Leonard has never really been my cup of tea for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, this is a book of important, if limited value.

Unlike most people who write about television, Leonard is neither contemptous and condescending toward the medium, nor does he write publicist vetted puff pieces. Rather, he is an obviously learned and literate man who feels television is an undeniably important part of the cultural scene and worthy of taking seriously. There are some perceptions and insights here that are striking in their originality and in their ability to link some of TV's conventions with those of other art forms.

HOWEVER...In order to get to these few nuggets one has to wade through reams of prose that is almost unbearably purple and self-concious. On virtually ever page Leonard sees fit to let fly with a string of overblown metaphors that more often than not collapse under their own weight into one large puddle of incoherence. It often seems that Leonard is more interested in showing off his superior erudition and word-wizardry than he is in cleary and effectively communicating his ideas. As with other stuff by Leonard that I've read, this book either had no editor to speak of, or s/he was asleep at the switch.

The other major flaw in this book (from my perspective), is Leonard's flaunting of his puerile, tiresome (far)leftism. While he's admirably upfront about his biases, unlike some other cultural commentators, this doesn't make his inanities any easier to take(in some cases he is downright mean, if not mendacious). The gist of any point that he makes seems to be that if you disagree or deviate in any way from the world according to JL, you are not merely wrong, but also most likely an evil, selfish, hateful human being.His opinion on many TV shows seems unduly influenced by whether or not he approves of the program's politics (if a program has NO political agenda, he either has to huff and puff to invent one for it, or he feels it is unworthy of serious consideration)and whether it deals appropriately (or at all) with what Leonard has decreed are the burning issues of the day.

All in all, Mr. Leonard's continuing career is proof that the political right by no means has a monopoly on tiresome, hectoring, self-righteous gasbags.