Everything Local Show

It was the show about all the fun stuff going on in the community* and gave information about how to get involved and be a part of the surrounding area. We taped weekly and I hosted every other week. However, there was no real pattern, for Michelle and I were always having scheduling conflicts and switching off days with each other.

Thoughts

Anyone who knows me outside of Everything Local could tell you that I was not really like that the majority of the time. I’m a bit more sane and stable. I don’t talk at lightning speed, and my jokes aren’t quite that bad. Oh, alright, my jokes are still lame.

It began because I had just finished the Bird Show at Great America. Granted, the Bird Show itself wasn’t done, but I was done with them. After receiving various bites all over my body (and face!) I came to the ingenious conclusion that the bird show was, yes indeed, for the birds.

I needed a new gig.

After watching a taping of the 580/680 news, I decided I was going to get involved down at the studio. The first thing I did was get together with some friends and make a cool demo tape. I showed it to the people down at the station and they either felt I had some potential or felt great pity for me. Either way, they let me help out with the Everything Local show.

My first assignment was to push a button. Sure, it wasn’t exactly like winning an Emmy, but I must say, it was sort of exciting. From there, I went on to work cameras, work the sound board, and occasionally help Co-host the show with a few other people. Mind you, this didn’t all happen the first day. It took some time.

Eventually, I took a break from the show for a while and hosted another show called Backstage Pass. It didn’t live too long since we had to develop our own segments for every show. And with a segment taking around 10-20 hours of work to put together, the show quickly became overwhelming.

After a few years of Everything Local, I stopped doing the show for a while due to my daily work commute gobbling up about three hours of my day. I needed a break. I took about two years off. My work commute then changed to Milpitas and I decided it was time to get involved again. I called up the station, dropped in a few times and caught up with the show again.

Michelle and a few other people were hosting the show at the time. I just volunteered to step in whenever needed, but soon it turned into every week. After time, it boiled down to just Michelle and I hosting the show. That worked well for a long time and I preferred it that way, but one day the director felt it would be best if Michelle and I split up and hosted the show separately. He felt we each performed a little better when we fully had the reins. I enjoyed it either way so it didn’t make much difference to me. And it was nice to have a show off every other week. So that’s how it worked henceforth.

Favorite Episodes

Looking back, it’s hard to remember all the shows, but some moments really were quite exciting or nerve-wracking! Here are some memories of mine:

• The BIG PIG! We had some people who were in an art class. They were doing watercolor paintings of pigs. It’s sort of strange, but they had come to the right place, and they brought a PIG. I forgot his name, but he was a huge one. He trolled around the stage a bit and his owner fed him bananas. The pig was a joy to watch as he gobbled up those bananas and held his mouth open as if to say “MORE, MORE, MORE!”
• The Guys & Dolls Promo. Brian and Julie were hysterical as they decided to do the segment completely in character. The improv went great and the show was particularly lively that day. They even did a small scene from the show that went over really well.
• The Taste of the Valley Cooking Demo. This segment wasn’t exactly funny but sure was fun. The whole studio filled with a mouthwatering aroma as a cook brought out his finest recipe and prepared it in the studio. Everything was just so professional. I felt ready to start hosting a cooking show after that.
• The Dog Ate My Santa Cap! Most of the fun occurred off camera as Michelle had brought her dog in for the show. After a brief tug of war with the dog, he decided he really liked my cap and tore it up a bit. The whole taping was exceptionally fun and pleasant that day. Yet, my cap was never the same. Sure, I could have sewn it up, but the emotional scars would never heal.

* provided your community is in our Tri-Valley area.