David Lynch Tribute: On the Air Marathon
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Archive Television Treasures. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
In-person: post-screening Q&A with actor Ian Buchanan and actor Nancye Ferguson.
“Absurdity is what I like most in life…”— David Lynch
Created and executive produced by Mark Frost and David Lynch, the surrealist sitcom On the Air (1992) is perhaps best described as a brilliantly eccentric cousin to its slightly older relative, the beloved landmark series Twin Peaks (1990-91, 2017). Seemingly sprung from a hidden alcove of Peaks’ “Red Room,” the genre-melting On the Air is much more of a joyfully Ernie Kovacs-inspired fever dream than a traditional network situation comedy.
Set in 1957, On the Air explores backstage dysfunction at the fictional Lester Guy Show, a variety program that inevitably goes off the rails as soon as it beams out live to television land. Imbued with a host of indelible Lynchian touches, from the conjoined Hurry Up twins to Blinky Watts, a soundman who sees “25.62% times” more than the average person, the unorthodox series plays as an absurdist love letter to the golden age of television, with a hint of barbed satire aimed at contemporary network TV. The result is an artful, alternate universe blend of Dada and slapstick never before (or since) presented on television. The series was bounced without fanfare from the airwaves by ABC after only three of its seven produced episodes aired.
Join us for a tribute to maestro David Lynch as we present all seven episodes of the underseen, cult-classic television series On the Air. Featuring the superb pilot co-written by David Lynch and Mark Frost and directed by Lynch, and the indescribable series finale co-written by Lynch (perhaps one of the most entertainingly bizarre 24 minutes ever to air on network TV).
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