Offbeat channels on Cable

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Nancy

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
9,896
Location
upstate New York
Every now and then, while I'm flipping around the cable channels, I catch some of the telecasts on the Educ. Access and some other amateur stations. What a HOOT! Strange people in strange get-ups, singing without much accompaniement, telecasts of the local community centers with local bands and people dancing badly (line dancing and polkas), weird "religious" gurus who appear like they're from outer space. I'm guessing that they pay some kind of a fee for being able to have themselves filmed.

Life is stranger than fiction.:p
 
The strangest part of all is that sometimes, those programs are better then any of the ones on the other channels! :eek:
 
It certainly can make you laugh! It's like a comedy show and the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" all rolled up into one.
 
I thought I had turned on one of those channels last night and the realized it was the super bowl halftime show.
There definitely were some people in strange get-ups, like Janet and the streaker.
 
you got it Rich

you got it Rich

I realize the networks don't want to show these exhibisionists bacause that is their purpose---to be seen. BUT I would have loved to have seen that tackle.:D

Oh, and Bonnie if you read this, I know you have ties to s. carolina, but didn't I say on another post that the patriots were a team of destiny? I never got a response from anybody, I guess no one could argue the point.:D
 
Nancy,

My local cable provider alternates between the "all dance recital channel" and the "all pee-wee football channel", depending on the season, with occasional breaks for township trustee meetings.

As for what people pay to appear on these channels: they probably haven't paid a single penny! In the Greater Cincinnati area, Time Warner Cable (my provider) has several "community centers" that provide training, equipment and services to local "amateurs" for "free." I believe it is an FCC requirement that ANY cable provider set up community channels and, possibly, community centers, in order to provide the public access to the "benefits" of mass media. In our area, Time Warner funds the community resources through a line item in our cable bills.
 
tv channels

tv channels

I had Good Morning America on this morning and they must have had that clip with Janet Jackson on at least 10 times. It looks like that he did this on purpose. I thought the whole halftime was in poor taste. I am not a prude by any means. What happened to the bands and halftimes like that.
 
HEY HEY!!!


WHat it bub! I do that stuff and I do a pretty damn good job too!


No off-key peewee football singers on MY shows!!!


**smirk**


Actually, I'm kinda "semi-retired" at the meoment. While technically I'm still the coordinator and executive producer, I haven't really done much with it since I got sick, no energy and not really enough time either.

But in my "prime," me and my one man army covered local high school basketball (the varsity, which isn't all that bad) football, village and school board meetings, League of Women Voters forums, graduations, Talk to Santa...

Oh yeah, and I was doing a vegan cooking show with two friends of mine who were die harder vegans and a music and poetry show that was based on live performances at a local coffee shop.

OK, so I and some of my evil cohorts put some really messed up stuff on TV once in a while, but for the most part we produced QUALITY television.

Much better than those "videots" at the college who had their fancy TV studios and multimillion dollar cameras...

Ok, their cameras weren't that much, but their budgets were ten times bigger than ours ever were.


And fer proof:

http://nclatv.chautco.net/

Though it needs a lot of updating.

There's some political crap going on right now and I may or may not stay on in my current position which they intend to make a paid gig (I have to submit an application and be interviewed before I can have/keep my job and get paid for it apparently)

But anyways, I been there done that and it's not quite Wayne's World.



If only because you can't broadcast live from the basement of someone's house like that, you could do it to tape though...



Hmmmmm.....

Now how do we go about booking Aerosmith????
 
Harpoon-

I guarantee that you didn't produce the shows I'm talking about. Pretty weird. However, it was amusing enough for me to watch for at least 5 minutes, mainly because I couldn't believe it was happening.
 
Harpoon,

Nothing you've produced can compare in atrocity to the "variety" show on which my first steady girlfriend sang "The Rose" accompanied by a pianist she hadn't ever practiced with. It turned out she hadn't ever practiced with ANY accompaniment, and wasn't used to performing with a tuned instrument that didn't spontaneously change key. I was lucky enough to have a scheduling conflict at the taping, and to not have cable during the at-least-three-obligatory showings. I was told by reliable observers that they never wanted to hear "The Rose" again. Since I had to live through the constant, unaccompanied practicing, I never want to hear "The Rose" again either. At my last high school reunion (2002), one of my classmates actually asked me about the girl in question, and still remembered the "performance". Looking back on the whole episode, suddenly open heart surgery doesn't seem all that painfull or scary.
 
Nancy,

If you've got a taste for "unusual" television, look for a show called "Iron Chef". Watch at least one whole episode. Gives me the giggles...
 
The required Public Access on cable here in Seattle opens it all the way up after 1:00 AM. No-holds barred, full-on XXX even. Yes, that's the 3-X's.

Or so I hear.
 
In the happy good ole' US of A public access is the modern day soap box.

You can do anything and say anything as long as it doesn't break any "serious" laws, violate someone's copyrights, promote violence, slander, or sell something.


In our little itty bitty (the studio used to be a closet for tax records) studio we have guidelines that say programs of an objectionable nature (as deemed by me, and I'm pretty loose with things) must be broadcast after 11pm at night and before 6am in the morning so the little kiddies don't get to see it...

You also have to run a little disclaimer before the show and contact information should anyone wish to call and complain after viewing the program.

Since public access HAS to play this stuff, we're absolved from any responsibilities for the program's content.


I haven't had nudity yet, but the college station has... Oh man was that a fun weekend...

Someone decided to do an "expose" on the local strip club (that's a story in and of itself) and they got permission from the club's owner (he's an *******) to wander around the club with a video camera during performances, interviewing patrons and strippers, asking their thoughts on having a strip club in a tiny peaceful sleepy conservative town....


Needless to say, our viewership (including the mayor, village board of trustees, police chief, village justice, cable advisory board, college counsil, college president, faculty advisors, and a whole slew of other people, were NOT impressed)

I caught a lot of that fallout because people mistakenly thought I had control over that channel and was responsible for what had happened, but it's operated by the university and the ONLY time I have control is when it's a program I'm producing or working in such as college commencement exercises....

Oh, I saw the show when it aired, was flipping through channels while I was broadcasting "Senior Report" on our channel (retired folks show) and I can recall what i said out loud as I watched, "This'll be great for ratings..."


About 3 years prior to Janet Jackson's striptease act during the Super Bowl half time show....
 
Only other "good" story I have for public access is when we were taping a high school basketball game and, after the game was over and the home team won "definitively" a few players went over to shake the hands of a guy from the visiting team who was rather upset with his performance and losing the game.

Instead of shaking the home players hands, he took a swing and broke one guy's jaw into a trillion little tiny pieces.

After everything settled down and the kid was whisked away in an ambulance to have his jaw wired shut, a police officer came over to where our equipment was and asked if I had it on tape...

The studio is two floors above the police station and I told him I'd drop off a copy after we got our gear back to the studio that night.


The moral of the story: Never smash in someone's jaw while the camera is rolling and pointed in your direction....
 
"Iron Chef" is certainly an unusual show. I've watched it a couple of times. They really get into "cut-throat" cooking in a big way.
 
Iron Chef

Iron Chef

What is the Iron Chef? Have you seen the older lady on Let's Talk Sex? My Mom who is 85 can't sleep at times and one night got tuned into this for a few minutes and could not believe what she was hearing and seeing. I looked at it myself and I had to giggle. Another one is the "Man Show". Ran into this one when surfing and had to laugh because it is so stupid and funny in a sick way.
 
Iron Chef is a contest between two very intense chefs. They are each given certain ingredients which they have to be incorporated into their dish and they have to turn out a gourmet meal during the course of the show, and there is judging at the end. It's high pressure. I'm sure there's more to it, others might be able to elaborate.

I have seen that older woman. She certainly discusses everything.
 
Nancy did you see the episode when Bobby Flay was on? He stood up on the grills at the end and really ticked the judges off.
 
Missed that one. I guess he really got the ole adrenalin going. Imagine getting all worked up over a cooking contest. But I suppose reputations are at stake. I like Emeril "Bam!"
 

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