Posted in: Apple, TV | Tagged: ben stiller, heat vision and jack, Severance

Severance: Ben Stiller Talks Failed Jack Black/Owen Wilson TV Pilot

Severance director/EP Ben Stiller discusses his failed TV pilot, 'Heat Vision and Jack,' starring Jack Black and the voice of Owen Wilson.

Ben Stiller has always been a creative force in front and behind the camera. While most associate him with his on-screen roles as an actor with memorable roles on Zoolander (2001), Tropic Thunder (2008), Dodgeball (2004), and Mystery Men (1999), he's also had an equal hand directing and producing content from his self-titled MTV sketch comedy series The Ben Stiller Show, the romantic comedy Reality Bites (1994), and underrated Jim Carrey-starred dark comedy The Cable Guy. While promoting season two of Dan Erickson's dystopian AppleTV+ series Severance, Siller spoke to Late Night's Seth Meyers about the one pilot that got away in Heat Vision and Jack, which starred Jack Black and features the voice of his Zoolander co-star Owen Wilson.

Severance Director Ben Stiller Reflects on "Heat Vision and Jack"

"'Heat Vision and Jack,' this was a VHS tape in the comedy community," Meyers began. "That was a huge deal, and this is early…I think maybe the first time any of us saw Jack Black." "Yeah, this is 26 years ago," Stiller responded before turning to the audience, "Does anybody know what this thing is?" After a handful of cheers, "It's a pilot that was never picked and it starred Jack Black as an astronaut. It was created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, and [Jack's] an astronaut who flies too close to the sun. So when he comes back to Earth, his brain expands when the sun is up and he becomes the smartest man in the world. When the sun goes down, he's a normal human. His friend , who was an astronaut got melded into a motorcycle and it's the voice of Owen Wilson. The hot sheriff is my wife, Christine Taylor, who I met when we made this pilot, and Ron Silver is the bad guy."

As far as the format, Stiller explained, "The style of the show was as it was made in the early 1970s" before thanking Meyers for plugging the "26-year-old project." The segment closes with Meyers suggesting that it's better late than never for the pilot to be picked up, which I would have to agree with him in the content-starved age of streaming. At the very least, it would definitely work for Adult Swim. For more, including the long buildup to season two of Severance, Stiller's 2018 Showtime series Escape at Dannemore, and The Ben Stiller Show, you can check out the video.

Those curious about Heat Vision and Jack can check it out on YouTube. Before the pilot starts, Stiller recorded an introduction in which he brags about his Emmy before discussing the show's premise. Severance, which stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette streams Fridays on AppleTV+.

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