In the 1970s and ‘80s, public access TV on New York City’s cable system was something to see. It had everything: comedy, curious characters, cutting-edge music, pioneering gay shows, the odd cameo by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Oh, and a lot of sexually explicit content, including a nude talk show.
Director David Shadrack Smith dials back to that freewheeling time in his fascinating documentary Public Access, which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The filmmaker joins the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss the glitch in the matrix (so to speak) that produced such an unfettered and uncensored explosion of self-expression. Smith explains how some “very forward-thinking academics” proposed a carve-out for public access programming as a Time Inc. subsidiary laid the cable infrastructure in Manhattan.
Smith gets into the wild mix of programming that gave viewers their first glimpse of Blondie, Talking Heads and other bands on the brink of making it big, plus how Basquiat became a subversive master of the character-generator machine. He tells us about The Emerald City, one of the first gay-themed programs to reach a wide audience, and how it became vital during the AIDS crisis.
And then there’s Midnight Blue — emphasis on blue – which really pushed the limits by talking about and showing sex on television at a time when Soap and Three’s Company were about the most daring things on mainstream TV. Midnight Blue’s Al Goldstein pushed the limits so far that the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately had to rule on whether he enjoyed a right to expose viewers to his brand of entertainment. (Al was not known for subtlety. He chose the name Screw for his underground hardcore porno publication. Sample Screw headline: “Finding the world’s best hookers.”)
Put inhibitions aside to experience the latest episode of Doc Talk, hosted by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley), and Matt Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.
Click on the audio above or find us on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.
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