NBC & Me

by Herbie J. Pilato, Gretchen Harris Keskeys (Foreword by)

NBC & ME MY LIFE AS A PAGE IN A BOOK (A MOCK MEMOIR OF MY BIG '80s DAZE WITH THE PEACOCK NETWORK) From May 1984 to December 1985, actor/author/TV producer/singer Herbie J Pilato worked as a Page for NBC-TV in Burbank, California. Many Pages were excited by the frequent showbiz interactions that were accessible and provided by a major TV network facility. Some found work within and outside of the industry. Others found their job only uncovered a depressing, even insulting Hollywood experience. For Herbie J, it was da bomb, as he found himself on the set of Family Ties, The Golden Girls and Wheel of Fortune. He helped to coordinate an affiliates' convention, two press tours, five Bob Hope specials, An All-Star Salute To President Dutch Reagan, the 1984 Democratic Presidential Debates, and the 1984 Emmy Awards. He laughed with established comedians, lunched with network suits, hob-knobbed with celebrities, stuffed envelopes - and passed out tickets to Scrabble - all for a measly $5.20 an hour. It's an experience that he remembers in-depth - and with tongue-in-cheek - in NBC & ME: MY LIFE AS A PAGE IN A BOOK - A MOCK MEMOIR OF MY BIG '80s DAZE WITH THE PEACOCK NETWORK. With NBC & ME, Herbie J (no period after the J - and it's all explained in the book) exposes for the first time the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of his initial TV network tenure. Within these pages (every possible pun intended), Herbie J takes you - the reader - behind closed-doors, down inactive hallways, and inside TV's oldest web of intrigue (that's what they used to call television networks in the old days - webs). NBC & ME offers the fast-track, inside-scoop, close-up-look, and behind-the-scenes peek at my wanna'-be life with the so-called Peacock network - and in the process, becomes the first book to chronicle infamous Page department of NBC (or any other network's Page division, for that matter). In doing so, NBC & ME rides the skirt-tails of past or recent hit television shows like A&E's Airline (which was really Pages on a Plane), Andy Dick's The Assistant, and, of course, Donald Trump's and NBC's very own hit reality show, The Apprentice - as well as the success of NBC's newly-christened Emmy-winning hit comedy, 30 Rock (which features the Peacock net's former Saturday Night Live star/writer Tina Fey and offers periodic appearances by a character who just so happens to be a Page). So, if you're looking for a fun read, NBC & ME: MY LIFE AS A PAGE IN A BOOK fits the bill as, none other than, a real...uhm...page-turner.

164 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2008

About the author

Herbie J. Pilato is a TV host, writer, producer, performer, and entertainment executive who has worked on several television shows including Bravo’s hit five-part series, The 100 Greatest TV Characters, Bewitched: The E! True Hollywood Story (the seventh-highest rated True Hollywood Story in E!’s history), A&E’s Biography of Lee Majors, TLC’s Behind the Fame specials on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Hill Street Blues, and L.A. Law, among others. Herbie J has also served as a consulting producer and on-screen cultural commentator on various classic TV DVD documentaries for Sony, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros., including The Six Million Dollar Man boxed set, Kung Fu, and CHiPs.

Reviews

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, but for how much he enjoys hobnobbing with celebrities, he spells several names wrong: Teri & Terry Shields, Victoria Principle & Principal, Dave BArry, left out Barry Gibb, etc. Also some of the credits he cites for celebs leave out the most well-known?