kobi Bryant argues a referee’s call, tweets go out labeling him as an “Eddie Haskell.” Psychology Today Magazine has published articles about recognizing and treating “Eddie Haskell Syndrome” and Matt Groening created Bart Simpson as his own version of “the son of Eddie Haskell.” Now it’s time to meet Ken Osmond, the man behind America’s preeminent bad boy. A man who, as co-star Jerry Mathers said, “Was the best actor on the program, because he was so diametrically opposed to the character he played.” A devoted husband, father and patriot, he’s a man who’s been forever shadowed by Eddie Haskell, but whose own life, was even more amazing than the character he portrayed.

Be More Keanu


James King - 2020
    He's the internet's boyfriend. The poetic petrolhead. The guru on a surfboard. Part samurai, part samaritan. He is, very simply, 'The One'.'James has been my movie guru for years and now he's my spiritual guru too! From now on I'm going to ask myself: 'What would Keanu do?'Jo WhileyIn this hilarious book of pocket philosophy, film critic and Keanu fan James King reveals what makes Mr Reeves so special. He unpacks iconic films from the Bill & Teds to the John Wicks, as well as the star's own free-spirited life, showing us why the great man with the great hair has all the answers.And how everyone can #bemorekeanu.'A handsome, cool, enigmatic Gen X’er who never seems to age, James King is the perfect man to write about Keanu Reeves.'Stephen Merchant

Tony Wilson - You're Entitled to an Opinion but your Opinion is ****


David Nolan - 2009
    From his unique childhood growing up with a gay father and a domineering mother to his tragically early death in 2007 after battling the NHS for a drug that could prolong his life, David Nolan investigates the lives and times of the man they called "Mr. Manchester." Drawing on nearly 50 interviews with musicians, DJs, writers, actors, family, and friends—including Wilson's partner of 17 years Yvette Livesey, You're Entitled To An Opinion . . . paints a picture of a unique, driven, and chaotic man whose inspiration and influence is still being felt today across the worlds of music and television.

Zombie Simpsons: How the Best Show Ever Became the Broadcasting Undead


Charlie Sweatpants - 2012
    It has been translated into every major language on Earth and dozens of minor ones; it has spawned entire genres of animation, and had more books written about it than all but a handful of American Presidents. Even its minor characters have become iconic, and the titular family is recognizable in almost every corner of the planet. It is a definitive and truly global cultural phenomenon, perhaps the biggest of the television age. As of this writing, if you flip on FOX at 8pm on Sundays, you will see a program that bills itself as "The Simpsons". It is not "The Simpsons". That show, the landmark piece of American culture that debuted on 17 December 1989, went off the air more than a decade ago. The replacement is a hopelessly mediocre imitation that bears only a superficial resemblance to the original. It is the unwanted sequel, the stale spinoff, the creative dry hole that is kept pumping in the endless search for more money. It is Zombie Simpsons.

CONFERENCE ROOM, FIVE MINUTES


Shea Serrano - 2018
    

Almost Eleven: The Murder of Brenda Sue Sayers


Harrell Glenn Crowson - 2013
    Imperial Valley’s biggest crime is detailed through volumes of official records and interviews with witnesses, relatives and investigators.Serial killer Robert Eugene Pennington not only murdered Sayers, but was a suspect in killing Dorothy Minor-Hindman in Fresno and possibly fifteen other innocent victims from coast to coast including one victim attributed to the Boston Strangler.Extensive research provides the reader with details of Pennington’s life before and after his encounter with Brenda.

VAN WARS: The real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars


Teddy Rennoc - 2019
    In Glasgow, in the 1980s neither the Police nor the Public could understand why grown men were fighting over the rights to sell ice cream, the violence was extreme, and the streets of the housing estates were turned into war zones. Crowds of youths gathered on the street corners, while adults hung from their flat windows watching real-life scenes far more exciting than anything they could see on TV the smashing of Ice cream vans and cars, slashings and stabbings of rival Ice cream men were a nightly occurrence. And the reason behind the violence was that you could earn more money selling Ice cream than you could from selling drugs. The lack of shops in the vast run-down housing estates with thousands of families who had money to spend was a captured market providing an excellent living for the Italian families who controlled the Ice cream trade in Glasgow. Tam McGraw was building a reputation as an up and coming gangster who led a team that specialised in post office, factory, and cash and carry raids throughout Scotland. Tam McGraw realised that he could earn a lot more money a much easier way than robbing post offices, he could sell Ice cream. But first Tam had to test the strength of the Italians and the reaction of the police. McGraw went for the jugular right from the start. He knew Marchetti would not give in easily, and they would try to defend their territory. So he started with Carntyne one of Marchetti's most lucrative routes. Marchetti Brothers were about to suffer brutality and destruction of a kind they could never have imagined in their wildest nightmares. McGraw planned to be the Ice Cream King of Scotland, and Carntyne is where he would lay the foundations of his throne. Nothing or no one would stand in his way. This is the real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Van Wars. The shocking violence mixed with a decent portion of Glaswegian humour will keep you turning the pages until the end. Written in a broad Glaswegian dialect with a lot of swearing, the author writes as he speaks. This book might not be suitable for those who prefer perfect grammar and proper English. But if you can see past that then I am sure you will find it an enjoyable read. Teddy Rennoc.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars


Gervase Phinn - 2008
    Gervase Phinn has collected together from his bestselling Dales books his favourite stories about children, and includes some poems from his popular Puffin poetry books.

Taboo Secrets of Pregnancy


Michelle Smith - 2010
    Join this pregnant mom of two as she journeys yet again through the rough and tumble life of a pregger. Boldly proclaiming taboo truths on those touchy subjects that books gloss over and doctors 'forget' to mention.

One Track Mind: What Running 150 Miles in a Day Can Teach You About Life


Michael Stocks - 2021