The Head

"The Head" began as an ongoing series which originally ran under the title "MTV's Oddities", on MTV.

infobox television
show_name = The Head
format = Animated series
runtime = 22 minutes
country = USA
network = MTV (USA)
creator = Eric Fogel
starring = Jason Candler
Maia Danziger
Eric Fogel
Dick Rodstein
first_aired = September 1, 1994
last_aired = March 1, 1996
imdb_id = 0108799
tv_com_id = 12179|

Plot

Created by Eric Fogel, "The Head" (or "El Cabezón", as subtitled in Spanish), is the story of Jim, a trade-school student in New York City who awakens one morning to find that his cranium has enlarged to mammoth proportions. A week later, out bursts Roy, a little purple alien with an odd sense of humor, who has taken up residence in Jim's head. Roy needed a place to stay to adapt to the Earth's environment while on a mission to save the world from a power-hungry alien named Gork. Aiding Jim and Roy are Roy's girlfriend, Madelyn, his personal physician, Dr. Richard Axel, and a group of "human anomalies." The group consists of Ray, a landscaper who has a lawnmower blade lodged in his skull; Mona, a normal-looking woman with a short tail; Ivan, a Russian who has a mouth in his chest; Raquel, who has an enormous nose and buckteeth; Earl, who has a fishbowl in his mouth; Chin, a long-limbed former-freak show performer from China; and the annoyingly normal head of the group, Shane Blackman. The theme of the story is to reinforce the value of diversity, tolerance, acceptance of differences, and working together to solve problems.

Characters

Jim - A trade-school student who seemed to be an average joe before Roy entered his head. He had a crush on Madelyn, whom he described as the most beautiful girl in his class, but it took a while to gather the nerve to even ask her name. Since Roy began associating with him, Jim's confidence and self-image have grown and he has become a courageous, quick-thinking hero.

Roy - A purple alien from outer space. Roy is his nickname, but his true name is only pronounceable in an alien language that sounds suspiciously like reverse English. Because of an attack by a race of parasitic aliens, his species is few in number. Roy wants to save Earth from an even worse fate. To do so, he must reassemble his Anti-Invasion Machine, which was accidentally broken into five pieces and scattered around the world during his entry into Earth's atmosphere. Roy has telepathic powers which he can use to communicate with Jim from afar and call up clairvoyant visions.

Dr. Richard Axel - Jim's physician, a head specialist. Before Jim found out about Roy, Dr. Axel took an x-ray of his head and found only a black mass. He urged Jim to continue his appointments, which Jim refused to do. Soon afterwards, Dr. Axel was kidnapped by Dr. Elliot and his imbecilic agent cohorts. Jim rescued him, and he agreed to help Jim and Roy reassemble the Anti-Invasion Machine.

Madelyn - Jim's girlfriend. At first, she is merely his crush. She is a faithful woman who admits her love to Jim rather early in the relationship. She comes to his apartment for dinner the night Jim found out about Roy, and there she was attacked by Gork. Gork entered her head, causing it to grow to the size of Jim's. Gork was eventually forced out of Madelyn's head by Jim. Jim and Gork brawled for a few minutes before Dr. Elliot arrived and seized Gork. Afterward, Madelyn's head returned to normal size, and she decided to help Jim and Roy.

Gork - A member of the evil alien race that destroyed Roy's planet and now wants to eat the brains of every human on Earth. He speaks alternately in three different voices. One voice sounds much like backwards English and is apparently his native language; one is very sinister and is obviously his own, speaking English; and the third sounds like a human with a posh British accent. The third voice was commonly used when persuading Dr. Elliot (who would have been less likely to be assuaged by a sinister alien voice). Gork's special powers include the ability to control the mind he has inhabited, telekinesis, and the ability to emit painful energy from his head.

Dr. Lucas Elliot - A member of an unnamed government agency. He is very paranoid and firmly believes in the existence of aliens, Sasquatch, and other far-fetched urban legends. Because of this, he was a major figure of ridicule at the institute where he was taught. It seems Gork is the reason for this. As a child, Dr. Elliot saw Gork inhabit and kill a farmer. The only reason Gork let Elliot live is because he was too young and thus his mind was not advanced enough to be "inhabited." Dr. Elliot always travels with two doltish government agents who, it turns out, have a crush on each other.

Notes

Butt-Head of "Beavis and Butt-Head" has a cameo in the first episode of the series, when he acts as a courier handing a videotape to the two government agents. He is quickly thrown out of the agents' van. How Butt-Head became a government courier is unknown, much less how he got to New York City in the first place.

After the initial 13 episodes had aired, "MTV's Oddities" began airing another serial, entitled The Maxx. When "The Maxx" had finished airing, "The Head" returned with a new series of episodes, but the focus often shifted from Jim and Roy to the other "human anomalies" they'd befriended. The new episodes lacked the serial structure that had made the initial run so successful. Shortly after the second season finished airing, "The Head" (along with "MTV's Oddities") vanished from the airwaves.

The first 13 episodes were released on VHS under the title "The Head Saves the Earth". Snippets from the original airings were left off the video version (a similar edit was made to "The Maxx" video) to keep the running time under two hours. The second batch of episodes were never released on video.

Graphic novel

In 1996, Pocket Books released a graphic novel entitled "The Head: A Legend Is Born", which was based on an episode that was never filmed. The cover shows a picture of Jim and folds out with a pop-up of what's in his head - namely Roy. The story included the return of Dr. Elliot, who was last seen being probed on a UFO in "The Invasion".