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(More customer reviews)Tony Verna's small-screen career began at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia in the 1950s, where he "had to learn the tricks of a trade that hadn't been a trade before." Here he takes us back to those early days of the business, describing the constraints everyone had to work with: unreliable equipment that had its own limitations, fewer and bulkier cameras, no satellites for remote transmission, and no screen graphics to speak of. Football fans will especially relish this entertaining trip down memory lane, as Verna (a 30-year CBS sports and news director) helps us remember just how much technology and technique have improved pro and college game broadcasts. In the beginning, many "ballparks were hostile to televised sports, thinking that TV would cut their attendance." And to give both teams their due, the hometown announcers did half of the game while the visiting announcers did the other half. Thus could this autobiography be considered a nice inside view of the history of sports broadcasting. The fact that Verna came up with the first use of "instant replay" (during the Army-Navy game on December 7, 1963) is the icing on the cake.
Of course, one doesn't work in the media realm without having encounters with the rich and famous. "I was living a life knee-deep in celebrities," writes Verna. And there's a wide selection to choose from, among the various news and sports personalities, to the participants in 1985's international "Live Aid," and to Pope John Paul II's "Prayer for World Peace" in 1986. Verna was in the right place at the right time to have some amazing stories to tell.
Alas, two circumstances make this book an average recounting: not enough editing, and too much ego. At the very least, readers should expect personal names to be spelled correctly, especially when they are ones we're familiar with. It does a disservice to announcers Howard Cosell and Brent Musburger as well as to Green Bay Packers player Jerry Kramer that their names are mangled here. Even offhand references to current impersonator Frank Caliendo and popular novelist Carl Hiaasen are flawed (by "Cilendo" and "Karl," respectively).
And while Verna has a number of broadcasting accomplishments to his credit, he lets us know about them with a self-promotional braggadocio that Donald Trump might approve of. He advertises his web site a number of times. The specific ax he ends up grinding here is in regards to "instant replay" -- which was his innovation, and his alone. Others have claimed involvement or discovery, and Verna uses the pages of this book to set the record straight. Repeatedly.
Nevertheless, "Instant Replay" is recommended reading for anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes look at the kinds of television productions we now take for granted. Tony Verna was there.
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On December 7, 1963 TV and sport history was made when the first "instant replay" ever seen on the air was broadcast during the Army-Navy game on CBS Television. The creator was 29-year-old "wunderkind" director Tony Verna, whose illustrious show-business career has spanned 45 years of Sport and Entertainment history. His broadcast hallmark was his ability to continually bome up with advances in the use of cameras, program content and creative interplay. Honored by the Directors Guild of America with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" Verna produced and/or directed 5 Super Bowls, Rome Olympics, NBA Championships, 12 Kentucky Derbies and won an Emmy for the Los Angeles Olympics. This heartwarming, inspiring and funny story of an "entertainment life" portrays his varied entertainment career which included creating, producing and directing Pope John Paul's billion-viewer TV Special " A Prayer for World Peace", the historic "Live Aid", and as President of Caesar's Palace was involved in all their entertainment projects.
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