Product Description

The funniest show you never saw - starring Ben Stiller - is now available as a fully-loaded 2-disc DVD set, featuring all 12 regular season episodes plus an originally unaired episode. This cutting-edge Emmy-award winning sketch comedy show aired on Fox in the 1992-93 season and in syndication on Comedy Central.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12236 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2003-12-02
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .35 pounds
• Running time: 299 minutes

Amazon.com
For its brief and shining moment--12 aired episodes, to be exact--The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on Fox in 1992, recaptured the anarchic spirit and subversively funny voice of first-season Saturday Night Live and SCTV. More too-hip-for-the-room than ahead of its time, the show suffered dismal ratings and was unceremoniously cancelled. It then went on to win an Emmy for best writing and attract a fervent following, enhanced by the fact that the series has seldom been syndicated. This long-awaited DVD release fills not a void, but an abyss. To watch Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and a pre-Mr. Show Bob Odenkirk at the dawn of their mostly unconventional careers, romp in the show's opening is akin to watching the Beatles frolic on that football field in A Hard Day's Night. Stiller and company's pitch-perfect and intimately observed skewering of movies, television, and show business convention could be exhilarating, as witness "Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein" (you'll never watch another Allen film with a straight face again), "Cape Munster," with Stiller as a psychopathic and vengeful Eddie Munster, "Skank," a potent comment on the crass programming that was initially Fox's stock in trade, and even brilliant riffs on the seminal reality series Cops, which re-imagine the series in witch-hysteric Salem, Massachussetts, ancient Egypt, and medieval times.

In addition to the cast's uncanny impersonations (Stiller's Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Bruce Willis, and Garofalo's Juliette Lewis), The Ben Stiller Show was home to a gallery of recurring characters--agent Michael Pheret, the No, No, No Guy--who, thankfully, SNL producer Lorne Michaels was not around to parlay into godawful films. The topical humor can't help but date some of the material (the show is a veritable Trivial Pursuit of pop culture references, from The Partridge Family to Beverly Hills 90210, but the brilliance of the writing and sheer abandon of the performances are still a joy to behold. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Sketch Comedy At Its Very Best
The Ben Stiller Show aired for 12 episodes on FOX during the 1992-1993 season. Critics praised the show even though it routinely came DEAD LAST in the nielson ratings...which is probably why you've never heard of the show. They stuck it up against 60 Minutes at one point. Don't be fooled, though. This is brilliant sketch comedy from a group of talented comedians that have all gone on to bigger and better things. Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and Bob Odenkirk spend most of the show creating dead-on hilarious parodies of television, movies, actors, and anything else that reeks of Hollywood. A 13th "Lost Episode" was uncovered when Comedy Central aired The Ben Stiller Show a few years back, and it is included in the DVD as well. The only drawback is that, yes, some of the material is a bit dated. Still, don't let that keep you from enjoying one of the best sketch comedy shows to grace the airwaves. Fans of Bob Odenkirk's "Mr. Show" should enjoy seeing some of his earlier work as well. It's a shame FOX didn't give this show the support it deserved.

The Ben Stiller Experiment
This compilation is one of those DVDs that has been long overdue. After looking desperately for chances to see this "one season" wonder on Comedy Central years back, I was pleased to find out recently that I could see the entire season for a little more than twenty dollars by buying it online.

The DVD chronicles the 12 episodes of Ben Stiller's Show, which ran on MTV from 1992 to 1993. The cast includes Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo (remember her?), Andy Dick and Bob Odenkirk doing sketches and parodies of popular early 90s shows, commercials and fads. There is also one unaired episode included, as well as commentaries and outtakes from a few of the episodes.

This show mocks the aggravations of trendy television that sprang up in the late 80s/early 90s. There are plenty of stabs at FOX's "rich" kids shows, Hollywood blockbuster movies, commercials and MTV shows. For instance, there is a running parody called "Melrose Heights 90210-2402" which pokes fun at the over dramatization and hipness of yuppie-teen television that came to prominence with Melrose Place and Beverly Hills. There is also "Legends of Springsteen", where we learn the many achievements of the legendary "Boss" (such as how he fought off alien invaders at a cafe). Another highlight is "The Grungies" segment, which mocks the Grunge "X" Generation movement of the early 90s (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc) by combining it with the popular 60s show "The Monkees." It is also has a scattering of action movie skits that mimic action movies: Die Hard 12: Die Hungry, Cape Munster, and Advantage Agassi (Andre Agassi as a tennis-playing, crime fighter in a prototypical cheesy B-Movie subplot). Numerous commercials (What is sexy?, the "Pig" Latin singer), a mockumentary of U2 (Stiller as Bono), Ben's Video Diary, and Headslammer's Ball are other notable segments included.

An excellent buy for a Ben Stiller fan, and definitely worth a shot if you are unfamiliar with the show. Essentially, this is smart comedy.

THE BEST SKETCH COMEDY SHOW....EVER!!!
The Ben Stiller Show was, in my opinion, the best sketch comedy show....EVER. A fantastic cast, Stiller, Garafalo, Odenkirk, and Dick. Brilliant writers. incredibly funny sketches and short films.
Some of the best were "Of Buildings And Women"(a take off of French art films), "Manson"(a parody of "Lassie" starring Charles Manson), "The Grungees"(a modern day version of "The Monkees" featuring a grunge band, with guest appearance by Micky Dolenz),"Skank"(a sitcom about a loud-mouthed, racist sock-puppet and his loving family...with guest spots by Todd Bridges and the late(great)Norman Fell),"Jake Steel, Marionette Cop"(about...well, just what the title says),and so much more!
I would highly recommend this collection for any fan of sketch comedy, film buffs or people who grew up in front of the television in the 60s and 70s (as I did).