Jackass

History

Original series

In the mid 1990s, aspiring actor and writer Johnny Knoxville had moved from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Los Angeles, California, and landed work in commercials in order to support his wife and infant daughter. Among Knoxville's various ideas was to produce and sell a magazine article that involved testing various self-defense equipment on himself as a homage to his hero, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Knoxville pitched the story to several magazines, but each publication refused to cover the story due to severe liability concerns. However, in 1996, Knoxville was contacted by Big Brother, a skateboarding magazine for which Jeff Tremaine was an editor, and Tremaine convinced Knoxville to film his article as a stunt. The stunt featured Knoxville testing out pepper spray, a stun gun, a taser, and a .38 caliber gun with a bulletproof vest, with the gun stunt only being included in the Big Brother video entitled Number Two, which also featured an appearance by future Jackass cast member Jason "Wee Man" Acuña. Other major contributors to Big Brother at this time were Chris Pontius and Dave England, who both went on to become part of the Jackass cast; Dimitry Elyashkevich, who became the show's cinematographer; Rick Kosick, who became a cameraman; Sean Cliver, who became the show's main photographer; and Loomis Fall, who made recurring appearances throughout the Jackass TV show and films.

Around this time, up-and-coming professional skateboarder Bam Margera was filming his family and friends from his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Collectively known as the CKY crew (short for "Camp Kill Yourself"), these home videos were ultimately compiled and released as part of the CKY video series. The videos featured stunts, pranks, and skateboarding with a cast that primarily included Bam, Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Chris "Raab Himself" Raab, Rake Yohn and Margera's family; his mother April, his father Phil, his uncle Vincent "Don Vito", and his older brother and CKY drummer Jess. Like the Big Brother videos, the CKY releases quickly became a cult hit and attracted the attention of Tremaine, who saw the second CKY video, CKY2K, and flew Margera out to Los Angeles to meet with him.

The video convinced Tremaine that the CKY group would fit perfectly with the idea of a stunt and prank television show that he, Knoxville, and Spike Jonze had been planning. After demo footage had been shot and pitched to several networks, Saturday Night Live made an offer to have the Knoxville be a recurring segment on the show instead. He rejected the offer, however, and a subsequent bidding war between Comedy Central, FX, and MTV resulted in the creators accepting a deal from the latter for a half-hour weekly show and greater creative control. Knoxville, Tremaine, and Jonze are credited as executive producers of the series. Van Toffler, president of MTV, said: "We just knew there were a bunch of knuckleheads out there who had a very high tolerance for stupidity and pain."

Films

After the show went off the air in 2001, the cast reunited in 2002 to film what they believed would be the finale of Jackass: a full-length motion picture version of the show entitled Jackass: The Movie. The cast made it clear that the film was their "farewell" to the fans of the show, and with the franchise taking the movie format, the cast and crew were now allowed to circumvent the censors, showing more vulgar stunts than the ones featured on the TV show. Despite earlier disagreements, MTV Films assisted in the film's distribution.

The film, shot on a budget of just $5 million, went on to gross over $60 million in the United States alone, and finished in the #1 spot at the box office during its debut weekend.

With the release of Jackass: The Movie, director Tremaine and the rest of the cast believed that Jackass was finished, and there would be no further projects under the franchise. However, during the final season of Wildboyz, Knoxville joined his former castmates Pontius and Steve-O on various expeditions around the world. It was said that Knoxville went so far out during the filming of the show that Tremaine pulled him aside and said "If you're willing to go this all out, why not get all the guys together and shoot another movie?" Knoxville agreed, and with both Viva La Bam and Wildboyz finishing up their runs, the entire cast was available to reunite and film the sequel.

Jackass Number Two was released on September 22, 2006, produced by MTV Films and distributed by Paramount Pictures. As was the case with its predecessor, Jackass Number Two topped the box office in its debut weekend, earning $29.01 million. Footage for several stunts featured Bam Margera's uncle Vincent "Don Vito" Margera, but this was removed from the theatrical and DVD release due to his arrest and conviction on two counts of sexual assault on a minor.

On September 7, 2006, MTV featured a half-hour documentary entitled The Making of Jackass Number Two. When asked if the film meant the end of Jackass, Steve-O jokingly commented that the people who made money from the franchise still wanted more money, hinting that the cast would still continue the franchise in one form or another. At the conclusion of the documentary, Johnny Knoxville reveals that he "had a hard time letting go" because he is "so hooked on doing stunts." Cinematographer Dimitry Elyashkevich confirmed that weeks after the film, Knoxville was so desperate to shoot that he would film himself running into street signs just for the sake of additional footage.

Television specials

Jackass Backyard BBQ is a TV special that features the entire Jackass cast promoting the first Jackass movie. Dave England did not appear in this special, but archival footage of him is shown. It features celebrity guest appearances from Eric Koston, Tré Cool, Andrew W.K., Slash, Rivers Cuomo, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Danny Masterson. It premiered on MTV in July 2002.

On February 23, 2008, MTV held the TV special, Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover, to coincide with the official launch of Jackassworld.com. The special allowed the core members of Jackass to take over MTV and its studios for 24 hours, broadcasting new pranks and stunts, along with a tribute to stunt man Evel Knievel shot days before.

On May 3, 2009, MTV premiered a documentary titled Steve-O: Demise and Rise about how his life was affected by the use of drugs and alcohol. The documentary was directed by Jackass cinematographer Dimitry Elyashkevich. The show featured home-made video footage of Steve-O using drugs and vandalizing his apartment. In an August 2009 interview with Johnny Knoxville for The Times-Picayune, Knoxville on the topic of Steve-O's recovery and rehabilitation said "He's taking to sobriety like he took to drugs and alcohol, I'm very proud of him. I think we'll see him doing some stuff here really soon. As a matter of fact, I know we are."

A Tribute to Ryan Dunn is a TV movie documentary which aired on November 28, 2011. The film chronicles the life of former cast member Ryan Dunn, who died on June 20, 2011. It features interviews from Dunn's family members, the Jackass cast and crew, and some of the CKY crew members. Never-before-released footage of Dunn was also shown in this documentary.

On July 11, 2021, during Shark Week, the Discovery Channel aired Jackass Shark Week. It featured Jackass cast members Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, and new cast members Sean "Poopies" McInerney and Jasper Dolphin, with Jeff Tremaine and Trip Taylor serving as executive producers, and Dimitry Elyashkevich as camera operator. This Shark Week episode marks the first time someone ever got bit on the show.

On June 15, 2022, Chris Pontius announced that they will be doing another Jackass Shark Week special. It featured Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Poopies, Zach Holmes, Jasper, and his father Compston "Dark Shark" Wilson. It aired on July 24, 2022, on the Discovery Channel.

Cast and crew

Cast

*appears but not as main cast

Controversies

At the time of its first broadcast in 2000, Jackass frequently featured warnings and disclaimers noting that the stunts performed were very dangerous and should not be imitated, while also advising viewers that any stunt video footage sent to the production company would not be opened or viewed. Such warnings not only appeared before and after each episode and after each commercial break, but also in a "crawl" that ran along the bottom of the screen during some especially risky stunts, while also showing the show's signature "skull and crutches" logo at the bottom right of the screen to symbolize the stunt performed as risky. Nevertheless, the program inspired at least one instance of teens imitating a stunt with fatal results.

On February 7, 2001, Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut senator and the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the 2000 presidential election, sent a letter to MTV's parent company Viacom urging the company to take greater responsibility for its programming and to do more to help parents protect their children. MTV responded to the criticism by canceling all airings of Jackass before 10 p.m.; however, Lieberman's continual campaign against the show led to MTV ultimately refusing to air reruns of the later episodes, a move which angered the cast and production crew of the series who were furious with MTV "caving into Lieberman's demands".

In 2002, a Montana man named Jack Ass sued MTV for $10 million, claiming that the show was plagiarizing his name. Jack Ass, whose birth name was Bob Craft (died 2003), officially changed his name in 1997 to raise awareness for drunk driving, after his brother and friend were killed in a car accident. Johnny Knoxville rebuffed the lawsuit stating, "What could be more American than just suing the living shit out of someone for no reason at all?"

The same year, a woman named Wendy Linden sued MTV after she was hired to participate in a skit and was assured that she wouldn't be physically involved; it turned out to be a prank, and she got injured when she got tackled by Dave England. England issued a public apology in response.

On November 23, 2012, Matt-Dillion Shannon, an 18-year-old from Napier, New Zealand, was sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm for his role in the August 2011 dousing of a 16-year-old with gasoline and setting him on fire. Shannon's lawyer claimed that this act was inspired by the Jackass series. Johnny Knoxville volunteered to be lit on fire in Season 1, Episode 3, of the original series in a segment called "Up In Flames", which originally aired on October 15, 2000.

Home media

On December 6, 2005, MTV released a four-disc DVD collection entitled Jackass: The Box Set. This set does not contain the three complete seasons as they originally aired, but rather compilations of various stunts from all three seasons, arranged into 3 volumes. There are also additional features included, such as a commentary track by the cast and crew for numerous stunts. The fourth disc includes additional bonus material, such as the crew's trip to the Gumball 3000 rally (The only 1-hour long episode in the show's history); a special "Where Are They Now?" documentary; MTV Cribs: Jackass Edition, which is an entire episode of Cribs spotlighting Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Bam Margera, and Ryan Dunn; as well as appearances by the crew at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and the 2002 MTV Latin America Video Music Awards. The set also contains a 48-page collector's booklet which includes rare photos and covers the history of the show, as well as various inside stories of certain stunts and moments from the show.

The second and third volumes of this box set had previously been released separately on December 10, 2002, two months after Jackass: The Movie was released in theaters. The first volume was released by itself on January 23, 2006. The fourth "bonus disc" has never been released separately.

Another compilation of stunts from the television series was released on October 11, 2009, entitled Jackass: The Lost Tapes. Again being arranged into individual segments rather than episodes, this collection features all the remaining stunts from the show that weren't included in the original box set, such as "Self Defense Test"; "Stun Collar"; "Fast Food Football"; "Roller Jump"; and "Satan vs. God". In addition to the previously unreleased segments, this collection also includes stunts that were filmed for the TV series, but never aired, primarily due to censorship reasons. The DVD's bonus features include the original cold opens from every televised episode of Jackass, the original credit montages from each televised episode, and an inside look at the short-lived website jackassworld.com, featuring various skits.

Beginning in 2013, various other box sets have been released in the USA and UK that combine the original box set, with or without the bonus disc (Gumball Rally 3000, etc), with the lost tapes disc, and often with all the movies released up to that point (5 or 7), in their unrated expanded versions.

Reception

Legacy

Japanese game developer Goichi Suda (aka SUDA 51) is a fan of Jackass. The main character of the 2007 No More Heroes video game, Travis Touchdown, was inspired by Johnny Knoxville.

Other media

Video games

Jackass: The Game was released on September 24, 2007. It was developed under a license by Sidhe Interactive in Wellington, New Zealand, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS. The game was first shown at the 2006 E3 behind closed doors. It is mentioned in the Jackass Number Two commentary: when discussing the stunt where several members get punched in the face by a spring-loaded boxing glove hidden behind a fake valentine on a wall, the commentator says the cast members had just come upstairs from shooting a promo for the video game. Knoxville and other members of the Jackass team also provided stunt ideas to the developer based on unused stunts from the show. A trailer and the cover art was released in June 2007 on the game's official website. All main characters of the show were featured as playable, except for Bam Margera, whose contractual obligations to Neversoft, makers of the Tony Hawk's franchise, prevented him from appearing in any other video game.

Jackass Human Slingshot is a mobile game available on Android and iOS, and was released on January 20, 2022. In this game, the player controls Johnny Knoxville, who gets launched from a slingshot to get as many injuries as possible in order to progress. The game was developed by BBTV Interactive.

Trading cards

After Jackass Forever premiered in 2022, a Jackass trading card set was released. The set featured autographs of the Jackass Forever cast and crew, and several Jackass Forever guest stars. This set was unique in the sense that special numbered insert cards were given only to cast and crew members, so there was no way to get these extremely rare cards directly from boxes. The only way to get one was directly from one of the cast or crew members.

Podcast

Jackass: The Podcast is an official Jackass podcast, hosted by Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine, with frequent guest appearances from the Jackass cast and main crew members. The first episode released on June 18, 2026.

Related films

CKY (1999–2002)

The CKY video series is a series of videos produced by Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo and other residents of West Chester, Pennsylvania. "CKY" stands for "Camp Kill Yourself". The series was part of the basis for what eventually became the Jackass TV series.

Don't Try This at Home: The Steve-O Video (2001–2004)

Don't Try This at Home: The Steve-O Video is the first DVD by Steve-O, released in 2001. It mostly contains footage that couldn't be shown on related MTV show Jackass, due to censorship. It was followed by Don't Try This at Home Volume 2: The Tour (2002), Steve-O: Out on Bail (2003) and Steve-O: The Early Years (2004). The video series featured recurring guest appearances from the Jackass cast and crew, and from professional skateboarder Ryan Simonetti.

Haggard: The Movie (2003)

Haggard: The Movie is an independent comedy film based on the story of how Ryan Dunn's girlfriend may have cheated on him. The film was financed, directed, produced, co-written, and edited by Bam Margera. The film stars Ryan Dunn, Jenn Rivell, Brandon DiCamillo, Bam Margera, Rake Yohn, and Raab Himself.

National Lampoon's TV: The Movie (2006)

National Lampoon's TV: The Movie is a comedy film that was released in 2006 and features several cast members of Jackass including Steve-O, Preston Lacy, Wee Man, Chris Pontius, Ehren McGhehey and recurring Jackass guest Manny Puig. The film features parodies of many television shows, such as Fear Factor, Cops, MTV Cribs, The Six Million Dollar Man and Miami Vice.

3000 Miles (2007)

3000 Miles is a documentary in which Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn, along with Tony Hawk, Mike Vallely, Mike Escamilla, and Dan Joyce from Dirty Sanchez, race 3000 miles around the world from London to Los Angeles in 8 days in the Gumball 3000 rally.

Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% Is Santa? (2008)

Bam Margera Presents: Where the #$&% Is Santa? is a direct-to-video film about Bam Margera going on a quest to find Santa Claus with the help from Brandon Novak, his elder brother Jess, Chad I Ginsburg, Mark Hanna, Joe Frantz, Missy Rothstein, his parents Phil and April, Seth Meisterman, and his uncle Matt "Shitbirdz" Cole. Jarppi Leppälä and Jukka Hildén from The Dudesons also appear in this movie. If Bam doesn't succeed to find Santa, Mark the Bagger gets his wife Missy as a Christmas present.

Minghags (2009)

Minghags is an independent comedy film that was released in 2009. It was directed, co-written, and edited by Bam Margera. It is a loose sequel to Haggard: The Movie. The film stars Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Don Vito, Rake Yohn, Missy Rothstein, Brandon Novak, Mark the Bagger, Mark Hanna, and Angie Cuturic.

Steve-O: Guilty as Charged (2016)

Steve-O: Guilty as Charged is Steve-O's first comedy special which was released on March 18, 2016. It features him performing various stunts in front of a live audience in a theatre in Austin, Texas, as well as him telling backstories of his career. This special premiered on Showtime.

Action Point (2018)

Action Point is a comedy film featuring Jackass cast members Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius, and new Jackass member Eric Manaka, released in 2018. Knoxville was inspired to make the film after seeing Matt Robertson's 2013 short documentary The Most Insane Amusement Park Ever, about Action Park, a theme park in New Jersey which was notorious for poorly designed, unsafe rides, in addition to employing underaged, undertrained and often under-the-influence staff. Similar to Bad Grandpa, the film features traditional Jackass-style stunts connected by a fictional narrative.

Steve-O: Gnarly (2020)

Gnarly is Steve-O's second stand-up comedy special at the Gothic Theatre in Denver, Colorado. He presented stories, stunts and previously unseen footage to the audience. The special marks the first time the entire cast of Jackass reunited after the death of Ryan Dunn. It was released in 2020 and is available to watch on Steve-O's website.

Steve-O's Bucket List (2023)

In 2021, Steve-O started going on tour throughout the United States. This tour, titled The Bucket List Tour, features Steve-O telling stories and showing stunts that he wasn't allowed to do for Jackass. He occasionally brought other Jackass members as guests for his live shows. He started going to Canada in October 2022, Australia and New Zealand in February 2023, and to the United Kingdom in June and July 2023. It was released on his website on November 14, 2023, making it his third comedy special. Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Preston Lacy, Loomis Fall, and Jeff Tremaine make cameo appearances.