Joe Bob Briggs Intros EVIL TOONS
John Bloom has cultivated a huge following over the past almost 40 years thanks to his Joe Bob Briggs persona. From his review writing in print days, to his show Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel, then Monstervision on TNT, to his writing for various online outlets, and now hosting The Last Drive-In on Shudder, the redneck caricature with the bad jokes and encyclopedic film knowledge has introduced millions to various odd, bad, underseen, and undervalued genre fare while providing humorous and informative anecdotes about the making of these films. So a man that’s been around for over three decades is of course going to run into the work of the prolific Fred Olen Ray which occurred when Joe Bob Briggs hosted EVIL TOONS on Drive-In Theater a little over 30 years ago.
That episode aired October 16, 1992 on The Movie Channel, during Scream Queens Month. Joe Bob was joined by L.A.-based horror regular and budding “Scream Queen” Monique Gabrielle, who plays the ingenue Megan in Ray’s EVIL TOONS. Here they are in the promo for the airing:
For the intro on the night in question, the pair discuss Ray’s movie along with how Gabrielle feels about the term “scream queen,” as some actors who’ve been given such a label find it reductive. Gabrielle doesn’t and it all leads up to Bloom pronouncing of EVIL TOONS: “6 dead bodies. 30 breasts. 3 stars. Rated R. Joe Bob Says ‘check it out.’”
And so, in that vein, I urge you to check out the intro as well, dear reader.
I aim for transparency: I have issues with the dude. But I recognize that folks enjoy him and don’t have those same problems. His Shudder show acts as a way to unify a disparate and geographically scattered group. On that show, Diana Prince is a tremendous ambassador for the horror fans and constantly takes time to interact with the community. Despite my grievances, which I believe are valid (we usually believe that), I can still acknowledge the good he provides and see that this video would interest and appeal to many of our readers.