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The State drops TODAY
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David Wain
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Jul 14, 2009 17:09 PDT
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"In many ways, The State is one of the more important American comedy
series ever produced."
--Bob Grimm, Tucson Weekly
Finally, after many patient years, THE STATE arrives on DVD today.
From the creators and stars of:
RENO 911!
ROLE MODELS
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
STELLA
VIVA VARIETY
THE TEN
and
MICHAEL & MICHAEL HAVE ISSUES (premiering tomorrow night on Comedy
Central!)
The entire complete set! There's commentary on every episode from all
of the members of the group, and also included are the pilot episode,
more than 90 minutes of unaired sketches with commentary, outtakes,
interviews, "The State" on "The Jon Stewart Show" and more.
http://www.the-state.com
http://thestate.mtv.com
Here's the TV SQUAD review:
TV bloggers get a lot of free DVDs to review. They range from the dull
and drab to titles that some people would run over someone on the way to
the movie store to get.
It's very rare, however, for anyone to get their grubby little hands on
a title powerful enough to reverse the polarity of the universe and
restore order to chaos. I managed to score that very thing a week before
anyone could and I didn't have to sell my soul, my first-born child or
any of my bodily objects to get it.
Frustrated fans and even members of the show's cast have been clamoring
for Viacom and company to sign off on a DVD box set of MTV's most
under-appreciated show The State. Miles of red tape and nearsighted
executives prevented any ounce of hope from shining through the dark
void the show left on television. MTV's new five disc set for release on
Tuesday, news we broke back in April, has corrected the mistake and
earned everyone responsible for its hold-up some karma points for their
crimes against hilarity.
The set includes everything anyone who hasn't seen the show expects from
it: a complete rundown of the episodes, extra features that explain the
origins and development of the show and uncomplicated and engaging DVD
menus that a monkey could operate if a money found that show
interesting. MTV usually has no problem achieving that since monkeys are
their primary audience for most of their non-music shows.
The State box set, however, keeps their hardcore and extremely patient
fans in mind the most. The first thing you'll see when you unwrap the
plastic and slide the plastic cases out of the cardboard is a note from
the cast explaining their involvement in the development of the box set
and some of the changes that had to be made due to licensing and
copyright issues. It's one of many personal touches and tweaks that make
it clear everyone involved had the most dedicated fan in mind while they
were re-recording dialogue on a Barry and Levon sketch or blurring a
trademarked image in a detailed back-drop.
The commentaries present an interesting mix of funny dialogue that give
the DVDs some longevity, long after you've re-memorized and annoyed all
of your former friends with reenactments of your favorite sketches and
jokes. And if you still have friends after that, you can scare the
remaining ones away with useless backstage trivia of the show's birth
and history sprinkled throughout each episode. Did you know, for
instance, that the show was announced by cast member Kerri Kenney's
father, Larry Kenney, who also voiced Lion-o from The Thundercats? If
you're still reading, there is more.
Each episode disc has a smattering of interviews, bloopers and outtakes
to go with each season. The third "bonus disc" is loaded to the gills
with unused sketches, some of which like the infamous "Drag Dad" sketch
make you realize just why they are "unaired". It also has the show's
very funny pilot episode and a dozen more promos, deleted scenes and
special appearances including their "ballsy" MacBeth re-enactment during
MTV's Spring Break special and their first talk show interview from a
non-gray haired Jon Stewart.
It is the first DVD box set in recent memory that puts its fans ahead of
fiscal concerns or financial constraints. If you've been praying to see
The State go to DVD in your lifetime, prepare a goat sacrifice to thank
God for heeding your call.
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