TV Party – The Documentary
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Documentary: B
We have
looked at a few episodes of the underground, New York cable-access series TV Party before, but they were nothing
as compared to the final output of the show and TV Party – The Documentary that the show captured far more
important moments of its time and the music scene in particular than we
expected. Glenn O’Brien was the host and
is here to contribute with many of the participants and major guests (like
Debbie Harry) for this intriguing 90 minutes.
Pressing
all the political buttons possible, getting calls from the most ignorant and
homophobic, acting goofy and influencing David Letterman by his own admission,
the show was really the next logical step after the original Saturday Night Live in where you could
go with a talk/skit show, though they did get distracted. Guest who were either scheduled or dropped by
includes Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fab Five Freddie, Nile Rodgers,
George Clinton, The B-52s, David Bowie, Robert Fripp, Chris Stein and Debbie
Harry. There are also many, many real
original Punk bands from the era are here in a priceless archive seen in many
of the clips.
Most
important is the excellent way in which the program captures the spirit of what
bold TV can be; something so sadly lacking in the medium today, especially when
things should have become more interesting with the intro of HD when HD seems
to be making the medium stillborn.
The 1.33
X 1 image from the show is black and white NTSC videotape, though newer footage
is color, namely the interviews.
However, there is something interesting and fun about that older tape
that marks a great period of experimentation we will never see again. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is mono for the
most part, though the interviews are simple stereo at best. Extras include a really good 16-page booklet,
stills and a trailer for the program.
- Nicholas Sheffo
