They Might Be Giants — Don't Let's Start

JUL 01 1986 · 12:00

They Might Be Giants — Don't Let's Start (1986) Director: Adam Bernstein Era: College Radio Indie Boom (1986–1987) - Low-budget, high-concept DIY alternative video era preceding MTV's mainstream saturation; characterized by eccentric performance art aesthetics and art-school surrealism on shoestring budgets. Exceptionally high. Confirmed MTV Top 100 Video of All Time (2001). A primary source artifact for the 1986–1987 American college radio/indie alt-rock video canon, featuring confirmed director, cinematographer, and editor credits, documented location of cultural significance, and direct band testimony about production choices. Represents a rare convergence of surrealist visual wit, historically resonant location shooting, and career-defining commercial impact for both artist and director. Context: Released in 1986 on the independent Bar/None label and achieving MTV rotation by 1987, 'Don't Let's Start' emerged at a pivotal intersection: college radio had just begun coalescing into a national indie infrastructure capable of breaking artists without major-label support. The video's location — Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, remnant of the 1964 World's Fair — grounds its surrealism in a distinctly New York nostalgic geography, reinforcing the duo's Brooklyn-rooted identity. Its success, per band testimony, rescued They Might Be Giants from near-dissolution and quadrupled their audience. The video was later named one of MTV's Top 100 Videos of All Time in 2001, cementing its status as a canonical artifact of the alt-rock video era. Director notes: Bernstein directed the 'Don't Let's Start' video alongside cinematographer Mark Shprintz. Per a 1988 interview with John Linnell, Bernstein collaborated closely with the band to condense their live show elements — oversized novelty hats, giant faces, and stage props — into a single video. Outdoor scenes were filmed at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, NY, the site of the 1964 World's Fair, a location of personal significance to both Flansburgh and Linnell. The large question mark prop seen in the video was designed by John Flansburgh. This was one of two videos Bernstein directed for the band's debut album, the other being '(She Was A) Hotel Detective'. The video became an MTV hit in 1987 and is documented by IMDb (tt13676806) as a 1987 production. IMVDb lists the video's editor as Glenn Lazzaro and copyright as © 1986 Bar/None.