If you experienced the joy of “Must See TV” on NBC (and I’m pretty sure if you had a TV in the 90s, you did), you must read this book.

Warren Littlefield succeeded Brandon Tartikoff in the chief programming role at NBC, and ushered in the unparalleled era of Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, ER, Will & Grace, and the list goes on. These were my teenage years, and these were shows that we all watched along with our parents, our teachers, everyone. That lineup is what prompted me to start paying attention to TV rankings in Entertainment Weekly, to wonder why a show would be shifted to a different night or time slot, to seek out Tartikoff’s book "The Last Great Ride," and yes – ultimately pursue a career in the TV business. The creation of that untouchable, victorious NBC was not easy, and Littlefield does not sugar-coat the politics and drama that went on behind the scenes. He also captures perfectly the sheer fun and hilarity of it all.

Of course, this book also addresses the TV landscape as it is now – a markedly different environment from the one that allowed the shows that shaped my youth to be nurtured, grow, and ultimately become internationally recognized cultural touchstones. Despite the fact I will never be able to travel back and work behind the scenes in those days when everything stopped between the hours of 8 and 11pm on Thursday nights, I count myself as unbelievably fortunate to have worked for one of the greats I read about early on (who is, indeed, a key figure in "Top of the Rock") – and this book is the closest thing yet to understanding what it was like to be there. A little bit of literary TV time-travel.