The Chris Moeller Archives

Another MTF has come and gone

Moeller Television Festival XI was a wild success. We had caviar from the North Atlantic, mandazis from Kenya, sausage and cheeses from Wisconsin, fried chicken from Kentucky, beer from St. Louis, rum from the Caribbean, mojitos from Cuba, chip dip from the... uh, great American buffalo, I guess, wine from Northern California, television shows from the time capsule, and costumes and commentary from 12 rich and warm imaginations. I can't remember when I've experienced so much merriment and personal growth.

Keeping with festival tradition, today I'm reprinting the greetings that Aaron and I wrote, respectively, for this year's program, for those of you who couldn't attend, and for those who did but ignored the programs that were spread liberally about the living room. Check in later this week for the public posting of a large number of the written, anonymous comments submitted this weekend for the Festival Comment Box. Now the greetings...


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TV Festival – The Process

In our 22 years of television festival planning, Chris and I have both developed our own very unique styles for selecting episodes. Each of us has an individual method that separates us, but also bonds us together. We’ll leave it to the critics and historians to someday define how our methods reflect our personalities, and how they’ve changed the nature of television programming, and ultimately, America’s viewing habits.

Chris’s process has found many forms. In 2008, our entire lineup was result of one of his opium-fueled fever dreams. Another year, his half of the schedule was inspired by a method learned from Andy Dick, who borrowed the method of hypnagogia from Edgar Allen Poe. This is the method in which Chris would fall asleep with a bell in his hand every night, thus dropping the bell and waking himself as he was right on the edge of sleep to scribble down notes and ideas, his state of consciousness at its most creative. (To quote Andy Dick, paraphrasing Krusty the Clown, “If this is anyone but Edgar Allen Poe, you’re stealing my idea!”)

My method, however, is based on blood, guts, hard work, and is drenched in historical research. I also try to make my selections as fresh and timely as possible. I studied hours of television this year and, finally, made my selections this morning, when Alex and I were driving in from Cedar Rapids. We scrambled to Best Buy and bought the necessary DVD’s for the schedule. I like to take the festival day’s weather into account when making my decisions, as well as weighing the temperature of the world’s daily-changing political atmosphere. I wanted to gauge the reaction to Larry Hagman’s funeral. Also, I wanted to see what Rob was wearing today. (Verdict: It’s ridiculous.)

Chris and I are proud to begin our second decade of festivals. Growing up together, we always had many shared loves; among them, music, baseball, alternative medicine, and theories of how the government faked the moon landing. So we invented the TV Festival as a way of sharing one of those loves with our friends. Television was the choice we’ve never regretted. Besides, nobody had ever heard of a music festival either, but we’ll leave that for someone in the future to invent. Welcome back!

Aaron T. Moeller


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A message from the ghost of William Frawley, broadcast on WOI-AM, Iowa Public Radio, Thursday, Nov 29, 2012

Hello, this is the ghost of William Frawley. Welcome to Moeller Television Festival XI. You probably know me best from my days as a corporeal being when I portrayed neighbor Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” I am pleased to be back in Iowa this week for this wonderful event. You know, I was actually born in Burlington, Iowa way back in 1887. That probably seems like a long time ago to you chickens, but in ghost years, it’s a New York minute.

I’ve been on this side of the great divide for almost half a century. Yessir, I dropped dead of a heart attack right there on the street on the way home from the movie theater in Hollywood, California. The movie was “Inside Daisy Clover.” Natalie Wood. Robert Redford. Good picture. Don’t blame them. It’s not as bad as you might think over here. Each of my pals in life has joined me now. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight—all of it actually. I get into all the ballgames for free. When I heard about the Moeller Television Festival, I wanted to come and be a part of it. I never had children of my own, so without the television fanatics like you, guys like me would be too easily forgotten.

You’ve all probably heard the stories about how I didn’t get along with Vivian Vance, who played my wife Ethel on “Lucy.” It’s all true-- even the part where she yelled “Champagne for everyone” in a crowded room when she heard I had died. My spirit had already entered the room that night, and I assure you she did. But I was taught never to speak ill of the dead, even when you’re among them. Nobody knew about our feud until after the series had ended so I’m proud that we kept it from the cameras. It’s about the work.

I’ve kept my eye on TV over the years. “Will & Grace” was a favorite of mine. Debra Messing reminded me a lot of Lucy. I was disappointed that “Mad Men” didn’t acknowledge my 1966 death during its fifth season, but that was a long shot and that’s an interesting show. Incidentally, the Moellers have picked out a real group of winners for you this year. I’m looking forward to seeing the episode starring my dear friend Betty White. She and I appeared together once on “I’ve Got a Secret.” What a sweetheart, that one. Enjoy the shows. I'm skipping choir practice today to watch along with you.

You are not dreaming this.

Respectfully,
Bill Frawley’s ghost

P.S. It doesn't hurt.

posted by CM @ 8:44 PM