Hacienda Heights
Highlander
Click image to see larger picture.
Marty's still hearty after 10
Host of public access
show has been
livening local cable TV for a decade
By Eugene Park
Correspondent
Marty Shields had a python massaging his neck, was making Madagascan cockroaches hiss, and having his true gender questioned - all for the sake of his TV audience on the last Saturday of August.
Such antics have been Shields' hobby for 10 years.
His Monthly one-hour live variety show, "Marty's Corner," is available to 500,000 homes in the East San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire from the KCAT Channel 20 community access station in Hacienda Heights. The 10th-anniversary special aired on Aug. 30, the latest in what's been a long, strange trip for producer and host Shields and his crew of volunteers.
"We're a reality show for regular folks, by regular folks," said Shields, by day a sales manager for Robinsons May. "We're an underground cult thing. I guess we have a lot of similarities to a garage rock band."
Shields described his show as a mixture of Ed sullivan and Jay Leno, Including a top-11 list ("a clear rip-off of David Letterman.")
The 10th anniversary show, shot live at the studios at Wilson High School, followed the standard format. After a shot of the show's logo, a drawing of shields' Van Dyke, the host started with a stand up routine on current events.
Guest John Howard, an arcadia resident and Oak Avenue Middle School teacher, showed off his 13-foot-long python, and two hissing cockroaches from Madagascar, part of the 33 animals he's collected since he was a child.
Show writer and comedian Keith Landau of Newport Beach, who performs at the Irvine Improv, did a routine on Viagra, and roasted Shields afterwards.
Rockabilly band Cherri Mae and Her Rocket Boys performed songs throughout the show.
"After 10 years, We've become real eclectic," said Shields, 43. "If you don't like the comedian, you might like the band. If you don't like the band, You'll like the novelty act. We didn't want to cater to one kind of audience."
Shields said he is ready for the show to hit the big time, and that he will take the show to Hollywood.
"The big joke around here is that no one watches the show." Shields said. "And we joke that we're just doing it for ourselves, which we are. This is all pure Volunteer work."
Pat Woertink, who does audio and production, believes in the show after working on it for more than eight years.
"We're going to try and market it."Woertink said. "I think it'd be a great idea for it to be a reality show, like 'The Making of Marty's Corner.' how everyday people get together to make a community access show.
Jack Rodriguez, Camera operator, is the only member of the crew and cast who has been with the show for the full 10 years. Thinking of the possibility of the big time for the show is not as settling for him.
"After 15 years in television, I think this is my creative blessing," Rodriguez said. "But if I did it professionally, I wonder if it would be as fun? But I would still support the show all the way to the top.
Shields said he thinks the key component for the longevity of his show is that it serves the community. Shields would have city officials and organizations talk about their projects and events.
"We want to make sure we keep it local that way," Shields said. "Most people who watch our show watch for different reasons. We have older folks watching - definitely not in the demographic I was going for."
Shields noted that most public access television covers city council meetings or shows done for the producer's own interests.
"Marty's Corner is a community show. I can't think of any other show that does that," Shields said. "They watch the show because of the events that are coming up. We kind of figured that people can watch for the entertainment and take some kind of knowledge out of it."
