TVTV: Video Revolutionaries

In the annals of guerrilla television, the 1970s pioneer counterculture outfit TVTV stands out for their remarkable reinvention of TV’s norms and practices. TVTV served as a bridge to much of what we take for granted about the medium now, including taking a camera someplace where one isn’t necessarily wanted (political conventions, parties for Washington’s elites). Filmmaker Paul Goldsmith’s richly detailed documentary features TVTV’s core members, as well as a number of future movers and shakers: unknowns Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Harold Ramis; Barack Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod; and gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson (who actually pops speed during an on-camera interview). Founded by a collective of dedicated if initially clueless idealists no older than 26, TVTV (which stood for the cheekily-named Top Value Television) found a huge asset in a relatively small, over-the-shoulder portable video tape recorder and handheld camera. This soon became an essential tool in TVTV’s mission to record everything that network TV was not showing in its news-gathering (and later entertainment) coverage. Seeing the ample archival footage here—including scenes from the 1972 Republican National Convention, a look at the widespread Guru Maharaj Ji cult, an extensive interview with fugitive Abbie Hoffman, and a failed pilot for NBC—viewers will get a pretty good idea of the group’s aesthetic evolution and non-threatening approach to dealing with authority. And the film also serves as a cautionary tale of how group cohesiveness can be compromised, one disaffected member at a time. An engaging film about a key movement in media history, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)