Buzzkill

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Buzzkill was a hidden camera reality show created in 1995 for the MTV network. The show derived its name from the slang term "Buzzkill", meaning a sudden undesired event that causes one's "high" or "buzz" to become of a lesser experience or depleted.

Contents 1 Premise 2 Cast and Crew 3 Episode Guide 4 External links

[edit] Premise

A forerunner to prank reality shows, Buzzkill was essentially a series of elaborate pranks (backed by a major television network's budget) played not only on the layman but often on celebrities and major public figures. Each prank was played by three aspiring actors from the Chicago area: Dave Sheridan (creator), Frank Hudetz, and Travis Draft.

The show's most memorable moment was when Hudetz disguised himself as famous designer Isaac Mizrahi. The likeness was so uncanny that he fooled superstar Whitney Houston at an awards show; when Houston discovered the error, she felt she was made a fool of and vowed never to appear on MTV again.

After ?? episodes, the show was cancelled due to litigation concerns at MTV. Ironically, because of Buzzkill more outrageous reality shows would be developed for MTV, including The Tom Green Show, Jackass, and Punk'd.

[edit] Cast and Crew

Directed by: Jason Sands Writing credits (in alphabetical order) Travis Draft writer Dave Sheridan creator Cast (in credits order) Dave Sheridan .... Various Travis Draft .... Various Frank Hudetz .... Various rest of cast listed alphabetically: Vince D'Orazi .... Skull Crusher Produced by Paul Cockerill .... producer Greg Johnston .... producer Lesley Wolff .... segment producer Cinematography by Steve Priola Film Editing by Ted Levy Tom Olsen Sean Travis Production Management Terry Clark .... production manager Jodi Lynn Weiss .... post-production supervisor Camera and Electrical Department Glenn Fisk .... hidden camera engineer Other crew Tom Asakawa .... assistant editor Carrie Broder .... production assistant Vince D'Orazi .... production assistant Daniel Esparza .... assistant editor Adrienne Salisbury assistant editor Robin Samuels .... story editor Brian Szot .... post-production assistant Michael Warwick .... researcher

[edit] Episode Guide

1. Pilot: Panama City Beach, FL. First aired: 5/1/1996 BUZZKILL #1 - "Commercial Auditions" - BUZZKILL #2 - "The Free Shuttle" - they set up a fake shuttle business over Spring Break, with 2 of them dressed rattily acting like the proprietors and the other as a plant in the van who said he was getting a ride from their business. They picked up a bunch of college kids and said they'd shuttle them about 5 miles down the road for a cheap price. 2 hours later they were still driving, "lost" in the area. Eventually they had to stop and get gas, and the one who went inside ran back into the van with panty hose over his head and yelled "Dude, GO!!" They peeled out of the station as the kids in the back looked totally horrified. BUZZKILL #3 - "Fame or Shame Revenge" -

2. Miami, FL. First aired: 6/18/1996 Production Code: 2 BUZZKILL #1 - "Safety Guys" - In this Buzzkill, they give a streetside safety seminar to the tourists who walk by. They give the tourists different "technologies" for keeping themselves safe, such as swinging your purse around to prevent purse theft, and how to defend yourself against an attack by a man wearing an alligator suit. In the second half, they become guardian angels for two guys and they follow them around Miami Beach, until the two guys say enough is enough and command them to leave. BUZZKILL #2 - "Paparazzi (Mistaken Identity)" - They play paparazzi guys for the evening. They go down to the clubs, hang out on the sidewalks, and mistake everyday people for celebrities. The mistaken celebrities include Jackie Chan, Susanne Summers, Bonjovi, and Ice from American Gladiators. The three young punks see if these people pretend to be famous, and to top it off, Travis goes around asking for autographs. Dave and Travis get one guy to pretend to be Milli Vanilli and they interview him about the future of the group. BUZZKILL #3 - "The Fashion Show" - It just so happens that Frank bears an uncanny resemblance to designer Issac Mizrahi. Travis and Dave pose as student designers working under Issac. As Frank walks the town, Dave and Travis get people off the beach to be models in their fashion show, Apocalypse Wow!. They dress the models in everything from putting greens to laser tag vests. In a Buzzkill fashion show, even garment bags and toy cowboy hats can be passed off as designer originals.

3. New Orleans, LA. First aired: 6/25/1996 Production Code: 3 BUZZKILL #1 - "The Taste Test" - The three guys give a street-side New Orleans cuisine taste test to the people walking by, but they don't use any normal foods. They make gumbolaya out of spam and cat food, and creole cola out of vinegar and salt. To top it off they add Dave's Insanity Hot Sauce to all the samples to make everything painfully mouth scorching hot. In addition, they feed a man a beetle and tell another guy that the food he just ate had cat urine in it. BUZZKILL #2 - "Voodoo" - The punks give a voodoo show in the middle of Jackson Square, home to street performers, musicians, and other freaks. Frank and Dave play a voodoo priest and caller, respectively, while Travis pretends to be a volunteer picked from the crowd. Travis' soul supposedly enters Dave's voodoo doll. Through an ear piece, Travis can hear everything Dave tells the other voluteers from the crowd to do with the voodoo doll. After making Travis spin around and then "burning" his feet with a lighter, things go terribly wrong. Dave sticks a pin through the doll and Travis dies with fake blood on his shirt. Frank and Dave shake the spot. BUZZKILL #3 - "The Streak" - The Buzzkillers pretend to be members of a coalition who want to legalize streaking. They set up outside the New Orleans Jazz Festival where there is an abundance of hippies and love children. They get a whole group of supporters to wear their pro-streaking shirts. At the end of the day, they run down the street naked with their supporters running at their sides like the secret police escorting the president.

4. Atlanta, GA. First aired: 7/2/1996 Production Code: 4 BUZZKILL #1 - "Diplomat's Son" - Frank dresses as Prince Fahtuu, an Ambassador's son visiting Atlanta for the Summer Games. Dave and Travis pose as his bodyguards. They visit a clothing store, a fastfood place, a restaurant, and an adult sexual fettish shop. The Prince also teaches the Americans he meets his own customs of switching hats for his personal photographs, and putting ketchup on your finger and licking it off during lunch. BUZZKILL #2 - "Scare Crowes" - The troublemakers go to Music Midtown, a three day concert on seven stages. They pretend to be the Scare Crowes, the unofficial Black Crows fan club. Frank dresses up in a crow suit, and their goal is to crowd surf him on to the stage while the Black Crows are performing. They spend the whole day getting everyone excited about the Crow. They try to sneak back stage but they the security guards know about their plan so they can't. That night, while the Black Crows are performing, they get the Crow crowd surfing, but right before he gets to the stage, he is dropped. BUZZKILL #3 - "Torch Watch" - The guys become the official Advance Torch Committee. Frank hands out American flags to people on the sidewalk so they can wave them as Dave runs by, carrying the official "Test Torch." They also have other people run with the torch and tell them to meet another runner who isn't there, the torch goes out and Dave gets a lady on the street to relight it, and as Dave is running down the street, he trips on a cone and hurts himself and a man from the crowd comes out to help him run.

5. New York, NY. First aired: 7/9/1996 Production Code: 5 BUZZKILL #1 - "Lunch With Dave" - The three guys pretend to be filming a sketch for the Late Show entitled Things not to do in a Restaurant." Dave poses as David Letterman's stand in for the sketch. Frank goes to the Ed Sullivan Theater and recrutes people to be in the sketch. The people have lunch with Dave in an outdoor restaurant. As Dave reads the things not do in a restaurant, the people recruted act them out. He has people pour ice down their shirt, eat butter, and even put ketchup on their hands and yell, "Hey, I'm O.J." BUZZKILL #2 - "Butt Art" - Dave and Travis enter the "Art Around the Park" art show as Butt Artists. They put plastic pants on people, paint things on to their butts representing where they are from and what they do, and then have the people press their butts on to a canvas, leaving the image. They make a painting called Butts Across America with peoples butt prints in the area where they're from. Frank poses as a critic at the show. He brings people over to look at Butts Across America and makes comments as they paint their master piece BUZZKILL #3 - "Unabomber: The Musical" - The buzzkillers put out a casting call in a newspaper for their play, "Manifesto: Unabomber the Musical." Dave and Travis pretend to be the director and the musical director. Frank poses as an over pretentious actor trying to get the part. About half a dozen other people show up for the audition. The actors are dressed in hooded sweatshirts, sunglasses, and fake mustaches and are forced to sing ridiculous songs about the life and crimes of the Unabomber.

6. Hollywood, CA. First aired: 7/16/1996 Production Code: 6 BUZZKILL #1 - "Singled Out" - The boys enter the show "Singled Out" and try to get dates. Frank and Dave pose as Rex Braxton, "Chick Magnet," and Doug Thompson, "Self Proclaimed Stud," respectively. Travis just dresses normal because he's filming everything with the glasses cam. Frank doesn't get on the show because he left his ID at the racquetball club, but Dave and Travis make it on. Unfortunately, the girl gets rid of all the guys who are samurais in the bedroom and Dave is shot down. But he is willing to turn the other cheek, and he moons her with a pair of underwear the reads, "Your Loss Babe." BUZZKILL #2 - "MTV Birthday Surprise" - Next the three guys crash the MTV Beach House's fourth birthday. They rig up a cake with a 150 p.s.i. air tank under it to blow the cake sky high. Frank and Dave act as employees of the Acme Cake Company. Travis pretends to one of the extras at the Beach House having fun at the party. At the exact moment the Beach House turns four years old, Dave hits the switch and blows the cake. They then dawn their Buzzkill ski masks and start throwing cake everywhere and throwing people into the pool. BUZZKILL #3 - "Casting Call" - For the first time on Buzzkill, the guys don't pretend to be anyone. They give out a casting call for the fourth Buzzkill member, with no intention of actually hiring them, of course. They do test Buzzkills with the applicants. They dress a girl in a banana suit and drive down to the Chinese Mann Theater. She then puts vegetable soup in her mouth, creates a big scene, and then throws up. Then they have a guy put on boots and a pair of leopard speedos. They have a camera in his crotch and his goal is to get people to do a close up. But as he is trying to raise change to buy a pair of pants, they bail on him and leave him in front of the Chinese Theater in his speedos.

7. Best of Buzzkill First aired: 9/17/1996 Production Code: 7 The Best Buzzkill's: MTV's Fame or Shame Atlanta Torch Run VooDoo in New Orleans BUZZKILL #1 - "Fame or Shame Revenge" - BUZZKILL #2 - "Torch Watch" - The guys become the official Advance Torch Committee. Frank hands out American flags to people on the sidewalk so they can wave them as Dave runs by, carrying the official "Test Torch." They also have other people run with the torch and tell them to meet another runner who isn't there, the torch goes out and Dave gets a lady on the street to relight it, and as Dave is running down the street, he trips on a cone and hurts himself and a man from the crowd comes out to help him run. BUZZKILL #3 - "Voodoo" - The punks give a voodoo show in the middle of Jackson Square, home to street performers, musicians, and other freaks. Frank and Dave play a voodoo priest and caller, respectively, while Travis pretends to be a volunteer picked from the crowd. Travis' soul supposedly enters Dave's voodoo doll. Through an ear piece, Travis can hear everything Dave tells the other voluteers from the crowd to do with the voodoo doll. After making Travis spin around and then "burning" his feet with a lighter, things go terribly wrong. Dave sticks a pin through the doll and Travis dies with fake blood on his shirt. Frank and Dave shake the spot.

8. Portland, OR. First aired: Sept 17, 1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Franks Among the Missing" – BUZZKILL #2 - "You gotta have heart” – BUZZKILL #3 - "Yellow Bike Spokesperson” –

9. Detroit, MI. First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Smash My Car" – At the old Tiger Stadium BUZZKILL #2 - "Synchronized Bowling " – At a bowling alley in Hazel Park. BUZZKILL #3 - "Singing Telegram Pizza" – delivery guy at a funeral home in Clinton Township.

10. Colorado First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 – “Mafia Skiers” BUZZKILL #2 - “Wrestling 101” BUZZKILL #3 – “Scavenger Hunt”

11. Kansas City, KS First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 – “Fashion Cop” BUZZKILL #2 - “ZZZZZZ…..” BUZZKILL #3 - “Free Pizza???”

12. Minneapolis, MI. First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Sweepstakes Squad” – BUZZKILL #2 - "Fragrance Fiasco” – BUZZKILL #3 - "Ball Hogs” –

13. Sturgis, SD First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Moped Boy” – BUZZKILL #2 - "Sooper Dooper Customer Service” – the BuzzKill crew went to some grocery store meeting people in the parking lot and singing to them as they helped them shop. BUZZKILL #3 - "A Detective Story” –

14. Kurt Posin Trilogy First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Bigfoot, Biggerfoot” – BUZZKILL #2 - "Psychic in Training” – BUZZKILL #3 - "Alien Spew Trackers” –

15. Washington, D.C. First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Operation Dirty Laundry” – BUZZKILL #2 - "The Russkie Express” – BUZZKILL #3 - "Dirty Doings in D.C.” –

16. Fan Buzzkillz First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Recording Studio Mayhem” – BUZZKILL #2 - "Techer of the Year” – BUZZKILL #3 - "All Choked Up” –

17. Nashville, TN First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 – “Supermodel Surprise” BUZZKILL #2 – “Wax Dummy” BUZZKILL #3 – A Star is Born

18. Valentines Day Buzzkill First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 – Blind Date BUZZKILL #2 - BUZZKILL #3 -

19. Favorites First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ??? BUZZKILL #1 - "Synchronized Bowling” – from Detroit, MI episode BUZZKILL #2 - "The Russkie Express” – from Washington DC episode BUZZKILL #3 - "Supermodel Surprise” – from Nashville, TN episode

20. Portrait of a Serial Character First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ???

21. The Buzzie Awards First aired: ????/1996 Production Code: ???

[edit] External links

• Buzzkill Digital Archive Project
• Buzzkill at the Internet Movie Database
• Jump The Shark - Buzzkill