John Waters Is Bringing His Brand Of Trash To Playboy Television For A Showcase Of Classic Porno

The Film Society Of Lincoln Center Presents "50 Years Of John Waters: How Much Can You Take.""
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John Waters has developed quite the niche over the years, forming a comfortable environment where he can continue living how he pleases while still garnering heaps of praise. It’s admirable and shows you just how much people can get used to “bad” taste.

His latest venture is a team up with Playboy television, taking on a role as the Robert Osborne of smut according to Variety. Waters will host Groundbreakers, presenting classic porn films in a manner similar to Turner Classic Movies in an attempt to show their importance to a world that might have forgotten about them. From Variety:

“Porn classics are another extreme element of show business,” Waters said in an interview. Playboy reached out to him to host the series, and he was immediately interested, he said, having a strong interest in the history of cult cinema. “It’s an educational opportunity. You learn about the shows that you masturbated to for the first time.”

The show will cover most of the commercial successes that placed pornography on the map, including Deep Throat, Candy Stripers, and Debbie Does Dallas. Each show will feature an introduction and closing by Waters, with several little pop ins throughout to provide trivia and information behind the films.

It’s similar to what you might see on TCM, but I’d liken it more to Joe Bob Briggs on Drive-In Theater. Providing a live voice for the information that one might seek out on Wikipedia or IMDB while watching a film, only this time it is pornography. It’s sure to be a good experience for fans and creeps alike, but it’s also good for the films too:

Procuring the films for the network posed a small challenge, Miller said. While some of the movies are now part of the public domain, in other cases some companies claim to control the rights, and that had to be navigated.

In other cases, getting a high-quality print of the films proved difficult. “Some of them were hard to find,” she said. For “Deep Throat,” for example, executives actually examined Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s 16-milimeter copy of the film before chancing upon a digital print, said Miller. Despite the search, some of the movies “are a little worse for wear,” she said. “These are movies that never were protected. Why would you?” she asked.

This isn’t the first time that classic pornography got a chance to shine on television. Showtime had Dave Attell host Dave’s Old Porn back in 2011, featuring a Mystery Science Theater experience to old smut. The few episodes that aired were interesting, with Attell being hilarious as expected and usually having an interesting guest involved. Waters’ show seems to be taking a higher, more sophisticated road, so who knows what to really expect. Giving porn a high brow look is probably the funniest thing a person can do.

The show is currently on Playboy TV, so check it out on Saturday nights. If anything, it’ll be a treat for fans of Boogie Nights or similar movies. Especially when they show John Holmes in Tell Them Johnny Wadd Is Here. You can compare it with this and gain a whole new appreciation:

(Via Variety)

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