Lanesville TV: May 18th 1974

Although this episode promises, at first, to be a typical program of Lanesville Television—presenting two videos of previously shot footage of a truck wreck and a recent opening of a Buddhist Temple in South Cairo, NY—an unplanned event, arising mid-recording, becomes the catalyst for a high-energy, live-reportage segment.

Halfway through the airing of this episode on May 18th, 1974, hosted by Skip Blumberg clad in a Lanesville Television t-shirt, a police siren outside the Videofreex’s house alerts the group to a confrontation between the Chief of Police and an unruly motorcyclist. The individuals responsible for managing this particular episode—Nancy on audio, Perry on video, and Bart on the camera—scramble to re-arrange their sound and video feeds so that Skip can leave the recording studio and report on the scene “live.” What ensues is a rare opportunity for the Freex: they are able to create a live video record of an event, aired in real-time on television for its viewers—a format that contemporary viewers today take for granted but was novel and exceedingly exciting at the time.

—Faye Gleisser