''Hey Joel'' is an American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

television series that aired on VH1 in 2003. It is about Joel Stein, the host of a three-minute rock-star interview show on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

called "3 minutes with Joel". However, he is anything but respectful to his famous guests, often badgering them with aggressive, pointless, irreverent, and insulting questions.

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor. Born into a show business family, he made his film debut with a lead role in ''No Small Affair'' (1984); his breakout role was as Duckie in the John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughe ...

provides the voicing for the part of Joel. His coworkers include Michele ( Daphne Rubin-Vega), his producer, on whom he has a crush; Kevin ( Jacob Tierney), his production assistant; Leif (

Josh Alexander Joshua Lemay (born May 29, 1987), better known by his ring name Josh Alexander, is a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Don Callis Family. He also makes a ...

), his nemesis, who is VH1's star; and Z (

Nancy Giles Nancy Giles is an American actress and commentator, perhaps best known for her appearances in the series '' China Beach'' and on '' CBS News Sunday Morning''. Early life Nancy Giles is a graduate of Oberlin College. Career Giles was a member o ...

), the all-business head of programming. The band

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

performs their own original compositions for the show, and appear as animated characters during the musical sequences. The complete series was made available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on June 24, 2008.

Episodes

# "Judgement Day" # "Tattoos and Taboos" # "Dream" # "Guitar" # "Dark Week" # "Big Rack Attack" # "Business Affairs" # "Joel Sells Out" # "Book'd" # "The Ur-man and the Seal" # "Hockey" # "The Niece" # "Project Televisionary"

Reception

Saying the television series "simply isn't very good", ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

''s Joel Rubinoff stated, "Blending elements of

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

's big-headed Jiminy Glick and

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

's narcissistic super-geek on ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...

'', ''Hey Joel''s attempts at cheeky satire are amusing in small doses but too often come off as grating and overwrought." ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' television critic Rob Salem wrote about the show, "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."

References

External links

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"How I Nearly Killed VH1"
''Time'' magazine article by Joel Stein {{VH1 original programming 2003 American animated television series debuts 2003 American television series endings 2000s American adult animated television series 2000s American animated comedy television series 2000s American musical comedy television series 2000s American workplace comedy television series American adult animated comedy television series American adult animated musical television series American flash adult animated television series American English-language television shows VH1 original programming Television series by Curious Pictures Television series by Lionsgate Canada