Liquid Television

infobox Television
show_name = Liquid Television


caption =
rating = TV-14
format = Animated television series
runtime = 30 minutes
creator =
voices =
country = United States
network = MTV
first_aired = June 2, 1991
last_aired = March 6, 1994
num_seasons = 3
num_episodes =
list_episodes =
imdb_id = 0101134
tv_com_id = 34711

"Liquid Television" is an Emmy Award winning 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The first season of "Liquid Television" also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. Ultimately, MTV commissioned three seasons of the show, which was produced by Colossal Pictures. It has served as the launching point for several high-profile original cartoons including: "Beavis and Butt-head, Æon Flux, Cartoon Sushi, and The Head". The bulk of "Liquid Television"'s material was created by independent animators and artists specially for the show, and some previously produced segments were compiled from festivals such as Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the show's theme music. It was broadcast in New Zealand on TV3 and in Australia on SBS.

There were also a large number of animation pieces adapted from the work of Art Spiegelman's comic compilation, "RAW". "RAW" featured underground cartoonists such as Mark Beyer, Richard Sala, and Peter Bagge. In particular, "Dog-Boy" by Charles Burns was based on the artist's series from "RAW".

Selected segments from the series, including the first appearances of "Æon Flux", were released on two VHS tapes in the late 1990s as "The Best of Liquid Television" parts one and two. These tapes are long out-of-print . A collection volume, titled "Wet Shorts (The Best of Liquid Television)", comprising the two VHS tapes, was available on DVD but this too is out-of-print.

eries Credits

# Japhet Asher - Executive Producer/Creative Director
# Prudence Fenton - Executive Producer/Story Editor
# Mark Mothersbaugh - Composer, Theme Music

eries episodes

eason 1 (1991-1992)

First Episode

# Open: Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love"
# Soap Opera "A Steamy Scene"
# Buzz Box
# Grinning Evil Death
# Æon Flux
# Invisible Hands (by Richard Sala)
# Lea Press on Limbs
# Stick Figure Theatre "John Wayne in Angel and the Bad Man"
# Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "Sinead O'Connor"
# The Art School Girls of Doom
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

econd Episode

# Open: John Denver PSA
# Winter Steele "Eat Crow"
# Invisible Hands
# Stick Figure Theatre "Mister Alfred Hitchcock"
# Rocky (by Malcolm Bennett)
# Footwork "Dog Flirting"
# Dog Brain (by J. Falconer)
# Dangerous Puppets
# Cut-Up Camera
# Excerpt from Joy Street
# Weird (by Derek Philips)
# Æon Flux
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

Third Episode

# Open: Faith No More "Epic"
# Soap Opera "Diandra Wastes Away"
# Buzz Box (a short film by David Daniels)
# Snookles (by Juliet Stroud)
# Stick Figure Theatre "Edmund O'Brien in D.O.A."
# Cut-Up Camera
# Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "Sylvester Stallone"
# Invisible Hands
# Prophet & Loss (by Jonathan Bairstow)
# Black Hula
# The Art School Girls of Doom
# Beach Chair
# Æon Flux
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

Fourth Episode

# Open: Dental Health
# Winter Steele "Ball of Communion"
# Jac Mac and Rad Boy "Go!"
# Footworks "Scoring"
# Dangerous Puppets
# The Thing What Lurked in the Tub
# Invisible Hands
# Monk's Purpose
# Stick Figure Theater "Madonna in Express Yourself"
# Æon Flux
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

Fifth Episode

# Open: B-52's "Love Shack"
# Soap Opera "Caught in the Act"
# Push Comes to Shove (Enemies) (by Bill Plympton) (serialized throughout episode)
# Cut-Up Camera "Pizza Delivery"
# Face Like a Frog - Mystic Knights "Don't Go in the Basement"
# Invisible Hands
# Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "George Michael"
# Stick Figure Theatre "José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac"
# The Art School Girls of Doom
# They Might Be Giants "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
# Æon Flux
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

ixth Episode

# Open: Chalk test bars and tone
# Winter Steele "Stupid Hippies"
# Cut-Up Camera
# Invisible Hands
# Stick Figure Theatre "Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life"
# Æon Flux (entire first season)
# Psycho-Gram (serialized throughout episode)

eason 2 (1992-1993)

First Episode

# Open: Uncle Louie's Travels (by Drew Friedman)(serialized throughout episode)
# Æon Flux "Gravity"
# The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo
# Beavis and Butt-Head "Frog Baseball" (by Mike Judge)
# The Specialists
# Winter Steele "Soft Heart, Hard Alcohol"
# Stick Figure Theatre "Night of the Living Dead"
# Dog-Boy (by Charles Burns)

econd Episode

# Open: The Safety Twins
# Bobby & Billy "Let's Go to the Party!"
# Wishful Thinking (by Candy Guard)
# Dog-Boy
# The Specialists
# Office Space (by Mike Judge)
# The Listener (by Chris Landreth)
# Was (Not Was) "Hello Dad, I'm in Jail" Directed and Produced by Christoph Simon Copyright 1988
# Wishful Thinking (by Candy Guard) Part 2
# Glove Story (Animated & Directed by Miles Flanagan, Mole Hill, Mark Slater)
# Æon Flux "Night" (Renamed "Mirror" on the Æon Flux DVD collection) Written, Designed, Produced and Directed by Peter Chung

Third Episode

# Open: Concert (excerpt from a short film by Ondrej Rudavsky)
# Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 1
# Was (Not Was) "What Up, Dog?" Copyright 1987
# Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Slipp'ry When Wet"
# Doktor Züm "Cafe Le Bad"
# The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo
# Meggamorphosis (by Sean Schur, featuring the voices of Tim Curry as the "The Snake" and Annie Potts as The "Egg")
# Stick Figure Theatre "Wm. Shakespeare's Henry V"
# Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 2
# The Specialists "Anti Matter World" Part 2/ "Necator" Part 1
# Bobby & Billy "Winter Fun"
# The Killing of an Egg (Animation by Paul Driessen)
# Dog-Boy "Date with Rondy" Part 1
# Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 3

Fourth Episode

# Open: Stick Figure Theatre "Mr. Jimi Hendrix performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Woodstock, 1969)"
# Doktor Züm "Typical Records"
# Elvis Meets the Spider People From Hell
# Winter Steele "All Men Suck (Except Crow)"
# Dog-Boy "Date with Rondy" Part 2
# Getting to Know Each Other (by Candy Guard)
# Was (Not Was) "Earth to Doris" Copyright 1986
# The Honky Problem (by Mike Judge)
# Bobby & Billy "Camping Out"
# Bob the Frog in "Burp"
# At the Beach (From Feggorama)
# The Specialists "Necator Part 2"/"Fifi Breakout" Part 1

Fifth Episode

# Open: The Running Man (excerpt)
# The Specialists
# Stick Figure Theatre "Sergei Eisenstein's silent classic The Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925)"
# Flugbild (by Thomas Meyer-Hermann)
# Ladies (by Candy Guard)
# Dog-Boy
# The Running Man (by Yoshiaki Kawajiri)

ixth Episode

# Open: The Twelve Dangers of Skydiving (serialized throughout episode)
# Bobby & Billy "Soap Box Derby"
# Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Batt'ry-fied"
# Dog-Boy
# Doktor Züm "Atom Bomb Factory"
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Crash of the Hindenburg May 6, 1937"
# Let's Chop Soo-E (by Eric Pigors)
# Winter Steele "Rhinestones and Concussions"
# The Specialists

eventh Episode

# Open: Door #8
# The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo
# This is Not Frank's Planet
# Æon Flux "Leisure"
# Dog-Boy
# In the Aquarium (Excerpt)
# Stick Figure Theatre "Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff in The Terror"
# The Specialists
# Koko's Earth Control (by Max Fleischer, 1927)

Eighth Episode

# Open: biker/rebel film
# Smoking Section (Feggo)
# The End
# Heads
# Winter Steele "F.T.W."
# The Specialists
# Pickpocket (Feggo)
# The Street Sweeper
# Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Buck-a-Roost"
# The Hitchhiker
# Beware of Dog (Feggo)
# Dog-Boy

Ninth Episode

# Open: Theatrical trailer for "Truck Turner"
# The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo
# Conversations (serialized throughout episode)
# Dog-Boy
# The Specialists
# Beavis and Butt-head: Peace, Love & Understanding
# Bobby & Billy "Earning Money"
# Æon Flux "Tide"

Tenth Episode

# Open: Amore Baciami
# The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo
# Æon Flux "War"
# The Specialists
# Dog-Boy
# Stick Figure Theatre "Miss Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage"
# Winter Steele "Desperate Beauty"
# Amore Baciami (sung by Nuccia Bongiovanni)

eason 3 (1993-1994)

First Episode

# Open: Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part one"
# The Blockheads "Mall"
# Crazy Daisy Ed "To Officer with Love"
# Gas Planet
# Smart Talk with Raisin(created by John R. Dilworth)
# The Dangwoods "Nightmare in Trailer City"

econd Episode

# Open: The Day of the Dead Guy
# Uncle Louie' Party
# Anyway (serialized throughout episode)
# Technological Threat
# Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part two"
# One Less Ant
# The Bill and Willis Show

Third Episode

# Open: Strangers in Paradise
# Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective
# Nightwatchman
# Nietzsche Pops
# Beat Dedication
# Doctor X vs Mister Y
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part three"
# Crazy Daisy Ed "Fast, Loud, Dumb and Proud"
# Sound Asleep

Fourth Episode

# Open: Uncle Louie "Blind Date"
# Genie Junkie
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part four"
# Cat and Mouse
# The Blockheads "TV"
# The Chore
# Human Bomb

Fifth Episode

# Open: Krazy Teens USA
# Rico & Klein
# Honey Bunny (serialized throughout episode)
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part five"
# Crazy Daisy Ed "Let's Go to the Stinkin' Movies"
# Balloon Guy
# Sweat
# Green Beret

ixth Episode

# Open: Medallion Love
# Crazy Daisy Ed "Hill Bomb Skate Sniper"
# Swine Cowboy
# Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part six"
# Autoguard 2000
# The Big City
# Beat
# Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective
# The Invisible Man in "Blind Love"

Recurring Skits

*Winter Steele - About a biker chick who gets into all sorts of trouble.
*Soap Opera - A parody of daytime soaps, with bars of soap as the actors.
*Cut-Up Camera - A parody of Candid Camera hosted by a drunk.
*Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars - A live-action short about an unseen makeup artist who "makesover" celebrities via her computer.
*Invisible Hands - About a turban-clad sleuth who solves murders.
*Buzz Box - A short with changing patterns set to rock music.
*Stick Figure Theatre - A series of shorts recreating scenes from popular movies using stick-figures.
*Dangerous Puppets - About two puppets who cause chaos.
*The Art School Girls of Doom - A live-action short starring drag queens as roommates who launch various get-rich-quick schemes and the like.
*Footworks - Stories of predictments featuring footprints as the characters.
*Aeon Flux - About a scantily-clad female secret agent (it was remade into a 2005 live-action film starring Charlize Theron).
*Psychogram - A series of stories using various postcards.
*The Specialists - A 10-episode series about 3 private detectives looking for a lost dog.
*Dog Boy - A live-action, comic book-style story about the adventures of a guy who had a heart transplant with a dog.
*The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo - A computer animated series about a guy and his anthropomorphic house done in a 3D paper-style along the lines of PaRappa the Rapper.
*Was (Not Was) - A series of fast-paced chalk animations to the tune of songs by the titular band.
*Gumby Adventures - A series of edited 1988 "The Big City" and "Gumball Gumby"

External links

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