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DVD The Ben Stiller Show
For its brief and shining moment--12 aired episodes, to be exact--The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on Fox in 1992, recaptured the anarchic spirit and subversively funny voice of first-season Saturday Night Live and SCTV. More too-hip-for-the-room than ahead of its time, the show suffered dismal ratings and was unceremoniously cancelled. It then went on to win an Emmy for best writing and attract a fervent following, enhanced by the fact that the series has seldom been syndicated. This long-awaited DVD release fills not a void, but an abyss. To watch Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and a pre-Mr. Show Bob Odenkirk at the dawn of their mostly unconventional careers, romp in the show's opening is akin to watching the Beatles frolic on that football field in A Hard Day's Night. Stiller and company's pitch-perfect and intimately observed skewering of movies, television, and show business convention could be exhilarating, as witness "Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein" (you'll never watch another Allen film with a straight face again), "Cape Munster," with Stiller as a psychopathic and vengeful Eddie Munster, "Skank," a potent comment on the crass programming that was initially Fox's stock in trade, and even brilliant riffs on the seminal reality series Cops, which re-imagine the series in witch-hysteric Salem, Massachussetts, ancient Egypt, and medieval times.
In addition to the cast's uncanny impersonations (Stiller's Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Bruce Willis, and Garofalo's Juliette Lewis), The Ben Stiller Show was home to a gallery of recurring characters--agent Michael Pheret, the No, No, No Guy--who, thankfully, SNL producer Lorne Michaels was not around to parlay into godawful films. The topical humor can't help but date some of the material (the show is a veritable Trivial Pursuit of pop culture references, from The Partridge Family to Beverly Hills 90210, but the brilliance of the writing and sheer abandon of the performances are still a joy to behold. --Donald Liebenson
"The Ben Stiller Show" was one of my favorite programs when it aired in the early 90s. It is hilarious, entertaining, and fun. It is truly a gem of entertainment.
Music spoofs show us the funny side of U-2, Bruce Springsteen, and Metallica, as they play upon some of the funny aspects of these performers. Elements of films such as "Last of the Mohicans" and "A Few Good Men" are employed with a new twist, which result in hilarious skits. Even commercials from the late 80s are spoofed with great results.
The Fox Network, which aired "The Ben Stiller Show," was not spared from ridicule. Fox programs like "Cops" and "90210" get such a comical treatment you might start choking from laughing too much. My favorite reoccurring skit is "Skank," which is similar to "Married with Children," but the father is a dirty sock puppet with pink fraggle-like hair. The dirty sock's catch phrase is "shut your stink'n trap," which was his comeback for just about everything.
Just about everything in "The Ben Stiller Show" is funny. Having some knowledge of the 1970s and 1980s pop culture and music is helpful in understanding the humor.
Ben Stiller at his very best
In a fair world, this intelligent, fast paced, totally irreverent sketch comedy show would have reached a wider audience.
Check out the digs at everything from annoying dandruff shampoo commercials to self absorbed rock bands. Not even Bono and Springsteen are safe from Ben's wicked take on things.
I remembered gags from this show for fourteen years and I just got to see them again on DVD. They are just as brilliant.
It is surprisingly not as dated as you would think, but it probably helps to be around 35-45 to get many of the cultural references.
I recommend this highly. Stiller is a special talent. I don't care much for his mainstream movies, but this is worth your while. Andy Dick and Janeane Garafolo are in fine form, as well as Bob Odenkirk.
Wrong place, wrong time...
One thing I notice about traveling for a long time, outside of the country you live in, is you miss things. This show was something I missed completely, having lived outside of the USA for the entire beginning of 1992, beginning in January.
So when I saw this DVD set for sale at my local Walmart, I was quite surprised. I pride myself on being aware of most DVD sets that come out, just as I try to stay on top of newly released videogames and Theatrical released movies. But, I completely missed this one. Why? Because it was cancelled after a paltry 12 or 13 shows.
But unlike other popularly short television shows, this one was SMART and decided to release on DVD, for us folks who missed it.
I was not terribly pleased with this show. It was funny. But not terribly funny. It made me laugh, but didn't get those healthy guffaws that one often gets watching other shows and skits on regular television.
I would recommend renting this, but not purchasing it. Or buy it, and plan to sell on Amazon quickly after viewing.
1 thumb up. Funny, but not memorable. Falls a little flat, and not really released at the right time.
A fan and critical favorite for 10 seasons, the sketch comedy series MadTV makes its long-awaited DVD debut in a three-disc set that compiles its first season, along with choice skits and outtakes culled from its entire network run. Like its magazine namesake, MadTV earned its stripes on the strength of its parodies of pop culture, which included clever potshots at Hollywood ("Gump Fiction"), rock & roll, children's animation ("Gumboy and Pokey") and politics. The irreverence of the skits was well served by its versatile cast, which included future breakout performers Orlando Jones, Nicole Sullivan, and Artie Lange in the first season (1995-96) lineup. Though MadTV rarely landed celebrity guests on par with its main competition, Saturday Night Live... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Brian K. Roberts - David Grossman (III) - John Blanchard - Jean Sagal - Paul Flaherty DVD Release Date: Released the 21 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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If you're not a Tenacious D fan already, The Complete Master Works might make you an instant convert (or scare you away; it all depends). One thing's for sure: If you thought "the D" were nothing more than a novelty act, this two-disc feast will set you straight, proving that classically trained guitarist Kyle Gass and fast-rising comedy star Jack Black (School of Rock) are a bona fide acoustic power duo, scorching the pop-cultural landscape with their satirically scathing lyrics while qualifying as legitimate musicians with awesome chops and just enough insanity to make them dangerous on stage. Disc 1 ("For Fans") is all meat and potatoes, consisting of a brilliant concert (taped at London's Brixton Academy, November 3, 2002) in which Black casts himself as an abrasive... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 04 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Of all the "re-imagining" wreaked upon the Hanna-Barbera animated catalog by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programs, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is probably their most deliriously creative effort. The series revives second-string '60s avian hero Birdman, and via a combination of old clips and new animation, recasts him as a crusading lawyer (voiced by Gary Cole) who defends the rights of other cartoon characters. That Harvey is pitted in the courtroom against old supervillain foes, who have followed his lead and become prosecutors and judges, is one problem--but even more challenging are the pickles his fellow Hanna-Barbera creations find themselves in: Harvey must clear Fred Flintstone of organized crime charges ("The Dabba Don," perhaps the first season's... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Renzetti - Vincent Waller - Richard Ferguson-Hull - Ben Jones (III) - J.J. Sedelmaier DVD Release Date: Released the 12 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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If Jonny, Haji, Race Bannon, and the rest of the Jonny Quest gang were idiots, their animated adventures might play out like The Venture Bros., a consistently funny spoof on '60s adventure cartoons from the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming. The premise should be immediately familiar and nostalgic for any Saturday morning TV aficionado who grew up in the '60s and '70s: Dr. Venture (James Urbaniak from Henry Fool) is an inventor, while sons Hank and Dean's insatiably curiosity lands them in hot water with supervillains, robots, magicians, and the like. Brock Sampson (voiced by the very funny Patrick Warburton of The Tick) is the good doctor's right-hand man, who rescues the boys with good old-fashioned manpower. The twist in The Venture Bros. is... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christopher McCulloch DVD Release Date: Released the 30 May 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Oblongs is a great, hilarious show about a twisted family living in a severely twisted town. If you like shows like The Simpsons or South Park, I think you will love this one. Although it is very different from both of those shows, it has a similar but slightly more morbid and grotesque type of humor. Also, if you like Will Ferrell, you will probably love this show, because his voice is used for one of the main characters, and I am almost positive that he does some writing for the show, too. The DVD has 13 episodes, and they are all extremely funny.
There are also some really interesting extras about Angus Oblong and his animation. (Angus Oblong is the animator and creator of the cartoon). I think anyone can appreciate this show if they like cartoons.
Attention parents:... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Vincent Waller - Skip Jones - Gary McCarver - Joe Horne - Kelly Armstrong DVD Release Date: Released the 04 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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