TV Nations Day

Back in the day, I used to watch TV Nation. It was Michael Moore’s satirical documentary/current affairs show, that began on NBC and moved to Fox, in 1994-1995. And I recall very vividly – even without the aid or collective memory of the internet – that August 16, 1994 was (more or less), ‘TV Nation Day.’ How and why, I hear you ask…

The nub of the gist was that Moore was trying to illustrate how lobbyists are hired, and how they and their employers influence policy and lawmaking. He hired a lobbyist, William C. Chasey, and they managed to get North Carolina representative, Howard Coble, to introduce H.J. Res. 365 (1994): ‘To designate August 16, 1994, as “TV Nation Day”’ – and get it debated on the House floor. On this, they were successful, but the resolution ultimately did not pass. The show celebrated their ‘Day’ in the episode broadcast on August 16^th anyway. At the time, I think Coble and maybe some of his colleagues saw this somewhat frivolous resolution and its debate as a good lesson in civics, and as a light-hearted educational endeavour to illustrate the law-making process, to a certain subset of the viewing public. (What a much more innocent time that was, indeed…)

Crackers & Michael Moore, confronting corporate America, in 1994

I also remember that I wrote a letter to TV Nation. I have no memory whatsoever of what I wrote, but I do remember that – remarkably – I got a letter back. It was a form letter Moore had penned to apparently: anybody who offered their address in a letter to the show. He said that he ‘knows of no other show that gets this type of mail’ - e.g.: a lot. He thanked us letter-writers for writing, and answered some Frequently Asked Questions – one of which was, ‘Who plays Crackers?’ (pictured). He said something like: ‘nobody “plays” Crackers – he is a 6-foot yellow chicken.’ While I do remember that near-verbatim wording in that letter, with no VHS recordings to refer to over the years - I somehow remember Crackers running for president. But the internet tells me I’m wrong on that point – Crackers was the Corporate Crime-Fighting Mascot … an example of The Mandela Effect in action, I guess.

In a similar vein: I noticed this week that Eric Idle had become active on a social media platform I use. I sent him a note asking him for some correspondence, offering a private method to get in touch. And rather than weeks later, I got a reply within 16 hours, and a public rejection – I asked, ‘may I request..?’ and he ‘replied:’ ‘You may certainly request it!’ Only with my British sense of humour would I find that interaction almost better than actually having any sort of Q&A with him… it’s a badge of honour, really. Some annoying, oh-so-very-earnest Americans [*ahem*] would just never understand that. And I had a moment of clarity: what sort of world do I live in now, that Eric bloody Idle can reply to me in the space of hours, when 30 years ago, I had to wait weeks to hear back from Michael Moore? And back then – I did not expect a reply, but I got one anyway … and it was a blanket form letter. Not necessarily that I expected a reply from Idle, either – and that was a one-sentence, direct, and public, message!

I must be Victoria Meldrew…

1994 was also the period in which One Foot in the Grave was in production (series 5 or so). It’s a sitcom about a cantankerous old bloke who has retired and generally drives his long-suffering wife and neighbours crazy. The theme song was written by Idle and John Du Prez, and performed by Idle. I guess nobody’s gonna commission them to write a mere few lines for a sig tune, so the first verse of the song opens the show, and a latter verse plays over the closing credits – and there’s a full-length, single version, including spoken words from the actor, Richard Wilson, in-character as the central protagonist, ‘Victor Meldrew.’ Thinking about the leaps and bounds in communication technology since 1994 is making me feel as old as that tortoise in the opening credits of the show...

But throughout it all, I have watched a lot of British and American TV. I recall even back then, I noticed that the BBC had co-produced TV Nation. I’ve even almost-but-not-quite worked (yet!) with Mindhouse, the production company co-founded by the hard-hitting British documentarian, Louis Theroux… who worked with Moore on TV Nation. I have been very lucky and/or blessed enough to produce and to be in some British and American TV.

Maybe I should re-christen it, ‘“TV Nations” Day’… Happy TV Nations Day, 2026!

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