The State

I don't know why none of my current friends have never seen this show, but when I was in high school I watched it religiously. By far, the funniest, gut wrenchingest stuff ever. Someone mentioned the Sea Monkeys!! Blueberry "...I'm a frickin' blueberry!!!" There are so many things. The difference between The State and the current skit comedies is that The State was not taped in front of a live audience. Some of the ways they transferred from skit to skit are amazingly flowing... something welcome when you don't want to stop laughing.

The last thing I remember the cast of The State doing together was a live show for one of the Spring Break outings that MTV had. A straightlaced shakespearean play scene, with one exception... the ever increasing sizes of the phalluses in their tights. I think Shakespeare would have loved it!

The State is an hysterically funny sketch comedy show that is most known for its shows on MTV. They have since gone off the air but MTV put together a collection of some of their skits.

This collection of skits from The State is absolutely beautiful. When the show went off the air I would often sit on my couch and cry. But then one day a friend bought me this tape. Since then my days have been filled with only joy and laughter. I have watched this tape well over 100 times, and have shared the beauty with countless others.

If you miss them like I do, find this tape and watch it. If you like Kids in the Hall, The Upright Citizens Brigade, Monty Python, or just enjoy laughing, find this tape and watch it. If you enjoy jokes about pudding or beards in space, find this tape and watch it. If you do not have a strange sense of humor or you don't enjoy laughing, then maybe you should just take a nap instead.

despite glaring pythonisms, the state was the best Post-python era sketch comedy show ever. Founded back in the "golden" age of MTV when Jon Stewart and 'alternative' music reigned the airwaves, the state came out of nowhere as a smart, funny, innovative, and inventive masterwork. At times delightfully dirty, the show was mistaken by many for being low-brow. But like all great things comedic, the base humor came from somewhere sincerely genius. Witness the brilliance of a man delivering tacos rather than mail, or the incredibly popular gay student, or 20 year old pet sea monkeys. This often overlooked gem in television history could really benefit from some sort of re-release by MTV, who has to date released one short compilation video. Their lovely art spoke wonders to many of us growing up in the 90's in a way that no other television show has. It gave us a reason to watch television, which is scarce in this day and age.

Not only is The State the most amazing show ever, but it featured some of my longest laughs ever, such as "Love and War" where Timmy and his father race home. The skits are so weird that they're perfect. A skit about origami suddenly ends on 8 members of the cast running in their underwear. If only it was back on TV, and it's so sad that shows like Saturday Night Live are even aired when there should be a show like this. My favorites are "Staring Contest" "Love and War" "Taco Man" "Prom Photos" and "Tammy Wilkins: Notebook Artist". Check em out.

"The State" was a brilliantly funny sketch comedy show that ran on MTV in the mid-90's. By far the best and smartest show that has ever graced MTV. Each cast member was extremely talented (especially Thomas Lennon) and every skit was about a million times funnier then anything that has been on "Saturday Night Live" in the past 10 years. There is a VHS tape that is available with about an hour and a half of "The State" skits on it. But this tape does not even come close to representing the best of what ran on the show. I hope that one of these days MTV will get their act together and either re-run all of "The State" episodes or put them out on tape. Or, an even better scenario would be for "The State" to get back together and have a TV show again. By far one of the best shows EVER on TV.