Once in a Lifetime

When I hosted a Philadelphia Psychotronic Film Society screening of a Lifetime movie, Stalked by My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge, I wanted to open the show with a deeper look into the weird world of made-for-TV thrillers it comes from. These films, which are mostly produced (in striking quantities) by just a handful of production companies, are notorious for targeting middle class suburban moms and drawing from a shallow pool of trashy themes. In aggregate, they’re a funny and fascinating pop-cultural phenomenon, and I decided the best way to explore it and show off its many outrageous titles would be to enlist some audience members in a game show: Contestants would be presented with a list of thematic keywords, choose a combination, and see all the films that matched that description. Once that basic premise was established, the game named itself: Once in a Lifetime. I built three rounds:

1. Round 1: Contestants are presented with two sets of three keywords. Each contestant chooses one keyword from each set, trying to find the combination that matches the most films. Once a keyword is used, it can’t be used again. Contestants get one point for each film their combination turns up.
2. Round 2: The same as Round 1, only this time contestants lose one point for each film their combination turns up, so they’re trying to find the keyword combination that matches the least amount of films.
3. Round 3: In this final round, each contestant gets their own set of three prefab keyword combinations, only one of which matches a real film. Choosing the correct one gets them 10 points.

The highest score wins! And the beauty of it is, you don’t need any specialized knowledge to play, just a little love in your heart for the idea of exploitation films made for soccer moms.

• Behind the scenes