The Monitor recently spoke with Viva (V) and Jerry (J) Beck, and their crew person Doc Lindholm (D), after they taped one of their shows in Studio B. "Viva and Jerry's Country Videos" features music videos, comedy spoofs, singing, and field reports from places like the State Fair. You recently made your 500th show. Could you tell me about what has happened between your first and your 500th show. V: We've gotten a lot more experience, and we are not as nervous. We showed a clip of our very first show  on our 500th show, and everybody says that we were not at ease like we are now. We've gone through many crew members, but we are so lucky to end up with Doc as our crew. D: I was supposed to be here six weeks and it's been three years now. They won't let me go and I have too much fun doing this. It's a real hoot. The shows used to take 5 1/2 hours to put together. Now it takes 2 or 2 1/2 hours. So we've gotten into the swing of it... V: The 500th show was basically clips of many of the shows, and we have such a big audience, and new people are watching us, so that was a thrill for the newer viewers to see clips of those old shows. So what has kept you going for 500 shows? J: I tell you, when you go to the Mall of America or anywhere, just to have people coming up to you and saying, "Love your show," "Keep on doing your show," "We're watching it and we think you guys are super." That's what it's all about. We're not making any money, but just to have those people coming up, hey, and some people don't come up but you can see in their eyes that they know you. And when they do come up they take pictures and sometimes get an autograph, and that is just super. To someone who's still on their show #1 or show #2 at MTN, what kind of advice do you have for them to get them to show # 500? V: You get discouraged sometimes because it's a lot of work, but you know what? As long as you have an audience out there, and the gumption to go on, just do it. The facilities are here. It's not costing you anything but the yearly membership fee, and the equipment's getting better. D: The rewards come from knowing that you are improving, and believe it or not there are a lot of people out there who are going to see you, and appreciate you. J: And Doc too, he's a terrific guy, pushing these buttons. V: And I give Casey Meshbesher a lot of credit because she took the time to teach Doc. But he's a fast learner. He had never done TV before and now, boom, he's doing one of the more complicated shows on MTN and he does it fast. He can really do the creative stuff, like today we are coming out of a TV set, and Doc was setting up the shot and getting it all ready and preparing the Chroma Key. D: One important thing is that MTN has the staff to assist you with any problem that you might run into. You always have a good backup. It gives you all the confidence in the world that you're not going to fall flat on your face. You've got help when you need it. V: We always have to call Todd or Jim Derks or another MTN staff person, and they always help us out. They are gods of MTN. And Doc is our band. We are the singers and without a band, you can't sing. Well, you can if you're ‘NSync but we're not. We're Viva and Jerry. J: We're all patients, and this is our doctor, you betcha. V: And thanks to MTN.Without MTN we would never have had a chance. J: Thank you for watching us, because we are having a ball. Viva and Jerry’s Videos is on MTN Channel 17 on Wednesdays at 9 p.m.