Mom, Dad, Me, and Classic TV - Growing Up with Classic Television's Harry Ackerman and Elinor Donahue Paperback – January 22, 2024

I am a kid of the 1960-70’s TV shows and most of my favorite shows were produced by Harry Ackerman. TV’s Gidget, Dennis The Menace, Father Knows Best, Hazel and most especially, Bewitched. Peter Ackerman has many behind the scene stories of visiting the set of Bewitched and knowing the beautiful Elizabeth Montgomery. I couldn’t put this book down. In fact, I read it in two days! His mother is also one of TV’s favorite actors, Elinor Donahue. Whether in role role as Betty Anderson on FKB or Miss Ellie on The Andy Griffith Show, Elinor Donahue was always a childhood favorite of mine. As Opie Taylor said, “She’s pretty!” Growing up as a gay kid in the early 70’s and not having lots of friends to play outside with, my afternoons were spent in front of the television set watching wall these classic TV shows and they were like part of my family. Harry Ackerman is a legend in the television industry. His son writes about growing up with two famous parents and how he was always appreciative of the normal childhood his parents gave to him. There’s some really great stories Peter tells about working in the entertainment industry and gets very personal about some of his own struggles. I am such a fan of both of his parents and this is such a great read. I still continue to watch these shows on the many different streaming service out there today.

The writer comes across as earnest in approach and loving towards his parents although the book itself could have used a proper editor to cut down on repetition and help clean up chronology a bit. There are some errors and omissions as well. The biggest problem is the pathetic photo section. None of the images are captioned so we don’t always know who we are looking at or what the circumstances are. Additionally and shockingly, no behind the scenes images are offered for any of the classic television series covered in the book that were produced by Harry Ackerman and none from mother Elinor Donahue’s acting career. Plus the author even mentions a cherished picture from visiting the Batman set but does not show it. But the color photo from outside back cover is pointlessly repeated inside in black and white. Very odd and disappointing. There’s also no glossary or appendix listing all the productions credited to his dad or mom. A

I learned behind-the-scenes information about the creators & actors of my favorite tv shows. The stories were fun to read. I’ve adored Elinor Donahue since her early years of acting. Her son Peter Ackerman has written an enjoyable & informative book. I highly recommend this book if you’re a fan of the sitcoms from the’60s.

Great stories about the production and characters involved with classic TV

I enjoyed reading about Peter Ackerman and his family. I have been a fan of Elinor Donahue for years and always saw Harry Hacker man's name on tv credits.

Ackerman has a sweet manner and is respectful and reverent of his parents and their work. But his stories are rife with misspellings of famous names, repetition of phrases and anecdotes, and insignificant minutiae about his production gigs. Also, none of the pictures, at least in the eBook edition, are captioned. Aside from the author and his parents, we don't know anyone else depicted in them.

A great glimpse into growing up in Hollywood!

If you're a nostalgia buff and like classic tv, author Peter "K" Ackerman takes you on a wonderful journey back in time, to the good old days of television.