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Episode 07: Enhanced Reality
AIR DATES: March 5, 12, 1990
Description:
Camera begins in close-up on a computer playing video games, and the sounds of Joe and several of his friends goofing off in the basement.
Pull back to reveal - the same basement, empty. The sound continues, the camera roams to find a TV set in another room. On the TV screen we see Joe and his friends making the noises we’ve been hearing.
Zoom in to the TV, with its images of mundane “reality:” Dan interrupts his friends’ attempts to tell a shaggy-dog story; Paul brushes Jengis’ head with a chalkboard eraser.
The same scene is then re-enacted by actors (have you ever wondered who’d play you in the movie of your life – or what they’d be doing?)
Pull back from the TV - finally Joe shuts it off and heads upstairs to the kitchen for a snack.
While he placidly eats Captain Crunch, a sinister melodrama plays out behind him. A woman screams, a bloody corpse is found, and a detective arrives to interrogate several witnesses to find out who killed Joe!
The detective murders each of the other characters, one by one, as Joe chows down, completely oblivious.
Once everyone’s dead, Joe addresses the camera, “Don’t watch too much TV. It’s not good for you – it loosens your grip on reality.”
Production Notes:
This was the first episode to air in what would be the series’ regular Monday night 11:30 pm time slot. Each show would air two consecutive Mondays.
Some of the cast would contribute mightily to later episodes: Juan Luco, Kate Olsen, and John Harriman, who appear with Mark Audrain and Paul Birchall. Katalina Groh joined the production team, doing camerawork.
Camera, Lights & Sound: Katalina Groh, Dan Margulies, Jonathan Cohler.
Actors: Juan Luco, Mark Audrain, Kate Olsen, Paul Birchall, John Harriman.