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Alfred Hitchcock is not often associated with a social justice movement. But in 1956, the world’s most famous director focused his lens on an issue that cuts to the heart of our criminal justice system: the risk of wrongful conviction. The result was The Wrong Man, a wrenching and largely overlooked drama based on the false arrest of Queens musician Christopher “Manny” Balestrero. Despite a detective’s assurance that the innocent have “nothing to fear,” Manny and his family faced ruin from false charges that he twice robbed an insurance office. Aspiring to documentary-like authenticity, Hitchcock and his team meticulously recreated one man’s odyssey through the corridors of justice. In so doing, they opened a window into New York’s history of mistaken identity cases. The Balestrero prosecution was not an isolated miscarriage of justice. Instead, Manny fell victim to the same rush to judgment and suggestive eyewitness identification procedures that had doomed innocent defendants in earlier cases.

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In September 1993, a TV show like no other appeared on our screens, asking us to consider the essence of truth and belief, to think about the nature and roles of science and humanity, and to question what we were told by those in power. Combining horror, science fiction, drama, crime, and comedy with cinematic filmmaking, The X-Files transported the paranoia of the sixties and seventies to the technologically savvy nineties as it followed two iconic characters, FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, in their labyrinthine pursuit of truth. Further, The X-Files reversed conventional television gender roles: Mulder was our believer in the paranormal, chasing down clues in search of his abducted sister; Scully was the sceptic, a scientist preaching rationality and objective truth. Now, thirty years later, the nature of conspiracy theories may have changed, but the anxiety surrounding them has not. In an era in which Watergate has been replaced by Gamergate and conspiracy theorists blindly embrace the myth of a stolen election and maintain that an all-powerful cabal of Satanic Democrats - defeatable by only one man - is preying on children, The X-Files remains as relevant as ever.

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“I was a writer before I knew what a writer was.” —Joseph Dougherty Joseph Dougherty has been a successful playwright and television writer, producer, and director for more than thirty years. He’s written for breakthrough series that have changed the way we look at television drama, from thirtysomething to Pretty Little Liars, winning everything from Emmys to Teen Choice Awards along the way. Dougherty’s voice comes off the page with anecdotes about the writing process, hard-learned tips for survival in “the business,” and reflections on the influences that have led him to a successful career. Honestly, entertainingly, without cynicism, he gives readers permission to embrace the writer they want to be, so they can experience the rewards and satisfactions of writing. Beyond an insider’s take on story and structure, dialogue, action and outlining, A Screenwriter’s Companion is as much mentor as it is manual. With every insider observation about how to keep a potential producer reading till the last page of a script, there’s encouragement to explore your thoughts and memories, things a writer needs to embrace in order to become more than “a pro.”

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“One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel”—Jean-Antoninette (“Reinette”) Poisson, aka Madame de Pompadour, “The Girl in the Fireplace” What a world of demons Doctor Who has presented us with over the past seven decades: from Daleks and Cybermen to Weeping Angels and the Silence, the greatest villains of the Who-niverse have achieved an iconic status all their own, cementing themselves in the minds of millions of viewers (why else would Parker Brothers have devised a version of Monopoly after them?). If, as the Seventh Doctor once said, "You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies,” the Doctor is great indeed, rescuing the universe time and again from some of the most formidable and terrifying villains in science fiction history. Now, for the first time, an entire anthology of essays is dedicated to deconstructing this gallery of blackguards. Who are the greatest Who villains of all time? Why are they so frightening? And—apologies to Shakespeare—what do they tell us about the villainy of our own fears?

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In 1990, the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, opened with a murder mystery when a beautiful homecoming queen, wrapped in plastic, washed up on a cold and rocky beach. Laura Palmer’s character began as a plot device that triggered a small town to face its fractured self. But after three seasons and a film, Laura Palmer is no longer just a plot device. Instead of solely focusing on the murderer, like most traditional storytelling at the time, the audience gets to know the victim, a complex young woman who explores her sexuality and endures incredible abuse. Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks is an examination of Laura Palmer’s legacy on the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks. Palmer’s character was one of the few frank and horrific representations of sexual abuse victims which did not diminish the strength and complexity of the victim. Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, discusses the challenges of the role and how it has impacted herself as well as women she has met over the years, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse. The role demanded Lee give all of her vulnerability as an actor to this role. This role is one she cannot escape, one with which she will forever be identified. It’s a role that still haunts her today. For many women, this character represents them. Here was a woman who was not just a victim, but who was owning her sexuality as well—a woman coming into her own and discovering her sources of power. This book is a reckoning in which women from the show and community speak about grief, mischief, humor, sexuality, strength, weakness, wickedness, and survival.

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Once upon a time ABC-TV’s Moonlighting was among the most buzzed-about shows in the country, thanks largely to the bravado of creator Glenn Gordon Caron, who never met a television convention he didn’t want to break, and the sizzling on-screen chemistry between glamorous erstwhile film star Cybill Shepherd and a New Jersey bartender nobody had ever heard of before named Bruce Willis, who bickered and flirted ceaselessly on screen and engaged in epic off-screen battles that all these years later remain the stuff of Hollywood legend. This combustible blend of creative brilliance produced some of the most acclaimed, audacious, and innovative programming of the eighties, including a black and white tribute to film noir, with an introduction by Orson Welles; a parody of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, written in iambic pentameter; an homage to The Honeymooners; and countless metafictive episodes breaking through the fourth wall — almost unheard of at the time for hourlong comedy-dramas. Without a doubt, Moonlighting helped pave the way for the era of prestige television we are now all enjoying. The real story of this pioneering television series and the extraordinary behind-the-scenes challenges, battles, and rewards has never been told — until now, Author Scott Ryan (The Last Days of Letterman, thirtysomething at thirty: an oral history, The Blue Rose, Scott Luck Stories) conducted over twenty interviews with the actors, writers, directors, and producers who made Moonlighting such a dynamic, unforgettable show, delving deep into their thoughts and feelings as they relive this magical moment in pop culture history in this full color oral history. New Interviews with: Cybill Shepherd (Maddie Hayes), Allyce Beasley (Ms. Dipesto), Curtis Armstrong (Herbert Viola), Glenn Gordon Caron Creator, Executive Producer, Writer Jay Daniel Executive Producer, Director Roger Director Writer, Producer, Season 4 Showrunner Allan Arkush Director Bob Butler and more.

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On February 25, 1963, Columbia Records released The Barbra Streisand Album. The first song was “Cry Me a River,” and with that a star was born. Barbra Joan Streisand had a zany personality backed by a talent that Stephen Sondheim once described as “one of the two or three best voices in the world of singing songs,” adding “It’s not just her voice but her intensity, her passion and control.” Harold Arlen, another of her favorite composers, commented, ”This young lady . . . has a stunning future.”With all-male rock groups like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Four Seasons ruling the charts, no one expected a twenty-year-old female singer from Brooklyn to not just hit No. 1, but repeat that accomplishment every decade that followed all the way to the next millennium and become the best-selling female recording artist of all time.Now, for the first time ever, comes the definitive book on the extensive recording career of this towering cultural icon, the Funny Girl considered by many to be the most talented singer of her generation. this book takes readers on a journey through every album, soundtrack, and single Streisand has released

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The Doctor can never be alone. He is always supported by a companion. After the success of The Villains of Doctor Who, the editors of that book turn their Tardis towards the Companions of Doctor Who. Popular characters in the world of Doctor Who including Donna, Clara, Amy, Ace and Sarah Jane are all covered by a diverse group of writers who all love and study Doctor Who. Each writer was given the choice of which character to cover and then writes an essay about what that companion brought to the series, the fandom and to the Doctor.

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Mark Frost, cocreator of both the original Twin Peaks and The Return, is often lost in the shadow of cocreator David Lynch in the eyes of critics and scholars. In fact, Frost played at least as crucial a role in developing the narrative, mythology, and aesthetic of those groundbreaking, critically revered series. Conversations with Mark Frost deconstructs that legendary partnership, while at the same time exploring Frost’s values, influences, thematic preoccupations, and approach to creating art—for the screen, the stage, and the printed page—as well as his thoughts on a wide variety of political, artistic, and social topics. Included, for example, are Frost's recollections of a bizarre encounter with Warren Beatty and Donald Trump in the mideighties, his days as a production assistant on Mister Roger's Neighborhood, his experiences working alongside the likes of David Milch in the legendarily competitive writers' room at Hill Street Blues, conversations about alien life and time travel with iconic film director Steven Spielberg, and much, much more.

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Greg Olson, author of David Lynch: Beautiful Dark, the essential book on Lynch's life and art, has resided in the Twin Peaks region of the Northwest for decades, and David Lynch spent youthful years in the Northwest; both of their fathers were woodsmen. Lynch believes that the world hums with spirituality, and over a thirty-year span Lynch and Mark Frost created forty-eight hours of Twin Peaks TV and film, hypnotic cinematic music immersed in the depths and divine heights of human nature, an artistic song of the forest, America, the world, the cosmos. David Lynch is an international icon of visionary artistic innovation, humanistic thought and philanthropy, and spiritual exploration, and Twin Peaks: The Return is his magnum opus, a mytho-poetic summation of his deepest beliefs and concerns. Author Olson, in his characteristically intimate and personal way, traces the Twin Peaks currents of Lynch's emotional-visceral storytelling, themes, imagery and sound: the way the artist and viewer

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The Common Angler taps into the passion that simmers in the souls of anglers and celebrates the primordial connection of people to fish and fishing. Author Jack Wollitz set out to explain the “why” behind the fact that so many people are passionate about fishing and along the way discovered a book’s worth of experiences and stories. Early chapters cover the foundation of Jack’s own passion for fishing and explore the connection we have with water and the creatures that depend on it for life. Also included is a whimsical piece that personifies two common waterside fixtures. A key chapter draws parallels between the legendary River Lea in Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, written in the mid-seventeenth century, and Northeast Ohio’s Mahoning River and the mighty Ohio River. The Common Angler also provides an insider’s perspective about what makes certain people great anglers, featuring Ernest Hemingway, and baseball stars Ted Williams and Wade Boggs.

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Stranger things do tend to happen in Schenectady—once a booming metropolis nicknamed the “City That Lights and Hauls the World” thanks to the dominating presence of General Electric and the American Locomotive Company, though those days are ancient history. GE has nearly abandoned the city, and ALCO closed up shot over fifty years ago. Hence, the title of this book: Forget It, Jake, It’s Schenectady: A Police Department Under Siege, and the Man Who Led It, a nod to the bleak conclusion of the classic film Chinatown, one of cinema’s most devastating expressions of abject resignation and defeat.A chance meeting between onetime Schenectady Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek and author David Bushman in a Lyft car that Kaczmarek was driving was the genesis of this book, originally intended to track the rise and fall of a veteran cop with what appear to be two defining traits—an almost inhuman capacity for perseverance and a truly remarkable ability to attract notoriety and criticism. However, as the author’s research—including interviews with over two dozen people who lived through the events depicted in these pages—progressed, the book mutated into something else: a consideration of the recent history of the entire department—both its failures and successes—especially during Kaczmarek’s six-year reign as chief, but also involving such celebrated cases as the arrests and convictions of child killer Marybeth Tinning and serial rapist-murderer Lemuel Smith, who claimed to be controlled by the spirit of his deceased brother.In one of the more notorious cases of police corruption in New York State in recent times, the FBI set its sights on the Schenectady PD in 1999, launching an investigation that would eventually result in the imprisonment of four officers, the suicide of a fifth, and the resignation of Kaczmarek, who himself would wind up behind bars ten years later after copping a plea to criminal possession of cocaine. The events of this period loosely form the basis of the 2012 crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines—a literal translation of the Mohawk word “Schau-naugh-ta-da”—which starred Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Eva Mendes and was cowritten by Ben Coccio, who grew up in Schenectady, and Derek Cianfrance, who also directed, and whose wife likewise passed her wonder years there. Much of the blame for these catastrophic events was leveled then—and still is—at Kaczmarek, who spent twenty-seven years on the force, serving as chief from 1998 to 2002 before resigning in the wake of the federal investigation. Kaczmarek—”Kacz” to friends and to enemies, and he had a plethora of both—is the son of a longtime Schenectady police officer who, late in life, married the daughter of a local bookmaker. When Greg Kaczmarek was appointed chief, he was ordered by the mayor, his political benefactor, to hold a press conference publicly denying long-swirling rumors that he was a drug user—which, he insists to this day, he wasn’t at the time, notwithstanding his eventual arrest for possession of cocaine, purchased from the head of a major drug ring who also happened to be a close friend of his stepson. Here you’ll meet quite an assortment of colorful characters—law-enforcement who broke the law, and others who—heroically—didn’t; attorneys who defended the city, sued the city, or built a career on prosecuting those responsible for protecting the city; a public safety commissioner who charmed some, infuriated others (including the mayor, who eventually squeezed him out, reportedly because he was jealous of his popularity), and eventually perished in the September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; mobbed-up gamblers who paid off cops while battling to up their piece of the pie; drug dealers with names like Slim and Misty Gallo who ran their product all over New York’s Capital Region before finally being taken down by wiretaps.

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After playing 4 quarters of hard-fought football games, the Massillon Tiger football team gathered in a circle at the center of every football field they played on in 2019 to do 15 pushups—a pushup for every game it would take to lead them to the State Championship game. The mantra for the season became: 15 for 15. Each pushup is represented as a chapter in this book and a different piece of the puzzle that explains the football town of Massillon, Ohio. In this dramatic and entertaining book, Author and Tiger running back coach, David Lee Morgan, Jr. shares stories that offer a unique and unequaled perspective into the 2019 season and the Tigers’ quest for that elusive state championship. The Massillon Tiger football program isn’t a typical high school football program. It’s a ministry of football with the first season dating back to 1894. The Massillon Tigers: 15 for 15 is the powerful tale of one of the most storied high school football programs anywhere in the country and their magical 2019 season, as told by an award-winning author and journalist who enjoyed unlimited access to the players, coaches, and families through his role as the running backs coach.

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Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, Wendell Pierce, Michael K. Williams -- first known as Stringer Bell, Wallace, Bunk, and Omar -- are just a few of the fruits of The Wire we enjoy today. Since its June 2, 2002, premiere, The Wire has been a slow burn, picking up steam each and every year since. As critics continue to grapple with the show and its enduring impact, some voices and perspectives have still yet to be heard. Cracking The Wire During Black Lives Matter remedies this oversight. This provocative exploration of HBO’s iconic show touches on issues of not just race, but also class, power, gender dynamics, police brutality, addiction, sexuality, and even representations of Baltimore itself through a Black Lives Matter lens for some, but Black reality for so many others. Regardless of perspective, Cracking The Wire During Black Lives Matter is an engaging and compelling conversation about one of the most important shows in television history. Cracking the Wire features a cover by esteemed artist Art Sims, who designed the posters for numerous Spike Lee films, including Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, Clockers, and When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, as well as The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, and Black Panther.

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On May 20, 2015, Dave said, "Thank you and goodnight." The Foo Fighters sang "Everlong," and Late Show with David Letterman ended its run. The final six weeks of the series had guests like Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and the Obamas. All names you have heard many times. But it was the people behind the scenes who pulled off these twenty-eight unforgettable episodes of late-night television.Author Scott Ryan conducted over twenty interviews with the staffers of David Letterman. Most of the participants had never given interviews before. The writers, directors, producers, and stage managers offer a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to work on these shows. Find out what it takes to write a Top Ten list, book a president for a guest spot, and what it was like working at the Ed Sullivan Theater.Long time Letterman writer Bill Scheft penned the foreword for the book. Included are over 100 color photos from staffers' personal collections, as well as publicity photos from the show. Get the first truly inside look at creating an episode of Late Show.Interviews with:Barbara Gaines - Executive Producer; Sheila Rogers - Supervising Producer/ Talent Executive; Randi Grossack - Associate Director; Kathy Mavrikakis, Supervising Producer; Rick Sheckman, Associate Producer; Brian Teta - Supervising Producer/Segment Producer; Sheryl Zelikson - Music Producer; Jay Johnson - Creative Director, Digital Media; Jerry Foley - Director; Michael Barrie - Writer; Lee Ellenberg - Writer; Jim Mulholland - Writer; Joe Grossman - Writer; Jeremy Weiner - Writer; Steve Young - Writer; Vincent Favale - Executive of Late Night Programing; Eddie Valk - Stage Manager; Bill Scheft - Writer; Janice Penino - Vice President, Human Resources; Jill Goodwin - Writer; and Mike Buczkiewicz - Senior Producer/Segment Producer; Rupert Jee - Hello Deli Owner.

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Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We're talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between.

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In December 8, 1980, twenty-something rock journalist Laurie Kaye entered the legendary Dakota apartments on Manhattan's Upper West Side to co-conduct an interview with her longtime idol, John Lennon. It was the last interview Lennon would ever give - just hours later, outside that same building, Lennon was shot dead by a twenty-five-year-old man (whom Kaye refuses to refer to by name) whom Kaye herself had encountered after finishing the interview and stepping outside onto the street. Kaye has beaten herself up ever since over her failure to recognise that the assassin - who blocked her path and harassed her with questions like "Did you talk to him?" and "Did you get his autograph?" posed a danger and should have been reported. This book also includes discussion of interviews with such titans of the music industry as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Talking Heads, The Ramones, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger.

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