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lauraredcloud at 06:46pm on 22/05/2011
lauraredcloud at 06:46pm on 22/05/2011Thoughts on watching half of "The State: The Complete Series" in the brief window between when I discovered it was available on Netflix On Demand, and when it stopped being available on Netflix On Demand:
* I like it now... but I would have REALLY liked it when I was about 14. It has exactly my fourteen-year-old sense of humor: frenetic pace; aware of, embracing, and skewering cliches; generally good-natured, rarely mean or dark; lots stuff about high school, sending up PSAs aimed at teens, etc. (they knew their audience); totally random and insane.
* Very much has the feeling of UCB and Stella, and I'd bet that most of the sketches arose out of improv bits.
* There is not one slacker performer. All eleven are great.
* Ten guys and one girl is an odd dynamic. I like that sometimes, a female character is played by a guy in drag even though Kerri isn't playing another part in the same sketch.
* I've seen a lot of sketch comedy shows, and this one might just be the best at basic sketchcraft. Episodes are jam-packed with short, punchy sketches. They very rarely let bits drag out after you get the joke the way SNL does, or end awkwardly in the middle of nowhere the way Kids in the Hall does. As soon as the joke becomes clear, The State very quickly kicks it to the next level, or to some very bizarre place, and then it's over and we're onto a new sketch. There is no nonsense.
* Also very few recurring bits, and those that do recur become increasingly absurd, trusting that the audience has seen the original iteration or can figure it out. It's only the fourth appearance of Michael Showalter's wannabe rebel teen "Doug" when it's performed as a kabuki play with exaggerated gestures and halting Japanese. When you get used to SNL, which can fill entire episodes rehashing the same bits from previous episodes with only minor alterations, The State's commitment to making every sketch something different is really refreshing.
* That said, I'm not sure I saw more than one or two sketches I'll remember later or tell someone else about, and I'm sure I've started many sentences with, "Did you see the Kids in the Hall sketch where...." This could be a function of how few episodes there were, though; I saw about 13 of the 24 total episodes, and I've seen approx. 800 episodes of "Kids in the Hall."
So yeah, I recommend it, too bad you can't see it.
* I like it now... but I would have REALLY liked it when I was about 14. It has exactly my fourteen-year-old sense of humor: frenetic pace; aware of, embracing, and skewering cliches; generally good-natured, rarely mean or dark; lots stuff about high school, sending up PSAs aimed at teens, etc. (they knew their audience); totally random and insane.
* Very much has the feeling of UCB and Stella, and I'd bet that most of the sketches arose out of improv bits.
* There is not one slacker performer. All eleven are great.
* Ten guys and one girl is an odd dynamic. I like that sometimes, a female character is played by a guy in drag even though Kerri isn't playing another part in the same sketch.
* I've seen a lot of sketch comedy shows, and this one might just be the best at basic sketchcraft. Episodes are jam-packed with short, punchy sketches. They very rarely let bits drag out after you get the joke the way SNL does, or end awkwardly in the middle of nowhere the way Kids in the Hall does. As soon as the joke becomes clear, The State very quickly kicks it to the next level, or to some very bizarre place, and then it's over and we're onto a new sketch. There is no nonsense.
* Also very few recurring bits, and those that do recur become increasingly absurd, trusting that the audience has seen the original iteration or can figure it out. It's only the fourth appearance of Michael Showalter's wannabe rebel teen "Doug" when it's performed as a kabuki play with exaggerated gestures and halting Japanese. When you get used to SNL, which can fill entire episodes rehashing the same bits from previous episodes with only minor alterations, The State's commitment to making every sketch something different is really refreshing.
* That said, I'm not sure I saw more than one or two sketches I'll remember later or tell someone else about, and I'm sure I've started many sentences with, "Did you see the Kids in the Hall sketch where...." This could be a function of how few episodes there were, though; I saw about 13 of the 24 total episodes, and I've seen approx. 800 episodes of "Kids in the Hall."
So yeah, I recommend it, too bad you can't see it.
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