Jim Spagg

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Jim Spagg (born James Spaggnola, July 29, 1939 – May 8, 2004) was a U.S. artist and host of a controversial cable access television program in Portland, Oregon, United States from 1992 to 2003.

1 Cable access program
2 Public reaction and media attention
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Cable access program

In the the early 1990s, Spagg attracted local and national media attention with Jim Spagg's Sex Show, a call-in cable access television program that contained uncensored nudity. Spagg, a nudist, produced and directed the program and frequently appeared without clothing. The show was mostly improvised, and often consisted of little more than Spagg dancing nude while playing a guitar and singing. The show sometimes included nude guests, and often contained footage filmed at Rooster Rock State Park, a clothing-optional public beach near Portland. Several episodes focused on Spagg's petty feuds with his neighbor Ed DeKota.

Spagg's premises were that:

Nudity is not dirty; and
People are too busy and too serious.

Spagg denied that his program was lewd, claiming that "I am an artist and I'm expressing myself through video."^[1]

In May 2003, after nearly 11 years on the air, Jim Spagg's Sex Show was removed by Portland Cable Access after Spagg broadcast copyrighted material, violating the cable access channel's broadcast standards.^[2]

[edit] Public reaction and media attention

The Portland area public often discovered Spagg's cable access show while flipping through the channels. Spagg elicited complaints from viewers, particularly those with children, who were angered that his program ran during the day. Despite public outcry to remove his program from Portland Cable Access, it was not possible due to freedom of speech protection for cable access programming. Spagg frequently defended his program as art, and appeared on KATU's Town Hall program where he defended his right to appear nude on television as freedom of speech. He was also featured on the national television news show A Current Affair.^[3]

Spagg died of leukemia on May 8, 2004 at the age of 64 in Portland. At the time, he was running for mayor of the city.