The Filthy Frank Show

The Filthy Frank Show is an American comedy television series created by Gordon Hartford and Joji Miller. It was originally broadcast on Comedy Central from February 1, 2007 to June 30, 2011 for four seasons, and the channel has broadcast reruns since early 2012. The show stars Miller as title character Filthy Frank, an insane, alcoholic man in his twenties who gets himself and the people around him into various bizarre situations. It became Hartford's second television project after MTV series Geeks in a Band (2004–2005).

The show is often noted for its noticeably low budget, extensive use of shock humor, random hip hop musical, and inclusion of Miller as multiple different characters. It also satirizes and comments on real-world topics that are many people consider serious or mature, such as political intolerance, mental illness, gay marriage, and the human condition. In addition, a good portion of its humor is derived from Internet culture, and satirizes it as well.

During the initial broadcast of its first season, The Filthy Frank Show received positive reception from general audiences but mixed reception from television critics. It stirred up controversy due to its mature content, which included sexual references, staged graphic violence, strong language, and images of fake vomit and urine. It aired on Comedy Central with a viewer discretion warning at the beginning of each episode. Upon its second season's premiere, however, critical reception noticeably improved, albeit not by much.

 ranked the show no. 2 on its "Top 10 Weirdest Comedy Central Shows" list in 2018. The series became a staple of American popular culture throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, and has since developed a cult following. Its dark humor, largely improvised dialogue, and gross-out gags would help pave the way for television shows and web series with similar formats. The Filthy Frank Movie, a feature-length theatrical film based on the show, was produced by Comedy Central Films and released by Paramount Pictures on May 31, 2013.

Premise
The series revolves around the titular Francis "Filthy Frank" MacStink, an insane and unemployed man in his twenties who gets himself and the people around him into various bizarre situations and/or tackles issues involving the modern world from a comedic standpoint. Recurring themes and topics include cyberbullying, racism, political intolerance, mental illness, LGBT rights, gay marriage, and the human condition.

As The Filthy Frank Show progresses, Frank reveals horrifying details about his past and personal life, such as his parents' divorce when he was a young boy and his brother being killed at the hands of. Not a lot of information is provided about the show's universe, though details about its lore are slowly revealed as the story progresses, including the presence of a dark lord named Chin-Chin.

In addition to Miller, recurring cast members include close friends Maxwell Stanley and Ian Washburn. Celebrity comedians have occasionally made cameos on the show, including, , , , and.

Cast and characters
The series' insane title character. He is an unemployed. alcoholic man in his twenties who must fight various enemies and gets himself and his friends into bizarre situations. He has shown a particular int. Frank's best friend and the straight man of the series' cast. He frequently attempts to successfully take part in various food- and drink-related Internet challenges, but is never successful, which led to him developing. Frank's almost equally psychotic frenemy. He is very intelligent and good at socializing, despite his condescending and sometimes homophobic attitude. Frank's racist neighbor in his fifties. His trademarks include a thick New York accent, snorting between sentences, and coming to Frank's apartment to yell at him for being too loud.
 * Joji Miller as Francis "Filthy Frank" MacStink:
 * Maxwell Stanley as Maximus "Max" Maxwell:
 * Ian Washburn as Ian Glassies:
 * Erik Mikael as Wyatt Powers:

Development
Shortly before MTV began airing Gordon Hartford's series Geeks in a Band, he met Joji Miller at the after Miller accepted his  award for portraying Mark Ying in Asian Dudes (2002). After attending the after-party together, the two quickly developed a lasting friendship, and they got together very often to discuss their own and each others' creative ideas.

In late 2005, Miller asked Hartford if it they could possibly collaborate on a project. The two went through various ideas, including a comedy film, a stage play, and an adult animated sitcom. It was around this time that Hartford contacted Comedy Central executives about making a TV show for the channel. After they agreed that work could begin on the project, Miller suggested a black comedy series similar to ' or '. After coming up with various ideas for characters, Hartford suggested what was then known as Quasitown, a show about a Filthy Frank-like character simply named Francis with a similar premise. The name Quasitown was kept for the setting, but the title was changed to The Chronicles of Filthy Frank, and Hartford created characters to star alongside the protagonist, who was now named Filthy Frank. After their pitch was successful, the show was quickly renamed The Filthy Frank Show.

Casting
Hartford suggested early in the series' development that Miller should play Filthy Frank, pointing out the irony that he is "the Joji Miller antithesis" while also noting that even more ironically the two have much in common. Having already worked Maxwell Stanley and Ian Washburn, Hartford wrote Max and Ian with these two in mind, and they were the first actors cast for their respective roles.

Hartford also considered having Erik Mikael, an actor he worked with in the past, portray Frank; however, Miller agreed that he was best suited for the role due to what Hartford had stated earlier about the two's personalities. The two would later agree that Mikael's "aggressive" voice and ability to speak in a "perfect" Southern accent made him a good choice for Mr. Powers.

Recording and editing
The series was recorded in and around, with much of the taping taking place in and around the area. It was produced on a relatively low budget compared to other Comedy Central shows from that period, so much of the recording would take place in public areas or small Brooklyn apartments that were—in Miller's words—"surprisingly cheap to rent". Shooting for The Filthy Frank Show started in October 2006.

Joseph Kress, the cinematographer for the series' pilot episode, stated that it was important for the series to be recorded and edited with widescreen televisions in mind due to their rising popularity, and as a result the show was shot in and. Gordon Hartford wrote in his book Crafting Filthy Frank:
 * I think most of Filthy Frank's budget went into buying HD cameras. Joseph [Kress] and I thought it was way too important that the show be available in open-matte widescreen in the future [...] The way we shot the show, things ended up being a win-win. People watching on old tellies got to see enough of what was happening to understand what's going on and widescreen viewers... well, they get to see everything that's happening.

Premiere and initial reaction
Prior to The Filthy Frank Show's premiere, Hartford, Miller, and Comedy Central intentionally did very little to promote their "secret project". The first season's only promotion was a video titled "Filthy Frank" uploaded by Comedy Central on November 26, 2006, which shows clips of the show flashing without context, followed by an end card reading "FEB. 1 '07" with a few credits and print logos for Comedy Central and Gordiestudio.

"The Rise of Frank", the series' pilot, aired on February 1, 2007 at 10:00 PM EST, many viewers quickly took to social media and Internet forums, expressing confusion about what was being broadcast, some asking if it was a joke due to its low budget and intentional shoddy editing. Hartford also says in Crafting Filthy Frank that "not a whole lot of people were able to put two and two together and figured out what they were watching". As Michael Winston of  wrote, "For anyone who saw the YouTube video, this definitely made a lot more sense."

In 2016, the original broadcast of "The Rise of Frank" was ranked no. 1 on Dimension 's "Top 10 Most Unexpected TV Show Premieres", the article stating in part, "When all you do to advertise your show is upload a three-minute YouTube video of context-free clips, it becomes apparent that they wanted you to know as little as possible about what would happen on February 1, 2007."