Sigma
On one of the trucks I was EIC (Engineer‐in‐Charge) on, a company named Mizlou was E.J. Stewart's biggest client. Just as Steely Dan is a thing, not a person (look it up), E.J. Stewart is a made‐up name. Now, one could have deemed Mizlou an experiment to see if top‐to‐bottom nepotism could work. Most businesses are family‐run. When I was involved with the company, family, close friends, and hangers‐on ran and staffed it. Many were brothers, sisters, cousins, and fathers. The Schwing brothers, Roger and Bill, produced and directed most of Mizlou's work.
Mizlou was started in 1968. It operated as an ad‐hoc independent TV Network. Vic Piano founded The Network to offer the Peach Bowl to independent stations. The success of the December 31, 1968 telecast made Mizlou a top indie TV network in the 1970s and 1980s. Mizlou televised college bowl games, including the Fiesta, Bluebonnet, Hall of Fame, Peach, Liberty, Freedom, Cherry, Garden State, Tangerine, Holiday, California, All American, Blue Gray, East West Shrine, and Senior Bowls. Piano also produced NASCAR, NIT Basketball, ABA Basketball, WCT Tennis, Pro Track, and Pro Bowling while at Mizlou. Vic was the executive producer on most Mislou productions.
Many involved were descendants of the same matriarch, Miz Lou, the grandmother. Hence, the name. While a lot of the family, honorary ones included, were good at doing TV, they did have a few that were dead weight. They had one who wasn't even a good gofer. They sent him once to get lunch, actually dinner. The crew worked into the night on pre‐production for a game. It was for a dozen crew members. He came back with eight hamburgers, seven French fries, and ten Cokes. Looking at the food deliverer, "You give a*h0les a bad name!" was Roger's response when he looked over the "pickens."
