''Pirate TV'' is an American

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

series that aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. The series premiered January 26, 1990.

Overview

Set on a boat that beamed illegal television signals, ''Pirate TV'' consisted of skits and parodies of commercials and television programs, including ''Rastapiece Theater'', a takeoff of '' Masterpiece Theatre'' with a

dreadlock Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...

ed, patois-speaking host, and "Reejok" ( jockstraps with inflatable pouches, à la

Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...

's "Pump" sneaker, popular at the time). It was co-created by Dave Kolin and Steve Kerper. Originally airing as 13 one-hour episodes, they were later edited down to a half hour. Many of the concepts of the show, and indeed ''Rastapiece Theater'' itself, later transferred to Kerper and Kolin's HBO series ''Hardcore TV'' (1992-1993) The crew of the boat were played by, Boyd Hale (himself), James Rosenthal (himself), Gena Rositano (herself), Spruce Henry (himself) and Gregory Wolfe & James Wolfe as "the Wolfe Brothers." Some episodes had a special guests such as Sgt. Slaughter, Maury Povich and Clarence Clemons. Most notably was Tim Blake Nelson as "Scab O'Hooley". He would race his pet rats to answer the great questions that plagued the world, so you could "...Quit yer blatherin' and get on with yer miserable lives. This is Scab O'Hooley sayin, I'm not laughin atcha...I'm not laughin!"

References

External links

* {{MTVNetwork Shows 1990 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings 1990s American sketch comedy television series MTV original programming American English-language television shows