A debate in the wrong environment

Andrew Edwards

Surf City environmentalist and one-time City Council candidate Joey

Racano thought he was going to take his message to the airwaves on a

serious debate show. But he and other community activists were

tricked by an elaborate prank.

On June 2, Racano, who often pedals his way across town on a black

bicycle, was taken to Hollywood and back in a limousine under the

pretenses he would appear on MTV network’s “The Debate Show.”

He thought that meant he would appear on MTV, bringing political

discourse to the rock ‘n’ roll network.

The show Racano and others will actually appear on is “Crossballs:

The Debate Show,” said Tony Fox, a spokesman for Comedy Central. The

show is a spoof of political shows like CNN’s “Crossfire” and MSNBC’s

“Hardball” and is set to debut on Comedy Central on July 6.

Both MTV and Comedy Central are part of the Viacom-owned MTV

networks.

A press release from the comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade

promoted the show, of which group member Matt Besser, is the

executive producer.

The episode Racano taped will not be the first one aired.

Planned shows listed on the press release include discussions on

earth-shattering issues such as “we should all have the right to

marry food,” “sports stars should be kept in cages,” and “fixing bad

neighborhoods starts with dressing the homeless as clowns.”

Racano, however, did not get the joke during his time on the set.

When he initially discussed his Hollywood experience, he described

the show as an entertainment-driven forum for topical debate.

“It was set up like a game show, and the prize was the Earth,” he

said. “There were very serious undertones.”

But Racano said he didn’t care if the show was a joke as long as

he had a chance to speak his mind, regardless of the format.

“You gotta remember one thing about TV, it’s geared to like,

second-graders,” he said. “Even though it was done in the context of

a comedy, they let me speak my piece.”

And the show definitely had some weird moments, Racano said. At

one point in the show, Racano said, a woman said environmental groups

used their funds to buy fancy hats for park rangers.

But not all of the guests tricked into being on the show are

taking it in stride as Racano is. Second Amendment activist Jim March

of Sacramento said he realized the show was a parody and was angry

with the producers for trying to fool him. March’s attorney sent a

cease and desist order to Viacom demanding a taped show where he

argued the case for firearms ownership not be aired since he was

tricked when asked to be on the show.

March said he became disgusted with the show after a guest

suggested his pro-gun stance was a manifestation of sexual anxieties,

and he was handed a male-enhancement pump as a substitute for a

firearm.

“I’m sitting here holding it, saying, ‘What the [heck] is this?’”

March said.

Moments that outrage the guests and create “the shock and surprise

of disbelief” are what the show is all about, Fox said.

“The real fun on the show is having experts debate people who

think they are experts, but are really improv actors,” he said.

Fox said most guests would not agree to be on the show if they

knew it was all for laughs, but Racano doesn’t mind the gag at all.

“Maybe the only way to get a radical environmentalist like me on

TV is under the pretense that it’s a joke,” he said.