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No Retakes | 
 enlarge | Authors: Sandra Grabman, Wright King
Publisher: BearManor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $13.43
You Save: $1.52 (10%)
New (12) Used (4) from $12.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 938736
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 140
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 1593931476
Dewey Decimal Number: 791
EAN: 9781593931476
ASIN: 1593931476
Publication Date: April 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
That's right! Can you imagine flubbing your line in front of the whole country without a chance to try again to make it right? That's what it was like back in the 1940s and 1950s. Week after week we saw these brave actors and actresses take on the challenge, and they did an amazing job. Wright King was there on our screens in such shows as Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents, and Kraft Television Theatre, and has fond memories of those exciting days. He and his fellow actors tell us the circumstances that led them to their first live television production, what it was like on the set as the time of the broadcast drew nigh, and the reactions they got from people on the street when they left the studio. So come on in and relive with us the days of yore when everything we saw on television was being broadcast live and absolutely anything could happen.
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| Customer Reviews:
Doesn't get any better. November 8, 2008
Wrigth King played leads and character roles for everything from THE ODD COUPLE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, STUDIO ONE, CAPTAIN VIDEO AND THE VIDEO RANGERS to TOM CORBETT. Tahnks to Sandra Grabman, King's story can be told and the stories are superb. It's like listening to an actor talk for four hours all about the good ol' days of television and the people he worked with such as James Arness and Robert DeNiro.
Grab this one today!
No Retakes! is Lively Entertainment September 10, 2008
What fun! This book, with ample pictures of people in front of the camera and behind the scenes who paved the way for this new medium, is like listening to a panel discussion between great actors who were the Pioneers of Television. With Sandra Grabman as the anchor she primarily interviews the great actor of stage, TV, and movies, Wright King, but there are also many quotes from other actors of that era, and adds memories of viewers of early television. It's nostagic, entertaining, and informative, a fast read, and fun to read the bloopers. Any thing could happen and did! You get a deep repect for these brave actors who put themselves on the line when television was filmed LIVE.
A Pro Looks Back at Live Television August 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In 1950, when I was five years old, I excitedly welcomed into our home a 17-inch Philco television set. This large "window to the world" allowed my family to watch local programs and those from networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS, and DuMont. Local stations often featured old films, kid shows, local news, and cooking shows, while the networks featured national news, sports, game shows, upscale kid shows, and more sophisticated fare, such as plays.
Some plays were 30 minutes long, similar to the popular radio shows. Some examples are Casey, Crime Photographer, Danger, and Rocky King, Private Eye. Other, more serious, plays had major sponsors and lasted as long as 90 minutes. These were offered by some of the finest actors and directors in the business; some examples are Studio One and Playhouse 90.
Almost every program presented during the late 1940's and early 1950's was live, usually performed before a studio audience. It was not long before I realized that "live performance" meant that the actors had to memorize their parts from start to finish and perform them flawlessly, I was awed by the talent of these actors. There was no videotape; they had no second chance to redo a scene marred by a fluffed line or an accidental walk-on. What the viewer saw was the first and, often the only, take; there were no retakes.
It is this marvelous period in television history that Sandra Grabman and Wright King have chosen to revisit in their book, No Retakes. Theirs is an enjoyable, insightful trip back to a simpler time when only a few opportunities existed in the new medium, and only the best of the best survived to move on to greater achievements.
I first became interested in Wright King in 1953; he had gone on to star in his own "kid" show, Johnny Jupiter. This program was engaging fare for a very smart, nine-year old, who had been tested by good-quality movies and television. Johnny Jupiter did not disappoint me. King was a marvelous comedy actor - a talent underutilized in subsequent years - and I followed his career to the present day.
Today, even in his 80's and remembered mostly for his role as Dr. Galen in Planet of the Apes and for two episodes of Twilight Zone, Wright King retains his marvelous memory; he is very articulate and maintains a genuine enthusiasm about his long career. He and Sandra Grabman have put together a wonderful and easily-read tale of the successes and difficulties of working in early television. The reader will learn much and enjoy the experience.
A look back at live television May 20, 2008
Sandra Grabman, the popular biography writer, has produced another wonderful read - this time with the assistance of character actor Wright King. King and Grabman take readers back to the era of live television when actors and actresses didn't have the benefit of shooting retake after retake to deliver the perfect scene.
The book is formatted in such a way that it's easy to differentiate between King's voice and Grabman's. There are a variety of shows covered, and lots of different actors and actesses are heard from.
The book contains over 70 photos and many humorous examples of what happens when an actor doesn't get a second chance. You'll enjoy going back in time and reliving these moments with those who lived them. I know I did!
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