The South Bend Tribune,
Monday, November 28, 1977 - Page 17
Michiana Point of View
Mother Discovers Magic in Son's Beyond Our Control Group
By Beverly Coryn
LAST WEEK I RECEIVED a letter from WNDU informing me that Saturday was Parent's Day for the Beyond Our Control television program, and would I please be there by 7.30 a.m. Seven-thirty, I mouthed unbelievingly! I don't do anything on Saturday morning at 7:30 except turn over and go back to sleep.
My son said he had to be there at 6. I was stunned. This is the same person, on school days, whose alarm clock rings to a dead silence, falls off the nightstand, and dances under the bed while he sleeps on. He sleeps through his sister's screaming message to get up, through the dog jumping on his bed and trampling across his empty body like an elephant, and finally comes slowly back to life as I pour water on his face.
Yet, on Saturday mornings, he arises at the first beep of the clock - I will never understand it.
ALL WEEK I grumbled about getting up so early, but Saturday morning there I was, on time, snow and everything. My first impression of WNDU was of mass confusion - a sea of faces and each one had a doughnut stuck in its mouth. Giant machines stood all over with huge cords strewn about the floor like dinosaurs with their intestines on the outside instead of inside. My son, knowing the condition I was in, led me to a chair and brought me a cup of coffee. Things then started to come into focus.
The room was surprisingly small for all of those people, sets, ladders, cameras, a fireplace (setting in the middle of nowhere), etc. The set used for announcing the weather was very small and I noticed. sourly, that the weather chart had "cold" written on it. Later, stuck back in the corner, I saw another chart that said "sunny" and "warm." As time moved on we were taken on a tour of the building. Upstairs in the director's booth there were buttons, switches, and TV screens all over. I had a strange urge to sit down and play it like an organ. I have Much the same trouble with rubber plants; I want to pinch all those fat leaves.
Our BOC guide was well informed and very interesting. After returning to seats we were shown slides of previous programs that Dave Williams, Denny Laughlin, Joe Dundon, Danny Lakin and former BOCers had created. It was very good and funny. For instance, it said ".. President Johnson brought class to the White House," and the slide showed a blown picture of him lifting his dog by the ears.
NOW, DOWN TO business. A skit was prepared and we, the audience, were to play a part in it. The skit was about an interviewer and we were to play, you guessed it, the audience. Intermingled with us were BOCers who got to ask the questions, but the rest of us, on cue, were to jump in the air shouting, "Mr. Gardner, Mr. Gardner," much like the President's press conferences. Please keep in mind all cameras, directions, writing, everything were run by the BOC kids. We, the audience, were cued by the director, by a drop of her arms to jump up and shout for Mr. Gardner's attention.
How we all shot up and came down in the same spot I'll never know, but we did - time after time - because we muffed it. Once I saw the director drop her arm and I catapulted out of my chair, realized, in mid-air, it was the cue for the interviewer and returned to my chair all in a spilt second. I felt very foolish. I knew my son saw it and was laughing -he did and was.
All of the BOCers were extremely polite and business-like. For instance, when "Mr. Gardner" blew his line by saying they were coming to take his television out because he had not paid his phone bill he apologized. Another actor who read his lines with the wrong emphasis three times was then approached by another BOCer who asked if his parents were there; when told no he immediately began to bludgeon the actor with a sheet of paper and laughingly explained how to do it correctly. I started to feel more at home.
WHEN THE LOVELY, feminine stage director softly asked for "quiet on the set" the room was instantly still. Now I haven't had quiet on the set like that at home since - never! The closest I get to it is right before birthdays or Christmas eve.
And, when one of my children criticizes the other, instead of immediate apologies it is a cacophony of shut-ups, interspersed with an occasional, "If you don't want your teeth punched down your throat you'll plug your mouth," and spiced up with my screeching "Stop it," "that's enough," "everybody's grounded." It's enough to make you want to tear the tonsils out of a turtle.
There is magic in that Beyond Our Control group and I'm pleased my son has the opportunity to be touched by it. Every person is allowed to participate in all phases of the program and everyone shows great patience while skits are done over and over again until correct. How the advisers manage it so well I'll never know. The day was a wonderful, enjoyable experience for me. Thank you WNDU and Beyond Our Control for the chance to observe this happening - at 7:30a.m.
Mrs. Coryn, a Granger resident, is a wife, mother and teacher.
The South Bend Tribune, Monday, November 28, 1977 |
