Ya know I remember this show from MTV and thought it was the funniest sketch comedy show since In Living Color. When it got canceled I got so mad that I actually wrote to MTV about it.
Damn, was it that serious? It was for me. I LOVED The State!
Damn, was it that serious? It was for me. I LOVED The State!
The State was a half hour sketch comedy show that aired on MTV back in the early 90’s. It was a group of 11 twenty-something comedians who did all of the production associated with the show. They wrote, edit, directed, and produced the episodes. Some people compared the cast to those Canadians from Kids In The Hall. I disagree, Kids In The Hall was a different type of humor. The only similarities were The State cast members consisted on 10 guys and 1 girl and because there was only one chick, some of the guys had to dress in drag to play multiple female roles. Ya know, like how they did back in Shakespeare’s day??
The State’s comedy sketches may not be that memorable to all because unlike, In Living Color, they didn’t have a large number of recurring sketches. So many of them may not resonate with us like Homey Da Clown or Fire Marshall Bill does.
The State’s comedy sketches may not be that memorable to all because unlike, In Living Color, they didn’t have a large number of recurring sketches. So many of them may not resonate with us like Homey Da Clown or Fire Marshall Bill does.
The one sketch that stuck in MY mind though was of Doug. Doug was this rebellious teen that despised his “wannabee oh-so-cool” Dad who produces songs for Bob Dylan. His Dad is down for anything…even smoking weed with Doug’s slacker buddies. What allows this sketch (as opposed to other sketches) to remain indelibly printed on my brain is Doug’s famous catch line…”I’m outta heeeeere”. I used to say that line over and over with my frenz and famz. It was cool and even occasionally out of nowhere I’ll find myself saying and think….where does that line come from?? Oh yeah!!! The State!!
I lost all hope and thought life was over once The State ended its run on MTV. Other sketch comedy shows emerged from other networks but never had the panache that The State did. Then a few years after the show was canceled, the cast members of The State did a pilot for Comedy Central called Viva Variety. It was their final plea to get the show re-aired on Comedy Central and it was even nominated for an Emmy. Unfortunately though, the show was never picked up.
I lost hope again and decided to ban Comedy Central for life. How could you do this? First MTV, which I would expect them to cancel high quality programming in exchange for craptacular fertilized mush, but Comedy Central? A network devoted to making audiences all over the world laugh???
I decided not to hold my breath and think with optimism. Then a miracle occurred. The birth of Reno 911! There is a God! I noticed Reno was deficient a few of The State’s original cast members (which made me a little sad) but I nonetheless, I liked that this show was an improvisationalish sketch comedy that featured these former cast members and most of all…it made me laugh!!!!
About the cast:
So these guys all went to school together at NYU and they appeared on MTV’s “You Wrote It Watch It” which led to their success of The State.
You can go here for the official website.
So who are these cast member I speak of? They are:
Kevin Allison – the red-headed gay guy
Michael Ian Black – he’s in like every VH-1 Best Week Ever commentary
Ben Garant – the skinny one who played Sid Vicious
Thomas Lennon – he was always the funniest one and has some nice legs!
Micheal Showalter- he played Doug and was funny as hell! One of my favorites.
You can go on iFilm and catch 5 episodes from the show. Here is a clip from episode 5. Funny shtuff!!! Also the new film Reno 911!: Miami features all of the former cast members.
No comments:
Post a Comment