Z CHANNEL: A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

[Rudie Obias]

a wonderful documentary about the early 80s cable station in los angeles which showed great "forgotten" films.  it's like if the criterion collection was on TV 24 hours a day.  z channel was where cinemaphiles would find rare gems.  keep in mind this was the pre-dvd and pre-vhs era.  a great documentary for any passionate lover of film!!  dir: xan cassavetes 2004

[Pwaybloe]

Is it off the hook?  Because if it's not...

[Reel]

If it's not, then what? WHAT PWAYBLOE?!?!


Watched this again after a good ten years and it was every bit as fresh of an experience as the first time. It's such a remarkable story, and I still find certain details of it hard to believe, like if Jerry Harvey was such an important figure in home cinema, how come we don't hear more about him? It has to be that his abrasive personality and the way he went out made him a lot of enemies in the industry. Someone at the end of the doc mentioned that there was too much anger associated with his legacy to properly cover the story until 15 years later, when you can objectively see the leaps and bounds he made in film broadcasting and how crucial his role was in SO many director's careers.

I love the way this documentary explores his screening of films as a matter of sustenance for the audience. People were starved for this kind of content and he was entering their homes and shaking up their lives with it on a daily basis. It makes my heart ache to think that there will never be this kind of programming again (speaking for the U.S.), with one person's taste as the determining factor in EVERYTHING that's shown.

What's a better feeling than putting on a double feature for someone of movies they've never seen and blowing their fucking world apart? Jerry Harvey got to do that 24/7 for thousands of people over a 15 year period. To think of the impression he made on his viewers without ever meeting them, introducing a young QT and PTA to films they would never hear of in a million years, is truly awe inspiring. I can just imagine so many lonely nights in L.A where strangers were having a real, ( no pun intended ) deep seated connection over what they saw on the Z channel. This is probably what struck a cord with me in the documentary the most, because the experience of watching something you've never heard of in the middle of the night on TV are some of the best I've ever had with 'Killer Clowns From Outer Space', 'Faster, Pussycat. Kill, Kill!' 'Possession', countless others ( haven't watched a film on TV in years.) It's a shame they don't let the weirdos take over the air more often, and Jerry Harvey's own insanity must be the only reason for that. He seemed like a dangerous person to be around. One look at him, you know he's a nut, but he made magic happen in people's homes, that was his contribution and where I'll always find inspiration in him.

Had to gush about this and demand you go see it, if you have already, SEE IT AGAIN!! I would love to see some Z channel artifacts in this thread. Z magazine must be a cool read.