The Monitor talked to Bill Burleson, producer of Bi Cities!, while he was working at the dub rack. The Monitor was working in check-out at the time and had to interrupt the interview when the phone rang. The phone calls have been edited out. Bi Cities! is on MTN 17 Tuesday nights at 7:30. Tell me about your show. A few friends and I started the show two and a half years ago. We recruited Dr. Margaret Charmoli and Dr. Anita Kozan to be our hosts and they have been phenomenal. Bi Cities is a show by and for the bisexual community in town so it is very unique. It is the only show of its kind in the United States. It is only the second show ever about issues affecting the bisexual community specifically. So it is kind of a big deal in our community. Could you tell me what led you to public access? I had a few friends who were involved in public access TV shows before and I was on a few shows previous to this. To me, public access is like the foundation of democracy. It is democracy at its purest. Unfiltered, uncensored, put it on TV and let the community's voice be heard. I have always been a big supporter and a fan of public access television. At its best it is sublime, at its worst it is horrible, but it is always interesting, always exciting, always provocative. Could you tell me about the impact of your show on the community? I think it has given a lot of people something to hang their hat on. The bisexual community tends to be invisible. It tends not to have any institutions of its own. So here is a way that we can really celebrate that aspect of ourselves and not be consumed by the gay community or be consumed by our straight lives, as the case may be. Here is a chance to enjoy and celebrate being bisexual. One of the secrets of doing a good show is having a good crew, and you have a devoted crew and cast. Could you tell me how you got such a crew? We have the greatest crew. They are just folks who stepped forward and volunteered. A few of them had some experience, and been involved in other TV shows. We have a great time. After taping we get together in a restaurant downstairs and just enjoy each other's company. It is a mini-community of people and I think that's where anything works great, when it becomes your own little community and you enjoy each other's company. I am here because I enjoy hanging out with them. When you go into the studio you usually do two shows. Could you talk about your secrets of organization? For me it is just practice practice practice, and just being willing to fail miserably. After two and a half years directing from the booth I don't do anything any more. People on the crew just go to their cameras and do the things that they like to do. It makes my life so easy. People just know what they need to do and we do it without a lot of conversation. The first year we messed up frequently. Sometimes I would come down to dub tapes and find that I had blank tapes to dub. Just two nights ago I discovered a whole new button that could be pressed wrong and really screw things up. It never ends to me - discovering new ways to mess it up. Is there anything else you would like to say? Support MTN. This is the greatest. This is so important. The bisexual community is just one small example of the many communities that would not have access to the media were it not for MTN. It just gives voice to so many people who would not otherwise have a voice on television. This is very important stuff.