The Idiot Box

this show remains my favorite to date. from "the huggins family" to "eddie the flying gimp", this show was filled with high-tailed hilarities and non-stop laughter that'd leave you in stitches. not for the faint of heart. i have all the episodes on tape and i still puke every time i see sinead o. get punched square in the face by a one crazy and crass alex winter. any fans out there? give me a holler.....

Back when MTV was stupid, yet still not compeletly moronic this show was on for a while. It was just a bunch of wacky characters put together on television. Alex Winter plays a variety of crazy characters including Eddie the Flying Gimp (who doesn't speak a word if I remember correctly), Willard Shrek ( a guy who works for hours at a convience store and gives a show to a security camera, fueled on caffine pills and beef sticks), the burrowing bishop, and one with a aged comedian named Wisey Wisenstein who is partnered up with Sinead O'Conner. Another character was Lockjaw, a cop who stepped on a rusty nail and now has lockjaw and can only yell at people.

He would make fun of family shows by having them viciously fight each other then have the wacky neigbor come in the middle and cry out in pain. "Who took my beloved vira and stuffed her in the trash?" THe dad just raises his hand as if he were guilty of going 30 in a 25. The old man looks as if he's about to break down and attack the father then breaks out in laughter and hugs. "She was old and baggy anyway." Of course this show as called 'The Huggins Family'.

I haven't seen this show in 15 years, and yet there is no way I could ever forget it. Alex Winter's Mtv comedy show was original, edgy, crass, and hilarious. The ideas and sketches pushed the envelope long before South Park and its clones. Every time I see a rusty nail, I think of my favorite sketch "Lockjaw". Lockjaw's problems with alcohol (he literally couldn't drink due to his tetanus-related disability) are as funny and fresh today as they were when I first saw them as a preteen babysitter. For God's sake, The Idiot Box should be out on DVD. Why continue to release more crusty, overplayed, unfunny reruns (i.e., Friends) or shows with no replay value (i.e., Newlyweds)? Hey Mtv - I want my Idiot Box!

Somehow, this show made it on the air for about six episodes. Written and directed by Alex Winter/ Tom Stern, this show was wild, subversive humor at its best. Featuring the MTV contest, "Win a chance to sacrifice your daughter to GWAR!", that ought to be an indication as to the type of humor on the show. Also, this was back when shows on MTV HAD to be music orientated (anyone else remember this?), so the show was played around the popular music videos of the day. This led to the running gag of many of the characters saying to Alex, "Just play the damn videos!" Hopefully this show will see the light of day on DVD, I know there is a petition for those of you who care...

So, let's all take a moment of silence and fondly remember Eddie the Flying Gimp, Lockjaw, Willard Schrek, the Burrowing Bishop, and that new show "Who's a Total Idiot?" starring Tony Danza!

This show was hella funny before hella was even a word. I would stay up late Saturday nights just to watch this funny MTV comedy. It seems as though all the good MTV shows are taken off too soon. Alex Winter, where is that guy? He was great!