Let's Paint TV
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''Let's Paint TV'' is an American television show hosted by artist John Kilduff. The show is best noted for its live episodes, which consist of the host painting while he runs on a
treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of ...
; in addition, he sometimes takes calls from viewers, cooks food, plays ping pong, or makes blended drinks. The show's episode titles typically reflect whatever tasks are being undertaken, for example, ''Let's Paint, Exercise, and Play Ping Pong.'' ''Let's Paint TV'' was originally broadcast on
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...
from 2001 through 2008; after the LA public access studios were shut down in early 2008, the show transitioned to being an online-only program. The program began receiving world-wide attention in 2006 when Kilduff began uploading video clips of his show to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.."


Show information

John Kilduff conceived the idea for ''Let's Paint TV'' while working on a different comedy Public-access show. He was waiting for a
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Living history: After close study of some historical figure, a performer may dress and speak "as" that ...
to arrive and began thinking about his " exercise bike in the storage room, and I thought visually painting on an exercise bike could be interesting."Ink KC article: " ouTube's ‘Let's Paint TV' comes to KC" He eventually decided that a treadmill would be more feasible for painting than an exercise bike. John Kilduff claims his aim with the series is to make people of all skill levels try their hand at painting or other forms of creative self-expression. Kilduff frequently encourages viewers to use very large brushes in order to cover the canvas as quickly as possible before worrying about details, as he feels an empty canvas can be very intimidating to novices. Although Kilduff says that the show is meant to inspire creativity in others, many of the callers he gets tend not to take him seriously. As the show was once on Public-access TV and is now on the internet, there is little to no censoring. The show also lacks caller screening. Many take advantage of this by expressing prejudice, cursing, accosting members of the show, and making derogatory comments about rival gangs. Despite the overwhelming number of
prank call A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...
ers, John generally continues to take calls. The sight of an artist simultaneously jogging, painting, blending drinks, and chatting to guests and painting live
models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...
has led some to speculate that the whole show is an ironic piece of
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
. Kilduff denies this and states that he is completely sincere in trying to encourage people to do something creative.''"


Terrestrial television run

The show originally began airing on
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
Public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in 2001 and is now being seen in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Clips of the show appeared on ''TV's Naughtiest Blunders'' in 2005 airing on England's ITV television network, and in 2008 on '' Whacked Out Videos''. ''Let's Paint TV'' became more widely known in late 2006 when Kilduff began uploading recordings of episodes to the online video service
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, where it has since become a cult hit and increased his live show's viewership.


Transition to internet television

On December 6, 2008, the last episode of the Public-access TV version of ''Lets Paint TV'' was taped. The Public-access TV studios in the City of Los Angeles shut down on December 31, 2008. The show currently streams live Monday through Friday 11am-12:00pm PST on letspainttv.com.letspainttv.com page:
John Kilduff - Let's Paint!
."


Reviews

''LA Weekly'' warmly reviewed the show, saying that "it jettisons the inverse snobbery of the
Bob Ross Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter and art instructor who created and hosted '' The Joy of Painting'', an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, ...
tradition, assuming a sophisticated audience informed by the inescapable influence of
Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
and the indeterminate sincerity of post–''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' television. It turns out ''Let’s Paint TV'' is indeed a clever parody of Bob Ross and company, but — like so much parody, from
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
to the novelty music of
Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...
— this one turns out to be better art than that at which it pokes fun." ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' noted that "Kilduff makes the average multitasker look like a
slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...
." CBS's ''Mancave Daily'', using images of Kilduff throughout their article, spoke about ''Let's Paint TV'' and wrote, "it displays all that is wrong and entertaining about public access television". In revisiting Kilduff in 2014, they examined his broadcasting on YouTube and Stickam and his use of a treadmill for his multi-tasking, and observed "If this isn’t the epitome of public access television, I don’t know what is".


John Kilduff

John Kilduff, the show's host, is an artist and longtime Los Angeles resident. He received comedic training at
The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improv techniques we ...
, studied
improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...
at
Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...
, and attended the Otis/Parsons Art Institute.." In 2008 he received a
Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...
degree from
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
. Kilduff has appeared as a guest on '' The Tyra Banks Show'', where he painted Banks' portrait. He appeared on the red carpet for the VH1 2006 Big Awards, and painted
David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...
's portrait on the second season of ''
America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
''. Kilduff was also filmed painting and jogging for a 2006
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
commercial. ''
LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' notes that during most episodes of ''Let's Paint TV'', Kilduff wears "his trademark crumpled and paint-stained
Brooks Brothers Brooks Brothers Inc. is an American clothing brand founded in 1818 which is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States. Originally a family business, it is currently owned as a joint venture between Authentic Brands G ...
suit."" In order to avoid working a day job, Kilduff sells many of his paintings at art fairs around California. He has appeared at several art shows throughout Southern California, often running on his treadmill, painting, and doing various other activities while museum patrons look on.


Partial guest cast

* John Kilduff * Paul Kilduff (John's Brother) *
Eric André Eric Samuel André (born April 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, television host, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim surreal comedy series '' The Eric Andre Show'' (2012â ...
* Michael Q. Schmidt *
Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (; born October 1, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and writer. The accolades he has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Critics' Choice Movie Award. Galifianakis ...
* Deborah Hunter * Inga Svorkist * James Evans * Kelly Taylor * Frozen Plastic (musicians) * Los Cremators (musicians) * Mondo (musicians) * Ultraviolet Eye (musicians) * Rahdunes (musicians) * Anal Holocaust (musicians) * Lamont Paul *
Josh Robert Thompson Josh Robert Thompson (born March 11, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'', providing the voice of robot skeleton and Craig Ferguson's sidekick Geoff Peterson along with numerous c ...
* Mark Wentzel * Cannon Kelly * Paulette Nichols * Ask a Chola * Venus Alexa * Bernard Nacion * Gabe Rothschild * Molly Barnes * Raymond Chavez * Irish Kid Charles * Francine Dancer


References


External links


''Let's Paint TV''
- official website * {{IMDb title, 1796302
''Let's Paint TV'' channel
on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''Let's Paint TV'' channel
on Stickam * ''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' article
"Mr. Let's Paint Is the Most Inspirational Outsider Art Maniac You've Never Heard Of"
* ''
Torontoist ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...
'' article
"Let's do it all simultaneously right now"
* Article
"The Legend of John Kilduff"
as archived January 7, 2016 2002 American television series debuts Works about painting American public access television shows