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Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love) About TV
Calling all Dawson's Creek fans! Television Without Pity features irreverent entries about the shows, characters, actors, clich s, plot devices, memorable moments, and catch phrases that make watching TV such a guilty pleasure. From weekend-long Real World marathons to the People's Choice Awards, from favorite characters (Brenda Walsh, Seth Cohen) to the most unfunny recurring skits on Saturday Night Live , this is a celebration of television unlike any other. Written by the creators of televisionwithoutpity.com (hailed by Entertainment Weekly as "the industry standard" for obsessive TV fanatics), this snarktastic volume features 100 illustrations and an encyclopedic two-column design. It's great fun for nostalgic browsing and guaranteed to prompt more laughter than a whole season of Seinfeld .
320 pages, Paperback
Published October 12, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 11, 2014
It's likely that many years from now when I remember the '00s, I will remember it as the TWoP decade, if only because it seems as if I spent a good 20% of my waking hours on that site. Although I more or less stopped reading and posting there six or seven years ago, with NBC recently shutting down the website, it seemed like a good time to finally read this book, which consists of short entries in alphabetical order bearing such headings as "Harrison, Chris, Indistinguishability from Mark L. Walberg of" and "Gallagher, Peter, Eyebrows of."
This is basically TWoP in abbreviated form. Caustic short entries instead of snarky long recaps, but the encyclopedic knowledge of TV arcana and criminal abuse of ellipses remains the same. Whether you'll like the book probably depends on whether you like (and hate) the same shows as Ariano and Bunting. Personally, I thought the 10+ entries dealing with Law & Order was 9+ too many, particularly when you consider that the entire entry for David Letterman's Late Show is just a redirect to the entry for "Will it Float?" and "Diff'rent Strokes" redirects to "Facts of Life" and "Orphans." On the other hand, I'm a little in love with how much the authors hate Lex van den Berghe, at least judging by the seven or eight times they say they hate him. In addition to overdoing it with ellipses, they might have gone a little overboard in calling out various people as having been drunk while appearing on TV (including Captain Kangaroo and Harvey Korman, the latter instance prompting a scathing review of this book on Amazon by someone who says he's Korman's son). Overall, it's funny and it's also mean. If you liked TWoP, you'll probably like this less; if you didn't like TWoP, you'll either not read this book (sensible) or have already read it and written post after post about how much you hated it on one of the "TWoP Sucks" websites (let it go, people!)
This is basically TWoP in abbreviated form. Caustic short entries instead of snarky long recaps, but the encyclopedic knowledge of TV arcana and criminal abuse of ellipses remains the same. Whether you'll like the book probably depends on whether you like (and hate) the same shows as Ariano and Bunting. Personally, I thought the 10+ entries dealing with Law & Order was 9+ too many, particularly when you consider that the entire entry for David Letterman's Late Show is just a redirect to the entry for "Will it Float?" and "Diff'rent Strokes" redirects to "Facts of Life" and "Orphans." On the other hand, I'm a little in love with how much the authors hate Lex van den Berghe, at least judging by the seven or eight times they say they hate him. In addition to overdoing it with ellipses, they might have gone a little overboard in calling out various people as having been drunk while appearing on TV (including Captain Kangaroo and Harvey Korman, the latter instance prompting a scathing review of this book on Amazon by someone who says he's Korman's son). Overall, it's funny and it's also mean. If you liked TWoP, you'll probably like this less; if you didn't like TWoP, you'll either not read this book (sensible) or have already read it and written post after post about how much you hated it on one of the "TWoP Sucks" websites (let it go, people!)
November 3, 2015
It's pretty funny and they feel similarly about some of the shows that I watch and have watched. And they remember stuff I thought noone else did.
Some of it I was crying laughing about.
My main complaint is it needs copyediting and there are letters they leave out. Needs technical polish.
Some of it I was crying laughing about.
My main complaint is it needs copyediting and there are letters they leave out. Needs technical polish.
September 18, 2011
This is one of the most important books a bathroom can have. Full of quips, synopses and snarky comments, there are times you will laugh out loud, other times you will snicker, but above all else, you will nod your head in appreciation of the observations in this book.
July 2, 2022
Television Without Pity is organized like an encyclopedic work, with individual entries, in alphabetical order, on television shows, actors, characters, themes and moments. It is not a book for winning bar bets or settling arguments; it's not even really organized as a reference work, but is actually kind of random overall. Look at the note for actor Terry O'Quinn, for instance, and you'll find that he plays John Locke on Lost. However, you won't find any article on the show, or even any other references to Lost elsewhere in the book (unless I missed them, but I read the book cover to cover, and because I enjoyed Lost, I was kind of hoping to see some commentary on smoke monsters and time-unstuck Scotsmen living in hatches).
Rather, Television Without Pity is like a friend with whom you watch television, and who sometimes yells at the screen, but that's all right because you sometimes want to yell too, but maybe not so much as your friend who, by the way, is not only a snarky kind of Ambrose Bierce for the new millenium, but also rather quick when it comes to picking up on how television entertainment works (and, more often, how it does not) (and, yes, the book does include a few sentences like this one, perpetuating themselves likewise through subordinate clauses of multiple ironic asides and assorted parentheticals until you're ready to yell at the book. But it's snarky, like Oscar Wilde--although less epigrammatic than either that Irish wit or the aforementioned Bierce--and you've a taste for snark--[because, let's be honest, even if you're unfamiliar with the website from which the writing in this book is taken, if you're reading something with a title like Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate {and Hate to Love} about TV, then it's more than likely you're here for your schadenfreude fix. And the book is organized to maximize that experience for you, skewing in its focus toward shows higher in sneer-worthy content such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Survivor and American Idol]--so you let it go and enjoy the book for what it is, which is a pretty funny commentary on television in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century).
Acquired Nov 28, 2015
Book giveaway
Rather, Television Without Pity is like a friend with whom you watch television, and who sometimes yells at the screen, but that's all right because you sometimes want to yell too, but maybe not so much as your friend who, by the way, is not only a snarky kind of Ambrose Bierce for the new millenium, but also rather quick when it comes to picking up on how television entertainment works (and, more often, how it does not) (and, yes, the book does include a few sentences like this one, perpetuating themselves likewise through subordinate clauses of multiple ironic asides and assorted parentheticals until you're ready to yell at the book. But it's snarky, like Oscar Wilde--although less epigrammatic than either that Irish wit or the aforementioned Bierce--and you've a taste for snark--[because, let's be honest, even if you're unfamiliar with the website from which the writing in this book is taken, if you're reading something with a title like Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate {and Hate to Love} about TV, then it's more than likely you're here for your schadenfreude fix. And the book is organized to maximize that experience for you, skewing in its focus toward shows higher in sneer-worthy content such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Survivor and American Idol]--so you let it go and enjoy the book for what it is, which is a pretty funny commentary on television in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century).
Acquired Nov 28, 2015
Book giveaway
May 26, 2009
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find this book in my local used bookstore. I love the website Television Without Pity. I loved that website back in it's early days- when it was known as Mighty Big TV. The recaps are always funny and a GODSEND when you miss an episode. While I don't really spend a tonne of time there anymore- I still have a soft spot for the site and it's contributors, whose blogs I still frequently read.
Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love to Hate (And Hate to Love) About TV is a great book for the tv enthusiast, (which I am). With it's short, snarky entries it makes fun of all the same things we all do when we watch our favorite shows. It's a great nostalgic trip that recalls current and past favorites and all the anomilies that go along with it. (And let's face it, anyone who makes frequent Ian Zeiring jokes is beloved in my mind!)
This book was great for my current headspace- I wanted something funny and easy to follow. The entries are short and you can skip from topic to topic very quickly. (I'm a little ADD with the reading lately.) It's great to have a quick "oh yeah" or "I remember that" moment and then move on to something else. I recommend this book for pop culture junkies and television addicts everywhere.
January 4, 2011
I just... hate everything about the way these women write. Liiiiiiike... constant over- and mis-use of ellipses. Aaaaaaaaaand the way they draw out vowels for emphasis. It's also not cute when you tack someone's name onto the end of an insult, SARS. Lose the shtick and learn how to really write already, TARA. HAAAAAATE.
Seriously, they might occasionally be funny, but their writing gimmicks are extra-gimmicky in book form - and the sorts of things I listed above come off as grating, juvenile, and incredibly lazy when you're exposed to them for several hundred pages. And when I said that they might occasionally be funny, it was a purely theoretical "might". They rarely are.
Seriously, they might occasionally be funny, but their writing gimmicks are extra-gimmicky in book form - and the sorts of things I listed above come off as grating, juvenile, and incredibly lazy when you're exposed to them for several hundred pages. And when I said that they might occasionally be funny, it was a purely theoretical "might". They rarely are.
February 27, 2015
This book is evil! Haha. I'd stay up late reading it, then be up even later because I'd have to look shows they mentioned up on youtube. This was sort of amusing and somewhat dated, and I'm a little surprised that certain shows and people were left out. I also didn't agree with all of their opinions, but that's the way it goes. I used to read recaps on televisionwithoutpity.com, until I realized that it was ruining my favorite shows for me. (Too much snark, I guess.) This book almost made me miss that site, though. I also kind of wish they'd put out an updated version of this, but I also like sleeping too much to want that to happen. :)
March 14, 2008
I confess. I bought this book as part of a friend's Christmas present (we bonded over www.televisionwithoutpity.com way back when), and then I had to read the entire thing before sending her her gift. Which made her gift arrive late. I am a bad friend, but it's a damn fun book. Basically like candy, or maybe popcorn, it's snarky comments about television. Some notable ommissions, but also some really fun categories. I laughed, I stayed up too late reading, completely sucked in. Much like I do with television.
December 30, 2008
As a child of the 1970's who clearly remembers the launch of Nickelodeon, the heyday of Beverly Hills 90210 and the season finale of M*A*S*H, this books is a nostalgic tour of all that's delightful and horible (but too fascinating to turn off) about television. The tome of guilty-pleasure TV trivia will mean little to those folks who insist they've never seen an episode of Friends or Survivor. Instead, this is a gift for those TV junkies in your life who can still sing the theme from the Gilligan's Island or name all of the family members in the Brady Bunch.
July 10, 2009
this book reminded me why i stopped reading twop in the first place: their attitude toward firefly was so obnoxious that i couldn't handle it. i know it's just one show, and i don't care that they personally dislike it (although i think that's more because they never gave it a chance than because they disliked it), but when you're writing what amounts to a tv encyclopedia in 2006 and you don't even mention firefly in the cult tv shows entry, your bias is showing a whole lot.
otherwise it was funny and not-too-dated and reminded me of a lot of shows i want to watch.
otherwise it was funny and not-too-dated and reminded me of a lot of shows i want to watch.
February 6, 2007
I LOVE IT! Even when I disagree with the authors' viewpoint, I still laugh at it. I enjoy the encyclopedia set up of the whole thing, and the "see also" portions at the bottom. If you love TV as much as I do, you should check this book out. I like to have it around, just as a reference. Oh, and I love the gratuitous use of schadenfreude, including the (I believe) newly coined schadenfreudelicious
May 30, 2011
es una especie de enciclopedia acerca de la televisión en Estados Unidos creada por la web de TWP, es muy interesante y divertido, sus análisis de algunos asuntos que se repiten en las series son muy buenos, la única pega que le pongo es que deberían hacer una segunda parte porque faltan muchas series que ahora mismo llenarían páginas y páginas como pueda ser Perdidos, Héroes... pero es que cuando crearon el libro estas series aún no estaban en antena (inglés)
August 16, 2009
Okay, this is more an encyclopedia of various observations on television phenomenons and cliches. It's not a sit-down-and-read-it-cover-to-cover book, but I always pick it up and finger through it when I need a good laugh. Soooo funny!! I've been reading the TWOP website's recaps of various shows for years now. With hilarious entries like "Gallagher, Peter, Eyebrows of" and "Afterschool specials", this hilarious book keeps me smiling.
September 6, 2011
An entertaining inventory of television, from the trashy to the sublime (but mostly the trashy). It's somewhat outdated now, but it's still funny if you're vaguely familiar with shows from the early 2000; there's also a lot on classic television, and most of both new and old stuff is amusing even if you're not familiar with what they're talking about. Just avoid this if you can't handle people hating on your favorite things...
August 7, 2007
Given this book away twice as gifts, and figured I should finally read it myself. It's a really good book, a virtual smorgasbord of TV trivia, snark, and witty observations. The only problem is it's slightly dated, and missing more recent television. But, it's still really good, especially if you've ever been to the [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com] site.
August 27, 2007
An A-Z guide that is dedicated to Ian Ziering and includes an entry on Peter Gallagher's eyebrows. In other words, brilliant. However, it gets a low rating for such shoddy copy editing! Makes me wonder if they pulled an all-nighter to meet their deadline - and we (by which I mean I) know squinting toward the finish line in the middle of the night is a bad, bad idea.
June 16, 2008
Television Without Pity is one of my very favorite websites, and I was very excited to be able to read a book written by Tara Ariano and Sara Bunting. The book did not disappoint. Wonderfully funny anecdotes written in the snarky style that makes the website so popular.
A must-read for any TV fan!
A must-read for any TV fan!
June 4, 2011
It tries VERY hard to be funny and witty and biting...but it certainly pales in comparison to the Virgin Publishing line of programme guides. It comes across as an "also ran", trying to be hip & cool...and stumbling with every step. Shows what happens when you've been spoiled by higher quality (and much funnier) TV & film critiques.
March 23, 2008
I like this book, except that it would have been better if the other writers besides Wing Chung and Sars from the website had also written some of the entries. This is definately a good bathroom book though.
February 9, 2016
Amusing most of the time, but not really a book you'd read all at once. It did crack me up pretty regularly though, and made me remember tv shows I hadn't thought of in forever. Written exactly like the website, which I liked.
July 9, 2016
This is very entertaining. The opinions on all the familiar, to me, televisions shows and seeing where we agree and disagree. Some very biting remarks but on the whole a lovely slant and perspective.
August 15, 2022
Pretty middling rundown of a bunch of mid-2000s relevant TV tropes/shows/actors. Very odd issue with the formatting however, every other chapter it seems is missing all apostrophes, colons, quotation marks, and any letter with an accent over it. Truly odd.
July 11, 2007
Hilarious. TV is much more fun when you read this website/book with it.
September 4, 2007
A funny irreverent look at all things TV. What couldn't be great about a book that is dedicated to Ian Ziering of Beverly Hills 90210 fame?
January 16, 2008
Perfect bathroom read!
February 20, 2008
Cute and fun. Too wordy... this is a good book to read in short bursts.
March 27, 2008
Hilarious for any TV fan.
March 27, 2008
HILARIOUS. Skimming through this book is a great way to fill a half hour.
June 26, 2008
Bring on the snark. TV lovers will get a kick out of this.
August 6, 2008
What good is TV if you can't make fun of it?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews