Lost & Found Footage

By Jerry White Jr.

“The time has come for us to enter the realm of pure human reason. So come along with me as we travel through The Door.”
–Jack Kevorkian

“If I somehow ever stumble on episodes or clips from ‘The Door,’ I’ll be sure to feature it on a future Lost & Found Footage.” Aaaand here we are. Since the inaugural Lost & Found Footage posted, I’ve been humbled to find out that there is indeed an upload of The Door online——and it’s been with us since 2010! A simple web search would’ve revealed this, so how did I miss it? Well, I hadn’t looked for a while.

I first uploaded the Berkley Public Access Studio promo to archive.org in September of 2005. A bit of web history context: YouTube was around six months old at the time. I looked for Dr. Kevorkian’s show off and on for years, but clearly I stopped before 2010. A YouTube channel named “covertmedia” uploaded the show in three parts and, aside from one other video, hasn’t uploaded anything since. I downloaded the three videos and have reassembled them into the original show. It looks mostly complete, only missing whatever credits would’ve appeared at the end.

The Door predates Dr. Kevorkian’s fame/infamy for his controversial euthanasia work. The show is in the tradition of educational programs such as Cosmos or In Search Of. . . Dr. Kevorkian explores philosophical and scientific approaches to interpreting reality its infinite possibilities. He uses some special effects of the era to create a sense of wonder and to spark the imagination.

It’s been nearly thirty years since I learned of The Door’s existence and I’ve had high hopes it would be entertaining as well as interesting. I was not disappointed. The show appears to be a one-off special and not a series as I’d always assumed (all the clips referenced in the Berkley promo appear in this one video). Dr. Kevorkian feels like a cross between Carl Sagan and Mister Rogers——he’s got profound PBS energy. His performance may not be very polished, but considering this was made my amateur community volunteers, the production value is excellent! Honestly it could’ve aired on public television and felt right at home in that era.

The vintage chroma key and early computer effects alone are worth the watch, but the content itself is rich and thought-provoking. The Door is a fascinating show from a brilliant mind——a true jewel of public access television history!