This blog is about the launch of a new TV network and the cast of characters who will make it work. It’s a new idea and we’re all new to each other, and I’ve been given the enviable job of letting you see behind the scenes.
Now, before I dive headlong into this post, you should know that, aside from the boss, no one knows who’s writing this blog. There may be more than one of us. You can call me anonymous if you want. Just know that you’re getting unscripted reality in the raw, just the way you like it.
So a few months ago I saw a post on my school’s online job bank –
“New TV network being launched and we need you!”
Me, really?
I was honoured.
“A brand new television experience, TxT-TV! Engage in a fully interactive television experience! Chatting! Games! Trivia! Voting! Contests! Exclamation points!”
They needed people to help moderate the discussions, introduce topics of conversation, make sure no lunatic hijacks the whole thing with endless conspiracy theories. I thought to myself; “Oh, ok, the usual.” I played it over in my mind and I saw Cartman saying ‘respect my authoritay’ – I was sold.
Fast forward a few weeks and I’m sitting down at a big table in a big office. An orange-red-yellow office, with a copy of F*** My Life on the coffee table, inflatable neon furniture; I feel like I’m walking onto the set of a sitcom about twenty-somethings doing something techy. Tattoos and piercings and Warhol and rockstar attitudes – and that’s just the boss!
Sitting around the table’s a bit dull, the powerpoint a bit too long, aimless. We had been given homework, to read through the manual, learn how the system worked etc, and I was psyched to get going. We get the gist of the idea – user generated television, text messaging meets TV.
We get introduced to the programs – a chance to chew the fat, to let-loose, to vent or to prove how smart you are. We meet the people involved, and see what had been prepared for us to test. I look around the table and see a bunch of people not unlike myself, different yet similar. A mom, an actor, a singer, a chef, a writer, a manager, a promoter – I’m convinced we all carry these jobs around with us. Ever felt you’ve tried your hand at all that’s been tried before?
The boss is confident. The managers are confident. The office – though it really is more of a studio – is confident. Everyone’s confident except us – eight people sitting around a table, unsure of where this is going, whether we’ll succeed.
After what seems like an eternity discussing the intricate details of our jobs as moderators, we finally get to test the system and see what we’re made of, though we’re all caught off guard. We blush: “What song did you lose your virginity to?” is the topic.
Let me give it to you straight – this question can tell you a lot about people you barely know, and as far as icebreakers go, well, let’s say we all got real comfortable real quick. True to form, those I had pegged as geeks, nerds, shy etc were the complete opposite. Since we were just screwing around to test the system (and our abilities as moderators) we let fly – weeks of anticipation, frustration and trying to figure out a work-in-progress came out in a torrent of pure unadulterated raunch.
I think I’m in good hands.
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