Top of the Rock- Book

Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See Tv
by Warren Littlefield

During my high school years in VERY rural Louisiana there were two tv stations available using our antenna.  We got NBC and NBC.  No kidding.  My closest neighbor (1/2 mi away) had a deluxe tv antenna that after dark could pick up CBS.  So all those tv shows in the late 70s that didn't come on NBC (Dukes of Hazard, Charlie's Angels, ect) I never even heard of.

What does this have to do with the book?  Well, I was kinda forced to be partial to NBC and the tv shows on it.  Lucky for me NBC was just starting a twenty plus year run of exceptional tv shows.  Back then it was Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere.  In the 80s it was LA Law and Miami Vice.

In 1993 NBC's ratings were starting to fall as the once big hits were getting long in the tooth the reins of the Network were passed to Warren Littlefield.  The president of a network has the final say on what tv shows make it to air and much say on casting and suggestions on plots or characters.  Littlefield had a knack for picking tv hits and also lucked into having some dropped into his lap.

This book chronicles Littlefields ten year run of exceptional tv shows that in a time before all the cable channels took off and ate into the Networks viewership.  At one time the Thursday nights lineup of Must See Tv was generating more income than all of CBS or ABC.  Shows like Seinfeld, Friends, the Cosby Show, Cheers and ER ruled the roost.

The good part of the book is the telling of so many behind the scenes stories on all these popular tv shows.  On Cheers Sam Malone was first going to be a retired football player staring ex-NFL player Fred Dryer (Who instead went on to star in the show Hunter a few years later).  When they changed him to a baseball player they ended up with Ted Danson. It was hardly a huge success right off the bat.  After Cheer's first season it was dead last of all tv shows in the ratings.  The only reason NBC didn't cancel it was because they had nothing better to add.  Several bigger named actors were thought about for Friends.  Amazingly the hardest to sign on was David Schwimmer who didn't really want to be a tv actor.  On the tv show Mad About You many NBC exits wanted Valerie Bertinelli but she just didn't test well. Nicollette Sheridan of Desperate Housewives was considered for Grace of Will and Grace.  There was no confidence in Seinfeld as it was thought too Jewish.  NBC only gave the green light for four episodes.  There was only the three guys.  Elaine was added at the last minute to try to get females to watch.

On a down side it's a little stiffly written. You can tell Littlefield handed a bunch of notes to real writers and they did what they could.  He also still has bitter feelings of being dumped by NBC after ten years of record profits and does not mind whining about it in the last chapter.

With it's small warts I liked this book alot.  I enjoyed all the behind the scenes stuff on tv shows I spent alot of time parked in the recliner watching.