So, both of my feature documentaries are streaming on the exciting PBS App!
You may watch my latest doc, Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM, about one of the last progressive radio stations in the country, as well as my Emmy-nominated PBS doc The Bayou: DC’s Killer Joint, which charts nearly half a century of music and popular culture through a waterfront nightclub. Both films were years in the making but a joy to work on. Click each link to watch.
Category Archives: video
Dead Bath & Beyond
So I go places and notice things. Like how after this Bed Bath & Beyond store in Rockville closed the entire building seems to be dying. The rest of the shopping center–with a Petco, a Michaels, and an Aldi–looks just fine. If a suburban shopping center can ever look “fine.” Anyway. I go places, I notice things, and then I make stuff. Please don’t ask me why.
Dave Nuttycombe’s Suburban Mysteries
As a crusading digital journalist, I often take to the streets in search of mysteries. And, like my heroes Frank and Joe Hardy, I find them each and every time.
Here I present my latest discovery, a mystery so deep that even I, a crusading digital journalist, may have difficulty solving. Once again, if you have any tips (and by tips, I mean cash), feel free to send them my way via the convenient Paypal page.
You’re welcome.
A Report From the Nuttycombe Archives
A guided tour of some of the latest acquisitions for the famed Nuttycombe Archives. You are so very welcome.
The Most Significant Cultural Video of Our Time
Please watch this video and share it with those who most need its timely message. Thank you. Be aware that Mr. Nuttycombe does not receive any remuneration for his tireless work on this topic.
How I Spent the Pandemic
When the children of the future ask us, “What did you do during the Pandemic?” this important film provides the answer. You’re welcome.
Ode to the Uptown
On March 13, 2020, America woke to the horrible news–no, not that horrible news, the news that the fabled Uptown Theater was closing. In fact, it was already closed. In the middle of everything else going wrong, this hits me hard.
A 1936 Art Deco palace, the Uptown building is still owned by the Pedas family; brothers, Ted and Jim ran the equally-cherished Circle Theater, which they built into a local powerhouse chain of 22 theaters, including the Uptown. So, while the landlord is sympathetic to the public’s outcry, that is no guarantee that the place will come back.
Indeed, Josh Levin, who rescued the plucky West End Cinema from the Cineplex Odeon chain (which had gobbled up Circle Theaters and was then gobbled up by current Uptown owner AMC Theaters) before having to give in to market realities, posted a thoughtfully pessimistic analysis on Facebook, delineating the many obstacles standing in the way of reopening the Uptown as a successful movie venue:
It’s a single-screen theater
Needs equipment, seating, and concession upgrades
It’s a single-screen theater
Probably needs to become a community nonprofit
It’s a single-screen theater
Probably needs a liquor license
It’s a single-screen theater
Repeat
Yeah, that single screen is 70-feet-by-40-feet, but apparently watching movies on your phone is a thing. Still, there is a Change.org petition going around to try to save the place. I signed.
And with so many memories wrapped up in that theater, I made this video appreciation. Enjoy.
Inside the Nuttycombe Archives
I Read a Book!
A tribute to the late, great Chuck Barris, who — in addition to creating The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and most importantly The Gong Show — wrote one of the great works of American literature, his “authorized autobiography,” Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
So much of my life was spent watching The Gong Show. Farewell, Chuck. You will be missed.
The Problem With Regulations
So the current zeitgeist has caused even me to descend to the depths of politics. Here, I explain the problem with the debate over regulations, which is that ugly word “regulations.” In fact, government regulations are meant to safeguard and protect the public. So, instead of bemoaning having to follow instructions, be thankful that your safety is a concern of our elected officials. Well, some of them. #resist
