The Edge (Fox) Information

The Edge is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Mirkin which ran on the Fox Network from 1992 to 1993.

Synopsis

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

Production

The show was created by David Mirkin and Julie Brown; the two were in a relationship at the time. 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. The Edge was canceled after 18 episodes, leaving two unaired.

Controversy

Producer Aaron Spelling threatened to sue the show over its lampoons of his TV show Beverly Hills 90210. He objected to its "tasteless" humor, which included an impersonation of his daughter and the show's lead actress 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." According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, executive producer Mirkin was "forced off the show" due to this negative reaction of Spelling and others. 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.

Production notes

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.