The original footage for this project was captured on the day of Sept. 13th, 2001 between 4pm and 8pm in San Francisco, California. Consisting of re-edited material recorded from television channels 02 through 70, this video highlights the strangeness of a day of transition. Poised at the moment when stations were cautiously returning to their normal broadcast material, the documentary is full of awkward and disturbing transpositions that reflect the strategies of the broadcasters at the time. The piece reveals the emotion, irony, tackiness, and shock of the immediate post Sept. 11th American media landscape.

 

One of the most revealing aspects of this project is illustrated by the flood of psychological coping mechanisms that were being broadcast. From prestigious scientists to World Wide Wrestling stars, celebrities and experts offering some flavor of advice saturated the media.

 

We Now Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming functions as both a documentary of a unique period in time as well as a critique of contemporary mass communications.