WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:03.640 The Projection Booth podcast is sponsored by Scarecrow Video cry Out. 2 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:06.799 Scarecrow's rent by mail service choose from over one hundred 3 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.480 and fifty thousand films that get Blu rays, four k's 4 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:13.800 and DVDs delivered directly to your door. Visit scarecrow dot com. 5 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.440 Today you are watching the Z Channel, a service of 6 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:18.800 Theta Cable Television. 7 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.199 Oh gez folks, it's showtime. 8 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:28.920 People say good money to see this movie. 9 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:31.800 When they go out to a theater, they want clothed sodas, 10 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.439 hot popcorn, and no monsters in the projection Booth. 11 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:36.320 Everyone for tend. 12 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:39.159 Podcasting isn't boring, cut it off. 13 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.399 The first Kursauer film I think I ever saw was 14 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:02.560 the Throne of Blood. 15 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:04.599 On the channel. 16 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:09.400 Fleeting Filmy Iva Tolone, there was a picture called Spider's Stratagem. 17 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:11.480 Tan Begging Bo Wild Bunch. 18 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:14.920 The straw Dogs, Uh bringing the Head of Our Freedom Garcias. 19 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:16.519 The story of adele Ah. 20 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:25.760 Suddy Lights Rear Window, Midnight Cowboy Song means the same. 21 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.640 Jeremmy guitar, The Onion Field, The other Man who Fell 22 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.760 to Earth, every film that Marlon Branda was ever. 23 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:45.120 In on Our Salvation uncharged territory. 24 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:50.879 Like Tom Thumb's and the Jungles. 25 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:54.159 Jerry Harvey, Jerry Harvey programmer, obsessive programmer, dark negative and 26 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:55.799 Maverick Nurtury. 27 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.439 Skating that line between insanity and genius. 28 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.519 What do you think the secret of the Z channel 29 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:03.079 success is? 30 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:05.599 I don't know. 31 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:09.599 If I told you, then wouldn't be a secret. 32 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:15.960 My father says, there's only right and wrong, good and evil, 33 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:22.599 nothing in between. It isn't that simple, is it. No, 34 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:33.080 it isn't. It should be, but it isn't. Okay. 35 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.840 Next use Time six six saw Hollywood story with a 36 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.080 tragic ending. This morning. The bodies of Z Channel programmer 37 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.960 Jerry Harvey and his wife, Darry Rudolph were discovered Saturday 38 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.840 night in their Westwood home. Police report Harvey shot and 39 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.479 killed Rudolph, his wife of two years, before turning the 40 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.520 gun on himself. The motive is unknown. Harvey had been 41 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.080 chief programmer at Z Channel, which is known throughout Los 42 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.560 Angeles for its eclectic and innovative programming. Both Harvey and 43 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.439 Rudolph were thirty nine years old. 44 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.240 Welcome to the Projection Booth, I'm your host. Mike White 45 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.879 joined me once again. Is mister Josh Adley. Been a while, 46 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.800 but yes, I am here. I am still alive. I'm 47 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.639 still in college and still useless. Also back in the 48 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.000 booth is mister Adam Long. 49 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:45.479 It's been an. 50 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.439 Even longer while, but hey, I'm glad to be invited back, 51 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.960 and I'm excited to talk about this film. What can 52 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:51.479 I tell you? 53 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.800 We're starting off the new year with a patroon request 54 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.919 from Projection booth listener Andrew Hendrickson as we talk about 55 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:01.240 the two thousand and four documentary from the Zan Cassavetties 56 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.319 Z Channel, A Magnificent Obsession. The film looks at the 57 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.560 titular pay TV channel, its inception, its impact and demise, 58 00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:12.800 and an ambitious to our work. Moreover, it looks at 59 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:17.560 the channel, not necessarily founder, but the main programmer, Jerry Harvey, 60 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:23.079 and his rise and fall and very depressing end. We 61 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:27.519 will be spoiling this documentary. I guess you can spoil documentaries. 62 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.720 We're going to spoil it as much as we possibly can. 63 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.160 So if you haven't seen Z Channel, it's really worth 64 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:35.000 your while go check it out. We will still be 65 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.759 here when you come back. Adam, when was the first 66 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.079 time you saw Z Channel? A magnificent obsession, and what 67 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:41.759 did you think? 68 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.240 I saw it originally when It's I Believe was on 69 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:47.839 the IFC channel in two thousand and six, and I 70 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:49.920 liked it a lot. I mean, it really hit me 71 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.439 in all the right places. But it was ten years later. 72 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:55.439 I was out in LA and just visiting friends basically, 73 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.360 and just so happened they were having a Cassavettes film 74 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:04.720 Festival thing or whatever over at Tarantino's theater, the New Beverly, 75 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:08.759 and this film was included on the Saturday night midnight screening. 76 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:13.160 Tarantino likes to brag everything's always on film, and so 77 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:16.360 it was thirty five supposedly the only thirty five millimeter 78 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.519 print of the film in existence. 79 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.680 So I saw it in that way. 80 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.720 And leading up to this, I write for this publication 81 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:26.439 I've been writing for It's an All Weekly, I've been 82 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.040 writing for for fifteen years. And the movies that I 83 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:30.959 was seeing at that time were really depressing me, and 84 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.120 I was thinking, maybe I'm falling out of love with 85 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:36.240 my you know, my love affair with movies has been 86 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:38.199 there since I was four years old, and I thought, 87 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.759 I'm just really not feeling it. And I sat down 88 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:43.360 and watched this in that theater with this I think 89 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:47.399 it was sold out at midnight in November twenty sixteen, 90 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:49.199 and I just my spirits were lifted. 91 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:49.920 I can't even. 92 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.240 It was just an elated feeling seeing these clips on 93 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:56.279 the big screen, and I thought, it's not me, it's 94 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.759 the movies that are that we're seeing now, that's the problem. 95 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.000 And so this film was kind of I know that's 96 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.759 a long winded way to tell the story, but it 97 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.600 just it just lifted me to a better place. And 98 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:09.160 when I walked out, I mean, even though it's a 99 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.959 sad story, it just really made me feel so positive 100 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.560 when I came out, just the love of film. So anyway, 101 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:18.000 I'll shut. 102 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.920 Up for now, and Josh, how about yourself. 103 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.040 I also saw it when it first aired on IFC. 104 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.360 I had not thought about Z channel when I saw 105 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:31.560 the documentary for decades. I had read about it, you know, 106 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.199 here and there in magazines, and I saw this documentary 107 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.519 and I'm like, it kind of reignited my you know what, 108 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.920 get to remember this is pre streaming era. We really 109 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.600 need a channel like this again, because you know, Turner 110 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.519 classic movies pretended to kind of be z ish if 111 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.040 you will, but they were never going to show From Beyond, 112 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.000 they were never going to show Forbidden World, they were 113 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:59.800 never going to show some of the weirdo shit that 114 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.680 Z Channel showed. And I was started to think we 115 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:06.040 really needed a channel like this again, and so I 116 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:08.160 saw it on TV. I saw it on IFC. 117 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:11.759 I think TCM has shown a lot of those weirdo titles. 118 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:14.079 I don't know if they specifically have shown the ones 119 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.839 that you talked about, but especially that midnight movie series 120 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:21.279 that they had at twelve o'clock on Saturdays, they definitely 121 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.879 have shown some really fucked up shit, which is great 122 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:25.480 and I absolutely love it. 123 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:31.800 That was called TCM Underground before Discovery bought Warner Brothers 124 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:36.160 and then they tried to kill turner Classic movies and 125 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:39.759 one of the things they did kill was TCM Underground unfortunately, 126 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.160 so it was there for a little while and then 127 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:43.720 it wasn't. 128 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.839 So my history with this movie is I just watched 129 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.480 it last week for the first time. I had played 130 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.519 around with seeing this for a long time but never did. 131 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.839 I don't know what kept me away. It might be 132 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.920 somebody that we've already mentioned in this podcast, Quentinarantino, because 133 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:06.040 he is so fucking obnoxious in this documentary. There was 134 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:09.639 a period of time where you couldn't turn on a documentary. 135 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.560 I mean it could be on ice fishing and Tarantino 136 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:14.959 would be in a documentary. It just seemed like that 137 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.079 was his career for the longest time, was just being 138 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.480 in documentaries. And it's really a shame because I've got 139 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:22.839 friends who have tried to get him in documentaries and 140 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:25.480 didn't show up for those. I don't know what it 141 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.319 is like if you just hit him on the right day, 142 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:29.600 give him the right bag of weed, what it is 143 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:32.559 that he's going to show up for. But holy shit, 144 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:38.639 not counting Tarantino, this was a very delightful documentary. And yeah, 145 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.360 super sad, super depressing. I kind of knew, you know, 146 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.639 they do the whole We're going to start at the 147 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.519 end and go back to the beginning kind of thing. 148 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:49.399 Very very typical documentary structure when it comes to this movie. 149 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.279 But I was there for it, especially when it came 150 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:57.399 to just the idea of these director's cuts. We'll talk 151 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.759 about this as we go along, and just how Jerry 152 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:05.879 Harvey was so into digging out very rare films and 153 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.840 if anybody knows anything about me. They know how much 154 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:13.240 I love rare films and trying to unearth things that 155 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:16.200 people aren't able to see normally and trying to make 156 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:19.759 those much more public. And I think I would have 157 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.399 loved to have had a z channel in my life. 158 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:26.120 I did have, and I think they mentioned on TV on. 159 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:30.240 TV will now be presenting it's optional programming immediately following 160 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:32.360 VIA that was only option on TV. 161 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:33.320 Thewi Zoom is. 162 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:38.960 Regular program schedule. This is on TV subspression. 163 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:46.080 Television I did have on TV when I was younger. 164 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:50.200 That was my very first foray into pay television. Though 165 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.960 I don't necessarily remember all of the titles. I only 166 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.480 really remember watching Star Wars when you could pay an 167 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:01.519 extra premium and watch Star Wars through on TV. I 168 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:04.440 don't remember that much more of the programming I remember 169 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.840 more of once we got into cable and HBO, who 170 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.799 seems to be kind of the nemesis. They're the enemy 171 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.480 when it comes to this. Which is funny because right 172 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.679 now as we're recording this, we're going through all of 173 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.679 these bidding wars for different movie companies, and we're just 174 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:25.360 making the conglomeration even bigger, and yeah, pretty much putting 175 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:29.720 anything that's programmed like this and seems to have a 176 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:33.159 real love of film. It feels like film is so 177 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.039 subsequent to commerce, you know, just is all about the 178 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:40.600 money right now and the entertainment slash art of it. 179 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.600 Be damned. Z channels seem to really embrace the art 180 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:45.960 as well as the trash, all the good stuff. 181 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:49.840 I would like to add that Z also, and I 182 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:54.000 mean this in a pretty positive way, they were sort 183 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:57.279 of a film snob channel because I've looked through a 184 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:01.039 lot of their old listings. They didn't do exploitation very 185 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:04.679 much like you'll It's very rare to find them showing 186 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.600 a slasher movie, even at the height of slashers. They 187 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.200 wouldn't show a lot of drive and stuff. You weren't 188 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:15.159 going to see the great smokey roadblock here. So I'll 189 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:18.279 push back a little bit on the trash angle, because 190 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.000 they really kind of tried to elevate themselves to a 191 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:27.879 film snobbery sort of channel, and that was both a 192 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.320 turn on and to turn off for a lot of people. 193 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.120 Yeah, I will say I'm not that familiar with the 194 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.960 channel itself. I'm mostly going by some of those guides 195 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.679 that they would show. So yes, they would show things 196 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.840 like Chinatown, and I guess they showed China Town a lot, 197 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.080 but I know they also showed the Blackbird, which I 198 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:46.919 would consider absolute trash. 199 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.879 A friend of mine was that asking me I ran 200 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:52.679 this documentary to watch it again in preparation for the 201 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.039 program that we're recording, and a friend of mine, who's 202 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:57.840 also a film but I inviting him over to watch 203 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.759 it with me, had not seen it and he said, 204 00:12:00.039 --> 00:12:01.480 asked me, well, how did you first hear about the 205 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.279 Z Channel. I said, well, I remember reading a book 206 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.240 about the Oscars, the History of the Oscars, and it 207 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:09.799 was Give Them Hell, Harry. And this story wasn't mentioned 208 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.679 in the film, which is interesting because James Whitmore was 209 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.879 nominated for Best Actor for Give Them Hell, Harry, which 210 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.720 is a film stage play about Harry Truman in the 211 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:21.320 mid seventy I think it was seventy four, and it 212 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.639 was because of the exposure from the Z Channel that 213 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:26.039 he got that nomination, and it was a story that 214 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:27.879 I was surprised that he didn't cover it. Maybe it 215 00:12:27.960 --> 00:12:29.919 was in a different cut of the film, because I 216 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.480 know I listened to the commentary and they said the 217 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.399 original cut was like five hours, but that was where 218 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:37.120 I first heard about the Z Channel. Probably I was 219 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.600 in my teens at that point, and I was fascinated. 220 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.600 I was like, what's this all about? And the more 221 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.360 I came to read about it, I was just completely 222 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:49.600 envious that I didn't get that experience in today's age. 223 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.879 You know, twenty years on, they could have done that 224 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:55.399 five hour cut and I would have sat through all 225 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:59.559 five hours of that. I think they should go back 226 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:02.840 and read cut this into a five hour mini series 227 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.440 because they talk on the commentary about a whole lot 228 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:11.840 of Z Channel lore and controversies. Oh we cut that. 229 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:14.279 They didn't want to talk about that. That was a 230 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.720 sensitive subject and we can talk about that later. Because 231 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.600 I think, Mike, we should set the stage for what 232 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.639 Z Channel was. The documentary glosses over it. They make 233 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:28.279 Jerry Harvey sort of the heart of Z Channel, and 234 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.960 he was after a while, but he didn't start it. 235 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.240 He didn't show up till like six years into Z 236 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:37.879 Channel's existence. Because before that, to set the stage a 237 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.039 little more, Adam you might remember this too, you had 238 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:45.159 HBO Showtime, and then you know, down the line you 239 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:47.960 had Movie Channel and Cinemax and then Mike you brought 240 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:51.360 up on TV, and then there was Select TV, and 241 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.399 there were a couple other weirdo pay channels like that. 242 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.720 Monsters do have their place in the zoo, in your nightmares, 243 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:09.799 in the deep, in your favorite horror movies, but not 244 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:12.120 in your living room on your TV. 245 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.639 Don't let PayTV be the monster in your living room. 246 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.879 PayTV and cable TV companies are seeking the right to 247 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:27.799 charge you for the very programs you now get free. 248 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:31.600 If you want to stop PayTV and save free television, 249 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:34.879 sign the petition in the lobby of this theater. Let 250 00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:37.600 your lawmakers know how you feel in the fight against 251 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:39.440 PayTV and cable TV. 252 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.240 And Z was the only one that had real balls 253 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:51.440 in their programming because between On and Select and HBO Showtime, 254 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.600 they were all showing the same basic movies. I mean, yes, 255 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.320 you had exclusives here and there, but they were showing 256 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:00.799 the basic stuff. You were never going to see nineteen 257 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.080 hundred on HBO. You were never going to see the 258 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:07.799 Leopard on HBO. You were never probably going to see 259 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.440 Forbidden World on HBO, but you were going to see 260 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.879 it on the Z channel. And that's the stage. VHS 261 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.440 is a blip on the radar, you know, This is 262 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.639 back when tapes were one hundred dollars a tape and 263 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:24.639 a player was two thousand bucks. So if you wanted 264 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:27.200 to see a movie not on television, and what I 265 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.440 mean by like, you know, NBC Night at the Movies, 266 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.519 you got Z Channel. Problem is it was only in 267 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:38.320 Los Angeles and that really hurt them, especially down the line, 268 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.279 because everything else was more or less national. 269 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:42.200 Yeah. 270 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.360 I will give some props to the Movie Channel because 271 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.840 I remember I was in tenth grade. This was nineteen 272 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:50.159 eighty five, and they used to run cult films at 273 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:52.679 midnight on Friday nights on the Movie Channel and that's 274 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.679 where I first saw Eraserhead. And that is also where 275 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.360 I first saw the Groove Tube. So I know that 276 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.559 they were doing something, but that it was about the 277 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.279 closest that we could get to what you're talking about 278 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:08.320 about cult films are off the mainstream path. But I 279 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:10.879 do remember that the Movie Channel did something because I 280 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.519 remember that is distinctly where I saw Eraserhead and the 281 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:15.679 Groove Tube for the first time. 282 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:19.080 I think that was Drive in Theater even before Joe 283 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.320 Bob Briggs took over Drive in Theater. It existed long 284 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.279 before him, So I think that's when they were doing there, 285 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:29.000 and I'm doing air quotes drive in movies, although I'm 286 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:33.440 not sure Eraserhead conchs as a drive in movie. I'm 287 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:35.399 not bashing the movie. I just don't know how that 288 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:36.919 well that would have played at a drive in. 289 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.360 You probably know this, Josh, and I'm so glad that 290 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:44.799 you're on the show. This episode Max Headroom was Max 291 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.840 Headroom on the movie channel. I swear I watched Max 292 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:52.720 Headroom late at night, like not the TV show Cinemax Cinemax. 293 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.759 Okay, Max Headroom was a co product because okay, the 294 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.720 original Max Headroom in England that was a coal production 295 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:04.839 with HBO. HBO owned Cinemax obviously, and it was we 296 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.640 will give you half the money to make the initial 297 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.039 sixty minute pilot for the UK as long as we 298 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:14.799 can er it over here on Cinemax. And then that 299 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:17.680 version added some music videos to get it to feature length, 300 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:20.359 and then they spun the talk show that I think 301 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.680 you're thinking of and the music video show that was 302 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.480 spun off of HBO's involvement in the original twenty minutes 303 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.119 into the Future movie. So you're in the right era, 304 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.039 wrong channel. 305 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:37.119 That's also around the same time. I remember either Cinemax 306 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.319 or the Movie Channel or one of those showing Forbidden Zone. 307 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:44.480 And that was my first exposure to the Forbidden Zone 308 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:49.200 was watching it late night table and as a probably 309 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:52.920 thirteen fourteen year old, I mean that movie just worked 310 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:53.440 my mind. 311 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.200 The era we're talking about here, Z Channel is a 312 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:02.519 unique little entity. They're an eye of i'll just say 313 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:07.400 thoughtfulness in an era of mainstream path And now that's 314 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.480 not to say they didn't show mainstream movies either. They 315 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:14.319 showed Rocky, they showed Empire Strikes Back, they showed Jaws, 316 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:17.559 they showed the Expressiest. Because when you have so many 317 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.720 people that look back at it, they're like, oh, that 318 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:23.799 was that artsy fartsy channel, right, it's like, well, yes 319 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:29.680 and no. But they had a big audience of I'll 320 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:33.279 almost i'll steal a line from the president of National Lampoon, 321 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:38.880 well to do nobody's because they being in LA and 322 00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:43.680 LA only, they were kind of talking to the film 323 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:47.519 industry and the people who surrounded the film industry, and 324 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.240 they didn't really get out of that until the bootleg era, 325 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:53.200 which is where I started to see them. 326 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.319 I remember with on TV, it started at eight o'clock 327 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.400 at night and they ran it for I don't know, 328 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.000 five hours or something like that. It was not a 329 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.119 twenty four to seven channel like HBO any of those 330 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.759 other things where you were paying for cable. I can't 331 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:12.839 even remember the original cable company that we were dealing 332 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:16.039 with way back when. But when it comes to Z channel, 333 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:18.160 was that twenty four to seven or was that another 334 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:19.480 only at night thing. 335 00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:22.839 I'm not sure if it started as twenty four to seven, 336 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.319 but by the late seventies it was a twenty four 337 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:29.440 to seven channel. But even HBO wasn't at first. I've 338 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.960 got an old promo of for HBO in like seventy 339 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.720 six or seventy seven, now twenty four hours a day. 340 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:43.799 H we in the new year with more great entertainment 341 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.960 than ever before, as HBO goes twenty four hours a day, 342 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:49.839 plus sports and specials for less than taking your family 343 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:53.039 to a single movie. HBO twenty four hours a day 344 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:54.920 starting in January, to. 345 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:58.440 Install HBO in your home till sixty seven. 346 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:10.960 Wait, so what was it before that? Six eight? Do 347 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.279 you just show two movies a night or something? 348 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:16.559 Josh, You've shared some stuff with us as far as 349 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:19.880 like a lot of there's like a. I don't even 350 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:24.559 know how many hour video of Mick Garris interviewing directors. 351 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:28.720 It sounds like he's interviewing them before they show a movie, right, 352 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:30.559 Is that what that program was? 353 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:35.279 Yeah? They had for their fantasy film festivals what they 354 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:38.319 called it, and that's where the horror, sci fi and 355 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:43.200 even vaguely defined fantasy films would go. And they would 356 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.720 have on guests and I think in a weird way 357 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:51.240 who they could get for some of their programming because before, 358 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:54.000 like they had Roger Korman on there, they had never 359 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.279 showed a Roger Corman movie on Z Channel before, so 360 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:01.000 I think it was, well, Roger's willing to come on, well, 361 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:05.480 we'll show piranha, I guess because Rogers coming on the 362 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.880 Fantasy Film Festival was a big deal. And I shared 363 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.480 with you guys a whole lot of what rare programming. 364 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:15.799 I can find so much of this because it was 365 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:19.880 in such a relatively niche market and at the early 366 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:24.759 end of VCRs, so much of their promos and their 367 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:29.720 bumpers and their interviews and their host segments just aren't 368 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.359 out there anymore. I would love I want to put 369 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.160 out a call if anybody has old Z Channel programming 370 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:40.200 that's not already on YouTube. Contact Mike to get in 371 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.400 contact with me. I'd love to create an archive of 372 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:47.279 this stuff because I think I set you guys nine hours, 373 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:50.640 like a giant nine hour block of all that stuff, 374 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.680 and that's all I can find. And for a channel 375 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.640 that lasted like fifteen years, that's pathetic. There should be 376 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:58.519 a lot more. 377 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.359 Than that ruined the movie. It sounds like once the 378 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:06.880 sports programming came in, according to the commentary, and we'll 379 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.920 talk about the commentary, once the sports programming came in, 380 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.440 they started taping over the old tapes. Because I will 381 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.400 admit that as someone who sounds like I was working 382 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:20.039 in like an industry kind of proto to what you're 383 00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:24.079 working in at them, like commercial insertion on a cable channel. Basically, 384 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.279 those three quarter inch tapes, they're not cheap, and we 385 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.880 would recycle those things as much as we possibly could 386 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:31.400 until the quality just degraded. 387 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:33.119 That's the way it used to be. 388 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.279 And you know, I cringe when I think about that, 389 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:38.799 about things that were lost to the sands of time 390 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.200 because of that. I mean, we just, I mean, it 391 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.359 was a different time. We weren't thinking of, you know, 392 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:47.799 the future when we would just wish and give anything 393 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.079 to have these things. And you know, but yeah, I 394 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:54.279 really appreciate what was what you sent us with these 395 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.480 the blocks of programming here, because I tried to get 396 00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:58.799 through as much of it as I could, and it 397 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:02.039 was fascinating. It was really just a window because yeah, 398 00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:03.960 I had done some YouTube research as well, and I 399 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:08.000 just wasn't finding much of anything. It's really sad that 400 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:11.440 it's not available. So I second the emotion. If if 401 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.000