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THE WORLDWIDE HOME VIDEO PREMIERE INCLUDES ALL 6 EPISODES PLUS THE RARELY SEEN BEST-OF WITH INTERVIEWS, OUTTAKES AND THE INFAMOUS SHORT FILM SQUEAL OF DEATH In 1991, MTV green-lit a new sketch program from co-creators/writers/directors/stars Tom Stern & Alex Winter that promised “some of the most astounding, bizarre and alarming comedy” ever broadcast. From God’s Mighty Anvil and The Huggins Family to Lockjaw and Eddie the Flying Gimp from Outer Space – with a cast that included Lee Arenberg (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), Flea, Ricki Lake (HAIRSPRAY), William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show), Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Academy Award® nominee John Hawkes and GWAR – experience the “weirdly hilarious” (Dangerous Minds) and now legendary icepick to the skull of humor that enraged parent groups, made network executives very nervous and led directly to Stern & Winter’s feature film debut FREAKED. This collection gathers all 6 episodes and the rarely seen Best-Of for the first time ever, sourced from the original MTV masters with short films, outtakes and more curated by Tom Stern and Alex Winter. Special Features for THE IDIOT BOX: Out Of The Phone Booth And Into The Box – Interview With Director/Co-Star Alex Winter Lockjaw Speaks! – Interview With Director/Co-Star Tom Stern A Gang Of Idiots – A Conversation With Alex Winter And Actor Lee Arenberg Exiting Texas – A Conversation With Tom Stern And Academy Award® Nominated Actor John Hawkes Funny Money – Interview With Producer Krista Montagna Young, Dumb & Full Of Jokes – Interview With Co-Writer Tim Burns Art Marine – A Career Overview With Artist David Daniels Newly Discovered Outtakes SQUEAL OF DEATH – Pre-Cursor To The Pre-Cursor Of FREAKED TV Spot Feature Specs for THE IDIOT BOX: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Runtime: 98 mins Audio: English Stereo Subtitles: English SDH Region: A Wrap Artwork Illustrated by William Wray Limited Edition Slipcover Illustrated by Johnny Ryan
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The Idiot Box (1991)
The Idiot Box is an American sketch comedy television series created by Alex Winter, Tom Stern and Tim Burns, which ran on MTV from 1990-1991. After the success of Bill & Ted, MTV hired Winter, Stern, and Burns to develop a half-hour sketch comedy show for the network. As the channel was still strictly music-oriented at the time, The Idiot Box was mainly a showcase for popular music videos, but with a series of sketches, fake commercials, and parodies shown in between. Therefore, although an episode ran 30 minutes, there were only 7 to 11 minutes worth of sketches.