Comedy Troupe from "The State" and "Reno 911" get new show. I rejoice.

[schild]

For those of you that haven't seen The State, it's brilliant.

Anyway, they have  a new show called Stella. It's not the whole group, which is unfortunate - but it has Michael Ian Black, who is arguably the funniest of the entire little ensemble. Also in attendance will be Showalter and Wain - who are both terribly funny.

They have a mess of videos at College Humor. It's going to premiere on June 29th after Southpark - which is a MUCH better timeslot than any of the ones they've been given in the past.

[schild]

Ok. This is utterly brilliant. High art I tell you. High art.

[voodoolily]

Stella is WAY old, schildy. I watched the DVD last summer. But it is DEFINITELY must see brill to the nth degree. Especially the Santa episode

[schild]

Stella is WAY old, schildy. I watched the DVD last summer. But it is DEFINITELY must see brill to the nth degree. Especially the Santa episode

Didn't I tell you to stop saying Brill? He's that guy from Enemy of the State. And there's a Stella DVD? I know the group has been around, 88 episodes or something.

People here probably remember The State more than Stella though - because it was on MTV when everyone watched MTV (in the thick of the 90's).

[Llava]

I also really enjoyed Reno 911.  It was so deadpan absurd, I couldn't help but crack up at most of it.

[voodoolily]

The DVD is called Stella Shorts. You must, I repeat MUST see it. It's all about strap ons and farts and making out. It has some of the cast of Wet Hot American Summer, too (or was that guy on The State too?). Since Michael Ian Black has become VH1's lapdog, David Wain has gotten in on action, too, starring in a recent episode of Best Week Ever. Michael Ian Black is so hot.

[Hoax]

Go watch The Young Ones...


Go!

[voodoolily]

I just can't hang with BRitish humor for the most part, but the Young Ones is funny (I hear). The only Brit series I've really been able to get behind is Spaced (as I've linked before). The main characters in Spaced are in Shaun of the Dead, as are some of the cast of the original version of The Office. Good stuff.

[Rodent]

I just can't hang with BRitish humor for the most part, but the Young Ones is funny (I hear). The only Brit series I've really been able to get behind is Spaced (as I've linked before). The main characters in Spaced are in Shaun of the Dead, as are some of the cast of the original version of The Office. Good stuff.

Red Dwarf for Smegs sake!

[WayAbvPar]

Not to mention BlackAdder, AbFab, Fawlty Towers, Coupling...all kinds of hilarious stuff from the Brits.

[schild]

I prefer The State to just about any comedy sketch show, aside from Flying Circus.

[Shockeye]

A 'Stella' example of lame comedy

1.5 Stars

Comedy Central's newest series, "Stella," comes from three members of the former comedy troupe The State.

It's described as an absurdist comedy, but that's not at all accurate. Absurd, in parts, it may be - but it's not even remotely funny.

"Stella," premiering tomorrow night at 10:30, isn't as horrendously devoid of humor as, say, Carrot Top.

But the few flashes of inspiration fizzle before taking spark, like an inept "Survivor" contestant trying futilely to make fire.

Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black (good in "Ed," less impressive elsewhere) and David Wain star as three goofball goofoffs who share an apartment - when they're not evicted from it, that is - and argue about such ephemera as which music to play loudly to annoy the three young women living downstairs.

The women don't see anything funny about their antics.

I'm with them.

These three comics lend their own names to these characters, which isn't exactly clever product placement. These guys act like a trio of only slightly more mature Pee-wee Hermans. I'd say they're about as funny as open-heart surgery (and open-heart surgery is one of the gags here).

Of the three ex-State players, Wain comes off the best; his unexpected instant romance with a real-estate agent, played comically by Laura Interval, is the one moment in this first "Stella" that works.

The rest, even a cameo appearance by a respected young film star, doesn't do anything but just sit there - and a spoof of "Flashdance" seems so dated as to be almost inexplicable.

Speaking of inexplicable, I have no idea why the show is called "Stella." On the one hand, there was no clear reason, long ago, why veterans from other TV comedy shows called their new joint program "Monty Python's Flying Circus," but that show was hilarious. "Stella," whatever the inspiration for its title, is hilarity-free.

It doesn't matter whether it was named after Marlon Brando's feverish desire in "A Streetcar Named Desire," or after the model of Mason Williams' first, $13 guitar, or even after my aunt in Pittsburgh.

This "Stella" is no fun at all.

For a Comedy Central show, that's no recipe for success.

Originally published on June 27, 2005

[Shockeye]

In a state of surreality, 'Stella' embraces the absurd

By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff  |  June 28, 2005

''Stella" is the kind of sitcom that makes a reviewer want to throw up his hands and say, ''Oh, just watch it." And that's not because Comedy Central's ''Stella" is so amazingly wonderful, although it certainly is a fresh kick for viewers who like willfully offbeat shows such as ''Reno 911!" No, just watch it because it's so freaking odd, and so original, that it's really, really hard to describe.

In its promotional push, Comedy Central has been likening ''Stella" to the Marx Brothers, and there is truth in that lofty comparison. But the show, which premieres tonight at 10:30 p.m., is also built around an ironic sensibility that feels altogether contemporary and ''Mad TV"-esque. It follows the Manhattan adventures of three bumbling men in suits -- played by Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain -- as they suck innocent bystanders into their web of modern surreality. Acting like big kids, they charm a co-op board by doing a zany dance, and they perform heart surgery on their landlord with a butter knife. In short, they're an interactive seminar in absurdity.

The series began its life as a New York stage revue that Black, Showalter, and Wain developed after serving in the comedy troupe the State. And it does play a bit like sketch comedy, with its roots in theatrical improvisation. But then ''Stella" is definitely a crafted sitcom, a single-camera series that breaks the laws of time and space in the manner of an animated show. As they do their Marx Brothers-meets-Monty Python-meets-Three Stooges shtick, the men fall into all kinds of studio-manufactured reality warps. At times, ''Stella" may remind you of the edited kookiness of that 1960s TV classic about the prefab-four, ''The Monkees."

As with ''The Monkees," you have to enjoy stupidity for stupidity's sake to embrace ''Stella." If you're willing to stop thinking and submit to its neo-vaudeville stylings, you can stumble across a laugh or two or three. There's plenty of tight slapstick in each half-hour, as Black, Showalter, and Wain move with a synchrony that comes from years of working together. They stretch their faces into all sorts of exaggerated expressions, looking like the Fab Five one minute and ruthless politicians the next.

In an upcoming episode, they wear long faces, literally, which the performers make funnier than it sounds. The guys also make the most of their low-level word play, such as when they insist to the co-op board that they aren't skunks because they're wearing skunk tails; they're ''skunk people."

Ultimately, ''Stella" is a light exercise in controlled anarchy. It makes sense, and then it doesn't make sense, and then before you know it, you find yourself not caring much about sense at all -- just like its trio of flip heroes.

[schild]

He didn't say the word Dildo anywhere in that review.

[voodoolily]

But is it really as funny without the obligatory sucking of a huge black cock? Is it?

Edit: I also think I like it better with the crappy cam-corder film style.

[Bunk]

I'm a huge fan of most brit coms, mainly Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers. I picked up the Young Ones on dvd recently. While it is very funny in spots, its just so off the wall and obviously ad-libbed that it doesn't always work for me. Rik Mayall making retard faces only works for a limited amount of time.

As for the Office, which gets mentioned plenty here - I loved everything about it except David Brent. I think Gervaise did a brilliant job of playing Brent, but that kind of embarrasment humor just doesn't work for me.

Staying on Topic: Havent seen the State or Reno 911, but I remember Michael Ian Black on one of the Celebrity Poker Showdowns - entertaining guy. Might be worth checking this out.

[HaemishM]

Damnit, I think this is playing during Rescue Me, which is already on my must watch list. Oh, what I wouldn't give for Tivo.

[WayAbvPar]

Damnit, I think this is playing during Rescue Me, which is already on my must watch list. Oh, what I wouldn't give for Tivo.

Woot! I am so glad the new season started. I fuggin' love that show. I want to have man-babies with Denis Leary.

[Ookii]

It's going to premiere on June 29th after Southpark - which is a MUCH better timeslot than any of the ones they've been given in the past.

Change "June 29th" to June 28th and "Southpark" to Reno 911! and the correct information will be thy guide.

[schild]

Yea, they changed it since my post over a month ago.

Surprised, I'm not.

[Llava]

The commercials look dumb, impromptu and surprisingly successful heart surgery isn't exactly a new gag, but I'm willing to give it a chance.  I'll report back with my opinion.  And my opinion will be correct.

[schild]

The commercials look dumb, impromptu and surprisingly successful heart surgery isn't exactly a new gag, but I'm willing to give it a chance.  I'll report back with my opinion.  And my opinion will be correct.

How wrong you are.

My only problem is having just watched the dvd of all their old stuff, there's no new great lines here. Except for one near the beginning after the hook.

I think after they get over the old jokes is when it'll really bloom. Right now they're struggling without being able to say shit, piss, cum, cunt, tits, and then whipping out a dildo.

[voodoolily]

Concur.

However, knowing it would be on basic, I set my bar pretty low. But I thought it was good. The dance scene was hilarious.

[Llava]

Being funny is hard.

I found 3 things funny.  One thing I laughed at (Mr. Norton).

There's a fine line between absurdist and random bullshit.

I'm sure someone liked it, but there are people out there who like Tom Goes To The Mayor, too.

That they're on cable and can't swear anymore isn't an excuse, sorry.  Vulgarity can be funny, but If you have to be vulgar to be funny, you're not funny.

[Jdub]

I turned it off after 15 minutes. Truly, sadly, not funny.

[schild]

That they're on cable and can't swear anymore isn't an excuse, sorry.  Vulgarity can be funny, but If you have to be vulgar to be funny, you're not funny.

These people swear with the proficiency of Haemish. Had it been past 1am or on HBO, David Wain would have leaned up to the real estate agents face and said "I want to cum on your back." And it would have been delivered with the grace of a greek god.

Seriously, they're one of the few comedy troupes truly hampered by laws of "Good Taste" as set forth by the TV peoples of the world.

Now, I have to admit - no matter how many times Showalt uses the line "WE Don't have theeeeeeeeeeeeeeees money." I fucking crack up.

There's some genius there. But I don't think it'll be realized until the show is on after Southpark and they can be as dirty as them. They played it really fucking safe with the pilot. That said, if Dave Chappele can dress up as a klansman and spout the word "nigger' off 50 times in an episode, I think the State boys should be able to have your random dildo here and there. Shame, really.

[Llava]

There was a vibrator on Chapelle's Show.  On the sketch where they put a black father in a white home and a white father in a black home.  And there was a dildo in Reno 911, albeit blurred because it was a less... minimalist design.

[Ookii]

I knew what it would be like as schild gave me their DVD, but it seems like they departed from what they were doing when they got started, I mean there wasn't a single dildo in the entire episode (three straight guys acting all gay with a didlo in the mix = awkward type funny). 

Really they should do the exact same thing they were doing except blur out the dildos and cut off all the "naughty words" that they say, it would have the exact same effect as their old stuff and would take nominal imagination on our part to fill in the censored blanks.

But then again who knows if they could even get away with that due to those (insert noun)dicks at the FCC, not to mention those brick(you get to specify the body part) at the PTC.

[HaemishM]

I saw about 15 minutes of it, and just didn't connect with it. I wanted to laugh, but it felt flat; there weren't really any moments where I laughed, or more than chuckled. Maybe if it was animated?

It did remind me of Tom Goes the Mayor, and unfortunately, that isn't a good thing. But it was much better than 12 Oz. Mouse.

[voodoolily]

Pilots are often the lamest episode in a series. I agree that I think they were playing it safe. Hell, the ads for the show are more sexual than the show itself was. But I also suspect that most viewers haven't seen the three of them giving head to Mrs. Claus' huge cock, or seen one of them give a handjob to a Pilgrim at the first Thanksgiving.

Or my very favorite moment from the DVD:

"Do I look like a sloppy, wet pussy for you to fuck?" - Sam Motherfucking Rockwell

That's what made me a fan.

[schild]

Neg. It was the moment before that.

"22.50" - Sam

"We don't have theeeeeeeeeeees money." - Showalt

[voodoolily]

And then they all had a fun time and were ffl. The End.

My other fave is the hot dog hunting episode.

"I'm gonna stay here and rub one out."

[schild]

"I'm gonna stay here and rub one out."

God yea, That was hilarious. I also liked the hunting episode where David Wain humps the hunting instructor after they shoot him.

[Ironwood]

This entire thread is turning me off whatever the hell it is you're talking about.

Although it reminds me of Eddie Murphy's routine about how people shouldn't take his jokes outside the venue, since they'll just fuck them up.

[Yegolev]

I was thinking the same thing as Ironwood.  Obviously the jokes must be better on TV.  I will probably not bother to find out.