The State: The Complete Series

While MTV occasionally offers up something worth watching, seemingly by accident, there was a time when they were on a hardcore winning streak, and that was the mid '90s, when the channel rolled the dice and managed to craft a truly unique and entertaining line-up with original series like Unplugged, The Maxx and, of course, The State. Handing the keys of a nationwide sketch comedy show to a gaggle of kids just out of college, whose biggest accomplishment to that point was working on the much-forgotten, yet prescient crowdsourcing series You Wrote It, You Watch It, was an actual programming risk, unlike airing yet another Laguna Hills series.That risk paid off though, at least for those who watched it, as The State delivered three or so seasons of sketch genius that deserved a place alongside the true legends of the genre, mostly because they were from a new generation of comedy troupes who learned from the pioneers, but wanted to blaze their own trail, a group that included The Kids in the Hall and the Upright Citizens Brigade. Taking influences from Monty Python and adding a healthy helping of pop-culture flavor, The State bent the expectations for sketch comedy and yet managed to practice the art to near perfection, until an ill-advised move away from the comfort of MTV to the more corporate, less-nurturing CBS ended their show.From the moment the unusual theme song kicks in, with it's rough, loud "Boys and girls...action! Action!", you know this show is something different. Utilizing links to move from sketch to sketch, filming with a mix of multiple camera and single camera shoots and mixing longer sketches with quick bits, the show built a legitimate sense of momentum that helped the group's absurd sensibility create a show where anything truly could happen. In a single episode you could have a slapstick-style food fight, a commercial parody, a kabuki scene, talking, vengeful seamonkeys and the story of a relationship with a toothbrush. There's no such thing as the prototypical The State sketch, with only the recurring character sketches bearing any resemblance to each other (and even those are parodies of recurring characters.)All the credit obviously goes to the troupe, who wrote and performed everything, and the talent they brought to the show is obvious in the success so many of them have had in the years since the show left the air. Considering how organic the group's origins are, with them being college pals and improv group colleagues before getting the show, the variety of styles they bring to the table is surprising, with a bit of everything amongst the 10 guys, including the overwhelmingly funny Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon and Ken Marino, and an unbelievably versatile and hilarious lady in Kerri Kenney-Silver. Of course, with just one female member, drag is also a big part of their arsenal, with their technique coming in somewhere between Monty Python and the Kids in the Hall, as there's not a lot of an attempt to be feminine, but the women don't tend to be as grotesque as some of the females portrayed on the Flying Circus. Truthfully, unlike SNL or many other sketch shows, there's not a weak link in the bunch, with even the lesser-known stars, like Todd Holoubek and Kevin Allison, having their moments of brilliance and overall solid performances.With hundreds of sketches included, it's hard to pick out a handful to highlight, without leaving out a ton of great ones, so instead focusing on the genres makes sense. The recurring characters, which were mostly foisted upon the group by MTV, looking to build popular bits, actually ended up becoming popular, despite making fun of the idea of a sketch built around a catchphrase. Thus we get several segments with Louie (Marino), a guy whose sole attribute is a desire to dip his (golf) balls in various items, and announcing that desire, along with teen rebel Doug (Michael Showalter), who is unable to cope with understanding authority figures, and busts out his own exit catchphrase (which itself is parodied in a sketch.) It's amazing how many times it feels like they are trying to not make a legitimate sketch, only to create a memorable one, like "The Animal Song," a bizarre musical scene, or the Barry and Levon bits, which center around $240 worth of pudding.The show has aged surprisingly well, with bits that aren't hugely timely, though most of the MTV-focused segments, including an MTV Sports parody and several "Free Your Mind" commercials, may fall on the deaf ears and blind eyes of younger viewers. Making fun of talk shows, kids getting in trouble and sneakers that make piggy sounds when you step down on the heel are simply universal concepts, as is the extreme absurdism the show trades in. A commercial for cereal where everyone is at least mildly mentally retarded is an example of where this show is coming from, and that's just the first episode, as it just gets weirder from there, touching on monkey torture, dinnertime prayers for fratricide and Eastern European variety shows (the origin of the later Viva Variety series.) Having a line that's hard to cross, or no line at all, will go a long way toward helping you enjoy this series.The DVDsJust to start, according to The State's site, there were only three seasons on MTV, with the third being aired in two parts, but this set is broken up into four seasons. Considering the group was heavily involved with the discs, there's no reason to doubt this organization, but it is a bit weird. On the other hand, it made it easy to split the four seasons over four discs, with a fifth for more bonus material. The discs are held in a trio of black ThinPak cases, which are inside a loose-fitting slipcase that also holds a note from The State (explaining the music replacement (see The Quality for details,) and some promo inserts. The DVDs feature animated full-frame menus with options to play all the episodes, select shows, check out the bonus material and activate audio commentaries. There are no subtitles and no audio options, but closed captioning is available.The QualityThe episodes were remastered for re-release (on iTunes first and then on DVD) and the results are clear on these full-frame transfers, especially when you compare them to other shows from the early '90s. There's an odd inconsistency to the footage though, with some scenes looking like they were shot last week, with a clean image that sports bright, appropriate color and a good level of detail, while others look like home video I shot with my old Sears shoulder-mouth camcorder, with that distinct dull, soft look that only VHS does justice to. It's not even like you can compare in-studio to location shoots, as they vary in quality no matter where they were shot. No matter what you're looking at though, there's no obvious damage or compression artifacts, though there's a bit of blurring that's distracting, as copyrights are upheld on posters and such throughout the series.The audio is presented in pretty standard Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks that do a fine job of recreating the early-'90s basic cable sound of the series, with clean dialogue and clear music, though there's nothing dynamic about the mix.Now, about that music replacement... When the show aired, they were free to use a wide range of music due to deals MTV had with the major labels. So there were a lot of well-known music tracks throughout the series. Those deals didn't extend to video, so most of the music had to be replaced ("The Power" by Snap somehow slid through.) It's frequent, but, as the updates were done with the cooperation of the troupe, the creator of the rocking theme, Craig Wedren of Shudder to Think, was brought in to do fill-in tracks, and he's done an excellent job of recreating the feel of the original songs. The most memorable example of music in the series is probably the iconic use of The Breeders' "Cannonball" in the classic "Pants" sketch, but it's imitated with some heavy bass use to good effect. It's not ideal, but as noted in the packaging, the cost of the music would have prevented the DVDs from being released, and some rights were simply not available to them. The only real down note is the removal of a link sketch where the cast sang part of a Pearl Jam song, but only the most hardcore fans will miss it or notice its absence.The Bottom LineIncredibly, The State remains truly hilarious, even with the dual demons of timeliness and music copyrights working against it, thanks to a fantastically funny gang of creators working with a relative level of freedom. After years of hoping by fans, a complete collection of episodes has finally arrived, and it looks and sounds very nice (despite many changed music cues), while packing some impressive extras to boot. Though the music and blurs are frustrating, I can't think of anything else I could ask for in this set, aside from the CBS special, which is likely a rights issue (though aren't they all Viacom now?) As such, I feel I have to give this the highest rating possible, if only for finally fulfilling the wishes of so many. It's a fantastic walk down memory lane for longtime fans, and a chance for a new generation of fans to dip their balls in The State.

I was a huge fan of The State when it was on MTV. My best friend & I were in HS & I have a lot of great memories of us watching it & cracking up or even imitating some skits. I always remembered it fondly and would tell my boyfriend about it b/c he's 9 yrs younger than me & had never seen it. I actually didn't buy the DVD's when they first came out b/c I wasn't sure if I'd still be as into them. But then one day found myself on YouTube searching for skits and when I found a few of my favs(the infamous $240 worth of pudding, Doug, & randomly the commerical for "Hits from the 70's" where they just keep singing "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" which for some reason I find hysterical), I decided I had to get the DVD's. I read a lot of the reviews which were upset about them not having the same music. And how that "ruined" the show. I don't agree at all. In fact I read one saying "don't waste your $" or something like that & a comment from someone else thanking them for warning them, & that they weren't going to buy it based on that review. That's actually what made me decide to write my own b/c how sad! That someone would miss out on something they might potentially love just b/c of another person's opinion. & I get that's alot of people's opinion(or at least that the different music lessons the quality) but I don't really agree. It's not b/c I don't care about music, I do a lot. I'm a singer/songwriter myself. But I still think The State holds up on it's own as funny even w/out most of the original music. Also a lot of ppl are saying how it's wrong of MtV not to pay for the orginial music. It seems many feel this is something that's just related to this DVD. I'm not sure if they just don't buy many other DVD's of older shows but I do & it's extremely common that most of the original music is taken out due to copyright issues. They're 2 totally different shows but I own all of "Felcity" and "Party of Five" and it's exactly the same. Neither have much of the original music. And in some parts it definitely changes the feel of the scene, esp. w/ Felicity where I discovered a lot of great music, I find myself missing songs when I re-watch it. But I def wouldn't hold that against the show or the DVD's as again this is very common. And I also still think the shows hold up as great even w/out the original music.With The State, as I'm rewatching, overall I don't find it as hysterical as I did in HS but I think that's due to a cpl of things. One, as many have said, it was ahead of it's time so back then there was nothing like it on exactly & that was part of what made it so funny. Now there's all sorts of other funny videos or shows that make some of the outrageous skits they did look tame. But I've also discovered, or rediscovered parts I didn't even remember which I find hysterical(like Captn Monteray Jack & more-sorry if I'm spelling it wrong). Not to mention, it's totally nostalgic for me to watch & just makes me happy!Last thing I'll mention is the Extras are really great, esp for a show that hasn't been on the air for so long. I have other DVD's from that time period w/ little to no extras. There are interviews, outtakes, & commentary for literally every episode by the cast. One of the interesting things I learned was that they actually weren't canceled by MTV as many, inclduing me, thought they'd been. They wanted them to do another season but they declined, I believe they chose to go to another network & it didn't work out.Anyway, I would def recommend it if you were a fan. The cast are all really funny which is why many of them are still relevant. And watching the show again feels like going to see a group of old friends who could always make you laugh & cheer you up if you were in a bad mood. I love this show.

Giving this show a 5 to make up for the 1 star given by the person that ordered this believing it was a documentary on ISIS, you can't compare the two so of course you'd be disappointed. Those that wrote and starred in The State went on to do some amazing things, including, a personal favourite of mine - Reno 911! alongside Wet Hot American Summer which has seen a ressurgence thanks to the Netflix series, you've also got Joe lo Truglio best known these days as Charles Boyle in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The humour in this sketch show is surreal, slackeresque and smacks of early 1990s alt culture, heavily nostalgic to those, like myself, who remember that era as if it was yesterday. The nostalgia really adds to the charm watching it now, over 25 years later. A perfect snapshot of the time when MTV was more alternative and put out interesting original content.

I should first say that I hadn't seen this series prior to buying, so true fans of the show might as well ignore my review.I stepped into the pitfall of judging the material based on other works. I *love* Reno 911!, David Wain's films "The Ten" and "Wet Hot American Summer", the work of "Stella", and its members. "Children's Hospital", the films written by Lennon and Garant.I just don't get this series. I won't try to judge the quality. Its just that the show doesn't measure up to the troupe's later projects, and pales in comparison to sketch comedies I do get into(Kids in the Hall, Monty Python, Mr Show, Comic Strip Presents).If you can afford it, go ahead and buy one of these sets. If you at all have to stretch your budget, try to preview it elsewhere first. So you don't spend 60$ on something you won't get much use out of.

I never knew this show existed until I became a hardcore Reno911! fan. I love this series and it puts all the mid 90s sketch shows to shame. This show is hilarious, and I was sad there were only 4 years. This is sort of "Before They Became Famous" for Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney, Robert Ben Garant, Michael Showalter, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and others. It is clear that these players were destined for great things and future in entertainment.

This is proof that if enough people demand something eventually their wishes can become reality!The show can only be described as one of the greatest sketch shows of all time and in this dvd set you get not only every episode but some incredible never before seen rare footage!This DVD boxset is all us fans wanted and more! I can't wait to add it to my collection!

I am giving this a zero. I thought it was about ISIS, how wrong I was. I thought it was rubbish si returned it.