Blast from the Past: Seen on Channel 15! (1998)

Once upon a time Those Funky Idiots aired on public access in Muncie, Indiana and the mayor hated us. We never tried to win him over, but I did make a flyer for the show featuring early cartoon versions of the cast. I don't remember if I ever handed any of the fliers out to anybody, but one copy did hang on the wall at Bob's Comic Castle for awhile. Thanks again, Bob!
The featured cast include (From top to bottom) Birnie, The Rummage Sale Lady, Vinnie Tuscany, Poppy Sinclair, Arlo Wazzo (Holding an urn containing the cremated remains of Nana Wingate), and Amanda Wazzo.
To see many of those public access episodes, just click here!

Blast from the Past: Pulp Fixation (1996?)

  Back in the day when Those Funky Idiots was a public access show in Muncie, Indiana, I always submitted the master tape for our latest episode in a plastic VCR tape container. Occassionally I would make "poster art" for an episode and slip the drawing into the container's plastic sleeve. This particular drawing was for the second part of our Pulp Fiction homage two parter which we called "Pulp Fixation". Instead of Mia Wallace, that's Nia Wally (Played by the former Meisa Beatty. Now she's Meisa Cope) in the drawing. I won't go into the whole plot, but at one point Vinnie Tuscany (Tim Richardson) bumps into Nia Wally and they enter a dancing contest which leads into a parody of the famous Twist dance scene from the movie. Instead of Jack Rabbit Slims, we filmed our dance in the middle of Gibson's Skating Rink. It turned out great!

Not Necessarily the News

GOOD NEWS: Smoke on the Mountain winds up its run this weekend at the Main Street Studio Theatre and, like the previous two weekends, we’re sold out! Yay! I’m so proud of our little cast and crew! Everybody is doing such a great job with their roles and the music is so rich and energetic. I knew during our first week of rehearsal that we had the potential to create something wonderful on stage and it’s nice to be proven right for a change!

BAD NEWS: According to Thursday’s Star Press, Muncie is on the verge of losing its public access channel. Apparently, Comcast eliminated its public access coordinator position due to budgetary reasons and is hoping the City of Muncie will step up to the plate and assume the duties of making the channel run. Of course, depending on the city government for any type of help is laughable and, since Muncie is currently running on fumes, I’m afraid public access is on its way out. It’s a shame to see it happen, but Comcast and Muncie never truly gave the channel the support it needed to survive.

As you probably know, Those Funky Idiots started out as a show on public access so I have a certain fondness for the channel. It had so much promise and potential at first. I love the idea of local people making their own programs and I’m still disappointed so few took the opportunity to do so. I know all us Idiots had a blast making our humble garage sitcom. Making those episodes all those years ago were some of the best times of my life and I still miss creating the show to this day so it’s sad to think my old TV “home” is about to become history.

GOOD NEWS: I was recently interviewed by John Carlson from The Star Press for an article that will be in next Saturday’s paper (February 28, I do believe). I still find it hard to believe anybody would be interested in reading about this particular fat cartoonist, but I’m sure the piece will look nice in my scrapbook. Of course, expect a link once the big day arrives!