Ben Stiller Show

The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show logo
Created by	Ben Stiller Judd Apatow
Written by	Ben Stiller Judd Apatow Robert Cohen David Cross Brent Forrester Bob Odenkirk Sultan Pepper Dino Stamatopoulos
Starring	Ben Stiller Andy Dick Janeane Garofalo Bob Odenkirk
Theme music composer	Dweezil Zappa
Opening theme	"Groove Holmes" by Dweezil Zappa
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	~23 minutes
Production company(s)	HBO Independent Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	September 27, 1992 – January 17, 1993

The Ben Stiller Show is the name of two sketch comedy television shows that aired on MTV from 1989 to 1990, and then on Fox from September 27, 1992 to January 17, 1993. The Fox show stars Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every episode. The series featured numerous filmed comedy segments, many of which parodied mid-1980s to early 1990s pop-culture. Despite mostly positive reviews, Fox canceled the series after only 13 episodes due to low ratings.

Unlike most sketch comedy shows, The Ben Stiller Show did not use a studio audience or a laugh track, and was the only Fox sketch comedy program not to use a laugh track. The semi-spinoff, The Andy Dick Show, used the same format.

After cancellation, the series won the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

The original MTV version of The Ben Stiller Show aired in 1990-1991 and ran for 13 episodes. It is not available on DVD, although excerpts from the program are featured as a bonus on that release. Produced by Jim Jones, who would go on to produce the Fox series and starring Ben Stiller and co-writer Jeff Kahn, it was a self-effacing show-within-a-show format. Part of MTV's pre-Real World and experimental Vid-Com season of 1989-1990, it was interspersed with music videos that Ben and company would introduce in their short comedy sketches. Regulars included Harry O'Reilly and Ben's sister Amy Stiller. Guest stars included Ben's parents Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, as well as John F. O'Donohue, Melina Kanakaredes, Al Lewis and MTV regular Martha Quinn.