The show developed from Big Brother Magazine, a skateboarding-related humor magazine that Jeff Tremaine, Dave Carnie, Rick Kosick and Chris Pontius all worked for, and featured regular contributions from Johnny Knoxville, Tyler Newton and Dave England, among others. The concept of Jackass dates back to 1999 when struggling-actor-turned-writer Johnny Knoxville birthed the idea to test different self defense devices on himself as the basis for an article.
He pitched the idea to a couple of magazines and was turned down until meeting with Jeff Tremaine of Big Brother. Tremaine hired him as a journalist and convinced Johnny to videotape this idea and other stunts for stories. The footage, which involved Knoxville being tasered, maced, and ultimately shot while wearing a bulletproof vest, appeared in the second Big Brother skateboarding movie (which is also the title of the second Jackass theatrical film). Future Jackass castmember Wee-Man made an appearance in the videos, and Florida clown Steve-O would send in submissions to be part of the videos.[citation needed]
During this time, Bam Margera released a movie entitled Landspeed:CKY, consisting of himself and his friends, which he dubbed the "CKY Crew", in West Chester, Pennsylvania, performing various skits and stunts. The Crew included the colorful cast of Ryan Dunn, Brandon Dicamillo, and Raab Himself, as well as Margera's family April, Phil, Don Vito, and Jess Margera. Tremaine saw the tapes and drafted Margera and his crew into what would become the cast of Jackass. Later, the Jackass crew would recruit Steve-O in a Florida flea market where he worked as a clown. To round out the cast, England brought in his friend Ehren McGhehey, a fellow Oregon resident and extreme stunt participator.
Tremaine drafted his friend, director Spike Jonze, to get involved with the show, and together, he, Jonze, and Knoxville served as executive producers. The idea show was pitched, and the cast was initially given an offer by Saturday Night Live to perform the stunts weekly for the show, though the offer was turned down. A bidding war eventually occurred between Comedy Central and MTV, which MTV eventually won. It was then that Jackass was born !
