The Cupertino Courier

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Crew members for the award-winning 'Better Part' television show, produced by Dorothy Stevens, include (top) Chuck Johnson, Ernie Piini, (bottom) Val Ramsay and Billie Atwood.

Tops on TV

Cupertino resident honored as 'Outstanding Producer'

By Pam Marino

More than 50 years ago, Dorothy Stevens was one of the first people to appear on TV after her sister, "the town beauty," got cold feet.

They were at the New York World's Fair, and her sister was scheduled to be interviewed at RCA's display of this newfangled thing called "television." When her sister balked at going in front of the camera, Stevens was recruited to stand in.

"In those days we thought TV was only a novelty," Stevens said. No one thought it would amount to much, said the native New Yorker, who later came to California to attend Stanford University.

Now, here in Cupertino, Stevens appears nearly every week as the host of The Better Part, a public-access cable show for senior citizens. More importantly, she serves as the show's producer; recently she was chosen as the first-ever recipient of the Cupertino Outstanding Producer Award (COPA).

The award was launched by the Cupertino Telecommunications Commission to encourage access producers to create programming that benefits the Cupertino community.

Stevens was chosen as the first recipient because of what commission chairman Ernest Tsui called her program's consistency and quality. He also praised how Stevens mentors the rest of the show's crew, which is made entirely of volunteer seniors from the Cupertino Senior Center.

The Better Part has been on the air on the local cable-access channel since 1983. The idea was to produce a show by seniors for seniors. A notice went up on the board at the senior center across the street from De Anza College, calling for anyone who might be interested in learning how to put on a television show. Stevens responded.

She didn't start out as the producer or the host. In fact, as with the New York World's Fair, Stevens just happened to be in the right place at the right time. One day a woman who was supposed to do an interview didn't show up. Stevens was asked to stand in, and just as she had in New York, she said, "Sure."

Stevens said there are about 20 people in the group that produces the weekly show. They create a new show almost every week of the year. This past year they televised their 500th episode. Stevens has appeared as host in about 450 of 531 total episodes. She likes to travel, so other group members stand in for her occasionally.

The group--called Cupertino Senior TV Productions--meets Tuesday mornings to plan the show, and they shoot on Thursday mornings at the De Anza College studio.

Everyone in the group is trained how to use the television equipment, and everyone learns more than one job. Stevens said the group experiences high turnover, and so everyone needs to be able to stand in for other members who are suddenly ill or have family members who become ill. Sometimes--a sad fact of life--turnover occurs when crew members die.

The show has received numerous national, regional and local awards. It has also been used as a resource around the country for other cable- access stations that want to duplicate the success of The Better Part.

The show has been successful, Stevens said, because it concentrates on a variety of issues that are of interest to seniors.

"Our first point of really firm interest is health," Stevens said. "Many, many seniors have no knowledge of their bodies," she said. And growing up, many were told it wasn't nice to talk about their bodies. The show tries to educate seniors on numerous health issues, as well as dispel any fears seniors have about medical care.

One of the most watched episodes includes footage of an actual cataract surgery. All the episodes can be checked out of the county library; doctors have recommended the cataract surgery episode to their patients to help them better understand the procedure.

"The doctors in our area realize what we're doing, and they support us totally," Stevens said. "I'm very proud of our health programs."

The second emphasis of the show is educating seniors about community agencies. Every episode about the various agencies includes a call for volunteers. "The agencies tell us they always get volunteers as a result of our show," Stevens said.

The Better Part also takes lots of field trips around the region. "We try to encourage seniors to get out the door," Stevens said.

Another goal of the show is to feature interesting seniors with hobbies or other interests. The purpose, Stevens said, is to "keep [seniors] interested in the business of living."

The show has also featured celebrities such as Minnie Pearl and Orvil Redenbacher, and hosts entertainment on the show such as local choirs and musical groups.

The show is seen on every cable system in the Santa Clara Valley. Here in Cupertino it is seen Tuesdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 p.m., on cable channels 26 and 38A.

But Stevens found out that the show is seen by a much broader audience. Once, while visiting Portland, Ore., a man came up to her and said, "You're Dorothy Stevens. I'd know you anywhere." It turned out that the man picked up the show on his satellite dish every week.

Although a volunteer, Stevens said she works 30 to 60 hours every week on the show, depending on what the shows are about. There is nothing she'd rather do, she said.

"I love doing it because I get good feedback from the public," she said. "To me the joy is someone saying the program made a difference in their lives."

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