Ten Favorite Works of Literature About TV Shows

(alphabetically by series)

The Brady Bunch: Somehow Form a Family: Stories That Are Mostly True by Tony Earley *
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Magic for Beginners: Stories by Kelly Link **
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite: Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater
The Flintstones: The Flintstones, Vol. 1 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh
Gilligan’s Island: Gilligan’s Wake: A Novel by Tom Carson
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado ***
Quantum Leap: An Encyclopedia of Bending Time: A Memoir by Kristin Keane
Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Field Guide to the Aliens of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Seasons 1-7, by Joshua Chapman by Zachary Auburn
Three’s Company: One’s Company: A Novel by Ashley Hutson
Tom and Jerry: Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories by Steven Millhauser ****

* for the title essay

** for the title story (though the in-world show is called “The Library,” it’s clearly inspired by Buffy)

*** for “Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU”

**** for “Cat ‘n’ Mouse”

— August 13, 2022