I took a show idea to WFYI's PBS station, and eventually got them to let me put together a couple of episodes.

The concept was to gather a few sports figures around a table in the studio and talk. Viewers would feel like they were eavesdropping on the conversation, hence the show's name: "Dropping In with Mark Montieth." The participants could be former teammates, Mr. Basketballs, coaches, anybody with a connection with one another who could have an interesting conversation.

The show would open while we were already talking and end while we were talking. The cameras "dropped in" on us and then exited as time ran out. It wasn't going to be expensive to produce, and would  provide local content for the station.

It had great potential, but the people in charge of approving local shows at WFYI didn't seem to agree. After the first two shows aired, nothing happened. I was told the committee that approves programming would weigh in on the proposal, but I never heard back from the programming director. I put a lot of time into making them happen, particularly in supervising the editing with an intern, and never was paid for doing so. But, I enjoyed the experience and believe the shows turned out well given the circumstances. I still believe it could have been a successful program had the station gotten behind the idea.

This show was the first of the two. I gathered 1953 Mr. Basketball Hallie Bryant, 1955 state champion team member Bill Hampton, and student manager Cliff Robinson to talk of their experiences with the legendary Attucks program in the Fifties.

The "rough draft" nature of it shows in some ways, but I was pleased with it overall.

The link:

Dropping in with Mark Montieth | Dropping in with Mark Montieth: Breaking Barriers | WFYI

Tagged with: Bill Hampton, Crispus Attucks basketball, Hallie Bryant