Growing up in Staten Island, we really didn’t have much by way of culture. Sure, we had (and still have) Fucking Awesome Pizza, but otherwise, there really was just The Mall, little league, the movies, and our local cable access channel, Staten Island Community Television (CTV). And oh what wonders CTV brought us.
CTV’s chief accomplishment, as far as I’m concerned, was a retarded wrestling debate show called Down to the Mat. Down to the Mat was essentially the dumbest people you went to high school with taking pro-wrestling very, very seriously, and discussing it very, very seriously in a round table format. It was classic. I’ve tried, but can’t find any clips online. Still, I think it lives on today as The Wrestling Connection, also on CTV, but the members of the round table are all different guys. It’s kinda like how The Temptations still tour, but without the original lineup, it just isn’t the same, is it?
Next most important, however, was the bizarre MST3K-meets-mash up of really weird shit: Industrial Television. This show was so strange and inappropriate for pretty much everyone that it would only air at like 2 in the morning. It featured two middle aged, burnout rocker dudes (seen below) watching randomly cut video clips, from porn you never thought possible to really, really odd 1950s horror flicks. ITV is still on, and you can check it out here at 2droogies.com.
Here’s a clip of one film that they featured on the show called Monsters Crash the Pajama Party, though it really doesn’t capture what ITV is all about. Be warned: this video, their website, and the show are definitely NSFW.
Monsters Crash the Pajama Party
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Wow, “Down to the Mat” sounds truly amazing.
The best part was that DTTM was live and used to take calls, except all the calls ended up being pranks. I remember they had one guy on, who either was in Demolition (i.e. he looked like a member of Kiss) or used to be when they were nobodies. Anyways, he had on his makeup, and someone calls up and says, “Do you do all your own makeup?” And the guy says, very proudly, “Yes I do.” Then the caller asks, “Would you have on your makeup when you made love to me?” Shit like that happened every time, and then the host, who was in a wheelchair (which wasn’t very funny but added to the weirdness), would start screaming, “TRACE THAT CALL! TRACE THAT CALL!”
As a lifelong wrestling fan, I feel I should be insultd by all this. However, I just really, really want to see it.
haha, don’t be insulted, Steve. I loved wrestling when I was a kid. This show was too much for anyone with half a brain. I’ll see if I can find it anywhere online.
thanks for the blurb…and the “behold si’s finest” line…kudos.
nice to know we’ve made some sort of mark here…
ed,
producer,
industrial TELEVISION
No problem, Ed! iTV is pretty legendary, at least in the Brooks household.
cool.
hey- it just occured to me that the DTTM show has been off the air for at least 5-7 years now (The “guy in the wheelchair” actually died!) Yet it sounds like you’ve just watched it last week.
Anyhow, thanks again, and for those curious and wealthy, we have a box set newly available (through our site, and select local comic shops) with over 18 hours of material….1 complete season.