451:, who was a manager there of special research projects, and it was the book's first edition. According to Aaron Barnhart (as told to him by author Tim Brooks), the original volume "almost didn't get printed... because publishers were worried 'that it was too big.'" (with its 3,000 shows covered). Between the 6th and 9th editions, Brooks and Marsh expanded an already "hefty" paperback from 5,000 to 6,500 shows covered ("adding about half an inch to the spine"). According to Barnhart, "no listing has ever been deleted or edited for space in the 30-year history of
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Awards. They were called the ABAs until 1987, when a private foundation took over and renamed it the
National Book Awards" (see Barnhart, 2007). Hence, an original ABA award appears in the listing of the National Book Awards (see NBF Staff, 2023). In their awards premier in 1980, the ABAs introduced many new categories, including for general reference paperback, the category that
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780:, published in 1985), a ranking that in the 9th edition includes data through the 2006–2007 season. The ranking is based on points for their audience-size ranks per season, and the number of seasons the shows were aired—thus, crediting series for their popularity and longevity. Some series that that had remained on the air between editions had moved up on the list;
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As
Barnhart notes, "the National Book Awards were defunded by the consortium of big publishing houses that had sponsored the competition since 1950... too many small, obscure titles were winning for their liking. So the... Association of American Publisher started up a replacement, the American Book
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was "immediately hailed as the best of the bunch, more comprehensive and a more enjoyable read". Barnhart's praise is uniformly high, referring to it as "one of the seven wonders of show business", and noting that the comprehensive nature of the work is "a testament to the vision of two men who
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401: with: content covering the publication history more evenly and thoroughly (e.g., with some of the historical information from the Features section based on citations moved here, allowing that section to focus on the design of the latest edition). You can help by
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presented dual awards for hardcover and paperback books in many categories (see NBF Staff, 2023). As
Barnhart notes, this would be "the first and only time a prize would be given" in the general reference paperback category (see Barnhart,
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winners season-by-season, and trivia quiz games. The eighth edition was published in 2003, followed by the ninth edition on 18 October 2007. The ninth edition in 2007 also includes individual listings for cable networks themselves.
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The title of later editions include the words "and cable". The ninth edition came out in 2007; in it, co-author Tim Brooks stated that the ninth edition may be the last one released of the book.
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The series must have run for at least four weeks on the same night of the week at the same time, or at least have been planned to do so in the event that it was cancelled prior to this.
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The book includes other features such as season-by-season schedule charts from 1946 to 2006, a list of top thirty
Nielsen rated programs from October 1950 to May 2007, a list of
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According to the authors, the book is an attempt to list all commercially broadcast network series ever shown in the evening or nighttime hours (defined as 6:00 p.m.
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As television reporter and critic Aaron
Barnhart notes, Brooks and Marsh's work appeared alongside existing references by the acclaimed Erik Barnouw (
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Also included is "The Top 100 Series of All Time" (an updated ranking of the authors' first-ever ranking of the most popular TV shows from the book
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Thus, specials and miniseries presented on consecutive nights are excluded, with an exception being made for the seminal miniseries
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The series must have been carried on a commercial network. Programs produced for and by public broadcasters such as
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986:"Television and Record Industry History Resources (About My Books: The Complete Directory...—History)"
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great pride in handcrafting
American TV's greatest single reference guide, online or offline".
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589:"The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present"
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The
Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present
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The
Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
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The
Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
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and the two hours preceding it). It also lists programs which were widely
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This citation presents a history of the book in one author's perspective.
580: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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Other criteria for inclusion from the original design of the book are:
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The
Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946–Present
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695:Learn how and when to remove this message
640:Learn how and when to remove this message
427:Learn how and when to remove this message
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51:so that sources are clearly identifiable.
850:"'Complete Directory': The Set-Top Book"
311:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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711:or later) in the United States (i.e.,
466:The 1979 publication won a 1980 U.S.
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805:The Complete Directory
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462:Awards and recognition
228:reference work by the
709:Eastern Standard Time
453:he Complete Directory
131:Broadcast programming
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678:August 2023
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232:historians
104:Earle Marsh
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820:References
783:60 Minutes
770:Emmy Award
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101:Tim Brooks
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240:in 1979.
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38:citations
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