Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17566 in VHS
• Released on: 1997-11-04
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.com
TV Nation, which first aired in the summer of 1994, in its own small way, made history. Michael Moore, director of the shambling working-class documentaries Roger & Me and The Big One and the subsequent Bravo! cable program The Awful Truth, persuaded NBC to give him a run of hour-long shows that would enlist the talents of pop-culture correspondents from Karen Duffy to Steven Wright in the name of confrontational TV. Opening with a jump-cutting montage of loaded images, to the alternating synthesized plucked strings and heavy-metal guitar of tomandandy, and punctuated by nonsensical polls conducted by Widgery & Associates, TV Nation took Moore and his colleagues up (inside skyscrapers), down (into bomb shelters), and around the globe--even to the Ukraine--to confront the exploiters, polluters, and hypocrites threatening Moore's peaceable and generally liberal-minded view of the world.

Now, thanks to the miracle of videotape, you can see what you missed or want to see again and again--and even a little bit more. Volume 1 comprises the first show and the year-end special, as well as a segment about condoms ("for the snugger fit") too controversial to be aired. Can Yaphet Kotto get a taxi in New York City? Need to buy a cheap house--in the former Love Canal? Should the U.S. invade France to restore politeness? Even if Moore doesn't provide definitive answers, he makes asking such questions a necessary, if embarrassing, activity. Granted, Moore directed these shows when the American economy--and the popularity of political and financial authority figures--seemed much less robust (or much less hyped). But TV Nation will keep you laughing at the same time as you're spreading the fingers in front of your reddened face to witness the apocalypse through Moore's jaundiced eyes. --Robert Burns Neveldine

Customer Reviews

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It's rare to find something that is funny and important at the same time, but Michael Moore has managed to do it for the last 10 years. This was a groundbreaking show, even though it only lasted a few seasons and was cancelled twice (even after winning an Emmy). Michael Moore is someone who unconditionally stands up for the little guy, which makes it all the more amazing that he was able to get his show on NBC! After criticizing some of NBC's advertisers, his show was quickly cancelled. TV Nation is quite simply one of the greatest TV shows ever. Moore's use of sarcasm to make his point is as brilliant as you will ever see. I also recommend buying "The Awful Truth" series, which is essentially the continuation of TV Nation. He has not backed off at all with his new series, which is a credit to his determination because it is sure to be cancelled for the same reasons.

Right on the nose
This is yet another Michael Moore expose' of the true American philosophy. The rich get favored. Very satirical, not for the weak minded. Go get'em Michael.

The potential of a dead medium
Moore, like Gore vidal and Greg Palast, thrives as an angry voice of dissent. Here in TV Nation, the satire is sharply pointed and wickedly funny. An excellent gift for the person who has the rare talent for simultaneously watching TV and thinking about what he is seeing and hearing.