Channel J

Last updated
Channel J
Manhattan-Cable-Television.jpg
Type Public-access television
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaNew York City
Ownership
OwnerManhattan Cable Television
History
Launched1976
Closed1990

Manhattan Cable Television's Channel J was a public-access television channel broadcast from New York City [1] from 1976 to 1990. [2] It became famous and controversial for its lack of censorship and its depiction of marginalized communities and taboo themes. [1] [3] As a public access channel, every subscriber to cable television in Manhattan received the channel as part of basic cable service. [3]

Contents

Channel J distributed The Emerald City, one of the first television series created by and for LGBTQ people. [4] It also aired straight and gay pornography on shows such as Midnight Blue, The Robin Byrd Show, Men and Films,Blurbs, and Interludes After Midnight, a nude talk show. [3] The channel's robust LGBTQ representation led to the saying "Gay on J." [4]

Other shows that aired on Channel J include The Big Giveaway [1] (New York cable television's first game show [5] ), The Live! Show, [1] and The Ugly George Hour of Truth, Sex, and Violence. [6]

Manhattan Cable Television provided free studio space for anyone to use on a first-come, first-served basis. [7] Producers were simply required to pay an hourly rate of $50 for airtime (equivalent to $268in 2023), with rights to resell the airtime to advertisers. [8] [5]

Channel J has been described as "a funhouse mirror of mainstream network programs" (The Wall Street Journal) [1] and "the Wild West for adult entertainment" (New York Post). [7]

Programming

The Big Giveaway

The Big Giveaway was a game show produced by 24-year-old Arnie Rosenthal that allowed subscribers the opportunity to win prizes by participating via telephone. [8] [5] According to The New Yorker, it was the first game show to air on cable television in New York. [5] Rosenthal later started Score on the Financial News Network. [9]

Title card for The Emerald City, one of the first-ever LGBTQ television shows The-Emerald-City-TV-Channel-J.png
Title card for The Emerald City, one of the first-ever LGBTQ television shows

The Emerald City

The Emerald City was an American television series and self-proclaimed "world’s first television show for gay men and women" [4] that aired twice weekly [10] on Channel J from 1976 to 1979. [11] It began in New York City and was later syndicated to San Francisco and Los Angeles. [12] Episodes were originally an hour long and then switched to half-hour in the fall of 1977. [11]

The Emerald City was produced by Truth, Justice, and American Way Inc., which was overseen by Eugene B. Stavis (executive producer), Frank O’Dowd (writer-director), James Chladek (co-producer), and Steven Bie, a former lover of O’Dowd (producer, advertising and marketing). [4] [12]

The show covered the LGBTQ movement, politics, and culture in the pre-AIDS era. [13] It featured an assortment of national LGBTQ news, [11] interviews, [12] music videos, [11] and live performances (such as cabaret and singing) recorded on compact cassette. [11] [12] [13] Its on-air talent included journalists Arthur Bell, Vito Russo, and Brandon Judell. [13]

Former guests on the show include Arthur Bressan Jr, [10] Divine, [12] Casey Donovan, [11] Wayland Flowers, [11] Selma Hazouri, [11] David Hockney, [13] John Paul Hudson, [11] Grace Jones, [11] Jonathan Ned Katz, [14] Ken Kilban, [12] James Kirkwood Jr., [11] Larry Kramer, [12] Charles Ludlam, [10] Jean O'Leary, [10] Leonard Matlovich, [4] Butterfly McQueen, [14] Wakefield Poole, [11] and John Waters. [14]

The show was entirely supported by advertising proceeds. [11] Its commercials predominantly featured LGBTQ businesses such as Man's Country bathhouse and Mandate magazine. [11] Other advertisements included books by Wilhelm von Gloeden and Andrew Holleran, Jan Wallman's restaurant, and the pornographic film El Paso Wrecking Corp. [11]

For many involved in the making of the show, The Emerald City was "about building up [gay] culture," not just profit. [12] In a 2018 interview, Wakefield Poole said, "We were very happy to have […] a platform to put ideas out there and what [ sic ] life was really like to be gay." [12] To Ken Kilban, "it was a liberating and elevating and enlightening experience. It was… a cultural event. It really had very little to do with sex." [12] Steven Brie described a sense of optimism that the show imbued (a coming "great new world for gay people") and the excitement of celebrating successful people "not minding just saying matter of fact that they were gay." [12]

Title card for Interludes After Midnight starring Dan Landers Interludes-After-Midnight-Dan-Landers.jpg
Title card for Interludes After Midnight starring Dan Landers

Interludes After Midnight

Interludes After Midnight billed itself as a "nude TV talk show." [15] It was hosted by Dan Landers, who interviewed his guests while naked [7] [3] at 10 P.M. on Mondays. [3] Jon Lovitz parodied the show on Saturday Night Live . [7] In 1989, the Chicago Tribune pilloried the show as a "loose, lewd, boring talk show featuring nude numbskull nobodies." [16]

The Live! Show

The Live! Show, conceived and produced by Jaime Davidovitch, ran from 1979 to 1984. [17] [18] The variety show featured interviews with celebrities such as Laurie Anderson and Eric Bogosian, live performances by stars such as Robert Kushner, art lessons, and home shopping segments. [17]

Lou Maletta created Men and Films, which debuted on Channel J in 1982. LouMalettaHeadshot.jpg
Lou Maletta created Men and Films, which debuted on Channel J in 1982.

Men and Films

Men and Films was created in 1982 by Lou Maletta, [19] who later created the Gay Cable Network. On the show, Maletta interviewed gay porn stars and reviewed gay pornographic films, motivated in part to destigmatize gay sex. [19] It aired at 11 P.M. on Thursdays. [3]

Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue was produced by Al Goldstein, the publisher of Screw magazine. [3] The show featured reviews of pornographic films, [7] interviews with celebrities such as Debbie Harry and Tiny Tim, [7] and discussion of topics ranging from strippers to group sex. [3] It ran from 1974 to 2003, later moving to Channel 35 [20]

The Robin Byrd Show

The Robin Byrd Show featured Robin Byrd interviewing other adult film stars. [7] Like Interludes After Midnight,The Robin Byrd Show was later parodied on Saturday Night Live, with Cherie Oteri portraying Byrd. [7] The show later moved to Channel 35 [21] and then Channel 79. [7]

The Ugly George Hour of Truth, Sex, and Violence

The Ugly George Hour of Truth, Sex, and Violence, starring pornographer George Urban, [22] [6] ran from 1976 to 1982 (with sporadic reboots until 1991). [23] Urban roamed the streets of New York urging women to take off their clothes on camera. [23] He also interviewed celebrities (including John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Michael Jackson) and interviewed politicians about the first amendment. [23] [24] He once recorded a segment inside the sex club Plato's Retreat. [25]

Controversy

Channel J's sex-positive programming was scandalized in mainstream discourse [2] [26] and subject to censorship efforts. [15] [27] The New York Times , for instance, reported in 1984 that late-night viewing on Channel J "has become identified with sex" owing to its depictions of "male frontal nudity," “clips from pornographic homosexual films," and other "explicit sexual" content. [3] Morality in Media, an anti-pornography organization, called the shows "abominable." [3]

At the time, state law prevented cable operators from restricting content, even sexually explicit content, except that which was considered obscene. [3] In response to Channel J, the New York State Legislature passed a law in 1983 requiring cable companies to offer devices to block entire channels or programs that "viewers may find objectionable." [3] According to Time magazine, only 19 such devices were ever installed. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Oz</i> (TV series) American drama television series

Oz is an American prison drama television series set at a fictional men's prison created and principally written by Tom Fontana. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997, and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired on February 23, 2003.

In American television in 1992, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.

In American television in 1996, notable events included television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.

In American television in 2000, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Fierstein</span> American actor and playwright

Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He is best known for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy and Hairspray and film roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Independence Day, and as the voice of Yao in Mulan and Mulan II. Fierstein won two Tony Awards, Best Actor in a Play and Best Play, for Torch Song Trilogy. He received his third Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical, for the musical La Cage aux Folles and his fourth, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a role he revived in its live television event, Hairspray Live! Fierstein also wrote the books for the Tony Award-winning musicals Kinky Boots, Newsies, and Tony Award-nominated, Drama League Award-winner A Catered Affair. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.

In American television during 2004 notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall Inn</span> Gay tavern and monument in New York City

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar and recreational tavern at 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which led to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States. When the riots occurred, Stonewall was one of the relatively few gay bars in New York City. The original gay bar occupied two structures at 51–53 Christopher Street, which were built as horse stables in the 1840s.

National Jewish Television is a three-hour Jewish television block shown Sundays on religious and public-access television cable TV channels in the United States. National Jewish Television was founded in 1979 by Joel Levitch.

WLIW is a secondary PBS member television station licensed to Garden City, New York, United States, serving the New York City television market. It is owned by The WNET Group alongside the area's primary PBS member, Newark, New Jersey–licensed WNET ; two Class A stations, WNDT-CD and WMBQ-CD ; and WLIW-FM (88.3) in Southampton. Through an outsourcing agreement, The WNET Group also operates New Jersey's PBS state network NJ PBS and the website NJ Spotlight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Byrd</span> American pornographic actress & talk show host

Robin Byrd is an American former pornographic film actress and the host of The Robin Byrd Show, which has appeared on leased access cable television in New York City since 1977.

Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of tennis, along with other racquet sports such as badminton, pickleball, and racquetball. Launched on May 15, 2003, the channel is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and produces its programming out of an HD-capable broadcast center in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. Ken Solomon serves as the network's Chief Executive Officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TBN Inspire</span> Christian broadcast television network

TBN Inspire is an American Christian broadcast television network owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It is carried on the digital subchannels of TBN's stations.

OUTtv is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Cassidy (journalist)</span> American journalist

Tom Cassidy (August 12, 1949 – May 26, 1991) was the television business anchor for Cable News Network (CNN), an American cable news television station, and the founder of the weekend show Pinnacle in 1982. Significantly, he was the CNN business news anchor during Black Monday, 19 October 1987. This was a famous day on Wall Street when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 508 points to 1739, a frightening drop during which time Cassidy's ongoing reporting during the afternoon and evening provided both credible information and a significant calmness to the American public.

Bruce David Klein is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, and writer of television, film, and digital entertainment. He is the founder of Atlas Media Corp. and serves as its president and executive producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HGTV</span> American pay television

HGTV is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate.

Homonormativity is the adoption of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto LGBT culture and identity. It is predicated on the assumption that the norms and values of heterosexuality should be replicated and performed among homosexual people. Those who assert this theory claim homonormativity selectively privileges cisgender homosexuality as worthy of social acceptance.

Peggy M. Rajski is an American filmmaker, best known for directing and co-producing the 1994 American short film Trevor, which won an Academy Award for "Best Live Action Short Film" at the 67th Annual Academy Awards in 1995. She is a founder of The Trevor Project, a crisis-intervention and suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth.

Lavender Lounge was a public access television show in San Francisco that aired from 1991 to 1995, one of the first of its kind in the United States. Mark Kliem was the creator and executive producer of Lavender Lounge, nicknamed "The Queer American Bandstand". In addition to dancers invited from the general public, Lavender Lounge frequently featured LGBTQ+ artists, drag queens and performers such as the queer punk band Pansy Division, Elvis Herselvis, and the Acid Housewives, the latter of whom the New York Times, reviewing Lavender Lounge, described as " three men in psychedelic-colored housedresses".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man's Country (bathhouse)</span> Gay bathhouse chain

Man's Country was a chain of bathhouses and private clubs for gay men in Chicago and New York City.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Dollar, Steve (2011-02-10). "Before the Web, It Was Public-Access". The Wall Street Journal .
  2. 1 2 Sewall, Gilbert T. (1990-09-29). "Opinion | Goodbye, Channel J – and Good Riddance". The New York Times . p. 23. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Smith, Sally Bedell (1984-03-05). "Channel J Pornography Is Cause of Lockout Law". The New York Times . p. 16. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Connor, John J. (1977-06-02). "TV: Cable Focuses On Homosexuals". The New York Times . p. 69. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hiss, Anthony (1976-03-15). "First Days of J". The New Yorker . p. 26. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  6. 1 2 3 Corliss, Richard (2013-12-19). "Al Goldstein: Sleazy Pornographer — and Proud of It". Time . ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Fleming, Kirsten (2018-01-10). "New York's Public Access TV Was a Cesspool of Soft-Core Porn". New York Post . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  8. 1 2 Dougherty, Philip H. (1976-03-03). "Advertising". The New York Times . p. 63. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  9. ↑ Rogin, Kate (1988-02-15). "This Cable-TV Game Show Is No Trivial Pursuit". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "The Emerald City". Screen Slate . 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Emerald City Tapes (Television Program)". The Center . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Mike, Miksche (2018-07-23). "The World's First Gay TV Program: "The Emerald City"". Logo TV . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Humm, Andy (2014-01-22). "Gene Stavis, Gay TV Pioneer, Dies at 70 – Gay City News". Gay City News . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  14. 1 2 3 Murphy, Tim (2022-03-12). ""Emerald City TV" Is a Stunning Time Machine Back to 1970s NYC Gay Life". The Caftan Chronicles. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  15. 1 2 Meislin, Richard J. (1981-05-28). "Bill to Limit 'Offensive' Cable TV Programs Introduced in Albany". The New York Times . p. 1. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  16. ↑ Plate, Andrea Darvi (1989-09-28). "XXX-TRAORDINARY". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  17. 1 2 Cotter, Holland (2013-12-19). "Jaime Davidovich: 'Museum of Television Culture'". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  18. ↑ Grimes, William (2016-08-31). "Jaime Davidovich, Artist Whose Videos Bypassed the 'Gatekeepers of Culture,' Dies at 79". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  19. 1 2 Herold, Lauren (2022-04-26). "The Forgotten Gay Cable Network That Changed LGBTQ History". Slate . ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  20. ↑ Alpert, Lucas I. (2013-12-22). "Al Goldstein and Me". The Forward . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  21. ↑ Morris, Bob (1996-06-23). "Cable's First Lady Of Explicit". The New York Times . p. 39. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  22. ↑ Gershon, Livia (2019-07-09). "Before the Internet, Cable TV Was for Porn". JSTOR Daily . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  23. 1 2 3 Mindlin, Alex (2005-07-10). "The Hunt for Beauties: Ugly George Roams Again". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  24. ↑ Arango, Tim (2005-06-17). "Ugly George, Cult Porno King of 1970S, Is Baack". New York Post . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  25. ↑ Grace, Asia (2023-02-27). "Inside Larry Levenson's NYC sex club Plato's Retreat". New York Post . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  26. ↑ Davis, Douglas (1989-06-11). "TV VIEW; Public-Access TV Is Heard in the Land". The New York Times . p. 31. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  27. ↑ Kleinman, Maggie (1981-11-08). "States Seeks Rules for "Hard R" Cable TV". The New York Times . p. 36. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-01-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.