Joe's Apt.

MTV used to show this little gem during commercial breaks. It's just a silly story of all the roaches that live witha 20 something named Joe. Cleverly executed, this one still holds up almost 10 years later. This short paved the way for the popular long-form commercial that was done to death in the late 1990's. This little show is an example of the innovativeness that MTV has lost in their bid for more money and the pop generation. They used to have more left of center stuff; now it's all commerical pop.

The entire short movie is just Joes apartment date scene you can put the side by side and barely notice a difference except for the actors. I highly recommend Joes apartments actual movie because that is hilarious!

By Dane Youssef

THE COCKROACH is said to be the first living life form there was that is still going strong today. They outlasted the dinosaurs, who had a run of 65 million years. They pre- date the world's oldest profession. They may have been around since the big bang. They can live just about anywhere. They clearly know what they're doing.

I strangely couldn't help but wonder what personal connection the film's author John Payson must've had with these little guys. I'm sure they occupied his first place. He probably couldn't bear to lay out a roach motel or set a bug bomb off. He must've had some kind of strange kismet with them.

Now this one really was a classic. A grand milestone benchmark moment in all of MTV Like the "Aeon Flux" shorts or the very first "Cornholio" episode of "Beavis and Butthead."One of those grand short films back when MTV occasionally showed things that weren't music videos. And then realized, "Hey! We can show things that AREN'T Music Videos." And… then stopped showing music videos altogether.

Many fell in love with roaches—-love at first sight as Joe himself must've. We see them before we meet just about anyone else. This place really belongs to the roaches.

And their good friend Joe finally managed to scare himself up a date tonight and odds are, his association with a legion of cockroaches doesn't assure he's got an active romantic life. But… the roaches want to help. And… it's actually kind of sweet how they do.

It worked so well… Maybe that's… why the full-length orchestrated theatrical version didn't do so well. Too much of a really great thing. A really great thing that… To be fair, everybody who saw it… really did love it.

I remember after it was over… I sure wanted more. I wanted to stay at Joe's Apartment. More than that. I wanted to live there. I wanted those little guys as my roommates, my friends. I wanted to be one of them. Pets, not pests.

Somehow, someway… for some damned reason… we walk away having a lot more affection for those little buggers. Them and guys like Joe. Who knows? Maybe someday… there will be peace among all of us. Probably just before the bomb drops. And… then, there will be total peace on Earth. Except for the cockroaches, who I'm sure will stick around well before and after the next stage of life comes around...

--Loving Joe and All His Little Buds, Dane Youssef