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PEOPLE TV CABLE ACCESS 12
Comment by LJ Reynolds: In the early '90s, everyone doing a show at People TV shared the backstage storage area, so we all ended up with some combination of the same set: carpeted stage, shabby blue curtains, coffee table and fake plants. There were also these giant blue blocks (brought in for my show, ahhhhhh) which you would see arranged in new configurations throughout the week. Looking back at this list, I realize how closely People TV approached a utopian form of personal and political expression--and how this model set me up for later disappointment with the art world, which isn't one. We all went through the same producer training, and we all had an official facilitator to help us during our show. The rigidity of People TV's time slots (first come, first served) contributed to this climate of matter-of-fact equality, because as soon as your slot ended, you had to break down your set and possibly help the next show put up theirs. Who's Who In Jesus Christ raced out so Living With AIDS could set up and then they would pull down the rainbow flag for Three Guys Talk Sports who had to make way for the absurdist thrill of ahhhhhh. During the week, when I was getting the graphics ready for my show (using a clunky dinosaur computer), I would always end up helping the good people of Take the Music Back who were trying to repudiate rap and rock-n-roll by having small children stand on the blue blocks and dance to Biblical hymns. Jack, the Communist, a large man in suspenders who did a call-in show would donate his graphics time to me, three hours a week.
from Scott McFarland |
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