Happy Birthday, Liquid Television!

It was 20 years ago today, June 2nd 1991, when MTV first aired its groundbreaking anthology show Liquid Television. It’s gone but not forgotten — how could it be? Among its accomplishments it launched Beavis and Butt-head, Aeon Flux and The Head, and brought artists like Mark Beyer, Richard Sala, Peter Bagge, Drew Friedman and Charles Burns to animation.

I had two personal encounters with Liquid Television, and today’s anniversary gives me an excuse to post them both. First up, I was honored to assist the infamous John Dilworth (Courage The Cowardly Dog) with a segment called Smart Talk With Raisin. I was his “L.A. Production Manager”, which mainly meant helping round up L.A. voice talent (the uncredited Cheryl Chase and Harris Peet) and a studio to record the sound track in. I still don’t completely understand this short – but we had a blast recording it:

My other involvement with the show was in licensing this anime segment (below) to the series. The Running Man by Yoshiaki Kawajiri was a segment of a feature Mani Mani Labyrinth Tales (1989) that Streamline Pictures (my company at the time) was distributing under the title Neo-Tokyo. It’s one of my all-time favorite pieces of Japanese animation – a powerful bit of sci-fi noir that still holds up quite nicely today.

If you have a favorite Liquid Television memory or preferred segment let us know below – and tweet the series a birthday greeting today.