WPINK-TV

[StevePulaski]

WPINK-TV (1985)
Directed by: Myles Kidder

Rating: ★★★

WPINK-TV is more than a good concept housed in a scuzzy porn film, but it's a delightful ensemble between three of the most notable names in porn at the time. You have the buxom beauty queen Christy Canyon paired alongside porn legend Ron Jeremy, the infamous John Holmes about two years pre-AIDS diagnosis, and Deep Throat's Harry Reems all together in a film that's as sexy as it is spirited.

The 1980s were a time in porn where the Golden Age of the medium had passed and the market was becoming saturated. The technology grew widely accessible and everyone in the San Fernando Valley and beyond was seeking a way they could make a sleazy movie for cheap. Shelves of video stores were overstocked with classics like Debbie Does Dallas and Taboo, but alongside them were a plethora of unrelated sequels that succeeded in little else besides diminishing the quality standard and turning what could've sufficed as a one-off pornographic film into a brand.

With this in mind, it was a breath of fresh air to see a film like WPINK-TV come out in the mid-1980s and break the monotony of preexisting properties. Despite the fact that WPINK-TV became like the aforementioned classics, spawning four sequels that just further distanced themselves from the original, it should be remembered as a momentary change of piece for an industry that, for a while, became a bit too similar to Hollywood.

The film revolves around Kathi and Phil, played by Canyon and Jeremy, respectively, two low-level employees at a television station known as KSEX. Unsatisfied with the station's practices and lackluster programming, the two take it upon themselves to go beyond even the boundaries of the safe harbor hours and turn KSEX into WPINK-TV after hours. The two enlist in the help of their friends, everyone from John Holmes to Tamara Longley and Dallas Miko as two contestants primed to engage in lesbian sex.

Kathi hosts a show about the female anatomy, which needs no explanation, and her and Phil even go as far as to film themselves having sex to air on the network. They operate completely under the nose of the higher-ups, and for just one day, manage to create their own paradise of nudity on television.

There is a method to the madness of WPINK-TV and that's outlined in Phil's monologue about how this experiment is for those that believe TV has gotten bogged down by reruns and endless violence. He states that it's gotten to the point where American society views bloody decapitations and merciless carnage as more acceptable to view than a vagina or two people fornicating. It always impresses me when pornography transcends boundaries to become a social critique, similar to the way Taboo dared make incest so attractive, and with its stellar cast, WPINK-TV has the concept and charisma to carry itself to commendable heights that conclude with an electric orgy starring Mark Wallace.

Starring: Christy Canyon, Ron Jeremy, John Holmes, Harry Reems, Tamara Longley, Dallas Miko, and Mark Wallace. Directed by: Myles Kidder.