Forty One Barking Dogs

Edward Gorey created many spot illustrations for TV Guide magazine. The wide ranging themes of these assignments challenged the versatility of Mr. Gorey's imagination and talent. Sports, Westerns, and the current (and upcoming) season's programming were all subjects which are not standard themes in Mr. Gorey's work, but which he illustrated with knowledge and humor.

The September 1982 of TV Guide features a spot illustration by Edward Gorey for an article about the filler programming needed in newly formed subscription channels like HBO and The Movie Channel (TCM).  And now, for your intermission pleasure...41 barking dogs! is an article that relates how an "anything goes" style of entertainment in short films is being embraced as filler between shows. In an effort to fill short amounts of time, subjects from quirky to the banal (or "stinkers" as the article states) are all welcomed. The film mentioned in the title is an animated short with 41 dogs barking.

Edward Gorey's artwork for TV Guide is almost always in color, and has a bold quality that is not generally associated with the style of his work. This boldness is a purposeful and direct result of the physical attributes of the magazine itself. Not much larger than a paperback book and cheaply printed, TV Guide was a weekly publication whose articles were short and by necessity, any illustration or photograph was reproduced at a very small size. Edward Gorey was usually adamant that he create original artwork at the size it was to be reproduced, but the pieces made for TV Guide are always drawn large with the intention that they will be greatly reduced and poorly printed. For 41 Dogs, the artwork is 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and was reproduced at 2 1/2" x 3" (this size is noted in pencil on the artwork). Working at a larger size, Mr. Gorey was free to create poster style images that grab the fleeting attention of the reader.