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The History of the 45701 Television Series45701 began as an idea in the "real" world. According to legend, two neighbors discovered the free, easy-to-use video equipment at Access Television and exclaimed, "What if we did a soap opera?" They did. 45701 is entirely a product of public access television. Without it, the series would never have existed. In January, 1984, work began on the first episode. The weekly series premiered June 21, 1984. After a short break in late August for re-runs, the series continued through November 13, 1984 with its final made-for-television, feature-length, two hour climax. In December, one year after it was conceived and six months after it went on the air, 45701 was featured nationally in TV Guide. The original series consisted of 15-episodes plus three half-hour "non-episode" special presentations--My Dinner with Alan (in which Alan Starr explains to the Access TV coordinator that 45701 is not fiction at all, but a documentary of his life); What PM Magazine Didn't Show You (in which the crew taped the PM Magazine crew while they were taping them for a national feature); and Alan Starr's Winter Vacation (in which Ludene and Alan narrate video footage of dog sleds, hot-air balloons, and a musical revue taped in Aspen, Colorado). The entire series amounted to over 10 hours of screen time--the equivalent of five feature-length films. There were 13 regular cast members, several irregular members, and literally thousands of extras in the series. In an effort to superimpose its fantasy storyline over a believable Athens backdrop, 45701 managed to "document" such local events as the Dairy Barn's Labor Day "Barn Raising;" Hallmark's National Jigsaw Puzzle Contest; the Athens County Fair; Ohio University's Homecoming Parade; Indian Summer Run; and Halloween. On-location shooting took place at the Ohio University airport; Athens Mall; Athens County Jail; Athens City Parking Garage; Athens Middle School; Ohio University's Telecommunication Center; the Varsity Theater; Athena Theaters; Ohio University Aquatic Center; the Athens County Fairgrounds; the Athens Post Office, and several private establishments including grocery stores, restaurants, flower shops, hair-styling salons, etc. The series boasted original theme music as well as roof-top chases, car chases, stunt-flying, and underwater-dream sequences. In a deliberate effort to make the series a community project, the soap opera's storyline touched on several controversial issues including the death penalty; the state lottery; development of the state mental hospital grounds; local gay rights legislation; and child fingerprinting. However, the series, itself, became controversial when it began to tamper with real life--sending its fictional characters out into the community to interact with others as if they were real people. Several weeks before the series went on to the air, Alan Starr began writing a series of letters-to-the-editor in which he claimed there were "between 13 and 27 full-time homosexuals in Athens." Then, at a televised city council meeting, Alan Starr showed up in person and invited the members of council "to join him in the 20th century" in support of the proposed gay ordinance. Most people in the community accepted Starr as a real person. so after the series went on the air and Alan Starr turned out to be a fictitious character, not everyone was happy. While some people accused the soap opera of making a "mockery of city council," many members of council had a sense of humor and accepted invitations to make cameo appearances in the series as themselves. Eventually, cameo appearances were made by Mayor Ed Beckett; Sheriff Bob Allen; Judge Tom Hodson; Ohio University President Charles Ping; and a variety of other city/county officials. It was this blending of reality and fantasy which became a trademark for the series and which helped it achieve national attention. Although production costs for the entire series were less than $750, the program generated over one-and-a-half million dollars in national publicity. Though the series did have something of a local cult following, most Athens residents never actually saw the program. It was after the series was off the air that it was featured in TV Guide and nationally on PM Magazine. Those features, plus Associated Press stories and local newspaper articles, made the series a legend. Condensed versions of the series surfaced in a gallery exhibit in Cleveland, and on access television channels in Aspen and Columbus. But with the exception of a one-hour edited synopsis show on New Year's Eve, 1985, the 45701 series has never been shown in Athens since its original cablecasts. Previous | Next | Site Map | Home The 45701 Web page is produced by the © Copyright 1999 Brickroad Productions |
