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Behind the Scenes at Cambridge's Zany Television Station

It airs everything from wrestling priests to political discussions. From the control room, a glimpse at the subculture of Cambridge Community Television.

If Cambridge is diverse, eclectic, and sometimes bizarre, Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) is its medium.

Among its offerings: A wrestling enthusiast called "The Artman" hosts a wrestling show in which "priests" are beat up each Easter Sunday; well-known street performer Hugh M. Hill '48--a.k.a. "Brother Blue"--hosts both a radio and a television show.

Among the 150 programs broadcast on the station's three channels (9, 10 and 22) each week, there are shows ranging from "Raise the Roof" (which deals with issues of housing and homelessness) to the "Portuguese Entertainment Network" to "Haitian American Teens TV" to "BeLive: Stone Soup."

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In fact, CCTV, founded in 1988, is perhaps the best representation of Cambridge in its diverse, eclectic and even strange forms.

In particular, the BeLive shows have gained certain notoriety in the Cambridge community.

Fifty episodes of the free-form talk show are aired each week, and Carson says there is no censoring.

"You can do what you want [on "BeLive"]...it's no-holds-barred TV," he says.

That radical element of CCTV's programming came under scrutiny earlier this year, after a "BeLive: Crapfest" episode depicting sexual acts being performed on a chicken was broadcast at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 and then replayed at 11 a.m. the next day.

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