Top of the Rock

Starred review from July 30, 2012
There has arguably never been a more powerful force in network television than NBC’s “Must See TV”—a programming lineup that made Thursday night the high point of the average television viewer’s week. Now in this riveting autobiographical tale from former NBC executive Littlefield, fans of long-running and wildly popular NBC programs such as Seinfeld, Friends, ER, and Frasier finally get all the juicy, behind-the-scenes details about their favorite shows. This audio edition is skillfully narrated by the soft-spoken Bob Balaban—who himself enjoyed great success in the era playing the recurring role of NBC executive Russell Dalrymple on Seinfeld. Part of Balaban’s mastery of Littlefield’s prose comes from experience: the narrator played Littlefield in The Late Shift, a film that dramatized the rivalry between late night television hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman. This time around, however, Balaban opts for less of an impersonation of Littlefield and more of a straightforward reading. The result is a remarkable and captivating account of what’s required to create a television series, and in turn, make that series into a network staple. A Doubleday hardcover.

January 9, 2012
Former NBC Entertainment president Littlefield, who now runs his own TV production company, recalls, “When I was running NBC Entertainment, the shows that made our schedule were my choices, and I didn’t ask approval of anyone.” To detail the exuberant 1990s’ events in the Peacock Network’s ascendancy (with such shows as Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld, Will & Grace, and ER), Littlefield and novelist Pearson (A Short History of a Small Place) interviewed more than 50 actors, writers, producers, agents, and executives. Throughout, much praise is aimed at director Jim Burrows, labeled by Littlefield as “the most successful director in television comedy—ever.” The 19 contributing actors include Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Lisa Kudrow, John Lithgow, Julianna Margulies, and Jerry Seinfeld, but “the network suits” get equal time. Rather than a q&a format, excerpted quotes are spliced chronologically by subject. Thus, the voices of 15 people trace Seinfeld from its “disastrous” 1989 pilot tests to its newsworthy finale nine seasons later. Littlefield unleashed a “financial geyser” at NBC, and these revelatory glimpses of those glory days make this one of the more entertaining books published about the television industry.