The sight of Keith Kaminski in drag is not exactly a vision of loveliness. On one recent occasion, Kaminski wore a frumpy housecoat, a blond pageboy wig that failed to cover his brown locks and enough smeared makeup to impress Tammy Faye.
Normally, the 32-year-old construction worker from McHenry would not engage in cross-dressing, but every now and then he agrees to slip into something feminine in the name of show biz. Kaminski appears in and helps write “Out and About With Dan and Hippie,” a half-hour comedy show produced in a Schaumburg cable studio.
On this particular show, Kaminski played one of three women-the other two actors are men, too-in a parody of the “Love Connection.” The name of the spoof is probably not fit for print in this newspaper, but it apparently meets area broadcast standards, which in a large metropolitan area can be quite tolerant.
“I like to think of the show as `Kids in the Hall’ meet `Abbott and Costello,’ ” said the program’s star and creator, Dan Kollins, 30, of Schaumburg. “I enjoy being offensive.”
Well, it may not be Emmy material-at least not yet-but the same probably can be said for the dozens of other shows originating from tiny northwest suburban studios. And though the local cable shows may lack the sophistication of network programs, they can’t be faulted for a lack of enthusiasm or variety.
Because such shows generally are not listed in published guides, viewers are more likely to stumble upon one while surfing through the profusion of cable channels. As for “Dan and Hippie,” Kollins said the show continues to draw interest and add to its viewing audience.
Other offerings on the local access channels, which at certain times of the day double as a non-stop, computer-generated bulletin board, might include “Ask Marvin Edwards,” a call-in show produced in Streamwood that features Marvin Edwards, Elgin Unit School District 46 superintendent; “The Wacky Science Show” with host “Professor Wacky,” which is filmed in Rolling Meadows; “Fins comedy club,” which features alumni of Second City and is produced in Mt. Prospect; and “Elgin Week in Review,” a news show that originates in Elgin.
Viewers can also find programs on fighting high taxes, martial arts and music on the six major cable providers in the Chicago area.
Long before Tim from “Tool Time” and Wayne and Garth made do-it-yourself TV shows look like a fun thing to do, folks such as Northbrook artist Enid Silverman, Buffalo Grove atheist Rob Sherman and “Wild Chicago” creator Ben Hollis were producing their own programs on cable access channels.
” `Wayne’s World’ and `Home Improvement’ have heightened the awareness of cable access,” said Becky Cianci, programming director at Continental Cablevision, whose service area includes Hoffman Estates, Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village and Elmhurst. “As a result, we have had much more interest in cable access.”
Technically, those commercial creations do not represent real cable access programming, because rules prohibit advertising, like on “Home Improvement,” and there would never be a cable show broadcast from somebody’s basement, such as with “Wayne’s World,” Cianci said.
But beyond those few limitations, almost anything goes on the local stations.
The door for home-grown programming opened in 1976 when the Federal Communications Commission ordered cable companies to establish public accchannels.
As the cable broadcasters signed multi-year franchise agreements with cities and villages, public access provisions were included, said Christine Jelinek, public affairs specialist for the FCC’s local branch in Park Ridge. But in 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the FCC ruling regarding public access, declaring that the mandate was not within the FCC’s jurisdiction, Jelinek said.
During that time period, though, cable companies erected studios and equipped them for broadcast. Because of those facilities and franchise agreements, things have changed little for local broadcasters who want an outlet on cable.
Currently, municipalities in their franchise agreements with cable companies can require them to offer public access or local origination programming, which is produced by cable companies themselves.
Where access rules apply, cable operators must provide facilities for residents to use, free of charge. But there are some standards for the potential cable star. At most of the northwest suburban stations, citizen producers must complete training courses before they start handling the equipment, which can cost an average of $100,000.
For example, Tele-Communications Inc. of Illinois requires potential users to complete a beginning TV course at no cost to the student, said Bob Repin, access coordinator for TCI.
TCI has seven cable access studios among the 16 suburbs it serves, including Schaumburg, Streamwood and Mt. Prospect, the site of the company’s area headquarters. Once students complete the basic workshop, they are certified to operate the studios and can put on just about anything they want, as long as it doesn’t violate FCC or cable company rules with regard to obscenity or advertising.
“Most people abide by the rules, but sometimes they’ll see how far they can go,” Repin said.
What winds up on the air meets with mixed results, according to Edward Morris, chairman of the television department at Columbia College in Chicago.
“The principle is very good, some (cable companies) do it very well,” said Morris, who once worked at WSNS-Ch. 44 and WTTW-Ch. 11 in Chicago. “There are some cities that don’t have a clue as to what they ought to be doing.”
Edwards suggests that cable companies ought to exercise more control when allowing people into the studios.
“TV is not a toy, it’s an information medium,” he said. “TV and cable time are too valuable. The problem is there are people out there who are real and those who ought to get real.”
One example of inappropriate use of cable access was the “Ugly George” show in New York City, in which the host would take his camera on the street and ask women to disrobe-and some did, Morris said.
Morris likely would approve of “Elgin Week in Review,” a half-hour news program, which has been produced weekly by Jones Intercable employees for more than 200 episodes.
Rather than requiring cable access, Jones’ contract with Elgin and South Elgin calls for local origination. So each week, program director Rich Hirschberg, anchor Jeff Meyers and part-time production assistant Dave Ham, all of Elgin, set out to find material for the show, which airs at 6 Fridays and is repeated at 9 p.m. Fridays, 9:30 a.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays.
“It’s pretty cut and dried here. We put a positive spin on things,” said Hirschberg, 37, who has worked at the cable studio in various capacities since 1987. “I think it’s met the needs of the FCC, and we certainly meet the needs of the community.”
After collecting videotape of interviews, meetings and events from the week, the producers edit the material and add voice-overs prior to production time, which falls every Friday morning.
Shortly after 10 a.m. on a recent Friday, Meyers took his place at the anchor desk inside the small studio, which is tucked in the back of the Jones Intercable business complex in Elgin. Ham and Hirschberg moved into the control room. Lately, Caleb Hanson, 23, of Elgin, intern and local radio personality, has been operating one of the two cameras (one is stationary), and Martha Cubos, 19, of Elgin, an intern from Elgin Community College, has performed the audio duties.
Meyers, reading from the TelePrompTer or sometimes ad-libbing, linked three segments: five news stories, an on-set interview conducted by Meyers and sports. In between takes, Meyers broke the routine with a few impersonations of Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan or Clark Gable or joked around with his best broadcast voice.
Although the program is taped and edited, it will have the appearance of a live broadcast when it’s shown, Hirschberg said. “We have a unique situation in producing the news; we’re about the only (local origination) news program in the suburbs,” said Meyer, 42, who has a background in radio and still calls basketball games for a local radio station. “It’s a fun thing. I’ve worked here 77 weeks and have never missed a show.”
Hirschberg, Meyers and Ham also produce a monthly interview with Elgin’s mayor.
Where “Elgin Week in Review” and other information programs like “Ask Marvin Edwards” fulfill the community obligations, other shows are creative outlets for their aspiring participants. Many work for free, hoping the cable access shows will be a springboard to public or commercial television success.
Each month for the last two years, Kollins has put together “Out and About With Dan and Hippie” on TCI. The program features Kollins, a former roofer and stand-up comedian, and “Hippie,” a.k.a. Mike Kirtz, 33, of Schaumburg, who plays guitar for Bombs Away, a local band. Together the pair, with cameraman Mike Levin of Palatine, roam the northwest suburbs in search of something interesting to show viewers.
“We always try to accomplish something,” said Kollins, who makes ends meet by working in the shipping department of his brother’s northwest suburban computer company.
While Dan appears in control of each sketch’s destiny, Hippie certainly does not.
“If something bad is going to happen, it’s going to happen to Hippie,” Kollins said.
“It’s our job to look stupid,” Kirtz said.
The remote shots are put together with those made in the TCI studio in Schaumburg, where Kollins and Kirtz are always joined by an entourage of volunteers, including Kaminski, Levin, graphics artist Vince Gonka of Hoffman Estates, audio coordinator Mark Phelps of Bloomingdale, and Scott Painter of Schaumburg, who makes regular cameos portraying Elvis, a la Alfred Hitchcock.
In each half-hour show, which is produced once a month, viewers will see sketches, a music video of a local band and “Babes With Tattoos,” a segment in which women are asked to model their tattoos. Some regular characters include T.J. Velour, a mid-40s lounge singer who performed at the imaginary Velvet Lounge for 762 consecutive weekends until it burned down last year, according to Kollins.
Kollins hopes to refine the show and find a commercial or public outlet.
“This is something I always wanted to do. I think I’m an extremely lucky person to have access to the studio,” said Kollins, who compares the show to having another full-time job. “I’m content for once in my life.”
The show airs at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. Mondays on TCI-Ch. 36 and 9:35 p.m. Tuesdays and 8:05 a.m. Saturdays and Thursdays on Continental Cable-Ch. 19.
Cable access also has fulfilled the dreams of Arlington Heights resident Ron Neist, who a little over two years ended a string of retail and other sales jobs to begin producing his own cable access show at the TCI studio in Mt. Prospect.
The “Fins comedy club” is a monthly, one-hour comedy show featuring 40 minutes of sketches by the Whose Kids R These players, an ensemble of five comedians trained at Second City. The remainder of the show, which is performed in front of a live studio audience, consists of musical guests. Neist makes a brief introduction but otherwise does not appear in the program, which airs on TCI-Ch. 35 at 9 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. Mondays.
Neist said he can spend about 40 hours putting a show together, including taping and editing, so he keeps quite busy while trying to juggle his current odd jobs as a newspaper carrier and magazine rack merchandiser.
After graduating from Milwaukee Area Technical College in 1970 with a degree in television production, Neist wandered in to various sales jobs and never made it in television. Now he’s satisfying his dream of working in TV.
“I have always wanted to do this,” said Neist, 45. I’m at an age where if I truly want to do this, I have to do it now.”
Many of the cable access hopefuls want to be like Ben Hollis, who created “Wild Chicago” and sold the idea to Channel 11, where the show first appeared in 1988. (He left the show in February 1992 to work on other television projects and teach improvisational comedy.)
Hollis got his feet wet in TV during the mid-’80s at a Chicago cable access studio, where he put on shows like “Uncle Ben’s Playhouse” and “Pool Party,” a talk show in which Hollis and his guests would appear in swimming suits and sit around an inflatable pool in the studio.
“I got a lot of experience in access. It showed me the excitement of television,” said Hollis, who once worked in advertising. “I always recommend it to people interested in television.”
