Tiki segment on HGTV "Hey Remember" tonite 10:OOpm

Wedged in between "Toasters" (!?) and "Bedsheets" (!!!?) there will be a 5 minute mini docu on Tiki style (of the past) tonite Sunday 10:00 pm (check local listings for varying airdates!).

To the hardcore Tikiphile it will not dispense any new Tiki wisdom, yours truly Sven-Tiki Sensei just gets to mention the usual escapism and Pacific veteran influences, and unlike in the 1996 BBC piece there are very few cool vintage clips.

You will see some stuff from my house, my collection, but it is cut very fast, hard to really SEE the things (and they included my contemporary mugs...).
You also get to view my neighbour (and Palm Springs modcom chair) Pete Moruzzi's basement bar (also seen in PAD) and some Hawaiiana stuff I would guess is from Colorado, where the production company for "Hey Remember" is located.

It would be too harsh to call this "Fluff", but 5 minutes are not enough to get into ANYTHING in an in-depth way....

I'll watch, thanks for the heads up BigBro :)

From HGTV"s web page:

Hey Remember!
Episode HHEY-205

AIR TIMES:
• January 18, 2004 10:00 PM ET/PT
• January 19, 2004 2:00 AM ET/PT

Toasters, Tiki Items, Bed Sheets, Toaster Accessories
Vintage commercials, archival footage and home memories combine for a nostalgic look at 1950s to '80s home interiors. Pop-culture experts, collectors and designers profile toasters, tiki items, bed sheets, and toaster accessories.

RESOURCES:
The Book of Tiki
by Sven A. Kirsten
Taschen, 2003
Order this title from Amazon.com.

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2004-01-18 16:12 ]

I remember trying to find out who to contact to get that show to cover Tiki stuff. I just hit dead end after dead end.

I would have thought that they'd cover it a little more in depth. Given the popularity of Tiki.

Oh well.
TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

It is all a matter of time, which is a matter of budget. These special interest cable channels pay very little to the independent production companies who provide their tube fodder.

On 2004-01-18 21:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
It is all a matter of time, which is a matter of budget. These special interest cable channels pay very little to the independent production companies who provide their tube fodder.

It's time for the DVD of Tiki, methinks...

TG

High time, but where is the budget coming from? I tried to have two different production companies, one in LA and one in Florida, sell it to any and all of the cable channels that might be into it, but indifference reigned.

I support all efforts to shoot and document the current Tiki Scene, but ultimately the film I want to make should be like the BOT:

With as much cool original vintage footage as possible. I have a huge list of where to clip material from, but to pay for those rights of 50s and 60s footage one needs serious money these days...

Thanks BigBro- comin' up on my local cable channel in about 15 minutes. Good timing.

Great segment...

It was nice to see tiki represented on a show like this but as expected they only touched upon the very tip of the iceberg. The production really was like a bad MTV video with lots of quick cuts. I wish I had recorded it so I could watch it again in slow motion so I could actually absorb more of what they were showing. Tiki Farm must be happy as they recieved some pretty good product shots. Nice job BigBro in trying to spread the word!...it's too bad they couldn't have given tiki a little more time in the show.

ModMana :drink:

I think this should allay anyone's "fears" about tiki culture re-emerging/going mainstream. The time they allotted accurately reflects the average attention span of GenNext® (as well as the speed at which their "fads" are devoured & disgorged). Guess we won't be seeing a WITCO revival at Target anytime soon...AND, I mean this in a positive way!

On 2004-01-18 21:57, bigbrotiki wrote:
I support all efforts to shoot and document the current Tiki Scene, but ultimately the film I want to make should be like the BOT:

With as much cool original vintage footage as possible. I have a huge list of where to clip material from, but to pay for those rights of 50s and 60s footage one needs serious money these days...

Bigbro, I've emailed Huell Howser's California's Gold website many times to try to get them to cover tiki as I believe he can give it the historic attention it deserves. Unfortunately, all I've been getting back have been "canned" email responses. I gave up about a year ago.

In this scenario, we can use old photos, postcards and such. I know you have a good amount as does Bob at OA. Postcards can come from TC members. I pictured Huell visiting OA and interviewing Bob and Leroy, visiting some TC'ers at a local hangout such as Sam's Seafood, etc.

I even asked Bob at OA about this a couple years ago. He said that Huell's group contacted them once about it but then never followed up on it and it eventually was forgotten.

Being in a somewhat related industry, you wouldn't happen to have a contact at KCET would you?

**Poly-Pop ***

He who dies with the most broken mugs WINS!

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2004-01-19 08:08 ]

I like the hostesses comment at the end: "Want to have a tiki party? Just put some torches in the back yard, put on a mumu or hawaiian shirt, and cut up a pineapple and you're all set!"

Yep! That's it. That's all you need to do. Next time people come over to the Grotto, I'm just going to have a plate of cut up pineapple. That's it. Sounds like a great party!

We watched the segment and recorded it too. Just as expected, the pics went by so fast you literally couldn't focus on a thing. We are going to slow-mo replay it later.
I agree about the lame comments at the end. You can tell she never went to a luau or even a real tiki type party. Not to seem too critical but jeez, why don't they get some real information from the experts (like Sven and Pete) and then tell the audience what they said? Instead they try to be cute and write their own sappy idea of reality.
Our immediate reaction to her suggestion?
WHERE THE HELL IS THE RUM???? You have a guy mix one killer mai-tai right in front of you and then don't even show an authentic get-together.
Sad. Who could stand to be an editor of such chop style films? Best part was getting to see Svens' mugs and his "mug".

Great to see Big Bro and Uncle Pete almost live on TV. (Too bad it had to be on the House and Garden Channel.) I'm sure both you guys said a lot more intersting stuff that got cut infavor of the cutsie crap from the "Hostess"?

The problem with getting channels such as HG to do an in depth on Tiki is that their focus is decorating tips for housewives, not history. And man, the number of livable, intact old house they destroy on those shows for the sake of fashion is disgusting.

Oh yeah, someone shoot the editor! I would like to see a shot longer than 1 second.

much to short, hope monkeyman's video will save us.

Who were those other people they interviewed (besides Sven and Pete Morruzzi)? They were very annoying.

Those other people were the rejects from Street Smarts and American Idol.

The host's assertion that all it takes to have your own tiki party is some tiki torches, an aloha shirt and cut-up pineapple sounds absurd to us, I have always figured that 90% of the backyard luaus people were actually throwing in the 50s and 60s were just about that. They probably served whatever snacks & drinks they would ordinarily serve at a party, and probably just tossed some mambo stuff on the record player. I'm sure there were some really great parties back then, but I bet most of them were pretty lame attempts.

went to fast! i needed atleast 3 more hours to help my FIX! I wish I had recorded it like some of the smart ones here. It was nice to see it though. Looking towards this video that Monkeyman is doing.

On 2004-01-19 14:20, GECKO wrote:
went to fast! i needed atleast 3 more hours to help my FIX! I wish I had recorded it like some of the smart ones here. It was nice to see it though. Looking towards this video that Monkeyman is doing.

Yea, they had to save time for all those exciting bed sheets that followed. Darn, now everyone will be collecting bed sheets and Ebay prices will skyrocket! I thought I was the only one who knew how cool old bed sheets are.

On 2004-01-19 08:05, PolynesianPop wrote:

Bigbro, I've emailed Huell Howser's California's Gold website many times to try to get them to cover tiki as I believe he can give it the historic attention it deserves. Unfortunately, all I've been getting back have been "canned" email responses. I gave up about a year ago.

In this scenario, we can use old photos, postcards and such. I know you have a good amount as does Bob at OA. Postcards can come from TC members. I pictured Huell visiting OA and interviewing Bob and Leroy, visiting some TC'ers at a local hangout such as Sam's Seafood, etc.

I even asked Bob at OA about this a couple years ago. He said that Huell's group contacted them once about it but then never followed up on it and it eventually was forgotten.

Being in a somewhat related industry, you wouldn't happen to have a contact at KCET would you?

---

**Poly-Pop ***

If you remember, at the Tiki Oasis (II?) Huell showed up Sunday afternoon at the pool and talked to me and Otto for a while.
He also is a Tiki Ti regular. I also was book signing next to one of his producers, Phil Noyes, who co-wrote "Trailer Travel", a book on vintage trailers, and talked to him. Phil just said they have a list of possible subject matters to shoot that is 100 feet long, and Huell alone picks.

At first I was annoyed that California Gold was not doing anything on Tiki, because they had announced it for a while, but here is my take on why not:

The thing is a 100% one man show. If Huell gets a kick out of it, it's a go. BUT for Huell to be inspired it has to feel like it is HIS discovery (I am not saying this critically, just observing). He NEVER rehearses or scripts his appearences, and draws his energy from the surprise and awe his visit creates, preferring his subjects to be "the man from the street", real people that have a certain simple innocence. And he is really good then at unearthing their specialness.

Compared to his preferred subjects I think that people like me and Otto, although we have genuine enthusiasm for our obsession, seem like jaded hipsters. We are not authentic.
So he still could go to O.A. and the Tiki Ti, yes, but the type of thing he would really be looking for is if Danny Balsz would still live at The Tikis Park and it still would stand. (Huell did inquire about it when it was still around, but then didn't do anything and missed the boat on it.)

I still agree that a Tiki episode would be a given for the show, but it's Huell who has to feel like it is his kinda deal. The longer he waits though the more authentic places and people are gonna dissappear.

Still, all this would NOT encompass my vision of a full length in depth documentary...

PS: 8FT Tiki wrote:
"WHERE THE HELL IS THE RUM???? You have a guy mix one killer mai-tai right in front of you..."

That guy, by the way, (who, again, you saw only for a split second), was Trader Vic's SVEN KOCH, who has worked his way up from a bartender at the Duesseldorf T.V.'s to being the 2nd exec at that organization. A real nice guy and an experienced mixologist.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2004-01-19 15:01 ]

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2004-01-19 15:18 ]

OK - I get it now.

Too bad. A feature on The Tikis would have been amazing. Still, a feature on OA would make an interesting and intriguing episode.