The Lord of the Universe (Top Value Television, U.S., 1974) and Turn It On, Tune It In, Take It Over! (David Shulman, U.S., 1992) Every new technology brings with it the promise of expanded cultural possibilities. In the late sixties, Sony introduced the first portable video system, the 1/2" Portapak, and with it came the hope that alternative visions could now penetrate the electronic age. Driven by utopian enthusiasm, artists, collectives, and whole communities began the grand experiment of self-expression rendered on videotape. David Shulman's Turn It On, Tune It In, Take It Over! (58 mins) is a chronicle of the early years of "people's television," featuring rare footage from some of the seminal groups of the time, such as People's Video Theater, Raindance, Videofreex, and Global Village. The use of television's tools to give voice to overlooked peoples and viewpoints was at once an activist project and an aesthetic enterprise. No other video collective seemed to meld these dual intentions-political poignancy and artful rendering-as expertly as Top Value Television (TVTV), a shifting group of artists whose founding member Michael Shamberg coined the phrase "guerrilla television." The first Portapak documentary produced for national TV, TVTV's The Lord of the Universe (58:27 mins, Color/B&W) is a brisk, scathing exposé of the sixteen-year-old guru Maharaj Ji. Attending a gathering of the little guru's followers at Millenium 73, "the most significant event in the history of humanity," Top Value's irreverent reporters gained access not only to the faithful flower children, but also to the entourage. After witnessing the dispensation of pseudo-enlightenment, ever-cynical Abbie Hoffman caps the commentary with, "If this guy is God, this is the God the United States of America deserves."-Steve Seid