SINCE JESSE VENTURA TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE AND BECAME THE 38TH GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA.

THE TWIN CITIES PBS ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY "JESSE VENTURA SHOCKS THE WORLD" PREMIERES NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT AT 8:00 PM ON TWIN CITIES PBS.

IT'S A LOOK BACK AT THE WILD RIDE OF VENTURA'S FOUR YEARS IN OFFICE, INCLUDING HIS OFTEN PRICKLY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MEDIA.

YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE SOME OF THE REPORTERS AND TV HOSTS FEATURED.

HERE'S A SHORT EXCERPT.

>> HI, I'M JESSE, THE BODY, VENTURA.

RELAX, RELAX, RELAX, YOU'RE STILL WATCHING PBS.

I WALK AND TALK WHERE I WANT.

NOTICE THE HYPOCRISY.

I'M JESSE, THE BODY, I'M AHEAD OF MY TIME.

>> Mary: JESSE DEFIES DEFINITION.

HE DOESN'T FIT IN THE BOX.

>> IS IT TRUE, THERE'S THIS WRESTLER RUNNING FOR OFFICE?

>> I WOULD LIKE TO LEAD THE WAY.

>> VENTURA IS A CHARACTER ABOVE ALL.

>> THE MOST POPULAR GOVERNOR IN THE WORLD.

>> Eric: HE HAD A PROCLIVITY FOR MAKING NEWS IN THE ODDEST TIMES AND ODDEST PLACES.

>> Mary: DO PEOPLE REMEMBER YOU FOR STANDING UP TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS, DO YOU THINK?

>> I'M NOT GOING TO APOLOGIZE.

>> WOULD YOU LEGALIZE DRUGS?

>> Eric: I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU CAN MAKE UP THIS LIFE STORY.

>> Mary: YOU DON'T HAVE PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WITHOUT GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA.

>> BE CAREFUL OF WHO YOU HELP.

>> Eric: I DARE NOT SAY NEVER TO BE EQUALED, BUT NEVER TO BE EQUALED.

[ BLEEP ] >> Mary: BRAND-NEW REPORTER, HAD JUST BEEN HIRED FOR MY DREAM JOB.

TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION, WHEN I'D INTERNED.

WITH LITTLE FANFARE AND FEW REPORTERS.

SO IT'S ELECTION NIGHT.

>> VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

>> Mary: SKIP HUMPHREY WAS AHEAD IN THE POLLS.

SO I DECIDED TO PICK THE ONE ELECTION NIGHT HEADQUARTERS I COULD GO TO.

SO I WENT TO SKIP HUMPHREY'S HEADQUARTERS.

AND AS RETURNS WERE COMING IN, IT WAS NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR SKIP HUMPHREY.

VENTURA WAS AHEAD.

AND VENTURA LOOKED LIKE HE COULD WIN THIS THING.

>> JESSE, JESSE.

>> Mary: WE DROVE 80, 90, MAYBE 100 MILES AN HOUR OUT TO VENTURA HEADQUARTERS.

IT WAS LIKE A EMOTION PIT.

>> I THINK IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL NIGHT I'VE HAD IN A LONG LONG TIME.

[ Cheers ] >> Mary: THERE WAS ALREADY CHAMPAIGN SPRAYING -- CHAMPAGNE SPRAYING EVERYWHERE.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET IN?

AND MY PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE TIME, YELLS, PUBLIC TELEVISION COMING THROUGH!

AND THE SEA PARTS AND THE WHOLE CROWD LETS US UP TO THE VERY FRONT.

AND WE ARE THERE WHEN HE SCREAMED THE FAMOUS -- >> WE SHOCKED THE WORLD!

>> Mary: YOU ALWAYS SAID ALL ALONG, THE ONLY POLL THAT MATTERS IS NOVEMBER 3rd, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ALL YOUR NAYSAYERS?

>> WELL, I WAS CORRECT, WASN'T I?

>> ERIC: JOINING US NOW, MARY LAHAMMER, CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE FILM, AND "ALMANAC'S" POLITICAL REPORTER.

A JOB SHE HAD JUST STARTED IN THE SUMMER OF 1998 AS THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR WAS HEATING UP.

WHAT'S THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THIS PROJECT?

>> I THINK, ACTUALLY, IT'S A FILM ABOUT VOTING AND DEMOCRACY AND EVEN JOURNALISM BECAUSE WE DIVE INTO THAT TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MEDIA.

AND COME AT IT, I THINK, IN A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER HOW JESSE CHANGED EVERYTHING WHEN HE CAME INTO OFFICE IN '98.

AS WE JUST SAID, I WAS A BRAND-NEW KID REPORTER.

I WAS THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE CAPITOL PRESS CORPS, I THINK AT JUST 24.

SO I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO COVER OR NOT COVER A GOVERNOR.

SO, IT WAS REALLY NEAT TO START WITH THIS INTERNATIONAL STORY THAT FELL IN OUR LAPS, AND I KNOW YOU GO WAY BACK.

WE'LL TALK ABOUT ERIC, WONDERFUL ROLE HE PLAYS IN THIS, YES.

>> Cathy: I'M GLAD YOU DECIDED TO HAVE HIM ON.

I MEAN, THIS WAS PROBABLY THE ZENITH OF HIS CAREER, WHICH MESHED WRESTLING AND POLITICS TOGETHER.

>> Eric: YEAH.

WELL, 20 YEARS PAST SINCE I HAD INTRODUCED HIM ON THE RING IN DULUTH AS A PRO WRESTLING RING ANNOUNCER AND THEN 20 CAREERS LATER I'M COVERING HIM AT THE STATE CAPITOL.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THAT UP.

>> Mary: AND ERIC IS THE SECRET STAR OF THE FILM.

I WILL REVEAL THAT BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENS IS WE SHOW ERIC BACK ON THE NEWS ANCHOR DESK IN DULUTH, HARKEN BACK TO GREG GRELL EARLIER, WE SEE ERIC, AND THE CROWD ROARED AT THE SCREENING WE DID THIS WEEK TO SEE ERIC ANCHORING, BUT ALSO TELLING THE STORY OF WHAT ELSE HE WAS DOING IN DULUTH.

BACK IN THE 1970s, ERIC WAS ANNOUNCING JESSE VENTURA'S WRESTLING MATCHES.

>> Eric: 20 YEARS LATER, I'M COVERING HIM.

IT'S AMAZING.

>> Mary: AND WE HEAR STORIES I'VE NEVER EARD YOU TELL BEFORE.

SO THESE NEW REVELATIONS OF ERIC'S EARLY BEGINNINGS AND JESSE'S EARLY STORY IN WRESTLING, HOW THAT INFORMED HOW HE DEBATED AND HOW HE GOVERNED.

THERE'S A THROUGH THREAD THERE.

>> Cathy: I WONDER, OF COURSE, WHEN YOU HAVE ALL THIS CONTENT, YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE SOMETHING ON THE FLOOR.

I MEAN, WHAT COULDN'T YOU NOT PUT INTO THIS DOC?

>> IT'S FUNNY, BECAUSE YOU BOTH KNOW MY FATHER WHO PASSED AWAY RECENTLY, AND ON HIS DEATH BED, I SHOWED HIM THE COMPLETED DOCUMENTARY, AND, YOU KNOW, HE STILL HAD HIS WITS UNTIL THE VERY END, AT 90 YEARS OLD, HE WATCHED THE WHOLE HOUR FILM AND LAUGHED AND JUST CHUCKLED, LOVED IT, HE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID, WHERE'S ARNOLD, ARNOLD IS MISSING FROM THIS DOCUMENTARY?

AND HE WAS, RIGHT, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER WAS HIS FRIEND FROM THE PREDATOR MOVIE, THEN WENT ON TO HIS OWN POLITICAL CAREER.

WE DIDN'T GET TO THAT BECAUSE WE THOUGHT THERE WAS A MORE IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP TO TRACE, AND THAT'S THE ONE BETWEEN DONALD TRUMP AND JESSE VENTURA, AND HE DIVE INTO THAT.

>> Eric: MAN OF CONTRADICTIONS.

>> Mary: ABSOLUTELY.

BIG MACHO MAN, TANE DANGER, WHO DOES POP ANALYSIS, TALKS ABOUT THE OST-COLD WAR AND SCHWARZENEGGER AND STALLONE, AND HE SAID, WE WERE UTTING BEEF CAKES ON MOVIES, WE'RE SHOWING ALL THESE MULEY GUYS BEINGS AND VENTURA WAS -- MUSCLEY GUYS AND HE'S A MANLY, MAN, HE'S OUT THERE ADVOCATING FOR DOMESTIC PARTNER, HE'S VETOING ABORTION RESTRICTIONS WHEN HE WAS IN OFFICE, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK GOT A LITTLE LEFT BEHIND, APPOINTING PEOPLE OF COLOR, APPOINTING MORE THAN 70 JUDGES THROUGH A NONPARTISAN JUDICIAL PROCESS, SO SOME OF THAT LEGACY GETS LOST, I THINK, WITH ALL THE DRAMA AND THAT IMAGE OF A BIG, TOUGH, ANGRY GUY.

WHAT WE REVEAL, I THINK, IN THE DOCUMENTARY IS HOW MUCH HEART HE REALLY HAD BEHIND THE SCENES.

>> Cathy: HOW DO YOU THINK THIS ADDS TO THE HISTORICAL RECORD, SURROUNDING VENTURA?

>> I THINK THE POLICY WAS REALLY LOST.

I THINK WHEN HE WAS, YOU KNOW, GOING ON DAYS OF OUR LIVES AND DOING SOAP OPERA GUESTS AND WRESTLING, DOING THE WWF, AND DOING THE XFL AND ALL THESE SIDE GIG THAT IS KIND OF WENT SIDEWAYS ON HIM, WITH THE PUBLIC, AND PUBLIC OPINION, I THINK PEOPLE JUST THOUGHT, OH, THIS TURNED INTO A SIDE SHOW.

BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF POLICY.

HIS COMMISSIONERS WERE WIDELY PRAISED AS THE BEST CABINET, MAYBE, EVER APPOINTED BY A GOVERNOR.

THE TRAIN, THE LIGHT RAIL TRAIN, THAT WAS JESSE VENTURA, THAT WAS ECADES IN THE MAKING.

HE GOT THAT THROUGH.

SO I THINK COMING BACK TO SOME OF THE POLICY, BUT THEN ALSO THE ORIGIN SORES, HERE IS THIS -- STORIES, HERE IS THIS LANKY SWIMMER FROM MINNEAPOLIS, SETTING RECORDS, GOING TO STATE, GOING TO NAVY SEAL, SERVING HIS COUNTRY, BECOMING A PRO WRESTLER, BECOMING A HOLLYWOOD ACTOR, BECOMING A MAYOR, AS YOU KNOW, BECAUSE HE WAS SITTING ON THIS SET, RIGHT, AS MAYOR EARLY ON WHEN HE WAS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR.

SO THE ORIGIN STORIES, SOME OF THE POLICIES, SOME OF THE SUBSTANCE, BUT ALSO KIND OF THE HEART.

IT WAS FUN.

WE HAD TYRELL VENTURA AT THE PRIVATE PREMIERE PARTY THIS PAST WEEK.

AND THEY DID NOT ADVISE ON THIS OR NECESSARILY APPROVE IT.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS IN IT.

TYRELL GOT UP AFTERWARD AND HE THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY BEAUTIFUL.

PART OF IT WAS THE ROLE THAT HIS MOTHER AND HIS GRANDMOTHER PLAYED.

THESE WOMEN WHO HAD INFLUENCED VENTURA THAT WE DETAIL IN THE FILM.

>> Eric: TUESDAY NIGHT, 8:00 P.M., CHANNEL 2 IN THE TWIN CITIES AND CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS IN GREATER MINNESOTA.

>> Cathy: BUT IT'S STREAMING.

>> Mary: IT WILL STREAM ON THE PBS APP AS WELL.

>> Cathy: OKAY.

>> Mary: YEAH, TUNE IN.