5.4.3. How did TV Nation come about?
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This article is from the Michael Moore FAQ, by Edward Champion edchamp@slip.net with numerous contributions by others.
5.4.3. How did TV Nation come about?
From a Moore interview with Alexander Cockburn in "Grand
Street_,
"I was out in Los Angeles trying to get money for my movie,
Canadian Bacon. I got a call asking whether I'd be interested in
doing anything for TV. I said, "No, i've got to get my movie
made." They said -- this was NBC -- 'Come over anyway, let's see
what ideas you have for TV.'
I had to drive down Sunset to La Brea. I remember I had rock
and roll on very loud. I thought, what would I like to see on TV?
Forget about what they would like. What would I like? I started
thinking about what really hasn't been done on American TV before:
combining nonfiction with humor, giving it a political edge and a
distinct point of view.
I met my agent and somebody from Tri-Star, the studio that
would produce whatever TV show I came up with, before we saw the
NBC executives. I told them what I was thinking, and my agent
said, 'Oh no, that's horrible. They're going to hate it.' We went
up and met with Warren Littlefield, the president of NBC
Entertainment, and a couple of his v.p.'s, and I told them the idea
and a couple of sketches.
It was almost an hour's drive. That's a long time. And, you
know, I've never done any drugs. Play rock and roll really loud
and don't do any drugs, you can really get a lot done. I remember
I had the ideas about NAFTA and going to Russia to look for the
missile, and something on the Catholic Church. They were all
laughing and syaing, 'That's great." And what do you know, when I
went back to my hotel, there was a message from NBC saying, we'll
give you the money to do a pilot."
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