Member Profile: Walter Pero & Joe Medeiros Written by Lisa Smith

The Host Operated Television Studio: it's what we at SCAT call the HOT Set. It's a popular programming format for the members of the 13 shows currently in production. The host interacts with a live viewing audience via a call-in phone number. HOT Set programs create a community dialogue on a particular issue, with the shows presently on SCAT as diverse as the community itself: motherhood, human rights, computers, business owners in Somerville, timesizing in the workplace (as opposed to downsizing), senior citizen politics, Haitian immigrant issues, the Portuguese community, development of the Assembly Square area, and the erosion of democracy. A few of the HOT Set shows don't have a particular subject and it's the personality of the host that gives the show it's character.

One show celebrates both the Somerville of days past and contemporary Somerville. Do you remember Dippy's in Union Square or Lena the waitress at Continental Pizza? What are your thoughts on handicap access for Somerville sidewalks? These are just a few of the conversations from Walter and Joe's Somerville hosted by Walter Pero and Joe Medeiros. Joe can reminisce as far back as his boyhood in Somerville in the 1930's. His co-host Walter, a bit younger, is a former Somerville alderman, so many callers will talk about public events, community activities and local politics. Walter says, “The topic on our show in some way has to be about Somerville. If someone calls about Afghanistan, I ask them, `what does it has to do with Somerville?'”

Walter has been involved with SCAT for twenty years with past SCAT board member and board president in his credits. In the 1980's, he produced a show in the studio for adult learners. About five years ago, Walter decided to do a HOT Set show, the first one to cablecast on Wednesday night (which is currently the night where viewers can tune in to watch up to seven HOT Set shows in a row). Joe says, “There were other shows that came and went, but we stayed because Walter and I seem to blend...we get along, chemistry!” They agree that Walter is the host and moderator while Joe is the talker of the team.

Walter started the show alone and one of his first guests was Joe. Walter decided to keep Joe on the show as a co-host. Walter said,“ I had a sense that he had something to offer.” “And he can't get rid of me now!” Joe chuckles. When Joe first joined the show, he remembers, “the phones did nothing but ring.” The phone calls were almost entirely for Joe because he said he “struck a nostalgic chord.” Besides nostalgia, Joe's other favorite topics of conversation have to do with transportation, especially railroads and automobiles. Looking back he says, “The Assembly Square Mall was a Ford auto plant. They made Edsels there.”

Today the calls for each host are more even, with callers looking to talk to Walter as well as Joe. Walter taught in the Somerville school system, and Joe says, “(Walter's) former students will call in to praise (him).” He also adds with pride, “I consider Walter to be my surrogate son.”

Having a television show on SCAT can make you a local celebrity. Joe revels in his fame, “People recognize me at McKinnon's, Osco, on busses, you name it!” Joe who happens to be visually impaired laughs about what happened one day outside the Somerville Hospital, “Some of the staff were outside having a smoking break and one called over and said `you look the same as on TV.' And I said, `Yeah, you want my autograph? Can you read Braille?”

Their show is never profane or off color, and they are proud of that. Walter says, “The show is like two people talking over the back yard fence and the caller is a neighbor that happens to walk by and join in.” If you want to join in on their conversation, tune in to SCAT on Wednesdays at 7:30PM.

Somerville Community Access Television
90 Union Square, Somerville, MA 02143
Phone: 617-628-8826 | Fax: 617-628-1811
Email: info@access-scat.org
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