cover image Please Stand by: The Prehistory of Television

Please Stand by: The Prehistory of Television

Michael Ritchie. Overlook Press, $23.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-87951-546-1

Television was invented in the early 1920s by 20-year-old Philo Taylor Farnsworth (he would later invent the baby incubator and the fax machine). The stepchild of radio, TV would go on a steady and sometimes cumbersome route that would lead to its official birth in 1948. One of the earliest proponents of the medium was David Sarnoff of NBC, who had the foresight not only to broadcast TV but also to manufacture TV sets at RCA. The book is filled with wonderful reminiscences from the likes of Hugh Downs, Dinah Shore and Eddie Albert. Among the ``firsts'' recalled are color telecast, 1929; major league baseball telecast, Ebbets Field, 1939; and game show, Truth or Consequences, 1941. Also recounted are the importance to TV's early success of the 1939 World's Fair in New York and the adventures of TV's first real newsman, Douglas Edwards. In this thoroughly researched history, film director Ritchie (The Candidate) gives us an exciting look into a neglected aspect of television's growth. Photos. Author tour. (Oct.)