Series: New Television Workshop
Program: Collisions
Date: 1977-01-01
Subject: Drama; Comedy; Parodies; Interstellar travel; Science fiction

Clip Description
"Collisions" was written by Jane Wagner and is an unusual comedy/drama. It stars Lily Tomlin and other well known performers, such as Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. The work attempts to integrate short video works by Stephen Beck, Ed Emshwiller, Louis Falco, Ron Hays, Stan Vanderbeek, and William Wegman. "Collisions" tells the story of Eartha, a creature from the planet of Zymus, who agrees to take a human form and to observe the planet earth. Eartha inhabits Beth Barber (Lily Tomlin), a news reporter. At one point, Beth visits her family in Kentucky, who are played by Tomlin's actual family. Meanwhile, a panel of experts on a television program on Zymus monitor Eartha's impressions and contemplate whether or not to blow up the earth. Eventually, Eartha, who has come to respect the humans' vulnerability and depth of feeling, has a falling out with the panel. The fate of earth remains uncertain. Produced by Fred Barzyk and David Loxton.

A coproduction of the WNET Television Laboratory and the WGBH New Television Workshop. This work was considered a "failure" by Fred Barzyk and was never broadcast.

Program Description
"Collisions" was written by Jane Wagner and is an unusual comedy/drama. It stars Lily Tomlin and other well known performers, such as Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. The work attempts to integrate short video works by Stephen Beck, Ed Emshwiller, Louis Falco, Ron Hays, Stan Vanderbeek, and William Wegman. "Collisions" tells the story of Eartha, a creature from the planet of Zymus, who agrees to take a human form and to observe the planet earth. Eartha inhabits Beth Barber (Lily Tomlin), a news reporter. At one point, Beth visits her family in Kentucky, who are played by Tomlin's actual family. Meanwhile, a panel of experts on a television program on Zymus monitor Eartha's impressions and contemplate whether or not to blow up the earth. Eventually, Eartha, who has come to respect the humans' vulnerability and depth of feeling, has a falling out with the panel. The fate of earth remains uncertain. Produced by Fred Barzyk and David Loxton.

A coproduction of the WNET Television Laboratory and the WGBH New Television Workshop. This work was considered a "failure" by Fred Barzyk and was never broadcast.

Series Description
The New Television Workshop originated at WGBH, a public broadcasting station in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1974 to support the creation and development of experimental video art. This experimental programming included dance, drama, music, performance and visual arts on video and film. As early as 1968, WGBH was committed to the development of video art through residency programs, with artists such as Nam June Paik, and the "Rockefeller Artists-in-Television" project. Many of these early works (pre-1974) were broadcast both locally and nationally.

As an umbrella for arts related programming, the Workshop included "Artist's Showcase, " "Frames of Reference, " "Dance for Camera, " "Poetry Breaks," and "New Television," as well as acquired arts programming. Individual works were created for "Visions," a series produced by WNET (New York), and "Alive From Off Center," a series produced by KTCA (St. Paul - Minneapolis). The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was co-founded by the Workshop and Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in the 1980's, to commission works by video artists. In 1993 the Workshop ceased production at WGBH.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/NTW/FA/TITLES/Collisions24.HTML