{"product_id":"pandoras-box-how-guts-guile-and-greed-upended-tv-isbn-9780062991669","title":"Pandora's Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eNEW YORKER\u003c\/em\u003e BEST BOOKS OF 2023 SELECTION\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Biskind’s saga about the rise and fall of prestige television explains, in punchy, propulsive prose, how we went from Tony Soprano to Ted Lasso.” —\u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBestselling author of \u003cem\u003eEasy Riders, Raging Bulls\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDown and Dirty Pictures\u003c\/em\u003e, cultural critic Peter Biskind turns his eye toward the new golden age of television, sparked by the fall of play-it-safe network TV and the rise of boundary-busting cable, followed by streaming, which overturned both—based on exclusive, candid, and colorful interviews with executives, writers, showrunners, directors, and actors\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe are now lucky enough to be living through the era of so-called Peak TV, in which television, in its various guises and formats, has seized the entertainment mantle from movies and dominates our leisure time. How and why this happened is the subject of this book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInstead of focusing on one service, like HBO, \u003cem\u003ePandora’s Box\u003c\/em\u003e asks, “What did HBO do, besides give us \u003cem\u003eThe Sopranos\u003c\/em\u003e?” The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth into maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending up with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince the creative and business sides of TV are thoroughly entwined, Biskind examines both, and the interplay between them. Through frank and shockingly intimate interviews with creators and executives,\u003cem\u003e Pandora’s Box \u003c\/em\u003einvestigates the dynamic interplay of commerce and art through the lens the game-changing shows they aired—not only old warhorses like \u003cem\u003eThe Sopranos\u003c\/em\u003e, but recent shows like \u003cem\u003eThe White Lotus\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSuccession\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eYellow-\u003c\/em\u003e (both \u003cem\u003e-stone\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003e-jackets\u003c\/em\u003e)—as windows into the byzantine practices of the players as they use money and guile to destroy their competitors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the end, this book crystal-balls the future in light of the success and failures of the streamers that, after apparently clearing the board, now face life-threatening problems, some self-created, some not. With its long view and short takes—riveting snapshots of behind-the-scenes mischief—\u003cem\u003ePandora’s Box\u003c\/em\u003e is the only book you’ll need to read to understand what’s on your small screen and how it got there.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Tackling the fall of network TV, rise of cable, and middling new era of streaming, this interview-packed volume might just have the answers to a question that keeps me up at night: How come TV sucks now?” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In his new book, author Peter Biskind catalogs real-life misbehavior by the principals responsible for an array of lauded series with the same unsparing eye that he detailed the excesses of New Hollywood in \u003cem\u003eEasy Riders, Raging Bulls\u003c\/em\u003e.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly Online\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"How Ted Lasso killed Tony Soprano . . . A binge-worthy book about TV's recent history.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“One of Hollywood’s shrewdest chroniclers . . . explains in punchy, propulsive prose, how we went from Tony Soprano to Ted Lasso. . . . \u003cem\u003ePandora’s Box\u003c\/em\u003e is as unsparing as \u003cem\u003eEasy Riders, Raging Bulls\u003c\/em\u003e, and the thesis of the two books is the same: Hollywood’s golden ages don’t arise from the miraculous congregation of geniuses. The industry’s default setting is for crap. . . . [Biskind] focuses . . . on the machinations of high-powered monsters . . . and lays out a sprawling, amoral ecosystem with the dispassion of an omniscient narrator.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A lively writer who includes a lot of vastly entertaining gossip about the increasingly corporate drivers of the changes [in the TV and film industry]. A fascinating topic.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Peter Biskind’s \u003cem\u003ePandora’s Box \u003c\/em\u003eis not only a richly detailed and colorful account, but also an important and historic document on how television has well and defiantly superseded the cinema in the last thirty years. Biskind brilliantly maneuvers his way through a historic panoply of cinematic and television endeavor with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel. A gripping and compulsive read.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrian Cox\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Biskind sees clear signs that the risk-taking attitude that led to two decades of edgy, adventurous programming—what he labels 'discomfort shows'—is ending.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Peter Biskind has always been the most rigorous and amusing Hollywood historian we have, taking on the great men of the past—and now with his trademark cheeky intelligence he takes on the giants of the present age of television-as-cinema. Despite my having lived much of the book’s arc, Biskind offers a fresh perspective on the new Wild West of home entertainment.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLena Dunham\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This gossip-filled overview of the past 40 years of television will keep readers glued to their seats.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Biskind is known as much for his outspoken opinions as his insightful commentary, and \u003cem\u003ePandora’s Box\u003c\/em\u003e is Biskind at his most candid. For readers interested in what goes on behind the scenes in the world of television, a must-read.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \"This brisk, blistering account of how streaming has changed where we put our eyeballs is classic binge-worthy reading. I had no idea the people involved in creating culture-altering shows are as entertaining as the shows themselves, but Peter Biskind did, and you’ll never look at them same way again.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSteven Soderbergh\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Peter Biskind takes on a wild, whirlwind tour of the birth, life, death, and rebirth of cable and streaming services, introducing us to the people behind them who turn out to be as ferociously nutty as the characters they put on the screen.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDavid Nasaw, Arthur M. Schlesinger professor of history emeritus, City University of New York Graduate Center\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Peter Biskind has a knack for finding fertile zones in the entertainment landscape, harvesting a rich crop of anecdotes and insights and serving them up with enticing dollops of dirt. . . . Mr. Biskind has a keen eye for all things snarky, cynical and mean. . . . You won’t be able to put his book down.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"William Morrow","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890433093861,"sku":"NP9780062991669","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062991669.jpg?v=1730233275","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/pandoras-box-how-guts-guile-and-greed-upended-tv-isbn-9780062991669","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}