Yes, I do have my own TV show

Today was the second pre-production meeting for a show with the working title, "BPC Moment." When I was first approached to host this in-house, closed circuit, television program, they wanted to call it "BPC Live"... I guess hoping that it would be "as good as" Saturday Night Live. Given that my feelings on SNL are mixed AND that "Live" can as easily be read with a short "i" as a long one, I suggested the title change. What's wrong with a short "i" in "live"? In this case, BPC is a long-term care psychiatric facility whose average length of stay currently exceeds one year. We don't want patients to think of themselves as living at BPC. We want them oriented on returning to the community; that their time in BPC is only a moment in their life. Hence, the title change.

Yeah, TV production is filled with all sorts of stupid arguments like the above. And, doing a TV show in a psychiatric facility has its own special issues and its own special opportunities. I'll spare you the issues and get you in on the "excitement" of the opportunities.

Since they asked me to host, I have done more than argue a program name change. I also suggested a talk show format and essentially bullied my way into pre-production meetings to act as a producer. Before I got involved, they were imagining a one-hour call in show ala Dr. Phil - with me dispensing pithy bits of earthy wisdom. Here are the zany ideas I countered with:

• I only want 15 minutes devoted to call-ins. The rest will be guest interviews and featured patient creative works. The last ten minutes of the hour will be given to the units to engage patients in discussion of the show.
• I want a patient as a co-host.
• I want a patient as a production technician.
• In addition to interesting staff, I want successful mental healthcare recipients as guests.
• I want to feature patient poetry, essays, musical pieces, and performance art.
• I want patients to submit "fan mail" and suggest future show topics.

All of those ideas were approved.

So far so good.

• I want 2 cameras, vision mixer with DVE, and a Character Generator.
• I want 2 wireless mics and a mixing console
• I want a studio with a host desk and chair, a guest couch, area rug, and wall decorations.

Um...

"It is good to dream, Dr. Reynolds," they say to me. Instead I will have one camera, one microphone, a desk with two chairs, and a fabric backdrop set up in the the corner of the video production room.

Well, that's showbiz!