12:19 a.m. - 2004-08-21
gushing about tv nation
TV Nation
TV Nation was a television series produced by Michael Moore and gang that ran on the Fox and BBC network for only a few months, but it won Emmys and so on...
I stumbled across a copy of the book Adventures in a TV Nation in our local libraries and boy is it hilarious and mindblowing.
TV Nation is a politically charged documentary with a social conscious. In another sense, it is a riot.
Segments include having a black famous actor and a white convicted felon, both trying to flag a cab in New York, and seeing who the cab would stop for, even when the black guy is clearly in front.
In another segment, mike (moore) goes on a trip to russia to find the nuclear warhead missile that was aimed at his hometown Flint during the cold war. Apparently, during the cold war, there were thousands of nuclear missiles in russia positioned and aimed at significant cities and towns across America. His aim was to find the missile and buy it back.
Then there's the mindblowing incident where the producers of TV Nation hired their own lobbyist for $5000 and managed to convince officals in Congress (!) to pass a bill stating that Aug 16 henceof be known as TV Nation Day. And they actually succeeded.
It is really cool how the TV Nation team managed to raise issues and make it so funny and clever. But most importantly, they stood for what they believed in and they were what the common man in the street wanted, as a vent, as a comeback against corporations that bulldoze individuals, against all that goes against common human sense. They managed to rally people because they sincerely wanted to understand people and highlight problems, innanities and cause positive change.
one of the cute pictures in the book that i liked was the TV Nation Parade one about a town held their own parade to support and celebrate the program. The local businesses actually closed shop for the day, roads were cordoned, and people marched or walked behind as a procession, pushing their television sets in supermarket carts. And a kid dressed up as a television set with the words TV Nation inscribed on its screen.
Some of their surveys, actual opinion polls of the american public conducted by a polling firm they hired, also yielded funny results. To people who know how surveys are formulated, i guess this is pretty interesting. and funny.
here are some examples.
40% of americans remember where they were when JFK the movie was shot.
28% of americans think that our army's high-tech military equipment is too expensive to risk in combat.
65% of american women believe there is "a lot of difference" between a campaign contribution and a bribe.
Only 35% of men see a difference.
yea ok, that's more but im tired.
do go and read the book.
