Guerilla TV Coverage of the 1976 Academy Awards

The San Francisco-based video collective TVTV was founded in 1972 by a group of technicians and other enthusiasts who were eager to seize the means of image-making. They were greatly aided by the development of portable video systems like the Sony Portapak. Shoulder-held video cameras were so uncommon at the time that the operators could fade into the surroundings with much more ease than 16mm film shooters who needed to reload often and be more conscious of their light.

TVTV made astonishing fly-on-the wall documentaries about national political conventions, the Super Bowl, the nature and values of advertising, and more. They were aided by such later-well-known collaborators as Bill & Brian Doyle Murray, Harold Ramis, and others. Their programs provide some invaluable new angles of American culture and entertainment.

Here is the TVTV coverage of the preparations surrounding the 1976 Academy Awards. The access is amazing. It’s an unmissable hour, featuring Lilly Tomlin, Lee Grant, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Ronee Blakley, Bill Murray and so many others.

As a quick teaser, check out Steven Spielberg and friends watching the 1976 TV announcement of nominations, in which Spielberg was not nominated for Best Director for JAWS. Spielberg’s friends, loquacious character actors Joe Spinell and Frank Pesce, help communicate the hilarious outrage felt that day at the Spielberg compound.