Upright Citizens Brigade

UCB was sketch comedy at a new level, especially when compared to the banality of the modern bit show. The writers and cast presented skits that other productions would have disregarded as too "sophisticated", or just too unorthodox. In doing so, I feel they explored the limits of sketch comedy and brought us closer to the edge of the surreal, better than any comedy production today.

The "Brigade" is bent on causing chaos everywhere they venture to, and they do not disappoint. From Santa forcing a man to take sample of his "Santa Liquor", to an authoritarian school bus driver, crushing a children's revolution with her backside.

Now, the dialog was very suggestive and risqué at times, but the writing is non the less very creative. I feel that it is necessary to ignore the sometimes superfluous vulgarity's in order to "get" this show, particularly if you have dismissed it for being too odious. The UCB, in their creativeness and witty verbiage, have heavily diluted the crudeness to which a story is presented. I guess this is comparative to another comedy central production, "South Park", where you just have to ignore or look beyond what offends you, to appreciate what really is being presented to us. Most important the UCB was there to entertain, and cause us laughter, and this they did with alacrity.

It ended it's run in 2000, and is still missed 6 years later.

from the start, i would like to say that i love this show. put aside that its probably the funniest stuff ive seen, but they are SO well written. everything seems to tie together in the end of a show. but what i like even more than that is, you hear references of certain things well before you see them in the show (titte brothers, supercool, thunderball). comparing other shows, i love seinfeld and the simpsons. seinfeld has some funny situations, the simpsons has great characters and extensive pop culture references. but somehow, UCB is just better. the guy who said it was the best show ever? its got my vote.

First, I want to say that this review is opinion only. In fact, EVERYTHING you read on this site (at least, the fan comments portion) is opinion only. Try to remember that a show that may be "da bomb" to one person may just "bomb" to another. I'm not going to demand that you watch the show, or that you don't watch the show. Why? Because I understand that all you're looking for is an opinion, and that you are (like myself) probably laughing your asses off at the posters that are yelling, "YOU GOTTA WATCH THIS!" or "THIS BLOWS CHUNKS! WATCH IT AND DIE!" That being said: Upright Citizens Brigrade was a short-lived (3-season) show on Comedy Central, based on the improv sketch comedy of a team of comedians who started in Chicago, but now operate their own improv theater in New York. The sketches themselves are probably best-described as "bizarre to the extreme" - or, in more laymen's terms, "seriously f***** up". It's been compared as an American "Monty Python's Flying Circus" or "The Kids in the Hall".

I found the show to be incredibly funny. The humor, again, is off-color and off-kilter at times, and I can admit that it would not be palatable to all people - not even to all sketch-comedy fans. The gimmicks are quirky and can delve into sometimes-touchy subjects in an unusual manner, but I find this refreshing. As has been previously stated, each episode is made up of a series of seemingly-unrelated sketches that culminate in a final sketch that wraps up all the stories (usually in an appropriately strange manner; you know a show is weird when a town hall/church blasts off on rocket boosters, taking the alien dolphin threat with it).

I have seen most of season 1 and quite a bit of seasons 2 and 3, and wish that Comedy Central would bring the show back regularly. If your humor tastes run toward the highly bizarre, give it a shot; if you don't like it, then say so. But do us all a favor and don't play television God, and demand that everyone sees it immediately/doesn't see it at all - or at least know that I'll be laughing at your stupidity.

The Funniest, smartest, and most original show ever on television. It's a crime that they took this show of the air, but Comedy Central has no problem showing you 12 reruns of SNL in a day. If you haven't seen the show, do yourself a favor and pick up season 1 on DVD. You will never laugh harder in your life.

I really hope they follow up with seasons two and three. The show only got funnier over time. One of the best ones is the cyborg episode from season one. The show trumps every other show that is or was on Comedy Central. Saying no to this show is saying no to America, and babies. But mostly America.

An absolutely hilarious sketch comedy series that followed in the foot steps of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Kids in the Hall" where being absurd is a large part of being funny. The show was smart, fresh and well written with a seamless conclusion at the end of each episode where all the sketches would come together. Unfortunately, the show was too funny for the average Comedy Central viewer (who worshiped stale fart jokes from "South Park") and it was canceled. Thanks to a large fan base season 1 was released in 2003, but Comedy Central (currently the home of 24/7 reruns of Mad-TV) has not mentioned any plans to release the following two seasons.