Heat Vision and Jack
Encyclopedia
Heat Vision and Jack was a proposed 1999 comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

/sci-fi television show directed by Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

 and starring Jack Black
Jack Black (actor)
Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has two albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally...

, Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

, and Ron Silver
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...

. Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor-Stiller is an American actress.- Early life :Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Skip Taylor, an owner of a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania...

 and Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...

 guest starred in the pilot episode, the only episode filmed. While the Fox Network didn't pick up the show, the pilot gained a cult status and an online following. The show was written and executive produced by Dan Harmon
Dan Harmon
Dan Harmon is a writer and performer. He is the creator and an executive producer for the NBC television comedy series Community, and, along with Rob Schrab, a founder of the alternative television network/website Channel 101....

 and Rob Schrab
Rob Schrab
Rob Schrab is a comic book creator, actor, comedian, writer, and film and television producer. Schrab grew up in Mayville, Wisconsin. He is known as the creator of the comic book, Scud: The Disposable Assassin, co-writer of the feature film Monster House, the unaired pilot Heat Vision and Jack,...

, of Scud: The Disposable Assassin
Scud: The Disposable Assassin
Scud: The Disposable Assassin is a humorous, hyperkinetic science fiction comic by Rob Schrab about a world in which one can buy robot assassins out of vending machines, the most popular of which are intelligent robots that kill a specified target and then self-destruct.The protagonist of the...

, Channel 101
Channel 101
Channel 101 is a non-profit short film festival in Los Angeles, which also has a sister festival in NYC, Channel 101: NY. Channel 101 is a creation of Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab in which participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot under five minutes in length...

, "Dead Alewives
Dead Alewives
The Dead Alewives was an improvisational comedy troupe during the 1980s and 1990s from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They did not get a lot of press during their active life, but some of the group's individual members went on to become noteworthy since the group's breakup.The Dead Alewives began as a...

", and The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program
The Sarah Silverman Program is an American television series that starred comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the series with Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab...

fame. It was featured as a part of the mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

 "Tropic Thunder - Rain of Madness
Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film...

"
, only stating that the character of "Jeff Portnoy" played the role of Jack Austin. According to a March 27, 2007 interview with Rob Schrab, a script for the Heat Vision and Jack feature film is in the works.

Characters

  • Jack Austin, a former astronaut
    Astronaut
    An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

    . He was exposed to inappropriate levels of solar energy
    Solar power
    Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...

    , giving him superintelligence
    Superintelligence
    A superintelligence, hyperintelligence or superhuman intelligence is a hypothetical entity which possesses intelligence surpassing that of any existing human being...

    . He appears to lose this intelligence at night, requiring only Earth-normal levels of daylight to reactivate it. His catchphrases are "I know EVERYTHING!" and "Knowledge is power... for real." Played by Jack Black.
  • Heat Vision, a talking motorcycle
    Motorcycle
    A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

    . He was created when Jack's unemployed roommate Doug was shot by a ray, causing him to merge with his motorcycle. He is capable of speech and can fight by ramming into opponents. He is unable to use doorknobs and is unable to right himself if pushed over. Voiced by Owen Wilson
    Owen Wilson
    Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

    .
  • Ron Silver
    Ron Silver
    Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...

    , the main villain. He works for NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

    , and will stop at nothing to capture or kill Jack Austin, but he also dabbles in acting, perhaps as a diversion, perhaps as a cover. He appears to be invulnerable, shrugging off the threat of being shot and later displaying great annoyance but no injury or pain when he actually is shot. Played by himself.
  • An unnamed sheriff, played by guest star Christine Taylor
    Christine Taylor
    Christine Taylor-Stiller is an American actress.- Early life :Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Skip Taylor, an owner of a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania...

    . Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, now husband and wife, met on the set of Heat Vision and Jack.
  • A cook named Frank, who becomes possessed by an alien broadcast and thereafter calls himself Paragon. Played by Vincent Schiavelli
    Vincent Schiavelli
    Vincent Andrew Schiavelli was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television often described as "the man with the sad eyes." He was notable for his numerous and often critically acclaimed cameo appearances.-Early life:Schiavelli was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a...

    .

Plot breakdown

The pilot opens with a monologue of Ben Stiller talking about his canceled show and the Emmy award he won and sarcastically criticizing George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...

. The show then opens and explains how Heat Vision came into existence and Jack's new powers which he got while in space, an homage to the Fantastic Four. The opening credits visually reference both The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...

and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is an American science fiction adventure television series produced by Universal Studios. The series ran for two seasons between 1979–1981, and the feature-length pilot episode for the series was released as a theatrical film several months before the series aired....

.

A police officer says to Ron Silver: "I just rented Timecop
Timecop
Timecop is a 1994 science-fiction thriller film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson was also executive producer...

. You were the bad guy in Timecop."

Stiller has a cameo role as the DJ in a strip club where Paragon attacks multiple strippers and club patrons.

The credits have a number of tongue in cheek inside jokes including:
  • The initial episode's title as Episode 14: The Eyes of Paragon
    The Eye of Argon
    The Eye of Argon is a heroic fantasy novella that narrates the adventures of Grignr, a barbarian. It was written in 1970 by Jim Theis and circulated anonymously in science fiction fandom since then...

    .
  • Ron Silver's opening credit reads "And Introducing Ron Silver as Himself"
  • Jack's last name and profession are a reference to Steve Austin
    Steve Austin (fictional character)
    Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man.-Background:...

    , the Six Million Dollar man.
  • Heat Vision is seen watching an episode of Doctor Who
    Doctor Who
    Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

     that featured the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks
    Genesis of the Daleks
    Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...

    .
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