David Spencer, author of The Novelizers
Original Airdates: May 15-17, 2026
TVC 736.1: Ed welcomes David Spencer, award-winning musical dramatist, author, critic, musical theatre teacher, and the author of The Novelizers: An Affectionate History of Media Adaptations and Originals, Their Astonishing Authors, and the Art of the Craft, a deep dive into the world of media tie-in writing—novels that are not only based on existing movies, TV series, made for TV movies, and TV miniseries, but which, in many instances (such as the Diagnosis Murder tie-in novels and the Monk tie-in novels written by Lee Goldberg), tell original stories based on the characters of those movies and TV series. David’s book introduces readers to many of the people who have adapted film and TV screenplays into original tie-in novels, while also making the case that tie-in writing is an honorable tradition with artistry of its own. The Novelizers is available through Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com. Topics this segment include why the subject of TV tie-in writing is deeply personal to David, and why tie-in writing, in many respects, is itself a form of literature.
David Spencer on the art of adaptation
Original Airdates: May 15-17, 2026
TVC 736.2: David Spencer, author of The Novelizers, uses Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962), the 1984 made-for-TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott, and Harry Sinclair Drago’s novelization of The Champ (1932) as examples of the kind of choices that an adapting writer will make when presenting characters from the source material in a way that is unique to prose. The Novelizers: An Affectionate History of Media Adaptations and Originals, Their Astonishing Authors, and the Art of the Craft is available through Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com.
David Spencer on the joy of reading aloud
Original Airdates: May 15-17, 2026
TVC 736.3: David Spencer, author of The Novelizers, talks to Ed about how writing, in some respects, is another form of acting, insofar as novelists and screenwriters will often inhabit the lives of the characters they create. The Novelizers: An Affectionate History of Media Adaptations and Originals, Their Astonishing Authors, and the Art of the Craft is available through Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com.
David Spencer, The Novelizers, and The Rockford Files
Original Airdates: June 5-7, 2026
TVC 737.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with David Spencer, award-winning musical dramatist, author, critic, musical theatre teacher, and the author of The Novelizers, a deep dive into the world of media tie-in writing that not only introduces readers to many of the people who have adapted film and TV screenplays into original tie-in novels, while also making the case that tie-in writing is an honorable tradition with artistry of its own. The Novelizers is available through Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com. Topics this segment include a discussion of the Rockford Files tie-in novels written by Stuart Kaminsky in the mid-1990s (and how they reflect the older Jim Rockford, as portrayed in the CBS reunion movies of the same era), and the difference between “high context” dialogue and “low context” dialogue.
David Spencer, The Novelizers, and Passing Fancy
Original Airdates: June 5-7, 2026
TVC 737.2: David Spencer, author of The Novelizers, talks to Ed about how he came to write Passing Fancy: Alien Nation, Book 6 (Pocket Books, 1994), the tie-in novel based on the Alien Nation television series (FOX, 1989-1990). Also in this segment: the Three Most Common Misconceptions About Tie-In Novels, plus three examples of tie-in novels that were unauthorized. The Novelizers: An Affectionate History of Media Adaptations and Originals, Their Astonishing Authors, and the Art of the Craft is available through Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com.
