Severance Star Adam Scott Got His Start On This Weird MTV Sci-Fi Series

If you want to watch a Gen-Xer get wistful, just ask them about MTV in the 1980s and '90s. MTV wasn't just an endless repository for music videos and short films (which would have made the network significant on its own); it also dictated a great deal of the generation's cultural attitudes. There was a punkish, puckish outlook in the '80s as punk, New Wave, and Hip-Hop all rose to the fore, gleefully tearing down old music traditions and setting up something that could be intense, playful, or sometimes just plain silly. The 1990s adopted a great deal of angst, as the disaffection grunge generation and poetic alternative rock came into prominence. In 1994, it wouldn't be strange to see a Hip-Hop music video, a suicidally dark industrial music video, a tender ballad, a heavy metal music video, Nirvana, and a weird novelty act like Green Jellÿ all in a row.

MTV also began diversifying quite a bit by 1994. In the late '80s, the whole of its original programming was video-based VJ shows like "Headbangers Ball," "Yo, MTV Raps!," and "Just Say Julie." It also had news programs like "House of Style" and game shows like "Remote Control." Then, in 1992, MTV landed a new hit with its reality show "The Real World. It thereafter began to diversify with sketch comedy programs like "The Ben Stiller Show," "The Idiot Box," and "The State." The early 1990s also saw the MTV animation market explode with the introduction of series like "Liquid Television," "The Ren & Stimpy Show," and, of course, Mike Judge's ever-relevant "Beavis and Butt-Head." It was an exciting time to be full of angst and watching television.

MTV's first fully-scripted drama series, however, didn't debut until June 15, 1994, with "Dead at 21." A strange, stylish, doom-twinged sci-fi series created by Jon Sherman, "Dead at 21" revolves around the concept of young people having chips implanted in their brains that will kill them on their 21st birthday. The very first episode of "Dead at 21" also happened to mark the professional debut of Adam Scott, the star of the hit series "Severance."

The premise of "Dead at 21" was pretty wild. The main character, the 20-year-old Ed Bellamy (Jack Noseworthy), discovers that he was the subject of a secret government experiment wherein his brain was implanted with a computer chip. The chip makes him super-intelligent, but it's also scheduled to explode and kill him on his 21st birthday. The bulk of the series follows Ed and his will-they-won't-they compatriot Maria (Lisa Dean Ryan) as they travel the back roads of North America, seeking information about the experiments and — they hope — a way to cheat death. Along the way, the pair are followed by a CIA-type assassin named Agent Wilson (Whip Hubley). 

In the pilot episode, the premise of the show is communicated in a panic to Ed by a sweaty, dying 20-year-old named Dan Beard, played by Adam Scott. Dan appears to Ed, trying to communicate their mutual plight, although Agent Wilson interrupts them and kills him. Luckily, Dan recorded a message on VHS, so Ed watches him on a wall of TVs in an electronics store. "I'll make this quick because you got no time," Dan explains, "and I got even less. You think you're a regular kid? Sorry, bud. You're a lab rat." Dan elaborates, stating that he and Ed are "neurocybernauts" or cybs for short, and that he needs to track down other cybs along with their creator (a devious scientist named Victor Heisenberg, as played by William Morgan Sheppard). "Remember," Dan says, pointing to his temple, "they gave you your best weapon. Use it or lose it." Cut to static. 

Delivering exposition for a high-concept sci-fi series wasn't a bad gig for a then up-and-coming actor like Scott. Ultimately, it was a notable beginning to a career with an upward trajectory.

Throughout his 20s, Scott would continue to work his way through a string of indie movies and TV shows (he was on "Boy Meets World") before making his feature debut in 1996 with "Hellraiser: Bloodline." That same year, he also had a bit part in "Star Trek: First Contact," so he was getting commercial work. Elsewhere, he popped up in a few episodes of "Party of Five" and other notable studio films like "High Crimes" (along with the modern American classic "Torque"). He played Johnny Meyer in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," and co-starred in comedies like "Monster-in-Law," "Knocked Up," and "Step-Brothers." Scott would then go on appear on "Party Down" in 2009 before joining "Park & Recreation" in 2010. Finally, 12 years later, "Severance" debuted on its way to becoming the most-watched show on ApplyTV+.

It's been interesting to follow Scott's career. It's also interesting to ponder that Scott has now starred in two TV shows about people with microchips implanted in their brains. "Severance" is about office wonks who have volunteered to be "severed." As such, when they're at the office, an implanted brain chip blocks out all their memories of the outside world. Likewise, on the outside, they can't remember their work day. As "Severance" has progressed through its two seasons, weird, ineffable conspiracies have been uncovered. Scott's career, in a strange way, has come full-circle.

Sadly, however, "Dead at 21" died in its youth. It was canceled after only 13 episodes and finished airing on September 7, 1994. It's unlikely the series will ever have a proper streaming or home media release, as it is jam-packed with expensive-to-license music cues (which was a mandate at MTV in the mid-'90s), and a full-bore audio remixing would be required to avoid paying millions in royalties. The audience for "Dead at 21" likely isn't that large.

Brave explorers of the internet may be able to find bootlegs online, however, so we can all enjoy a youthful Adam Scott's twisted performance.