TV NATION {SAVINGS & LOAN; SAM PHELPS-ROPER}
{CENSORED SEGMENTS} (TV)
Summary
One in this comedic news magazine series devised and
hosted by muckraking filmmaker/journalist/satirist
Michael Moore. This installment consists of two
segments that were censored by the program's American
network. In the first segment, "TV Nation" reports on
the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s, using
archival footage and voice-over narration. After
President Ronald Reagan deregulated these financial
institutions, viewers learn, many executives became
very rich -- but they were also breaking the law by
overestimating their assets and making bad loans. The
details of several bank directors' transgressions are
described, including those of Neil Bush, director of
Silverado Savings and Loan; Thomas Speigel, CEO of
Columbia Savings and Loan; Bum Bright, director of
Republic Bank; Craig Hall, director of Hall Savings and
Loan; and Representative Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), director
of Clyde Federal. After being prosecuted, fifty former
Savings and Loan operators formed a support group, yet
"TV Nation" reveals that most of them are still filthy
rich -- and have cost American taxpayers billions of
dollars. In the second segment, Jeff Stilson reports
from Topeka, Kansas, on Sam Phelps-Roper. Roper is a
high-school student who protests daily against
homosexuality -- at venues as varied as concerts,
schools, and funerals of AIDS victims. Roper has
applied for extra credit at school for these activities,
which he calls "community service." Stilson interviews
the youth, his clergyman grandfather, and other members
of the family, who are all part of the campaign.
Stilson also interviews the mayor of Topeka, Butch
Phelker, who has given Sam certificates of recognition
for his "community service." Commercials deleted.
(Network affiliation varies; this series also aired on
NBC in 1994.)
Details
- NETWORK: FOX
- DATE: November 30, 1994
- RUNNING TIME: 0:13:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:63340
- GENRE: Magazine
- SUBJECT HEADING: Homophobia; Savings and loan associations; Scandals
- SERIES RUN: Fox - TV series, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Michael Moore … Executive Producer, Director, Created by, Writer
- Jerry Kupfer … Supervising Producer
- Kathleen Glynn … Producer
- Jeff Stilson … Reporter
- Bum Bright
- Neil Bush
- Craig Hall
- Henry Hyde
- Butch Phelker
- Sam Phelps-Roper
- Ronald Reagan
- Thomas Speigel