MTV's Oddities:The Head

About

The Head is the story of Jim, "just a regular guy" who wakes up one day and finds that his cranium has swelled and is now home to Roy, a freaky-looking but amiable purple alien who's been sent here to save the world!

This was the first of two series that aired under the banner "MTV's Oddities." The show was created by Eric Fogel (who went on to create "Celebrity Deathmatch"), and it's set in the same universe as "Beavis and Butt-Head," although it's got a more serious tone and dry sense of humor. The first season is serialized, and was soon followed by "The Maxx," a faithful adaptation of a cult comic book. A second season followed, without the serialized format.

Back in the '90s, "The Head" was shown more love than "The Maxx" (The Head's episodes aired consecutively and were rerun heavily; "The Maxx" had a more schizophrenic run and only got one season), but in the ensuing years, the situation has been reversed -- The Maxx became a beloved cult classic and garnered a legit special edition DVD release, while The Head's burn-on-demand DVD kind of sucked, was eventually discontinued, and the show has largely been forgotten.

I've reinstated the Oddities opening credits that were omitted from the DVD as well as a few of the bumpers, teasers, the making-of special, and the sneak preview of The Maxx, plus I've added in some MTV bumpers and promos for nostalgia's sake. Unfortunately, my tape of the show was destroyed a few years ago, so I can't include all of the missing bumpers/teasers. Before that occurred, I made comparisons and didn't notice any missing footage in the shows themselves (unlike the VHS release, "The Head Saves the Earth," which was heavily edited), and I transferred "Inside the Head," the behind-the-scenes special, which allowed me to reconstruct the hour-long second season premiere with the original end credits. "Legend of the Blues" aired before "The Taste of Romance," but since it's not serialized, I've left them in DVD order. However, I've placed "The Bad Seed" last because that's not quite the end of the story...

Shortly after the series ended, Pocket Books issued the graphic novel "The Head: A Legend is Born," which you can find on the right as a CBR. The cover touts that it was adapted from an unproduced script (from a fan-perspective, it would've made a better serialized second-season storyline), and the story picks up a few months after the events of "The Bad Seed." It includes the return of first-season antagonist Dr. Elliot, and wraps up the show in a satisfying (albeit open-ended) way.

And just to dispel some misinformation that I've seen online... "The Head" never aired on "Liquid Television," and similarly, "Aeon Flux" and "The Brothers Grunt" were not a part of "MTV's Oddities." Also, Oddities did not include random short like Liquid TV and "Cartoon Sushi."

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

MTV

Language

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Kids profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed