Reality Check TV: the original 'reality show'

photo courtesy of Reality Check TV Photo Archives

Lights, camera… and action! Please give a great big welcome to Huge, Ace, Danny and Dragon Dave- the four characters that make Reality Check TV, the completely unscripted alternative underground video journal (available on your local Bay Area TV channel) possible!

To date, Reality Check TV has broadcast more than four hundred episodes, and is the recipient of seven awards. Among those awards include Best Of Bay in an SF Weekly readers poll (2003) and two Cable Access awards (1997, 1998). In addition, the show received San Francisco Bay Guardian Newspaper's Best of the Bay award for Best Rock and Roll Video Show in 1997, and Best Website (for Trashy Underground Culture) in 1998. Finally, the show boasts a Telly Award for video editing, and the prestigious JOEY award.

Reality Check TV was founded in 1991 by two fun-loving guys by the names of Huge and Moca. The two cameramen ventured into the streets of San Francisco with a small, Hi-8 camera at hand, intent to capture all forms of pop culture in a light in which mainstream news was not. The program sought to showcase talent from just about any platform from politics to music, and actively engage with audience and interviewee alike. Colorfully, the shows’ material was presented in a "reality show" style format, giving the viewer a sense of feeling as if they were in the room right along with the shows’ hosts.

Reality Check TV co-founder Huge notes that one of the inspirations for the shows’ inception was the advent of the small Hi-8 video camera.

“At the time when the show was first beginning, smaller, hand-held video cameras were being introduced, and could be taken anywhere larger Beta Cameras could not,” said Huge. “I could literally broadcast shows out of the camera, take them everywhere- parties, clubs, art events- you name it. I was capturing things that the mainstream was ignoring.”

Initially, Reality Check TV focused primarily on San Francisco culture- such as the Lower Haight and leftover “Hippie Generation”, Piercing Culture, Avante- Garde art galleries and clubs, as well as the underground San Francisco Heavy Metal scene. Soon enough Moca and Huge presented their material  to a local access channel in San Francisco. For their efforts, they were awarded a regular slot on the channel.

Shortly thereafter, co-founder Moca parted ways from Reality Check. But, over the course of the next several years, the show gained three newcomers:

photo courtersy of Reality Check TV Photo Archives

Ace, specializing in the music industry and covering everything from local club events to national touring acts and Pop Culture Icons; Danny, the Heavy Metal and “Shock Rock” lover extraordinaire, and finally, Dragon Dave- specializing in film, adult entertainment and Rock ‘n Roll. That said, it is safe to say that each of the four members of Reality Check TV possess a well-rounded love and passion for media and culture as a whole.

Reality Check TV plays host to a wide variety of interviews which are frequently spontaneous in nature due to the shows’ completely unscripted and unrehearsed format. Huge recalls a time when he was broadcasting an episode on Burning Man- whereupon he ran into Todd Rungren.

“I invited Todd Rungren to co-host the entire Burning Man episode- it gave a completely different view of the event than one might expect. The commentary he gave on the event was hilarious and you really got to know your subject,” said Huge. “On another occasion I decided to film Dracula’s grave in Transylvania. Well, Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) comes along, so there I am in the middle of an interview, letting him be my tour guide through Romania. Well, next thing I know, we’re in a cab on our way to some out of the way Bingo parlor in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes you just never know what’s going to happen next.”

The unscripted, improv nature of Reality Check TV is most certainly one of many things that gives the show its charm.

“Sure, we’ve all tripped, forgotten what questions to ask…. that all stays in, unedited,” said Dragon Dave. That’s one of the things which makes the show so fun- the spontaneity. We don’t edit out things; we’re not afraid to poke fun at ourselves.”

Reality Check TV is often associated with getting the interview first. Danny recalls the show as having relatively exclusive media access for Thrash of the Titans, a benefit show held 2001 in San Francisco for Testament’s front man, Chuck Billy who was suffering from cancer at the time.

“Kirk Hammett accepted an interview with Reality Check TV over an interview with VH1. Why? Because we build a rapport with our subjects and they trust us. We’re not out to make anyone look bad,” said Dragon Dave.

Huge adds that the interviews he conducts are “conversations with friends, because we are familiar enough to know what to say beyond a generic question, such as ‘what’s your favorite color?’”

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photo courtesy of Reality Check TV Photo Archives

“We’re certainly not Entertainment Tonight, where some talking head is reading off a teleprompter, or cue card- working just to earn a quick buck,” said Ace. We’re all passionately engaged; we’re fans of what we’re representing, and I think that our audience as well as whomever we’re interviewing sees that and appreciates it.”

To be sure, Reality Check TV boasts a world-wide fan base that is loyal and diverse in demographic- and not likely to fade any time soon.

“The criteria for being broadcast on our show is to be loud and proud; have some sort of integrity and lasting appeal”, said Ace. (We cover) “artists dedicated to music for music’s sake, not just the ones who are out there trying to make a quick buck. We all are truly engaged in the interviews that we do, because we are usually very familiar with the work of the subject that we’re interviewing.”

Since the shows’ inception, the creators of Reality Check TV have gradually branched into other media platforms aside from local access TV so as to capture a wider audience for the show. Previous episodes are often played at Club events in which Ace DJs. In return, he offers his services as a promoter for whichever given event he DJs. Most recently, he promoted FEED, a fundraising event in support of Lux Killmore's New LGBT Feature, set for production this Fall. In addition, small clips of episodes are popping up on YouTube™, and Facebook©.

Beyond internet exposure, Reality Check TV has also been featured in a few award-winning documentary films including Punk's Not Dead, and Get Thrashed. In addition, the show has also been documented on E! True Hollywood Stories.

Finally, talk of air on other platforms such as Comcast’s On Demand is in the works for a future date as well.

After nearly twenty years, Reality Check TV front men have taken their cameras everywhere from San Francisco to Romania; Las Vegas to New York in effort to capture on film any public figure that they deem passionate enough about their craft. Everyone ranging from Adam West to members of KISS; Al Franken to Lemmy Kilminster have played guest to these four fun-loving cameramen. No doubt that the guys have a winning formula for a great interview- and one which sheds a behind the scenes, yet positive light on the subject who no doubt has enough staying power to outlast any trend.

Perhaps one element that has contributed to the shows’ success is the ability of the four members of Reality Check to spot talent when they see it- whether known locally or nationally, and get the interview that will help propel their subjects’ career forward.

Danny’s focus is primarily on the underground Heavy Metal and Punk scenes- two cultures which he notes “are oftentimes overlooked by the mainstream. Some bands you see on our show may not be known to the average person, but may have something unique that sets them apart.”

Ace adds, “Bands like Machine Head and the Donnas were interviewed on Reality Check TV before anywhere else. My feeling was those two bands had enormous potential to grow worldwide. We certainly helped a bit, then we watched it happen; felt justified in knowing that all their hard work paid off and they earned their fame. It’s always cool to see new artists emerge and reach their potential; I hope that I can do that with others. If I see passionate commitment, almost to point of obsession-- that goes a long way.”

“There is nothing like Reality Check TV out there,” said Dragon Dave. “I hope that there will be a Cable Access Hall of Fame some day- if there is, I’m sure we’ll be on it!”

Stay tuned as Reality Check TV looks forward to co-producing and sponsoring two listening parties for Ace Frehley’s new CD, Anomaly in the near future. Additional updates on those events will be posted to the Reality Check TV website.
 

 For more info: http://www.realitychecktv.com.

Reality Check TV airs Friday nights at 1 AM, Comcast Cable Channel 29 in San Francisco