Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published
For decades, HBO’s first scripted comedy series, 1990’s The Dream is Onit was an internet legend. This series was not available anywhere. Not because of nudity, or profanity, but copyrighted movie clips and music. That’s why fans were surprised when The Roku Channel appeared, and unlike the version that aired on Comedy Central, the original, uncensored version that aired on HBO.
If you haven’t heard The Dream is Onyou probably know the show whose creators, Martha Kaufmann and David Crane, put together after the end of the comic strip. A little sitcom called Friends.
Dream On Took Sitcoms In A Wild New Way
Friends defined a traditional sitcom, and it would be easy to say that The Dream is On he went to the other side and the meeting was bucked, but it is not. The show follows Martin Tupper (Brian Benben), a book editor who is madly in love with his ex-wife, Judith (Wendy Malick). Martin’s adventures, which include returning to the dating scene, trying to raise his teenage son with Judith, and navigating a stumbling work environment, are all familiar sitcom tropes. Except for the movies and TV clips that are going on. And nudity.
Dream On The gimmick is that Martin was raised in front of the television so much that his inner monologue comes out of old black and white clips. They move from the beginning to “Trojan War” which features a romantic clip from Rod Serling The Twilight Zone to Marilyn Monroe Others Like It Hot. In one scene, there can be a dozen quick cuts, sometimes showing Martin’s reactions, sometimes as his answers. It’s a running gag, and the production team was creative with its choices, delving deep into Hollywood history to find unexpected clips.
Saved to the Dustbin of History
Each episode is not only about sex, but most of them are talking. Martin’s dating life is the most fictional part of the series. Like Jerry Seinfeld, he has a string of girlfriends way out of his league, but unlike Jerry, he’s been shown having sex (sometimes with disastrous results). No other ’90s sitcom had to deal with the ethical dilemma of finding a video of a popular children’s game enjoying some adult time. That’s the plot of Season 4’s double-sized opening.
HBO was not yet a media juggernaut at the time The Dream is On was released in 1990, and at the time, “HBO Original Programming” was essentially a documentary. The risqué comedy series opened the door to the network’s rise in the late ’90s Sex and the City again The Sopranosand apart from the adventures of Martin Tupper, Friends it wouldn’t exist like it does today.
Comedy Central aired the series in a heavily edited format, with both nudity and language, from 1996 to 1999, then last The Dream is On. Quietly, the series made it to The Roku Channel, but it was missing a few episodes. A few weeks later, and those were ready to stream, giving everyone complete access to the entire unedited, uncensored series for the first time in decades.
