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TV Party Poster

TV Party

"The TV show that's a party!"

From 1978 to 1982, Glenn O'Brien hosted a New York city public access cable TV show called TV Party. Co-hosted by Chris Stein, from Blondie, and directed by filmmaker Amos Poe, the hour long show took television where it had never gone before: to the edge of civility and "sub-realism" as Glenn would put it. Walter Steding and his TV Party "Orchestra" provided a musical accompaniment to the madness at hand, and many artists and musicians, from The Clash, Nile Rodgers, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Bryne and Arto Lindsey were regular guests. It was the cocktail party that could be a political party. With 80 hours of disintegrating 3/4 inch videotape as a starting point, we tracked down the trend setting participants still living today and found out what they remember of the period and how the show influenced their lives. This, combined with clips from the orginal show, became the documentary "TV Party.

Top Cast

  • Jean-Michel Basquiat

    Jean-Michel Basquiat

    Self (archive footage)

  • David Bowie

    David Bowie

    Self

  • Clem Burke

    Clem Burke

    Self

  • David Byrne

    David Byrne

    Self

  • George Clinton

    George Clinton

    Self

  • Fab 5 Freddy

    Fab 5 Freddy

    Self

  • Robert Fripp

    Robert Fripp

    Self

  • Debbie Harry

    Debbie Harry

    Self

  • Michael Holman

    Michael Holman

    Self

Overview

From 1978 to 1982, Glenn O'Brien hosted a New York city public access cable TV show called TV Party. Co-hosted by Chris Stein, from Blondie, and directed by filmmaker Amos Poe, the hour long show took television where it had never gone before: to the edge of civility and "sub-realism" as Glenn would put it. Walter Steding and his TV Party "Orchestra" provided a musical accompaniment to the madness at hand, and many artists and musicians, from The Clash, Nile Rodgers, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Bryne and Arto Lindsey were regular guests. It was the cocktail party that could be a political party. With 80 hours of disintegrating 3/4 inch videotape as a starting point, we tracked down the trend setting participants still living today and found out what they remember of the period and how the show influenced their lives. This, combined with clips from the orginal show, became the documentary "TV Party.

Rating

8.0 / 10
3 Reviews
1 Popular

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