Television
In 1986, as a result of the stage show, Joe Bob was asked to be a guest host on Drive-In Theater, a late- night B-movie show on The Movie Channel, sister network of Showtime. Briggs went over so well that he was eventually signed to a long-term contract. For fourteen movie introductions, he had a side-kick, actor/musician Chris Aable, host of a local Los Angeles TV Show, "Hollywood Today", who played himself while always surrounded by beautiful girls. In one episode at a mansion with Chris Aable and a dozen pretty girls in the swimming pool, Joe Bob stood beside the pool in his cowboy outfit and asked with his trademark redneck accent: "Chris, how come you always get all the women?" Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater became the network's highest-rated show and ran for almost ten years, and was twice nominated for the industry's Cable ACE Award. He appeared on some 50 talk shows, including The Tonight Show (twice) and Larry King Live. He was also a commentator for a Fox TV news magazine for two seasons.
Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater ended when the network changed format in early 1996. He was off the air for only four months before joining the TNT network, where he hosted MonsterVision for four years. That show ended in July 2000, when once again the network changed format. In 2011, the most definitive account of the Monstervision series as well as recent interviews with Briggs and Monstervision series mailgirl Honey Gregory appeared on the cult movie website, Mondo Video. In the late nineties he spent two seasons as a commentator on Comedy Central's The Daily Show (under his given name John Bloom), with a recurring segment called "God stuff" beginning on the 2nd ever episode in 1996. He starred in Frank Henenlotter's documentary Herschell Gordon Lewis - Godfather of Gore.
Read more about this topic: Joe Bob Briggs
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“So why do people keep on watching? The answer, by now, should be perfectly obvious: we love television because television brings us a world in which television does not exist. In fact, deep in their hearts, this is what the spuds crave most: a rich, new, participatory life.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)
“Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy.... In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)