Just Say Julie
Encyclopedia
Just Say Julie was an American
combination comedy/music video show starring and created by comedian and singer Julie Brown
. The series aired from 1989 to 1992 on MTV
in the United States, where it aired on Friday nights during its run.
and Debbie Gibson were frequently mocked. Another notable example: after playing a Sheena Easton
video, Brown quipped that "maybe we should all sleep with Prince
so he'll write songs for us." Easton, whose songs were produced by Prince (including "Sugar Walls
"), was reputedly outraged, although she would appear as herself in one episode of the series. In another episode Julie provides a running commentary as Tawny Kitaen
while the Whitesnake
video, 'Here I Go Again
' plays, saying "Here's my boyfriend David Coverdale
... He's the reason I model in a video, because I'm sleeping with him." Julie would also aim barbs at the MTV audience, such as in 'The Nuclear Show': "Hello, MTV-ers. Let's talk about personal hygiene a moment, shall we? For you MTVers that simply means taking a bath. ...You may not care about the way you smell, but think about your co-workers who have to be close to you behind the counter at Burger Boy. Don't they count"'
A popular target was Madonna
; Brown insinuated that the young boy in her Cherish
video was the love child of Madonna and a dolphin. In the episode "How to Date" Julie says "Don't underestimate the value of parking in cars. Look what it did for Madonna!", and in "The Nuclear Show": "There's more to life than watching MTV, shoplifting and having meaningless sex with people you don't know or care about. Right, Madonna?" Brown would go on to do a scathing mockumentary
of Madonna called Medusa: Dare to be Truthful
.
Most episodes would also feature a "plot" that was used to string together the videos. In one episode, Julie sells her soul to the devil. In another, a blonde supermodel thinks too hard and accidentally blows her brain out of her ear and onto the floor. In the episode "Just Say Bon Jovi" Julie claims to be Jon Bon Jovi
's girlfriend, and plays only Bon Jovi
videos. At the end of the show Jon Bon Jovi
appears via video to thank Julie for her support, although he initially confuses her with Downtown Julie Brown
. During the run she hosted two editions of "Julie's Choice For The Julie's" a parody of the Emmy's complete with a song and dance from Brown.
She even got her chance to show the video for her 1984 song that MTV refused to air, "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun
", in the episode 'My Evil Twin' where her "sister" Debi (the "Homecoming Queen" from the video, who was "shot" to death, but survived) escaped a mental institution to seek revenge on Julie, and succeeded.
Another recurring gag was that each episode would include a product ostensibly endorsed by a popular celebrity, but which was inherently flawed. For instance Julie enjoyed a new breakfast cereal called "Prince Puffs", but found a fly inside the box; when the fly was exposed to Julie's "Sheenapoo" (Sheena Easton shampoo) it became a mutant.
At times Brown was jealous of having her show on the same network that featured another person with the same name, "Downtown Julie Brown
", who was the host of Club MTV
and whom she would refer to as the "Evil Julie Brown". That 'rivalry' would result in an episode in which the two would meet face to face.
Many celebrities found their way to Julie's condo including "Weird Al" Yankovic (in the pilot), Michael McKean, Gene Simmons, Linda Blair, Kip Winger, MTV VJ Martha Quinn, and Elvira.
The show served to make way for the persona Brown became known for: an egocentric, over-the-top, kooky valley girl with an attitude. She would take this character into her film Earth Girls Are Easy
, which is considered Brown's crowning achievement in mocking the valley girl
persona.
Toward the end of the series run she adopted the "Eco-Gal" persona and along with "Recycle Man" they drove around looking for wrongdoers (like spotting Stevie Nicks twirling around in her driveway and throwing her mail all over the ground).
In 2006 Brown bought the rights to the show and released a DVD called "The Very Best of Just Say Julie Volume 1". The DVD is available exclusively through her website and was released by "Just Say Julie Productions".
- Star of the show, a valley girl with attitude.
Larry Poindexter
- Plays cute guys Julie would usually flirt with, like the Nuclear Technician in 'The Nuclear Show' or Recycle Man in 'Eco Girl and Recycle Man'. He is introduced in 'How to Date' as: 'Musician, actor and man about Hollywood, Larry Poindexter.'
Stacey Travis
- Longtime friend of Julie Brown, she is in almost all of her videos. On the show she plays cute blondes like the model Lake Arrowhead in 'How to be a Model', Sissy White in 'Just Say Bon Jovi 2' and Ashley in 'Salute to Animals'.
Charlie Coffey
- The associate producer of the show, he usually plays the stage manager, as in 'The PMS Show' and 'Just Say Bon Jovi 2'.
Jodi Carlisle
- Plays 'Mom' types, such as a contest winner that Julie gives a make-over to in 'How to Be a Model', and Abbey Landers, the advice columnist that attacks Larry in 'How to Date'.
Celia Arden - Julie's real-life Mom appears as herself in some episodes, such as 'Popo the Clown' and 'My Very Own Movie'.
Paul Brown
- Julie's real-life brother plays himself on the show. He is usually broke and tries to borrow money from Julie, as in 'How to be a Model' and 'My Very Own Movie'.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
combination comedy/music video show starring and created by comedian and singer Julie Brown
Julie Brown
Julie Ann Brown is an American actress, comedienne, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, television director. Brown is perhaps best known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl character...
. The series aired from 1989 to 1992 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the United States, where it aired on Friday nights during its run.
Series background
Though Brown was considered an MTV VJ, her only function in playing videos came through her show. The show was extremely popular because it went against MTV's image of playing patsy to popular artists of questionable talent. Brown, as a satirical valley-girl version of herself, would often introduce or speak after a video with negative, scathing comments about the artist. Teen stars like TiffanyTiffany (singer)
Tiffany Renee Darwish , known popularly as Tiffany, is an American singer and former teen icon. She is most notable for her 1987 cover version of "I Think We're Alone Now", originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967. Released as the second single from her eponymous album, Tiffany,...
and Debbie Gibson were frequently mocked. Another notable example: after playing a Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
video, Brown quipped that "maybe we should all sleep with Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
so he'll write songs for us." Easton, whose songs were produced by Prince (including "Sugar Walls
Sugar Walls
"Sugar Walls" is the second single from Sheena Easton's 1984 album A Private Heaven that spent 9 weeks on the pop chart.A top ten hit in the United States on both the pop and R&B charts, the song was composed by Prince, utilizing the pseudonym "Alexander Nevermind"...
"), was reputedly outraged, although she would appear as herself in one episode of the series. In another episode Julie provides a running commentary as Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
while the Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
video, 'Here I Go Again
Here I Go Again
"Here I Go Again" is a #1 hit song recorded by Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded yet another time that year in a new "radio-mix" version...
' plays, saying "Here's my boyfriend David Coverdale
David Coverdale
David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
... He's the reason I model in a video, because I'm sleeping with him." Julie would also aim barbs at the MTV audience, such as in 'The Nuclear Show': "Hello, MTV-ers. Let's talk about personal hygiene a moment, shall we? For you MTVers that simply means taking a bath. ...You may not care about the way you smell, but think about your co-workers who have to be close to you behind the counter at Burger Boy. Don't they count"'
A popular target was Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
; Brown insinuated that the young boy in her Cherish
Cherish (Madonna song)
"Cherish" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the third single from her fourth studio album Like a Prayer on August 1, 1989, by Sire Records. The song was also included on the 1990 compilation album The Immaculate Collection and the two-disc edition of her 2009...
video was the love child of Madonna and a dolphin. In the episode "How to Date" Julie says "Don't underestimate the value of parking in cars. Look what it did for Madonna!", and in "The Nuclear Show": "There's more to life than watching MTV, shoplifting and having meaningless sex with people you don't know or care about. Right, Madonna?" Brown would go on to do a scathing 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...
of Madonna called Medusa: Dare to be Truthful
Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful
Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful is an American 1992 mockumentary film starring comedienne Julie Brown as the title character, with Kathy Griffin and Donal Logue in supporting roles...
.
Most episodes would also feature a "plot" that was used to string together the videos. In one episode, Julie sells her soul to the devil. In another, a blonde supermodel thinks too hard and accidentally blows her brain out of her ear and onto the floor. In the episode "Just Say Bon Jovi" Julie claims to be Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
's girlfriend, and plays only Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
videos. At the end of the show Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
appears via video to thank Julie for her support, although he initially confuses her with Downtown Julie Brown
Downtown Julie Brown
Julie Dorne Brown, also known as Downtown Julie Brown , is an English actress and former MTV VJ.Of mixed race, Brown's father, Valentine Brown, was Jamaican and her mother, Doreen, is white...
. During the run she hosted two editions of "Julie's Choice For The Julie's" a parody of the Emmy's complete with a song and dance from Brown.
She even got her chance to show the video for her 1984 song that MTV refused to air, "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun
The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun
"The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" is a 1984 song by American singer–comedian Julie Brown parodying 1950s "teen tragedy" songs.The song and music video—both released more than a decade before school shootings became real-life events— revolve around a teenaged Valley girl's oblivious...
", in the episode 'My Evil Twin' where her "sister" Debi (the "Homecoming Queen" from the video, who was "shot" to death, but survived) escaped a mental institution to seek revenge on Julie, and succeeded.
Another recurring gag was that each episode would include a product ostensibly endorsed by a popular celebrity, but which was inherently flawed. For instance Julie enjoyed a new breakfast cereal called "Prince Puffs", but found a fly inside the box; when the fly was exposed to Julie's "Sheenapoo" (Sheena Easton shampoo) it became a mutant.
At times Brown was jealous of having her show on the same network that featured another person with the same name, "Downtown Julie Brown
Downtown Julie Brown
Julie Dorne Brown, also known as Downtown Julie Brown , is an English actress and former MTV VJ.Of mixed race, Brown's father, Valentine Brown, was Jamaican and her mother, Doreen, is white...
", who was the host of Club MTV
Club MTV
Club MTV was a half hour television show molded after American Bandstand that aired on MTV between the years 1985 and 1992. Club MTV was part of MTV's second generation of programming when they were phasing out the original 5 VJs and introducing new ones.-Background and format:Hosted by Downtown...
and whom she would refer to as the "Evil Julie Brown". That 'rivalry' would result in an episode in which the two would meet face to face.
Many celebrities found their way to Julie's condo including "Weird Al" Yankovic (in the pilot), Michael McKean, Gene Simmons, Linda Blair, Kip Winger, MTV VJ Martha Quinn, and Elvira.
The show served to make way for the persona Brown became known for: an egocentric, over-the-top, kooky valley girl with an attitude. She would take this character into her film Earth Girls Are Easy
Earth Girls Are Easy
Earth Girls Are Easy is a 1988 American musical comedy film directed by Julien Temple. It stars Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Michael McKean, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans. The film is marketed with the tagline "An out-of-this-world, down-to-earth comedy adventure"...
, which is considered Brown's crowning achievement in mocking the valley girl
Valley girl
Valley Girl is a stereotype leveled at a socio-economic and ethnic class of American women who can be described as colloquial English-speaking and materialistic...
persona.
Toward the end of the series run she adopted the "Eco-Gal" persona and along with "Recycle Man" they drove around looking for wrongdoers (like spotting Stevie Nicks twirling around in her driveway and throwing her mail all over the ground).
In 2006 Brown bought the rights to the show and released a DVD called "The Very Best of Just Say Julie Volume 1". The DVD is available exclusively through her website and was released by "Just Say Julie Productions".
Cast
Julie BrownJulie Brown
Julie Ann Brown is an American actress, comedienne, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, television director. Brown is perhaps best known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl character...
- Star of the show, a valley girl with attitude.
Larry Poindexter
Larry Poindexter
Larry Poindexter is an American actor and singer born and raised in Dallas, Texas.-Life and career:Poindexter is currently best known for his role in 2003's S.W.A.T., where he played by the book LAPD Captain Tom Fuller who went head to head with Samuel Jackson's Hondo...
- Plays cute guys Julie would usually flirt with, like the Nuclear Technician in 'The Nuclear Show' or Recycle Man in 'Eco Girl and Recycle Man'. He is introduced in 'How to Date' as: 'Musician, actor and man about Hollywood, Larry Poindexter.'
Stacey Travis
Stacey Travis
Stacey Travis is an American actress whose films include Earth Girls Are Easy , Hardware , The Super , Traffic , and Ghost World . Travis starred on the comedy TV series Just Say Julie from 1989–1992 where she played a variety of characters...
- Longtime friend of Julie Brown, she is in almost all of her videos. On the show she plays cute blondes like the model Lake Arrowhead in 'How to be a Model', Sissy White in 'Just Say Bon Jovi 2' and Ashley in 'Salute to Animals'.
Charlie Coffey
Charlie Coffey
Charles E. "Charlie" Coffey was the head coach of the Virginia Tech football program from 1971 to 1973. During his three-season tenure, Coffey compiled a 12-20-1 record. After he arrived in Blacksburg, Coffey established a potent passing attack, which resulted in Hokies quarterback Don Strock...
- The associate producer of the show, he usually plays the stage manager, as in 'The PMS Show' and 'Just Say Bon Jovi 2'.
Jodi Carlisle
Jodi Carlisle
Jodi Carlisle is an American actress. She appeared in several television and film roles since 1982.-Voice work:Voice actress Jodi Carlisle has been doing voice work for a number of years, beginning on the cartoon series Pac Man in 1982...
- Plays 'Mom' types, such as a contest winner that Julie gives a make-over to in 'How to Be a Model', and Abbey Landers, the advice columnist that attacks Larry in 'How to Date'.
Celia Arden - Julie's real-life Mom appears as herself in some episodes, such as 'Popo the Clown' and 'My Very Own Movie'.
Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
- Julie's real-life brother plays himself on the show. He is usually broke and tries to borrow money from Julie, as in 'How to be a Model' and 'My Very Own Movie'.