Hey Joel
An animated satire of a disrespectful rock interview host.
Hey Joel is an American adult animated series that ran on VH1 during 2003. It centers on Joel Stein, the host of a three-minute VH1 interview segment called "3 minutes with Joel." Rather than showing respect, he peppers famous musicians with aggressive, pointless, and insulting questions. Jon Cryer voices Joel. His coworkers include producer Michele (Daphne Rubin-Vega), whom he has a crush on; production assistant Kevin (Jacob Tierney); rival Leif (Josh Alexander), VH1's star; and programming head Z (Nancy Giles). The band Fountains of Wayne provides original music and appears as animated characters during musical sequences. The full series was released on DVD on June 24, 2008.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 22 minutes
- Creator
- Joel Stein
- Starring
- Josh Alexander
- Jon Cryer
- Nancy Giles
- Daphne Rubin-Vega
- Jacob Tierney
- Company
- Curious Pictures
- Six Point Harness
- Blueprint Entertainment
- Theme music
- Fountains of Wayne
- Opening theme
- "Hey Joel" by Fountains of Wayne
- Ending theme
- "Hey Joel" (instrumental)
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Reception
Waterloo Region Records Joel Rubinoff stated the series "simply isn't very good," saying, "Blending elements of Martin Short's big-headed Jiminy Glick and Larry David's narcissistic super-geek on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hey Joels attempts at cheeky satire are amusing in small doses but too often come off as grating and overwrought." Toronto Star television critic Rob Salem wrote, "Does the whole add up to the sum of its parts? Well, yes and no. Given the entire music industry as source for satire, you would hope there would more of that and less of the intentionally annoying Stein." Emily Hutton of The Hamilton Spectator praised the show, writing, "I would definitely check out this show if you get Bravo, because it has the sarcastic humour (think David Spade as a cartoon) that many people enjoy."
More in 2000s American Adult Animated Television Series
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