The State was the nickname (and series title) for 11 incredibly talented members of a comedy troupe who had a series on MTV in the early 1990s. The show was extremely funny and spawned a huge cult following. Many of the members of the series have gone onto start on shows like Reno 911 and movies like the very funny Wet Hot American Summer. Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino recently played a gay couple on the CW series Reaper for a few episodes and nearly stole the series away from its stars. All 4 seasons are included along with an entire DVD of special features. This DVD set is a true treat for fans of the memorable sketch comedy show.
The State starts out very uneven but improves from season to season as the cast hones their very bizarre humor and creates memorable characters such as Doug (I’m outta here!) and sketches such as $240 Dollars worth of pudding. The nice thing about The State is the show moves so quickly and at 20 minutes or so an episode it rarely drags sketches out, which is the trademark of Saturday Night Live at its worst. The State comes on a 5 DVD set and comes with a note from the cast about having to replace a lot of the music involved with the series, which may be the only caveat for fans of the series. There are commentaries, interviews and outtakes and an entire bonus disc of unaired sketches, special appearances, and promos. The common complaint that TV shows on DVD lack memorable extras doesn’t apply here as The State gives fans some excellent extras.
Irreverent, goofy, and wildly original, The State was probably too interesting for MTV, whose support of the series was lax at best. With over 90 minutes of unaired sketches and other features, this set was produced in cooperation with the members of The State and fans will likely devour this set with glee. Very little of the series is dated, and the show is as much fun as viewers remember it being. The State is without a doubt, one of the best sketch comedy shows of all time.
DVD Grade: A-
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