| The Edge | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Variety Comedy |
| Created by | David Mirkin |
| Written by | Julie Brown Jasper Cole Charlie Coffey Ken Keeler David Mirkin Charlie Kaufman Nancy Neufeld Callaway Steve Tompkins and others |
| Directed by | Peter Baldwin Steve Klayman David Mirkin Rob Schiller |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Edd Hall |
| Theme music composer | Christopher Tyng (pilot) Stephen Graziano (episodes 2–12, 18) Boris Blank Dieter Meier (original songwriters, episodes 2–12, 18) Steve Hampton (episodes 13–17) |
| Opening theme | "Si Señor the Hairy Grill" performed by Stephen Graziano (episodes 2–12, 18) |
| Composers | Stephen Graziano B.C. Smith Christopher Tyng |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | David Mirkin |
| Producers | Julie Brown Charlie Singer |
| Running time | 30 mins. |
| Production companies | Mirkinvision TriStar Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19) – May 2, 1993 (1993-05-02) |
The Edge is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Mirkin that aired on the Fox Network for a single season from September 19, 1992, to May 2, 1993.
Synopsis
The series features an ensemble cast headed by comedian Julie Brown. The other cast members were Jennifer Aniston, Tom Kenny, Wayne Knight, Carol Rosenthal, James Stephens III, and Jill Talley. Other regulars of the series included Rick Overton, Paul Feig, and Alan Ruck.
The show features sketches that revolve around original characters, such as a gun-toting All-American family and a cowboy known as Cracklin' Crotch. The series would also skewer pop culture. One notable episode spoofed TV sweeps by promising ratings-grabbing events such as a birth, a wedding, and a death.
Similar to other sketch comedy shows, such as The Ben Stiller Show, which premiered at the same time, the show adopted a format in which every episode would feature at least one multi-part sketch that would be divided into different segments that would play over the course of a single episode. For example, one episode featured interviews with the four swimsuit models of "Illustrated Sports" in which each interview segment would play at different points in the episode. Another episode featured a parody of Rescue 911 that showed the fictitious history and origins of 911 in a series of segments that were shown throughout the episode.
The series also features a running gag in which the entire cast would get killed off in various ways in each episode before the first sketch. One episode featured the cast getting hit by a bus; another had the set falling apart and crushing them; others involved explosions, decapitations, immolation, hangings, and impalement by arrows; one episode had the troupe being sucked into a vortex. In addition to sketches, Bill Plympton cartoons were used as bumpers between the sketches.
Guest appearances were made on the Illustrated Sports parody by Kim Walker and Shari Shattuck.
Cast
Main
- Julie Brown
- Jennifer Aniston
- Tom Kenny
- Wayne Knight
- Carol Rosenthal
- James Stephens III
- Jill Talley
Supporting
Special Guest Stars
Recurring Segments and Characters
| Segment | Actor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| What (_____) is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE | Edd Hall & various cast members | A sequence where Edd Hall, in voiceover, described what a celebrity, historical figure, politician, character from pop-culture (such as Mister Ed, Oscar the Grouch, ALF or Flipper), inanimate object or fictional person with an odd quirk was doing "RIGHT THIS MINUTE" (for example, "What a man with a nervous twitch who likes to attend auctions is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE"). This would usually segue into the next sketch. |
| People Not Connected 2 Reality | Edd Hall & various cast members | Similar to What (____) is doing RIGHT THIS MINUTE, these segments would show characters acting delusional about their situation. |
| Armed Family | Wayne Knight, Carol Rosenthal, Jennifer Aniston & Tom Kenny | The members of a seemingly typical suburban nuclear family are actually all trigger-happy handgun carriers who are constantly firing their guns brazenly and recklessly at anyone they come into contact with, including each other. |
| Barb Douglas from Minnesota | Julie Brown | A middle-aged housewife from Minnesota with a wholesome Minnesota Nice personality who would always clash with the raunchy and risqué situations she found herself in such as working at a phone sex line or at an escort service. |
| Charmaine and Feather, the Hair Salon Beauticians | Julie Brown & Carol Rosenthal | Two beauticians, who speak with stereotypical New York accents, are shown getting into wacky predicaments with their customers such as accidentally leaving solution on a customer's scalp for a prolonged period of time resulting in her death. Feather, would often attempt to tell an off-putting story or provide an elaborate description with unsavory details and would get interrupted by Charmaine saying the catchphrase, "Feather, don't take me there!" |
| Shasta and Carla, the Guns N' Roses Groupies | Julie Brown & Jennifer Aniston | Two dimwitted groupies of the band Guns N' Roses are frequently spurned by the band and are looking for ways to win their approval such as writing a song for them or by shipping themselves to Japan inside luggage in order to join them on their tour. |
| Talk Chat | Tom Kenny & Julie Brown | A talk show host interviews celebrities Madonna and Demi Moore, both played by Brown, who skewers their personalities in an over-the-top fashion. |
| ¡Viva Glamor! | Julie Brown | A Latin-themed talk show hosted by the flamboyant, libidinous and highly excitable Carmen. |
| Grendela the Troll | Julie Brown | A troll, with an appearance inspired by the troll dolls, is depicted in a series of absurd situations, such as dating a human boy and being pitted against two home invaders à la Home Alone. |
| Andy the Exterminator | Wayne Knight | An exterminator engages in hi-jinks while making house calls to various customers. |
| Woody Allen & Mia Farrow | Tom Kenny & Jill Talley | The marriage between Allen and Farrow in light of Allen's relationship with his stepdaughter Soon-Yi Previn is parodied in two sketches, one of which is a parody of the film Misery. |
Production
The show was created by David Mirkin and Julie Brown; the two were in a relationship at the time. It was developed for NBC following the failure of the pilot The Julie Show. NBC passed on the show, but it was picked up by Fox. The Edge was canceled at the end of the 1992–93 U.S. television season by Fox.
Music was provided by Steve Hampton (theme song composer), Stephen Graziano, B.C. Smith, and Christopher Tyng among others. Edd Hall provided the show's voiceovers.
Controversy
Producer Aaron Spelling threatened to sue the show over its lampoons of his TV show Beverly Hills 90210. He objected to its "completely tasteless" humor, which included an impersonation of his daughter, an actress on the show, Tori Spelling exclaiming "I can do that because it's Daddy's show." The show's production company TriStar Television refused to apologise, while Mirkin responded: "The thing about these parodies is they don't hurt a show. It's only cross-promotion. The viewers who like the show always come back the next week. What's upsetting to me is it shows absolutely that Mr. Spelling has no sense of humor."
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, executive producer Mirkin was "forced off the show" due to this negative reaction of Spelling and others. However, in 2012, Mirkin stated that he in fact left the series after refusing to accept a substantially reduced budget. The show's producers, Sony, failed to persuade him to stay, but he returned to the series to produce its final "Best Of" compilation.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | David Mirkin | September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19) | 101 |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | David Mirkin | September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26) | 102 |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | David Mirkin | October 3, 1992 (1992-10-03) | 103 |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | David Mirkin | October 10, 1992 (1992-10-10) | 104 |
| 5 | "Episode 5" | David Mirkin | October 24, 1992 (1992-10-24) | 105 |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | David Mirkin | October 31, 1992 (1992-10-31) | 106 |
| 7 | "Episode 7" | David Mirkin | November 7, 1992 (1992-11-07) | 107 |
| 8 | "Episode 8" | David Mirkin | November 21, 1992 (1992-11-21) | 108 |
| 9 | "Episode 9" | David Mirkin | November 28, 1992 (1992-11-28) | 109 |
| 10 | "Episode 10" | David Mirkin | December 5, 1992 (1992-12-05) | 110 |
| 11 | "Episode 11" | David Mirkin | December 19, 1992 (1992-12-19) | 111 |
| 12 | "Episode 12" | David Mirkin | January 9, 1993 (1993-01-09) | 112 |
| 13 | "Episode 13" | Rob Schiller | February 7, 1993 (1993-02-07) | 113 |
| 14 | "Episode 14" | Rob Schiller | March 7, 1993 (1993-03-07) | 114 |
| 15 | "Episode 15" | Rob Schiller | March 7, 1993 (1993-03-07) | 115 |
| 16 | "Episode 16" | Rob Schiller | March 28, 1993 (1993-03-28) | 116 |
| 17 | "Episode 17" | Steve Klayman | April 11, 1993 (1993-04-11) | 117 |
| 18 | "Episode 18" | David Mirkin | May 2, 1993 (1993-05-02) | 118 |
Reception
Howard Rosenberg of Los Angeles Times found The Edge to be "disappointing" and full of "mostly sophomoric sketches", though he did praise the premiere episode's closing skit noting the series "does save the best for last". Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was more positive in his review of the series, calling it "edgy" and giving the show a B− grade.
Early ratings for the show were described as "respectable" by Variety.
References
- ^ Lovece, Frank (March 16, 1993). "Julie Brown Enjoys Living Life On 'Edge'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D-7.
- Zurawik, David (May 26, 1993). "Move to full-time schedule costs Fox some edge". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
In addition to "Tribeca," other series Fox canceled yesterday are the critically acclaimed "Class of '96," "Parker Lewis," "Flying Blind," "The Edge," "Shaky Ground," "Sightings" and "Down the Shore."
- ^ "Spelling puts TriStar on 'Edge'". Variety. October 19, 1992. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- Lippman, John (October 19, 1992). "Television: The Fox network is in the position of having offended its top program supplier". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- Swanson, Neely (March 21, 2012). "David Mirkin, A Writer I Love Part III". No Meaner Place. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
- ^ From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "The Edge : no."]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- Rosenberg, Howard (September 19, 1992). "Saturday's New Shows--No Laugh Riot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- Tucker, Ken (October 16, 1992). "The Edge". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
External links
- The Edge at IMDb
- The Edge at epguides.com
- 1990s American satirical television series
- 1990s American sketch comedy television series
- 1992 American television series debuts
- 1993 American television series endings
- American English-language television shows
- Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
- Television series by Sony Pictures Television
- Works by Julie Brown
- Television series created by David Mirkin