16 Crazy Secrets About "Jackass"

The Jackass series is definitely known for the creativity of its stars, among other things. Terrifying, self-destructive creativity. And that creativity was a recipe for success for the guys in the Jackass crew. After a successful TV series, four movies, and a bunch of other specials, they have set up quite the legacy for themselves. Now the Jackass guys are a pretty candid crew, but there are some things you may not know about Jackass – and that’s why we’re here today…

1. Spike Jonze, the man who wrote Her and created Being John Malkovich among other achievements, helped get Jackass off the ground. Jonze and Jackass co-creator Jeff Tremaine were long-time friends and Jonze helped form the idea into a proper TV pitch.

Spike Jonze is the one not wearing a pink plaid suit.

2. The idea for Jackass came from Johnny Knoxville having trouble finding work. Knoxville turned to stunt journalism testing security devices on himself – but only Jeff Tremaine’s magazine Big Brother showed interest, and only if he could film it for his video section.

He was drawing inspiration from his idol, Hunter S. Thompson.

3. There was initially a massive bidding war for the rights to the Jackass TV show. Eventually MTV won, but Comedy Central was also interested, and SNL tried getting Knoxville to record a stunt for their show each week.

Nothing makes you feel more desirable than a bidding war.

4. The original title for the series was going to be A-Holes, but MTV rejected the idea because that would require significantly more censorship, and it’s really hard to advertise a show when you can’t even widely use it’s name.

“The show with no name” just doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.