Beyond Our Control

As a kid growing up in South Bend, IN. one of my favorite TV shows was "Beyond Our Control". It was billed as a "TV show about TV" and the most interesting thing was that it was written, produced, performed and edited by high school kids. It was mostly skits of parodies about TV.

I was pleased to find that the former cast members have set up a web site (www.beyondourcontrol.org)where you can now order DVDs of some of there better skits. I just finished watching three that I have ordered and found that the humor is still as fresh as when it was written almost 30 years ago.

If you grew up around the South Bend area I recommend ordering a disk or two for a nice bit of nostalgia. As you watch it keep in mind that the majority of the show's run pre-dates, Saturday Night Live, MTV and cable.

In November, 1974, I discovered "Beyond Our Control". No other tv show was like it until the first episode of SNL in October of 1975. It was like the SNL cast had gone to an Indiana high school. I watched it from Wabash County, Indiana, where we could pick up both South Bend and Fort Wayne stations. It was "Must See TV" (to use a later phrase) and I never missed it. I watched it until life and college arrived to change my viewing plans. There were the skits and the one liners that I still use today. "How bad was it? Have you ever seen a dog get up and change the channel? " I didn't like the song they played at the end of the show. I skipped that part because it sounded too heartbreaking. I can only hope there is enough material out there for a DVD.

I remember watching every Saturday, my mother and I laughing till we cried! As memory serves there was a scene where terrorists storm the library looking for a book ( I forget which ). They came in screaming "Arab Terrorists! Arab Terrorists!" The Librarian, a Julia Childs send up (figure that out) dressed them down properly for making so much noise and explained how to check out books with out taking hostages. Then there was the "Texas Table Saw Massacre" a series of PSA's like "Frends don't let friends drive Possessed" and the story of a little lost table lamp that a little boy has to release back into the wild with the obligatory "Go Away! I hate you!" scene! Too funny! It was usually a series of short skits but one entire season was dedicated to spoofing Robin Hood. Somewhere in Southbend IN there's a secret archive of these TV gems. I hope someone is preserving them. Maybe a DVD release, oh Powers that Be?

This was a long running series on a local television station in South Bend, IN. It was written, produced, directed, and acted by local high school students. I only saw the series from 1975 through 1976, and remember that I enjoyed it immensely. I don't know what the show was like for other years, but during those years it was very Monty Python-esque. It aired during the middle of Saturday afternoons and I used to watch it regularly. It always cracked me up. I also remember that this show had one of the best opening credit sequences I've ever seen on a television show. 27 years later I still remember it as something unique and special.