Throwback: 1SKILLZ-TV #1

Uh-oh.  1SKILLZ-NetworksUnited has acquired significant library material.  Due to Google Video totally deferring to YouTube, I had to rescue the lost webisodes of 1SKILLZ-TV.  What is 1SKILLZ-TV?  Some background:

I envisioned a radio show that would be almost like the MADDSKILLZ Update:  almost a satire of talk radio shows, funny at times, with incredibly eclectic playlists of music, tightly structured, with a wide range of topics, yet always featuring some kind of news, personal experiences, social commentary, and sports acumen.  I decided WCAL needed 1SKILLZ-FM.

After a month of training, I started 1SKILLZ-FM at 10AM Tuesday morning, September 28, 2008.  I usually arrived at the radio station about an hour before the show to create the outline for the show, but the show was truly live.  There was no written copy for my dialogue, it was mostly improvisation.  The first segment is the cold opening, where I would say whatever is on my mind, backed by a hip-hop instrumental or some other instrumental.  All of my instrumentals were provided by my own library of music or YouTube.  After the cold opening, I would go into a block of music.  Music from the last six decades was featured on 1SKILLZ-FM, over 20 genres, some popular some virtually unknown.  Gimmick playlists (such as playing songs with “paper” in the title) and double plays (playing one song, then another soon after that is a cover or uses a sample from the previous song, or vice versa) became hallmarks of 1SKILLZ-FM.  The second segment was usually the monologue, further introducing the episode. Commercial breaks were played every half hour or so, and served as a 2 minute break in the show.  The middle of the show was the news, eventually permanently titled as 1SKILLZ Newsbreak.  1SKILLZ Newsbreak, like the MADDSKILLZ Update, was a parody of the news more than an actual news report.  Commentary segments lasting about 10 minutes appeared before and after the news.  Sometimes they operated as editorials, other times they were more creative and operated as improvised skits. Everything on 1SKILLZ-FM was backed by an assorted range of talk beds; anything from Street Fighter II Turbo to Super Mario Kart to hip-hop instrumentals to TV theme songs to Donkey Kong Country and more. It also wouldn’t be uncommon for me to ad-lib lyrics to some of the songs I was playing over the air, and any guest DJ from the station was welcome to spar with me on the mic.  Every show ended with a goodnight segment, lasting about 5 minutes long.

On February 2, 2009, 1SKILLZ-FM moved from a 2 hour morning show on Tuesdays to a 4 hour evening show on Mondays, starting at 6PM.  This added another post Newsbreak commentary segment and much more music to the show.  1SKILLZ-FM was a great success, and in April I was one of 6 WCAL DJs to participate in the annual WCAL Lock-In.  In all, 28 episodes of 1SKILLZ-FM were aired (the first 14 Tuesday morning, the last 14 Monday night), in addition to 5 1SKILLZ-TV webisodes and 48 hours in the 2009 WCAL Lock-In.

Over winter break 2008-2009, I would attempt to promote the show with five installments of 1SKILLZ-TV, a webshow written on the day of the episode, filmed entirely on a cellphone, and edited on my personal laptop before being released online.

I’m very excited to show you these clips now that YouTube has forced my hand (and now that YouTube has graciously allowed users to post more than 10 minutes of uploaded video).  The “host” of 1SKILLZ-TV is Lorenzo Anderson, a character that is not the biggest fan of 1SKILLZ, yet is forced to host the show anyway.  1SKILLZ-TV #1 was originally aired on December 15, 2008.  The segments are:

1) Surprise Press Conference (Lorenzo Anderson chooses to announce the debut of the new show in Iraq, despite the attempted shoe attack on George W. Bush.)

2) Lorenzo Anderson (Lorenzo Anderson explains why he is hosting 1SKILLZ-TV.)

3) Finals Tips (To end the fall semester, 1SKILLZ-TV has special tips for final exams.)

4) 1SKILLZ-TV HOT NEWS (Lorenzo Anderson can’t pronounce the name of a former Illinois governor.)

5) Brusch Yo Teef! (Who needs pickup lines when all you need is a toothbrush?)

6) Next (The promise to return.)

-1SKILLZ