Not to step on Monty Python's dick, but now for something completely different—really different for MTV, actually. But first, let's meet Tim Healy, the Executive Producer on Death Valley, a new scripted show premiering the same night as Ridiculousness, Monday, August 29, at 10:30 ET/PT. No, Death Valley is not another entertainment egg laid by Dickhouse, but Tim is a good friend who has scratched our back in the past, so we're repaying in kind now with a promotional reach-around...
How and when did you first come into contact with the Dickhouse crew?
Tim Healy: I first came in contact with the crew back in February 2008, when a bunch of the guys came to New York for some pre-production meetings for the jackass 24-hour takeover special for MTV. Up to that point, MTV had already done a few of those 24-hour live stunts before with people like the Foo Fighters and Courtney Love. I remember being a little weirded out the first time we met, because everyone from Dickhouse was walking around with their hands covering their balls. We were scouting out the MTV building, riding on elevators, walking around the neighborhood, and nobody stopped cupping their balls for a second. It was bizarre looking. I remember people stopping and staring at you guys on the street. About an hour later, we all sat down in one of the big, fancy conference rooms to talk about some ideas for the show and, out of the blue, Knoxville sails a huge water bottle the length of the room and clocks Jeff Tremaine right in balls. He had literally removed his hands from his lap for like a second and Knoxville immediately pounced. It was at that moment I knew this Takeover was going to be a little bit different from the others. I also realized I'd better start covering my balls, too.
What were a few of your "highlights" from the jackass 24-hour takeover?
There were so many great moments in that show. The “Drag Race” bit was pretty awesome with Danger Ehren racing against Bam down Broadway in rickshaws being pulled by Drag Queens. Tremaine and Kosick “Dizzy Boxing” at 4:00am was great. Preston Lacy getting the tramp stamp of Danger’s face—without knowing what he was getting—was completely insane, and we had to get all sorts of special permission to have a tattoo artist giving a tattoo in the studio. Pontius doing his early morning, homo-erotic work out with those sketchy old men. Mike Judge bringing Beavis and Butthead back to rip on Steve-O’s rap video. The “Shock Collar” Spelling Bee with Ehren was hilarious. Dave England spending all 24 hours locked in a cage. Plus the guys did stuff that you don’t get to see everyday, like booking Dale Watson to perform and Zach Galifianakis to do live interviews.
Describe how nervous some of the MTV-types were about letting the jackass guys go live on-air. Would I be wrong in assuming there was a secret emergency broadcasting plan in place had things gone awry?
MTV definitely knew what they were getting into when they greenlit this special, but yeah, people were definitely nervous. I remember the big joke that week was that a lot of the upper executives were going to be away that weekend so if anything went wrong they weren’t even in New York when it did. I remember really being nervous that once we were live MTV would get really gun shy about stuff and try to reel the guys in too much. The Dickhouse guys were pretty clear they weren’t willing to do the special if we were going to water it down and try to control it too much. There was definitely an emergency broadcasting plan in place. I think MTV increased the delay from like 7 seconds to 30 seconds. We also had like every episode of jackass and Wildboyz standing by in case we had to yank the guys off air and just roll video.
Was there any moment you thought the takeover might really go off the rails with no return?
Honestly, I thought the show was off the rails 5 minutes into it. We started the show with the guys outside and walking into the MTV building and up to the studio. Right away, Steve-O grabs a bottle of Nair and pours it all over Danger’s head. The guys start ripping Danger’s hair out and handing it to Steve-O to eat. I remember standing in the Control Room and hearing, “Is Nair poisonous?!” From there it was total mayhem. People running around yelling for a medic to ask if it’s poisonous, people freaking out that Danger was going to get it in his eyes, producers looking for the MTV attorney, etc. We wound up just cutting right to an episode of Wildboyz and this is literally 5 minutes into it. The guys weren’t happy about being cut off the air. I remember Jeff coming into the Control Room and saying something like, “If you guys are going to fucking freak out over that then we might as well call it a day now and go home.” But from that point on it was pretty smooth.
What were some of the other production run-ins you've had with Dickhouse in the years following the Takeover ordeal?
After the Takeover, I did the doc special Steve-O: Demise and Rise. That was a really interesting project to do with them, because it was such a different type of show. To be completely honest, I think there was some initial concern about how Dickhouse would do at making something that was longform, serious, and not driven by stunts, but once the network started seeing rough cuts of the show everyone was super impressed by how compelling and powerful it was. Jeff, Knoxville, Derek [Freda], Shanna [Zablow] and Seth [Casriel] really did an incredible job with it. And the fact that Steve-O was brave enough to be so honest and allow people to see him at his lowest point was really kind of awe-inspiring. It’s a testament to how Dickhouse really is a family. O completely trusted those guys to tell his story. I also got to help out on a few episodes of Rob Dyrdek’s new show Ridiculousness. That was a lot of fun, too. It was really different to see Rob host a show in a studio with a live audience. That’s not an easy thing to do and he nailed it.
How does it feel to be "gobbled" by Andy Bell?
That hurt like hell! I remember we were shooting at the Fantasy Factory with the Nitro Circus guys, and Knoxville comes over to me all serious and says, “Tim, I need to talk to you about something in private.” So we walk all the way over to a corner and he just starts mumbling gibberish. I didn’t realize I was being set up and next thing I know, Bell is behind me, I’m being hoisted into the air by my junk, and you’re standing there with a camera. Perfect.
Talk about this new show you've got going on, Death Valley. What's it all about?
Death Valley is a new horror/comedy for MTV. The concept is that a year ago zombies, werewolves and vampires started showing up in the San Fernando Valley. The LAPD established the UTF [Undead Task Force] to deal with all the monster problems. The idea is that a TV crew rides along with the UTF to document their work, so it’s kind of like COPS. I’m really psyched with how the show turned out. It’s really funny and it really goes big with the action and violence. MTV was really cool about letting us do stuff you don’t normally get to see on the channel, so there’s lots of zombies getting shot in the head, vampires getting staked, blood, explosions, and stuff like that. For years you couldn’t even show a gun on MTV. I have a feeling people are going to be really surprised by what they see in the show.
If you became a zombie, which would you rather eat: Jeff Tremaine's ass or Danger Ehren's brain?
That’s a tough one... Danger isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I think there’s a good chance I would think he was another zombie and leave him alone. As disgusting and embarrassing as it is, I’d probably have to eat Tremaine. I’m gagging just thinking about it. Nobody can clear a room like that guy.
Okay, that last was a trick question. Since Tim managed to answer correctly, here's a bonus (maybe even exclusive!) clip from the forthcoming Death Valley series.
Lost in the plot? Suffer from premature memory loss? Death Valley airs immediately after Ridiculousness on MTV starting Monday, August 29, at 10:30pm ET/PT.
(All photos by Sean Cliver)
