Customer Reviews

TV Nation, Volume 1 [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's rare to find something that is funny and important at the same time, but Michael Moore has managed to do it for the last 10 years. This was a groundbreaking show, even though it only lasted a few seasons and was cancelled twice (even after winning an Emmy). Michael Moore is someone who unconditionally stands up for the little guy, which makes it all the more amazing that he was able to get his show on NBC! After criticizing some of NBC's advertisers, his show was quickly cancelled. TV Nation is quite simply one of the greatest TV shows ever. Moore's use of sarcasm to make his point is as brilliant as you will ever see. I also recommend buying "The Awful Truth" series, which is essentially the continuation of TV Nation. He has not backed off at all with his new series, which is a credit to his determination because it is sure to be cancelled for the same reasons.

This is yet another Michael Moore expose' of the true American philosophy. The rich get favored. Very satirical, not for the weak minded. Go get'em Michael.

Moore, like Gore vidal and Greg Palast, thrives as an angry voice of dissent. Here in TV Nation, the satire is sharply pointed and wickedly funny. An excellent gift for the person who has the rare talent for simultaneously watching TV and thinking about what he is seeing and hearing.

This series displayed Moore at a level seldom equalled since. He is funny, original and penetrating without being quite as annoyingly earnest as he's become more recently.

And we get a younger Janeane Garofalo at her irreverent best. Before she left Moore's gang to become a comedienne, she was a crusading investigative attack journalist, spearheading a landing party on a private Connecticut beach.

The show was suprising for its time: it was a summer replacement on network TV, and the fact that it was actually shown was, truly, a bit unexpected. It showed a younger, fresher Moore, less strident and less self-important.

A Moore I liked a lot better, and you will, too. Too bad this video is so hard to find!

Michael Moore rescues this British citizens view of our distant cousins across the great pond. Where it often seems to us on this side that America can all too often be a hell- on- earth uncaring, money obsessed, superficial, hyper unequal and very brutal society, Moore shows us a truly human(e) side to the story. Moore fights for the little guy and gal and often pulls off some startling victories (as the current series 'the awful truth' is showing).

Moore achives this in several ways: through some brilliantly conceived set piece confrontations with corporate america; some subversively constructed opinion surveys; and, a generally all round jovial up yours attitiude to those who feel they have no responsibility to humankind and treat people with no respect or dignity.

Moores genius is a popular touch, never too preachy but always totally on the ball combined with the simple but stark realisation that what the super rich and corporate criminals fear most of all is a bad press/ television. Their faces when confronted by Moore- or a proxy such as the Corporate Crime fightin' chicken (look out for Sal the New Jersey Docker/ Mafiosi in 'the awful truth)- and his camera crew are always a delicious experience.

A video for those who want to know 'the wonderful truth' about America- there are many people who *do* care about making it a more caring, fairer and happier place to live.

This tape was recorded in the EP mode and my $400, 4-head VCR had difficulty tracking it. In fact, the video was snowy throughout and only passably watchable. The audio portion was fine. I've watched other EP-mode tapes, such as the "Twin Peaks" series that has five episodes per tape, with no problems. I got a second copy to see if it was just the tape. But the second one was just as bad. The content is fine, although rather than watching two episodes, I'd rather see greatest hits since the original shows had some weak moments. Beware if you don't have a fancy VCR that allows you to adjust tracking, you might have trouble watching this tape.