The Last Great Ride is the story of the wonder decade at NBC, when Brandon Tartikoff's prime-time lineup was virtually unbeatable. Shows such as Cheers, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, St. Elsewhere, The A-Team, Family Ties, and The Cosby Show defined broadcast entertainment. After spending the first half of the eighties in the ratings cellar, NBC surged to the top of the Nielsen charts and never looked back. Tartikoff became one of the most popular network executives in television history. His knack for programming and casting was only equaled by his love of the medium itself - and his ability to have one hell of a good time at an impossible job.Now, Tartikoff gives us a highly anecdotal and richly entertaining account of his experiences in the business of "playing television." With a wry and frequently self-deprecating sense of humor, he brings to life the behind-the-scenes you never got to see, such as: his most memorable pitch meetings, including those that featured Marlon Brando, an American Indian tribe, Frank Zappa, an emissary of a U.S. president - and Tartikoff's grandmother; the making (and almost unmaking) of The Cosby Show; the casting of Cheers, where broken glass on the floor caused William Devane to lose the role to Ted Danson; how Eddie Murphy faked out Tartikoff in front of a Saturday Night Live audience; and the ones who got away - Madonna, Tom Cruise, Whitney Houston - and the one who almost got away - Michael J. Fox - because he didn't have "the kind of face you'd see on a lunch box."The years at NBC, however, were not without personal trauma. In 1982, Tartikoff had a second, life-threatening battle with Hodgkin's disease. With characteristic grit, determination, and sheer willpower, Tartikoff fought back the disease, hardly missing a day of work - and now shares lessons learned about how prioritizing what's really important can make you better, stronger, and more effective in all areas of life.From the comic and sometimes surreal anecdotes about the nature of the television business, to the zany and dead-on observations on the rise and fall of celebrity, to the incisive reflections about the changing tastes of America, The Last Great Ride chronicles the trends and tales of the most turbulent decade in television history, and the creative excellence that rose from it. Read Less