Series: Frames of Reference
Program: Lulu Smith: The Chicken that Ate Columbus
Date: 1981-01-01
Subject: Drama; Comedy; Parodies; Television - Production and direction; Audience participation programs
Copyright Holder: Warner Amex Cable Communications and WGBH Educational Foundation

Clip Description
This episode of "Frames of Reference" features "Lulu Smith: The Chicken that Ate Columbus," a one-off work created in collaboration with Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc., WOSU-TV34 at Ohio State University, and Connecticut Public Television.
The work is an interactive comedy and drama concerning the development from infancy to young adulthood of a woman named Lulu Smith. Through the use of QUBE cable, viewers were able to vote on the events that would befall Lulu, thus contributing to the advancement of the story. For example, the viewers vote to make Lulu's father a clown and to give Lulu a special talent. In the edited version of the work, the story of Lulu develops parallel to the story of the writers, producers, and television executives who are trying to make a story out of the disparate elements of her life. The second part of the story features an adult Lulu, traumatized both by the unconventionality of her youth and by the portions of her existence the writers and producers chose to skip over. We find Lulu living with Sally, a selfish vixen who takes advantage of her, and entering into a romantic liaison with Ed, Sally's boyfriend. Sally leaves town for good and Lulu and Ed end up together. Just as Ed is declaring his love for Lulu, the executives cancel the show. The Lulu character enters the empty television studio in a daze and picks up the abandoned script, thus realizing that her existence has been fabricated.

"Lulu Smith," was written by Dick Bartlett and created in collaboration with Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc., WOSU-TV34 at Ohio State University, and Connecticut Public Television. This may have been the first interactive drama in television. It was broadcast as an episode of "Frames of Reference."

"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.

Program Description
This episode of "Frames of Reference" features "Lulu Smith: The Chicken that Ate Columbus," a one-off work created in collaboration with Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc., WOSU-TV34 at Ohio State University, and Connecticut Public Television.
The work is an interactive comedy and drama concerning the development from infancy to young adulthood of a woman named Lulu Smith. Through the use of QUBE cable, viewers were able to vote on the events that would befall Lulu, thus contributing to the advancement of the story. For example, the viewers vote to make Lulu's father a clown and to give Lulu a special talent. In the edited version of the work, the story of Lulu develops parallel to the story of the writers, producers, and television executives who are trying to make a story out of the disparate elements of her life. The second part of the story features an adult Lulu, traumatized both by the unconventionality of her youth and by the portions of her existence the writers and producers chose to skip over. We find Lulu living with Sally, a selfish vixen who takes advantage of her, and entering into a romantic liaison with Ed, Sally's boyfriend. Sally leaves town for good and Lulu and Ed end up together. Just as Ed is declaring his love for Lulu, the executives cancel the show. The Lulu character enters the empty television studio in a daze and picks up the abandoned script, thus realizing that her existence has been fabricated.

"Lulu Smith," was written by Dick Bartlett and created in collaboration with Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc., WOSU-TV34 at Ohio State University, and Connecticut Public Television. This may have been the first interactive drama in television. It was broadcast as an episode of "Frames of Reference."

"Frames of Reference" was a series that began circa 1978. Half-hour shows were produced to showcase commissioned and already created works. It was around this time that the focus of the Workshop shifted, to concentrate more heavily on creating works for broadcast. During its time, "Frames of Reference" was the focus of the Workshop's national arts programming effort. The series ended circa 1983.

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/Lulu25.HTML