After having his script passed on many times, it was on a visit to Hollywood in November 1992 about the movie that Moore received a phone call in his hotel room from NBC.

"[3] Expecting the concept to be quickly dismissed by NBC executives during the meeting, Moore proceeded to describe the show in the most ludicrous ways possible, saying, "it would be a cross between 60 Minutes and Fidel Castro on laughing gas.

[5] For the show's title sequence, graphic designer Chris Harvey put together the images, and music group tomandandy wrote the TV Nation theme.

TV Nation was formatted as a newsmagazine, with stories interspersed by short clips of the show's theme (for example, Moore spending a day with Dr. Jack Kevorkian) and factual polls surveying the American public.

The show's investigative reports delved into various aspects of American life, and they were filmed and presented in a style similar to Moore's feature-length documentaries such as The Big One (1998).

The show featured segments such as "The Corporate Challenge," in which CEOs were challenged to prove they could use the products their companies created; the storming of the supposedly "private" beach in Greenwich, Connecticut; hiring ex-KGB officer Yuri Shvets to conduct investigations; an experiment to see if hiring a lobbyist for $5,000 could get the Congress to declare a "TV Nation Day" (he got a bill introduced, but it never passed);[8] and "Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken.

"[9][10] Among its correspondents were Merrill Markoe, Janeane Garofalo, Karen Duffy, Jonathan Katz, Rusty Cundieff and Louis Theroux.

[11] TV Nation also featured humorous (but true) public opinion polls, each conducted by the firm of Widgery and Associates from a random sample of Americans.

[3][9] The release of TV Nation on two VHS volumes in 1997 offered a chance to view two unaired segments considered too controversial to be aired on broadcast television at the time.

[16][17] During its original broadcast run, TV Nation working with the well known Washington lobbyist William C. Chasey was recognized by the United States Congress in resolution H.J.

[20] The funding previously acquired from British broadcaster Channel 4 for a third season eventually turned into the new TV series The Awful Truth.