Here Comes The Judge

I caught the first episode of Mike Judge Presents: Tales From The Tour Bus on Cinemax.  As the title suggests, each episode tells us stories about a musical act.  And being presented by Mike Judge, much of it is done via animation--even the sit-down interviews are turned into cartoons.  There are also old photos and footage tossed in occasionally.

The first episode tells the story of Johnny Paycheck.  I'm not a fan of country (Judge deals with this directly in his introduction, saying even if you don't like the music, the stories might be worth watching), so I had no idea Paycheck was such a hell raiser.  He had a fair amount of success, but also had substance abuse problems and a violent streak that got him tossed in jail more than once.

I found the show fairly entertaining, and, in its own way, educational.  Next week will be Jerry Lee Lewis.  I know a lot more about him (and I like his music--at least his rock and roll), but who knows what will be revealed?

Later episodes feature names like George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Waylon Jennings, so it seems that Judge will be concentrating on country music.  Either he's a big fan, or he knows there are stories about these acts that are not often told or not well known (compared to rock or rap, where excess is their stock in trade).  Based on the first episode, they should be worth checking out.