The State (TV series)

The State
Genre	Sketch comedy
Starring	Kevin Allison Michael Ian Black Robert Ben Garant Todd Holoubek Michael Patrick Jann Kerri Kenney-Silver Thomas Lennon Joe Lo Truglio Ken Marino Michael Showalter David Wain
Theme music composer	Craig Wedren
Opening theme	"Boys and Girls – Action" by Craig Wedren
Composer(s)	Theodore Shapiro Craig Wedren
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	28 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jonathan K. Bendis Steven Starr
Producer(s)	Michael Patrick Jann Mark Perez Jim Sharp David Wain
Running time	approx. 30 minutes per episode
Release
Original network	MTV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	December 17, 1993 – July 1, 1995
Chronology
Related shows	Viva Variety Reno 911! Stella Michael & Michael Have Issues
External links
Website
Production website

The State is an American sketch comedy television series, originally broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993, and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience. The cast consisted of 11 twenty-something comedians who created, acted, wrote, directed and edited the show.

Several memorable characters were created for the show, and for a short time their catchphrases entered into the vernacular. Often, the cast would appear as themselves and address the audience to promote fake contests or to deliver mock public service announcements. Much like Monty Python, The State's sketches were sometimes linked to each other in some way: a punchline or image that ended one sketch often provided a lead-in to the next.

After years of legal issues related to the soundtrack to many of the episodes, the series was released on DVD on July 14, 2009. A State film featuring all of the original troupe members is in the works, but was delayed by the 2007–2008 screenwriters strike, and no release date for the project has been announced.

The State is not only the name of the television program, but also of the comedy troupe that made up the cast of the show, as they have continued to successfully work together on film, television and in the world of journalism in various groupings. A book, State by State With the State was published in April, 1997 but is currently out of print. An album titled Comedy for Gracious Living was recorded for Warner Bros. but was shelved for unknown reasons. After being unearthed from the Warner vault, it was finally released in September 2010 by Rhino/Handmade via rhino.com. With liner notes written by the troupe, the packaging is notable for having, perhaps, the longest printed booklet ever included in a CD package.

The show's style of humor revolved mainly around the cast members' character acting and high energy, and featured a broad range of comedic styles from satire to forays into absurdism, although the absurdist element was not played up as much until the third season. Notable examples include "The Animal Song" and "The Howard Report". In addition, a common theme of the show's humor was to introduce a sketch with a "straight man" character caught in a ridiculous premise, then turn the sketch around by making the premise turn out to be correct. An example of this is the "Nazi War Criminals" sketch, in which a quiet suburban family is accosted by the FBI on suspicion of being Nazi war criminals (despite seemingly being well under 30) due to information given by the family's nine-year-old son. However, when the boy claims that "moon people" are about to invade earth, it is revealed that everything he has said is in fact true, and the family drops their ruse in light of the impending danger.

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Wikipedia