Ban Doesn't Keep Producer Off Air -- Another Show Features Him - And Nudity

Apparently, the show must go on - even if the clothing doesn't.

Circumventing a ban against his programs on public access Channel 29, producer Mike Aivaz early this morning defiantly hit the air as part of a half-hour show depicting graphic nudity and bondage.

Aivaz did so under a technicality: Although his producing privileges have been suspended by TCI Cablevision of Washington Inc., which manages the public access channel, he still can appear as a guest. And that's how he proceeded at 1 a.m., courtesy of another producer at Channel 29.

"I'm not doing anything illegal," said Aivaz. "This is a producer who believes in my shows and is supporting me. And so far as I can tell, it's not even established there's anything wrong with my shows being on the air."

The other producer's name isn't known. The credits only cited a "Father Michael Production," with Mike Hunt (Aivaz' stage name) and a Christi Wilde listed as guests. Several women in various states of undress were featured on the show.

The flap began two weeks ago when Aivaz, who started producing adult material last summer, had both of his half-hour programs suspended by TCI: "Mike Hunt's Get Your Friends Laid Show" and "Mike Hunt for President."

TCI then asked the city of Seattle to determine whether the two shows, along with another pair produced by T.J. Williamson and still on the air, are obscene. But on Wednesday, the city lobbed the touchy issue right back to TCI, noting that the courts and not elected officials usually decide such matters.

Steve Kipp, spokesman for TCI, said yesterday that the company hasn't determined what to do yet.

As for this morning's show, TCI wasn't available for immediate comment.

The contents were remarkably similar to Aivaz's shows and he dominated the screen time, much of which was used to aim barbs at TCI and encourage callers not to pay their cable bills until he's back on the air.

Moving across the small set, whip in hand and dressed mainly in a leather-and-chain vest and spiked gauntlets, Aivaz told viewers, "This is what the First Amendment's about - enjoying yourself and having the right to air what you want."

The issue is more complex than that. Public access channels do enjoy broader First Amendment protection than commercial networks. The customary standard for obscenity on public access TV is that it can't exceed what's acceptable elsewhere in the community - for instance, what one can rent in an adult bookstore in Seattle.

In fact, the origins of the current battle may owe something to different community standards. TCI first got wind of Aivaz's and Williamson's shows when an unhappy local viewer made tapes and sent them to TCI's corporate headquarters in Denver. Executives there initiated the action.

Seattle has no control over Aivaz's latest venture onto public access. Steve Holmes, director of the office of cable communications, cited TCI rules.

"He can be a guest on somebody else's show if he's a true guest," said Holmes. "If he supplants the host, that could be a violation. It's a subtle distinction."

Aivaz, meanwhile, said he has retained an attorney through the American Civil Liberties Union and is examining the possibility that TCI has violated his First Amendment rights.

Kay McFadden can be reached at 206-382-8888 or at kmcfadden@seattletimes.com