The Edge

Well, even though it wasn't the best sketch comedy show, it was star studded. Of course everyone knows Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight, but it was also one of the shows that launched Jill Talley and Tom Kenny into the spotlight and probably helped them get into Mr. show. Edd Hall, of Tonight Show fame did voice overs and Alan Ruck(Spin City, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and comedian Rick Overton rounded up the cast.

A show that people may look back on as a launching pad for young talent in the future.

"The Edge" was by far one of the best primetime comedies ever to be shown. In the spirit of "In Living Color" skits, "Saturday Night Live," and today's "MAD TV," The Edge included raunchy yet smart comic skits such as "The Armed Family," and other greats. It was a great show which unfortunately will never be seen again.

After Fox declined on furthering "Get a Life," David Merkin's next step towards his run on "The Simpsons" was this little show that had a 9:30 timeslot on Sunday Nights but yet was neglected until it died. Somehow, it lasted a full season but that was a miracle itself.

"The Edge" was a sketch show featuring a great deal of comic talent and ruled with it's non sequiturs and macabre humor. The bowling bag/severed head skit still remains with me to this day, along with "What is Casper the Friendly Boy doing now".

But, the cancellation has a happy ending. Merkin went on to do "The Simpsons" during it's classic years and Wayne Knight went to other, better-paying things.

This was one of the least appreciated shows of all time. This show did not just push the envelope it threw it out the window. Dark and bizarre humor ruled this short lived Fox comedy. But then again, aren't most Fox shows? This show did catapult Jennifer Aniston to stardom. But I will not blame this show for that.

The 80's was truly the era of sketch comedy, but as we know: comedy is all about timing...and this series ran in 1992 (i.e. past the point where "In Living Color" brought down the bar on sketch comedy so low you couldn't even limbo under it). Nonetheless, The Edge had all the elements of a great sketch comedy show; a superbly talented cast (Julie Brown, Jenifer Anniston, Tom Kenny and Wayne Knight to name a few who were known before and after the series), a mix of thought-provoking, slap-stick and situational humor, and a finger on the pulse of current-events/pop-culture. One of the best examples combining these elements would be the hilarious sketch panning the then-popular Beverly Hills 90210 series. The two most unfortunate aspects of this show are a) it was so short-lived (ran for just 1 season/20 episodes) and b) sadly it was caught-up in greedy Hollywood licensing/royalty/ownership politics, which means it will most likely never be released on DVD or other media; truly a loss for anyone who appreciates the best of sketch comedy.