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Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms 1974-1984
Happy Days is here again... and so are Mork & Mindy, Cheers, and the other Paramount greats
Ah, the golden age of television sitcoms. Remember the first time we saw Robin Williams...on Mork & Mindy ? Remember how funny Laverne & Shirley was? Remember settling down to watch Cheers every Thursday night for years? Here’s the inside scoop on all of those shows and more--the behind-the-scenes stories, the intricate interactions between cast and crew, the stories of how these shows were the springboard for dozens of great careers, for such stars as Tom Hanks (dressed as a woman! on Bosom Buddies !), Penny Marshall, Andy Kaufman, Kelsey Grammar, Ted Danson, Henry Winkler, Judd Hirsch, Bebe Neuwirth, and so many more. Each chapter focuses on a specific hit series and is packed with intriguing details and interviews. Anyone who’s ever stayed up late to watch reruns of Taxi (or any of the other great Paramount sitcoms) will want a copy of Happier Days to read during the commercials.
• Baby boomers everywhere will love this book
• Exclusive interviews with big stars who started in sitcoms
• Appeal for film buffs, celebrity followers, TV historians, and nostalgia fans
Ah, the golden age of television sitcoms. Remember the first time we saw Robin Williams...on Mork & Mindy ? Remember how funny Laverne & Shirley was? Remember settling down to watch Cheers every Thursday night for years? Here’s the inside scoop on all of those shows and more--the behind-the-scenes stories, the intricate interactions between cast and crew, the stories of how these shows were the springboard for dozens of great careers, for such stars as Tom Hanks (dressed as a woman! on Bosom Buddies !), Penny Marshall, Andy Kaufman, Kelsey Grammar, Ted Danson, Henry Winkler, Judd Hirsch, Bebe Neuwirth, and so many more. Each chapter focuses on a specific hit series and is packed with intriguing details and interviews. Anyone who’s ever stayed up late to watch reruns of Taxi (or any of the other great Paramount sitcoms) will want a copy of Happier Days to read during the commercials.
• Baby boomers everywhere will love this book
• Exclusive interviews with big stars who started in sitcoms
• Appeal for film buffs, celebrity followers, TV historians, and nostalgia fans
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
25 people want to read
About the author
Marley Brant
12 books14 followersMarley Brant has been employed in the entertainment industry as a biographical writer, publicist, music and television producer and artist development executive. Marley's non-fiction books have been featured in People Magazine and the New York Times, been the basis for programs on VH1 and A&E, and served as the primary research for hours of television on the History channel, TBS, CMT, the Biography channel and PBS.
Marley's entertainment affiliations are extensive. She has worked with a wide variety of music artists, directors and actors, as well as numerous television, radio and film productions. After working for the managers of musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon, Marley was appointed Assistant National Director of Artist Development and Publicity/Artist Relations and Tour Coordination with the fast-growing international record company Chrysalis Records. While at Chrysalis she was involved with the development, publicity and national tours of such acts as Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, UFO, Steve Hackett, Leo Kottke, Split Enz, Steeleye Span, Bonnie Tyler, Blondie, The Babys, Rory Gallagher, Nick Gilder and the Frankie Miller Band.
Marley took the position of Director of Publicity and Public Relations for radio syndicator Watermark, Inc. where she worked with the radio programs "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem", "American Country Countdown", "Alien Worlds" and "The Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week."
Desiring to expand into television, Marley's next position was as assistant to the National Director of Publicity for Paramount Television. She worked with the casts and crews of Paramount's stellar programs Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, Bosom Buddies, Bad News Bears and The Associates, among others. One of her opportunities was working with NBC-TV and author James Clavell for Paramount's presentation of the groundbreaking mini-series "Shogun".
Entering into the multi-media world of international publicity firm ICPR, Marley was involved in the media presentations of features such as "Rich and Famous", "Taps", All the Marbles", "Stripes", "Clash of the Titans", "Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder" and "Missing". She also worked with the producers of the mini-series "Marco Polo", "Peter and Paul" and "The Marva Collins Story". Always anxious to be involved with music entities, Marley was appointed executive-in-charge of the television programs Fame, Solid Gold, The Tom Jones Show, and Country Comes Home. She was part of a team that worked with the corporate accounts of Motown Productions, Youngstreet Program Services, Viacom Enterprises, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Proctor & Gamble and several individual celebrity personalities.
Marley decided to free-lance in 1982. She authored magazine articles, edited album packages, wrote and edited music artist biographies, press kits and liner notes. In 1982 Marley co-produced (with John Delgatto) the album "Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels, Live 1973"; Gram and Emmylou Harris were nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for "Love Hurts", a track on the album. In 1993 Marley served as Co-creator, Associate Producer and Historical Consultant on "Outlaws, Rebels & Rogues", the first installment of Turner Broadcasting System's three-night television series The Untold West.
Marley's entertainment affiliations are extensive. She has worked with a wide variety of music artists, directors and actors, as well as numerous television, radio and film productions. After working for the managers of musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon, Marley was appointed Assistant National Director of Artist Development and Publicity/Artist Relations and Tour Coordination with the fast-growing international record company Chrysalis Records. While at Chrysalis she was involved with the development, publicity and national tours of such acts as Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, UFO, Steve Hackett, Leo Kottke, Split Enz, Steeleye Span, Bonnie Tyler, Blondie, The Babys, Rory Gallagher, Nick Gilder and the Frankie Miller Band.
Marley took the position of Director of Publicity and Public Relations for radio syndicator Watermark, Inc. where she worked with the radio programs "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem", "American Country Countdown", "Alien Worlds" and "The Robert W. Morgan Special of the Week."
Desiring to expand into television, Marley's next position was as assistant to the National Director of Publicity for Paramount Television. She worked with the casts and crews of Paramount's stellar programs Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, Bosom Buddies, Bad News Bears and The Associates, among others. One of her opportunities was working with NBC-TV and author James Clavell for Paramount's presentation of the groundbreaking mini-series "Shogun".
Entering into the multi-media world of international publicity firm ICPR, Marley was involved in the media presentations of features such as "Rich and Famous", "Taps", All the Marbles", "Stripes", "Clash of the Titans", "Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder" and "Missing". She also worked with the producers of the mini-series "Marco Polo", "Peter and Paul" and "The Marva Collins Story". Always anxious to be involved with music entities, Marley was appointed executive-in-charge of the television programs Fame, Solid Gold, The Tom Jones Show, and Country Comes Home. She was part of a team that worked with the corporate accounts of Motown Productions, Youngstreet Program Services, Viacom Enterprises, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Proctor & Gamble and several individual celebrity personalities.
Marley decided to free-lance in 1982. She authored magazine articles, edited album packages, wrote and edited music artist biographies, press kits and liner notes. In 1982 Marley co-produced (with John Delgatto) the album "Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels, Live 1973"; Gram and Emmylou Harris were nominated for a Grammy in the category of "Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for "Love Hurts", a track on the album. In 1993 Marley served as Co-creator, Associate Producer and Historical Consultant on "Outlaws, Rebels & Rogues", the first installment of Turner Broadcasting System's three-night television series The Untold West.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 26, 2010
This is a great book for anyone who remembers those great sitcoms of the late 70s & early 80s. Starting with Happy Days, the author does a great job of showing us the people, companies, and times that made not only this sitcom great, but the many other sitcoms that spawned from it. The author does a great job of showcasing each star from the shows and explains how they contributed their own unique talent to the show. Focusing on shows such as...Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Bosom Buddies, Family Ties, Taxi, and more, readers will love hearing the behind-the-scenes trivia we never knew about. A great book for any tv fan. My only wish is that they would have included more photographs so we could have put faces to the names.
January 6, 2015
Lions, Tigers and Crocs, OH My! A Pearls Before Swine Treasury 3 Stars
Self Purchase
First Impression: O.K.
This is the weakest of all the treasury’s that I’ve read. You’d think it be the first one but it isn’t. Even the running commentary isn’t as strong in this volume. IDon't like rat’s stories. They usually involve too much reading (obviously I like reading but comics should be short and sweet) They annoy me. The Political one on page 25 killed me. Commentary as well. But I miss the crocodiles!!!!! The crocodiles finally show up at the end, so that was good. But this book was a bit disappointing. As always, I love the cross over strips though most of the ones in this treasury weren’t as good as others. I do like the good, the bad and the ugly section which shows strips that didn’t run or were censored or altered.
Self Purchase
First Impression: O.K.
This is the weakest of all the treasury’s that I’ve read. You’d think it be the first one but it isn’t. Even the running commentary isn’t as strong in this volume. IDon't like rat’s stories. They usually involve too much reading (obviously I like reading but comics should be short and sweet) They annoy me. The Political one on page 25 killed me. Commentary as well. But I miss the crocodiles!!!!! The crocodiles finally show up at the end, so that was good. But this book was a bit disappointing. As always, I love the cross over strips though most of the ones in this treasury weren’t as good as others. I do like the good, the bad and the ugly section which shows strips that didn’t run or were censored or altered.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews