TV Worth Watching Blog

My Smothers Brothers Book Now Has a Cover -- And I Love It


This is the fun part of book writing -- selecting photographs, editing the manuscript, finalizing the notes and bibliography and acknowledgments and stuff. But one part of the process doesn't involve me at all: designing the book cover.

Well, the cover design for my Smothers Brothers book is in, and I couldn't be happier. When the book hits stores the first week of January, this is what it will look like.

Let me know your reaction, even if it's not as bubbly as mine...

Dangerously-Funny-FINAL-cov.jpg

18 Comments

It looks very nice! Classy yet fun! Fingers are crossed that it will help sell a few books!

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 8:47 AM
Mark said:

Great looking cover. I wish you all the best. I'm an old NYDaily news reader that followed you over. (Thanks for being here! -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 9:40 AM
Harry said:

Looks great -- congratulations, David !

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 9:58 AM

I agree - terrific cover!

And a great website. I don't comment all that often, but this is one of the good ones. (On behalf of everyone toiling here, I thank you. -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 10:34 AM

Good stuff!

Love the psychedelia font, and the way the titles are tilted up playing out towards Tommy...with a look that's, well, 'Dangerously Funny'

And the moment I looked at it, the theme-music got stuck in my head...thanks, Dave.

Great stuff...good luck!

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 10:37 AM
Ken Rehfield said:

LOVE IT, PERFECT ... TAKES ME BACK IN TIME.. CAN WAIT TO READ IT

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 10:42 AM
Robert said:

Great picture, and a familiar one for me - as the cover photo of their last Mercury LP, I played that album when I was a kid many times (never get tired of hearing "Troubadour Song").
I'm sure that Tom and Dick will be very proud of your accomplishment - especially since you honored Tom's request to have the book done while he was still alive...:)

(Uh-oh... How'd you know about that? -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 10:54 AM
Danny said:

GREAT!

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 11:19 AM
Michael said:

Looking forward to reading this, Sgt. Bianculli. (All things come to he who waits... Thanks for your patience, Billy Shears. -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 11:23 AM
Sue said:

AWESOME! I am impressed. Love the font, the pic, the whole shebang. This is the G rated version of how I feel.

(Can't help but wonder: Does X mark the spot? -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 11:35 AM
Christina S said:

I think the cover is perfect! It captures everything you could want it to. I especially like the author, title, etc. on the drum with the lettering style from the show. It makes me think immediately of the show's theme song (which I can never forget) - Da da da da da daaa.....

(Thanks! I'm not used to having a book cover I like, but I'm thrilled with this one. REALLY glad you are, too... -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 12:53 PM
Gregg B said:

David, Thanks for sharing this with us. I feel I have never been this close to the book publishing process. Also I don't know what it is, but I, like two of your other readers, heard the theme music playing in my head the minute I saw the cover. Very good sign.
Tom: You can tell who's running the country by how much clothes people wear, see?
Dick: Do you mean that some people can afford more clothes on, and some people have... less on? Is that what you mean?
Tom: That's right.
Dick: I don't understand.
Tom: See, the ordinary people, you'd say that the ordinary people are the less-ons.
Dick: So who's running the country?
Tom: The morons.

(Good for you! One of my favorite routines, right on the money. Thanks! -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 3:47 PM
Jim said:

When I saw the cover I started humming the Smothers Brothers' theme song, too. That's got to be a good sign.

Comment posted on June 19, 2009 10:35 PM
giggles said:

Perfect!!! Can't wait!!

Comment posted on June 20, 2009 11:35 AM
Laura said:

I like it too, and I think it's a good and apt title. Now after all those comments it's bothering me that the theme music isn't coming to mind. I have to look it up online now, or it'll bother me.

Comment posted on June 20, 2009 2:06 PM
Kate G said:

Love the cover!! Am not "into" The Smothers Brothers as deeply as you but enjoyed them thoroughly as a kid. With only 1 TV in the house, Mom was in charge of it most nights after 8PM (no remotes), so her taste became my taste.

Really enjoy the website (Like many others I read you in The Daily News). You point me in directions I wouldn't really go. Thanks.

(Thanks right back... -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 20, 2009 9:30 PM
David D said:

I love the look of it too... one idiotically trivial comment: I know "The Smothers Brothers" is supposed to pop out, but I wondered why "Comedy Hour" isn't red as well. ( I wondered the same thing... but I guess it WAS to make the Smothers pop. -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 21, 2009 11:49 AM
Bill C said:

The cover is terrific, but what I really want to know is if you're already booked for an interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air! (Not officially -- but unless I upset some very nice people between now and January, there ought to be one or two high-profile media appearances tied in with the book. I'll DEFINITELY keep everyone on this website posted as they get scheduled. And hey... thanks for the question. Really. -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 21, 2009 5:21 PM

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David Bianculli

Behind David in the picture is the first TV owned by his father, Virgil Bianculli, a 1946 Raytheon. (The TV, not his father. His father was a 1923 Italian.)

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air, occasional substitute host for that show's Terry Gross, and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His most recent book is 2009's Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' and he's at work on another.

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