MTV's The Head - Underrated and Groundbreaking
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- Опубліковано 4 лис 2023
- 1994, Eric Fogel (creator of Celebrity Deathmatch) created one of the most groundbreaking cartoons of the 90s, despite the fact that almost no one ever talks about it. Tune it to find out what made The Head so aHEAD of its time!
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Interview with Eric K. Stratton (developer on The Head video game). - Ігри
Thanks for this review. Let’s get The Head rebooted!
My pleasure! Thanks for the comment and for creating such a great TV show!
The Head, The Maxx, Aeon Flux - and ultimately _Liquid Television_ basically defined a lot of early teenage engagement for those of us born in the 80's. Assuming your parents let you watch MTV at all. Liquid Television was one of the things that increased my burgeoning desire to get into anime during the era in which anime was at its most dark and gnarly. It probably introduced more people to _Ninja Scroll_ than I can even imagine. Watching Aeon get wiped out at the end of every short of hers (until they started the actual TV series, anyways) was wild.
Same with me.
Liquid TV was amazing, so glad to see a lot of it preserved here on UA-cam.
Whether your parents let you or didnt let you watch MTV back then was irrelevant. If you had MTV you figured out how to get away with it.
I too used to beat it to Aeon Flux
Ninja scroll is great
Not many of us saw The Head when it aired, but for those of us who did we could never forget it!
I did.
I forgot about The Head honestly because I guess at the time it kind of played second fiddle to The Maxx which was a more interesting show to me back then, like the head was almost one of those shows that wanted to just make the most ridiculous shit possible it was almost a meme or something back then, like "why would someone make this show?"
*nostalgia noises*
@@weshouser821 that was what stuck with me though, because it was so odd as if was created from some hallucination.. Ren and Stimpy set me on a weird course, perhaps >_< nostalgia glasses aside, the 90’s was a weird time for animation!
I did but unfortunately it seemed like they only showed the same 4 or 5 episodes. I didn't know there was a second season until now.
The Head, The Max and Aaron Flux were my Friday night cartoons when I was a kid. Never even thought about them as an adult show cuz I saw and liked them as a kid. They were just really interesting cartoons.
The Maxx is a great show as an adult. Much of it's darker themes went over our heads. It's a really really dark show.
The Maxx, and Aeon Flux lol.
@@ehrenloudermilk1053 Check out The Maxx comics if you ever get the chance. They are even darker and really expand on the world and stories we were introduced to in the tv series.
lol @ Aaron Flux
Aaron Flux.
Those years of falling asleep in front of the TV and waking up to these shows, wondering if I really saw what I saw the next day haha.
Aw man that's some heavy nostalgia. That and Sci Fi channel where you'd switch over and catch some vague anime that you'd mentally wonder about and even come up with your own stories of what you saw.
Dude ,I love that truth. I once woke up at 4a.m with the radio playing "fish heads"when I was 12. Was trying to stay up to hear the Tyson fight and failed lol
Didn't ever really know if fish heads was a one off weird radio thing or my delirious stoned teenage brain until yt existed and I found it
Oh man I forgot all about this show, it was pretty cool! MTV was such a creative channel back then, it's a shame what they've become.
It's stuff like this that helps me understand why MTV was so popular in the late 80s and 90s. If i had been born back then I'm sure it would have become my favourite channel too. However, by the time I was old enough to appreciate quality tv, MTV was already crashing and burning
@NordicThommy yeah it's been a joke for years now unfortunately. As someone who is interested in animation (both consuming and occasionally creating) seeing MTV fall from it's position of creative pioneering to just cheap reality garbage was honestly really sad. At least small parts of it have been archived on UA-cam etc.
Unfortunately TV is a business so eventually somebody is going to figure out it's cheaper and more profitable to point a camera at some drunk sluts and see what happens.
Will always want to understand how the faux MTV maintains relevance to the current days
This hit me with an, "oh yeah!" moment as well... not sure how u could forget celebrity deathmatch either. F'in classic!
I loved The Head as a child. I got to watch the entire series on Teletoon here in Canada, they aired pretty much all of MTV's animated back catalogue in the early 2000s.
We are Canadian too
I grew up in the Canadian border area of northern Minnesota (actually a lot of my classmates had dual citizenship because it was so remote), and had the good fortune of growing up with both MtV AND Much Music. The 90s were the best 😊
The Head is right up there with The Brothers Grunt as MTV cartoons that I thought that I was the only one who remembered watching.
Oh you're not alone. Brothers grunt was awesome.
I worked on the show back in the 90s. You did a great job with your research! It’s funny to be watching something you’ve worked on being chronicled by a UA-camr!😂👍🏾
Thanks for your contributions! I looked you up on IMDB, were you the layout artist for the latter half of season one? Just want to clarify as IMDB's credits are sometimes faulty haha.
@@okfinebethatway Yup! My memory is faulty too ‘cuz I remember most of season one! 😂🤣
Every so often this show pops into my head - I don't remember much about it, except a lot of the imagery making me feel slightly uncomfortable while watching as a kid.
Feel the same way bro I was like 8 when this came out & it was creepy, all those
Late-night cartoon MTV shows were just the animation & all
I even feel this way about this show and I was 21when it came out
Seeing The Head as a child was the perfect primer for when Spawn The Animated Series hit HBO a couple years later.
Such a good block of animation to watch as a kid. It literally changed my perspective on art and comics. NO ONE talks about the head!
I was 14-15 when this came out and I loved The Head. However, even back then it got really overshadowed by The Maxx and Aeon Flux. It truly was groundbreaking and I think it just never found its audience. Most of my friends liked darker stuff, ala The Crow and Spawn, so they definitely were more into The Maxx. And Aeon Flux had a half naked woman with guns. That's like printing money back before most teens had the internet access. I'm glad to see it finally getting some love.
This just unlocked part of my mind. I don’t think I ever would have thought of this show again. There were so many sick ass shows when I was a teenager…
Yeuup.
I actually did catch The Head on and off on MTV back in the day but I always watched it completely out of order due to the way MTV released their shows. I never even knew what the full story was but now that I've watched this I finally got some context lol. It was such a weird show but you can't help but be engaged once you've committed.
Same here and had no idea when it ever came on, I caught it randomly late night usually, when I was burnt after a night out....
Being born in the early 80's, I thought this was some sort of fever dream I imagined from my youth. The Thumbnail reminded me of something from the darkest corners of my mind. If anything I thought it was more or less something on MTV's Liquid Television.
I'm an: 19(80s') Baby. 19(90s') Made me. I survived (So I guess it's WE huh. 😁) the Y2K bug. We survived the Kovid Krisis (Crisis) as well so, yea.
Everyone knows the first gay kiss on tv is Bugs bunny and Elmer fudd.
I actually watched this show over the past couple days after watching this video and I’d just like to thank you for putting me onto this show. It was a lot better than I anticipated from seeing the thumbnail for this video like a dozen times. The head really deserves more of a cult following than it currently has.
The decision to include two men kissing is indeed a bold one for the time. DS9 also was one of the first shows to show two women kissing and from what I understand, it caused a bit of a ripple during those peak "dont ask dont tell" period
Thank you (and I honestly mean this) for reminding me of this excellent show. It came out when I was 14, a time when my sisters and I was going through the all too 90's trope of drugs, violence and mental illness destroying a middle class family in the Rust-belt of the U.S.A. My mom actually was the reason I'm sure the show came out in August, because she was really interested in "The Oddities" and MTV Animation, generally. She said she identified with Jim, which was fitting, as she's schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder (nowadays known as D.I.D). It was an analogy that made sense to my younger sister and I and it seemed to help her cope with the pressure of trying to explain that type of things to one's kids. Plus, the show was truly pretty cool and I feel like the animation quality was "bad" as opposed to "poor". Meaning that if it were actually more polished and pretty, it might have hurt rather than helped as this astetic was in with the Grunge/Punk/Alternative rock and DIY Independent comic book scenes that were all the rage at the time. I loved the show, but I honestly forgot about it until now.😅 Sorry for the long winded comment, but I truly appreciate you for this. Subscribing, Liking, Commenting and Congratulating you, Great Job!
Damn I remember watching the o.j. chase on live tv as a young child and remember the head airing on MTV. Guess I am getting old.
All of MTV's Liquid Television animated line-up was awesome and ahead of it's time. I have re-watched each of the shows many times since I first saw them 30 years ago. Those shows were made to last, I can watch them now and the only thing that feels like it's aged is me.
Thanks, SexyNinjaMonkey
The Maxx was the absolute best show on MTV ODDITIES with the Head and Aeon Flux following. I still own the Trading cards that came with random cards of the 3 shows in each pack and a signed copy of the Maxx on DVD by the creator.
Absolutely
It’s crazy how cool MTV used to be back in the day. I guess nothing good lasts forever unfortunately.
Yup now its just reality tv garbage
I grew up with this stuff as I was in 5th grade when Liquid T.V. started. I'd tape all the episodes on my vcr and watched them up until my 20's. The Head and Aeon Flux were my favorites.
Do you STILL have those VHS recordings? If not, What happened to them if you are able to recall? Please & Thanks.
I still do. It's in a big tote in storage though lol. Might have to break out the vcr some day.
@@rafter_man Yes. Please do.When you do could you please work uploading them? You can always post them under ""FAIR USE""..😁
I was enlisted in the Navy when this was airing, and we used to crowd into the barracks TV room to watch this. Shocked to find someone talking about it on YT so many years later.
I remember watching this as an 11 year old. I think it was probably way over my head and deserves a watch now.
I was beginning to think I imagined this in a fever dream, with the way people have no idea what I'm talking about when I bring this show up. Great episode! Keep up the good work.
my buds & I loved The Maxx comics and we were initially very disappointed when The Head was aired first instead. But it grew on us fast and we ended up absolutely adoring it. I think it was the first unexpected gay couple we ever saw on TV. "not... right now"
This show was great. Awesome to see someone talking about it cuz it was indeed ground breaking. Butt-Head's cameo is when I knew I was in for something special 😄
You got some very wrong info here, but I think it’s because you didn’t get to see the show air originally. Take it from me, as i was alive and conscious in 1994 and a HUGE fan of the show. The Head season 1 had 15 minute episodes because MTV Oddities was a 30 minute show with one segment of The Head and The Maxx each. There were never music videos aired in the middle of these shows - ever. Most of MTV’s non music shows also did not randomly break for music videos. The only other show I remember that did it regularly was Sifl and Olly (which was something MTV insisted upon, but that’s a whole other discussion).
Season 2 was aired as its own show outside of MTV Oddities. It was no longer a part of that branding.
Also, at the time of this show’s debut, there were almost no shows that ran in a 15 min time slot. That would’ve came about around the time with the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast’s debut. The quarter hour run time was frequently referenced as a novelty for that show, and it didn’t become much of a thing until Adult Swim’s debut around 1998-1999.
This was a great show! I remember when I first found it, doing some late night channel surfing. Simple as that sounds, I always considered it a pleasant memory. Thank you for making this video. I'm glad to see this show getting some much needed attention!
I really enjoyed this. I really hope you consider doing videos on The Maxx, Duckman, Beavis & Butthead, Aeon Flux, FLCL, and the Brothers Grunt.
I’ve probably spent a good amount of time in my 20’s googling “MTV show with guy who has a lawn mower blade through his head” trying to remember the name of this show. You have finally showed me the light. Thank you, sir. 🤙
Speaking as someone who's old enough to remember and clarify (since I taped them all)... The opening 3-minutes debuted as a teaser on August 13, 1994 and aired repeatedly over the next 48 hours during "MTV's Animation Weekend," which heralded the premiere of their rightfully-forgotten cartoon "The Brothers Grunt" (THAT was a WTF-were-they-thinking show!). "The Head" officially debuted as part of "MTV's Oddities" on Dec. 19, 1994, airing 2 installments a week through Jan. 30, 1995. The leftover time in the 7th episode was filled with an extended preview of the next "Oddities" program, "The Maxx." Similarly, season 2 opened with a making-of special titled "Inside the Head," which was omitted from the DVD release (yet it's blocked on UA-cam). And the graphic novel only has one pop-up, it's just the front cover. Also, this was hardly the first serialized cartoon. 1959's "The Bullwinkle Show," 1975's (pathetically animated) "Return to the Planet of the Apes" and the first season of 1979's "Flash Gordon" were all serialized.
Thanks for the info regarding the air dates, but I didn't say it was the first serialized cartoon. I said it was the first non comedic serialized cartoon aimed at adults. Rocky and Bullwinkle was a comedy aimed at kids and those other two shows you mentioned I've never seen but they look like Saturday morning cartoons to me.
@@okfinebethatway Both shows did air on Saturday mornings, but neither was aimed at little kids (Flash Gordon was actually padded into a series from a prime-time animated movie). Anyway, I've got Wikipedia straightened out with sources for the season premieres, and I'm working on IMDb. Dunno whether to thank you or curse you for starting me back on this. I wrote an episode guide over 20 years ago, and I'm certain I did some work on these sites before, and then got distracted by some shiny object... Maybe I'll actually finish them this time.
I used to wake up early in the morning just to catch this show airing. Thanks for the great nostalgia blast.
i'm just old enough to remember this show. you did a great job covering it. i learned a lot!
Back when you were being born I was going to a club that showed The Head on big screens. Thanks so much for making this vid 👍
This show scared the shit out of me as a kid when I caught the end of the pilot episode randomly on a Saturday morning before basketball practice. It was ‘96 and I was 10 years old channel surfing when I came across it. It took me years to get over this and The Maxx which was also on MTV at the time and I saw a commercial for it. 😅 Daria came out soon after and that became one of my Top 10 favorite animated shows to this day.
Thank you for bringing this crazy ass show back to my attention since I was first pleasantly baffled by it as a 7 year old with too many channels to choose from!
This is really a mind blowing rediscovery, so I can't say how much I appreciate this ❤
I remember watching this on MTV.
I was 16 and it hit me at the right time.
Mtv was everything back then. The animation was like NOOTHING else we had ever seen. It absolutely blew my mind and I fell in love with weird things forever
I remember watching Liquid Television as a kid. Some of those shows still float through my mind from time to time.
you unlocked suppressed memory that when fleeting in my mind in years past, i wrote off as a fever dream or a drug ridden delirium.
Wow. After the glowing accolades I feel pretty lucky having this show on T.V. when I was little.
I think protagonists like Jim and Roy highlite the importance of keeping a cool demeanor when the events of life are coming to a head.
Now I'm off to see if you've done a similar review on another show that I personally loved but no one else on planet earth seems to remember, Captain Star.
OMG I've been seeing an ad on this on my Beavis and Butthead tapes a lot recently, I'm so glad someone review it :D
I watched this religiously when it was airing. I was an old Liquid TV fan, loved B&B, and so I had to catch it when I heard they were making a full series out of this too. (don't know if you picked up that the "pilot" of the Head was in fact originally just a standalone from Liquid TV) . It's nice to see it getting some love, I always thought it was brilliant.
I wouldn't mind a look at The Maxx too, although that was a very different show it wowed me back then too.
I don’t know why this popped in my “head” today so I had to Google it and was also surprised yours was about the only video I saw. Great look man I remember actually watching this on MTV as a kid and it twisted my little brain haha
How hasn't this channel blown up yet?
One day, we just gotta keep at it. It's people like yourself that make it worth it. Appreciate the encouragement.
The "Pasquale Mendoza" segment intro still plays in my mind at least once a year. Also, while I love Aeon Flux calling it serialized is very very generous.
Liquid Television was a goldmine of weird animations. They had content in all kinds of mediums, not just drawn animations. In hindsight, it was like a peyote trip.
Weird that this got recommended to me, but I'm glad it crossed my path, I hadn't thought of this show in ages.
thanks for posting this! great show.
This show has stuck in my head since I was an 8-year-old boy watching it in my bedroom at night I have tried to explain this show to other people who lived and were my friends at the time they don't remember it I am so happy right now that you are talking about this show and that it's not just some crazy memory that I had stuck in my brain thank you a million times over
Awesome video i never heard of the head. This video was very entertaining and well put together!
I remember! I loved it! And you gave tons of details. Thank you
Thank you for making this vid this show debuted when I was 12 years old, me and my friends loved it watched every episode...good job sir👏🏾👍🏾
Great video. Excellent music choices. You did an amazing job. I was pretty young when this aired, but I remember it fondly. It was a great appetizer for the eventual main course of The Maxx.
Aw, man. Saw this and memories flooded back. I remember strange amalgamation shows like Liquid Television on MTV, Eye Drops on G4TV and O'Canada on Cartoon Network. MTV Had a lot of really weird shows in the 90s and it was great.
Man great video, in two weeks I'll be 40 years old, I watched the head, and all of these MTV shows as a kid when they originally originally aired, I love them. You mentioned the maxx in your video, if you haven't watched it please do and please do a video, see that show changed me as a kid. It was the first thing I'd ever seen that had psychological twists in it, I thought about for many years growing up, thankfully the age of streaming came along and I recently went back and watched it after purchasing it from Amazon, it still holds up. Anyway keep up the good brother!
My man over here using the Contact ost. You got great taste in music man! Got me jonesing to make a new playthough now!
Awesome review man, great stuff and consistency for your videos. Never heard of this show before this video.
I used to wake up super early and watch this and other mtv cartoons before my parents woke up. This is a blast from the past
Thank you, we needed this
Yo! I had been trying to get my pal to watch Reboot around that review, and he had got me to watch this show around the same time. Weird and cool. Just like the shows you cover. Keep it up!
I had no idea this existed until this video so I thank you for researching it so well. I'm glad you cited Twin Peaks as an earlier example of mainstream serialisation. I would also like to mention Star Trek Deep Space Nine had a heavily serialised story but that wasn't until 1993. Still, I find the evolution in television from almost entirely episodic, to having continuous storylines becoming the standard writing model today. I guess it illustrates how the average audience is more able to pay attention to continued stories, especially now that "marathon streaming" has become a bad habit amongst so many people
This unlocked deep, deep memories I didn't even know I had.
I have been searching for a place to watch this show for years. I used to watch this as a kid all the time. The animation and some shows on mtv were insane but awesome back then.
I could hook you up
I just checked, and it appears that most of the episodes are on UA-cam in a playlist. That said, season 1 just has 7 seven-minute episodes so I'm not certain if it's complete, based on what he said in the video. I'm also too tired to watch it right now, but maybe tomorrow.
I was 14 when The Head premiered, and I had both seasons bootlegged on VHS. I also taped The Maxx and countless hours of Beavis and Butthead. I even remember The Brothers Grunt, which was unspeakably repulsive by comparison to any of them.
Been waiting years for someone to make a video about The Head. It was always a big favorite for me back in those days. Such a specific snapshot of a precise moment in my life, and the world. Thinking back on The Head really has a pretty small pinpoint focus on that one special moment in time. I’ve had the series on VHS for years. Total cherished stuff. Thanks for making this video.
I remember watching this when I was in high school and living in my grandmothers basement. I had forgotten about this show though. Of course I loved Beavis and Butt-head, and Celebrity Death Match. I also liked The Brothers Grunt.
The first thing I thought about when I saw the main character was how much it reminded me of a character in one of the episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force named Wayne "The Brain" McClain. I'm surprised it was not mentioned in the video.
Oh my goodness, I annoyed my friends asking them if they remembered the cartoon with the guy with the blade lodged in his head , the cartoon image has plagued me for decades , you have answered my question Bless + 1 subscriber.
Very Cool, I always love watching your cartoon reviews.
Thank you for helping me remember the good old days the nostalgia levels are going through the roof 📈👍
It took me a second to zero in on it but you are!
You are using Mystic Quest music!
I remember this show. It aired around the time I would watch Beavis and Butthead with my older brother, much to my parent's chagrin.
The episode when he finds out the mower/weed whacker company knew they had defective blades lives rent free in my head forever .. idk why but is hilarious
god I remember when Mars Reviews covered this very briefly before he disappeared off the internet.
Youve made me want to rewatch The Head. Its been quite awhile since ive seen, let alone remember, everything youve mentioned
The only thing I really remember from watching this show, was Roy sitting in the sharing circle while the lawnmower guy explained how he got the blade stuck in his head "Alright, we're going to pull out the blade ... after which you will immediately die" "NO WAIT!" "Sir, if you don't let us remove the blade, there's really nothing else we can do for you", or something like that. Also Roy totally not listening and just saying "I. Like. Beer?" as the alien in his head is trying to tell him what to say, heh.
I forgot about this! Thanks man.
I REMEMBER this show😮 you unlocked an old memory! 12 in 94, I feel like I grew up at the perfect time in the 90s.
I was just talking about this show. Watched it when it aired and have loved it since! The Maxx and Aeon Flux were also really awesome.
This was on late night in Canada on much music. MTV oddities. It had the Max and something else . Watched it as a pre teen lol was a trip and even better I I had a J . Havent thought of this show in 20yrs probably. Thanks 😅
These animated shows in the 90s were so fun because they were unintentionally unconventional. The “crude” animation made them so fun to watch.
Loved this show !! Great review !!
Yoooo. I wa a kid when this was on the air, I didn't watch MTV, but my older cousin watched was watching it when I was over and I vividly remember thinking "what IS this".
Core memory unlocked for sure
What I remember most about The Head, besides being hooked on it, was never knowing if the episode I was about to watch would be a new episode or a repeat of a previous episode. It was so frustrating, and yet it always made the new episodes more exciting to see.
As an old man now, I was an adult who loved this show. Thank you.
His house is like Hey Arnold, the fish tank mouth looked like Recess and Ahh real monsters. Influences everywhere.
Your channel is awesome man, keep doing what youre doing.
I am so glad to have grown up during this animation period. Truly the golden age of animated entertainment.
I am pretty sure that Aeon Flux was also an MTVs oddities.
I completely forgot this show other then the image of Roy jumping out of Jim's giant head, and some of the support group's designs.
I felt the same way about Dog boy. Underrated and Groundbreaking
Back when MTV was truly a channel I enjoyed watching with all the creativity and originality, I was fortunate enough to be a teen during those times.
Wow! Absolutely wow! I was born in 1989, so I was in between the ages of 5 and 7 when the show came out. And I remember back then watching this with both my much older brother and my father. Wow this took me back. Now the memories are not exactly very detailed because I was so young but I do have fragments of memories sitting with my father and my brother watching this.
Yep. I used to watch this as teen back in the 90s. This and The Maxx kicked ass.
Good job bud. Took 13 years but know you know what you need to be making. Proud
Watched this as a kid. Didn't really understand the show. Will have to watch it again. Good video.
I remember catching this on TV as a kid. I was like 6 or 7 at the time. For only seeing the end of one episode it for some reason got stuck in my head. Never hear anyone else talk about this.
Edit : I had no Idea Space Ghost Coast to Coast started that early. I could swear it came much later but you're right it was 1994.
Same here to both points!
@@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish. Yeah. I think it was also that I always saw ads for The Head in Comic Books. Also a dude with a big head and an alien is kind of memorable.
Also yeah I could have swore Space Ghost C2C came with Adult Swim which came in 2001. I guess I remember it on before Adult Swim in like 1998. Though we didn't get Cartoon Network at the house until much later but I remember my grandma had Cartoon Network and I loved watching it when I visited.
Oh man, I loved this show. My brother thought it was crap, but I don't think he ever actually sat down and watched an episode.
Wow! My Fuckin Man! Your literally the 1st person, not just on YT but on the net in gereral to even mention the name "The Head"! I hadn't thought about "The Head" in forever! I remember as a kid when "The Oddities" started on MTV, so much of it was completely over my little mind, & it looked completely different than anything else on TV id seen! I remember thinking this "Animation" looks horrible but fully understood some folks might of liked it... It just threw me off at first, but then day by day became one it's best features to me! Man I miss the 80 & 90s! I'm so thankful we have actual media from some of these past shows/movies too! Because obviously the "media landscape" was completely different, & there is/was so much amazing entertainment created in that era that we will only have in our memories because of the limitations of preserving/getting access to a lot of the media we are remembering/looking for!Very Well Done My Brother, Keep it up! 👏🏽🤘🏽🫡🫡🫡