The Edge (Fox TV series)

The Edge is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Mirkin that aired on the Fox Network from a single season from September 19, 1992 to May 2, 1993.

"The Edge (TV series)" redirects here. For the Fox News Channel program, see The Edge (Fox News TV program). For the CNBC program, see The Edge (CNBC TV program).
The Edge
GenreVariety
Comedy
Created byDavid Mirkin
Written byJulie Brown
Jasper Cole
David Mirkin
Charlie Kaufman
Nancy Neufeld Callaway
Directed byPeter Baldwin
Steve Klayman
David Mirkin
Rob Schiller
Starring
Narrated byEdd Hall
Theme music composerSteve Hampton
Composer(s)Stephen Graziano
B.C. Smith
Christopher Tyng
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes18
Production
Executive producer(s)David Mirkin
Producer(s)Julie Brown
Charlie Singer
Running time30 mins.
Production company(s)Mirkinvision
TriStar Television
DistributorSony Pictures Television
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseSeptember 19, 1992 (1992-09-19) –
May 2, 1993 (1993-05-02)

Synopsis

The series features an ensemble cast headed by comedian Julie Brown. The other cast members were Jennifer Aniston, Tom Kenny, Wayne Knight, Carol Rosenthal, James Stephens III, and Jill Talley. Other regulars of the series included Rick Overton, Paul Feig, and Alan Ruck.

The show features sketches that would revolve around original characters such as gun-toting All-American family and a cowboy known as Cracklin' Crotch. But the series would also skewer pop culture. One notable episode spoofed TV sweeps by promising ratings-grabbing events such as a birth, a wedding and a death.

The series also features a running gag in which the entire cast would get killed off in various ways in each episode before the first commercial break. One episode featured the cast getting hit by a bus; another had the set falling apart and crushing them; others involved explosions, decapitations, immolation, hangings, and impalement by arrows; one episode had the troupe being sucked into a vortex. In addition to sketches, Bill Plympton cartoons were used as bumpers between the sketches.

Guest appearances were made on the Illustrated Sports parody by Kim Walker and Shari Shattuck.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Production

The show was created by David Mirkin and Julie Brown; the two were in a relationship at the time.[1] It was developed for NBC following the failure of the pilot The Julie Show. NBC passed on the show, but it was picked up by Fox.[1] The Edge was canceled at the end of the end of the 1992–93 U.S. television season by Fox.[2]

Music was provided by Steve Hampton (theme song composer), Stephen Graziano, B.C. Smith, and Christopher Tyng among others. Edd Hall provided the show's voiceovers.

Controversy

Producer Aaron Spelling threatened to sue the show over its lampoons of his TV show Beverly Hills 90210. He objected to its "completely tasteless" humor,[3] which included an impersonation of his daughter, an actress on the show, Tori Spelling exclaiming "I can do that because it's Daddy's show." The show's production company TriStar Television refused to apologise, while Mirkin responded: "The thing about these parodies is they don't hurt a show. It's only cross-promotion. The viewers who like the show always come back the next week. What's upsetting to me is it shows absolutely that Mr. Spelling has no sense of humor."[4]

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, executive producer Mirkin was "forced off the show" due to this negative reaction of Spelling and others.[1] However, in 2012, Mirkin stated that he in fact left the series after refusing to accept a substantially reduced budget. The show's producers, Sony, failed to persuade him to stay, but he returned to the series to produce its final "Best Of" compilation.[5]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected by [6]Original air date [6]Prod.
code [6]
1"Episode 1"TBASeptember 19, 1992 (1992-09-19)101
2"Episode 2"TBASeptember 26, 1992 (1992-09-26)102
3"Episode 3"TBAOctober 3, 1992 (1992-10-03)103
4"Episode 4"TBAOctober 10, 1992 (1992-10-10)104
5"Episode 5"TBAOctober 24, 1992 (1992-10-24)105
6"Episode 6"TBAOctober 31, 1992 (1992-10-31)106
7"Episode 7"TBANovember 7, 1992 (1992-11-07)107
8"Episode 8"TBANovember 21, 1992 (1992-11-21)108
9"Episode 9"TBANovember 28, 1992 (1992-11-28)109
10"Episode 10"TBADecember 5, 1992 (1992-12-05)110
11"Episode 11"David MirkinDecember 19, 1992 (1992-12-19)111
12"Episode 12"David MirkinJanuary 9, 1993 (1993-01-09)112
13"Episode 13"Rob SchillerFebruary 7, 1993 (1993-02-07)113
14"Episode 14"Rob SchillerMarch 7, 1993 (1993-03-07)114
15"Episode 15"Rob SchillerMarch 7, 1993 (1993-03-07)115
16"Episode 16"Rob SchillerMarch 28, 1993 (1993-03-28)116
17"Episode 17"Steve KlaymanApril 11, 1993 (1993-04-11)117
18"Episode 18"David MirkinMay 2, 1993 (1993-05-02)118

Reception

Howard Rosenberg of Los Angeles Times found The Edge to be "disappointing" and full of "mostly sophomoric sketches", though he did praise the premiere episode's closing skit noting the series "does save the best for last".[7] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was more positive in his review of the series, calling it "edgy" and giving the show a B− grade.[8]

Early ratings for the show were described as "respectable" by Variety.[3]

gollark: Well, if they don't move it's fine, but the IDs were removed some time back.
gollark: If you want to do something actually usefulish, "FORTRESS", you can trilaterate GPS pings and find anyone who sends them (but not actually uniquely identify them since a few versions back).
gollark: If you have a hidden piston door or something and wireless control I guess it makes sense?
gollark: There are valid reasons to spam arbitrary channels, like when someone had a wireless light controller which worked by just checking channel and reply channel, and I knew *approximately* what those were, and wanted to meddle with their lights. But doing it without a target in mind is just pointless.
gollark: Yes, this has always been my problem with door locks; they don't actually do anything in Minecraft's threat model.

References
  1. Lovece, Frank (March 16, 1993). "Julie Brown Enjoys Living Life On 'Edge'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D-7.
  2. Zurawik, David (May 26, 1993). "Move to full-time schedule costs Fox some edge". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2018-04-15. In addition to "Tribeca," other series Fox canceled yesterday are the critically acclaimed "Class of '96," "Parker Lewis," "Flying Blind," "The Edge," "Shaky Ground," "Sightings" and "Down the Shore."
  3. "Spelling puts TriStar on 'Edge'". Variety. October 19, 1992. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  4. Lippman, John (October 19, 1992). "Television: The Fox network is in the position of having offended its top program supplier". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  5. Swanson, Neely (March 21, 2012). "David Mirkin, A Writer I Love Part III". No Meaner Place. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
  6. From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "The Edge : no."]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  7. Rosenberg, Howard (September 19, 1992). "Saturday's New Shows--No Laugh Riot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  8. Tucker, Ken (October 16, 1992). "The Edge". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
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