Click Here To Purchase LIVING ROOM LEGENDS: Chats with TV's Famous Faces

Author: Eddie Lucas

Publisher: Serendipity Press 

Back in 2007, Close-Ups: Conversations with Our TV Favorites by Eddie Lucas was a collection of interviews with stars from TV sitcoms and dramas, mostly from the ‘60s and ‘70s. His new Living Room Legends is very much a sequel with a new batch of conversations built around actors whose names are most known for TV work from the same period.

For example, there’s Gomer Pyle himself, Jim Nabors, Donna Douglas (Beverly Hillbillies), Rose Marie (Dick Van Dyke Show), Lucie Arnez (Here’s Lucy), and Phyllis Diller—remember The Pruitts of Southampton? Lesser known names with familiar faces include Pat Carroll (Danny Thomas Show), Ronnie Schell (Gomer Pyle USMC), Tom Lester (Green Acres),  Pat Priest (The Munsters), and the voice of Judy Jetson, Janet Waldo.

Not surprisingly, this is a nostalgic, affectionate romp down Mockingbird, er, memory lane chock-full of anecdotes about casting for TV comedies, relationships on the set, stories about comic mishaps while filming, and how these shows have affected the lives of those who participated in them. Many of these interviews are with then-newcomers to the business fondly remembering learning from their mentors like Buddy Ebsen, Andy Griffith, and Danny Thomas. While every story is different, some themes seem to run through everyone’s recollections. Most still prefer the more wholesome, family-oriented qualities of the ‘60s to what is on TV today. They point out the colorful theme songs that opened their shows, something long lost on the small screen.                       

One star not on the table of contents is interviewer Eddie Lucas. He’s clearly done his homework, both in watching apparently hundreds of hours of his subjects work as well as knowing their biographies before and after the shows featured in these conversations. He doesn’t ask generic questions—he gets into the most entertaining aspects of each actor’s yarns.  For example, Miss Ellie had quite a few funny encounters with the animals on the set of The Beverly Hillbillies. I hesitate to point out more of these nuggets—readers deserve the surprises fans look for in these kinds of books.

Clearly, this is a book for such fans who want to hear what the folks we invited into our living rooms all those years ago care to share about their claims to fame. You don’t need to adore each and every show represented—but it’s hard to imagine anyone who was there not loving at least two or three of the 30 minute sitcoms discussed in this collection. Or delighting in some rare photographs.   Yes indeed, those were more innocent times . . .