Monday, September 03, 2007
Book Review: New Bedlam
I recently picked up a book after hearing an interview with the author on two different NPR programs--Here and Now and Fresh Air (see 8/28). The book, New Bedlam, is written by MTV executive Bill Flanagan, and it is a piece of fiction that gives a great insider account of the television industry.
The book begins with Bob Kahn, a New York TV exec who has a string of hits, only to be fired from his job when we learn that one of the top rated reality shows he produces has staged some of the action (not far fetched at all). He heads to California to find a job quick before the industry rags report that he was fired. He lands a job as the head of a family based cable company in New England called King Cable.
King Cable is owned by a family of step-siblings, all connected to the patriarch of the family, Dominic King, a local tycoon who owned a bunch of car dealerships, car washes, and so forth. He lent money to his son, and to the son of a woman he was having an affair with, in the 1970s, when cable and satellite had first been deregulated, and when speculators could buy into the business for next to nothing.
The three "owners" of King Cable is Skyler King--who has brains and good looks--and who is wanting to take the company to the next level as a major player in the American cable business, and who is responsible for hiring Bob Skyler; Kenny King, who is the black sheep and not related by blood to the other owners. Dominic was having an affair with Kenny's mom, cheating on his wife and mother of Sklyer; and finally there is Annie King, who is British and is the product of Dominic King, who left the United States to come to England after his second marriage to Kenny's mom failed. Dominic's marriage to Annie's mom ends, and he returns to New England (New Bedlam, Rhode Island, to be precise). All three kids are responsible for running one channel each that the cable company produces. There is "Boomer Box," which basically shows re-runs of the sitcoms and dramas that baby boomers connect to--shows like Gilligans Island or Dynasty. There is Eureka, and Arts and Entertainment channel, and finally there is the Comic Book Channel, which runs shows that have originated from comic books (Superman, Batman), and also has a call in talk show titled Comix Quorum, where two pasty nerds sit and argue which Batman is better--the original or the more recent Dark Knight.
There are a number of tensions in the book that move it along--there is Bob Kahn's job of making the company a major player all along balancing the veto power of the kids--how to get people to pay for the Comic Book Channel, for instance. There is the tension of that the siblings have with one another--particularly with Kenny King, who is not just the figurative blacksheep of the family, but also the literal black sheep. Whenever dirty business needs done, the job falls to Kenny. For instance, there is a rival in the community who is developing land next to the King offices. The rival is developing it deliberately to downgrade the value of the King property, and he gets the zoning committee to approve it over the King objections. Kenny steals the bones of an ancient Indian on display at an area museum. He takes the bones, and buries them in the lot that is being developed. When the construction crew unearths the bones, the whole project comes to a permanent hault as the land is considered a sacred site and off limits to development. And finally, there is the tension that each of the children have with the father, a man with no morals or scruples, and certainly one not prone to show love towards his children.
The book does a fine job of giving an insider's sense of how the television industry works--particularly how cutthroat it is. There are several rants against the damage that television has done to politics and culture in the United States--or really anywhere that it dominates:
"Television is the most important medium there ever was or ever will be. Every other form of entertainment--drama, comedy, sports--has been absorbed and transformed by television. Politics, government have been transformed by television."
The only problem I had with the book was the end. I won't spoil what happens, but it seemed to me that Flanagan started too many stories that he didn't have time to finish. Thus the end appeared rushed.
Notwithstanding the ending, it was an enjoyable and quick read that I highly recommend.
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The book begins with Bob Kahn, a New York TV exec who has a string of hits, only to be fired from his job when we learn that one of the top rated reality shows he produces has staged some of the action (not far fetched at all). He heads to California to find a job quick before the industry rags report that he was fired. He lands a job as the head of a family based cable company in New England called King Cable.
King Cable is owned by a family of step-siblings, all connected to the patriarch of the family, Dominic King, a local tycoon who owned a bunch of car dealerships, car washes, and so forth. He lent money to his son, and to the son of a woman he was having an affair with, in the 1970s, when cable and satellite had first been deregulated, and when speculators could buy into the business for next to nothing.
The three "owners" of King Cable is Skyler King--who has brains and good looks--and who is wanting to take the company to the next level as a major player in the American cable business, and who is responsible for hiring Bob Skyler; Kenny King, who is the black sheep and not related by blood to the other owners. Dominic was having an affair with Kenny's mom, cheating on his wife and mother of Sklyer; and finally there is Annie King, who is British and is the product of Dominic King, who left the United States to come to England after his second marriage to Kenny's mom failed. Dominic's marriage to Annie's mom ends, and he returns to New England (New Bedlam, Rhode Island, to be precise). All three kids are responsible for running one channel each that the cable company produces. There is "Boomer Box," which basically shows re-runs of the sitcoms and dramas that baby boomers connect to--shows like Gilligans Island or Dynasty. There is Eureka, and Arts and Entertainment channel, and finally there is the Comic Book Channel, which runs shows that have originated from comic books (Superman, Batman), and also has a call in talk show titled Comix Quorum, where two pasty nerds sit and argue which Batman is better--the original or the more recent Dark Knight.
There are a number of tensions in the book that move it along--there is Bob Kahn's job of making the company a major player all along balancing the veto power of the kids--how to get people to pay for the Comic Book Channel, for instance. There is the tension of that the siblings have with one another--particularly with Kenny King, who is not just the figurative blacksheep of the family, but also the literal black sheep. Whenever dirty business needs done, the job falls to Kenny. For instance, there is a rival in the community who is developing land next to the King offices. The rival is developing it deliberately to downgrade the value of the King property, and he gets the zoning committee to approve it over the King objections. Kenny steals the bones of an ancient Indian on display at an area museum. He takes the bones, and buries them in the lot that is being developed. When the construction crew unearths the bones, the whole project comes to a permanent hault as the land is considered a sacred site and off limits to development. And finally, there is the tension that each of the children have with the father, a man with no morals or scruples, and certainly one not prone to show love towards his children.
The book does a fine job of giving an insider's sense of how the television industry works--particularly how cutthroat it is. There are several rants against the damage that television has done to politics and culture in the United States--or really anywhere that it dominates:
"Television is the most important medium there ever was or ever will be. Every other form of entertainment--drama, comedy, sports--has been absorbed and transformed by television. Politics, government have been transformed by television."
The only problem I had with the book was the end. I won't spoil what happens, but it seemed to me that Flanagan started too many stories that he didn't have time to finish. Thus the end appeared rushed.
Notwithstanding the ending, it was an enjoyable and quick read that I highly recommend.
