Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank in to obscurity.
This month we head back to the early 2000s for a little “Exposure.”
- Aired from 2000 – 2002
- Aired on Syfy
I can pinpoint when I started to love the concept of short films and short filmmaking. It was while I was watching the Sci-Fi Channel one night in 2000, and the short “Antebios” came on. “Antebios” was a foreign short about an alien and a human soldier forced to work together to stop a common foe, in the vein of “Hell in the Pacific.” Since then my love for short films has been long lasting and I often take greater interest in them than most features that come my way.
Back in 2000, the Sci-Fi Channel aired “Exposure.” An amalgam of an anthology series, and experimental film series, “Exposure” was an hour long weekly series that aired science fiction, horror, and fantasy short films. Much in the vein of MTV’s “Liquid Television” and “Cartoon Sushi,” there were never really any limits to what kind of short films aired on “Exposure.”
Occasionally hosted by model/actress Lisa Marie, the show aired every Sunday night, and was introduced around the time that the internet was still very much in its infancy. The only platform filmmakers had for short films was Atom Films, and we were still about three years away from the introduction of the juggernaut known as YouTube. Watching short films was often a privilege reserved for film festivals or comic book conventions, and the Sci-Fi Channel presented some of the weirdest, wildest, and most bizarre short films back to back. They aired them for viewers to get a glimpse at some of the minds working in the business that also had potential to break out and produce the next genre masterpieces.
For the most part we always got a glimpse at up and coming artists that would later break out, but the series was at its best when it approached audiences at eye level and presented some classic short cinema that offered bolder entertainment that studios would have never touched. The show seemed happy to take chances with short films that were just downright out there and often surreal. Some of my all time favorites included Jono Oliver’s “The Window” about a heavenly vision in a window that begins to inspire people, and Ian Kessler’s brutally creepy “The Puzzle.”
The show also acted as proving grounds for future studio features. “Season’s Greetings,” the animated short that would become the template for Mike Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat, aired on “Exposure,” as did Ellroy Elkayem’s “Larger Than Life” which became the basis for Eight Legged Freaks, and 1994’s “Suspicious” by David Koepp, starring Janeane Garofalo and Michael Rooker, which would later be remade into the prologue for 1998’s Urban Legend. There’s also “Bobby Loves Mangos,” a short that was given a thumbs up by Roger Ebert after its director Stuart Archer begged him to watch it.
While “Exposure” was mainly about science fiction, the producers would also switch things up with themed episodes every now and then like “short toons,” short films about sex, and of course, “Star Wars.” Kevin Smith hosted the “Star Wars” special spotlighting some of the best and weirdest Star Wars-related films around, like Joe Nussbaum’s early viral hit “George Lucas In Love,” Lucas’ early student shorts “Freiheit” and “THX 1138,” and the comedic “Tripping the Rift,” the animated Star Wars spoof that would eventually become a cult series for the channel. There was also the weird but interesting short documentary “Searching for Carrie Fisher,” about a fan’s mission to meet his heroine. I vividly remember the documentary because he did find Ms. Fisher, but she only agreed to meet him if they met in a crowded public place. As always, host Smith often had a great enthusiasm and hilarious sense of humor.
“Exposure” also aired excellent horror based specials every Halloween; hosted by Lisa Marie, the show presented some of the best horror shorts I’d ever seen. This was the series at its best, as the producers often managed to bring out some memorable genre fare. Along with indie films we were also able to check out early works from Tim Burton including “Frankenweenie” and “Vincent.”
Despite the very late night time slot that Sci-Fi reduced “Exposure” to, it managed to last three whole seasons and was celebrated by its small but loyal fan base for years. When it was cancelled by the channel which was reformatting at the time, Sci-Fi kept the concept of the series alive with the short film showcase “Exposure: Future of Film Festival” in New York City in 2000, and in 2006, the Sundance Channel launched the “Exposure Film Contest” with films showcased from the SciFi Pulse streaming applet, allowing viewers to vote on their favorites. Sadly with so many facets online for movie fans to now view short films of all kinds from any country, the chance of “Exposure” being rebooted is incredibly slim.
But for a time when the internet was still growing and YouTube was miles away from dominating the internet, “Exposure” was surprisingly ahead of its time, and serves as a wonderful memento of the early digital age that opened the eyes of its viewers to more original and interesting entertainment.
Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray? Syfy had many of the short films available on their website for years after “Exposure” ended, but they were eventually taken down. With copyright issues there aren’t whole episodes available, but the various shorts can be found online, scattered in places like Vimeo and or YouTube… if you look hard enough.