''SK8-TV'' is a program shown on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

that began in 1990 and was originally hosted by

Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in '' Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in '' Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Pu ...

(who went by the name Matthew Lynn at the time) and Skatemaster Tate. It was a skateboard variety show that featured on-set interviews as well as off site action segments. Various techniques were introduced to television in SK8-TV including hand-held cameras and the use of multi-format film and video. The set for the show was built on location at the Pink Motel in Sun Valley, California, which was famous for its large fish shaped pool that was ideal for skateboarding. It hosted a wide variety of

skateboarders Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. ...

such as

Christian Hosoi Christian Rosha Hosoi ( ; born October 5, 1967) is an American professional skateboarder. He is also known by the nicknames "Christ" and "Holmes". Early life Hosoi was born on October 5, 1967 to a father of Japanese descent from Hawaii, and a m ...

Natas Kaupas Natas Kaupas (born March 23, 1969) is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent. He is often referred to as one of the first true profe ...

, a young

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

and many others that went on to become famous and well known. It was created and produced by original

Z-Boys The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zeph ...

Nathan Pratt and Mark Ashton Hunt from Binder Entertainment, directed by Stacy Peralta, who later went on to direct the retrospective documentary ''

Dogtown and Z-Boys ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s (of which Peralta was a member) and the evolving sport of s ...

'' with production design by C.R. Stecyk III. It later resurfaced on the now-defunct

Nick GAS Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids (stylized as Nick GaS and commonly known as Nick GAS) was an American cable television network that was part of MTV Networks' suite of digital cable channels. The channel was available to all digital cable pr ...

channel in 1999 and aired until 2005.

References

Set artist Kevin Ancell interview by Juice (skateboarding magazine)

Map location of the set at Google maps

External links

* Skateboarding mass media 1990s Nickelodeon original programming 1990 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings American sports television series English-language television shows {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub