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Once upon a time, MTV stood for Music Television and played nothing but music videos around the clock. At a time when 24-hour programming in any form was still novel, there was something comforting about being able to switch on the tube at 3am and watch a Split Enz video. MTV was the only channel within the rapidly expanding cable expanse offering this then-novel service, so no one was clamoring for it to air, say, reruns of “The Monkees.”
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When MTV became a pop cultural phenomenon, the company got ambitious and began trying out non-music-video programming. In 1985, they really did begin airing reruns of “The Monkees,” but that same year they also brought the brilliant BBC punk-rock sitcom “The Young Ones” to American viewers. They eventually got into original programming in 1987 with the game show “Remote Control,” which introduced Gen X-ers to comedic talents like Ken Ober, Colin Quinn, and some scrawny kid named Adam Sandler. And for better or worse, MTV popularized the reality show format with “The Real World” in 1992.
For the most part, though, MTV sought out cutting edge or offbeat talent, which led to the channel airing such series as Alex Winter and Tom Stern’s “The Idiot Box” (a precursor to the horror-comedy classic “Freaked”), the sketch comedy show “The State,” and the envelope-shredding animation showcase “Liquid Television.” For adventurous viewers who liked to augment their television consumption with mind-altering substances, “Liquid Television” was appointment viewing. Curated by Japhet Asher, the series showed off early works from Pixar, Bill Plympton, and Mike Judge. While we owe “Liquid Television” an eternal debt of gratitude for giving us “Beavis and Butt-Head,” the show’s greatest contribution to animation might’ve been an experimental sci-fi series that, a decade later, became a Charlize Theron star vehicle directed by Karyn Kusama.
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Æon Flux was a victim of studio meddling
Peter Chung’s crazy-sexy-dystopian “Æon Flux” played like the trippy mutant offspring of René Laloux’s “Fantastic Planet” and Jim Steranko’s “Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” comic books. At first, Chung employed pure visual storytelling devoid of dialogue. We just strapped in and watched the exploits of this lithe, balletic secret agent clad in purple latex who took out clones, robots, and anyone unfortunate enough to get in her way. MTV eventually persuaded Chung to turn “Æon Flux” into a standalone series, but the concept was best served as a short, experimental highlight reel for Chung’s unique sensibilities.
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Eventually, Paramount saw dollar signs in the idea of Oscar-winner Theron donning the assassin’s skin-tight attire in a live-action film — which, even though they brought on first-rate talents like Kusama and the screenwriting duo of Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi to bring it together, felt like doubling down on what didn’t work about the animated original. “Æon Flux” was amazing in short, bewildering bursts. When you bogged the character down in a prolonged story, it felt awfully hollow.
Kusama’s “Æon Flux” got panned by critics and flopped at the box office in 2005 (grossing $52 million worldwide against a $62 million budget), but, to be fair to the folks who made it, Paramount took the project away from Kusama and tore 30 minutes out of it. Kusama’s vision was apparently much more in line with Chung’s original, experimental take on the character, but, having only directed the indie classic “Girlfight” at the time, she lacked the juice to fight the studio. As it stands, Kusama’s “Æon Flux” is a beautifully designed movie, but it’s incoherent in all the wrong ways (and also nearly paralyzed Theron). It’s a studio-mangled disappointment.
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