Since this show is only a memory, I remember it fondly because of Julie Brown who was on MTV regularly as West Coast Julie Brown. Days Of Our Lives' actor, John Aniston's daughter, Jennifer pretty much made her debut in a variety of roles mostly comedic and pushing the edge of comedy and dramatic situations. This show was before MADtv and the Ben Stiller show but aired in regularly prime time viewing. The skits were funny and offensive. I think it would be worth while to have this show's only season out on DVD to showcase Jennifer Aniston, Julie Brown, and the other talented cast members. I only wished that there were more seasons of this show but a season appeared enough. I remember there was a controversial sketch spoofing the hit show, Beverly Hills 90210, that caused even the legendary Aaron Spelling to take action against the network.
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Sylviastel14 May 2009
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ShadeGrenade23 August 2011I got hooked on 'The Edge' when it was shown in a late night Saturday night slot on 'Sky One' round the mid-'90's. Partly because it was funny in a hit-and-miss sort of way, but also because I had the hots for its star - the red-haired, extrovert Julie Brown. Imagine Lucille Ball with a dirty mind and you've got her. The show was the creation of David Mirkin, the man behind 'The Simpsons'. Each episode commenced with a jazzy title sequence featuring photos of the cast dancing about like puppets and a catchy theme tune ( which they later stupidly changed ). The assembled cast would then greet viewers, and - in a running gag - would 'die' on screen, either by being shot or eaten by aliens.
Many sketches were parodies of hit shows of the day, such as 'Beverly Hills 90210' and vicious impersonations of pop stars including Wilson Phillips and Madonna. There was Pythonesque animation from Bill Plympton, usually featuring an average-looking guy whose head keeps changing shape, and a spot called 'What ? Is Doing Right This Minute'. One of the best of the latter featured the very first monkey sent into space. It was found by aliens, who were so appalled by Man's cruelty to animals they destroyed the Earth out of revenge. We also saw ex-'Monkey' Davy Jones busking outside a zoo, and complaining: "I should have worked out a better royalty deal, shouldn't I?". Wayne Knight did a blinding take-off of horror author Stephen King, churning out manuscripts every few seconds. Another regular feature was a soap opera about a gun-obsessed American family. Julie also played 'Barb Douglas' of Minnesota, a plucky woman prepared to do the most awful jobs imaginable to supplement her husband's low income, such as porn chat lines and visiting women prisoners.
Not many episodes were made ( 19 in all ), but it was good, post-pub viewing, and launched Jennifer Aniston on the road to stardom. -
bleeah19 March 2010I was a lot younger when this was on, but I remember that I loved it at the time. The way that people's heads would explode, or a body part would get ripped off with lots of very fake-looking blood... I loved it. They did it without being morbid or excessively gory, it was just goofy and funny. The show was high-energy. I remember a skit about women's deodorant they did that still makes me laugh. Perhaps today, I would find it more predictable and juvenile, but I remember liking the over-the-top acting style that most of the cast had, playing skits with a lot of manic energy. As Forest Gump would say, that's all I have to say about that.
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Stanze4 September 1999I watched every episode of this show. Although it didn't last long it was hillarious. Julie Brown & Wayne Knight were the best part! This show, In Living Color & MAD TV are some of the best skit comedies out there. One of my favorite lines from The Edge... "What Chubakka is doing right this minute." LOL!
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Well, this show was an amazing surprise. A different american show, with a british comedy touch and a great sense of humor, that laughed of the "American way of life·", including (gasp!) Hollywood star system..... Really not a surprise that was cancelled. Oh, here in Europe became a cult serie.
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raygundoig12 June 2006Yeah, this show was very awesome. The kind of humour was crazy but very imaginative and fresh. That's Julie Brown for ya. If anyone out there is lucky enough to have it on tape email me at raygundoig@hotmail.com and we should make a deal! There are so many insanely funny shows out there that are next to impossible to see. Thank goodness for the internet and ebay. Like, for example, has anyone ever watched "The Idiot Box" starring Alex Winter on his own mtv show? That one's good too. Or The Frantics' show "4 on the Floor" that used to be on cbc. Check it out! "The Edge" was a show that had crazy animation segments as well. It kind of reminded me of Monty Python's Flying Circus but done in L.A.
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SnoopyStyle29 March 2021This is a half hour skit comedy show on Fox starring Julie Brown, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Kenny, Wayne Knight, and others along with part-time players like Kevin Nealon, Alan Ruck, and Paul Feig. Each episode starts by killing off the cast. It's recorded so it's not the same as SNL. It doesn't have the black content of In Living Color. It's a combination and not as funny as either. It's mostly spoofing TV shows, movies, and commercials. There are some broad skits but most of them are ham-fisted like the gun-loving family.
I don't remember this series except for one aspect. I don't remember the performers although Julie Brown is good enough. I certainly don't remember either Aniston and Wayne Knight but that happens all the time with actors before their big breaks. I don't remember any recurring characters or skits. I remember one thing, the Bill Plympton cartoons connecting the different skits. That has an interesting look and they keep doing it. Recently, I watched this again from start to finish. It's quirky but I literally did not laugh once. They are too desperate to find the edge of the envelope. Instead of creating something funny and memorable, it's just sending up whatever subject matter and pushing it to the edge. Most of the time, that has nothing to do with comedy. The SI swimsuit skit has the perfect encapsulation of this. Aniston and outside performer Kim Walker are both playing idiot models. Aniston is doing fake-stupidity whereas Walker is being stupid in a funny way. It helps that Walker is blonde but there is more to the difference. Walker is fun. The main cast is mostly doing wacky in the fake comedic way and that doesn't come off as funny. With most of the skits spoofing pop culture, I wonder if it could do something like SCTV. At least, they would be able to create characters who have continuous stories. -
c-keenan200120 September 2021Well, as a teenager in the 1990s I always found that The Edge was a lot more stupid than Saturday Night Live, SCTV, or Monty Python together.
It was a shame that. TV. In that time was so vicious and not funny but TJMO. -
rinter-123 April 2008This started out as a good sketch comedy. The first few shows were very good and I was looking forward to a long run. What was really funny was the Mariah Carey imitation and the take off on Beverly Hills 90210 featuring the hair fight. The Delta Burke vs William Conrad heavy weight battle was also good. Unfortunately the following shows went downhill relatively quickly. The writing became uninspired and oh so predictable as if the show had acquired a cult following in it's young tenure. Nothing fresh was being offered and the recurring skits were boring. One example is the gun family (or whatever it was called) which became a weekly feature. This sketch was not all that funny to begin with let alone being a regular feature. An example of a quick promising start then a sudden fall.
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Fox is best known for its brief, short-lived sitcoms. "In Living Color" was a short-lived success and it's possible a new kind of comedy series was waiting to happen. The result was "The Edge", which lasted for one season. It starred the then unknown Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight. Jennifer Aniston would later gain notoriety as Rachel in the hit show "Friends". She would also be Mrs. Brad Pitt. But for the time of this show, she was a regular comic actress in several skits. Wayne Knight would later enjoy success as Newman in Seinfeld, as Dennis in "Jurassic Park" and as Don in "Third Rock From The Sun". This show was a burst of energy and very hilarious. It directly influenced "Mad TV" which would begin only a couple of years later. Mad TV is the more successful show, still on the air. The biggest joke in this series was that every time the show began, the cast was killed off in one way or another- by giant swords, by trucks, you name it. It was another comic show from the early 90's that may seem silly and dull now, but back then was hilarious.
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Nick Zbu23 October 2000After Fox declined on furthering "Get a Life," David Merkin's next step towards his run on "The Simpsons" was this little show that had a 9:30 timeslot on Sunday Nights but yet was neglected until it died. Somehow, it lasted a full season but that was a miracle itself.
"The Edge" was a sketch show featuring a great deal of comic talent and ruled with it's non sequiturs and macabre humor. The bowling bag/severed head skit still remains with me to this day, along with "What is Casper the Friendly Boy doing now".
But, the cancellation has a happy ending. Merkin went on to do "The Simpsons" during it's classic years and Wayne Knight went to other, better-paying things. -
gaffer-1615 August 2002This was one of the least appreciated shows of all time. This show did not just push the envelope it threw it out the window. Dark and bizarre humor ruled this short lived Fox comedy. But then again, aren't most Fox shows? This show did catapult Jennifer Aniston to stardom. But I will not blame this show for that.
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genew20 January 2004The Edge is a good show but unfortuntly, this show only lasted one season. Everything about this show is great but my favorite sketch is the Three Stooges sketch. I watched this show when it was on FOX in 1992 & I was sad to see this show go. This show pushed the envelope when it came to sketch comedy.
The Edge featured Jennifer Aniston (before she became popular on Friends) & Wayne Knight (before he became famous on Seinfeld. Paul Feig (Mr. Pool from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. Season 1 only), et al. -
hddu10-819-3745830 December 2013The 80's was truly the era of sketch comedy, but as we know: comedy is all about timing...and this series ran in 1992 (i.e. past the point where "In Living Color" brought down the bar on sketch comedy so low you couldn't even limbo under it). Nonetheless, The Edge had all the elements of a great sketch comedy show; a superbly talented cast (Julie Brown, Jenifer Anniston, Tom Kenny and Wayne Knight to name a few who were known before and after the series), a mix of thought-provoking, slap-stick and situational humor, and a finger on the pulse of current-events/pop-culture. One of the best examples combining these elements would be the hilarious sketch panning the then-popular Beverly Hills 90210 series. The two most unfortunate aspects of this show are a) it was so short-lived (ran for just 1 season/20 episodes) and b) sadly it was caught-up in greedy Hollywood licensing/royalty/ownership politics, which means it will most likely never be released on DVD or other media; truly a loss for anyone who appreciates the best of sketch comedy.
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writingy14 November 2000Well, even though it wasn't the best sketch comedy show, it was star studded. Of course everyone knows Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight, but it was also one of the shows that launched Jill Talley and Tom Kenny into the spotlight and probably helped them get into Mr. show. Edd Hall, of Tonight Show fame did voice overs and Alan Ruck(Spin City, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and comedian Rick Overton rounded up the cast.
A show that people may look back on as a launching pad for young talent in the future. -
MontrossBOC19 February 2006Somewhere in my vast collection of Video Tapes (most of which are in storage) I have every episode of this show. It followed Ben Stiller's superior sketch show, but his show was good too. None of the other user comments mentions that this was really Julie Brown's show. Julie had first had success with the MTV show 'Just Say Julie', and also recorded 'Trapped in the Body of a White Girl' and 'The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun'. A very funny woman. What first struck me about 'The Edge' was Jennifer Aniston, who looked like, to me at least, a dark haired Christina Applegate. I found it funny, years later, when Christina Applegate turned up on 'Friends' playing Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) sister. FOX many times gave shows a little time to develop despite low ratings, but Ben Stiller's & Julie Brown's shows weren't recipients of that courtesy. It's too bad, because those were two funny shows.
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writingy14 November 2000Well, even though it wasn't the best sketch comedy show, it was star studded. Of course everyone knows Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight, but it was also one of the shows that launched Jill Talley and Tom Kenny into the spotlight and probably helped them get into mr. show. Edd Hall, of Tonight Show fame did voice overs and Alan Ruck(Spin City, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and comedian Rick Overton rounded up the cast.
A show that people may look back on as a launching pad for young talent in the future. -
Mark N.4 June 1999"The Edge" was by far one of the best primetime comedies ever to be shown. In the spirit of "In Living Color" skits, "Saturday Night Live," and today's "MAD TV," The Edge included raunchy yet smart comic skits such as "The Armed Family," and other greats. It was a great show which unfortunately will never be seen again.
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Not bad, but it is really stupid, so please don´t expect too much from this TV series. Well, I guess that´s why they canceled it.
Anyway, two or three actors got out from here, Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight, so enjoy watching them do something stupid.