Heavy.com
Encyclopedia
Heavy.com is a broadband
entertainment website
founded in 1999 in New York City
. The site was founded by David Carson and Simon Assaad in the wake of the popularity of their first series of video shorts, Behind the Music that Sucks
. Heavy emerged intact from the burst of the dot-com bubble
in 2001 and is still helmed by Carson and Assaad, both of whom also helped Cablevision found the Fuse
Network in 2003.
Heavy is primarily responsible for creating and producing largely comic programming for the Internet
. Original titles include "Behind the Music that Sucks
," "Blisster," "American Suck Countdown," and several machinima
series (based on GUN, God of War
, and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
). Some of these programs have been aired on cable
television networks worldwide, and gone into syndication as well. Heavy has also produced several noteworthy online flash games including "Iron Stomach," "Bitchslap a Rockstar," and "Psycho Bondage Bunnies" (1 & 2).
In addition to creating its own content, Heavy features many internet cult
video series such as the Fensler Films
infamous "G.I. Joe" parodies and the "Star Wars Kid" parody series, as well as providing a forum for thousands of other viral videos.
David Carson
,
Joey Jodar,
Matt Heindl,
Nick Fortunato,
Jimmy Jellinek.
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
entertainment website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
founded in 1999 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The site was founded by David Carson and Simon Assaad in the wake of the popularity of their first series of video shorts, Behind the Music that Sucks
Behind the Music that Sucks
Behind the Music that Sucks is an ongoing series of comic pieces produced by, and appearing on, Heavy.com, a broadband entertainment website. The segments feature humorous jabs at pop stars and celebrities. The shorts run approximately three minutes each and employ cutout animation based largely on...
. Heavy emerged intact from the burst of the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
in 2001 and is still helmed by Carson and Assaad, both of whom also helped Cablevision found the Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
Network in 2003.
Heavy is primarily responsible for creating and producing largely comic programming for the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Original titles include "Behind the Music that Sucks
Behind the Music that Sucks
Behind the Music that Sucks is an ongoing series of comic pieces produced by, and appearing on, Heavy.com, a broadband entertainment website. The segments feature humorous jabs at pop stars and celebrities. The shorts run approximately three minutes each and employ cutout animation based largely on...
," "Blisster," "American Suck Countdown," and several machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
series (based on GUN, God of War
God of War (video game)
God of War is an action adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 first released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March 2005...
, and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, abbreviated to THAW, is a video game that was released for the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube and PC on October 18, 2005. Part of the Tony Hawk series, the game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision.The PC version of the game was ported and...
). Some of these programs have been aired on cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
television networks worldwide, and gone into syndication as well. Heavy has also produced several noteworthy online flash games including "Iron Stomach," "Bitchslap a Rockstar," and "Psycho Bondage Bunnies" (1 & 2).
In addition to creating its own content, Heavy features many internet cult
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
video series such as the Fensler Films
Fensler Films
Fensler Films is a video production company, based in Chicago, Illinois and headed by Eric Fensler. The company gained a reputation for a series of short films which parodied the public service announcement safety messages used at the end of every episode of the 1980s animated series G.I. Joe...
infamous "G.I. Joe" parodies and the "Star Wars Kid" parody series, as well as providing a forum for thousands of other viral videos.
Content
- American Suck Countdown is a weekly current-events animation series which began life a parody of American Top 40American Top 40American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
for the cable music network MuchMusic USA. During its run on cableCable televisionCable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, viewers were able to vote for the worst videos of the week, but after the series moved to its permanent home online, its focus widened from music to pop culture as a whole. American Suck Countdown has a snide comic tone, featuring irreverent, often vulgar, commentary on pop culture figures, objects and news events. The shorts run approximately three minutes each and employ cutout animationCutout animationCutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs...
based largely on celebrity photographs and stock imagesStock photographyStock photography is the supply of photographs licensed for specific uses. It is used to fulfill the needs of creative assignments instead of hiring a photographer. Today, stock images can be presented in searchable online databases. They can be purchased and delivered online...
. Each weekly piece is presented as a "Top 10 list", and is (appropriately) narrated by Casey KasemCasey KasemKemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
sound-alike VO talent, Dan Katz. - Archibald of Uranus: A three-part machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
based on the skateboarding video game Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland. In the story, the game’s nameless protagonist plays the role of the titular character, a skater with "sweet skills", visiting earth in a quest to destroy French-Canadian pop singer Celine Dion, save the skaters of the world from the wrath of the game’s heavily-tattooed villain, and hook up with "easy Earth bitches." The shorts feature much wordplay on the term "Uranus." - Behind the Music that Sucks: An ongoing series of comic pieces conceived as a parody of VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's popular biography show Behind the MusicBehind the MusicBehind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
. Behind the Music that SucksBehind the Music that SucksBehind the Music that Sucks is an ongoing series of comic pieces produced by, and appearing on, Heavy.com, a broadband entertainment website. The segments feature humorous jabs at pop stars and celebrities. The shorts run approximately three minutes each and employ cutout animation based largely on...
has a snide comic tone, featuring irreverent jabs at pop stars and celebrities. The shorts run approximately three minutes each and employ cutout animationCutout animationCutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs...
based largely on celebrity photographs and stockStock photographyStock photography is the supply of photographs licensed for specific uses. It is used to fulfill the needs of creative assignments instead of hiring a photographer. Today, stock images can be presented in searchable online databases. They can be purchased and delivered online...
images. - BLISSTER: Clip reels of Warren MillerWarren Miller (director)Warren Miller is an American ski and snowboarding filmmaker. He is the founder of Warren Miller Entertainment and produced, directed and narrated his films until 1988. His credits include over 750 sports films, several books and hundreds of published non-fiction stories...
-style extreme sportExtreme sportAn extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger...
stunt footage and odd-ball pranks, set to a skate punkSkate punkSkate punk is a sub genre of punk rock, originally a derivative of the West Coast hardcore punk scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture. Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an...
soundtrack. - The Burly Sports Show: Join host Nick Stevens on the sports/comedy wrap-up show covering all the idiocies in today's sports.
- Dr. Philpra, The Colossus Whisperer: An ongoing machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
series based on the medieval action-adventure game Shadow of the ColossusShadow of the ColossusShadow of the Colossus, released in Japan as , is an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was released in North America and Japan in October 2005 and PAL territories in February 2006...
. The game’s protagonist, Wander, portrays Dr. Philpra (a portmanteau of the names of self-help icons Dr. Phil McGrawPhil McGrawPhillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...
and Oprah WinfreyOprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
), a talk show host who confronts the game’s various villains in an effort to get them to face their self-esteem issues. The series’ title is also a play on the 1998 Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
tearjerker, The Horse WhispererThe Horse WhispererThe Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans...
. - The Fun Nugget Variety Show: A series of self-contained machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
skits based on the futuristic game "Ratchet and Clank." - G-Nanny 911: A machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
based on the urban adventure game "True Crime: New York CityTrue Crime: New York CityTrue Crime: New York City is an urban sandbox-style action-adventure videogame published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube consoles and Windows based computers. It is the second game of the True Crime series, released after True Crime: Streets of LA...
." The game’s protagonist, Marcus Reed, portrays the title character, an occupational therapist and motivational expert with a foul mouth and a violent streak, confronting cases of workplace graft, inefficiency and low morale. - Hardtack Montana: The Tourette'sTourette syndromeTourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
Cowboy: A four-part machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
based on the Old West game "GUN." The game’s protagonist, Colton White, portrays the title character, on a quest to avenge the murder of his Canadian sidekick Pico. The main character has Tourette's syndrome, and often spouts random profanityProfanityProfanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
and non sequiturs. - HeavyNews: An ongoing series, focusing on recent news events or comically spinning footage into new fictitious stories. The tone of the series is consistent with Heavy's other original content: irreverent, snarky and pop culture-obsessed. The segments are typically, but not always, hosted by a talking sock puppet (fittingly named “Sock”), stationed behind an upturned cardboard box. Heavy generally generates a new HeavyNews piece daily.
- Kung FauxKung FauxKung Faux is a critically acclaimed comedy television and DVD series created by Mic Neumann that remixes classic kung fu movies with popular music, comic book style editing and video game style special effects, and new voice-over dubbing from primarily hip hop personalities and pop culture...
: A combination of clips from a classic kung fu films and hip hop music meets pop culture comedy mash up, pulled from a television series of the same name seen in over 150 countries worldwide. - Kung Fu Jimmy Chow: An animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
parody series featuring Jimmy Chow in his search for the Purple Lady, a villain who utterly killed his master. - Pimp My Weapon: An on-going series of machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
skits based on the action video game "God of WarGod of War (video game)God of War is an action adventure video game for the PlayStation 2 first released by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division in March 2005...
." In the series, the game’s hero KratosKratosKratos may refer to:*The Greek word κράτος krátos, 'power', which is the second root in words like aristocrat and democracy. Its mythological personification was the god Kratos, a son of Styx.*Kratos MS 50, a tool for Electron ionization...
- originally based on a character from Greek mythologyGreek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
- portrays Ron Johnson, one-half of a handyman duo hosting a segment on weapon use and maintenance for the fictitious "How-To" Network. Both Kratos / Johnson and his equally fierce-looking, sword-wielding sidekick Stan Grossman speak with heavy Minnesotan accents. Pimp My Weapon was created in conjunction with SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, the game’s creator, for both entertainment and marketing purposes in 2005, becoming one of the first machinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
created to serve both purposes. - Superficial Friends: An on-going series of animated shorts spoofing both the classic Super FriendsSuper FriendsSuper Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
cartoons and a quintet of controversial celebrities: Paris HiltonParis HiltonParis Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, Nicole RichieNicole RichieNicole Camille Richie is an American fashion designer, author, actress, singer and television personality. Her father was Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her mother Karen was the executive assistant for Sheila Escovedo...
, Lindsay LohanLindsay LohanLindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
and The Olsen Twins. In the series, the girls are portrayed as exceedingly promiscuous, bulemic, spoiled, self-centered, and out-of-touch, as well as having some unusual superpowers. These include Richie's hypercorrosive vomit, Lohan's punch-throwing breasts and the Olsen Twins' ability to turn into former Full HouseFull HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
co-star Bob SagetBob SagetRobert Lane "Bob" Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Although he is best known for his roles as Danny Tanner in Full House, host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, Saget is also known outside of television for his blue...
.
Key Executives
Simon Assaad,David Carson
David Carson
David Carson may refer to:*David Carson , American graphic designer*David Carson , British television director*David Carson , British climatologist...
,
Joey Jodar,
Matt Heindl,
Nick Fortunato,
Jimmy Jellinek.