Clips n Quips

The emergence of the “clips and quips” template as a viable entertainment model is an interesting phenomenon, drawing from student productions, underground entertainment shows, and amateur video.

During the heyday of broadcast television, there was simply no effective way to present an alternative to the monolithic structure and process of the “Big Three” networks. Things were difficult enough for independent filmmakers, who at least had some specific avenues to create, produce, and distribute their work — if they were committed and connected enough to make it happen. The sole outlet that offered any attractive hope for semi-autonomous mass media was radio; it is no wonder that college radio and late-night shows exploded in the latter half of the 20th Century.

The introduction of cable television, closed-circuit television networks, and low-power independent broadcast television began to draw all of those disparate threads together; in the 1970s and 1980s especially, a number of extremely interesting shows were produced all over the world — many of them, understandably, reaching small audiences and lasting for very short runs (say, until the creators were thrown off the air, or graduated).

Still, enough people were interested and affected to take the ideas to the next level. Between the granola glamor of PBS and the mainstream rebellion of MTV, any number of major channels began to offer ideas that provided the right combination of trendy youth, acceptable irreverence, and marketable energy. Though a number of examples ended up being every bit as condescending and inauthentic as you might expect, there were still examples of truly unique and consistently-fascinating approaches to television mainstays.

Now, of course, we have an overabundance of video by people who may or may not be able to generate an interesting and entertaining experience; between Internet video and more digital television channels than one person could ever hope to keep track of, the average person has immediate access to ‘edgy, unique, personality-driven content’ as the programming tools and academics might say.