Twenty-seven Michiana area high school students are putting the finishing touches on the first edition of Beyond Our Control, the student-produced weekly satirical revue for television. The program debuts for its eighth season Saturday (January 25) at 6:00 PM EST on WNDU-TV, Channel 16.

The award-winning "TV show about TV" is now the nation's oldest and most widely-acclaimed educational television project for high school students. Representing 11 Indiana and Michigan high schools, the students have been meeting since mid-September preparing the program. The teen-agers write, produce and direct the entire program, working under the guidance of three advisors from the staff of WNDTU-TV.

Their organization functions as part of South Bend's Junior Achievement program, part of a national program of economics and business education for high school students. The Junior Achievement Television Company, originally known as WJA-TV, was founded in 1960 by Wm. Thomas Hamilton, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the WNDU Stations. It functions as a complete working model of a corporation, with stockholders, corporate officers, a Board of Directors, sales goals, and a unique product to sell: a television show called Beyond Our Control.

Created in 1968, Beyond Our Control uses the television medium as a springboard for comedy and parodies on a wide spectrum of American culture. Vintage pop music, TV soap operas, underground movies, high school plays, politics and advertising are typical subjects which the program might consider "beyond our control" in any given week. With its title derived from the familiar admission of problems ("...due to circumstances beyond our control..."), the program is literally a TV show about TV.

Already slated for the program this year are a local TV station's horror movie, a Flash Gordon-style space adventure serial in four chapters, a parody of typical home movies, an incomprehensible TV game show, an extensive Western film shot on location this summer, and much more.

Produced on film and videotape Saturday mornings at the campus studios of WNDU-TV, Beyond Our Control is the most ambitious project of its sort in the nation. It has twice won the George Washington Honor Medal for outstanding Economics Education presented by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, and last year was named the nation's best locally-produced variety show in its market class by the National Association of Television Program Executives, competing nationally with professionally-produced programs.

Student directors of the show this year include Kate Doherty (LaSalle), Tim Hanlon (John Adams), Danny Lakin (Buchanan), Tom Mantke (Niles), Dave Simkins (Clay) and Kevin Zimmerman (Mishawaka). Hanlon is the program's Production Manager and Dawn Podlewski (Penn) is the company's President. Advisers from the staff of WNDU-TV to the project are Joe Dundon, Dennis Laughlin and Dave Williams; Randy Rhinehart is a graduate consultant to the show.