Forgotten Books: TV Tie-Ins - A Bibliography of American TV Tie-In Paperbacks

If your name is Randy Johnson, you probably have this book and know all this stuff.
But for the rest of us - including me - it’s packed with surprises.

TV Tie-Ins (1997, 1999) by Kurt Peer leads off with an A-Z listing of shows and all associated publications. And though the title says paperbacks, the lists include many hardcovers too.

Just looking at the A section . . .
     Did you know there were six A-Team books, five featuring novelizations of TV episodes, and one an original story? And that’s not counting two plot-it-yourself books and one by and about Mr. T.
     I was surprised by this: Black Mask writer W.T. Ballard (as Brian Fox) wrote two novels based on Alias Smith and Jones.
     There were nine novels based on The Avengers (no, not the Marvel gang), including three by Keith Laumer and two by Norman A. Daniels.
     There were fourteen books novelizing episodes of As the World Turns. Yikes.
    And do you have these?: The Wit and Wisdom of Archie Bunker, Edith Bunker’s All in the Family Cookbook and Archie Bunker’s Family Album.

Most interesting to me is the Index by Author, where I gleaned such amazing facts as:
     Edward S. Aarons wrote a novel based on The Defenders.

     Michael Avallone’s tie-ins included The Doctors, Felony Squad, The Girl (and the Man) from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaii Five-O, Mannix and The Partridge Family.
     Lawrence Block wrote a Markham book.
     Pulp writer Robert Sidney Bower wrote a Hawaii Five-O novel.

     Gil Brewer wrote three novels based on It Takes a Thief.
     Along with the previously mentioned Avengers books, Norman A. Daniels did (among others) Arrest and Trial, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare and Rat Patrol.
     Richard Deming’s list includes Dragnet, The Mod Squad, Charlie’s Angels, and Starsky and Hutch.
     George Alec Effinger wrote four Planet of the Apes novels.
     Harlan Ellison (along with Edward Bryant) is credited with a Starlost novel. (Dang, I even have that one.)
     Nora Ephron wrote The Tonight Show: and now . . . Here’s Johnny!
     Richard Wormser did one each for The Wild Wild West, The Green Hornet and The High Chaparral.
     Ron Goulart’s list includes Battlestar Galactica, Kung Fu, and Laverne and Shirley.
     Frank Gruber did one called Tales of Wells Fargo. (Got that too.)
     Bayard Kendrick wrote five Longstreet books.
     Richard S. Prather wrote a Dragnet book.
     Along with The Avengers, Keith Laumer did two Invaders novels.
     Murray Leinster’s list includes Land of the Giants and The Time Tunnel.

     Peter Rabe wrote four Mannix books.
     Barry Malzburg wrote a Kung Fu novel.
     Western writer Dean Owen did two Bonanzas, a Hec Ramsey and one Men from Shiloh (The Virginian).
     Talmage Powell wrote two Mission: Impossible novels.
     Richard Lupoff did two Buck Rogers books.
     Theodore Sturgeon wrote a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea novel.
     Jim Thompson wrote an Ironside book.
     Harry Whittington did a Bonanza and a Man from U.N.C.L.E.
     Collin Wilcox wrote two McCloud novels.

This section also clues you in to such treasures as Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints and Phyllis Diller’s Marriage Manual. And it’s followed by an Index by Publisher, a list of actors pictured on covers, and a list of novelized episodes. Admit it. You want it.

More Forgotten Books at pattinase (I think).