Jackass (TV series)

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"Jackass" redirects here. For other uses, see Jackass (disambiguation).
Jackass

Jackass warning screen
Genre Comedy / Reality-TV
Running time 22–23 Minutes
Creator(s) Johnny Knoxville
Spike Jonze
Jeff Tremaine
Starring Johnny Knoxville
Bam Margera
Steve-O
Chris Pontius
Ryan Dunn
Brandon DiCamillo
Rake Yohn
Raab Himself
Ehren McGhehey
Dave England
Preston Lacy
Jason "Wee-Man" Acuña
Country of origin USA
Original channel MTV
Original run April 12, 2000–February 17, 2002
No. of episodes 25
IMDb profile

Jackass is an American television series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, ridiculous, and self-injuring stunts and pranks.

Contents

[edit] History

The show developed from Big Brother Magazine, a skateboarding-related humor magazine that Jeff Tremaine, Dave Carnie, Rick Kosick and Chris Pontius all worked for, and featured regular contributions from Johnny Knoxville and Dave England, amongst others. The genesis of Jackass dates back to 1999 when struggling-actor-turned-writer Johnny Knoxville birthed the idea to test different self defense devices on himself as the basis for an article. He pitched the idea to a couple of magazines and was turned down until meeting with Jeff Tremaine of Big Brother. Jeff hired him as journalist and convinced Johnny to videotape this idea and other stunts for stories. The footage, which involved Knoxville being tazered, maced, and ultimately shot while wearing a bulletproof vest, appeared in the second Big Brother skateboarding movie Number Two. Johnny quickly became a hit. Big Brother would go on road trips, which is believed to be where Johnny met Bam Margera and they became good friends.

[edit] Cast

Though the cast members were often classified as a troupe, in reality a lot of filming was done separately by different groups. The main groups were the Los Angeles faction of Knoxville, Pontius, Steve-O, Preston Lacy and Wee Man and the CKY crew from West Chester, PA including Margera, DiCamillo, Rake, Dunn and Raab Himself. England and McGhehey also operated autonomously, filming in Oregon.

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Other cast and crew

[edit] Celebrity appearances

  • Tony Hawk - famous skateboarder
  • Mat Hoffman - famous BMX Rider
  • Brad Pitt - participated in the "Abduction" and "Night Monkey 2" skits
  • Shaquille O'Neal - participated in one skit, in which he dry-humped Wee Man and Steve-O during the filming of a music video
  • CKY - Drummer Jess Margera appears in several episodes. Jess and Deron Miller (CKY lead singer/guitarist) wake Phil up in the "heavy metal alarm clock" segment.
  • Fatlip - slid down an escalator

[edit] Controversy

Since the first episode, Jackass frequently featured warnings and disclaimers noting that the stunts performed were dangerous and should not be imitated, and that recordings of any stunts would not be aired on MTV. Such warnings not only appeared before and after each program, but also in a "crawl" ran along some especially risky stunts. Nevertheless, the program has been blamed for a number of deaths and injuries involving teens and children imitating the stunts. In the fall of 2000, Senator and then-Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut began a campaign to have MTV pull the show off the air. MTV responded to the criticism by cancelling all airings of Jackass before 10:00 PM, but Lieberman's continual campaign against the show led to MTV refusing to air repeats of the later episodes, a move which angered the cast and production crew of the series who were furious with MTV's "caving into Lieberman's demands".

Some have argued that Lieberman's attack on the show, which occurred at the height of the 2000 Presidential Election Campaign, helped alienate some young Democratic Party members, who responded to Lieberman's "campaign of harassment" towards the show by refusing to support Lieberman and running mate Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential Election out of spite.[citation needed]

Jack Ass is the legal name of Bob Craft, who sued MTV claiming the series was plagiarizing his name. He's seeking $10 million in damages. Jack Ass changed his name in 1997 to raise awareness for drunk driving, after his brother and friend were killed in a vehicle accident.[2]

[edit] Ending and farewell

In a 2001 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Johnny Knoxville announced that the show would end after its third season aired so as to allow the show to end on a high note. He also stated discontent at MTV and the censors, who, with the start of season two, began to hound the show's producers with notes towards what the show could and could not do. When the third season ended in 2002, MTV (who owns the rights to the name "Jackass"), contemplated keeping the show going with a new cast of characters (even running a teaser for the show's return during the 2002 VMA Awards Show) before opting to let the show die. Because of problems with MTV's standards and practices department as well as the sudden departure of Bam Margera and his group halfway through season three, the Jackass crew did not attempt to create a finale to bring the show to a close.

MTV recently released the Jackass DVD box set including seasons 1-3 and five hours of outtakes and extra stunts. Despite the Parental Advisory label, the graphic language and nudity still remains censored.

[edit] Jackass: The Movie

Main article: Jackass: The Movie

After the show went off the air, the cast reunited in 2002 to film a full-length motion picture version of the show entitled Jackass: The Movie. The cast made it clear that the film was their "farewell" to the fans of the show and the movie format allowed the cast to circumvent the censors. Interestingly, MTV Films assisted in the movie's distribution.

The movie, filmed on a budget of just $5 million, went on to gross over $60 million in the United States alone, and finished in the number 1 spot at the box office during its debut weekend.

[edit] Jackass: Number Two

Main article: Jackass: Number Two

Jackass: Number Two was released on September 22, 2006, produced by Paramount Pictures and distributed by both Paramount and MTV Films.

The bulk of the original cast returned for the sequel. The trailer can be seen at the Jackass movie website. Footage for several stunts featured Bam Margera's uncle Vincent "Don Vito" Margera, but the footage was removed from the theatrical release due to his arrest in August 2006 and the nature of the charges.

As was the case with its predecessor, Jackass: Number Two topped the box office in its debut weekend, earning $29.01 million.

[edit] Jackass: The Game

Jackass: The Game is being developed under license by Sidhe Interactive in Wellington, New Zealand. At this stage there are few details, even the platform or platforms for the game have not been disclosed. The game has been in development for some time and was shown at E3 earlier this year [3].

[edit] Side projects

Johnny Knoxville has pursued a career as an actor, appearing in such films as the 2004 remake of Walking Tall, The Dukes of Hazzard, Men in Black II, The Ringer, A Dirty Shame and Big Trouble.

Bam Margera and the CKY crew were given their own spin-off show Viva La Bam, which follows Margera and his family, who are often made the victim of the clique's practical jokes. Bam and the crew also have Radio Bam on Sirius radio. Ryan Dunn, who is part of Bam's crew on Viva La Bam, was given his own show Homewrecker, in which he finds revenge for helpless victims of practical jokes by renovating the prankster's room according to the original incident.

Chris Pontius and Steve-O were also given their own spin-off show Wildboyz. Unlike Jackass and Viva La Bam, Wildboyz rejected the formula of practical jokes and instead features the two traveling the world in search of wild and exotic animals and has featured frequent guest appearances by Johnny Knoxville, Manny Puig, and Jason "Wee Man" Acuña.

[edit] Possible return

On September 7, 2006, MTV featured a half hour documentary on the making of Jackass: Number Two. As the piece concludes, Johnny Knoxville starts to become "depressed" because he is "so hooked on doing stunts." Additionally, the other cast members talk of how Johnny was putting so much on the line for this movie.

After the last day of filming, the documentary goes two weeks ahead where Johnny tells the camera that Jeff Tremaine has agreed to let the Jackass crew film some newer material in November (presumably of 2006). Also, as Knoxville is driving away in his car, he is heard exclaiming, "The show ain't over yet buddy!" which fans speculate could be hinting at the long-awaited return of Jackass to MTV.

It has been confirmed that a third Jackass film has been ordered by Paramount, as well as a direct to DVD project, called Jackass Number Two.5, made up of the deleted footage from Jackass Number Two, as well as additional material shot in November 2006.

[edit] Similar groups

Various groups have created shows based on or similar to Jackass. These include;

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

Jackass
Main Cast
Johnny Knoxville | Bam Margera | Steve-O | Chris Pontius | Ryan Dunn | Jason "Wee Man" Acuña | Preston Lacy | Dave England | Ehren McGhehey
Supporting Cast
Brandon DiCamillo | Theodore "Rake Yohn" Webb | Chris "Raab Himself" Raab | Phil Margera | April Margera | Jess Margera | Don Vito | Manny Puig
Crew
Jeff Tremaine | Spike Jonze | Dimitry Elyashkevich | Rick Kosick | Lance Bangs
Television shows
Jackass | Wildboyz | Viva La Bam | Homewrecker
Films
Jackass: The Movie (stunts) | Jackass Number Two (stunts)
Miscellaneous
Big Brother | Corona | CKY Crew | CKY Videos | Gnarkill | Radio Bam | Haggard: The Movie
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