Pandora's Box

June 1, 2023

Former editorial bigwig at American Film and Premiere magazines, cultural critic Biskind opens Pandora's Box to reveal why, when, and how television superseded film as the main form of entertainment for U.S. audiences. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2023
A film critic's detailed history of the writers and executives driving the era of "Peak TV." In his latest examination of the entertainment industry, Biskind begins with the creation of HBO in the early 1970s and its gradual journey from showing premier sports events, comedy specials, and racy documentaries to the world of scripted original programming. HBO's shift was neither obvious nor guaranteed, but the company's ability to construct a daring and creative home for writers and showrunners fleeing the constraints of network TV changed the course of broadcast cable, set the bar for the emerging streaming business, and even blinded HBO to its own vulnerabilities. Biskind follows this impact with an audit of inflection points like the rise of sleeper cable networks like AMC and the creation of Netflix and Disney+, and he explores many of the most significant shows of the last two decades, including The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Oz, and Justified. As the story moves on from HBO's early days, the narrative devolves, as the author sacrifices linear organization and meaningful commentary in favor of gossip about corporate acquisitions, executive egos, and creative cross-pollination. As in his 1998 bestseller, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, Biskind builds his text from first-person quotes gleaned from countless conversations he has had over decades with key players in the field, and his amusing barbs pepper the text. Rather than a synthesized assessment of the "upending" of TV, this is primarily the story of the obsessions and idiosyncrasies of the industry's higher-ups and their relationships and tensions with each other. While these personalities have had an outsized and still-relevant influence on changes to both the small screen and the entertainment industry as a whole, their professional sagas are neither compelling nor surprising. The book becomes repetitive, confusing, and tiresome, a missed opportunity to combine Biskind's obviously thorough knowledge, distinct vantage point, and droll wit with coherent analysis and insight. An intermittently interesting look behind the scenes of prestige TV that falls short.

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October 2, 2023
In this no-holds-barred account, cultural critic Biskind (Star) charts how the rise of cable television ushered in an era of “Peak TV” before streaming reinstated a business model focused on “reaching as big an audience as cheaply as possible.” HBO’s ascent in the 1980s and ’90s, Biskind explains, replaced “sponsors with subscribers,” whom the company attracted with edgy programming, including profanity-laced comedy specials and original shows featuring nudity. Netflix’s foray into streaming challenged cable networks’ dominance in the 2010s, but the company’s early strategy of attracting talent by offering broad creative freedom became subsumed by an obsession with adding subscribers, leading the streamer to focus on the “lowest-common-denominator” programs that HBO made outdated, such as Fuller House. The author revels in the behind-the-scenes pettiness and ego clashes that went into making landmark shows, delving into HBO’s punitive cancellation of Deadwood after creator David Milch balked at the network CEO’s request to truncate the show’s fourth season so Milch could work on another HBO project, and the humor amuses, as when Biskind suggests that Terence Winter, showrunner of the Martin Scorsese–produced Boardwalk Empire, “would have pulled a gangster series out of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” to work with the director. This gossip-filled overview of the past 40 years of television will keep readers glued to their seats.

October 15, 2023
Film historian and cultural critic Biskind takes a look at television's "second golden age," which was ushered in by the cable networks (HBO, FX, AMC) and the streaming services (Netflix and its many competitors). These platforms revolutionized television, Biskind says, giving us programs we might never have seen on regular broadcast networks: The Sopranos, The Shield, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Six Feet Under. (The list really is impressive.) He explores how some of modern television's best-known shows were created, reflects on their cultural impact, and takes us behind the scenes at the cable companies and streamers that shaped the contemporary television landscape. This isn't the first book to cover the subject--see, for example, Hayes and Chmielewski's Binge Times (2022) or Gillette and Koblin's It's Not TV (2022)--but it's certainly one of the most entertaining. Biskind is known as much for his outspoken opinions as his insightful commentary, and Pandora's Box is Biskind at his most candid. For readers interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the world of television, a must-read.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2023

TV filmmaking and distribution changed dramatically 25 years ago on January 10, 1999, when The Sopranos debuted on HBO. Network television had grown ossified, with too many restrictions, boxed in by the demands of its shows' sponsors. HBO replaced sponsors with subscribers: fewer restrictions on content and language, and a show's story arc could stretch across an entire season. Netflix jumped in when producing its own series became less costly than leasing them from outside. Then came FX, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and others. Streaming replaced cable, and Netflix went wild, premiering new movies and series weekly and building a gigantic video library to attract and keep customers. The new freedom attracted star writers, directors, and actors to the small screen--including Martin Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire, Kevin Costner in Yellowstone, and Glenn Close in Damages. Film historian/cultural critic Biskind (The Sky Is Falling) has covered the film and TV industry in eight previous best-selling books. He's a lively writer who includes a lot of vastly entertaining gossip about the increasingly corporate drivers of these changes. VERDICT A fascinating topic that the author handles well. The depiction of cable executives is blistering.--David Keymer

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