The National Lampoon brand once stood for a funny satirical college humour magazine and quality movies like Animal House and Vacation but, since around the mid-90s, that name has been drug through a ditch filled with dirty needles as its been thrown above the title on numerous worthless productions. Which brings me to TV: The Movie an embarrassing and painful pastiche of parodies of outdated television shows, mock commercials and lame animated sequences that also happens to be a sort of "make work" vanity project for cast members of the popular MTV series, "Jackass".

As co-written by Preston Lacy (otherwise known as 'The fat guy from Jackass') there are a few (very rare) ridiculous chuckles but they're all for naught because the material he's chosen to parody with collaborator/director Sam Maccarone was old hat even when they filmed this four years ago. Are the fans of the vulgar, crude, and stunt-filled show/movies Lacy came from going to get a "Miami Vice" spoof? Probably not. And don't get me started on the fact they've peppered in some actual skateboarding shenanigans to appeal to that audience. But even all these terrible, and awfully drawn-out sketches, aren't nearly as difficult to watch as a parody of "Cribs" where they visit Steve-O's apartment and a later sequence that tries to take the piss out of "Intervention" with him as a drug-addled clown and this is mostly because you can tell that Steve-O isn't actually acting. It's pretty telling that, not long after this arrived on DVD, he entered into rehab for various addictions and mental problems.

We all know that this kind of satire is always going to be hit-or-miss with even the best examples of it (Kentucky Fried Movie, for one) having some passable jokes wedged in with all the good ones. The reverse certainly isn't true here as there's barely any passable jokes wedged amongst all the bullshit. The guys from "Jackass" should've damn well stayed in the realm of jocular stunts and goofing off rather than saddle us with tired spoofs of "Cops", XXX (called here "XXXL" because Lacy is overweight and a super spy - hilarious!) or the various other targets they set their sights on. Another bad decision they make is chopping most of the sketches into bits so they keep reappearing as the flick wears on. This only makes them more excruciating every time they come back on screen but also wears on your patience as many one-joke concepts are beaten to death. Let's just say that, unless you have an affinity for humour involving midgets (granted Jason "Wee Man" Acuna does get the miniscule amount of ashamed laughs I had) or the non-actor stars stumbling around aimlessly there's absolutely nothing here for you.

Considering he's also one of the writers, Lacy gets to appear good chunk of the sketches and how much you're going to be able to tolerate him hinges on what you think of him from his MTV show. Seeing as I've always thought he was one of the weaker elements it's not hard to guess my opinion but he does get to have a bit more variety here than he did on "Jackass". Acuna, as mentioned above, is the most tolerable of the gang and Chris Pontius only appears briefly to portray Jesus in an interview segment spoof. It's also worth nothing that Lee Majors (the "Six-Million-Dollar Man" and "Fall Guy" himself) shows up in multiple skits and, if you're even minutely a fan of his past work, you'll feel sorry for him. Judd Nelson also shows his mug as the host of a "Fear Factor" parody and be on the lookout for Miguel A. Nunez, Jr. (who horror fans will remember playing Spider in Return of the Living Dead) during the aforementioned "Miami Vice" sketch.

Even if you find yourself compelled by sheer curiosity I implore you to not give into such whims. I did and all it got me was 86 minutes I could have spent driving rusty nails into my skull - in fact, that would probably have been a Hell of a lot more enjoyable. (Chris Hartley, 11/25/10)

Directed By: Sam Maccarone.
Written By: Preston Lacy, Sam Maccarone.

Starring: Preston Lacy, Steve-O, Jason Acuna, Lee Majors.