Just Say Julie
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Just Say Julie was a combination comedy/music video show starring and created by comedian and singer Julie Brown. It aired from 1989 to 1992. Though Brown was considered an MTV VJ, her only function in playing videos came through her show. The show was extremely popular because it went against MTV's image of playing patsy to popular artists of questionable talent. Brown, as a satirical valley-girl version of herself, would often introduce or speak after a video with negative, scathing comments about the artist. Teen stars like Tiffany and Debbie Gibson were frequently mocked. Another notable example: after playing a Sheena Easton video, Brown quipped that "maybe we should all sleep with Prince so he'll write songs for us." Easton was reputedly outraged, although she would appear as herself in one episode of the series. In another episode Julie provides a running commentary as Tawny Kitaen while the Whitesnake video Kitaen appeared in, 'Here I Go Again', plays, with comments such as "Here's my boyfriend David Coverdale... He's the reason I model in a video, because I'm sleeping with him." and "Look, I'm sticking my toungue in his ear! That's always important to do in a video because then they ask you back to do more videos." A popular target was Madonna; Brown insinuated that the young boy in her Cherish video was the love child of Madonna and a dolphin. In the episode "How to Date" Julie says "Don't underestimate the value of parking in cars. Look what it did for Madonna!", and in "The Nuclear Show": "There's more to life than watching MTV, shoplifting and having meaningless sex with people you don't know or care about. Right, Madonna?" Brown would go on to do a scathing mockumentary of Madonna called Medusa: Dare to be Truthful.
Most episodes would also feature a "plot" that was used to string together the videos. In one episode, Julie sells her soul to the devil. In another, a blonde supermodel thinks too hard and accidentally blows her brain out of her ear and onto the floor. In the episode "Just Say Bon Jovi" Julie claims to be Jon Bon Jovi's girlfriend, and plays only Bon Jovi videos. At the end of the show Jon Bon Jovi appears via video to thank Julie for her support, although he initially confuses her with Downtown Julie Brown. During the run she hosted two editions of "Julie's Choice For The Julie's" a parody of the Emmy's complete with a song and dance from Brown.
Another recurring gag was that each episode would include a product ostensibly endorsed by a popular celebrity, but which was inherently flawed. For instance Julie enjoyed a new breakfast cereal called "Prince Puffs", but found a fly inside the box; when the fly was exposed to Julie's "Sheenapoo" (Sheena Easton shampoo) it became a mutant.
At times Brown was 'jealous' of having her show on the same network that featured another person with the same name, "Downtown Julie Brown", host of Club MTV, whom she would refer to as the "Evil Julie Brown". That 'rivalry' would result in an episode in which the two would meet face to face.
Many celebrities found their way to Julie's condo including "Weird Al" Yankovic (in the pilot), Michael McKean, Gene Simmons, Linda Blair, Kip Winger, MTV VJ Martha Quinn, and Elvira.
The show served to make way for the persona Brown became known for: an egocentric, over-the-top, kooky valley girl with an attitude. She would take this character into her film Earth Girls Are Easy, which could be said to be Brown's crowning achievement in mocking the valley girl persona.
Toward the end of the series run she adopted the "Eco-Gal" persona and along with "Recycle Man" they drove around looking for wrongdoers (like spotting Stevie Nicks twirling around in her driveway and throwing her mail all over the ground).
In 2006 Brown bought the rights to the show and released a DVD called "The Very Best of Just Say Julie Volume 1". The DVD is available exclusively through her website and was released by "Just Say Julie Productions".
