Monday, April 25, 2011

Loud and Proud

HBO's "Cinema Verite" offers glimpses of the making of the first "reality" show, "An American Family" from 1973. The Loud family of Santa Barbara was profiled and over the course of the series, the peeling away of their seemingly perfect (boring!) family facade reveals a much more interesting cast of characters.



Perhaps the most interesting was the eldest son, Lance, who moved to New York and took up with the Warhol gang, eventually becoming a writer for "Interview" and lead singer of the Mumps. Lance died of AIDS, at 50.

7 comments:

glyphjockey said...

Saw the Mumps at CBGB. He put a poseur girl in a headlock during a song, and danced all ove the stage that way. It true showbiz.

Watched one episode of American Family. The dad blew his nose into his cloth napkin during dinner. Got nauseous - turned it off.

Donna Lethal said...

The Louds live around the corner from me, but I never see them.

glyphjockey said...

Can ya hear 'em? HAW! HAW! Get it - the LOUDS- get it? Hah?

Pantheon Zeus said...

PBS reran all the eps from 11pm to 3am this past weekend.

The Lance eps are the best.

I can now identify with the mom visiting her son in his slacker life at Chelsea Hotel (as his speed addiction that killed him was beginning). So glad I don't have kids.

Pat and Bill moved back in together (honoring LANCE'S final wishes). I think Dad Bill has alzheimers and Pat is watching over him-- in their LA apartment.

Donna Lethal said...

Is that when Lance is going on about Andy and Edie to his mother and she is just getting annoyed? That's the first ep I watched way back when, when I saw it on PBS.

Christopher said...

caught this series the first time in early 1973 and got drawn into it.wasn't anything else like it at the time..early reality tv..I watched several episodes when they re-ran it over easter holidays..

glyphjockey said...

So...... *ahem* their name is Loud, implying that are in fact sonically loud, and hence if you could not see them you might hear them - sort of a play on words, actually.