Adventures in a TV Nation FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
November 1998
How "TV Nation" made it on the air in the first place might forever remain one of modernity's great mysteries. The concept was simple enough: a humorous magazine show, but one that abandons middle-of-the-road banality for the far-left lane, butting up against the curb, occasionally running straight up the divider. The correspondents would look like hell, the content would brazenly offend network sponsors, and the cast and crew would burn bridges with corporate America like a platoon in retreat. The entire affair would closely resemble a hijacking of the airwaves by disgruntled station laborers. Inexplicably, NBC loved it, as did the BBC. Thus was born the most flagrantly anticorporate creature ever to enjoy the bankroll of the corporate universe.
Creator Michael Moore's Adventures in a TV Nation chronicles the best episodes of this most radical experiment in mainstream television broadcasting. The Gay Men's Chorus serenades the home of Senator Jesse Helms from his front lawn. Janeane Garafolo and a small army of riffraff storm the public-yet-exclusive beach of Greenwich, Connecticut. A benefit concert is staged to raise funds for corporate welfare. An Emmy-nominated black actor and a convicted white felon see who can catch a cab faster in New York City. A red 18-wheeler emblazoned with the Soviet hammer and sickle freights Communist paraphenalia across the country, stopping at church socials, PTA functions, and Jerry Falwell's church en route. Michael Moore's sense of humor is rivaled only by the extent of his nerve.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
'TV Nation' enjoyed a brief but memorable tenure on NBC, and now, with the publication of Adventures In TV Nation, those who bemoan Michael Moore's absence from the airwaves can revisit the show TV Guide called "as compelling and provocative as it is entertaining and hilarious." All your
favorite segments are here, from "Crackers, the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken" to the "Health Care Olympics" and the "CEO Challenge." Throw in a chapter on segments that weren't allowed to air and a round-up of "TV Nation" polls,
and you've got a rousing reminder of the ruckus that was raised by this hilariously controversial show.
FROM THE CRITICS
Newsday
A masterpiece...TV Nation goes where no TV magazine has gone before.
New York Times
Mr. Moore's breezy, irreverent, blithely biased excursions are generally refreshing, frequently hilarious.
Wall Street Journal
'TV Nation' may be the rarest of species, a television program both funny and important.
TV Guide
TV Nation is as compelling and provocative as it is entertaining and hilarious.
USA Today
A news magazine for Lettermaniacs, Michael Moore's TV Nation greets the apocalypse of our modern times with a deadpan shrug and a keen eye for the absurdities and hypocrisies we ignore at our peril...At last! News to amuse.
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