ROX #22: Boyz Nite In

B: ROX #22 was a rather unremarkable episode. We had a bunch of male friends over for a “Boyz Nite In” of drinking, bullshitting and ball-scratching. Eventually we cajoled them into moving a couch up into our attic for us. Ho hum.

But there was one short segment that would draw far more attention than the surrounding show. It was just 25 seconds long, but the controversy would last for months.

We had begun to feature a weekly segment called “J&B's Video Erotica,” little snippets of video that usually weren't very erotic at all but had some sexual connection. For “Boyz Nite In” we showed a close-up of a fig.

(The fig clip came from “Pots, Pans & Pot,” another show on our public access channel, which was about to engender its own share of controversy. But that's another story.)

No, the fig segment did not get us into trouble. It was our introduction to the fig that attracted the attention of the station director.

We thought that “J&B's Video Erotica” needed a special title sequence. So J & I dropped our drawers and wrote our initials on our dicks. Then we stood up close to the camera and superimposed the rest of the title.

So the ultimate effect was to see “J&B's Video Erotica” with the letters “J” and “B” written on the heads of two flaccid phalluses.

Oh, did I mention that we were flaccid? You didn't think we were aroused, did you? Sorry, it wasn't a sex game. We're just a couple of straight guys who happen to be comfortable with our bodies.

(Hell, I'm so comfortable with my body that I got arrested for running across campus naked. But that, too, is another story.)

We thought it was funny. But Michael White, director of our public access television channel, thought it was a violation of station policy and probably the law.

This was... [More...]