“AAAAAAAAH!” cried Vivian of “The Young Ones.” “MY BRAIN’S EXPLODING MY BRAIN’S EXPLODING!!!” Yep, that about sums it up.
Ben Stiller’s failed TV pilot for Fox is a loving tribute to crappy 70s television itself, from “The Fugitive” to “Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl” and pretty much everything in-between (with a heaping helping of X-Files for dessert). Jack (High Fidelity, Tenacious D) Black stars as Jack Austin (I think you can see where we’re going with this), a NASA astronaut who, through a freak space accident, became the world’s smartest man – but only when the sun is up! NASA wants his brain, and they’ve hired Ron Silver (as himself!) to obtain it. Luckily, Jack has the help of his former slacker roommate (who was turned into a sentient talking motorcycle by Silver and dubbed “Heat Vision”) as he goes on the lam. As they travel from town to town, they can’t help but help the troubled locals (a la “Kung Fu”) and fight space aliens and get the girl. Coooool!
This pilot is damn near perfection for the self-referential generation, and it’s a mystery as to why Fox passed on it. Maybe it was too hip for them. Most people will probably wet their pants laughing.
