from the TV Barn archives
Click here to return to the home page.

TV Barn is on the radio ...

... this morning, Thursday, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Central time. I'm filling in for talk show host Tom Becka on KMBZ-AM. We'll be talking television, so tune in, or even phone in.

Because of the radio show, our weekly chat 'n' chew over Wednesday night's "Survivor" episode will have to wait until Friday.

Sci-Fi on the street

by John Zipperer

The Sci-Fi Channel brought a little of its corporate television self down to the level of the proletariat last week when it held the first Exposure: Future of Film Festival in Manhattan. Like the "Exposure" TV series that gave the event its name, the festival featured independent works from beginning filmmakers hoping to make it to the big time. At least until the Internet becomes an established platform for introducing new talent to Hollywood's closed system, this kind of festival is valuable as a means of offering a platform for aspiring artists beyond just hoping a Hollywood producer will pick up their submission out of a pile. (See Reader Mail below for another view on unsolicited scripts.)

The event did have some problems. The day I attended, Saturday the fifth, the audience was kept waiting outside in the hot sun. To their credit, the very friendly staff offered the waiting fans free candy and soft drinks to make the heat more bearable. Inside, it was pretty cool, not just in terms of temperature but in terms of the design and layout of the screening rooms. The large, open space was marked off into several small, funky theaters. (Instead of chairs, there were giant bean bag chairs that were surprisingly comfortable.) But the big negative came after viewing the first film of the day in one of the theaters when the customers were informed that the festival had sold too many tickets, so those who had watched the first film would have to leave and let the next batch of people into the theater for the second film.

In addition, because all of the theaters were largely open to the others, sound bleed was a big problem, and the voices in the relatively quiet film I was watching ("Storm") were, from time to time, drowned out by another theater's film that apparently included much screaming and explosions. Maybe they were tuned into Fox.

For a $5 admission (which included a free copy of the channel's Sci Fi magazine), attendees got all-day admission, assuming they were able to fit into the screening rooms for the films they wanted to see. And best of all, the event was non-profit, with ticket revenue being donated to the Independent Feature Project, which works to support the production and distribution of independent films. So congrats to Sci- Fi for daring to be more than just a cable television channel, and for doing it in a way and for a cause that will help fuel creative talent in future years. 

Zippy's Sci-Fi Loft continues ...

Pick to click

Last year a group of 43 deep-pocketed advertisers formed the Family Friendly Programming Fund with a seemingly quaint notion in mind: to encourage more TV shows that can be watched by the whole family. Actually, it makes a good deal of sense to the advertisers — which include Hallmark Cards and Procter & Gamble — who are tired of having to buy time on violent and raunchy programs. And judging by the fund's first fruits, a sparkling new mother-daughter relationship show on the WB this fall called "Gilmore Girls," their money is already paying dividends.

The fund also sponsors the "Family Television Awards" that will be televised for the first time at 9 p.m. on CBS. Reba McEntire is host for the one-hour special, which honors six outstanding programs for the family including "The West Wing," "Biography" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Young country singer Billy Gilman also performs, since country is apparently the official music of family-friendly TV ... or at least of CBS.

On this date...

in 1998, "the Bad boys of Magic" get hired to add a little variety to the FX network and the result is "Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular." The debut features roller skating puppets, trained house cats, wrestler Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Steven Segal Band, Cheech Marin, John Popper and fellow talk show leech Super Dave Osborne. -- Tom Heald

Previously at TV Barn:

 

More news you can use

Copyright © 1999-2001 Aaron Barnhart | Back to TV Barn home