Please feel free to use the Bloomingpedia Forums for long discussions about articles.
ROX
From Bloomingpedia
ROX (originally titled J&B on the ROX) is an independently produced TV series, first shown on the public access television station CATS (Formerly BCAT) in 1992. The first episode, appropriately titled "Episode Number One", appeared on television on July 7th, 1992.
In its original incarnation, the show was filmed in the Bloomington basement of its two creators and main characters, J and B. The show presented itself as a how-to guide to mixing and consuming alcoholic beverages, with each show generally focusing on one or two drinks. Combining humorously irrelevant high-brow banter with creative use of low-budget production values, the show quickly garnered a cult following.
Numerous news articles were written about the show and its producers, in particular when they found themselves pushing the bounds of free speech. In a few cases, the public-access TV administrators felt bound to disallow some of the show's more controversial material, citing the long-standing precedent that broadcast media should be subject to more rigorous standards of public decency than print media. This controversy served to cement the show's celebrity among its already-loyal fan base.
In 1995 Wired magazine called Rox "The best TV show in America." And also in 1995 Time Magazine called Rox, "The first television show broadcast in cyberspace."
The show returned for a fourth season after an eight year hiatus, and is now distributed almost exclusively by the internet. Each of the fourth season episodes is available for download on the Rox Website, and material from older episodes is also made available as space allows. Season Zero (Episodes 1 - 8) are also available on DVD.
