The Unions on "Austin Stories"
"Austin Stories," MTV's first ever prime time situation comedy, debuted on Wednesday, September 10, 1997, to widespread critical and ratings success. The show completed its inaugural 1997-98 season with twelve episodes filmed on location in Austin, TX (the UMC worldwide headquarters for 5 1/2 years).
Episodes for the second season were under development when MTV belatedly cancelled the show in June 1998. See the August 1998 issue of Texas Monthly magazine for an excellent article detailing how this tragedy unfolded.
Two of these twelve episodes feature comedian and long-time Unions fan Brad "Chip" Pope wearing the official Unions multicolored silkscreened T-shirt, a design produced specifically for the occasion. Pope, along with Laura House and Howard Kremer, co-writes and co-stars in the show; thanks to his efforts, the Unions have received unprecedented and prominent international television exposure.
Episode #103 premiered on September 23, followed by Episode #111 on November 24. Both give Rover and the shirt plenty of unmistakable air time.
Screenshots from these two episodes are available exclusively via e-mail request.
For photos of the shirt in action, visit the MTV T-Shirt page.
MTV Online's official "Austin Stories" site, while it lasts
The Austin webzine Lost Armadillos in Heat has a protest link to MTV's comment page.