Heat Vision and Jack

Created originally as a pilot for Fox, created and written by Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon, directed by a young Ben Stiller, and starring (the voice of) Owen Wilson and Jack Black as the leads Heat Vision and Jack respectively. What was in hindsight the set up of a powerhouse of a series, we never got more than the single original episode after Fox passed on the series. Following Jack Austin (Black), a former astronaut who is exposed to solar energy giving him extreme intelligence (but only in the day), and his best friend and talking motorcycle Heat Vision, who was an old roommate shot by a raygun, merging is mind with the bike. Obviously a ridiculous and over-the-top series from the get-go, it reminds me much of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace or Danger 5, in its campy, schlocky style. The jokes are pretty funny for what it was, and Jack Black of course gives a fantastic performance. With Harmon and Schrab behind the writer's room I'm sure this could have turned into a pretty fun ride, and its unfortunately we never got to see it. If you like any of these people, sure, was a fun thing to flip on for as short as it is.

What can be said about Heat Vision and Jack? It's great, it's not good, in any way! But very funny. You have Jack Ausin (Jack Black), a NASA astronaut, who become supersmart in sunlight, because he came to near the sun during a NASA mission. He's buddy (Owen Wilson) has been transformed into a motorcycle. And they are being chased by a NASA hitman, Ron Silver (playing himself). And it's all being directed by Ben stiller.

Great if you like Tenacious D and Ben Stiller's wacky humour.

Ben Stiller came to television with the Ben Stiller show, and despite great reception, it was canceled quickly. He went out and got famous in film, only to come back to television and get canceled again. Heat Vision and Jack takes humor out of it's ridiculous premise, bad dialogue and melodramatic acting, parodying bad television shows, mainly Knight Rider. Where Knight Rider took itself too seriously, Heat Vision and Jack takes nothing seriously at all. It's a stupid, but hilarious joke.

Jack (Jack Black) was formerly an astronaut sent into space on a special mission. When in space, his mind was expanded and now he knows everything. NASA wanted to take his brain, so he called his roommate Doug, who was vaporized into the motorcycle he was driving. At that moment, he ceased to be Doug and he became Heat Vision, the talking motorcycle. In this thrilling adventure, Jack and Heat Vision (voiced by Owen Wilson) are on the tail of a possessed gas station owner (Vincent Schiavelli) that can melt people with his eyes. Along the way, Jack and Heat Vision must avoid Ron Silver who's trying to kill them, and they meet a sheriff (Christine Taylor) who helps them on their journey. Can they survive the chaos? Well, unfortunately the pilot didn't last to become a show.

There really isn't anything wrong with this pilot. The performances are so purposefully bad. Jack Black gives his best serious performance, which ends up seeming like a bad Shatner imitation. Christine Taylor's delivery is late 80s/early 90s stuff, like one of the girls off of Baywatch. Owen Wilson has a good voice, and Ron Silver plays Ron Silver to perfection. Even Ben Stiller has a small role as a DJ. The direction and writing is terrible, but in the context of this spoofy material, it's great.

As long as you know this is a spoof, it's funny. If you somehow missed this....well, it's hard to imagine someone missing that.

My rating: Great show. 31 mins. Not rated, contains some mild sexual content.

When I watched this, I figured it had to be a spoof by Ben Stiller. Stiller, who I don't normally like, had made something so outlandish that it couldn't possibly be real. But it was. And it was incredibly funny. So, Ben Stiller, I might have faith in you after all.

Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Ron Silver and Christine Taylor.... all on TV? Who turned up this idea? Fools, I say. Christine Taylor, for Jiminy's Crickets! And Jack Black... on a talking motorcycle... and he is fighting against "grave danger"! "Apparently the human mind is not unlike cookie dough..." "NASA is evil! They have a man tracking me down. His name is Ron Silver... a gifted actor and a cold-blooded killer." How can you turn down programming like this? I remember 1999 and the only thing even remotely like this was "Son of the Beach"...

This review is horrible and poorly written... lucky for you, this show isn't. Watch it. Or else. NASA is watching you.

Hey, I noticed everyone spotted the spoof of Knight Rider, but did anyone pick up on this - the plot line about getting super powers from the sun after coming close to it in space is lifted straight from another doomed pilot show 'Northstar' - in which a NASA astronaut got hit in the face by a solar flare and then got super powers every time he looked at the sun! The original show I'm talking about was pretty bad... I remember the guy being shown a model of himself to explain what would happen if he stared at the sun for too long... and the model's brain caught fire... Oh, it was quite shocking. Check it out, trivia fans.