cable access show 'Concrete TV' is 20 years old, celebrating with screening tonight in NYC

by Bill Pearis

When I moved to NYC in the late '90s I was fairly obsessed with the weird world of cable access television, something we didn't have in the small town where I grew up. One of the most memorable shows, or at least the one that always seemed to be on when I was coming home late Friday nights, was Concrete TV that was a Cuisineart collage edit of car crashes, horror violence, erotica, explosions, old sci-fi films, you name it... all usually set to overmodulated hard rock.

Created by Ron Rocheleau, the show -- which still airs on MNN Channel 67 on Friday nights at 1:30 AM -- is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year and there's a screening party tonight (1/28) at Videology in Williamsburg where they'll be screening two never-before-seen episodes: "Children of the Very Damned" and "Mary-Kate and Ashley go to Frogtown." (Full disclosure: I clerk occasionally at Videology.) The overstimulation starts at 8 PM and is free.

You can also buy DVD anthologies of Concrete TV's episodes. A few examples of Concrete TV's in-your-face mashup style are below.