| Herman's Head | |
|---|---|
Herman's Head title card |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Andy Guerdat Steve Kreinberg |
| Starring | William Ragsdale Hank Azaria Jane Sibbett Yeardley Smith Molly Hagan Ken Hudson Campbell Rick Lawless Peter MacKenzie Jason Bernard |
| Theme music composer | Nick South Tom Strahle |
| Composer(s) | Rich Eames George Englund, Jr. |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 72 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Babcock Paul Junger Witt David Landsberg Tony Thomas |
| Producer(s) | Karl Fink Bill Freiberger Joel Madison |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Touchstone Television Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | September 8, 1991 – April 21, 1994 |
Herman's Head is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from 1991 to 1994. The series stars William Ragsdale as the titular character, Herman Brooks.
Contents |
Research assistant Herman Brooks works in the fact-checking department of a major magazine publisher, Waterton Publishing. His decisions and actions are dramatized with a "Greek chorus"-style dramatization of his thought processes.
The four characters acting out Herman's emotions each represented a different aspect of his personality, or psyche. As they were intended to be one-dimensional, they often were lacking in other areas of their character, which led to frequent squabbles. The characters would act in unison when Herman's body is affected, such as having to sneeze, or crying out in pain after being punched in the stomach. They might also team up and form factions. The concept of inner conflict within a person is a common psychological concept; it is explored in Sigmund Freud's concepts of Ego, Superego and Id, and Eric Berne's transactional analysis.
Herman's "head" characters exist in a large attic room filled with toys, a lit Christmas tree, a rose-covered bower, theater seats, neon signs, pennants and memorabilia from Ohio State University, old furniture, and numerous file cabinets (with labels like "Memories", "Fantasies" and "Sexual Past"). They watch "films" of past events and enact possible scenarios for what might happen in Herman's various life situations, occasionally venturing into Hammer Films horror movie territory or (in the case of Animal) pornographic film.
Much of the show's action is situated at the Waterton research department, where professional and personal situations alike seem to cross Herman's path on a daily basis. Herman also has a studio apartment located downtown, which, in a first season episode, is indicated as being a somewhat lengthy subway ride from the Waterton offices.
Dave Madden provided voiceover narration of the show's concept during the first season's opening title sequence.
The show suffered from poor ratings and was canceled after three seasons.
In the final episode of the series, Herman is hit by a car and spends the episode lying in a hospital room near death. His co-workers speak of remembering Herman as they first met him, and we see each of the selves filling in for the emotion the friend first saw Herman displaying. Meanwhile, William Ragsdale appears as a head character, Herman's "Spirit". He announces his determination to keep the group alive, declaring "I'll be all that's left after Herman Brooks is gone." Animal immediately moans, "Oh my God, you're our student loan!"
Both Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith are cast members of The Simpsons, which debuted on Fox two seasons earlier. One episode had Yeardley Smith's character, Louise, after hanging up the telephone, asked her colleague across the room, "Herman, I don't sound like that Lisa Simpson, do I?" The Simpsons also referenced Herman's Head when Lisa (voiced by Smith) is asked what she is laughing at in the episode "Duffless"; she replies that she has just remembered "A joke I saw on Herman's Head". In an episode years later, when Marge Simpson asks him to sign a petition, Comic Book Guy (voiced by Azaria) explains that he only signs petitions to bring back television shows, exclaiming "America needs the wisdom of Herman's Head now more than ever." Further, Lisa is revealed to have a Herman's Head-like Chorus of her own, seen when she's processing feelings of jealousy over Marge's publishing a novel. When asked about Herman's Head on a Simpsons commentary, Azaria said people were discussing shows that actors would rather forget, stating that he "always had that. I didn't love Herman's Head, really." [1]
During the November 17, 1991 broadcast of Herman's Head, the very first commercial advertisement for condoms aired in the United States. This landmark occurrence, along with the involvement of the series, was later developed as a question over a decade later on the Meredith Vieira-hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
The show was also shown on Channel 4 in the UK between 1993 and 1994, on channel STS in Russia between 1996 and 1997, ICTV in Ukraine, and M-Net in South Africa.