Glenn O'Brien's TV Party: The Sublimely Intolerable Show (1979)

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Chaos gives way to art as a live television broadcast of the legendary, late 1970s public access show TV Party experiences some serious technical difficulties before getting under way with appearances by such special guests as Debbie Harry, Klaus Nomi, Adny Shernoff, and The Patty Smith Group's Richard Sohl. The sound-man has gone missing, ensuring that the opening segments of this episode of TV Party from January 8, 1979 gets off to an alternately amusing and artistically agonizing start. Later, when the sound board gets working, Blondie singer Harry and host Glenn O'Brien back up Compton Maddox in a typically droll performance by the underground singer/songwriter, futurist soprano Nomi takes the microphone to deliver a post-modern aria, and The Dictators' Shernoff covers The Beach Boys' "Be True to Your School" as Manic Panic designers Tish and Snooky cheer along with pom-poms. Later, director Eric Mitchell announces the grand opening of the New Cinema theater and shows a few clips from the latest film Kidnapped. "White people talk about reggae" in a segment featuring British director David Silver and photographer Kate Simon, and the episode winds to a close as Blondie singer Harry, her band-mate Chris Stein, and good friend Sohl sit down to puff on a joint while taking calls from viewers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi