MANHATTAN NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORK a public access Cable Tv Show from the late 80's through 1996 nterview by Jaime Suicide No one in network TV can match his eye for the eccentric and truly whacked out. Rich Brown, in character as Frank Hope, hosted the Manhattan cable access talk show Beyond Vaudeville. It aired from 1986-1996 until MTV picked it up for one year. Showcasing eccentrics and celebrities, the wide array of guests included Suzanne Muldowney AKA "Underdog Lady", Tiny Tim, Fred Willard, Singing Gong Show Queen of Long Island Irene, members of the Klingon League of Assault Warriors, Shirley Jones and lots more! Rich Brown has since relocated to Los Angeles, where he has worked as producer for The Daily Show, Fear Factor, Surreal Life, Distraction and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Occasionally he hosts a live talk and variety show with videos from his vast collection and special in-person guest stars at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Hollywood. Jaime: Where are you from? Rich Brown: I am from back east, originally. I grew up on Long Island, in a small town that is right next to a bigger town that a lot of famous people are from. Massapequa is the bigger town. That's the home of the Baldwin brothers and Joey Buttafuoco and countless other luminaries. I grew up in Seaford and ended up moving into the city and then eventually out here to LA. J: As Frank Hope, you were the host of the talk show Beyond Vaudeville that was on Manhattan cable access. When was it first aired and when was the last show? RB: The first one was in '86, actually. J: That is my favorite year! RB: I had been producing these shows at NYU and it kind of grew out of those. It was originally a stage show and then it changed into the TV show in '86. It went for at least ten years. It must have been around '96 or '97 and then we stopped it when we brought it over to MTV. J: That's when it became Oddville. How long did that air? RB: We did sixty-six episodes. It aired for about a year. It was on weeknights at 7pm and 11pm. The main slot was the 11pm slot. RB: David was unpredictable. He would always tell us, "I can't be responsible for what happens when I'm on this show." When he would punch the puppets or push me, he would be very serious about it. J: Like he was possessed. RB: He was very forceful. One time he threw a piñata at a guest's head. There was no telling David what to do. J: That's amazing! I always wondered how much of the show was adlib and how much was rehearsed. RB: I always liked the idea of keeping it as unpredictable as possible. One of the joys of working in public-access TV is that you don't have to have everything worked out to the minute and you don't have to worry if the set is falling down during a show or if one guest goes on too long or if one guest is too short. You just go with it and somehow it just all seems to work. One of the things I have always enjoyed about public-access TV is the unpredictable nature of it. To me that's exciting TV because you never know for sure what is coming up. It's a lot less predictable than commercial TV.

• published: 24 Jan 2014
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