TV Nation (1994)
TV Nation is a satirical newsmagazine television series written, directed and hosted by Michael Moore that was co-funded and originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The show blended humor and journalism into provocative reports about various issues. After moving to Fox for its second season, the show won an Emmy Award in 1995 for Outstanding Informational Series. TV Nation was created in the wake of the success Moore had with the documentary Roger & Me, prompting Warner Bros. television to ask Moore for television series ideas. In January 1993 NBC green-lit a pilot episode which took three months to complete. Interest from the BBC prompted NBC to insert the show into its summer 1994 lineup.
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Episode 1 - Fox Show 1
Release Date: 1995-07-21Bruno for President With such easy qualifications for becoming President—a candidate must be a 35-year old native-born citizen—why do we always have so few choices? TV Nation runs its own candidate, convicted felon Louie Bruno, to take part in the democratic process. We're #1 TV Nation visits various cities in America in celebration of their status as #1 in various fields such as Playboy subscriptions and carjacking. Greenwich TV Nation invades the public beaches of Greenwich, Connecticut which are not all that public. The beach is restricted to Greenwich residents only. So TV Nation brings a bus load of New Yorkers to enjoy the beach. When the bus is turned away, TV Nation's bus load of New Yorkers turn to the sea...and swim to the beach. Crime Scene Cleanup TV Nation meets the Barnes' a couple who started a business to cash in on the rise in violent crimes by cleaning up crime scenes. After the bodies are cleared and the police have gone, the Barnes' move in, do their busines
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Episode 2 - Fox Show 2
Release Date: 1995-07-28Payback Night Throughout the show, TV Nation asks people on the street to name some things that really get on their nerves. Car alarms that go off at 6 a.m.? No problem, TV Nation visits the CEO of a major car alarm company and sets off 10 car alarms at 6 a.m. Other paybacks include blasting Muzak outside the home of the head of Muzak and lifting and dropping a garbage dumpster outside the home of a garbage company owner. KGB: Yuri After running a classified ad in a local Russian newspaper in New York and screening dozens of qualified applicants, TV Nation hires Yuri Shvets as its very own KGB spy. Yuri's first mission is to reassure us that President Nixon is indeed dead despite reports of Nixon's friends' surprise and disbelief at his passing. NEA Many members of Congress want to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and let private enterprise pay for our artists and museums. TV Nation says, ""Hey, not a bad idea!"" and visits on a tour of those museums that c
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Episode 3 - Fox Show 3
Release Date: 1995-08-04War Reenactment Night TV Nation joins the guys who dress up on weekends and reenact Civil War battles. Only this time, we have them reenact more recent battles in full Civil War regalia—the fall of Saigon, the Battle of Hiroshima, the battle between Tom Arnold and Roseanne and the battle everyone wanted to see—the one that occurred when Elizabeth Hurley picked up Hugh Grant from London's Heathrow Airport. Helltown The Southern Baptist Church has published a map in Alabama showing which counties have the most residents who are ""unsaved"" and therefore doomed to the fires of hell. TV Nation travels to the county with the most ""lost"" souls and attempts to save them from eternal damnation. Crackers -- Philly Crackers the Corporate Crime-Fighting Chicken heads to Philadelphia in search of corporate wrongdoing. Hundreds of TV Nation fans how up to give him tips, one of which particularly ruffles Crackers' feathers: Philadelphia banks charge up to $30 for bounced check fees even if you
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Episode 4 - Fox Show 4
Release Date: 1995-08-11Most Wanted Brian Anthony Harris is an African-American man living in Washington, D.C. To date, he has been picked up, brought in, and/or arrested over 20 times because he either ""looks like a criminal"" or because he closely resembles the description of an actual felon-at-large. It has gotten so bad that Harris is afraid to leave his house and drive to his job as Lighting Director at BET (Black Entertainment Television). TV Nation begins a campaign in Washington complete with billboards and radio ads to inform all police agencies that ""Brian Anthony Harris is not wanted."" Love Night Hate groups are on the rise in the United States. The more protestors try to shout them down, the more hateful they become. TV Nation believes it is time for a little tenderness and throughout ""Love Night"" attempts to love those who hate. We send a mariachi band to a Klan rally in Georgia. We send a chorus line to kick up some love at the Aryan World Congress. A gay men's choir serenades Senator Jesse H
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Episode 5 - Fox Show 5
Release Date: 1995-08-25Canada Night TV Nation's special salute to our neighbors to the north. Throughout the night we smuggle illegal Canadians across the border, try to give free guns to Canadians, and attempt to find out how much Americans know about Canada. As a highlight, host Michael Moore sings the Canadian National Anthem at a Toronto Blue Jays/Detroit Tigers game. DC Perks The Contract with America states that Congress must abide by all the laws that the citizens of the United States do. As it turns out, Congress still plays and lives by a different set of rules. TV Nation travels to Washington, D.C. to enforce the Contract With America by showing up and asking for the same treatment members of Congress receive. We attempt to park our car in the free ""Members Only"" spaces at National Airport, get free medical care at Bethesda Naval Hospital, and get a relaxing facial from a congressional cosmetologist. Nugent TV Nation visits the newest board member of the National Rifle Association, rock and r
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Episode 6 - Fox Show 6
Release Date: 1995-09-01Hug-A-Gov The new Congress has said it wants to return more power back to the States. If that's where the power is, we at TV Nation want to reach out and touch that power. Thus begins our mission: to hug all 50 governors. Psy-Ops Coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial is important but does it require 300 reporters a day? Are there not other serious stories to cover? TV Nation hires its own psychological operations expert retired from the U.S. Army to help conduct a ""psy-op"" program to destabilize and reduce the massive amount of O.J. coverage. Rosemont Sections of Rosemont, Illinois, an affluent Chicago suburb, are closed off to the outside world. Taking the concept of a gated community one step further, Rosemont has placed police guard booths on public streets leading into the city—and only residents who can prove they are residents are allowed in. TV Nation goes to the outskirts of Rosemont to set up its own guard booth and prevent citizens of Rosemont from entering Chicago. Unions
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Episode 7 - Fox Show 7
Release Date: 1995-09-08Bully Reunion Night Each TV Nation correspondent is reunited with his or her bully from high school. The bullies are flown to New York for a special fun-filled weekend of carriage rides through Central Park, tandem bicycle rides, and a little payback. Confession Once a year all Catholics are required to go to Confession to confess their sins from the year. Interestingly enough, no two priests give the same penance for the same sins. As a service to our Catholic viewers, TV Nation presents the first ever ""Consumer's Guide to the Confessional."" We go to confession in twenty churches in the New York city area and confesses her sins. We then discover which churches hand out the lightest penance. TV Felons What do you have to get a license for in this country? Driving. Hunting. Fishing. How about to watch TV? Ridiculous, huh? Not in Great Britain, where unless you apply and pay for a license for the privilege of watching television, you can go to jail. TV Nation travels through Britai
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Episode 8 - Fox Show 8 (BBC Only)
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