Herman's Head
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| Herman's Head | |
|---|---|
 Herman's Head title card |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Starring | William Ragsdale Hank Azaria Jane Sibbett Yeardley Smith Molly Hagan Ken Hudson Campbell Rick Lawless Peter Mackenzie Jason Bernard |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 71 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 Minutes (approx.) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | September 8, 1991 – April 21, 1994 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Herman's Head is a sitcom that aired on the FOX network from 1991 to 1994.
As FOX was a relatively young network, they were able to experiment with the show's format, allowing for a unique device: whenever Herman, the main character, had an important decision to make, the TV audience would be shown a "Greek chorus" style dramatization of his thought process featuring four actors representing differing aspects of his psyche.
Though the show suffered from poor ratings and many viewers felt that the quirky format was exhausted after two seasons, the show is remembered for its unique device.
The show was also shown on Channel 4 in the UK between 1993 and 1994, and M-Net in South Africa.
Contents |
[edit] The Psyche
The characters acting out Herman's emotions each represented a different aspect of his personality. As they were supposed to be one-sided, they often were lacking in other areas of their character, which led to frequent squabbles among the individual aspects. The concept of inner conflict within a person is a common psychological concept; it is explored in Sigmund Freud's concepts of Ego, Superego and Id, and Eric Berne's Transactional analysis.
- Angel represented his sensitivity. As the only female character in his brain, Angel also represented his feminine side, or in Jungian terms the anima, and sometimes used this fact to manipulate the male characters.
- Animal represented his lust or hunger. He was an archetypal fratboy, and possibly derives his name from Animal House. He usually bullies Wimp.
- Wimp represented his anxiety. He was a paranoid hypochondriac.
- Genius represented his intellect and logic and because of this he clashes with the naive nature of Angel and stupidity of Animal.
[edit] Cast
- William Ragsdale - Herman Brooks
- Hank Azaria - Jay Nichols
- Jane Sibbett - Heddy Newman
- Yeardley Smith - Louise Fitzer
- Jason Bernard - Mr. Paul Bracken
- Molly Hagan - Angel
- Ken Hudson Campbell - Animal
- Rick Lawless - Wimp
- Peter Mackenzie - Genius
- Nik Keating - Ego
[edit] See also
[edit] Trivia
- Both Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith are cast members of The Simpsons, which debuted on FOX two seasons earlier. One episode had Yeardley Smith's character, Louise, saying to an anonymous caller that "I do not sound like that Lisa Simpson character on TV!"
[edit] Cultural Impact
The Simpsons references Herman's Head when Lisa (voiced by Yeardley Smith) is asked what she is laughing at in the episode "Duffless." Her response is that she has just remembered "A joke she saw on Herman's Head". In an episode years later, when trying to revive old television shows, Comic Book Guy exclaims America "needs the wisdom of Herman's Head now more than ever." Further, Lisa is revealed to have a Herman's Head-like Chorus of her own, seen when she's processing feelings of jealousy over Marge's publishing a novel.
The first condom commercial on U.S. television aired during an episode of Herman's Head on 1991. [1]
