jackassworld

I’m not so sure this will be construed as the best possible tribute paid to the passing of Paul Newman, but it’s all we really have to work with and it was one of those pieces that helped launched jackass in some critically abhorred form or another. The “50 Egg Challenge” was, as many should know by now, inspired by a scene from the movie Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman long before he became a salad dressing magnate. This segment was “filmed” in early summer 2000, prior to our being staffed with the formal production crew spearheaded by Trip Taylor (look for former pilot production supervisor Greg Wolf manning the boom in the background), but here’s the original treatment that was written and submitted for MTV approval once we were all squared away on the legal books in July:

“Borrowing the general idea from the movie Cool Hand Luke, Johnny Knoxville hosts the ‘50 Egg Challenge,’ where he puts Luke’s theory to the test that ‘no man can eat 50 eggs in one hour.’ Three brave contestants have stepped up to the ovo-challenge, the first being Chris Nieratko, a darkhorse candidate to win with his formidable techniques of eating and puking. Next up is Preston Lacy, a large lad who proudly touts that ‘size matters,’ which, given the critical success of the movie that bore the very same tag line—the North American iguanodon-ish Godzilla (1998)—Preston’s chances are feeble at best. The final contestant, Stephanie Hodge, puts an alternate theory to the test, where a man may not be able to eat 50 eggs in one hour but perhaps a woman can. If nothing else, Stephanie at least makes the proceedings a bit more palatable to the eye given the visual ‘unappeal’ of both Chris and Preston and the whole damn contest in general. Each contestant will be given an aluminum tray heaping with 50 shucked, hard-boiled eggs. The only other food items allowed on the table will be liquid refreshments and condiments; vomiting is not only legal but encouraged. The person who has eaten the most eggs at the end of one hour will be awarded a measly cash prize, perhaps enough to cover the cost of getting their stomach pumped at the hospital.”

(photo by Sean Cliver; Los Angeles, CA; 2000)