I enjoy reading books and comic books based on television series!  

So when I received the above pictured book by John C Fredriksen just before leaving for the San Diego Comic Con, I knew it would be one I would savor reading after coming back from that pop culture convention!

So I finished reading it last night, as it is a scholarly and well written book by John C Fredriksen and one not to be rushed through while reading!

John is a well known author of twenty other books, but this one was based on the fact that at the age of twelve in 1965 he became a big fan of the Honey West TV Show that ran for only one season!

Whereas in my family back in 1965 with only one black and white television set, we ended up watching mostly what my folks wanted to watch after 9PM; John was able to see this show when it first aired.  As for myself at age thirteen, my family on Friday nights had been watching CBS since 7:30 PM with The Wild Wild West, and then Hogan's Heroes at 8:30 PM.  So it was only natural that my folks would stay with CBS at 9:00 PM to watch that 800 pound gorilla of a show that was on at the same time against Honey West, Gomer Pyle USMC!

So Honey West, filmed in black and white, didn't make it to a second season.  Besides being aired against Gomer Pyle which crushed it in the ratings, ABC went with The Avengers for the next season, basically because it was cheaper to air.

So no second season for Honey West, which was to have filmed in color, and yes I could see that John C Fredriksen was sad to see his show not be renewed... as I'm sure hundreds of thousands of others were at that time! 

Below is what Bear Manor Media has about the book in its promo literature about the TV Show and the book:

Honey West debuted in the fall of 1965, derived from the famous detective novels of the same name. Produced by Aaron Spelling, she was television's first liberated female, a crack private investigator and an expert in martial arts-beholden to no man. The beautiful actress Anne Francis was cast in the central role as the sexy, wise-cracking star, and she is assisted by her cantankerous sidekick, Sam Bolt (John Ericson) and somewhat flaky live-in, Aunt Meg (Irene Hervey). In 30 black-and-white episodes, Honey battles her way through the underworld by dint of her wits, judo prowess, and killer looks, aided by an arsenal of high-tech gimmicks, a sexy Cobra sports car, and an ocelot named Bruce! The result is an unmistakable slice of 1960s Americana, one which cut the template for strong female roles to follow. Celebrated as a cult hit, Honey West is a must for any afficionados of crime drama television or just a half-hour of good entertainment. This ground-breaking book examines the series in detail with interviews of the surviving cast members, and listings of websites, addresses, bibliographies, episode synopses, and an appendix. Profusely illustrated.

Since 1966 I have viewed a few of the re-run episodes of Honey West.  I have not yet picked up the DVD collection that was released in September 2008 to watch.  So when this book came in I realized that this was a great foundation after being read, to watch the DVD release.  When something is 900 minutes long, as the DVD set is with bonus features, it is good to know more about subject matter before viewing. 

That is what makes this book valuable as a 'companion' to the DVD set by someone who obviously knows the subject matter from seeing it when it first aired, yet doesn't 'gush' over the stars of the show.  The book, while obviously written by a fan of the show, is objective in its presentation of the stars, interviews and synopses.  Actually John has said in a recent interview that the show's "first five episodes are very noir-ish and stylish", which should interest several in the current generations to check this show out now.

My main interest in the TV Show was because during my years as a comics dealer, I have picked up several copies of the one shot issue from Gold Key Comics that is pictured at the top right of this blog.   That issue is sought after by both Anne Francis and Honey West collectors and I can't keep it in stock for very long.  I blogged about that not too long ago (click here).

So I would recommend picking up this book in conjunction with watching the DVD set, or to add to your Anne Francis and / or Honey West collection should you have one.  The $19.95 cover price is a fair price to ask for such a comprehensive compilation of interviews, pictures, and synopses of this TV Show.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this fun to read, yet great resource book to the Honey West TV show, please see either your usual sources of obtaining books, such as eBay or try the publisher's web site at:  http://www.BearManorMedia.com 

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