As a life-long metal head, I’ve always been stoked to see the genre make its way into mainstream TV. Whether it’s a prominent episode storyline, or a quick mention in attempt of advancing character development, I threw up my horns in excitement every time. Sure, we have plenty of metal-themed TV shows nowadays like Metalocalypse, That Metal Show, etc. but here’s a few prime time TV shows that you may not remember being as kvlt as they really were.
1) Friends
As the show’s free spirit and vegetarian odd-ball, Phoebe Buffay, has always been my favorite character on the show. Some of you might even remember her brother Frank wore various metal T Shirts through the series, but did you know Phoebe herself was also a metal head? In season 7, she finally opens up about it when she gets incredibly excited over the band Carcass!
2) Californication
Most of you might be familiar with David Duchovny as Hank Moody, the esteemed promiscuous writer who finds himself in scandalous situations on a regular basis. As a fan of Duchovny, I always liked the show, but also because it might be the most metal series to ever see a mainstream audience.
Through out the series you can find cameos from the likes of Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson, Sebastian Bach, Steve Jones and Tommy Lee to name a few. You can even find Black Sabbath lyrics as spoken lines through the script. The names of these Hank Moody novels might also be somewhat familiar if you’re a Slayer fan; South of Heaven, Seasons In The Abyss, and his breakthrough book God Hates Us All.
My personal favorite is season two as it surrounds the life of Lew Ashby, a world famous producer who commissions Hank to write his biography. The character of Lew Ashby is loosely based on real life producer Rick Rubin (Slayer, Slipknot, Black Sabbath, Danzig, System Of A Down) who allowed Californication to film inside his actual house for the season. Sick!
3) The Sopranos
Of course, we watched The Sopranos for the intense boss man action, whenever we weren’t drooling over Jamie-Lynn Sigler, but there was a huge ensemble of characters on the show. One of them being Tony Soprano’s bratty son AJ who became more and more metal as the show progressed. It started with a few posters of Slipknot, and eventually led to what looked like a Hot Topic metal-attire shopping spree. Rumor has it that the actor playing AJ,  Robert Iler, asked to incorporate some of his favorite bands into the show. I guess the writers thought it’d go over well with his growing disrespect for the law. Check out this scene with AJ donning his new Pantera hoodie!
4) The IT Crowd
This hilarious British comedy follows two IT guys working in the dank basement of a big corporation, and their quirky interaction with the rest of the world. During the fourth episode of the series the show introduces the character of Richmond, a Cradle of Filth loving vampire-like character who has been hiding in the server room unbeknownst to the other characters on the show.
More metal on the next page…
