Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:26 pm
Synopsis:
Documentary about Z Channel, a pay TV station available in Cali in the early '80s, and its batshit insane chief programmer Jerry Harvey. He's pretty much responsible for this netting James Wood an Academy nomination. He's also the dude that made director's cuts a commercially viable thing.
Review:
Does not paint HBO or Showtime or any other premium cable company in a positive light. In addition, Jerry's noteworthy for a murder-suicide involving himself and his wife. His mental state was not the best. On the other hand, he puts movies on TV that you couldn't seen in this country 30 years ago. The breadth of content offered by Z still hasn't been matched by any contemporary cable TV channel. Not even fucking close.
Fun facts:
In spite of being rather expensive, Z Channel showed all their movies without pestering the everloving fuck out of their audience with adverts. Z Channel also had the distinction of a near zero cancellation rate among subscribers; once you were in, you didn't leave.
Documentary about Z Channel, a pay TV station available in Cali in the early '80s, and its batshit insane chief programmer Jerry Harvey. He's pretty much responsible for this netting James Wood an Academy nomination. He's also the dude that made director's cuts a commercially viable thing.
Review:
Does not paint HBO or Showtime or any other premium cable company in a positive light. In addition, Jerry's noteworthy for a murder-suicide involving himself and his wife. His mental state was not the best. On the other hand, he puts movies on TV that you couldn't seen in this country 30 years ago. The breadth of content offered by Z still hasn't been matched by any contemporary cable TV channel. Not even fucking close.
Fun facts:
In spite of being rather expensive, Z Channel showed all their movies without pestering the everloving fuck out of their audience with adverts. Z Channel also had the distinction of a near zero cancellation rate among subscribers; once you were in, you didn't leave.