During one of my final semesters at C.W. Post, I was assigned to come up with a program concept for my TV Production class, one that would be filmed and broadcast on the college’s television channel at a later date. Thus was born “Rants & Raves,” a smashing success of a debate/talk show – complete with a live studio audience – which lasted one entire half hour. I don’t believe it was ever broadcast, actually, nor was it picked up for another installment.
Imagine that.
Not being too fascinated by the technical aspect of television production myself, I assigned myself to the duties of hosting the show, while relying on the skills of my more mechanically inclined classmates to actually “produce” the episode - you know, do all the work. I then enlisted the aid of four friends from the Honors Program, figuring they could speak intelligently on the given topic – at that time, back in the Fall of 2003, the pros and cons of becoming involved in the Iraq War – leaving me to do nothing more than moderate and throw out a few questions here and there. As it turned out, I didn’t even have to do that much.
Looking back at the unedited video, I must say that our “performances” were fairly hysterical. The panel consisted of two guys and two girls, with the opinions fairly split down the middle, one sex vs. the other. The studio audience was comprised of an entire Political Science/Ethics class, most of whom looked as though they’d rather be anywhere else.
As the debate raged on around me, I sat perched on the edge of the couch, desperately trying not to laugh, as my four friends became more and more animated, the discussion growing ever more heated with each passing moment. About 40 or 45 minutes in (did I mention that this was to be a 30 minute program?), I finally managed to interject that we should open the debate to questions from our audience. And so ensued even more hilarity.
We had a grand total of two questions, one from an old man who must have been returning to school, the other from a student who felt the need to note the irony of our girls vs. guys scenario. That was it. Stimulating, I know.
Looking back, this one little episode was definitely an interesting concept, one that – despite its obvious flaws – actually did accomplish its purpose in the end, perfectly capturing this one little moment in time and the opinions of a handful of those who were there.
The unedited version clocked in at just under 90 minutes.
Published: August 19, 2009