Jackass premiered 20 years ago today on MTV

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/01/jackass-at-20-disgusting-childish-dangerous-and-heartwarming

"The very first episode of MTV’s Jackass, airing on 1 October 2000, bore the striking title 'Poo Cocktail' – referring to a stunt in which Johnny Knoxville is strapped into an excrement-filled porta potty, which is then upended by a forklift truck," says Hannah Woodhead. "Back on solid ground, he emerges triumphantly, covered in human (and dog) waste, and immediately starts to chase the rest of the cast and crew. While showering off – aided by two men in hazmat suits – Knoxville is asked by the cameraman how he thinks it went. “It was disgusting, it was horrible. I was awash in a sea of poo,” he replies, grinning all the while. When the second episode aired the following week and MTV achieved its highest-ever Sunday night ratings, a ragtag group of pranksters from across the United States instantly became icons to legions of fans entertained by their gross-out antics and unusually high pain tolerance. While America’s Funniest Home Videos (first broadcast in 1989, based on a segment from the Japanese variety show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan) had tapped into the growing appetite for reality-based physical comedy, and prank shows had been popular with audiences since Candid Camera first aired some five decades earlier, Jackass sent shockwaves due to the extremity of the antics which made up its runtime."